Am I Standing Still?

Happy Friday to everyone! I feel like this week flew by, which in many respects is a very good thing. It was the LAST week of classes for the semester & I couldn't be happier. Sure, I still have 2 take home finals to complete & a paper to finish before I'm officially done for the semester, but at least I don't have to sit through class anymore. I am most definitely looking forward to a 3 month hiatus from school. Not to mention, I'm looking forward to saving my gas tank a little from all the back and forth.

I actually took off from work today so that I could get my paper done that's due on Monday. What a joy it was to not wake up at 6:15. No, I wasn't one of the many people that woke up at 4am to watch the Royal Wedding... I did what most people of this generation do... I Tivoed the event. I woke up at 8:30 and got to see the happy couple on the balcony at the palace & saw their two (gasp) kisses. Kate looked absolutely beautiful & she seemed so calm! I don't know if my wedding was on display to the entire world if I would be that calm, but kudos to her. I think what I loved the most was just how happy & in love Kate & Will looked with each other. Ahhhh...

Okay, back on topic... this past Tuesday was weigh in so without further adieu I will give the results. Last month's numbers are in parenthesis.

Weight: 152 (152)
Hips: 38 3/4 (39)
Waist: 30 (30)
R Thigh: 21 (21)
R Bicep: 10 1/2 (10 3/4)
Shoulders: 39 (39)
Body Fat: 26.4% (27.4%)

As you can see, there isn't much of a change... I did lose 2 pounds of fat based on the BMI calculations that Joe does so I'm happy with that & I lost 1/2 inch. I was also glad to see my body fat go down after it seemed to just kind of hover in the same place for the last several months. Like I've said, it seems that when I hit near this weight my body just stops working, which is obviously a concern for me. Joe told me to keep in mind that you could take two people that both weigh 150 pounds and one of them is 50% body fat & the other is 25% body fat & the 25% body fat person doesn't look like they weigh THAT much. He said by looking at me there is no way that anyone would say that I weigh 152, so I guess that is a good thing.

But in all honesty, I don't wanna be stuck here. I would feel more comfortable at 145. I don't know how realistic that is considering the muscle that I've put on, but it's worth entertaining. Speaking of muscle, I couldn't help but think during our work out on Tuesday that Joe is trying to lean me out with muscle. Normally we do 3 sets of most exercises of 15 reps & then reduce to 12 or 10 reps depending on how I'm feeling, but on Tuesday we did 2 sets and at least 20 reps on all of them. I never wished for 15 reps more in my life! Maybe that's going to be part of our new regime? If it keeps me from settling at this plateau, I'll suck it up.

I am getting increasingly bored with my food. I eat pretty much the same thing all the time... not every day but within a week there are many of the same things. I think I am in need of some new recipes to shake things up. Luckily, BBQ season is upon us and I can start using my grill again, which I love. Still, one of my biggest struggles is being a late night eater. I'm not sure what it is, but I LOVE to eat late night. Around 10, I feel that little bit of hunger creeping up in my stomach & I usually end up peering into the fridge hoping to find something. I end up fighting with myself for several minutes because what I really want is a bowl of ice cream or a bowl of cereal or some cookies, but I realize those aren't the right choices so I usually settle for some Greek yogurt or peanut butter on a graham cracker with my cup of green tea. So boring. I'm thinking that my body is in need of some kind of shock in an effort to kick start my metabolism a little bit more. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

Unfortunately, much of the next few days are going to require me to spend time with this paper, but at least by Monday afternoon I'll never have to look at it again. Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful spring day, which is perfect because I'll be heading to Yankee Stadium for the first time of 2011 with my cousins :) Most definitely looking forward to that! Before I go, here's comparison picture that made me feel better about my progress...

June 2010...yes, I'm sitting down, but that roll still existed.

April 2011...holding out my size 10 skinny jeans which are now too big on me. I like the number 8 better anyway!

Until next time...

Marisa

Fat Bottom Girls

First off, let me apologize for the delay in posts. Things have been busier than normal the past two weeks. My grandma fractured her hip & ended up having it replaced so after all the hospital drama, getting her into a rehab center, & then getting her out, it’s been lots of long days. Thankfully, she is recovering nicely & will be back to her jovial self in no time!

This Tuesday was supposed to be weigh-in week, but Joe had to cancel and we couldn’t get together another day this week, so I’m stuck waiting until this coming Tuesday. Normally that’s not a big deal, but I would’ve preferred to get weighed BEFORE Easter.  

I don’t feel much different from last month, and it’s not because I’m eating whatever I want or anything like that, but I fear that I am inching toward one of the things I HATE the most… a plateau. It’s as if when my body nears a certain weight, it just says, “Sorry, you’re not going any lower than that!” How incredibly unfair is that? 

My other concern is that I’ve been hungry more often than I was a month or so ago. I’ll eat breakfast, maybe have a banana or something like that before lunch & I’m fine. Then I eat lunch & it seems that for the rest of the day I just feel hungry & it’s really getting on my nerves. I eat protein at lunch so it’s not like I’m eating a bunch of carbs, which burn up quickly & then I’m hungry. I was talking with my friend Ryan about it & we concluded that my work outs, which have me putting on more muscle, are probably to blame for my added hunger. Yes, I realize that’s perfectly normal, but as a former fat girl the added hunger & possible weight gain don’t sit well with me.

Before you go & think that I’m a psycho for thinking this way, you have to understand that when you’ve battled your weight your entire life, being hungry more often & the number on the scale going up are two things you NEVER want. I know that any added weight would likely be due to the muscle, but I have a very hard time with the number going up. I’m well aware that this is my issue that I’ve gotta find a way to work through it, but I’m sure a lot of people can relate. That's why the title of this week's blog is the great Queen song that Glee is re-popularizing (Fat Bottom Girls). The song sort of glorifies "bigger girls" if you will, but really what girl wants to be known as a fat bottom girl? Not this chick... 

I’m sure a lot of people can also relate to having a family (especially my fellow Italians) that is obsessed with food… cooking it, eating it & talking about it most of the time. We’re always talking about things we want to make, the place where we ate something really good, or we were watching a show & they were making blah blah & it looked so good. How is anyone, especially someone with a naturally slow metabolism supposed to stay thin in that kind of atmosphere? I mean, I could start another whole blog on food alone! Food is great… I love my heritage, I love my family’s traditions, & I love cooking, but I’d be flat out lying if I said that sometimes loving food like this can be problematic.

On a positive note, all of my clothes are too big so I guess that's a sign that I'm doing something right. However, that leaves me loathing everything in my closet & taking forever to get ready because I can't find anything that I'm not swimming in. The other thing about losing weight & your clothes not fitting is that those clothes represent the "old you"... the stuff you had to wear to cover up what you didn't want everyone to focus on. Sure, there's a whole new world of clothes out there for the "new you", but it takes a while to build up a closet so for now I'm just hating my clothes. 

I've made it to the gym twice this week & am definitely going to try to get there tomorrow morning. I'm cooking Easter dinner so tomorrow is prep day. The BEST part of this week has been the return of Chris & John from the island! I LOVE having them home! I'm definitely looking forward to them being around for the next couple of weeks! I will be sure to report back with the results of weigh in! I hope that everyone has a great Easter! 

Marisa

Time...

One of my favorite Hootie & the Blowfish songs (Time) reminded me just how fast the time goes by. Also how I never seem to have enough time to do anything...not enough time to read my books, get to the gym, SLEEP, work on my book, make new recipes & did I mention sleep? Somehow it's already April! I have about 3 weeks left in my semester & I can't wait to be done! Chris & John return from the islands in less than 2 weeks which I'm very excited for!

The past 2 weeks of working out have been a bit of a struggle. Joe hasn't put me through any crazy work outs since the plyos work out from hell, but the lifting work outs have just been painful. It's rare that I wake up and something or several things don't hurt or ache. At this current moment, I have an ice pack on my bad shoulder but the rest of me is pretty sore too. I feel like I should be covered in lidoderm patches from head to toe. Or I'm just in serious need of that massage package I got for my birthday...

So this week's work out was another modified man work out, which I like just fine for the most part. I did full dead lifts with a 40 pound barbell, bench press, squat & single arm row, wood chop, tricep presses on a bar, & then this ab exercise where I had to lay down & keep my feet straight out in front of me raised off of the floor while holding a 20 pound barbell and bring my legs to the right, down, to the left and down. AWFUL. All I kept thinking was please don't let my sweaty hands drop this bar on my face. Luckily Joe was right above me so he had it covered.

Part of me has to laugh because Joe doesn't know my spazzy side. Sometimes when he asks me to do a certain exercise that's somewhat complicated I have to really force myself to think about what I'm doing so I don't look like a bumbling fool. Tuesday my spazziness came out a little bit even though I tried to cover it up, I had to just say, "I'm a bit of a spazz". He got a kick out of that & told me the better my core gets, the less of a spazz I'll be. I don't know if that's completely true, but it's definitely a nice thought.

Food... I'm starting to get very bored. I try to shake things up and spread it out so I  don't have too many carbs on one day. Still, it's mostly the same stuff all the time... chicken and salad, oatmeal, eggs, yogurt. I think I need a few new recipes and that might help. 2 more no meat Fridays to go and I think I will make it without putting myself in a total carb coma. I've had a massive craving for soft chocolate ice cream on a cone & I have to give myself kudos for suppressing the urge, but I feel that sooner or later I'm gonna have to satisfy the urge otherwise I'll go crazy.

Tomorrow it's back to the gym before game 2 of the Yankees/Red Sox weekend series. I dragged myself to do some cardio today even though I'm sore and exhausted. Luckily, the Yanks/Sox had an afternoon game so I caught the end of it which kept me entertained on the treadmill.  Unfortunately, the Yankees pitching couldn't hold it down today nor could the offense back them up so I was feeling more anxiety while walking at my 10 degree incline than normal. Going to try to pick it up a notch despite my aches & pains because in 2 short months summer will be here & I've gotta be prepared!

Until next time...

Marisa