Week 7: Weigh-in and Exercise

Starting weight: 133lbs
Last week's weight: 130
Current weight: 129lbs
Pounds to goal: 4
Exercise: 50km Running
30 Day Shred: Tuesday (Levels 3 and 2), Friday (Levels 3 and 1) and Saturday (Levels 3,2 and 1)

I have also been counting my calories.

Monday:1851
Tuesday: 1650
Wednesday:1899
Thursday: 1843
Friday: 2081
Saturday: 2183
Sun: 1928

The crazy calorie counting app that I've been using tells me that my BMR is 2119 calories.  In order to lose a pound a week (my current goal) I need to eat less than 1619 calories in a day, less any exercise I force upon my poor tired body.

If all premises are correct (ie I'm actually calculating all my calories properly, my BMR really is 2119 and my exercise is burning the number of calories the app claims), then I have run a deficit of 5383 calories this week.

Which happens to account for my 1lb weight loss AND agrees with my scale trying to flicker to 128lbs this weekend.

I have decided to keep up the calorie counting.  Yes, it is a pain in my ass and yes, I mostly hate it. However,  I like the data.  I like knowing what's going into my body.  And, I like that I'm look lazy to figure out the calories in a handful of anything so I don't bother to eat random crap.

Secretly, I also truly enjoy that I can eat something junky if I still have room in my day.  Ie drinks in the evening on the weekend.  Yay!

If I can keep this up I should more than hit my goal by the end of May (fine, not according to the graph. But according to the I plan on keeping up the 1lb a week weight loss plan.)  Thank goodness.  Because the sooner I can wrap this up, the sooner Jelly Bellies can come to my house!!

Bonus: Running song for the week




There is something nice about running to someone singing about being young and beautiful.  Because dude, if not now, when??

Dear Poutine, I miss you.

Lisa's last post rings true.  Why am I doing this challenge?

It's not all rainbows and butterflies, y'know.  It sounds like it might be from the la la la, I'm running farther! I'm stronger! post(s), but what you are missing is the sad sad evening when Scott needed  to feed me when he got home from work because I was (wait for it).... TOO HUNGRY... (!!) to make myself dinner.  All I could manage was feeding the short and loud people and feeling sorry for myself that I couldn't eat their Kraft Dinner, which I don't even like.  Lame.

Or, there was two night ago when I sat on Scott's lap and cried. I was so tired and so done. I miss all the foods I love.  I miss jelly bellies.  I miss the option to have dessert.  I miss french fries with burgers. I miss mayonnaise on everything. I miss afternoon snacks with my coffee (so much!).  I miss pancakes and waffles and everything delicious about breakfast.  I miss fettuccine Alfredo and poutine and Crispers. I miss before dinner drinks and after dinner drinks and during dinner drinks.  I miss being not on a diet.

So what the hell?!?  Why am I doing this to myself??

Because I'm dumb.  And crazy.  And am finally going to meet my goal.  Because, at the end of the day, I love that I can wear my favourite jeans and not have my belly bulge over the top or my lovies bulge out the back.  I love that my bra doesn't dig in and make my arm pits into chicken cutlets.  I love looking at my stomach with my thanks to Jillian abs. Because feeling good about myself is worth every bad, sad, mad day.  Even if I have to give all my Pull 'N Peel to the children.

Exercise and (Non)Injury

I had planned to sit down today and post about my injury.  What injury, you ask?  Well, it seems to be gone, so apparently, my non-injury. 

Fine.

Instead I will revel in my good fortune.

Usually, I decide that it's time to get back into shape (read: It's March, Christmas has made my pants tight and the weather is cooperating with my love of running) and I go from 0 to 60.  It's the I sit on my ass all winter and then start running 3-4 times a week plan.  Genius, I tell you.

What are the consequences of this crazy? First my right knee goes.  It creaks and it cracks and it aches getting out of bed in the morning.  I start icing it, taking advil and complaining.  Then, the left one goes.  I compensate for the right knee pain with the left when I run which causes them both sadness.  More advil, more icing, more whining. Finally my left hip joins the group.  It pangs, and it twang and it seizes.  There is not enough advil, ice and patient husbands to get me to run once the hip goes out.  Getting out of bed is a serious task.  This is the quitting point.  I give up on my exercise, my diet and reacquaint my butt with my couch.

It takes a number of weeks (usually like 8) to complete this sequence.  By then I have lost the Christmas weight and am perfectly happy to drink away my troubles in the May sunshine.

Something has happened.  Something odd.

Nothing hurts.

I've been running hard-core for more than enough time for my right knee to freak-the-hell-out.  I have been exercising 5-7 times A WEEK.  There should be creaking and cracking and aching.  Nothing.  Nada.  Not a single complaint.

Alright, what about the rest of the cycle?

My left hip did go.  Two weeks ago when I ran 16.5 after I did Level 3 of The 30 Day Shred not my smartest plan.....  I started to take it easy.  No more doubling up.  I listened to my body when it hurt (ie, modifying some of the exercises to take the strain off my hip) and Ta! Da! It got better.

I ran 16.5 km again this afternoon and.... wait for it.... nothing.  I felt great.  I found myself running up hills and only realizing that I should be huffing and puffing once I was at the top.

(Actually, with one exception.  I doubt I will ever make it up this hill  without wishing a car would come over the top and hit me on its way down.

It's on Wilmot between Conservation and Wideman if you ever want to visit!!)

Past long runs have driven me first to the fridge and secondly back to bed for a nap.  No longer! I can run for well over an hour and continue on with my day.

I have puzzled over the change.  Is it Jillian?  Am I building up all my supporting muscles?  Did I start out running slow enough? Maybe it's my running shoes (it's not the shoes... I had them this time last year.).

When push comes to shove? I don't care why this change came about. I'm just pleased that it did. I don't hurt.  My body is stronger and I am happier.

Calorie Counting Complaints

Having declared my intentions to count calories for realsies this week in my weigh-in post, I thought it was about time to complain about this undertaking.

Holy hell is keeping track of everything you eat annoying.

How many calories are in the Swanson Family Salad Dressing? Um.... well.... what are the ingredients? In what quantities?

(Insert picture of me here surrounded by my computer, the iPad, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, a bottle of balsamic vinegar, the maple syrup, the grainy dijon, with 16 different tabs open in firefox, one of which google-ing the calories in a frickin' clove of garlic. Because, dude, the nutrition site doesn't have fresh garlic in their database)

Good news? I can answer my own question.


For just over a tablespoon of dressing (15.6mL), it will cost me 59.2 calories.

Worse was calculating my portion of the pizza we had for dinner last night.

Pizza Dough (82 g): 312 cal
Cracker Barrell Mozzarella Cheese (1.5 oz): 148 cal
Sauce (30 g Salsa + 30 g Chili Sauce): 53 cal
Baby Spinach (0.5 oz): 3 cal
Caramelized Onions (1 g): 1 cal
Mushrooms (42.5 g): 9 cal
Goat Cheese (0.5 oz): 39 cal

Grand Total: 565 cal

I burned half of those calories running around figuring out the breakdown. Or, at least, it felt like it!

Also, my kitchen scale has moved up in the world. It's lowly home in the cupboard has been eschewed for a brand new countertop locale.

Nothing goes into my mouth without first being weighed, measured or researched. It makes eating more like a chore than I think it should be. I love to eat.... and now it's so much work!

There are, however, some excellent side effects.

1. I have been overestimating most of my food. Smoothies? Not 500 calories. Only 285. Woot.

2. I am much more careful about what I eat. There are no more careless foods slipping past my lips. A chip off the kids' plates? Hells no. I would have to figure out its damn calorie count. So not happening.

3. I am on track calorie-wise. I am aiming to run a 500 calorie deficit every day (1 lb per week weight loss). I am running a deficit on top of my deficit. Hurrah. Take that 130 lb plateau.

All in all, this is going to be one of those endeavours that I'm glad I did but I hated doing. Or, I'm going to screw it all and start buying pre-packaged meals with it all worked out already!!

Krista's Graph

This is roughly the graph Krista was talking about towards the end of her post.


The effort to enter calories tapers off as all your common food is entered, and in time you'll hit a constant low rate of foods you haven't entered into the system coming up in your day to day eating.

Also, on a separate note, Krista just jumped up saying "I can just figure this out empirically!" as she ran off to get the kitchen scale. She's telling me the alternate ways to figure out how much a muffin weighs. You know what's tricky? Telling how much a muffin weighs when you have a whole bunch of muffins and a scale.

Also, says Krista: "The math was true!".

Week 6: Weigh-in and Exercise

Starting weight: 133lbs
Last week's weight: 131lbs
Current weight: 130lbs
Pounds to goal: 5
Exercise: 47km Running
2 Days 30 Day Shred. One of those days I did levels 3, 2 and 1 back to back.

This week was a gong show. Between snack day, hosting my family twice and brunch at my mother's it's been a dieting nightmare. However, for the first time ever at a family event, I declined alcohol. Huzzah! I also skipped the chips AND the dessert. To my great surprise, I still had an excellent time. It will make saying no the next time much easier.

I have downloaded a fitness/calorie counter app for my iPad to keep track of the calories I am actually consuming (compared to estimating!). This will be the week that I start keeping track. Last night we had a salad that I originally estimated to be 500 calories. Thanks to nutritiondata.self.com, it has been officially calculated to be only 288 calories . With goat cheese and everything!

The NutritionData website is excellent for determining (and remembering) the number of calories in all your usual non-pre-packaged meals. It has a "my recipes" section in which you can input all of your ingredient separately and it will regurgitate a food label (like you would find on anything from the store) about your meal.

I'm not looking forward to breaking down everything I eat this week but (as Scott says) the graph of the work over time of this project will start out very high but tail off very quickly. If I knew how to put a picture of said graph in blogger, I would, I swear.

Soon I will start posting the calories I eat every day. Or, at the very least, some of the recipes of what I'm eating!

Week 5: Weigh-in and Exercise

Starting weight: 133lbs
Last week's weight: 135lbs
Current weight: 131lbs
Pounds to goal: 6
Exercise: 36.5km Running
6 Days 30 Day Shred

Ha! It was the bloating!! Hurrah!!

I am happy to be back to normal.

Shannon noticed today that when I jumped she could see my abs under my skin (although, now that I consider it, what does it say about my skin that it moves so liberally when I jump?!?). Regardless, it seems as though Jillian is working. Makes all the grunting, groaning and trying not to die worthwhile.

Not surprisingly, I have (finally) made it to Level 3. I thought Level 2 was evil but it doesn't hold a candle to Level 3. I am "supposed" to be through with The Shred on Thursday. That will make 30 days of torture. However, I have decided that I will continue on until I feel about Level 3 as I did about Levels 1 and 2 before I moved up. This could take a while.......

Jillian has become such a normal event in our family that one day the boys decided to a workout on their own. I had put in my time with Jillian earlier (they refuse to do anything over Level 1 with me. It's too hard..... they claim. Bah, I say!). I will leave you with a video clip of the ridiculousness:

Week 4: Weigh-in and Exercise

Starting weight: 133lbs
Last week's weight: 131lbs
Current weight: 135lbs
Exercise: 47km Running
7 Days 30 Day Shred plus 2 bonus 30 Day Shred workouts. Can't get enough Jillian 'round here!

This was my official Monday weigh-in. I'm just a smidge behind in getting it online.

Right. So it looks like I've gained 4lbs in a week where when you add it all up I ran more than a marathon! As if.

Notably, my period started on Tuesday and I've noticed a steady decline in de-bloatification. Phew.

I'm also experiencing the OMG what have you done to me, you haven't worked out in over a week and then you think you can ramp up like that? Hells no! body freak out. I'm not overly concerned.

I have been (mostly) on point with my diet and definitely getting in the exercise.

The pounds, they will come off. Eventually!

(Role) Modeling

The Childhood Obesity Foundation tells me that 59% of Canadian adults are either overweight or obese. Statistics Canada has published that for 2010, 26% of children fall into the same category.

Seriously? One out of four children are overweight or obese?

It is less surprising considering the circumstances. Those adults, over half of whom are struggling with weight themselves, are role models for their children. It's not too hard to follow that if you're being fed the same food that made your mom or dad heavy that you might be heavy too.

It's an epidemic. People are dying earlier than the previous generation due to their inability to manage their weight.

Our bodies aren't made for a world of plenty. We are meant to survive famines, to make it through the lean winters and plump up during summers of bounty. No one should be shocked that we can't manage endless food options and high calorie deliciousness!

What are we doing about it?

We are having a diet challenge! You can't change anyone but yourself. Such is the way of the world. But you can influence people through your actions. We are modeling for our friends and families that it can be done. And there is something to be said for peer pressure!

And, as a side effect, I am modeling for my children.

I have always felt strongly about doing rather than teaching. Let me tell you how much a seven year old cares about how many calories are in their food.... oh, wait.... I can't even find that amount if I examine it under a microscope, it's so small. I can talk about the health benefits of exercise until I am blue in the face, but it will never make them start to do push-ups or jumping jacks on their own. Nevergonnahappen.

I can serve them good portion sizes. And I can let them have cake and chips and cookies and junk sometimes. Because it's all about balance.

I exercise because I like it and because it's good for me. It's also something the boys know about grow-ups. They run. Mama runs, Daddy runs, Uncle Robert runs, Auntie Breanna runs, Naomi runs, Tyler runs, Grandma and Grandpa run.... everyone runs. It's just something people do. Like going to work and sleeping at night.

I've always wondered if my method of living out the life I'd like them to have, and modeling all the behaviours I'd like them to know would work. Will it make them into active adults? Will they like healthy food because it's what they're always eaten?

So far, so good.




(Pictures: Inaugural Father-Son run. 2km. March 11 2012)

Strong and Powerful

My mother and I accompanied Melba to her Iron Ring Ceremony. It was a moment of pride for me (for sure), for Melba (no kidding) and for my mother.




After the ceremony there were photos (how could there not be!). In the same building, at the same time, there was a meeting of some sort. Clearly I wasn't in Guelph to attend said meeting, however I couldn't help but catch the tail end of the presentation.

A panel of women were sharing the moments in their lives in which they knew they were Stong and Powerful Women. The empowerment of the young women in the audience appeared to be the goal.

It made me think. When in my life have I felt like a Strong and Powerful Woman?

As I have delved into my past I have come up with some of those moments.

1. Graduation from University
2. Henry's Birth
3. Running and getting to run (ie succeeding with the fundraising) the 1/2 marathon last year

Seriously? Not getting married? No. What about the birth of my other children? No. Not even when I donated eggs to an infertile couple? No.

Why the hell not?

At every Strong and Powerful point in my life I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it. I let Failure waltz me onto the dance floor and twirl me until I was dizzy. Then I found my feet and took the lead.

It was the shit-your-pants risk that made those moments shine. The sun cutting through the storm to say "Yes, you are strong! You can do anything!".

Those are moments that have shaped me, forged me and strengthened me. Made me who I am today.

I am nearly convinced that finishing this challenge is going to be the fourth moment on my list. I will have done it. Something I never thought that I would be able to do. And it will be amazing.

Goal Summary

An update on the Challenge Details!

End Date: May 25th

Financial Consequence: $250

Goals:

Krista
Starting Weight: 133lbs
Goal Weight: 125lbs
(Lose 8lbs)

Batgirl
Starting Weight: 136.9lbs
Goal Weight: 130lbs
(Lose 6.9lbs)

Melba

Emily
Lose 16lbs

Breanna
Run 5 km in under 35 min.
Lose 5 lbs of baby weight.
Do 5 sets of 5 pushups in under 5 minutes.

Michelle
Lose 10lbs in total....so 2 more to go.
Get symmetrical leg muscles.
Drop a dress size and pant size!
Eat more protein, like 30% of my daily total.
Do weight workout 5x a week, at a minimum 3x.
Tone up and not get skinny fat!
Yoga or Pilates once a week
Complete 150 workouts by the end!
Eat 1500 calories a day

"Before" Pictures

Lisa here (in the blue). So, these are our starting shots, (although it would have been smarter to take them three or four weeks ago), but there is much more improvement yet to come! I realize now that toning is very important to me! When Jillian tells us to do jumping jacks, I really hate feeling all the loose skin and fat jiggling! The only thing that should jiggle is being held in by a bra!

Hello friends! This is Krista.  I invited Lisa to impromptu dinner which morphed into impromptu Being Tortured by my friend Jillian.  Once we were garbed in workout gear it seemed clever to take some "before" pictures (Thank you Breanna for the suggestion!).

The things I have (already) learned from the photos are:

a) My scary fat is not nearly as scary as I thought it was.  Hurrah!
b) Toning is also my friend.  Running is great, but working with the weights will probably make a huge difference.
c) Taking ridiculous pictures of your slightly imperfect body with your friend is hilarious! 
I heartily agree with this!

Front to start...

Back...

Side...

This is my most hated spot... I hate the overhang at the front of the pants! And the most comfortable low-rise jeans hit me right where it shows the most!

Is it wrong to hope that the out-jutting is caused by lunch? Or bloating?

This is what happens when Jillian tells you to lean forward and stretch!

Stomach issues compounded!

I swear this looks way worse when I'm looking down at it! It definitely looks worse than Jillian's!

This is what happens during push-ups and planks! Gah!

Evil target areas...

If only you could spot burn fat! My childhood nickname... Thunder-thighs!

I can't help thinking my stomach grab looks like a cinnamon donut.  That's probably because I'm hungry!

 

 
 
Hopefully by the end of the challenge there will be nothing but muscle tone underneath the skin we grab!

**Note: If you have to grab the fat to show people that you have fat, you don't really have fat.  It's similar to my current problem of "My fancy coffee maker is on the fritz and isn't making good foam! Wah!".  We get it. But in regards to the challenge it will be nice to have these pictures for reference.  The hard work will pay off and we will have proof!!!

Week 3: Weight-in and Exercise

Starting weight: 133lbs
Last week's weight: 132lbs
Current weight: 131lbs
Exercise:

No exercise this week. The evil vomit thing took over my life. Just when I thought things were getting back to normal, someone else would start barfing (*cough cough SCOTT cough*).

Today is the day. The day I start focusing. No more but life is too stressful alcohol. No more but my tummy is still unhappy skipping out on exercise. No more but I have to get caught up on the house work, but I am too busy, but I just don't feel like it excuses. I'm done.

The things I will be doing to help myself be successful:

1. All the tempting alcohol needs to leave the freezer where it taunts me. To the garage fridge you go!

2. Stop scheduling social engagements when I should be running and/or being tortured by Jillian. This is a priority.

3. Food planning. I need to have low calories food options that are ready to eat when I start to have a hunger meltdown. It's too easy to shove 20 crackers with cream cheese down my gullet without thinking when I crash. I already have a good number of breakfast options (smoothie, I'm looking at you!), but I will make some healthy soups to have ready at hand.

Only 6 pounds left to go!! Although, breaking into the 120s is always a tricky thing for me. My body has a hard time letting go!! Wish me luck!

Week 2: Weigh-in and Exercise

Starting weight: 133lbs
Last week's weight: 136lbs
Current weight: 132lbs
Exercise: Running 17kms
7 days of The 30 Day Shred

Hmmm... you have to say that on the surface this weeks' results are a little insane. What you don't know is that I happened to have fallen victim to The Evil Vomit Illness of 2012. So, despite the lack of exercise (sick children really do get in the way of running outside!) I have lost much weight this week. It's probably because I spent all of Sunday night not-throwing-up, all of Monday sleeping (read: and not eating), and most of Tuesday sleeping (read: again not eating).

Today is my first day back to real meals. All I have managed for the whole day is a small bowl of yogurt, one muffin and 5/8th of a bean meal. Oh, right, and 1/2 cup of coffee. It turns out that I'm not quite ready for coffee. Extra sad for me.

Tomorrow will be my first day back to being a real person. I haven't so much missed Jillian, but I am glad that things are getting back to normal. There is a chance that I will wake-up pathetic and push her off to tomorrow. Oh, the excitement of my young (ok, fine, kinda old) life!

If nothing else, my close brush with death vomit helped me avoid all my usual coping mechanisms of dealing with the children puking their guts out. I was able to dump all the barf (literally and figuratively) on Scott due to being out for count in my own right. Between not eating and not coping, things on the diet front have been great.

I highly doubt that I will be able to maintain this week's 4lbs weight loss once I am back to being a regular non-sick person. But nevertheless, I am off the hate for my scale for this week!

When life gets in the way.......

I have no good answer for this problem. Sometimes life gets in the way of my diet.

Right now it's illness. The children are falling victim to an Evil Barf Thing. Technically this turn of events shouldn't truly sabotage my dieting tactics. I am unable to get out and run (sick kids = kids home from school) but otherwise my previously scheduled Eating Right and Killing Myself With Jillian should remain intact.

Ha.

It isn't the illness, it's the anxiety. I just cannot handle puke. Know how some people are just too scared to fly? Yeah, that would be me and vomit. We are seriously incompatible.

How do I cope with the stress? Comfort food (bean meal anyone? Mr. Noodle I know, NOT food! candy), alcohol and lots and lots of tv. What? Me? Hiding from my problem? Hells yes.

I am under the impression that I should handle this differently. A little voice in the back of my head yells that I could channel my anxiety into fuel for the fire. Run farther. Exercise harder. Cook insanely complicated healthy meals.

Between the stress of my phobia and the guilt for my coping mechanisms I feel like I'm failing. Failing as a parent. Being close to my boys scares me (OMG, the horror of just the idea of being puked ON. Holy hell.). Failing as a wife. Scott bears the brunt of the work involved in Vomit Triage. Failing as a friend. I have to cancel on everyone all the time. Failing myself. I can't even manage to stick to my friggin' diet.

When I start to throw myself this Super Amazing Pity Party (wanna come? You know you do!) I have to remember that I'm human. It's ok to be flawed. Yes, vomit scared the bujeezus out of me. Yes, that's dumb. So what? So what if I cheat on my diet to get through it? I'm getting through it and that's what counts.

Next week will be better.

Week 1: Weigh-in and Exercise

Starting Weight: 133 lbs
Today's Weight: 136 lbs
Exercise: 40km running
6 days of Phase 1 of The 30 Day Shred

Dear Scale:

Bite me.

Love Krista

It always happens when I ramp-up my workouts. I gain weight. This is probably the 6th or 7th data point confirming this trend. Next week will be worse. I don't know why..... water retention? My body freaking right the f**k out because it thinks I have decided to starve myself? Muscle growth?

Bah. All I can say for sure is that it is incredibly discouraging. At the very least I am not altogether surprised considering my history, but still. I am hungry. I ran forty freaking kilometers in 7 days (which is about 4000 calories burnt. I'm just sayin'). Plus working out every day with Jillian.

It makes a girl think nice sweet thoughts about liposuction. So easy! So simple! Much less painful (ish)! Maybe if I spent all the time I spend running, exercising and preparing healthy meals working I could even afford it!!! Too bad I'm incredibly against plastic surgery for myself. If you want a boob job.... go right ahead! But for myself, I would be haunted by the shame of not being able to do it myself. The right way. The healthy way. The free way! Oh, right, and the way that saves me from heart disease.

The good news? (Hey, I'm optimistic by nature, there is always good news!) I am seeing the results of the exercise. My abs are more apparent, I can do.... wait for it..... 19 push-ups in a row (I know! And not the Woman Push-ups. Honest-to-goodness push-ups. For reference, I started last Tuesday at 12. So there Jillian! Huzzah!). I am running 10km for my "short" run in lieu of 7 or 8km.

I am stronger and faster. And, sadly, heavier.

Only 11 more pounds to my goal weight. Here I come. Kinda.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours

If you are ever interested in losing weight you will find yourself battling your vices.

My top ten (in no particular order) diet unfriendly demons

1. Candy

Oh how I love candy. Not chocolate. Candy in particular. In all of it's delicious sugary forms.


I ate a whole Costco sized bag of Kirkland Jelly Bellies over the Christmas Vacation. Because, dude, I was on vacation! Too bad I'm paying for it now.....

2. Vodka


Screwdrivers, Caesars, Vanilla Vodka and Coke, Martinis....... I haven't found a single variation of a vodka drink that I don't like!

3. Pasta

This is a secret weakness. Even to myself at times. I hardly ever eat pasta, I rarely serve pasta, but I almost always order it at a restaurant. As a treat. I can't seem to manage the correct portion sizes when it comes to this delicious carbohydrate. And creamy sauces...... don't even get me started. I think my favourite meal in the whole world (if you factor out the guilt for eating it) is Fettuccine Alfredo with Caesar salad and bread. Dear God, I'm salivating just thinking about it.

4. TV

Huh, didn't know that TV was a dietary vice did you! It so is. What am I doing when I should be working out? Or when I should be taking the time to prepare a healthy meal? Yup, watching the boob tube. I'm in extra trouble now that we have Netflix. So many episodes to watch.....



5. Manners

Seriously, you haven't thought of this? My good manners can do some serious harm to my diet.

"Oh, no, I would not like a slice of birthday cake that you lovingly prepared in honour of this person I also adore. I'm on a diet."

Yeah, because that conversation is never awkward.

Or how about:

"Thank you for making me this lovely meal but could you possibly tell me how many calories there are per serving? How about I only have half?"

Again, super fun.

Honestly, for the most part, I hate using a celebration as an excuse to ruin my diet. Do you have any idea how far I have to run to burn off that dessert I didn't even want to eat?

I have yet to figure out how to manage this issue. Sigh.

6. Embarrassment

I absolutely loathe telling people I'm on a diet. Mostly because their reaction is always as follows:

"But why? You're so thin already."

What do I say at this point? Um, wanna see my fat jiggle when I jump?

I would rather just eat junk in front of them to avoid the issue.

This one is my own dumb fault and I will strive to do better.

7. Sleep

I can't say which I prefer, sleep or coffee. My incredibly drive to be reunited with my bed comes with several costs. One of them is interference with my diet.

This is very similar to my love of tv. What am I doing when I should be working on working out? Sometimes napping. Oh, napping, you are my favourite. You make me so happy. I will always (always always always) chose a nap or to sleep-in over exercise. ALWAYS (I really can't emphasize this enough).

Getting up early in the morning to sneak in a run? Ha. Never going to happen.

8. The Pre-Dinner Hunger Attack

Oh dear Lord am I ever a sucker for this issue. It has been far too long since lunch and dinner is not nearly soon enough. I might die. Waste away into nothingness.

So I wait. I know I shouldn't snack. And I wait. As I descend into insane hunger induced foul temper, I continue to wait. Until, finally, in a fit of grumpiness I cave and get a snack. By this time I've surpassed hunger into crazy feeding frenzy mode and eat waaaay too much of whatever it is that is supposed to be tiding me over until dinner.

I know how to solve this problem. No, I really do. I am just too dumb to do it. It's simple. Ready?

Have a snack before I go insane.

Told you, easy peasy.

Except, not. I'm not sure what it is about that time of day that makes me stupid. I hate caving and giving in to my need for a snack. So I wait until it's too late. Every. Single. Day.

I shouldn't be allowed to be in charge of myself.

9. Mayonnaise

What's not to love about mayo? It's friendly on sandwiches, burgers, french fries.... it's akin to cheese and salt, it makes everything better! Too bad it's 100 calories per tablespoon. Wah.

10. Beverages with meals

Who can eat eggs for breakfast without a glass of orange juice? Or a burger without coke? Honestly people, non-water beverages make meals oh-so-much better! (Especially if you add vodka to them!!). It pains me to know that when I add even a small glass of orange juice to my meal I'm upping my caloric intake by 100 calories.

This is one of the first things I put back into my diet when I'm done losing weight.


And that, my friends, is the end of the list. Your turn(s)!

Working on working out

Some news:

1. Two of us have officially picked our goals.


2. We have a fourth "contestant" (yes, that's right, contestant should be in quotation marks because we are truly on competing against ourselves/the scale.) My seriously sweet cousin!


3. We are very close to sorting out the financial consequence of failure. E-mail me, people!

Once everything is finalized I will post a summary.

Now that that is out of the way..... what am I doing to get skinny?

Funny you should ask!

I have decided (among many other thinifying measures) to finally complete Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.



I have started and abandoned this dvd on a number of occasions. I have never even seen Phase Three because, dude, when you can't lift your arms after Phase 1, want to puke after skipping to Phase 2 because it haaaaaas to be easier. Anything is easier than Phase 1., Phase 3 is just too frightening to contemplate. Hells No.

Right, so after mustering all of my courage (read: stupidity) I decided that if I was finally going to give hitting my goal weight a go, I might as well go all the way down Dumb Lane.

Today was Day 3 of 30. The good news? I am able to lift my arms above my head again! Hurrah! The bad news? Oh. My. God. I still have 27 days of this hell. Also, my butt is KILLING me. I would have thought that running would have toned my tushy.... turns out no. I have sad. I tried sitting on the keyboard so that my rear could complain for itself but all that happened was a Great Mushing of The Keys that I'm pretty sure that only others butts could decipher. With that in mind I will translate.

OUCH!!!!!

Also:

STOP DOING THIS TO ME!!!

My bum is pretty vocal. Just like the rest of me!

I would like to think that three days in I am getting stronger. It's really hard to say for sure. I am definitely starting to loathe Jillian. She and I have a very strange love/hate relationship. I hate her for 20 minutes a day when she is on my tv, I love her the other 23 hours and 40 minutes. She doesn't know I exist. I told you, strange.

If WHEN I get to Phase Two I will let you know! Also, if any of you are dumb enough willing, you are welcome to join me!!

Not a New Year's Resolution. It's a Challenge, people!

This is the Great Weight Loss Challenge of 2012! This is how it works:

1. Goal weight is selected
2. Time line is agreed upon
3. Consequences are scary enough to keep everyone in line
4. Off we go!!!

The idea isn't to win or beat anyone else. The purpose of the challenge is to motivate the competitors. The consequences are dire enough to keep you from your favourite ice cream snack. The ideal outcome is for all of us to lose our weight.

For example, if the consequence is paying $100, if you don't hit your weight loss goal you must cough up $100 bucks. If the other people did hit their goals then they share your moneys and rejoice. If they didn't, they also cough up their big bucks and feel very sad. If no one meets their ideal weight the money goes straight to charity.

Here's the deal. There is myself (Everyday Superhero), one of my closest friends and my wonderfully hilarious cousin trying to get down to our goal weights. Finally. I don't know about the other two (actually I do, mostly) but I have NEVER hit my ideal weight. Well, not since I was morphing from child to adult, and seriously, it didn't really count.

To keep myself and the other girls in line we've firmed up the above criteria. Okay, fine, two of us have firmed up the criteria. I'll get right on sending that e-mail. As soon as I'm done here. Then I will post the facts of the challenge.

The secondary Keep You Honest plan is (obviously) this blog. All three of us can post. At the very least we will be posting our progress throughout the challenge. It can take any form (ie. For those of us who are hobos (you know who you are!) there might only be sporadic weight updates). Considering my ridiculous penchant for communication, I will be updating weekly (at least!) with my weight, probably a picture of my fat (or lack there of! Hopefully!) and much complaining about the exercise in which I am forced to partake. You have been warned!

Welcome to the challenge.