Bike Ireland!

Very enjoyable - and I'm not at all kidding using those words - biking 30 miles in Ireland a few days ago. 

I was able to go the distance and even hit a few new high speed records. I was not in the back of the pack :)

Non-scale Victory.

Take care;

Teresa Marie

My Active Holiday

Did you have a good Thanksgiving Holiday? I took off to spend the week near Snow Canyon State Park in Utah. It was a very very A-C-T-I-V-E vacation! 

And I loved every minute of it. Even when I wiped out on my bike going off road in the sand - it was fun! Doing things I had never done or rarely done. Challenging myself. Feeling strong. 

Thanksgiving Day Hike - 2015

It was the perfect way to celebrate the year. 

This shot above was from our last hike of the week. Scrambling up and over the sandstone to watch the sunrise into the canyon. Breathtaking (multiple meanings :) )




Onto the numbers for the week...

Triathlete (Sort of!)

About a year ago when I met the folks at Five Seasons Health Club, they asked me what I wanted to accomplish in a year. What was my goal? I didn't have anything in mind - other than sticking with the program. At the end of the year I I wanted to do something that would challenge me, but I didn't want to "train" for an event. 

So I searched for some physical activity in which to participate - challenging, interesting, something I didn't have to turn my life over to make work.

Then while on vacation and meeting a truly amazing group of women who have achieved so much and transformed their lived. I was inspired. 

Teresa, Patty, Michelle - Green Valley, Utah 

Earlier this week it dawned on me that I had already been training. Duh! This whole year has been just that - 2/week trainer session and multiple weekly cardio. I was in pretty good shape! I could create my own challenge event. Why not? 

Thus the New Leaf Triathlon was born. I decided that in one day I would complete the activities of a Sprint Distance event - a 750-meter swim, a 20 milometer bike, and a 5K run. Albeit not in that order nor back to back. 

I'm happily OVERWEIGHT!

... can that be right? How can someone be happy to be overweight? Perspective baby! It's all about perspective!

Choose the term - overweight or obese. I think obese is a subset of overweight. All obese people are overweight, but not all overweight people are obese. 

I was one of them - coming in at (probably more than) 257# on a 5'2.5" frame... that's Very Severely Obese. Having looked at the scale from on high - getting into the range of being "overweight" would be a major accomplishment! And so happy to say that as of this week, I've lost 93 pounds! That's since last December (approx 10.5 months) I'm overweight and I'm ecstatic! 

Next step - hit 100 pound loss and then it's on to "normal."

One of the excellent impacts of working out and eating right - is being a much smaller size person. I have blogged before about getting into a new size of clothing. For the inquisitive male reader of my blog - this is for you :)

12 Mile Bike Ride - Weekly Summary

Ride Ataxia - July, 2015

Every now and then something exceptional happens. 

Today's Non-Scale Victory - completing a 12 mile bike ride in support of good cause.  Perfect weather, awesome location, and a great group to ride together. I surprised myself. Plus I didn't even mind about wearing those silly bike shorts and shirt (well not too much!)

Here is a shot of me crossing the line at the end of the race! I had lost track of the distance and was surprised to be at the end - I thought there were a few more miles to go. That was such a great feeling; to not be exhausted. 

Everyone was in such great spirits and I met really great people. Lots of inspiration around each turn.  Many people have challenges in their lives, that I can work to overcome my issues with weight is a blessing. 

Biking - part of my new routine. Never would have guessed that. 

What I need from you to help me be successful...

They say that change is hard and the having a strong support network is critical to sustained life choice adjustments. 

After trying many diets and exercise programs or having them thrust upon me (by parents or loved ones) I'm taking steps to ask for and get the support I need.  As you can see by the picture to the right, I've had a long history of being over weight. Even at this age (6-7 years old) I was being told what to eat. 

Chubbie Girl - circa 6-7 years old

Now much older (and maybe wiser) I'm in charge of my destiny. A step I took last year was to apply to the "Be a Loser" contest at Five Seasons Club. It was challenging to go into a room and discuss how I arrived at being morbidly obese and what I was willing to do to turn a new leaf. One of the key questions asked was "Do you have a support network?" The answer is yes!

Do you have someone in your life who is looking to make a big change and you might be asking yourself 'How do I support someone on a diet or who needs to lose weight?" Are you looking to help those around you be better supporters? Well here's my guide (Part 1) to what I'm looking for in my support network. 

Applications being accepted online :)  This is just my perspective - it might not be right for everyone.  

7 Months - 70 pounds!

6 Months - 60 pound weight loss
You Can Do It!

Last December I turned over a new leaf to make healthy choices in my life, for life. In January 2015, I started with the "Be A Loser" program at Five Seasons Club.  Since then I have been on a journey - eating right, moving it to lose it.

The result has been a loss of over 70 pounds. That's ~60 pounds since January 2, 2015! YEAH! 

I use an App that tracks activity and weight. The chart at the right is my trajectory since the first of the year. My current weight is down 3 more pounds since I snapped this photo - but you can see DOWN IS GOOD!

So lucky that I haven't really plateaued yet - but it feels like more work now for every pound lost. 

Let me put this in context:

Exercise - will you ever be my friend?

I got up early this morning and stepped on the scale in my own home, This whole year I have only been using the scale at Five Seasons. It was good news. I should have a good weigh in later this week. Can it be that I've lost nearly 70 pounds since December 2014???

So the secret to success - eat right and move more!

Sweating Hands -
Great workout

I've been eating right and I've been exercising wrong. Well to be totally honest, I haven't been exercising wrong, perhaps not enough lately to meet my year end goal.  

The exercises that were once working to elevate my heart rate are no longer sufficient. When I was over 250# a leisurely walk would put me into near cardiac arrest. The thought of walking 10K steps a day seemed like a marathon. Now I can walk for hours and miles at a slow pace without breaking a sweat. I average over 10K steps a day, near 13-14K and on a busy day can be over 25K steps!

Big changes ahead....

It's been a great week! I decided to hit it again and as a result I feel so much better and the numbers show that. The elliptical is becoming less challenging. This week I was listening to music and working out on the elliptical when my trainer came up along side and said hello.   This I learned later because according to him, I didn't even notice that he was there and just kept on moving it! Now that is focused :)

The big change this week is saying adios to my trainer. Good-bye and a big THANK YOU for supporting me this far in my new leaf journey.  Here is a two-up photo with side-by-side of our first week working out and the last one. Note - smiling faces, we were a good team.  I'm going to assume that he's not happy to be leaving me - but proud of the success. Also note - Goodbye Double Chin! Five Seasons and my trainers have helped me drop 53 pounds so far this year - and it shows. 

Teresa's New Leaf - 5 Month Progress

One-derland - 58 pounds in 6 months

So happy this morning to have the scale dip below the 200 mark! I was at the health club with my trainer and was shocked to be under 200 - as I'd weighed in just a few days ago at 202. We usually one weigh in once a week - I guess we just had a feeling that today would be the day.

One-derland; aka <200# May, 2015

He gave me a high-five and I then turned to all the people working out and shouted 199!!! The other trainers gave me high fives - the men looked at me as if to say "what you're proud of that?" and in response I gave them the look that said 'HELL YES!" I've been working hard for this!
I'm almost halfway to my goal. I need to evaluate if the goal is realistic. I picked it because that weight will put me cleanly into the "average" BMI range. My weight loss has started to slow down - maybe because for the past month I've been a tad more focused on work and on my regime. None the less - I'm on track to have a great year turning over a new leaf!

Beautiful Day for a 10K !

Today was an exciting day - on the one hand because I did my first 10K, on the other hand because I reaffirmed my commitment to turning over a new leaf. 

The 10K was at the Morton Arboretum which is about 50 minutes from my house. The projections for the day included chilly temperatures and lots of rain. The thought of now going passed through my head many times - especially as everyone that was going with me backed out one by one.  Then it occurred to me that my desire to do this 10K was my choice, me decision, my goal, my journey. So I got up at dawn and got out to the site. I arrived early enough to eat my tofu/yogurt in the car :) I watched many people eagerly stretch out and prep for their run! Young, old, tall, short, lean, fat, and me - obese. Really what was I doing here - there was no way I was going to "run", all I wanted to do was finish. 

I started out walking as fast as I could, then something amazing happened. I decided to jog. Yes, jog as much as I could.  Why the H### not? I've lost weight, I've been training, I'm capable! I was jogging! The people along the pathway cheering were motivational. The other people who were alternating between fast walking and jogging were inspirational too. 

Busy Day - Cleaning is Great Exercise! Week 14 Summary

Since I've turned over a new leaf I'm getting spoiled - every week this year (so far) has resulted in some weight loss. Thanks to Five Season's Be A Loser Program - making good choices is having results for me!

Yesterday the weather was so nice it spurred me into action - spring cleaning. When I went to bed on Friday night I made a list of all the things I wanted to get done on Saturday - one of them was exercise. However, I never did take a break to "exercise" as I decided that all the running around, lifting laundry, bending to clean under things, etc. was a workout! I was moving continuously from 7:30AM until I sat down for dinner at 5PM.  My busiest day ever!

The more blue the more action
- over 10 hours Active!

New today in steps-
without taking a walk!

Shaking my Chronic Aches and Pains

Today is a good day because I feel like I am finally shaking all my weight-induced aches and pains! Also I woke up this morning thinking how nice it is to be pain-free (OK maybe pain light) from my lingering Plantar fasciitis and bad hip. It makes me laugh that each workout I have with my trainer, he starts by saying something like "what hurts today?"

Have you ever mapped your aches and pains and assigned a potential cause? Below is my chart - I'm noticing now that I've left left knee off the list... sad little sign post of what carrying extra weight and being inert can impact. 

Health Benefits - from the inside out!

With a focus on getting fit this year - I had a check-up with my doctor before starting my nutrition and exercise plan. Part of this was full set of blood work. Not surprising there were two measures that my Doctor was not pleased with - my cholesterol level (and particle size) and my Vitamin D level. 

30% reduction in LDL via Diet and Exercise!

My Cholesterol level and mix was way off - honestly it has been all of my adult life as far as I know.  It is common, maybe even inevitable that LDL, my bad cholesterol, would be in unhealthily high. I would say it's familial hypercholesterolemia, but whatever the reason, I have to get it under control. I would routinely see total cholesterol levels in the 300's - where the target is 200 or less. I have not wanted to take daily medication and I wasn't sure what I could achieve with diet and exercise alone.  

It was interesting that my cholesterol levels in January were the lowest I'd seen in a long time. That was 240 total - less than 300!. Then amazingly, the results from March were even lower. I was able to reduce the bad cholesterol by 30% - my total cholesterol was just 221! So close to "normal" range. Why is that?  

Balancing Work and Working Out - Week 9

How many people pledge each new years to be more active or lose weight. These are some of the most popular resolutions - however, analysis shows that just 8% of those that make new year's resolutions actually achieve them (and older adults achieve their goals less!). I am 64 days into the new year and my new leaf plan - living a healthier life. 

Two Months - 29 Pounds Lost!! 

If you read my back-story there are have several reasons for my commitment to start exercising and making better food choices. One reason I hadn't thought of was the "stress busting" power of exercise.  My workout schedule is time intensive and it's often hard to fit into the day. There are so many other things I could be doing with that 1 - 1.5 hours every single day. So the last thing I expected was that regular exercise has made getting life balance easier.

What's in a Number...20 Down and 18 on!

Photo Credit: Slate.com

Yesterday I spent the better part of the day cleaning house. Literally 5 hours picking up, rearranging, doing wash and the like. Not that my place was messy to begin with, on the contrary everyone always says I keep a clean house. However, there was a need to just get things put away, rearranged, and spruced up. It felt really good at the end of the day.

The best part was that I must have gone up and down the stairs to the 2nd floor, to the basement at least a dozen times. AND I DIDN'T GET WINDED EVEN ONCE!

And that my friends is a big accomplishment for me!