Brandice.net Blog

Since February 1st of this year, I’ve been working really hard and since this week is one where I’m feeling overwhelmed with how far I still have to go, I want to recap accomplishments, and also make a few observations.

Milestones so far:

1. I’ve lost 35 lbs in 17 weeks.
2. I now run up to 6 miles per week.
3. I’m down two sizes in tops, one size in pants.
4. I no longer have serious joint pain from exercise.
5. I’ve influenced at least three people to try a healthier life as well.

How life is different:

1. I’m going to be a bridesmaid in my friend Simi’s wedding, and being asked to be a bridesmaid didn’t make me want to curl up and cry at the thought of wearing a dress in front of people.

2. I can now out-endurance my husband on the track, running at least a full mile longer without stopping. Just a month or so ago, he was running a mile and I was gasping through a quarter mile before walking.

3. Right now, the main thing on my mind is completing a 5K on Memorial Day. If someone had predicted even four months ago that I’d be doing something like that EVER in my life, I would’ve laughed at them.

4. My face is significantly changed (one of the first places the weight loss became noticeable), my legs and butt are smoother, I have a butt that is SEPARATE from my thunder thighs and has a little lift to it again, and my arms fit into tops that I haven’t been able to wear in over a year.

5. Due to the changes listed in #4, I occasionally look in the mirror and like what I see. I still see a long road ahead, but I don’t want to just crawl in a dark invisible hole anymore when I catch a glimpse of myself. That’s huge for me.

6. I’m happier and I have more energy. Exercise and the simple fact that I’m carrying around less weight on this frame are both huge factors in how good I feel right now.

7. I think about every single edible item I aim at my face 24/7. I prioritize (“is this worth spending points on?”), I think about how the food will affect my next run, and I seldom waste points on more than one beer maybe once a month. AND IT’S EASY. Sure, it’s more math, but seriously… you can eat whatever you want as long as you portion and plan ahead.

8. Current before and after:

What I’ve learned so far:

1. Being vocal about what you’re working toward makes you more accountable. I talk about my weekly weigh-ins and my running to anyone who’s interested, knowing that if I fall off the wagon there will be a huge number of people who will at some point ask about my running or my continued weight loss and I will then have to explain myself. Really good deterrent. I try to announce my weight change weekly, and the reason I’m always posting my run stats is so that if they ever disappear, people will know something’s up and hold me accountable.

2. Genuinely succeeding at being a healthier person gets you noticed by people you don’t even know that well. People I barely know (and a couple I don’t know) at work have made comments about the change in my appearance, which is both startling and really, REALLY encouraging. A few people I know who have struggled with and are not currently winning the weight battle have been genuinely happy for me in how far I’ve come (and some of them have gotten back on board with their own wellness as a result). People can be surprisingly supportive in really amazing ways. :)

3. WeightWatchers is not a cult, or rather, if it is a cult I’m incredibly happy with being a member. I always scoffed at WW, but I’ve never stuck with any other plan this long, and it’s never been this easy to stick to a specific plan and steadily lose weight. I’m SO glad Laura talked it up to me when she was here in late January. It’s changed my life.

4. Not everyone will be happy for someone who’s succeeding at making genuine change in their life. It threatens the validity of a lot of people’s assertions that “it’s too hard,” or “I don’t have time,” or “once you’ve gained too much weight, you’re just going to be a heavy person for life” and I think that makes a lot of people nervous. For every cheerleader I have, there seems to be someone else in my life who won’t talk about my new way of living or who tries to find a way to belittle my success in innocent (or even blatant) ways. Seeing someone make a major life change and really stick with it is a threat to the idea that a person can’t change, can’t grow that much, can’t succeed at daunting tasks. People don’t always want to acknowledge that, and I think a few people in my life miss the Brandi who walked into a room and made the “fat ass” jokes about herself first so that no one else would make them. It doesn’t deter me, but it’s a really interesting development in this process.

5. I am capable of much more than I ever thought I was capable of, physically and in terms of willpower. I didn’t give myself enough credit when I was 115 pounds in high school and college, let alone once I’d grown much heavier, and now I’m pushing myself further than I’ve ever gone, and doing it with a lot more weight on my frame than when I was a skinny thing with no endurance and no strength. I am truly capable of whatever I get my ass in gear and try hard at, and I don’t think I’ve ever believed that like I do now.

I also believe that about YOU. There’s still time to go on this journey with me… are you ready? :)

So, Week 1 of Couch-to-5K has been completed by a previously quite sluggish and lazy Brandice. Yay! I did the last run/walk session last night and since I actually finished the first week, I took a big leap and signed up for a freakin’ 5K on Memorial Day.

At least a couple people are already on board to do it with me, including hubby. Do YOU (yes, you) want to join me? Even if you don’t sign up for THIS 5K race, sign up for one in your area on Memorial Day and let’s celebrate our new found fitness in late May! If I can run a 5K in May, there isn’t one of you reading this who has a good excuse for balking! ;)

Today’s workout consisted of: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

I embarked an EPIC journey this evening: I embraced the fact that I was now publicly committed to really sucked and, despite the fact that it almost killed me on Sunday, I put on some ratty clothes (LESS clothes than the ones that threatened to smother me two days before) and headed out into the cold anyway.

Actually doing Day 2 was a huge thing for me… HUGE.

I quickly realized that my brilliant new plan to try and listen to an audiobook while jogging was a truly shoddy one, given that I quickly degrades into a huffing, swearing ball of mindless crazy pants every time the jackass with the timer calmly tells me to “RUN.” through the hot pink children’s headphones I found that will fit my tiny, elvish ears.

I did not, however, know how to shut off the music on the C25k app, so I pointedly tried to ignore the audiobook while walking, and concentrated on hating the man with the timer.

Being just a tiny bit smarter this time, I did not run at breakneck speeds (or rather, speeds that seem very breakneck to MY fat ass), instead pacing myself so that I was able to walk a bit faster in between runs and run a bit steadier (and admittedly slower, BUT still running) between walks.

I stayed closer to home so as not to be abducted or lost or end up running uphill with the type of gravely unfortunate timing that befell me two nights ago.

AND, instead of crapping out five seconds before the running portions were over the last few times, I finished each running spurt and I put an extra few seconds into my last run.

It’s ON, stupid little man with a timer. You and I are going to battle this shit out. Bring it on, Day 3. BRING IT ON.

I had a really crazy idea today. I think, after almost 29 years of being a lazy ass who could never do a mile in gym class in under 15 minutes, that I am going to take up running in the very near future. I’m thinking specifically of doing the Couch-to-5K program, a 9 week program that claims to have a couch potato running 3 miles at completion.

Am I crazy? Should I try something else first? Is it unrealistic to take up running this late in the game, when I’m so out of shape and it’s pretty darn cold outside?

Do you want to do it with me? ;)

Trying to decide when to start, because I don’t really have decent shoes and I want to get an armband to hold my iPhone so that I can use the C25K app along with my iPod library.

I think I may have lost my mind. I guess we’ll see?

So, after the housewarming (and a weekend of Laura convincing me by way of talking about it all weekend at my request), I joined WeightWatchers, signing up for the monthly pass, which involves use of the e-tools on the website and unlimited monthly meetings.

Since January 31st, I’ve lost 8.4 lbs.

Seriously! I actually lost 7 lbs during the first week, just by changing my eating habits (didn’t do anything different, activity-wise, wore the exact same outfit to the my weigh-in… JUST changed my diet), and I’ve only felt better and better along the way.

Thoughts I’ve been gathering in my head since joining:

- I’m amazed at how much I can eat if I stick to healthier, more filling foods. I haven’t felt deprived at all once the first few days passed, and I can still eat the occasional guilty treat while still staying within my daily point allowance.

- I’m already getting pretty good at planning my food for the day and knowing what many of my frequent foods are point-wise. I haven’t gone over my weekly allowance even once, and I threw Jim’s 30th bday party last week! :)

- This is the first time I’ve changed my lifestyle to become a healthier (and thinner) person and have felt like I could do it long term. I have NO DOUBT that I can maintain this way of eating for a long time, and I don’t feel deprived or unhappy or hungry or wistful. I feel fine!

Things that keep me and my tummy happy:

- Deep Chocolate VitaTops are the BOMB. They’re only 1 point and they don’t taste anything like “healthy food.”

- I eat at least 15 baby carrots every day. Half point, and I’ve discovered that I like carrots enough to eat them without fattening high calorie dips and such. Easy munching food.

- I’ve discovered that I LOVE tuna. Plain tuna, eaten right out of 80 calorie tuna cups (2 pts) with a fork. I’ve never really eaten tuna, but now I eat at least one little tuna cup every day and I frequently put it in sandwiches too.

- Arnold’s Sandwich Thins are awesome for (duh) sandwiches, only 1 point, and they make great toast too.

- Hungry Girl is the SHIT. Her books are awesome, and the daily emails are incredibly helpful. She has several really great fast food survival guides, and she’s the one who turned me on to the sandwich thins and VitaTops.

- Foods with zero points are a must. Fiber One Yogurt comes in 0 calorie packs that go really well with an ounce of blackberries (also 0 points), and a tablespoon of Yoder’s Sugarless Apple Butter spices up a PB sandwich while adding 0 pointage. Score.

- 100 calorie/low calorie snack packs are good to have around, although I try to only eat one or two a day max.

- Planning ahead, packing lunch 95% of the time, packing all of my food in single serving (and labeled) containers has made all this VERY easy. GFS has these 1 ounce cups that are great for pre-packing cottage cheese, hummus, fruit, and any other awesome thing.

Bottom line: This has been a hugely helpful change, and I’m no longer wishing that I could get back to a healthy weight/size… I just know that I will, and could possibly be there by the end of the year just by losing one or two pounds per week. If you’re a WW user, I’d love to connect on the WW website (username: brandiceschnabel). Having a support group is huge for me!

WOW… did I ever fall of the wagon.

Yesterday, I dragged myself to Curves after work, because I hadn’t been there to work out in so long that they sent me a postcard. (Ouch.)

I knew that getting back on that circuit of machines was going to be bitch after several weeks (probably almost two months) away, but what I hadn’t really prepared myself for was the weigh-in and measurement.

The overview: From January to April-ish, I lost 15 pounds. Since the time I stopped going to Curves and fell off the healthy eating bandwagon, I have gained 20 pounds.

That’s right. I’m five pounds heavier than when I started on this journey around New Year’s. SHAME. ON. ME. Not only shame on me, but I’ve also developed some health issues that I believe are very likely the direct result of my shitty eating and absurdly low physical activity level. I’m honestly afraid I’ve thrown myself into Type II Diabetes or something along those lines (I’ll hopefully be finding out next week at the doctor).

Two things have prompted immediately self-intervention:

1. That weigh-in was a kick in the gut, plus I’ve gained 1/2 – 1 inch on each of my body measurements. FUCK.

2. Hearing myself explain to Dianah that I hid from my husband in the bathroom the other morning to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream for breakfast was a bit eye-opening. WTF.

So.

Shit shit shit. Excuse my language, but seriously… shit. I am trying to get back on track as of this week. Please just slap me in my gluttonous face if you catch me (in person or on any social sites, etc.) eating bad things or skipping workouts. I will NOT finish this year off heavier than when I started when my ONLY goal this year was to get myself in better shape physically. Enough is enough.

I haven’t talked much lately about my new resolve to be healthier, but it’s been going really well. I think that I’m learning to pick my battles, eat in healthier portions, and I’m still struggling to make myself work out every day.

I’ve been off track with the exercise ever since getting the flu/cold that took me out of commission for a weekend and then my dad being in town. This week I worked out twice (today will make three times), but I really want to get that up to five times per week. I’ve been staying heavy on the aerobics and the yoga/strength exercises that seem to be the most uncomfortable while still doable for me, and it all seems to be making a difference.

Weight update: I’m down 12 pounds total as of last week’s weigh-in (this week’s is tomorrow). I was losing 3-4 pounds per week, but have plateaued a bit as soon as I slacked off on the exercise, which is why I need to get that back in gear.

One thing I’ve created recently to compliment my use of Livestrong is a separate Twitter account for @HealthyBrandice, since Livestrong now offers Twitter support (I may add the Facebook support as well). I’d love to have some fellow Twitterers create similar @healthy[YOU] accounts for healthy diet and exercise support, so if you’re interested in a separate Twitter conversation about food, diet, exercise, and general health, create a username with @healthy in it and then follow me to get the conversation started!

[This is my first post with Blogo, blogging software for the Mac.]

I got sick on Friday… blech. Here’s suddenly sick me and kitty:

And I’m still sick, but here’s a quick update (voice is quiet partially because I have some voice loss due to talking a lot while already sick today):

Earlier this month, Pizza Hut debuted a new product, The Natural Pizza, which Jim and I decided to try last week.

“With a multigrain crust, all-natural pepperoni or Rustica sausage, all-natural mozzarella cheese and all-natural sauce made from vine-ripened tomatoes, you’ll fall in love with pizza all over again. Get a medium Natural Pepperoni for $9.99 or a medium Natural Rustica for $11.99!”

At the time, there was a coupon of some sort to get the pizza, so we tried it for $7, and it was actually really, really good. I might even like it better than Pizza Hut’s regular pan pizza, which is surprising for me to say, and I’m pretty impressed with the ingredients, which really do seem pretty wholesome for a large scale pizza chain. (You can see them by clicking HERE and clicking on “The Natural Nutrition Facts.”)

What’s even more impressive to me is that Pizza Hut announced a few days after the debut of The Natural Pizza that it was making a menu-wide transition to all-natural ingredients. Here’s an excerpt:

Pizza Hut’s new ingredients include all-natural sauce from vine-ripened tomatoes with no high-fructose corn syrup; all-natural pepperoni with no artificial preservatives, no nitrites or nitrates added; all-natural Italian sausage with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives; and 100% real beef with no fillers. Pizza Hut customers will notice the company’s commitment to real taste with a new signature red Pizza Hut pizza box made from 40% recycled materials that will debut across the country today.

I can honestly say that I tasted a difference, and while pizza in general may never been the absolute best option for someone trying to eat healthy, this is something that Jim and I both enjoyed that we can occasionally treat ourselves to without feeling really guilty. It’s not a magical transformation on the food industry’s part, but this is certainly a really good sign, and it makes eating relatively healthier just a little bit easier for me. :)

Today I got home and I did NOT want to exercise. I was tired, and I had fallen off the wagon for the past week after my back went a bit spazzy, so I was NOT feeling it.

I made a snap decision and say to myself, I’m going to post a public message that I’m going to live stream my Wii Fit workout. Then I’ll have to do it, and there will be videographic evidence that I really did a 30 minute workout.

So I posted a quick message, and people quickly popped into the Ustream chat before I’d even finished setting up the equipment. I let the viewers pick some of the workouts and I only live broadcasted the tv screen (not my sweating, heaving, out of shape body), so I didn’t feel pressure, just support.

People popped in and out as they felt like it (30 minutes of working out can be boring if you stay through the whole thing), and one person was actually working out with me on their own console, which was really cool. Here’s the video if you want to browse through different points of the workout and see how I did or what the Wii Fit is all about:

The verdict: I’ll be doing this more often, because it held me accountable for doing the workout, entertained viewers as I was intermittently wacked in the head with shoes during the soccer ball game, and I feel like it was more of a social activity, where I was supported in my hard work.

I won’t be posting (or even recording/saving) each workout session, but in the future I will be live streaming as many of them as possible, hopefully at least a few per week. Staying social and accountable to others during my effort this year to become healthier is REALLY working for me, so expect me to continue talking about where I’m at in the process and asking YOU to cheer me on when you can. :)

Ps. I’m up to 9 pounds lost since January 2nd! w00t!