reclaiming me

Okay, I sent my entry, so I am officially a contestant in the T-Tapp 60-Day Challenge.

I’ve been mentally writing the “Success Story” that I want to be able to send in at the end of the two months, so now it’s just a matter of doing what it takes to make it happen. Anal as I can be, I’ve put together an Excel spreadsheet to document my food (calories, plus percentage breakdown of carb/fat/protein), exercise, and measurements. It never hurts to have more data, I figure, and this way, I have it all on one page, easy to view.

Now for the gory details…my measurements.

Bust: 39.5
Waist: 31.25
Abdomen: 40
Hips: 44
R Upper Thigh: 24.75
L Upper Thigh: 24.75
R Lower Thigh: 16.5
L Lower Thigh: 16.5
R Calf: 13.5
L Calf: 13.5
R Upper Arm: 11.25
L Upper Arm: 11.25

(Not included in the contest entry: Ribcage at 32.5 inches, and body weight at 153 pounds.)

While many (if not most) of my measurements are higher, do note that they’re also symmetrical — something that they most definitely were NOT before I started doing T-Tapp. That’s a good thing, and my general day-to-day posture has improved in a big way.

And now, for the main attraction (ha). Pictures. Ouch.

[Read more →]

Tags: Photos, Measurements by Allison
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I’ve been feeling even more puffy, and via a post on the Forums, I found a body fat calculator that uses measurements (hips, calf, thigh, wrist) to determine your body fat percentage. My question on it is how would this work for someone who carries their weight in their abdomen rather than in their hips/thighs as I do?

Guess that doesn’t really matter since I’m going to be looking at progress, not my body compared to someone else’s.

My measurements:

• Age: 35
• Weight: 152
• Hips: 44 inches (!!! actual was 44.25, OMG)
• Calf: 13.75 inches
• Upper Thigh: 25 inches

I find it interesting (and somewhat puzzling) that they don’t ask your height. Anyway, here’s what it said:

Your Results

You have 35.5% body fat.

You have 54 Pounds of fat and 98 Pounds of lean (muscle, bone, body water).

I’ll add this into my weekly measures during the 60-day challenge. I cannot *believe* how much I’m still puffing up…this feels almost out of control to a point where it’s frightening. Let’s just say that my brand new size 14 jeans seem tight to me. SIGH.

The test site suggests that a healthy percentage for a caucasian woman is 22%. If I keep my same lean muscle weight, that would give me a target weight of 98/.78 = 125.6. I could certainly live with that. At this point, I’d be happy to just enter the 130s again.

Tags: Measurements by Allison
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I logged my food on SparkPeople for three days, then got rather moody the third night and ate sourdough bread. With melted butter. And cinnamon sugar.

Let’s just say I haven’t logged the past few days. At this point, I’m almost counting on the challenge to help me get my butt back in gear because I’m most definitely in neutral, if not reverse. On the bright side, my husband and I had a lovely date night last night with a 3-course meal and a bottle of wine. Now you *know* we’re splurging if we pay the 100% markup to actually drink their wine by the bottle. But oh…it was fabulous.

Today is a quintessentially lazy Sunday. It’s noon and I’m still in pajamas. Maya is still in pajamas (heck, might as well keep her in them for her nap at this point). Mike says he’ll head to the gym, but is taking his sweet time. I love Sundays.

Until I finally get my act together, I’m thinking maybe I should commit to doing at least a little something each day. From that same post I mentioned before, I’ve got this as a suggestion:

There are many moves that can be done everyday and don’t even count towards an off day workout or a regular workout. Those moves are classically known as Target Pop moves for spot reduction, glucose maintenance or hormonal control.

• In the AM - -Primary Back Stretch (plus, TTT double dips for those with hormonal issues or midsection concerns)
• After meals –Hoe Downs.
• In the PM –Organs In Place, Awesome Legs and Diva Derriere (Pretzel before DD for those with hip pads or butt uplifting concerns).

I think I’d be doing the TTT double dips. PMS was hellish this month (first month off the pill), and since we’re now TTC, it’d be good for me to continue to wean from antidepressants without actually feeling insane.

Tomorrow is Measurement Monday, so we’ll see how I’m doing with barely working out AT. ALL. A second round of measures (and photos) will show up next Saturday for the beginning of the Challenge).

Tags: Self-Motivation by Allison
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The motivation still isn’t there, but if I wait for it to return, I might find myself another inch or two in the hips bigger before it does. So, I joined SparkPeople for tracking what I eat (and my water intake) and we’re moving on. My (in my head, at least) schedule for the next week or two is this: 2-3x TWO or other full body workout per week, 3-4x cardio per week. Right now, I’m aiming for MWF cardio and TTh TWO — with anything on the weekends being a bonus (hiking!).

I got a copy of Ladybug!

So, having a new workout, and feeling in the throes of some harsh PMSiness (yes, that’s a word. I just used it, so it must be a word.), I decided to give not just Ladybug workout, but the COMBO a try.

Oh, I like. I felt/looked like a bumbling idiot through a good part of it, and I clearly need to sit back and watch the whole thing again before I actually do the workout next time. At least I watched the form tips this go ’round, so I wasn’t completely unprepared.

The after-feeling of Ladybug is different. Where I felt almost hyper (the hiking high) after TWO, I feel more Zen and all-is-well-in-my-world afterward. That’s pretty impressive, when you consider that I was working myself into a teary mess this morning.

Over all, even though I’m still looking at 43.5-44″ hips, and a pile of clothing I purchased in December (with the idea that by now, they’d be loose) that don’t fit, I still feel good. Good is…well, good.

Oh, and I’ve decided that I will treat myself to some sort of shorts/top workout getup for my contest photos. I don’t really want to pose in swimwear, but something that shows more skin than yoga pants would probably be good. I want to be a grand prize winner, damn it — and go to the Safety Harbor retreat for free. Maybe I’ve gained all this CRAP in my hips just to be more impressive later, right? I can dream.

Tags: Daily Log, Self-Motivation, Feeding Myself by Allison
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