More progress!

It has now been 6 months since getting the official PCOS diagnosis, (though probably years that I've had it.) and 4 months since getting serious about cracking down on diet and exercise since all the pain started a year and a half ago.

Here's where things stand:
SEPTEMBER 2012

Weight: down 12 pounds
Neck: down 1 inch
Chest: down 3 inches
Waist: down 4.5 inches
Hips: down 1.75 inches
Arm: down 1 inch
Thigh: down 2 inches
Calf: down 0.5 inch

 

BP 132/84 (getting closer to that 120/80 mark!)

 

On September 8 , I finished my first official 5K race, A Run to Remember, in honor of the fire/rescue/police staff lost on September 11, 2001. I was not last;-) My time was 46:30. This was after working my first full week back in the classroom. These days, three weeks into school, I can finish in 42 minutes! My goal for next year is 36 minutes.

I only need to take off 6 more pounds to be able to say that I weigh less now than on my last day pregnant:-) The over all goal is 63 more pounds. 

Progress Photos:

It's Really Working!!!

I am officially sold on natural (yam based) progesterone cream and drinking red clover infusions to correct my hormone imbalance. I am starting to feel better, but what's more, in the last month and a half since I started with all of this, I have dropped 8 pounds!!! Yee-ha!!!

Not to mention that my energy is picking up. I am now managing to run 4 miles and walk one four days a week. And my time on those miles is improving. When I started running this past spring, I think it was taking me about 20 minutes to get through a mile. Yesterday I hit 11 minutes for the first mile. It slows down after that, but even my slowest of the 4 miles was not over 13 minutes. 

So, I used to be a bit of a skeptic when it came to herbal remedies, but I think I'm hooked now. 

Can I do It? Yes, I Can

(Well, I guess you can tell what Jude's new favorite show is by my title!)

For about a month now, I have been working on the Couch to 5K program. This is a program that is supposed to help a pretty sedentary person build up to running a 5K over the course of 9 weeks. Before I got pregnant with Jude, accompanied with the flu about the same time, I used to run 5K 3 days a week. But after that came the horrendous morning sickness that kept me down for the better part of 4 months and that was that. 

Last year, I attempted to pick up again, but since Jude was little I had to stay close to home so I was running on the pavement at the cemetery across the street from our house. But every time I would get good and going, I would get stress fractures in my foot. 

Now that Jude is older, I can drive over to the gravel track which is a mile if you run both loops and is much nicer on my feet. 

Since I was a runner previously, I modified the program a little bit. The first week I started out running a minute and walking a minute and a half for the first 3o minutes and walked the remainder of the time until I reached 4 miles. The next week I bumped my running up to a minute and a half and alternated that with the minute and a half walk breaks for 30 minutes, but then before walking the remainder I did a longer running stretch about 30 seconds longer each day. For the third week, I would run two minutes and walk a minute for 30 minutes and walk whatever was left of the 4 miles. 

Then there was this week. Week 4. I had a plan in my head to continue the 2 minute run/1 minute walk pattern and then try the long stretch again at the end. The first day, I was interrupted in my run when I bumped into an old friend I used to work out with at The City Club, but hadn't seen in more than two years (because I had to drop my gym membership as part of our plan for me to be a stay at home mom). We talked for over ten minutes so in order to make up for lost time I though, well, maybe I can run a whole mile without any walk breaks. And do you know what? I could! I did!

So the next day I was determined to do that again. I felt really good at the end of that first mile, so I decided to see if I could try for two. And do you know what? I could. I did!

Skip a day (because I can't run when Jeff's at work) to today. At the end of two miles, I kind of felt like crap, but I thought, "I wonder if I could run three miles with no walk breaks. . . ?" And, well, you've probably guessed it. I could. I did! And then walked two miles after that for a total of 5 miles. 

So now my new goal is to get the time down on those first three miles and to continue walking the other two. When I get the time down to something more acceptable than 39 minutes, then I think I'll work on running miles 4 and 5. 

Oh, yeah! I'm a running machine. Well, not really. But I could be. . .

Um, and that clip art at the top there of the jogger? Yeah, that's totally me. All geeky with my iPod and my crazy hair. 

That's what I call progress!!

I want to shout from the roof top that All You magazine officially rocks!!! They ran an eating plan in this month's edition that stated if you followed it to a T, you could lose up to 10 pounds in 14 days. So, I jumped on that train because the plan looked relatively healthy.

Pair this up with the 5K I am running/walking 3 times a week and the stability ball work outs I am doing 2-3 times a week, and since I started it on Monday, I have already lost 5 pounds. In.5.days!!!

Three of the meals include a lean protein and a fruit serving. Then the other three meals include a lean protein, a whole grain, and vegetable serving. This totals around 250 a meal and about 1250 calories total for the day, but it's spread out all day, about every 2.5 - 3 hours. Also required is to drink at least 2 liters of water.

Well it's working wonders!

Yipee!!!!!

And another one gone, and another one gone. . .

Another pound bites the dust! For the record, that is 15 pounds in just over 3 months. Yahoo!

On a side note, I got a good recommendation for a hair dresser in town who turned out to be FAN-freaking-TASTIC! Pics to come later once my hair is dry. I had to wait a day to see if I loved the cut, because I had to make sure I could fix it myself, being the non-professional that I am;-)

Update: Before & After

Not too shabby. . .

Well, it wasn't the same great results as last month (8 pounds) but for the month of December I am down 4 more pounds. I blame the holidays. . . and my extreme lack of will power when it comes to cookies and cake;-)

Body after baby

Can I just say: OH YEAH!!!

Remember that I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to be participating in the Body After Baby challenge? Then I never said another word about it again?

Well, I've been doing the WORK (watching portions, getting more exercise, and thanks to Jude's maturing sleep habits, getting more sleep. Yep. Sleep has something to do with weight loss!), just not the work (logging points for the weekly challenges, doing weekly weigh ins and posting about progress).

And, DrUmRoLl please. . . in one month. . . I have lost. . . 8 POUNDS!!!!!

Go me.

Pretty soon, this will be me!




















Well, except I won't be a man;-)

Body After Baby

It is no big secret that I gained a lot of weight when I was pregnant with Jude. A LOT. I was steadily losing some of that weight when Jude was diagnosed with acid reflux. I spent the next 3 months basically sitting down holding him in an upright position to help with the problem. And stress eating. Along came some more weight.

Coming after three years of sustained healthy weight, this is a big struggle for me. So, when I read Samantha's Body Before Baby challenge on MamaNotes, I was stoked. Nothing like a little competition to get things going again.

The competition doesn't start until Sept. 27, but I have already taken off 7 pounds in the two weeks since I have been back from our family visit in Florida. My goal for the 8 weeks is 16 pounds. I am afraid to go any faster than that because Jude still nurses and I wouldn't want anything to interfere in the production department.

Well, wish me luck:-)

P.S. My current starting weight is 220. Are you kidding. Is that really the smallest font?!