PhearlessPhatty’s BodyBlog

I had to go buy a couple pair of jeans last month (again) and they are already falling off my ass. I punched some (more) new holes in a couple belts and had toss a couple that were just too big entirely. I pulled a "skinny" shirt out of my closet and tried it on…and it was TOO BIG! I never even got to wear it! So all of this is frustrating, but in a good way. Next time I buy jeans, which I’m trying to put off as long as possible, I’ll have to get a 9. This is a big deal to me since I haven’t worn a single digit size since high school and I thought I never would again. I need to take some new progress pics so you can all see how I’m doing.

So what else is new? I’m thinking of getting a bicycle so I can combine cardio with commuting and errands. Plus I’ll get to save on gas and insurance and lessen my impact on the environment, which of course will make me feel good. I just hope I don’t kill myself, I haven’t ridden a bike since I got my license!

So I dropped by my old school the other day and got all the new sign-up info. My old instructor was excited to see me, i’m sure he’s looking forward to whipping me into shape He said he’s glad I’m coming back cause he needs more girls in the class and he knows I can hold my own.

They’re moving into a jujitsu unit right now, so I’m excited to start working on my submissions and such. Jujitsu is a serious core workout, so I’m glad i haven’t been neglecting my abs! Still, i’m gonna get worked over…

Hey everyone. I’m still alive and well and working out, I’ve just been crazy busy.

I’m doing some serious spring cleaning at my house right now which is a workout on it’s own sometimes. So there’s been lots of throwing out, giving away and reorganizing.

I’m also building a new pc, and shopping for the components has taken up most of my online time. It’s gonna be pretty awesome when it’s done, though. I’m using a liquid cooling system and it’s gonna look bad ass, so I’ll be sure to take some pictures for you guys.

As for my workouts I’m not sure how the new split is working yet, I don’t think my body knows what to do with the extra days off right now. I’ve been feeling a little unmotivated with cardio right now, because I really want to be outside, but it’s not quite nice enough yet, maybe next week (crappy NW weather).

Went to see my chiropractor and got lots of rest this weekend, so my back is feeling much better. Still taking it easy though so I don’t re-injure.

I’ll be back in action tomorrow. I’m going to try out a 2 day split to leave lots of time for martial arts and focus training. Once I get it tweaked, I’ll post it here.

Bad news. I hurt my back at work this week pulling some ceramics archives. It didn’t feel heavy at the time, but I must have done something wrong because when I woke up Tuesday it was all achy and stiff.

I iced and heated it yesterday and just took it easy, but this morning it is worse than before. I’ve got a knot on my lower back that feels like when you bump your head and get a goose egg and it spasms when I walk. No good.

I’ll see if my chiropractor can fit me in and get me all sorted out. I guess it’s good I was planning on taking this week off since I can’t work out anyway.

Well, this last week has been crazy busy. It was the last week of the weight loss challenge, so I was squeezing in extra cardio and eating super clean, just being really focused. I also went to a costume party this weekend, so I was sewing and hot glueing like a madwoman in between everything else.

So the awesome news is that my team WON FIRST PLACE in the challenge! We beat out all the other teams with a total of 7.6% weight loss. Between the four of us we lost about 65 lbs. That’s a elementary school kid!! I’m really proud of everyone for working so hard.

The HR manager came by to give us our prizes (we won some money out of the deal) and he asked how we did it. We all laughed and told him by sweating our asses off everyday! I think it’s funny that when you accomplish real results some people assume you must have had some secret instead of doing it the old school way: hard work.

So I am taking a week off from workouts (but not from eating) so I can do a little mental and physical recovery. After that, it’s back to work. I’ll put some pics up here from the final weigh-in soon.

It’s also going to be back to martial arts in the next few weeks, and I know the fat will just start melting off, so I’m looking forward to some awesome changes. I’m planning on a two day split and three days of classes each week. My instructor also knows I want to fight so he’ll be making sure to whip my ass appropriately. My goal is to get strong enough to pick up and slam someone my weight. This will be fun. >:) 

I went to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with some friends on Friday and it was awesome! Just as good as the cartoons I remember, with ninja action, pizza, bad puns and everything. Plus I was stoked to see that April finally gets to be a badass! She rocks a Uma Thurman-esque yellow jumpsuit and gets to fight ninjas. Plus Zhang Zhe Ye gave the voice performance for the leader of the Foot ninja. My only disappointments were they they didn’t roll the original theme song with the credits and……no Vanilla Ice!!

Has it really been a month since the last set? I took some new pics and some new measurements. And I put on a pair of jeans yesterday that fit me just fine a couple weeks ago and now they are too big. Well I’ll just cinch up the belt for awhile. I’ve gone through so many pairs of jeans in the last year it’s ridiculous! But that is a good thing, so I can’t complain!

Well my team’s final weigh-in is coming up on the 30th so I’m hitting it hard until then and then I think I’ll take about a week off and regroup. I’ll be getting back into my martial arts classes in the next 2-3 weeks, so that will be my cardio and I’ll be doing a split weight routine focusing on compound movements and building functional strength. Y’know, what I need to throw people and stuff, ha!

Took some measurements after my workout today to see where I was at. I had set a short-term goal for myself to add an inch to my shoulder and lose and inch from my waist and hips. I was surprised today to see that not only did I lose that inch in both my waist and hips, but gained a whole 2 inches in my shoulders (I noticed that some people seem to measure their shoulders all the way around like you would your waist, and some of them measure from the tip of one shoulder to the other across the back. I measure across my back). So yay! I blew past that goal, so it’s time for a new one.

I made some gains in my biceps and calves and evened out my smaller forearm. I also picked up an extra inch in my thighs (all those squats!) which is just fine since it’s more muscle to burn more fat.

My team’s final weigh-in will be at the end of March. I started out this challenge at 160 lbs, so I think I’m doing pretty good (it was much easier to lose weight when I was fatter!). Currently we’re in second place so I’ll let you know how it all turns out.

Cardio today, and it was a good workout. I could feel the point where I ran out of glucose, the point where you have to push through as you switch to burning that oxygen hogging fat. Cardio was getting easier for me so I ramped it up and now I’m getting my butt kicked again. woot!

Starting to see more definition in my chest and calves and seeing more vascularity in my hands and forearms. I’m surprised at how quickly I got my cardio endurance back after being out of martial arts. I was sucking sand at first and now my recovery is really good. Regular old cardio is still easier than the hellish conditioning we were put through for muay thai. Boot camp comes to mind. And after the instructor whipped our asses he would say "The way you feel right now is how you will feel after 1 minute of a full-contact fight." He’s probably right. I’m crazy enough to want to find out.
One month left to go in our biggest loser challenge and my team is in second place for percentage lost. Hoo Rah! I’m uber proud of my buddy and teammate because she is in third place for individual weight loss out of the whole company.  She won a Target gift card for her efforts and you know what this girl did with it? She went and bought some dumbbells, how awesome is that? She is a huge motivation to me because she’s a soldier!