Crystal’s Rants

While I have one more day before I "officially" weigh in for my goal and do all my measurements to see if I achieved my goals tonight I got a little curious about my progress on a more personal level.
While I know it is important to set goals on amounts of weight and overall measurements, one thing that has been a bigger "unset goal" for me has been just to look better in my own clothes and reclaim what i used to look like before gaining basically another person on my body.  I have been working out and eating better and people are really starting to notice the changes.  So I decided for my own benefit alone to try on some pants I have had hanging in the closet.
Everyone basically has three sets of clothing I have decided.
1 - The ones you wear on a daily basis and out on regular nights
2 - The fat pants (the ones you resort to when you are feeling fat and need something that isn’t your fav but still works for the time being
3 - The things you used to wear that haunt you everytime you look in your closet
While I know you are really supposed to throw away those fat pants to encourage yourself to never have those days, and those skinny ones should be in boxes if you choose to hang on to them, most of us simply leave them there as though we are torturing ourselves every day trying to remind ourselves of the days when we were young and fit.
For me, that wasn’t so much the case, a few things strewn in the closet from a move a year ago which never made it to storage bins and a few pants that overtime i decided i didn’t like for some reason or another or pants which i bought for "special occasions" which mostly related to work events for which I needed to dress different than in the day to day.
Tonight I took on the closet FULL FORCE.  Not only did I reorganize my clothes I know for a fact fit, but I color coordinated and hung things by type (ie t-shirts, sweaters, jackets, jeans, tanks etc.)
But then I was compelled to pack away what I couldn’t wear.  It started with a shirt I had noticed fit largely in my chest after losing weight.  Turns out there were a lot more things which fit that same description.  What once were things only a couple of months ago I was wearing were now HUGE.  WOW!
I moved on to the jeans, the ones which fit, the ones which I didn’t know and for sure the fat pants.  Immediately without even looking, I knew which ones were which, so the fat pants were just dropped into a storage tub without a thought.  Then the ones I thought I could wear, which I had been wearing, if they were still do-able with a belt then I kept them for now, but not for long.  If they were capable of being pulled off without unfastening the button or zipper, to the tub they went.  SCORE!
Then were the lesser known pants, who knows why I let them sit there for so long without doing this before. Three pairs of pants in particular had their own stories as to how they found their way into my closet.
1 - Black Dress Slacks - These things were horrible, I remember purchasing them for an event I needed to go to after growing out of my previous pair.  It was a nervous breakdown waiting to happen as I shuffled through the rack to find the pair in a size I swore I would never wear and one size larger just to make sure I didn’t have to do the walk of shame back to the rack.  Turns out despite my better judgement the only ones in the right length were actually snug, but rather than looking like I was wearing high water pants I bought the snug ones and hoped for the best all night.  I didn’t end up popping a button or anything, but that needless to say was the last time to wear those pants.
2 - Dun Dun Dun - The Jeans - When I bought the jeans, I went against the golden rule which had been a staple in life for me forever, STRETCH.  I bought them thinking, they would fit even if I gained or lost a little.  Given with no plan of doing either it was an investment which at best was bad.  The pants were typical, nothing special but the coloring seemed dark enough to mask my flaws, boy was I wrong, but blissfully wrong.  I wore those things off and on for a few months until finally my husband told me he really didn’t like them.  He wasn’t mean about it but instead just said I really don’t like the porportions of the cut, so he offered new jeans to replace them and on the rack they went for eons.  Looking at what few photos I have from those days, I know now he was being nice to say the least, they were horrible.  I realize that now.
3 - 3 Quarter Pants From Last May - When I bought these I also purchased a brown shirt slapped on some cute heeled sandals and went to a convention meeting.  It was semi-formal and so it hit just the ticket.  They fit perfectly, given at this point I had lost a little weight, don’t know how but I did (started at my heaviest at 245 and whittled it down 20 pounds before joining the site).  The pants were by no means bad looking, but none the less not something I would wear every day because of the style.
When I got to the three pairs first I tried on the 3 Quarter pants, they could have been taken in a good 4 inches in the waist and fell off my hips (even though that still is my problem area).  On my thighs they were loose and I began to freak!!  Had to show the hubby and he stood happy to see the progress.  Next tthe black pants, neither of us liked the snug fit so when putting them on they had that saggy crotch look from hanging off my wast a good 2 inches lower than thier previous fit and they swallowed my shoes as the legs too were hanging lower.  The jeans were the ticket though, on the pockets there were little rainbows (imagine that rainbows to highlight a huge butt) today the rainbows weren’t looking massive, instead the jeans looked like I was a little girl shopping in my mom’s closet.  The wiskering of the hip hit about mid thigh and just to go look in the mirror I had to hold them up to walk.
It was probably one of the best nights of my life to see those results.  You know you can work really hard but results speak louder than just what you think you are doing.  A measurement is a number, but a physical result can make you realize what you are doing is really paying off.
I am looking forward to doing the same again in a few months with the clothes I know fit now, and before long a new wardrobe all together as I continue to focus on what I am doing.  I only hope that the numbers can continue to match up with the feeling I have now after tonight.
Thanks again to everyone who has been really supportive on here, your help has been amazing!!

This past weekend wasn’t a good one to stick to my diet.  With a crazy schedule and some not so great options for food while we were out, I didn’t do as well as I would have liked however I didn’t totally bomb.  However yesterday I knew that my official goal weigh in was today so I focused on trying to still meet my goal.  I kicked up my cardio and was so proud as I ran a little in the midst of my walking workout and capped off 6 miles before hitting my weights.
Today I did my normal routine knowing I was only one poud away for almost a week from my goal.  That pound didn’t want to fall so I was shocked when I climbed on the scale and I had shed 2 pounds instead.  
I was sooooo proud about setting this goal, which although wasn’t huge was massive for me knowing I could accomplish it.  I took off a couple inches a long the way with my thighs being some of my biggest concern and starting to shed the most the fastest with 2 inches falling off since my first official measurement.  Apparently the cardio and leg workouts are really starting to work.
Furthermore today I have two people who hadn’t seen me in a few weeks ask me if I had lost weight and it was a great feeling to know I was making some ground, or at least enough to start noticing change.
I have a few new goals which I hope to accomplish over the next few months in way of loss and also overall appearance of my muscles but I think one of the best things I have gained out of this is a new walking/jogging goal which is a short/longer term goal to accomplish.  I want to cap off 1,000 by the end of July.  I am keeping track and with just one week and a day behind me since I began my cardio I have already pulled off 17 of those.  So a long way but a goal I think will be awesome to attain!!

When my husband and I got married it was just like every other couple, we exchanged rings.  The ring was beautiful but a couple years after saying our I dos I gained weight and the ring was too small.  Having no intention of staying that big I finally just took it off and put it in safe storage but by no means was happy.
I referred to my hands as my sausage fingers and began trying to lose wieght with little luck.  I never really yo yo’d but I never went down either.
Then finally I had enough and began this program after staying at 230 for like a year.  At my heaviest I weighed 245 and hated myself basically every day and would be very upset.  Then after dropping down to 225 I knew I had to be drastic.
That is when I started on here and also with my new diet and exercise.  Yesterday after 25 more pounds loss I tipped the scale but at only 200lbs.. so I broke out the ring to see if my loss had done justice.  
It slid right on and I couldn’t run fast enough to show my husband.  This weekend after over 2 years in storage I will have my ring cleaned and will be able to again start wearing it.  While I haven’t managed all my overall goals that was a landmark for me.  Something that will forever be something that stands out to me as a HUGE accomplishment.

Today I started cardio, which I know I need to be doing, but because I was afraid that starting slow wouldn’t be enough I had been putting off.  Well I bit the bullet tonight and set my goal to no matter how I could do it bust out two miles at the track.

Ok so I haven’t ran in a very long time, so running was out but walking I could do so I laced up and put on my ipod and got to moving and with that cranked out two laps quickly.  After my lungs quit burning from the cold air I kicked it up a notch and before long noticed the gap between myself and two ladies who arrived after I had made if about half way around the track on my first lap closing in.  I nearly lapped them and they were walking at a pretty ambitious pace.

As my music continued I could feel my legs heating up more and more and stretching out from a couple solid weeks of just lifting and it was great.  Before long two miles were complete and I didn’t die!!  I was shocked.

It is like a few blocks from my house to the track so I got back in the truck and came home to start lifting for the night, my schedule a little different from usual because of my husband’s work schedule.  The usual routine of legs felt like an entirely different workout all together and I really felt the difference right from the start.  The cardio actually gave me new energy in my workout and despite my freezing cold nose from the walking in the weather, I felt great!

Now my newest goal is to hit up cardio every day (6 workout days a week) until I can build up my distance in the same amount of time and possibly after I can do so do a morning session as well to further my routine and shake things up.

Ok as silly as it probably sounds to people who can bench my bodyweight plus a lot more, today I added weight and I was sooo proud!

I have been working out as a lightweight for a couple weeks, trying to get used to my routine of what days I am doing which exercises and working on form so I am actually making an impact on my problem areas. I work out from our home gym, so at least no one is there to laugh at my shortcomings in way of weight lifted.  But today since it is the beginning of my workout week I added weight to a few of the exercises I have been doing.

I have been doing a couple leg exercises on our little leg bench, nothing exciting but it has been shaving away my legs already with only 35 lbs.  In addition I have been doing kickbacks doing only 25 lbs because anymore when I started out was unbearable on my rear.  Today I decided to just go ahead and try the 35lbs from the other exercise and to my surprise I did it!!  Keep in mind two weeks ago I might have been able to do like literally 3 but today I went through 4 sets of 12 with the new weight!

 I decided with my success that I might attempt to add weight to my bench press as well so I looked around for two five pound weights with no luck seeing only two 10 pounders instead.  So I put them on and tried it out on my short bar and while I have no idea how much the bar weighs I was able to handle my 4 sets  in both regular bench and incline press.

I kept my other weights the same so I would not completely burn out so I look to add more weight to them possibly by the end of the week if my body permits.

I have been reading a lot of different things lately about adding weight and the benefits of building muscle so I am excited to say the least about my little accomplishment and look to continue to do more and get in better shape thanks to the advice of everyone on here and all the encouragement I have received.