Sarah's got her groove back!

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Something else we have in common then Sarah! BONKERS! Kate made me laugh out loud with that one!I really admire your dedication & commitment. I think we all do! GO SARAH!!! I really wish I could be a morning person- one who jumps out of bed & sees the sun rise. I crawl out these days between 7.30 and 8 and ease into my day very slowly, but feel most awake in the evening. Now that's bonkers!! Keep inspiring us Sarah. I'm really looking forward to you getting close to your goal weight & seeing what you wear & the big grin on your face. Lots of love, xoxo Cate
 
Hey Sarah, I have just come and skimmed through your diary (there's a lot of it!!) - wow what a weight loss journey. And the pictures look SO different. You've come such a long way.


I love the charts (must be the latent accountant in me) - I think I might have to start charting my measurements and ramping up exercise too. I too am an early bird - 5.30am is pretty normal for me to get up...you just have to make sure you go to bed a bit earlier rather than fall in line with everyone else who get up later. I find the first couple of hours in the day are the most productive.


Keep it up - good luck with the pushups this week!
 
AYep Kate and Cate, Bonkers! And thanks as usual for helping me with your encouragement! I am focused right now and for whatever reason, I'm super motivated, so if I can help others, that's even better! Jjjay, thanks for stopping by and looking at your posts, you can probably teach me a few things! I've made the decision that this is a lifestyle change and not a diet(well ok, right now, while i'm tring to get this last 35 pounds off) I'm probably more strict with my lifestyle than I will likely live in the future, but it's all good!
Today, I started my day on the elliptical, my old friend, and also my pushups. I messed up and did the elliptical first, so that meant I had to do the pushups last...after 45 min on the elliptical...I really struggled, but I gutted it out..all 12 x 3 sets! I had a good food day.
Tomorrow I will go to Dandong, China on a long weekend. It's a border city with North Korea and there is a portion of the Great Wall there I have challenged my husband to climb the wall! I've heard it is really steep there, I'll post a pic if we get any good opportunities! I don't plan on any hikes over into N.Korea!
Good choices to all!
Sarah
 
Hope you concur that wall Sarah! Do be careful so close to the border! Prayers will be said for you and your husband. :)
 
Happy Dragon boat festival day to everyone! Well, back from our little trip to Dandong! And yes, Munch, we did concur the wall!

Now, I have an interesting comparison...in August 2011, we climbed the Great Wall, outside of Beijing...that was about 2 months into my journey...I wasn't tracking weight-loss in pounds then, but my guess is I was about 250 pounds



Sarah in Aug 2011, wearing size 22W shorts (and that's after about a 20 pound loss from my start point)




Sarah in June 2012 (size ?? shorts...they were originally size 22W, but cut down once, and really baggy on me right now (if it wasn't for my husband's adjustable belt, they would have been left on the wall I think) At this point, I've lost right at 90 pounds...and got about 35 more to go! Someone actually called me 'skinny" on facebook...not true yet!


I was really grateful today that I could climb this very steep wall with no big problem...I was sweating, yes, but I was in good shape! This weightloss has been so worth it!

I knew I was going to do double duty today in the exercise area (I got up and walked for 90 minutes this morning along he river/ocean delta and my 13 x 3 pushups) and to the Wall..so I ate a hearty breakfast (alot more than I normally do...which, is alot!) and I felt good...nothing bad, but one big addition was some home-made meusli with oats, wheat grain, shredded apples, grapes, walnuts and yogurt...it was sooo good...I'm sure I had too much of it, but it tasted really good and "hearty" for my big hike!

The Wall at Dandong is right along the North Korean border and it was quite a contrast in lifestyles..there was some people farming in one of the fields, with a cow pulling a plow...and it was a huge field...1 cow, 2 people and a plow. Tough life....glad it's not me.

I'm going to write a blog entry a little later about that...if you want to see some photos, check it out at http://shenyangteammiller.blogspot.com



We drove home later today and now I'm comfortably back home in our apartment here in Shenyang and ready for a relaxing Sunday!


Good choices everyone!!

Sarah
 
wow - I'm so jealous you went to the Great Wall of China! Amazing stuff.


And the pics - jeepers. I would not have believed they are the same person. Surely you can't still be wearing the same size shorts!>?!?! Go buy yourself some skinny-ass ones!!! hehehe.


You are completely right. Its a lifestyle choice (which is where I messed up when I went backwards - I was depending on a fine balance of running lots and eating ok...but not going mad on restricted calories....add a foot injury in so no running for 8 months, get worse on the eating...= put on 30lbs again).
 
AThanks jjjay!
I live in China, so I'm trying to take advantage of living here and seeing some sights! I felt the strains of hiking that wall today!
Today, I got up late and just did some leisurely shopping and updating my blog, then I had a nice chinese lunch and after some digesting I did the elliptical for a Killer 65 min! Getting ready to enjoy a nice hot bath and try to get cranked up for the week ahead.
so, good choices to all!
Sarah
 
AI can imaging how tough the climb may have been, it sound like a much steeper section than the one I walked when I visited china over 20 years ago.
 
Hello, Sarah!


I'm new here, and just wanted to check out how other people are blogging, just to know how to do it myself :)

And I got very lucky to open your blog first. It's quite, long, 23 pages, but I'll read it all soon because I love that you live in China (at least on your first page). I would also like to visit, and it's amazing that my weight loss way is from Taoism, and that's why I'm so interested to see how you live there :)


Keep up the good work, I'm amazed at your progress! :p
 
AHello my bonkers buddy :)

It gets light that early here in the summer but my body still wont get its self out of bed lol and if i did i would end up going back to bed after, rather than going to work!

I'm in awe of you with the press ups! I did some in my toning class the other day and i thought of you and was embarassed that i struggled after..............about 2!!!!!! I will get better. I will get better (you keep telling yourself that Kate!)

OMG those photo's are amazing!!!!! Such a difference. You look freaking awesome!!!!!!

I totally get what you mean about being 'fit'. I love the fact that i can do long or hard walks and it not kill me, which it use to.

Love and hugs :grouphug:
 
AGreetings one and all, and especially trusvyler, Dannyboy and Kate! It's always such fun to see who has dropped by my diary! Thank you all so much for your encouragement...I'm addicted to it!

Trysvyler, yes, this particular section of the wall was steeper than the part I did last year...not as long, but a lot steeper!

Dannyboy, welcome to the forums and thanks for dropping by.. I'm not sure I would spend the time to read my diary...lots of blah blah in here, but if you,re really into it, certainly go ahead! We've lived here in China for a little over 2 years, and so far so good. The key to living and eating here is portion control for me!

Kate, the key to pushups/pressups is starting slow, forcing yourself to do them right, doing whatever you can 1 or 2, then take a break for a minute, then do that same number again, then take another minute break, then do that same number again....then call it a day. Then increase the number after a few days. I started at the beginning of this month, and I'm now up to 15...it's really tough, not going to lie, but I really want to get to 2o by the end of this month, then I'm going to see how many total I can do in one time for 2 minutes...then I'll determine how many I want to continue to do to stay in shape...it's my form of weight training and since I know that muscle mass increases my metabolism, I want all the help I can get!

Today was a slow start, but I did get up and do my 45 min on the elliptical, the 5 min rowing to continue to stretch out my legs and back from tha hike on the wall!( yes, I'm still feeling it!). Had a good eating day today, and getting ready to see the monthly weigh-in results on the 1st.feeling good about this one !

Good choices to all!

Sarah
 
The Shorts-on-the-Great-Wall series is knock-out! Really impressive!
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(Ummm... I looked at the album "Weight loss progress" at the bottom of your post, and on one side, under the heading "Comments Left on scbibhouse's Photos", was the beginning of a reply you did to someone some time back, about five things you did to lose weight. It began: "I would be happy to help you any way I can. Here is my method...it's simple...not easy, but simple.I have 5 actions I do:1"

I tried to access the rest of the message but couldn't. Assuming it's not intended to be private, could you please repeat the five things?

(Of course, if it was a PM which somehow got into the public arena, then sorry, didn't mean to pry, etc etc :blush5: )
 
AHey noparsnips,
Nothing is private and not sure why you couldn't see it, so I'll gladly share again: this took me through about 9 months and over 60 pounds.
1. No eating after 6:00 pm (unless by a really big exception), yes that means I don't get dinner as such if I get home late from work, so I always try to have a late snack. Sometimes I do have exceptions where I have a work function or dinner, so I am not 100% following this one, but a good 80% of the time I do, even now over a year into my journey
2. No soda (this includes diet soda, and lots of water...soda water, mineral water, regular water' hot green tea without sugar)
3. Low carb (not Adkins but certainly very few pasta, breads, etc)
4. No refined sugars and processed sweets (the occasional fruits are ok)
5. Exercise at least 30 min every day, preferably 1 hour!
I didn't count calories, and only weighed on the scale after the 4 month mark, and then I only weighed in on the 1st of the month, a practice I still continue today. I used my pants fitting as a measure of success, and after 4 months I started to take measurements on my bust, waist and hips on or about the 15th of the month to give me some additional feedback.

At about the 9 month mark, I was on an extended plateau and feeling the need to switch things up, and about that time feelinggooder on this forum suggested I listen to fat2fit radio podcasts and I made a decision in 9 month mark to count calories and find out exactly what I was eating. I started tracking this on myfitnesspal.com and I also track my exercises. The philosophy on fat2fit is that if you eat like the thinner person you want to become today, then eventually you will get there and you will never have to be on a diet, so that when you arrive at your goal weight, you can maintain and won't have to ever "diet " again because it will be a lifestyle. I'm convinced the are onto something, but since I'm not at my goal yet, I can't really vouch that it's true. At any rate, they recommend several hundred calories/day than I was eating, and they do some good education about the basal metabolic rate(BMR) etc. The trick for me is to eat above the BMR, and eat a lot sometimes so that my body never goes into starvation mode and screw up my metabolism. Since I've added this knowledge, I've slightly modified my rules to allow myself to eat after 6:00 especially if I need to eat more calories to get above my BMR, but the other rules still stand. To maintain, my plan is to count calories long enough to know how to estimate it without really obsessing, then using the BMR and exercise factor, to maintain at my maintenance calorie count, using the max calories I can eat and still maintain, knowing that all calories are not created equal when it comes to nutrition!

I still have about 35 more pounds to go, and I have renewed my goals this month (my 1 year anniversary of starting this journey) to get those 35 pounds off by 31 Dec 2012...when it's all said and done, assuming I make those goals, it will have taken 18 months to lose 136 pounds...I still can't believe it Even when I read what I've just written!
I've rambled on long enough...thanks for asking by the way, sometimes it's good to remind myself of where I have come from and where I'm going. If I can help someone along the way, it's even better!
Sarah
 
Great pics of the Wall of China trip but I have to agree with jjjay that those shorts gotta go :) Think we all need people to remind us that at a certain point the old clothes start looking too big to the point of comedy :bigear:.


Nice thing about thinning out that wardrobe is that it gives us another excuse to buy new clothes
 
AHey feelinggooder! Good to see you and thanks for your honesty! I know I should move those shorts on down the line, but just couldn't do it yet! When I look at the photos's I agree it's time! Tos time next year, I should have my "skinnyass" ones!

Today, I just wasn't feeling like much, so I took a break from exercising, other than my pushups...I cranked out 16 x 3 today! Gonna up it every day to be able to do 20 x 3 by Saturday so that I can do a pushup challenge for myself...how many can I do in 2 minutes? I"m hoping it's somewhere north of 30 or even 40! I don't want to get a muscular up top, but with where I started, I'm pretty pleased with being able to do these pushups! Hopefully they are building muscle mass and burning calories!

Good choices to all!

Sarah
 
Thanks indeed, scbibhouse, for giving me that five-point outline, and the added part about how you moved on from there, too, to "switch things up" and started counting calories. I think there's a lot I can learn from both phases -- right now I don't count calories, but I think probably eventually I will have to face the Higher Mathematics and Advanced Calculus of Weight Loss... :eek:


Thanks again for sharing.
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(Oh and I like your motto, too!)
 
Hey Sarah - well impressed with your pushup progress!! I'm still bowled over to be honest by how far you have come - what an achievemnet. And to be within 35lbs of goal...


Can I ask if you had/have an issue with skin? I didn't have particular issues after losing nearly 60lbs but I was concerned about what would happen over the next 30 or 40lbs...
 
Hey jjjay & Noparsnips, Good to see you both here again! Always good to hear from friends here!!

I hope the 5 simple (not easy rules) I used can help you...take what you like and leave the rest..my points are what worked for me, but every person is different, so you may have to modify to find what works for you...but at the end of the day, as you know, my mantra is all about good choices...that's the universal known!


Jjjay, so far I have not had an issue with extra skin...I think because I have lost the weight rather slowly, I've given my skin time to come back to shape with the rest of my body. Having said that, at 51, I have wrinkles...and I'm starting to see them where I didn't have them before...especially in my face..I'm sure some of it is age, and some is weightloss. Around my butt, I see wrinkles...a flabby butt...now granted, it's better than a big butt...but I think if I have excess skin areas to come in the next 35 pounds, it will be around my butt and belly. So far, the belly is staying somewhat firm with the rest...of course there is still that last fat roll that has been with me for years...and I'm sure that it will still be there at the goal weight even if it' just skin. I'm not worried too much about it...what is, is...and I'll live with it!


Did my exercising today and felt good...didn't eat enough yesterday and felt it last night...I'll do better today!


Good choices to all!


Sarah
 
Hi Sarah, I'm with you in that any wrinkles we might see these days are a big improvement on what filled them up before. I'm sure you & I both have earned every little wrinkle anyway! I think if you drink a lot of water that seems to help too. You have done so well & it is great seeing you be an inspiration for others. We know it's not easy to break old habits bit it is possible & we are doing it. So far I haven't tried push-ups, but you are tempting me!! I heard my LH say to my nephew today that I love a challenge! xoxo Cate
 
Hey there Sarah! I've missed staying up to date with you. Been rather busy. Way to go on that trek up the Great Wall and what a transformation you have made! So proud of you and all you have done! :)


Once again, I have faltered in my routine. Life is pretty crazy. We're moving in a week for my new job, which is about a week earlier than we had planned. So instead of the traditional exercise, I've been packing boxes like a mad woman! We're going down for a wedding this weekend in the town we're moving to, so we're gonna take a load of things. However, once we're all settled in, I'm going to hunker down. I've got to catch up with you on those pushups!


Have a good weekend! :)
 
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