My Journey to Losing 15 pounds

Holiday Weight

2011-01-04T22:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I've gained 8 pounds in the month of December. An accumulation of finals, my birthday, Christmas and New Years has caused me to gain weight. Now I have to work extra hard to burn of the extra poundage. My body is stretching, like my breasts are stretching :(

I'm fat

2010-08-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

I still feel like I am fat, the girl who was 20 pounds heavier, the girl who looked horrible in a bikini. I have spurts where I feel skinny and I look gorgeous, but the majority of the time I just feel like I'm just a huge whale. I don't know if this is normal for someone to feel this way. I've worked so hard to lose this weight and maybe this "fat mentality" is the reason why I still see my personal trainer. I hope there's a day where I don't feel fat anymore because this seriously sucks.

Dear boys out there, do not ever tell or imply to your girlfriend that she's fat. It'll just mess with her confidence and you'll break her beyond repair.

In other news, I'm down to 19.5% body fat this month!

Injury #1

2010-07-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

This summer I planned on being more active, so I played tennis with a dodge ball team mate. It's been about four years since the last time I have played tennis so I was a bit rusty. I forgot that you're not supposed to be using your wrists for your shots, but rather your arm. This was back in early June where my wrists felt sore. In the meantime, I'm at the gym doing my thing ... you know planks, mountain climbers, modified pushups and I just couldn't shake the feeling off. I felt weak and I was about to cry because my trainer had to modify my exercises. I hate it when she has to do it, but in the end its for my own good.

I went to see my doctor about it twice and the second time around she concluded that I have in fact sprained my wrists; that means I can't use my wrists for two weeks!!! I'm so upset about this because I really wanted to tone my arms!!! @!$@#%$@%@# So for now I can only work out my core and legs, which is good I guess since I want my thighs to be more trimmed down. I'm still upset though ... but this will make me stronger in the end

I actually look AMAZING

2010-06-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

Left - July 2009, Right - June 2010

Okay, I look so good!! After a lot of hard work, I finally I wore a bikini out in public again after losing the weight and working out after I lost the 15 pounds. I was at 28% body fat in September 2009 and I'm at 21% body fat this month. I am amazing!

Let's Work It

2010-05-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, my boyfriend and I broke up. During that time I lost another 5 lbs, leaving me at a measly 118 pounds. My mother had to force feed me food actually it was that bad. This was back in April, that was the worst month of my life.

I've gone back to my personal trainer on a weekly basis, this time I'm doing this for myself. I should not have lost the weight because someone wanted me to. That was a mistake in itself.

Lack of motivation

2010-03-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

My goal after losing the first 15 pounds was to lose another 10 or so pounds by the end of the year. Lately I haven't felt that motivated to lose any weight; maybe it's because I don't see my trainer as much or that I'm swamped with work, school and extracurricular activities. Or this could be it:

Even though I lost the fifteen pounds, my boyfriend doesn't love me more. I thought by losing the weight he'd love me more and feel more attracted to me (that's what got me to exercise). I thought he'd want me more, but he doesn't. I feel rejected by all of this, no one wants me. I may have lost the weight, but I haven't gained an ounce of confidence.

Week - I've lost count

2010-03-08T01:30:00.000-08:00

I've reached my goal of losing the fifteen pounds. *does dance* However, I'm not done with this weight loss "program". This is a lifestyle change, not something that I would stop once I lost fifteen pounds. Why? Because I don't want to gain it all back; I felt so disgusting in my own skin and I was starting to get stretch marks everywhere. Plus I want to actually have a beach body this year, I'm twenty-one and I have never worn a bikini confidently. I also like the feeling that my clothes are a lot looser!

I'm going to be honest;

I don't eat as healthy as I did when I first started. If I want a burger with bacon, I'm going to have it.
I don't go to the gym as much as I did when I first started, which causes me to feel tired and moody all the time.

Interesting article

2010-02-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

I was searching up how long I should wait until I should workout after eating since I usually feel like I'm going to throw up during workouts when I eat something an hour before. I came across this article; http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100146039

It talks about how you should be eating no more than 45 minutes AFTER your workout so you don't miss out on your metabolic window, "enzymes that replenish muscle carbs are at their highest levels. Plus, insulin, which rebuilds protein stores, is at peak levels"

Here's a secret

2010-01-27T00:29:00.000-08:00

Whenever I tell people how much weight I've lost, I usually add about 2/3 pounds. Why? The more and more I say it, sooner or later I will get to that weight. It was really difficult to do this when I lost 7 pounds and I kept telling people 10. I'm at 13.5 pounds right now, but I want to tell people 15 pounds.

Biggest Loser

2010-01-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

I'm excited for season 9 of Biggest Loser tonight. 22 new contestants enter the ranch and are under the mercy of trainers Bob and Jillian. I love seeing these people transform through sweat and tears. I feel a bit jealous that they are able to lose ten pounds in a week and it has taken me about 2 months to do the same thing. Then I realize that these people go through vigorous training and are under constant monitoring.

Anyway, I can't wait for the 2 hour show tonight; something that I can learn from since I don't see my trainer as often as I use to.

Calories

2010-01-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

When you're really into weight loss, you will calorie count. According to this Calorie Counter my daily intake should be about 1816 calories a day; if I wanted to lose weight, I would have to cut down my calories by 400.

Quite honestly, I'm not that into calorie counting. If I am out with my boyfriend, there are no nutritional facts laid out in restaurant menus that aren't fast food; let alone Chinese style cafes. I bet that 90% of the food served there are over my daily intake of calories. The only safe places that I can think of to eat where I won't go over my calorie intake are sushi places and Opa. Those places get tiring after a while though. That was pretty much what I ate when I first started this change.

The Vancouver Sun came out with this Fatabase that has a database of nutritional information of restaurant items in certain food chains. Sadly, Cactus Club was not listed there since I frequently go there.

Well, here's an example of something that I did eat that was listed in this Fatabase. I had the Boston Brute at BP; which had 810 calories. So that's about 40% of my calorie intake. If I did this all the time I would go nuts. This is what I usually do; try to eat the minimal amount of carbs (rice, white bread, pasta, etc.) and have more vegetables. I try to avoid Caesar salads, fried foods, creamy sauces and desserts. Here and there I will cheat and have a cheeseburger from Cactus Club. But hey, I exercise so I have a little room to cheat once and again.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-29T22:29:00.000-08:00

I may be a few days late into saying, happy days, but it is better late than never.

I think the biggest battle during this time of the year is food. The type of food you choose and the portion size. I got a somewhat of a disapproving look from a family member when I told her that I was trying to lose weight and saw that there was barely any food on my plate. Then when it came to dessert time, of course I can't just have one. I must say that I've done pretty well this year compared to most years of holiday dinners.

The end of the year will mark peoples New Year's resolutions to lose weight and the gym will be super busy. I'll be avoiding the gym for a few weeks so I don't have to see every single treadmill/elliptical being used.

I'm down for the count

2009-12-05T20:39:00.001-08:00

So, I've gotten sick .. I'm in bed, watching movies and taking naps whenever I can. I guess this is what I get for only going to the gym once this week. *shakes fist*

Week 11 - My Confession

2009-12-02T23:18:00.000-08:00

Here are this month's photos of myself. There's still progress at least!!!

Okay, I have something to confess, I had a 12" Subway Sandwich. It was a steak sandwich (sans cheese) on whole wheat. I'm seriously dumbfounded when they ask me which veggies I want and I say, "Everything EXCEPT, olives and banana peppers please." Yet they get confused and say, "Do you want pickles?"

Confession #2, I haven't been doing my cardio on my off days and I missed doing my program today. I've been finding it difficult to motivate myself to get going out of the house and do my program 100%.

3 months later...

2009-11-30T20:29:00.000-08:00

This was from August 28th 2009 where I was at about 140 lbs

Here I am today (November 30th, 2009) where I am 130 lbs.

Week 10

2009-11-23T22:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to get into the mess about losing my FW trainer at the moment, so here's the program card that I have to follow this week:

Jump on step squat then lateral raise
Burpees with shoulder press
One hand row in plank position
Supermans on bosu
Lat pull over on Body ball
Squat hold with bicep curl
Tricep dips on step
Hamstring curl on body ball
Core Body ball toss
Body ball for the obliques/ side twist

Cardio is the same as before; 40 minutes on the elliptical for my days off. The days where I do my program; 1:1 intervals on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the elliptical.

Oh! Did I mention that I've reach the 10 lb mark? I have 5 lbs more to lose and I'll be at my goal weight for my birthday.

Countdown to my birthday: 25 days!

Diffficulties

2009-11-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

I find it really difficult using the treadmill, my legs can't seem to take it so when I do the "easy" minute, I take the speed down to 3.0 rather than the 5.0. I give it my all when I have to do my "intense" minute, with the speed going at 6.5 though.

It's super tiring doing the abdominal exercises, especially the ball toss. I have improved from the very first training session that I had, where I could barely do a push up.

On the brighter note, I am actually craving fruits and vegetables. Today after the gym, I bought two bags of those Mandarin oranges. Also, Cactus Club's seasonal greens (sans the almonds) is really good. It consists of grape tomatoes, feta, seasonal berries and a lemon-thyme vinaigrette. I usually order the burger or the spaghettini at Cactus. Since this lifestyle change in September, I've had the burger twice; both were used as my cheat days.

I really want cake right now, to be specific, I want Safeway's Black-forest cake. I just want dessert!!! I had ice cream cake for my friend's birthday, but it doesn't compare to bake goods.

Week 8

2009-11-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

This is the beginning of week 8 for me. It's been about a week since I've seen my trainer so I was excited to see my trainer for a new program. So here's what is in store for me this week:

Jump Squat - 12 reps
Bench Push ups/Star Position - 15 reps
Burpee/Shoulder Press - 12 reps
Backward Lunge/Bicep Curl - 15 reps
Bent over Row/Bosu - 15 reps
Side Plank/Frontal Raise - 12 -reps
Tricep Crunch 15 reps
Body ball Toss - 12 reps
Body ball / dolphin - 15 reps

Cardio - Elliptical for 10 minutes at level 10 (straight consistency) & treadmill for 10 minutes at random level (1:1)

I like this program a lot because it actually pushes me a lot harder and I've been getting bored of my last program.

I just ate 3 tiny candies ... this isn't good, but food wise I've been pretty good. Eating lots of veggies and fruits.

I bought myself an Ipod Shuffle so I have music to listen to while I exercise. Why didn't I just get an armband for my iPhone? Well the cost of a good armband is around $40 and I got the shuffle for $60. I figured this would be more durable than an armband and it's so sexy!

I had to buy a new pair of jeans because the pair that I always wear are becoming baggy. I'll be getting a new pair of jeans once I lose the last seven pounds. I think I may have to get new exercise pants as well, since those are getting baggy too.

Week 7?

2009-10-26T23:38:00.001-07:00

I fell off the wagon last week since my parents were away so I had to feed myself, with sloppy joes, chili dogs, steak, and pop.

I'm at around 133 - 134 right now, so I've lost about 7 lbs in the past month and a half or so.

Right now the program that I have been doing has been really tough.

Here's what it's like right now:

Cable squat twist (works obliques)
Tricep overhead extension in bridge position
One arm chest press in bridge position
Knee Drives off bosu
Bosu step-up bicep curl (start on knees)
Reverse step off/lateral raise (bosu)
Oblique bench dips
Leg ups off bench
V-Ups

Cardio: 1:1 intervals for 20 minutes or 30-40 minutes when I'm not doing the program.

I do these exercises in groups of three, three times.

The last 3 exercises are the most difficult, they don't involve any weights at all! A lot of it is core work, which I absolutely hate. I've gotten a lot better with my balance, so I don't hate the bosu as much. Since my 12 sessions are up at FW (going twice a week), I'll be going once a week.

In regards to food, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I'm back to the veggies and fruits ... I felt like crap last week from the lack of healthy food.

Week 3,4,5

2009-10-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos that I said that I would upload. Here is where I was at September 23/09, just after a few sessions at FW.

Here I am after 9 sessions with a trainer. I guess I shouldn't have stood so close to the mirror...

I can notice a few things about my body since I've started this: My arms aren't as big, my waist has shrunk a little bit. My legs aren't as big and I notice the stretch marks aren't stretching!! My stomach isn't as big as it was before, but my chest has gotten bigger.

I've changed my eating habits dramatically; I'm eating a lot more vegetables and I am trying really hard to eat less of the bad carbs.

My weight fluctuates from 137 to 134 on a weekly basis, which is better than weighing 140.

A lot of the exercises that I have been doing involve a lot of squats, lounges, dips, modified push ups, tricep rows and balancing on the bosu. I am also continuing with the 1:1 cardio training.

Week 2

2009-09-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

I've decided to stop weighing myself because every time I look at the scale it looks like I've gained back the 2 lbs that I so proudly lost last week. My trainer says it's because I'm building muscle, I hope she's right.

Diet wise, I've been eating less of the bad carbs (rice, chips, white bread) and I'm eating more veggies/fruits which is a good carb. I have pop once a week at most, which has been really difficult. I had slip up this past weekend where Paolo (my boyfriend) and I indulged in hot dogs, fries & gravy before a movie. I've been documenting what I eat in a journal ... well I just write down what I eat and just give to my trainer at FW.

I still have trouble eating out because I find it ridiculous to pay a restaurant $7 + for a bowl a fruit that clearly isn't fresh. My trainer suggests to eat before meeting up with people. I guess that saves me $$$ as well. The only thing that I've been splurging on are the 6" club from Subway. That costs $5.97 each, and I probably get 3 of them every week when I'm at school.

I still haven't taken any photos of myself yet, I should though because Paolo notices changes in my [thunder] thighs. My butt seems to be a lot firmer (yay!) and I don't look as thick as I usually do.

The program that my trainer has me on is getting more difficult; I was doing a lot of leg work (lots of squats!!!) last week and this week abdominal area was focused this week. Instead of doing 2 reps of each exercise, I'm supposed to do 3!!! I'm lucky that Paolo is helping me or else it'd take me more than 90 minutes to do everything.

I'm so sore from today's session ... I really should've gotten Paolo to stretch out my hamstrings.

Week 1

2009-09-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm documenting my journey to losing 15 pounds by December 18; which is my 21st birthday.

My goal is not to only shed the 15 pounds of fat by this deadline, but to also tone my body. This has been something that I've wanted since I was 15. To help me achieve this goal, I've joined Fitness World and I have a trainer that has been provided by my boyfriend.

This all started back a few months ago, where I told my boyfriend that I wanted to lose weight, which he was very supportive about. He even joined Fitness World before me and offered to pay for my membership as well to go there to support him and also for myself. Then in the last week of August, my boyfriend and I were in Ucluelet and he told me that I was fat. I know he was trying to help me, but saying that I was fat wasn't the greatest motivation. It just made me upset, maybe if he said it in another way I would've been more opened about going to Fitness World (FW). Then on August 31st, I joined FW reluctantly.

The manager of FW matched me with a trainer that would be able to help me with my goals.

I've only had two training sessions so far, but I feel better about myself and now I'm doing this for myself. I got my first program card that I have to do on my own when I don't see my trainer. I'll be seeing my trainer twice a week and I alternate between the program card and cardio when I don't see her.

I've been trying to eat healthier as well, avoiding rice, sugary drinks and fast foods.

So far I've lost about two pounds ... So now I'm at 138 lbs.

As a reward for losing 15 pounds, I get to have this:

13 more pounds to go!!!