Friday. 7/29/16: Twelve Week Challenge - Operation Re-Start: Final Results!!

Weight:  150.2  (So close!!  Rounds down to 150, so I'm calling it good!!)

My 12 Week Challenge has been a resounding success!!

On April 16, 2016, I put up a blog post explaining why I was starting this challenge.  You can go back and read that post if you want to, but here are a couple of excerpts:

Four months after surgery, I had this to say (by the way, one of my biggest fears with regards to the surgery is that I would not get back into the habit of exercise after recovery):

Now, comes the next step - getting back in shape.  Four months of inactivity (and 6 weeks of not being careful with my diet) has taken it's toll.  I am in terrible shape.  I kept starting and stopping and starting and stopping exercise programs.  I'd start because I felt lazy and sluggish and because my arms and legs were starting to jiggle a little too much.  I'd stop because the exercise was uncomfortable and I could tell my body wasn't quite ready.  Finally, I got so frustrated that I started eating off program. Talk about adding insult to injury. In case you're wondering, there was a little bit of drinking going on, too.  

Why did I decide to start the challenge?

First, why is this important?  That is an easy questions to answer, I like the way I feel when I am fit and strong and when my diet is clean.  There are so many benefits I can't describe them all, but I will list a few.  When I am fit and strong and my diet is clean:

• I feel energetic
• I sleep better
• I feel like a young person
• My memory improves
• My balance improves
• I am more optimistic
• I'm happier
• I find more joy in everyday life
• My clothes fit better
• I feel sexy
• I am more playful
• I flirt with my husband more
• I am stronger and can lift more and do more
• Hiking is more fun
• I'm a better kickball player (can kick the ball further, run faster, am more coordinated, making it easier to catch the ball)
• It is easier for me to keep up with my grandchildren
• I feel like I am actively working at improving my odds of being healthy into old age
• I feel more comfortable in my clothes
• I am more confident
• I feel more like me

Right now, even though I am thrilled with my surgery results, I am not fit and I am not strong.  My upper arms wave in the breeze and my thighs are a jiggly mess.  I feel puffy and weak.  Three weeks ago I couldn't jog 1/4 mile or do 3 push-ups without resting. Before surgery I was running 4 miles easily and could do 30 push-ups in a minute.  It's amazing what 4 months of inactivity will do.  I knew this was going to be an unfortunate consequence of the surgery.  I also knew I would have to kick myself in the ass to get started again.  Today is the day that I am seriously committing myself to getting my rear in gear!!

Finally, on April 16, 2016, it was all kicking in and I knew I was ready to be serious about getting back into shape.  I was about three weeks into exercising and being back on my food program and I was starting to feel optimistic again.  I knew I wanted to be serious about getting fit again, so to motivate myself I conceived of and started my 12 Week Challenge.  There was one snag, I underestimated the significance of a touch up surgery that was scheduled for late April.  The two week recovery from that surgery and then an unexpected week of people in the house derailed my plan - temporarily.  But as soon as my surgeon would allow it and as soon as everyone left town, I got back on program.  I pushed the end date of my challenge back a few weeks because what I really wanted to see in my photos and measurements was the results of working out for 12 weeks.  I knew it would change the shape of my body, but I didn't know how much it would change it.  I am thrilled with the results!!  And here they are:

First the photos:

Above are the side-by-side front and back photos.  Look, I got my hair to stick out in exactly the same place!!  So pleased with the results. I'm so much narrower and I can see muscle tone in my shoulders, abs, and back.  I love it!!

 And, for the first time, I'm also putting up my side photos, side-by-side.

And I am glad I took the time to put this slide together.  I can really see the difference in my arms and legs from this angle.  I love the muscle definition, even while relaxed.  Oh, and I have fewer chins! I'm not going to complain about that.

And now the stats:

Start Date:  4/16/2016
Re-Start Date:  5/7/2016
Today's Date:  7/29/16 (Final weigh in is today because we are leaving town for a week)

End Date:  7/30/2016 

WEIGHT GOAL
Start: 163.4 lbs

End:  150.2 (Dang it, I didn't poop until after my coffee and water!  That would have made the difference!  I said this to my sister and she said, "Well, you are your poop!"  True words, Ruth, true words.)
Change:  - 13.2 lbs

Goal: 150 lbs (So close!!)

FITNESS GOALS

Distance I Can Jog Before I Have to Slow to Walk
Start: 1.25 Miles

End:  3.0 Miles
Change:  + 1.75 Miles
Goal:  3.0 Miles (Achieved goal!!)

# of Push-ups to Fail
Start:  6

End:  27
Change: + 21
Goal:  20 (Exceeded goal!!)

Bent-Arm-Hang to Fail

Start::  0 Sec

End:  0 Sec
Change:  0 Sec
Goal:  5 Seconds (Removed this goal from challenge after I broke my finger)

MEASUREMENT GOALS

Right Bicep
Start:  13 ½”

End:  13 ¼"
Change:  - ¼"
Goal:  12” (Did not achieve goal.  I think the goal was a unrealistic.  My biceps are fine just as the are!)

Circumference Right Under Bra

Start:  34 ½”

End:  33"
Change:  - 1½"
Goal:  32 ½” (Just shy of goal, which was probably unrealistic.  I'm happy with this result)

Circumference at Belly Button
Start:  34 ¼”

End:  31"

Change: - 3 ¼"
Goal:  32 ¼" (Exceeded goal!!)

Circumference at Top of Hip Bone

Start:  39 ¼”

End:  36"
Change: - 3 ¼"
Goal:  36 ¼”  (Exceeded goal!!)

Right Thigh 9 Inches Above Knee
Start:  21 ½”

End:  20 ½"
Change: - 1"
Goal:  23” (This was a whacked goal! I thought my thighs would get bigger with the workouts, because of results from a previous challenge I did.  Now I think the measurements from the previous challenge were incorrect and this makes more sense.  I am glad my thighs are thinning out a bit.)

Original Plan:
During my 12 Week Challenge I will:

• Exercise 6 days a week - I have averaged about 5 days a week
• Eat On Program (including abstaining from all sugar and alcohol) - I stuck to program most of the time, with the exceptions being the 3 short trips away from home in the last 5 weeks.
• Weigh myself and record my weight, daily - Easy Peasy.  I do this all the time anyway.
• Update my blog posts regularly - Yes!  I've been good about this.  Thanks for reading!  The blog really helps!
• Measure my progress towards the goals listed above every 4 weeks. - Yes!  End results posted, today!!

Now the challenge is maintenance, of course.  Weight maintenance, that is.

For the first time in my life, and I am serious about this, for the very first time in my adult life, I am not worried about my weight.  I've been this weight (and lighter) as an adult, before, but I was always struggling to either lose weight or to maintain my weight.  It has always been a battle.  I was always coming up with schemes to trick myself into behaving in a way to keep the weight off (or to lose weight, when it went back up again).  I no longer feel this way.  Today, I feel like a 150 pound person. I feel like this is the weight I am supposed to be.  My daily program, the way I live my life, my lifestyle, supports my body the way it is today.  Something significant has changed and it is hard to put a finger on what it is, but I feel profoundly different about myself than I have ever felt before. I can point to a few specific things that have got me here:

• My food program is solid and unwavering
• Jack and I started the Whole 30 food program about 18 months ago.  It is a 30 day program designed to eliminate everything that is addictive, inflammatory, hormone whacking, or gut twisting from your diet.  After 30 days on the program we felt better than we had ever felt and we decided that is the way we wanted to eat for life.  
• The Whole 30 program eliminates, among other things, all sugar and grains.  I can't tell you how much easier it is to not overeat if you avoid all sugar and grains.  
• I am happy with the way we eat and I intend to be a Whole 30 cook for life.  Yes, maybe from time to time we'll go off program, but our basic, everyday, day-in-day-out food program will be Whole 30.
• My exercise program is solid and unwavering
• I've said for the last four years that I love to exercise 23 hours a day.  You know what I mean, every hour other than the hour that I was actually exercising, I loved the results. But I also said, more than once (probably more than 1000 times, actually), "I hate to exercise!"  Those days are gone.  Now, I can honestly say, I hate not to exercise.  That switch has flipped.
• I was really worried about not getting back into the exercise habit after I recovered from surgery.  This has happened before.  I've exercised for a while, gotten in decent shape, something derailed me, and six months later I was fat and out of shape again.  I worried that the surgery would be just such a derailment.  The opposite happened.  I was so ready to start exercising again that I kept starting before my body was quite ready.  I didn't hurt myself, but I could tell it was too soon and I needed to wait a little longer.  It was driving me nuts.  I wanted to exercise.  I wanted to feel the way I feel when I exercise.  I now have a solid exercise habit.
• A side note on this:  those people that say that it takes 30 days to make a habit are flat out wrong (in my opinion).  It took me 3 years to go from being a habitual couch sitter to a habitual exerciser.  It took more like 30 months instead of 30 days. Finally, I'm there.  I now know that things might interrupt my exercise habit, but nothing will keep me away from it forever.  Yes, I credit the book, "Younger Next Year," for motivating me.  I recommend it to anyone that needs a kick in the rear to get started.  For my health, for my well being, for my optimistic outlook regarding old age, I exercise most days of every week.
• I'm happy
• This is a big deal.  Maybe this is the biggest deal of all.  One of the benefits that comes with getting older is gaining perspective and wisdom.  I'm happily married (who even knew that was possible?), I have a large and loving family, I feel proud of the work I do, I am actively engaged in life, and I have optimistic plans for tomorrow.  Life is good. Yes, I am content.  I still beat myself up sometimes, but not very often.  I really am happy.  I have enjoyed getting older.  There is nothing wrong with 50+.  I am going to do everything I can to stay healthy and fit so that I can enjoy the second half of my life for as long as possible.  That is why I started this blog over 4 years ago, to help motivate me to live a healthy life for the second half of my life.  Nothing has changed.  That is still my goal and it will always be my goal.
• My  surgery was a success in all the ways that I thought it would be
• I can't describe how differently I perceive my body since my surgery.  I used to look in the mirror and see three things:  first was the loose belly skin, sagging and wrinkled; second were the breasts, large pendulums of flesh sagging towards my belly button and almost reaching it; and third were the saddle bags, pockets of stubborn fat that I couldn't get rid of, no matter how much I exercised.
• Now when I look in the mirror I see a fit person.  I notice the scars, they are real, but I can gloss over them pretty easily. They are still fading, but they will always be there. I don't get discouraged when I look in the mirror, anymore.  I see my narrow-ish waist and flat belly, and my cute little-ish breasts.  I see the muscle tone in my shoulders and arms. I see my legs starting to shape up, and I'm happy with what I see.  I can hardly remember the saddle bags anymore, probably because there are no scars.  The scars from my tummy tuck and breast lift will always remind me of what used to be there, but the lipo on my outer thighs did not leave any scars.  I tend to forget that I ever had those saddle bags, which is kind of funny considering how much I hated them.  
• I no longer look in the mirror and hate what I see.  I look in the mirror and I see the results of my exercise program and I am pleased.  The muscle is no longer hiding behind the loose skin and fat.  It's right there and I love it!
• I am having fun buying clothes that fit and look good on me.  I look forward to continuing to explore my style, whatever that may end up being.

So there you have.  Final results from my 12 Week Challenge and a solid foundation for the next 50 years.  Now I have to pack my suitcase and load the Suburban.  We are Colorado bound!!

Have a wonderful day!!