Hey all!
I did a weigh-in this morning, about 2 weeks after the end of the program and am proud to report that I haven't gained back any weight despite definitely getting off the bandwagon in every way! (not proud about the latter half of that sentence.. lol)
Anyways, I've definitely been afraid that going back to my former ways would result in definite weight-gain, but frankly -- you do something for 3 months and shit starts to get internalized! I'm having tea for snack and opting away from cheese (about half of the time, that is..) and consistently doing half portions of dessert-y type things.
I know it's just a little report, but I figured I'd share for folks considering joining the Jan 1 crew.
Best of luck to all who continue to be on this journey! :)
Hugs,
Nathaly
Showing posts with label making it. Show all posts
Showing posts with label making it. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Day 95, Nathaly: Then & Now
So, it's been 5 days and I still don't exactly know what to say... I've kind of be avoiding this post because -- what can I share that is of any use of any of you out there?? This whole journey has been so personal and in-my-head that I struggle with crafting a "final" post. I'm honestly still processing and feel I've probably learned just as much in this last week post-PCP or so as I did the first 5 days of the program. Sooooooo.....
Before and after pictures is what you're after, right? lol That's a simple measure of progress. This first set you'll likely be familiar with from our PCP Flickr stream:
In the 90 days of the Peak Condition Project, I:
But these numbers are meaningless, really.. So much of the benefits I've derived from these last 90 days has been in terms of increased self-confidence, self-appreciation, and a slowly increasing sense of the value of self-care (still working on that last one!). In the 90 days of the Peak Condition project, I:
There's so much more to say (about setting good priorities and truly living healthily), but I think I'll try to capture that in another post.. Maybe the words to express my heartfelt appreciation for Patrick and Team Fantastic-Carrots-who-eat-LAGs-for-breakfast will come to me sometime soon. Keep posted, if you wish. And thank you, thank you, thank you for believing in us!
Heart hugs,
Nathaly
Well, and just for fun -- a Halloween family shot!
Before and after pictures is what you're after, right? lol That's a simple measure of progress. This first set you'll likely be familiar with from our PCP Flickr stream:
 |
| Day 1 ...................................................................................................... & Day 90 |
- Lost 10 kilos (22 lbs)!!
- Lost 9 cms off my waistline, 8 cms off my thigh, and 2.5 cms off my bicep (I started measuring on Day 22, actually -- so these numbers only reflect 68 days of fat loss)
- Returned to a bra-line width of 34 inches
- Went down 2 full pant sizes (from a 12 to an 8 -- and maybe 3 if you consider that I really should've been rocking 14s but refused to accept it)
But these numbers are meaningless, really.. So much of the benefits I've derived from these last 90 days has been in terms of increased self-confidence, self-appreciation, and a slowly increasing sense of the value of self-care (still working on that last one!). In the 90 days of the Peak Condition project, I:
- Began to feel sexy again (enough to recently return a small collection of thongs Ramiro has probably completely forgotten about back to my undies dresser from a box at the bottom of the closet)
- Realized how little of me I dedicated to me in the past
- Learned I actually enjoy jumping rope -- I think I've been getting lots of those happy-chemicals to the brain b/c of it!
- Collected a small toolkit of easy-to-make, delicious, balanced and good-for-you meals (if you've got more, send them my way!)
And this next set of pictures, offers a slightly longer historical timeline. "Then" was October of 2009, when I decided I'd had enough of my chubbiness and decided to once again attempt to take control of my weight & body image issues.. I did this by eating smaller portions (of whatever I wanted), taking the dog on longer walks, and going to university fitness classes 1 or 2 times a week. A couple months later, I realized this approach wasn't terribly productive and I decided to up the ante -- I started counting calories and publishing my weight on Facebook once a week as a status update. I learned that the community accountability piece was something I really benefited from and started to lose about .5 lbs per week on average, but did some definite yo-yo'ing and lots of stress eating (2nd year of grad school...) and was still feeling frustrated.
By the time Ramiro mentioned this cool thing one of his co-worker's was doing (have you all met Mr. Will Awesome?), I was again ready to take another small step forward, but the hubster seemed to think I was better off taking a leap instead and urged me to consider doing the PCP. And, frankly, he was RIGHT. (So nice to have that sort of vote of confidence from my better half). Doing it as a couple was by far my the biggest source of strength for getting through this all, and well -- here're the pics to prove it was a good move!
 |
| Then............................................... & Now (I tried to re-create the shot as best I could, but I can't find that sweater anywhere.. ) |
Heart hugs,
Nathaly
Well, and just for fun -- a Halloween family shot!
 |
| A bumble bee, Marge Simpson & Bat-dog |
Monday, October 11, 2010
Day 72, Nathaly: Here we go again!
Hey all!
Hope you haven't missed me too much. I've been doing the crazy climate organizing thing and have had so much fun and such a re-invigoration of energy and momentum to fight this crisis. Thanks for your understanding my absences lately.
All the great organizing unfortunately meant that I took a bit of a step back on the PCP. I kept generally PCP-compliant as far as the food rules are concerned (except for yesterday, 10/10/10, when I was stationed in Burlington's Battery park from 6:30am to 7:30pm and had to eat what was around), but definitely not in terms of gramage/allotments. It meant that I vastly under-ate, usually getting in two quick meals a day (grossly lacking in vegetable content) and I wasn't exercising at all.
So I got back into the jumping this morning and thought I would fall apart after just a couple minutes. I was glad to find that the worst of it was the boredom. The workout was also fairly do-able, but definitely resulted in some painful moments, especially the breakage of a friggin' resistance band, slapping my thigh on the way to the kitchen floor. That's gonna be a pretty welt..
What else to share? I guess I just hope I can keep it up. I have a dangerous love of convenience and a penchant for loading too much on my (rhetorical) plate, which can very easily lead me back down the path of easy cheese and greasy carbs. So, have I thrown all that effort from day 1 to day 60 away? I really don't think so, but I also acknowledge that the likelihood of me reaching a "peak condition" -- even if I kept up with the regime beyond Day 90-- is pretty low.
In all honesty, what's the real danger in feeling like I've done pretty good thus far? I've lost 20 lbs and I like how I look. I wouldn't mind having more definition in my arms and mid-section, but I also like that I feel like I can sustain where I'm at, versus reaching some chiseled look and then losing it... Am I again letting a fear of failure get in the way of me giving this my all? Am I being realistic here or just plain lazy? These questions are more for me than for you all, but I appreciate you being an audience out there to read my words.
I'm tired. It's late. I'm going to bed.
Hope you haven't missed me too much. I've been doing the crazy climate organizing thing and have had so much fun and such a re-invigoration of energy and momentum to fight this crisis. Thanks for your understanding my absences lately.
All the great organizing unfortunately meant that I took a bit of a step back on the PCP. I kept generally PCP-compliant as far as the food rules are concerned (except for yesterday, 10/10/10, when I was stationed in Burlington's Battery park from 6:30am to 7:30pm and had to eat what was around), but definitely not in terms of gramage/allotments. It meant that I vastly under-ate, usually getting in two quick meals a day (grossly lacking in vegetable content) and I wasn't exercising at all.
So I got back into the jumping this morning and thought I would fall apart after just a couple minutes. I was glad to find that the worst of it was the boredom. The workout was also fairly do-able, but definitely resulted in some painful moments, especially the breakage of a friggin' resistance band, slapping my thigh on the way to the kitchen floor. That's gonna be a pretty welt..
What else to share? I guess I just hope I can keep it up. I have a dangerous love of convenience and a penchant for loading too much on my (rhetorical) plate, which can very easily lead me back down the path of easy cheese and greasy carbs. So, have I thrown all that effort from day 1 to day 60 away? I really don't think so, but I also acknowledge that the likelihood of me reaching a "peak condition" -- even if I kept up with the regime beyond Day 90-- is pretty low.
In all honesty, what's the real danger in feeling like I've done pretty good thus far? I've lost 20 lbs and I like how I look. I wouldn't mind having more definition in my arms and mid-section, but I also like that I feel like I can sustain where I'm at, versus reaching some chiseled look and then losing it... Am I again letting a fear of failure get in the way of me giving this my all? Am I being realistic here or just plain lazy? These questions are more for me than for you all, but I appreciate you being an audience out there to read my words.
I'm tired. It's late. I'm going to bed.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Day 33, Nathaly: Scheduling
OK -- so there are some perks to being a graduate student. For starters, I am among the lucky few who get paid to go to school (via a USDA fellowship). How AWESOME is that? I'm still not over how blessed I've been. Secondly, you get to learn from and study alongside a lot of really fantastic people. And last, but certainly not least, you set your own schedule!
So, as I transition from graduate student to "Master of Science" (hah!) and from the flexibility of summer to the schedule of the fall, i'm faced with the need to figure out how I plan to do everything I want to do. I've struggled with over-committing myself to causes for years. Now that i'm trying to take care of me, I need to find that balance between my work (at the moment, my full-time job is getting a job), my activism, my singing, my health and my relationships. Usually, work, Ramiro and activism are at the center of my life and everything else just kinda hovers, but I'd like to move forward giving all the other aspects of well-rounded-happy-me some time, as well.
Things I need to remember as I move forward with that:
Lesson 1: I can't do jumps/workouts after dinner. My tummy just doesn't handle it well.
Lesson 2: I need to get up earlier.
Lesson 3: I need to plan my days, almost like I budget our income, if I actually want to do it all (and not forget the basic stuff like dishes & laundry).
Lesson 4: I need to call home and far-away friends more often. I forget it's actually fun times.
There's other stuff, but that's what I can come up with for now. So, this fall I'll be starting a 30-hr/wk internship, singing with two choirs, attempting to get my project writing into a publishable state and working with a small group of organizers to put together an amazing 350.org 10/10/10 Global Work Party for Burlington, VT (if you haven't heard of 350.org, check out the website).
Anyways, being healthy through all that is a challenge I'm actually looking forward to! If I can get through this, I'll have learned skills to actually move me through my normal life AND even stay fit -- wow. It's a lot to ask of myself, but this is a great time for me to learn! And, as always -- thank goodness Ramiro's around to help me figure it out. :)
PS: we're having a bit of a heat wave up in VT. Jumps have been sucking BIG time. Hope y'all are keeping cool!
So, as I transition from graduate student to "Master of Science" (hah!) and from the flexibility of summer to the schedule of the fall, i'm faced with the need to figure out how I plan to do everything I want to do. I've struggled with over-committing myself to causes for years. Now that i'm trying to take care of me, I need to find that balance between my work (at the moment, my full-time job is getting a job), my activism, my singing, my health and my relationships. Usually, work, Ramiro and activism are at the center of my life and everything else just kinda hovers, but I'd like to move forward giving all the other aspects of well-rounded-happy-me some time, as well.
Things I need to remember as I move forward with that:
Lesson 1: I can't do jumps/workouts after dinner. My tummy just doesn't handle it well.
Lesson 2: I need to get up earlier.
Lesson 3: I need to plan my days, almost like I budget our income, if I actually want to do it all (and not forget the basic stuff like dishes & laundry).
Lesson 4: I need to call home and far-away friends more often. I forget it's actually fun times.
There's other stuff, but that's what I can come up with for now. So, this fall I'll be starting a 30-hr/wk internship, singing with two choirs, attempting to get my project writing into a publishable state and working with a small group of organizers to put together an amazing 350.org 10/10/10 Global Work Party for Burlington, VT (if you haven't heard of 350.org, check out the website).
Anyways, being healthy through all that is a challenge I'm actually looking forward to! If I can get through this, I'll have learned skills to actually move me through my normal life AND even stay fit -- wow. It's a lot to ask of myself, but this is a great time for me to learn! And, as always -- thank goodness Ramiro's around to help me figure it out. :)
PS: we're having a bit of a heat wave up in VT. Jumps have been sucking BIG time. Hope y'all are keeping cool!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Day 20, Nathaly: I feel like cheating
Hey all,
Ever since I got out of the routine by going home for the weekend, I've been fudging with the rules a bit. On top of that, it's only been three weeks and I've lost 5 lbs, so I figure -- at this rate, why even bother doing the harder exercises? I could get away with adding a sprinkle of salt on this, a little mayo here, a dab of butter there, right? Add to both of those thoughts the fact that I defend my thesis in 8 days and am very much anticipating the most stressful week of my life (thus far) and it all spells very alluring rationale for not following the diet and/or exercises to the T.
SO -- I'm reaching out to you all for some support. What I know I need for me to stay on track through the next (excruciating) week is some serious rationalization of why this is worth doing. Know thyself, right? I'm a thinker and I'm a worrier by nature. I'm also a giver & a nurturer so I don't really value taking care of myself as the reason for this 3-month experiment. To offer a bit of perspective on this last thought: Ramiro and I are nowhere near starting a family, but one of the main reasons I want to develop healthier habits is that I'd like to be ready for motherhood well before taking that step -- emotionally, physically, financially, socially. (looking nice in a bathing suit would be nice, too). Hence, the last couple years have been about finding a career path that really means something; paying off debt in an efficient way; adopting socially & environmentally responsible practices and learning to be happy with me. It's more about being the right person than about reaching my "peak".
This leads me to the next thought I've been struggling with. Thus far, this program is so über-scripted and Patrick-is-Guru (no offense, dude -- you're a cool guy, we chose this and you've got a great record of success) but I'm not sure I'm actually learning how to incorporate some of the important life lessons I'm seeking. One of my biggest problems before Day 1 was emotional eating & the weighing of foods has left emotional eating out of the question both b/c it's not allowed and b/c I haven't really been hungry with all this food. So, here's the problem: I don't feel like i'm actually listening to my body yet. I'm not eating when I'm hungry; I'm eating what and when Patrick says I should. So, I'm really hoping this will develop over the course of the next 80 days. Has that happened for others?
Next, this is not a life-long endeavor for me. I value the beauty of eating good foods too much to keep nuts & beans and chocolate & ice cream out of my life forever. What happens when Day 91 comes along and I start eating my beloved cheeses again? What happens when I finally choose to adopt vegetarianism? I plan to continuing doing the exercises forever more, but 80% of this program is diet, so.. is it worth being so hard on myself for three months if I know it's just going to end. In other words, why not fudge? Why not use this time to simply learn to go with less of ______?
Another thing that will make this week difficult is exactly the topic of Kim's last post: convenience. If I have to write for 10 hours straight, I can't stop to steam the veggies. And if I'm hating every minute of that writing, I most certainly do not want to hate my meal. So -- another rationale for cheating a bit.
Given how tough it's been to get back on track after going home for the weekend, I don't wanna have a lax week and then struggle to get back into the thick of things after my thesis defense on August 30th (send positive thoughts my way from 1-4pm that day, please!!).
OK -- it's a long post b/c it had to be. Thanks for reading and help me by sharing:
1. rationalizations I can adopt
2. easy, simple recipes that are actually enjoyable
3. ways you get yourself through the hard times
THANKS SO MUCH, PCPers!
Ever since I got out of the routine by going home for the weekend, I've been fudging with the rules a bit. On top of that, it's only been three weeks and I've lost 5 lbs, so I figure -- at this rate, why even bother doing the harder exercises? I could get away with adding a sprinkle of salt on this, a little mayo here, a dab of butter there, right? Add to both of those thoughts the fact that I defend my thesis in 8 days and am very much anticipating the most stressful week of my life (thus far) and it all spells very alluring rationale for not following the diet and/or exercises to the T.
SO -- I'm reaching out to you all for some support. What I know I need for me to stay on track through the next (excruciating) week is some serious rationalization of why this is worth doing. Know thyself, right? I'm a thinker and I'm a worrier by nature. I'm also a giver & a nurturer so I don't really value taking care of myself as the reason for this 3-month experiment. To offer a bit of perspective on this last thought: Ramiro and I are nowhere near starting a family, but one of the main reasons I want to develop healthier habits is that I'd like to be ready for motherhood well before taking that step -- emotionally, physically, financially, socially. (looking nice in a bathing suit would be nice, too). Hence, the last couple years have been about finding a career path that really means something; paying off debt in an efficient way; adopting socially & environmentally responsible practices and learning to be happy with me. It's more about being the right person than about reaching my "peak".
This leads me to the next thought I've been struggling with. Thus far, this program is so über-scripted and Patrick-is-Guru (no offense, dude -- you're a cool guy, we chose this and you've got a great record of success) but I'm not sure I'm actually learning how to incorporate some of the important life lessons I'm seeking. One of my biggest problems before Day 1 was emotional eating & the weighing of foods has left emotional eating out of the question both b/c it's not allowed and b/c I haven't really been hungry with all this food. So, here's the problem: I don't feel like i'm actually listening to my body yet. I'm not eating when I'm hungry; I'm eating what and when Patrick says I should. So, I'm really hoping this will develop over the course of the next 80 days. Has that happened for others?
Next, this is not a life-long endeavor for me. I value the beauty of eating good foods too much to keep nuts & beans and chocolate & ice cream out of my life forever. What happens when Day 91 comes along and I start eating my beloved cheeses again? What happens when I finally choose to adopt vegetarianism? I plan to continuing doing the exercises forever more, but 80% of this program is diet, so.. is it worth being so hard on myself for three months if I know it's just going to end. In other words, why not fudge? Why not use this time to simply learn to go with less of ______?
Another thing that will make this week difficult is exactly the topic of Kim's last post: convenience. If I have to write for 10 hours straight, I can't stop to steam the veggies. And if I'm hating every minute of that writing, I most certainly do not want to hate my meal. So -- another rationale for cheating a bit.
Given how tough it's been to get back on track after going home for the weekend, I don't wanna have a lax week and then struggle to get back into the thick of things after my thesis defense on August 30th (send positive thoughts my way from 1-4pm that day, please!!).
OK -- it's a long post b/c it had to be. Thanks for reading and help me by sharing:
1. rationalizations I can adopt
2. easy, simple recipes that are actually enjoyable
3. ways you get yourself through the hard times
THANKS SO MUCH, PCPers!
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