You've lost weight!

This morning I was less bummed out than I thought I would be when my scale only dropped 0.6 lbs from last week.  I know that I've done everything I could to keep on track this week. I've exercised hard, worked hard, ate clean, drank my water, didn't drink my diet coke, and lived the life.  I chalked it up to all the normal things we tell ourselves when the scale doesn't match the effort.  Muscle weighs more than fat, it's just your body retaining water, you had a big drop last week/you will have a big drop next week, you're a woman, etc.  But in the end, it doesn't matter because I'm still making progress and I'm still happy.

I did the math and realized I hit exactly 10% of my weight gone today.  I'm pretty happy with that.  A total of  29 lbs. even.   YAY 10%!!!!  If I was still doing weight watchers, I would have earned a poorly made, but awesome keychain.  As it stands now, I just earn my own happiness and self worth.  Maybe I can give myself a picture of a 10% keychain and feel better?

I've been taking a lot of pictures of myself lately, not because I'm a narcissist (ok I am), but because I need to see these changes, and when I share them it helps me feel accountable. This week I looked at the picture below, and it's an eye opener. I'm 260 now, and I've been 260 before.  However, this 260 lbs is a huge change from any other 260 I've ever been.  I wish I had a picture of the last time I was there, because wow.  The difference exercise makes is incredible.

I wanted to share things I've noticed in my body:

• My butt is higher, like a lot higher.  When I tried on my "smaller" pair of jeans and they fit, I was excited - except they only fit the waist, and there was an empty cavern where my butt used to sit.  
• My thighs are slimmer, and tighter.  I've lost 2 inches in the circumference of each thigh.  
• My stomach is a lot tighter.  Sure I have a long way to go, but I can start to see the indentations that comes from doing killer sets of crunches and other ab exercises.  
• My boobs are getting smaller...FINALLY! 
• My arms are stronger, much stronger.  I used to be the weak nurse, now I had a client tell me not to lift so hard.  That's never happened to me before.
• My skin is clearer and much less dry.  It's all the water that makes a difference.  I live in the cold tundra of Minnesota, and every winter I deal with itchy, really bad dry skin all over my body.  This year, I have not even had to deal with the problem. It's been great!

This all feels awesome, but nothing feels as great as seeing someone you haven't in 3 months and having that person do a double-take on you, and say "Wow, You've lost weight!"  Not "Have you been loosing weight by any chance?" or "You look skinnier."  She said "You've lost weight" because it's that noticable now.  And that was some awesome validation, because I am looking better, happier, and let me tell you my butt is definitely smaller.

My AWESOME Personal Trainer

I have to get this out there.  If you've ever met someone who's had such a monumental impact on your life, how you feel about yourself, your confidence level, and your happiness, then you have to spread the word.  I'm talking about my personal trainer.  His name is Damien.  And to put it overly nerdy, he is a Master Jedi of Fitness, and he uses the Force.

How he became my trainer:

I joined the YMCA in January, and asked the membership director for a recommendation.  I explained I wanted someone very thoughtful, dedicated who could focus, and push me while motivating me outside my comfort zone.  He named Damien Rochon-Washington. I put it in the back of my head.

One day I was trying to figure out a dumbbell snatch with my friend.  Damien was the trainer on the floor for the day, and we asked him for instruction.  We were goofing off a bit, and he pushed right through that. He focused me, described the movement, showed me the movement, and got me to repeat the movement.  I was impressed.

 I went home and googled him.  The first thing that comes up is that he got the BEST PERSONAL TRAINER award for City Pages last year.  The second was a video featuring him doing something called Caveman training.  What's caveman training?  Watch the video:


I realized that this awesome way of working out, pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone in strength  cardio, agility, flexibility, balance, and overall athleticism just spoke to the inner core of my being.  I figured out that he works at this other new start-up gym too that is just crazy awesome, called Evolution Group Fitness.   Caveman is scary, yes, it's new, yes, it's going to be a challenge, yes, but that's when I was 100 percent determined that this is what I needed.

I walked into the Y, not having actually met this man except a little dumbbell snatch and talked to the Fitness Manager, and said "I want to buy sessions, I want them with this guy, and that's that." My determination threw this sales guy off so much that he made me have my first 'trial' workout with Damien first.  People, I tell you, I knew what I wanted.

So I had my intro session, we talked a lot about my fitness goals. I instantly felt that he understood what I was looking for, wanted to do, and that he was excited to be roped into my journey with me. He taught me some new things that I was interested in learning like foam rolling, and then in the last 10 minutes, he literally kicked my ass by having me do some cardio boxing. It was so fun, and I left there so happy.  On my way out, I ploped down the change for a significant amount of sessions.  I couldn't wait for my first real session the following Tuesday, and it was awesome.  From there I've been seeing him 1-2 times a week, and plan to continue this pattern up and through my goal.

Here is what always happens when I train with Damien:

• He is always on time. 
• He is always focused on me.
• He is always positive.
• He puts my needs as the client first.
• He takes his time to thoughtfully put together a workout that will challenge me on my level.
• If I were to guess what goes through his mind when he puts together a workout for me, I would say he uses a thoughtful balance between exercises that he knows I can do, and understand, and other exercises that may be new, uncomfortable or hard for me.  
• I know he understands my focus of overall increased fitness, with the most efficient fat loss possible and he targets that goal.
• He always motivates me.
• He always makes me feel like a rockstar when I'm done with a training session, which really fuels rest of my week.
• He is always prepared.
• He is incredibly effective.
• Long after I leave him when I'm doing Zumba, I'm at Bodyflow, when I'm doing his exercises at home, his voice is in my head, motivating the hell out of me. 

Example of my One Hour Training with Damien 

I walk into the room, and it's already set up ready to go. I see the Battle Rope laid out, ready to go, the mat, foam roller, and about 6 different setups of exercises, 4 of which I'd never done before.  This should be fun!

We usually start a session with some form of warm up cardio like boxing or intervals with the ropes.  This gets my heart up, and keeps my body working throughout or session.

From there we do my foundational exercises which include foam rolling, stretching, balance exercises, floor exercises, pilates, resistance bands.  We target all the areas specific to my needs like balance, flexibility, agility, and muscle recovery.

Then the fun begins.  He almost always has an interval circuit setup in my session.

     Today's circuit went like this:

     The rule for each exercise is as many as you can do safely in the time allotted.

• 30 seconds Battle Ropes (Different battle rope exercise each time, as hard and fast as you can go)
• 60 seconds step ups w/dumbbell press
• 30 seconds Battle Ropes
• 60 seconds bench presses with my back on a Bosu while holding a "hip up" position.
• 30 seconds Battle Ropes 
• 60 seconds Medicine Ball Slams
• 30 seconds Battle Ropes
• 60 seconds of throwing a Punching bag across the room.  I may have possibly been aiming for his head at one point here (this stuff gets hard!)
• 30 Seconds Battle Ropes
• 60 seconds Kettle bell raises
• 30 second Battle Ropes
• 60 seconds Kettle Bell Sumo Squats
• 30 second Battle Ropes
• 60 seconds Dumbbell Snatches
• 30 seconds falling on the floor and dying

We ended with another 10 minutes of cardio boxing, building upon what he's already taught me with new moves.  Nothing really pushes my cardio like boxing, and it's the perfect activity for every fitness level.

Which brings me to my main point.  This man is extremely thoughtful about what he puts you through.  He set up a circuit today which he knew would be challenging for me.  He would not set up that same circuit, with the same intervals and expectations for any of his other clients.  When he works with athletes, the workouts he give them are completely different from what he gives me.  I am 100% sure that I could not have met him at a more important time in my life, nor could I have possibly picked a better person to be my trainer.

What he does with me is so awesome, that I can't leave the YMCA afterwards without 3 different people stopping me to ask questions about my training.

I don't get any kickback from this, but finally I wanted to share his information because he's affected my life so positively in such a short time, I just want to spread the love.  If you are in the Twin Cities, you can find him at either of these two places:

• New Hope YMCA where he provides Personal Training services.
• Evolution Group Fitness in Champlin where he teaches Caveman Classes for ALL fitness levels and provides Personal Training services.  If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to attend a class with you (and they have free trials!)

Peace, Love and Battle Ropes!

Highs and Lows, Before and Current

This past week or so has been a roller coaster ride with me, filled with extreme lows and some awesome highs.   Life is really just a sequence of moments that range from high to low, and what I'm changing in my life is how I react to these moments.

When my husband came home last Thursday and told me he lost his job, I was absolutely devastated.  There are some, but not many things lower than having your entire financial security and family balance blown up in your face.  My sorrow and anxiety were through the roof.  We've been through this before, and I know we can survive it, so I wasn't worried about the health, happiness and security of my children.  I know they will be fine.  Frankly, I'm worried about me.  We can pay for groceries, but can we pay for a gym membership?   What about the personal training?  What about everything else I've been putting towards myself?  And my next thought was "I just want to go for a run."

Wait. Hold up a second.  Did I just say I want to go for a run?  Yes, that's what I said, and I truly meant it.  I was so stressed out, all I could think about was going for a run. I'm not even a good runner, I can't even run for more than a minute.  I just wanted to.   On top of that, I had no appetite.  I just wanted to feel some release of endorphins and have some time to think to myself about how I was going to handle this sitatuation.

Maybe this line of thinking makes sense to you.  Maybe it doesn't.  For me it was a 'wow' moment, because in my 31 years of life I cannot ever think of a time when I wanted to exercise because I was stressed out.  I can think of times where I ate girlscout cookies because i was stressed out, I sat and read a book, I took a shower, gone shopping, I went to the store and pigged out on candy, chips, pizza, etc.  But it has never occurred to me in my life to exercise to pick myself up.  But you see I have been exercising, and I know how it feels when I'm done with a hard workout, and it feels freakin great.  Somehow I made the connection that this would be a healthy and positive way to cope with my issues.

The only thing I did not do was reach for those 4 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that are still sitting up above the stove just collecting dust, because I didn't even want that crap.  And then I opened our budget, and I found a way to keep the things I need in my life.

 I have to remember how far I've come, whether it's talking about exercise, food choices, coping with stress, having a hard time conquering an obstacle.  I had a hard time this week at a BodyFlow class.  I did ok it the class, but it was frustrating wanting to be able to accomplish something, realizing how agile everyone else is, and how far you have to go.  I have a very hard time visualizing where I want to be, because I can't actually imagine what it would be like. I have no personal reference.  I see these girls doing freakin air split things, and planks, and pushups, and I can't visualize myself ever doing these things.  It can be quite a desperate feeling to know you top pretty much everyone else in a class by 80 lbs.  But there's only one way to change that, and it's to show up for class, to be the girl that's 80 lbs heavier, and to power through it.

But there's something to be said for a class that's just no accessible, which is why I'm so attracted to the caveman stuff, to what my trainer has been doing with me, to Zumba class, to things I can accomplish.  Because they give me that sense of hope that someday I could actually run a 5 k, a half marathon, do a tough mudder, flip tires like a boss, complete a kickboxing class, play soccer with my kids, go dancing all night and look good doing it.

 I had to make this picture for myself, because I can see how 25 lbs has changed me.  That was in 10 weeks. 10 weeks is nothing.  10 weeks is only 1/4th of a pregnancy.  Half of a semester at school.  5 paychecks.  I have to think about how far I've come in 10 weeks, and how far the next 10 will bring me, and the 10 after that. I can't always think about what I will be able to accomplish someday, but what I have accomplished so far, and what new accomplishments I will make today and tomorrow, and the day after.

This Journey is a marathon (that goes forever), heck it's an IRON MAN, no it's one of those psycho 100 mile races my brother in law runs. It's never ending.  This is not a sprint, and this girl needs to keep up the perseverance and have a little patience, because changes are happening.

The Nitty Gritty Numbers

I wanted to share a little about where I'm at.  I'm not usually this embarrassed to share something like my weight.  People can see what you look like. They know.  It's just a number  But this has been hard for me to admit.  So here it is:

I started at 289.6 lbs. Yes that's a lot of weight.  My starting BMI was 44, that's 4 points into the Morbidly Obese range.  This is bad people.

That was 10 weeks ago.  So where am I at today?

• Weight: Down 25.4 Lbs
• BMI: Down 3.8 points.  Very close to no longer being morbidly obese
• Percentage of Weight Loss: 8.77%.  I'm also very close to having lost a tenth of my entire body.  
• Measurements:
• Hips - Down 4.25 inches
• Waist - Down 4 inches
• Bust - Down 2.25 Inches
• Thigh - Down 1.5 Inches Each
• Arms - Well, I was down, and then I started working them hard, and they are bigger again.  They will shrink up eventually.

 I was wondering why my hip measurement was not decreasing more.  I should be losing the most there by a significant amount and I couldn't figure it out.  Then when I fit into an old pair of pants the other day, it dawned on me.  I noticed a baggy cavern in the rear of my old jeans.  All the squats, hip and core exercises really do work, because my butt is literally a few inches higher and sticking out more in the back.  So I have lost there, I've just also lifted there.  I'm totally down with a lifted butt.   

Here's the details in a poorly transferred excel spreadsheet:

Here's a much prettier chart, showing a couple of goals that I'm going to bust through sometime this month.  

I will probably do an update with charts every four weeks.  I love numbers, I love charts, and I think it's fun to see the achievement written in different ways.  Wednesday is my normal Weigh in morning, so I will be making my significant weight loss posts then.

Sometimes it feels like this process will take forever, but then I look at charts and numbers like these and realize I have made significant progress in 10 weeks.  I can't wait to see what a whole year brings to me!

When am I going to want a dang Shamrock Shake?

It was important for me starting this journey to allow for treats now and then.  I told myself that when I get a craving to think about what my body is saying and act accordingly.  Do I really want some chocolate, than measure it out and eat it.  It's ok in moderation when you want it.  And I did do that here and there for a while.

I just never expected to not want it.  I slowly weaned myself off Diet Coke without even trying, and since then my sweet tooth has become almost non-existant.  I am allowing myself diet coke if I go out to eat, which is rare.  I finally had one last Wednesday, and I only got three hours of sleep.  Thanks Diet coke.  I never had that problem before.  Times are changing.

However there's one sweet that I knew I would want, that I freak out over every March. It's the shamrock shake.  I've always loved the sweet combination of mint and ice cream, or well mint and anything.  Or ice cream and anything for that matter.  I prepared myself and said "Erica, you are allowed to have one, but make sure it's when you really want it.  If your body tells you that you're craving it, get it."  The weird thing is that today is St. Patrick's day, and my body has said no such thing.  I suppose I have until the end of  March,   but otherwise there's always next year, right?


This is just one of many small, strange things for me.  I still have 3 mostly full boxes of Girl Scout cookies in my cupboard. I'm talking Samoas and Thin Mints people.  You know how crazy that is, right?

I passed by the Easter aisle at the store the other day, and I was panicked I would have a moment, and then I looked, and it all looked like junk to me. I even said "you can have a small treat if you want, or get a bag and share it at work" and I just didn't want to.

Is it the exercise? Is it the complete diet change?  Is it the determination? The fear of going back?

Is it all of these things combined into one girl making a lot of changes? I think so, but seriously I almost want to want a shamrock shake just to know that I'm still myself.  This can't be normal.

Either way, Happy St. Patty's Day from a girl who's going to be eating some corned beef tonight and looking like a balloon tomorrow.

Self Doubt

I really try to come off as a positive and gung-ho about fitness person, and I am. I am truly passionate about the changes I have, and am continuing to make in my life.  But sometimes, that voice comes in.

It happened a couple times today in my training session, and that's ok.  One of my goals with training is to be pushed further than I think I can be pushed, so the natural response to that is to resist the push.  If someone tells you you can do something that you don't possibly think you can do, you might have a gut reaction of resisting that action.  And sometimes I do.

Today during my training session, my trainer stepped it up a notch, or maybe 10, I'm not sure.  I had two major moments of self doubt, and here is how I handled them:

1. He sent me through a series of ropes mixed with other activities in mini circuits.  The first was "Do battle ropes 25 times, do a medicine ball slam 5 times, repeat 3 times."  I gave the medicine ball the side eye, because my initial gut was an internal whine of "OMIGAHRD that sounds hard!" And he caught it, and I know he knew what I was thinking, so he asked  "What are you thinking?"  And that's when I made the snap decision to re-frame my thinking.  I know that I can do this, and he thinks I can do this, and he wouldn't have me do it if I couldn't.  Really the great thing about the ropes is that they are on your level. You push yourself to go as fast and as high as YOU can.  This is why I love free resistance exercises as opposed to a machine, because you aren't limiting yourself to 12 reps of whatever you put on that machine.  You're limiting yourself only to the  limitations you are willing to break through.  I digress.  The point is, when he asked "What are you thinking" I said "I'm going to make that ball my bitch."  and I did, well to my personal extent.

2.  At the end 55 minutes of working me fairly hard, he says "Do you know what a Tabata is?"  Oh yes, I know.  20 seconds on, 10 seconds off working at your 11, as hard as you can possibly work without going any further. So he's going to have me do Tabata rounds for 5 minutes.  5 Minutes people.  ON THE ROPES.  Now doing 30 seconds of any rope exercise kicks my ass right now, so the thought of doing 5 minutes with 10 second breaks seems impossible.  But I said "oooookkkkkk! Let's go!"  What I was really thinking is 'This guy is crazy if he thinks I can do this, but I'm not going to say no, and I'm just going to try as hard as I can for as long as I can."  I was talking myself into positive thinking.  I know that as long as I give it my all,  then whatever happens happens.  And I gave it my all.  Here's a general break out of how it went in my head.  I couldn't actually talk or whine, because I was out of breath:

20 seconds: Not to bad, Recover
20 seconds, owwie, how many more times can I do this? Recover
20 seconds, I can't do this for 5 minutes. Recover
20 seconds: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 18. 19. Shit, did he just say 10?  Recover
20 seconds: OMFG  Recover: Breathe through your nose.
20 seconds: Each rep is one "1. 1. 1. 1. Just do this rep, and you can do it."
And it kept going for what felt like far too long, like it would never end, until we got to one minute left, and then it really changed.
20 seconds: Only 3 of these left, I can do this. Recover
20 seconds: Only 2 of these left, YOU CAN DO THIS GIRL. This is so small compared to what you've already done:  Recover. This is your last recover, breathe through your nose.
20 seconds: Hit it, with all you got, get it done.  Recover: I just did that.
 
I did it. 20 seconds at a time. As hard as I could.  I felt like I would never get to the end.  Every 20 seconds seemed like the hardest 20 seconds I could possibly physically push myself.  And I did it.

I know right now that I'm flying high in this journey. I had a great day after my workout, and I know it's because of how I felt, and how awesome  it was for me to accomplish.  However, there will come a day, where I'm stuck in the middle, and it seems like this journey will never get to a goal.  I will have to re-frame my mindset.  I will have to think about that rep, that day, that meal, that plan to exercise, that lack of motivation, and tell myself 'I can do this,'  One rep or one step at a time.

About my diet

"Get fit in the gym, Lose weight in the kitchen"  That's the saying.
Here's another: "You go to the gym 1 hour a day, but what counts is what you do with the other 23."  They have a very valid point.

I can do all the cardio/zumba/training I want, but nobody's going to see these muscles unless I get rid of what's on top of them.

Food trends come and go all the time, but the one that's stuck around for a while now and is gaining some more mainstream attention is the "feed your body to feed your muscle, fuel your fat burn." What this essentially means is that you should be eating 6 meals a day of whole, healthy foods.  For me, because I'm trying to build muscle along with burning fat, I try to spend a lot of my calories on protein, about 30% of my entire diet.  I eat about 1600 calories a day minimum, even more if I have a hard workout, or I'm extra hungry.  The important thing to focus on is making the most right choices, so that you feel full and satisfied throughout the day.  You aren't going to eat perfect every minute of every day, but strive to eat the most whole, healthy foods you can.

For the curiosity of others who have asked, here would be a very typical day for me.

Breakfast: At least a cup of veggies, probably more, sauteed in a tsp of olive oil , mixed with 2 eggs, and 3 egg whites.

Snack 1: Either a protein shake with a serving of fruit (a banana, or a cup of cherries) OR a lara bar (which is a fruit and nut bar, basically, but a little carbfilled.  These are good for when I'm doing my 'mom on the go' thing.

Lunch:  Possible choices; Leftovers. A Tilapia filet with a half a cup of quinoa, and some steamed asparagus with olive oil.  Chicken with oven roasted green beans with olive oil.

Snack 2: Possibly something carby, like a serving of a baked chip with some salsa paired with a cheese stick.

Dinner: Turkey meatloaf with veggies and sweet potato tots or a Chicken bake with broccoli.  I do try to get a sensible, lean meat, a carb, and a veggie on the table for my family.  Tonight I'm doing a potroast!

Snack 3: Greek Yogurt or maybe some veggie sticks with hummus (or both if I'm hungry).  If I'm still hungry, I go for a bag of popcorn.

As for cheats, I have something once in a while.  Saturday night my husband and I split a bacon cheeseburger with fries and had a few beers. It was divine and delicious, but I stopped there.  The next day I was right back on track, feeling happy and not deprived.  But that was even a change, splitting a burger with my husband? That's a first of hopefully many wise portion choices.

Over 20

I lost 2 lbs this week, bringing my total to 20.6.  It's was also on my 2 month anniversary of starting, so I will take that.  10 lbs a month for two months sounds good to me.

And now on to Positive Erica:

 I should let people know that I use the term Morbidly Obese, not as a put down to myself, but as a descriptor.  It's a fact, I'm morbidly obese.  My current BMI is 40.9, I lose one point and I'm only Level 2 Obesity, and to lose that one point is 6.4 lbs.  I like facts. I'm a nurse, and I like medical terms and medically speaking I'm Morbidly Obese.  It's something I want to change, and that's why I'm here.

 
I think there's a special spot in the hearts of confident, encouraging people for a Morbidly Obese Chick busting her ass. Let's say you're at the gym and you see the girl that's 270 lbs just hitting it on the treadmill, doing weights, body pump, or putting all of her effort plus more into battle ropes.  Let's say you've thought to yourself before "Gee, I don't know if I can do that thing?," and then you see me doing it.  Then you might think to yourself "I can do that!"  That's fine with me, in fact that makes me happy.  I'm 100% ok being the poster child for motivation and determination when it comes to physical fitness. In fact, I love when I influence others to push their boundaries, and I love teaching and encouraging ways for others to expand their base.

I see people stare at me at the gym (because who doesn't stare at people at the gym), and I am just going to assume they are thinking "Damn, look at what that girl is doing. I should try that."

Some ways I've influenced friends:

• I taught one friend a basic arm circuit (Transformation style).
• I taught another friend how to foam roll.
• I've gotten 5 different people to Zumba classes who have never tried it before.
• I got a coworker to try some yoga positions during some downtime at work.

Ways others have influenced me:

• The guy at the gym who corrected my squat positioning   Thank you!  I will always accept knowledge from those willing to share.
• People, mostly online, sharing personal stories of weight loss, food diaries, and ways that they have made it work.
• All of my friends who have encouraged me, said they were impressed by me, motivated by me, and love seeing me at the gym, etc.  Every time I get a compliment on my effort, it feels great.  I love the positive effect my positive effort has on others, and their positive response makes me more positive. It's like a giant, happy positive circle of love, and I do. Love it.

I love having friends in this game with me. I see a body like your house, or your temple if you will.  No matter how long you work on it, there's always more room for improvement.

I do scare a lot of people

Today was my first day of real Personal Training.  Yes, that's right. I hired a personal trainer.  Why?  Many Reasons.

I want to push myself further than I think I am capable of pushing myself.
I want to learn new ways to exercise.
I want some accountability.
I want to improve my overall fitness.
I want new ways to strength train while still burning calories.
I want to be able to lift harder for work.
I want to be more flexible.
I want better balance.
I want to achieve my goals faster if possible.

Some people don't understand this, and that's ok.  But I know why I'm doing it, and I feel like my husband gets why I'm doing it, and the trainer gets why I'm doing it. That's all I need.  I'm no longer going to sit by and watch life pass me by.

Today in the middle of the fourth task he gave me, he said something that rang very true to me.  He said "I bet you scare a lot of people."  I knew exactly what he meant.  I like it.  I think what he means is that I motivate people. I impress people. I make people think. I intimidate people.  I surprise people.  And I can attract people who want to cut me down, but I'm having none of that.

The first thing someone should know about me is that I'm a competitive, stubborn woman and when I set my mind on something, I want to do it.  I become obsessed. I am the the thing.  I have the drive.  And I have set my mind on fitness.  The problem is that many people are unaware of what I mean when I say my mind is set on fitness.  I'm not setting my mind on x number of pounds, although at my weight, that is the biggest motivator and metric that you will see change.  I'm setting my mind on fitness.  I understand what I'm doing, and I know what works.  I have not always taken action and executed my knowledge to my fullest potential, but it is there.  Do not assume that just because I am morbidly obese (for a few more pounds), that I don't know what I'm doing, that I don't understand the correct way to lose weight, to exercise and to make this happen.

Why am I ranting about this?  Simply because not one, but TWO people told me this weekend that I was doing it wrong.  That I, the girl who's lost 20 lbs in less than 2 months is doing it wrong.   They said that I should only do cardio because there's some 'toning' involved, and that's how I burn the most calories.  I can worry about building muscle later. I was also told I don't want to look like a gross bodybuilder.   These people actually have no clue, but they assume because of my size that I am uneducated.

Fact: I started at 290 lbs. I've lost 20 so far.
Fact: I have 125 lbs to lose.
Fact: If you lose 125 lbs without frequent strength training you are going to have some problems. Big problems, they are called hanging skin.
Fact: You can do some serious strength training while pushing your cardio, especially by working in a circuit.
Fact: I burned 600 calories last time I did a 60 minute Zumba class, and I burned over 800 calories today doing 'personal training.'.  I burned 800 calories and I am going to be sore tomorrow, because I did strength training and cardio at the same time (what a concept).
Fact: Strength training does not make you into some crazy female body builder unless you are really going for that, and that's ok too - they can still look pretty damn sexy.  Strength training makes you look like Michelle Obama or a great dancer.
Fact: The scale may go up this week because I will retain water from my training, but I'm building a more fuel efficient body. A pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat.  I'd take an additional pound of muscle any day, and those fat pounds will shed eventually.
Fact: If you tell me that I shouldn't work out because I will gain muscle weight, and that's bad, then I can guarantee I will not take advice.  You may know how to get skinny, but you don't know how to get fit
Fact: Strength training in intervals pushes you to increase your metabolism.  You will keep burning more calories throughout the rest of the day than you would from walking on a treadmill for 60 minutes.
Fact: This lady below is one of my inspirations, and she works out, and she lifts like a boss.  I'll take that body any day!

Yes, this was a bit of a venting post, but I feel better now!  Plus, you can't help but smile back when you end with the FLOTUS(First Lady of the United States)*!

Edit to add: The next post will show the more positive side of influencing people. I promise.  Or it might be about food.  It's anyone's guess.