So Much More than a Number

Happy Weigh-in Wednesday!!! 

There are two very distinct camps in the weight loss/healthy living/maintenance world- weigh every single day VS make healthy choices and the weight will just come off. 

I firmly believe in the latter, but I know that the weigh-in every single day is what keeps me on track. I've overcome the "weigh every time you pee" phase in my life, but still have the need to weigh daily. I don't get stressed out when it goes up 2 pounds in a day- excess sodium is almost always the culprit for this one! The mystery 2 pounds is usually gone in a day or 2 and is a good reminder to eat clean and steer clear of sodium for a while. 

Yes, your weight is just a number. As a formally obese person whose doctor had to get an additional weight to measure her (since the scale only went up to 350) I can tell you that there are times when your weight is a very important number. There are few things as embarrassing as being too heavy for the scale. 

It's Wednesday. On Wednesdays I record my weight into MyFitnessPal. 

I had a loss this week! 2.9 pounds to be exact. Not too shabby!
What did I do differently????

- I recorded my food 4/7 days. Shooting for 5/7 days this week.
- Changed up my exercise to start my Sprint Tri training. Added back in Yoga, Weight Lifting, and Biking.
- Stopped drinking diet coke....well, since Sunday. 3 days on the road to breaking a pretty significant habit.
- Have met my water goals for the last 3 days (See above!).



I won't lose nearly 3 pounds every week. I know that. I know my body. 

I'm starting to get it. My weight is just a number. A number that is a direct reflection of the healthy choices that I am making. It is a number that for the longest time kept me from playing with my kids, kept me from shopping in regular stores, and even prevented me from being weighed on a "normal" scale. At 210 pounds it is just a number. At 356 pounds it was felt like a life sentence. 

~Kari

Step Away from the Diet Coke

I drink too much diet coke. 

I do.

I admit it.

I stopped drinking diet coke a few months back and was fairly successful. I think that I went a full month before drinking it again. The problem isn't that I drink diet coke. The problem is that I replace water with diet coke and that is no good. In addition to all the other health issues around diet coke, the concern over bone density has been weighing heavily on my mind lately with my hip/pelvis issues. 

Yesterday I didn't drink any. It was only a day, but it was still a day. Today is Memorial Day and I'm a little worried. Diet coke and BBQ go hand-in-hand. I did have hubby pick up some flavored water and some lemons to spice up my water bottle. 


In other news....

I've started my Sprint Tri training. I had a 10 week plan that wouldn't start until after school got out, but then I started getting the itch to training, so I poked around the internet and found a 13-week plan. I'd link that plan, but when I went to good check it again the link isn't working. Good thing I downloaded it! Shoot me an email and I can send it your way if you're interested. It's the Iron Girl Sprint Tri training plan.  Instead of doing a big wall calender this year I decided to track my workout in my google calendar. There's a tab on my blog if you wanna see. Take a peek. :)


Off to drink some coffee and then hit the gym. It's a lifting and biking sort of day.


~Kari

Chiropractic Relief

The hip is back to normal!

Well, I thought it was the hip.....

It was the hip.... sort of.... It was actually more my pelvis.

My chiropractor adjusted my hip, knee, bone in the side of my leg (can never remember that one!), neck, stomach area (what in the world was he doing there?!?!?) and pelvis. I felt better instantly!

I did what any good inquiring mind would do when I had questions.... I went home and goggled the heck out of "pelvic chiropractic adjustment". I found tons of articles talking about how it doesn't work and only inappropriate doctors do this type of adjustment. As Dwight would say, "FALSE". It helped more than I could have imagined. As I continued to read I found diagrams that showed how the pain from an unbalanced  pelvis can lead to inner thigh and groin pain. DUH! It all makes sense. The strain eventually leads to hip and knee pain. Another DUH!

I did some yoga last night to stretch everything out. I miss yoga! It's been forever since I had regularly practiced. Note to self- Must figure out how to add yoga at least twice a week to my schedule. The yoga felt amazing!


Nearly 24 hours post adjustment and I am almost back to normal. Big workout plans tonight. Biggest plan is to take it easy. Taking it easy is hard for me so I really need to plan to be kind and patient myself.

How about you? Do you go to a chiropractor regularly? Do you yoga? Do you get a 4-day weekend like me????? :)

~Kari

Sidelined with injury

How do you combat an injury when fitness is such a pivotal part of your weight loss? I CAN NOT lose if I don't exercise. I've tried. I've gained. There are not enough eat fewer calories in the world to equal a good, hard workout. Exercise isn't just about the calorie burn. It's more about the mental break, the determination, the push-yourself-further-than-you-thought kind of feeling. 

I'm injured right now and it's messing with my exercise mojo. My hip (which is guaranteed to flare up during my "special time") has been sore for nearly 2 weeks. My fingers are still tingly from my EPIC bike ride over 2 weeks ago. The tingling is getting less every day, but it still is hard to hold weights. This sucks! I hate having to modify. I've been to the chiro and massage therapist which resulted in some relief, but not enough. Hubby wants me to go to a "real doctor". I don't even have a real doctor.

My sprint tri training is suppose to start in less than a month. 

I have some gained weight to drop.

I like to disappear into my workout.

This sucks!



In other news... I received my Fitbloggin assignment last night. I am going to be Live Blogging at Zumba which is HILARIOUS because anyone that knows me knows that I find Zumba a pretty ridiculous workout. I did have a successful Zumba experience a few weeks ago and am excited to watch from the sidelines. I am positive that there is a lesson for me to learn in that experience!




~Kari

Family Support

The best husband ever award has to go to my hubby. I started recording again yesterday. He HATES measuring food. My normal post-are the kids really asleep- snack is usually ice cream or popcorn. Last night was an ice cream night. I'm having some hip/groin muscle issues and didn't want to get off the couch where I was ice-heat-iceing my injury.

Hubby: Want some ice cream?
Me: Only if you are willing to measure it out.
Hubby: (GIANT SIGH) How many grams? 
Me: Let me check my app.


He got me my ice cream. He is an amazing support system even though he doesn't "get" my choices. 

My kids load in to the car so that mommy can get her exercise. They usually WANT to go, but on the days that they don't, they still go so that mommy can get strong. 

I couldn't do this without their support. Ok, maybe I could, but I am so thankful that I don't have to. 

I do it for them. I do it for me. 

Who supports you????

~Kari

Detox City

Lately there is a resurgence of people around me doing some sort of cleanse or detox. I won't mention names, but you know what I'm talking about. People are having amazing results. 5 pounds in 6 days. 8 pounds in a week. Comments like, "The shake is just as good as breakfast" or "It's only ____ days and then you gradually reintroduce real food". People love it! I want to love it. I want to be able to drink two shakes a day and a sensible dinner. I want to drop 8 pounds in a week. I want to "feel the best I have in 15 years". I want all of that.... 

AND THEN I remember. I remember how I have watched countless friend put it all back on and then some after stopping the program. I remember how much money these programs cost and how they continue to cost if you want to sustain loss. I remember how hard it is to go to a party and not eat because it's not your cheat day.  

I weighed myself this morning- 213.6! UGHHHHHHHH!!!! I am approaching obese again. 

I cried in the bathroom. Immediately my mind went to detox or cleanse. 

The scale is just a number. I get that, but right now it's a number that I am super uncomfortable with. It's my eating. I haven't been tracking. This sucks! There is a rationale part of me that know that if I go back to tracking that within 2 months I can be back down to my maintenance weight- 2 pounds a week. Slow and steady wins the race. The irrational side of Kari is FED UP. I'm tired of tracking my food. I'm tired of always having to focus on what I eat. I exercise faithfully, that should be enough.  

What's a girl to do??????

After I had a fit in the bathroom and said nasty things to the scale and about myself I went in to fix breakfast. Spinach, 2 eggs, whole wheat toast and a cup of coffee. I'm ready to start my day. Today I am going to record. Today I am going to make healthy choices. 

Today

~Kari

She gets it!

A conversation with baby girl....

Me: Sissy, I'm tired. Will you run for me this morning?

Her: I can't. Me running won't make you any stronger. It will only help me. Only you can make you stronger.

Me: Love you. Be back soon.

She gets it! No one can do the work for her. She is the only one that can change her level of fitness. The story would be perfect if I said that she asked to run with me and we ran all over town.

She didn't.

But she gets it! 

It took me 34 years to realize that my body had nothing to do with others and everything to do with me. 

She gets it at 8! 

~Kari

Great Wolf Lodge + NSV

Weight loss-maintenance-weight loss is a funny thing. It seems to be full of SUPER highs followed by SUPER lows. The past week has been a set of highs that motivate me to keep pushing forward. Excuse me while I brag...

We went to the Great Wolf Lodge this weekend as a family for Sissy's 8th birthday. I still feel like a prune and a great time was had by all. I'm kind of completely a chicken so there was 0 interested in the big, fast, out of control, spinning, twisting rides. Sissy (who is usually fearless) tried one of the big tubes the 1st go around and said, "That was fun, but I don't need to do that again". I love that kid! We were all perfectly content to go between the wave pool, hot tub, and the kid size slide. 

Not kid like 2 year old- kid like 7 year old, give me some credit! :)

Each time I climbed the tower for the slide I'd see this:

Maximum rider weight 250 pounds

250 pounds

250 pounds


I rode the kiddy water slide and didn't even have to lie about my weight! (I guess there is a little scale in my NSV) I was active. I was playing with my kids. I wasn't afraid of getting stuck on the slide. I looked darn good in my swimsuit. 

I got this! We got this!

~Kari

What's another 5 miles? My 30-mile bike ride!!!!

The past few days in the Pacific Northwest have been amazingly beautiful! Highs in the mid-70's-80 and clear blue skies. We don't get this type of weather in the summer, let alone in early May! Last summer I got a bike, but have been too scared to ride it very far by myself. I just don't know enough about bikes to fix them if I get stuck far from home. This summer I want to get to know my bike better. I hit Julia up to see if she'd be willing to ride with me yesterday. She knows more than me and I knew would be willing to keep my pace and go how ever long I wanted. 

We set out on the Foothill trails for "a ride". No set distance. just a ride. Another friend had given me a bike odometer as a brides maid gift (BEST gift ever!!!!) and I was excited to try it out. 

6 miles in.... I could turn around right now and that would total 12 miles- the distance of the sprint tri I am doing in August. Still feel strong...let's keep going.

10 miles in.... It's only 5 more miles to the end of the trail. What's another 5 miles? What's another 5 miles? At the time it seemed like nothing. I'll tell you now, another 5 miles is

- 50% more than what I had already done

- another 50% more back

Those things didn't dawn on me at the time. I was on a bike high. 

15 miles in... Coffee house break stop for chocolate milk, cliff bar, and potty stop. At this point I was starting to feel a little sick. I definitely should have had something to eat around mile 10. We sat in the breeze under a shade tent, drank/ate and visited for a few. Back on the bikes....

20 miles in...The first 5 coming back were on a slight decline and the wind was behind us. I got this!!! My plan was to stop at 20 and rest, but I was doing good.

23 miles in...Potty break...collapse in the grass for a few...7 miles to go.

30 miles- DONE! We made it. Not gonna lie- I was EXHAUSTED!!! 

Hubby was amazing when I got home. He fed me (I had burned 1600 calories) and then I took a bath in epsom salt. The total ride time was close to 3 hours (counting our mid-ride coffee break), I was spent.....and proud. My body continues to amaze me. 

I'm sore today, but not so bad that I couldn't get out of bed. My right pinky finger is still numb. I wore gloves, but must still be gripping the handle bars too tight. 

No pictures on the trail, but here's one of Julia and I post ride. I am so incredibly grateful for the friends that I have made through my journey to health! Thanks for coming along for the ride. 

~ Kari

Fitbloggin Bound!!!!!!!

WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!

I get to go to Fitbloggin!!!!!!  

WOOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!

It'll take some kid juggling for the time that I am gone, but I have amazing support systems that will help a girl out. 

I'll be going as a Live Blogger and am super stoked for the opportunity. 

As excited as I am, I have some major fears......

- What if I am all alone in the corner for the entire conference?
- What if my kids become a big headache and hubby can't figure out childcare while he's at work.
- That's at the start of my sprint tri training. How is that gonna work?
- Am I totally out of my league even thinking about attending a Fitness conference?????

I'm going. I'm excited. I'm scared. 

~Kari