October?? I guess I need an update!

So, let's get right to the point. Overall, I stayed exactly the same this month. No change in weight. Ok, really, I gained two pounds (according to my bod pod), but I weighed myself yesterday and I'm down two pounds. I'm going to mark that as "no change in weight". I wish I was really down two pounds and not playing catch up for eating too much, but I have to roll with the punches at this point. I'm trying to figure out how to live and keep a healthy weight. 

I'm still at 133 pounds gone, and it still blows my mind on a daily basis. Just the other day I was looking at a picture from my sister's wedding and I couldn't believe it was me. I was actually thinking, wow, I look really pretty. I really liked how I looked in the picture. It was kind of unbelievable, because I've spent so much time hating how I look in pictures. 

This is the picture I was looking at. 

Overall, I'm doing just fine. I'm working out 6 days a week, I'm running 3 days a week, and I'm not pigging out and stuffing my face! I'm beginning week 9 of the running program I'm following. If you don't remember, I think it's a lot like one of the Couch to 5K programs. It's been really good for me. If you are thinking about running, I suggest you find one of those programs to follow. It's not too time consuming, but you feel like you are accomplishing something!

I've been getting more compliments/advice at the gym too. It's like there's a new batch of people that want to talk to me about my weight loss of give me advice about losing weight. Most of the time I just smile and say thanks. I have to move on as quickly as possible because most of the advice is outrageous! 

One guy told me to lift less weight and spend more time in aerobics classes. I'm sure for some people that would work wonders, but I lost over 100 pounds by lifting weights, not going to aerobics classes. I'm not saying aerobics classes are bad and I have done some, but I just don't want that to be my regular workouts! 

I also, recently, had a little old man tell me to stop jumping around (doing plyos) and he told me that there was a mini trampoline for me to jump on over on the ladies side of the gym. He told me that all the equipment I needed was on the ladies side and that's why there is such a difference in the equipment on the ladies side and the co-ed side. I just stared at him! 

I've been on Pintrest a lot lately. I've been looking at recipes and there are so many on there! I've been revamping a lot of them to make them a little more calorie friendly. It's a great place to get new ideas. I've been really pumped about cooking and I'm doing better at planning meals and making dinners in advance. 

I'm hoping to make some good decisions in October and see it I can't lose a few pounds! 

I feel like he finally figured it out!

In the past, I have mentioned an older gentleman at the gym who gives bad advice, and when I say gives bad advice, I really mean he’s rude. For about 3 months, every time he saw me, he would tell me to stop lifting so much heavy weight. Then he would say something about how girls should be working out. Each time I would tell him why I do what I do and how it has worked for me.

I would literally say, “Well, I’ve lost 100 pounds…..110 pounds…..120 pounds….” This old guy would not even bat an eye at that. He would just keep rambling about what he does and I should be listening to him. I finally got to the point that I would look at the floor when I passed him in the gym or just ignore him.

On Monday he got me. He walked up while I was in the middle of a set. There was no where I could go to get away at that point. I took out my ear bud and waited for him to tell me that I was lifting too much weight, blah, blah, blah…..

Well, I was wrong. He busts out with, “So how much have you lost now? You look great.”

I let him know that I’m pushing 130 pounds of weight gone forever. He gets a surprised look on his face and says that I’m doing a great job and that lifting is a great way to cut down the fat. I said thanks and got back to work.

I was very confused though. This is the same dude that has demanded that I lift light weight and do like a million reps, this is the guy that told me I would get bulky, this is the old dude that thinks he’s a body builder, and this is the guy that I’ve been avoiding for the better part of 6 months now! What was going on here? Why the sudden change in his attitude about me lifting weights? I think I know what has happened. He doesn’t recognize me each time he sees me. He thinks I’m someone new because I constantly lose weight.

Ok, not really, but it was nice to hear that he is coming around. He is more receptive to what I’ve been doing. I mean, he can’t argue at this point. I didn’t lose almost 130 pounds by lifting 5 pound weights and taking leisurely walks.

I also had another random encounter with someone that I used to hang out with. This happened on Tuesday morning. I was in a rush to get to work, but I had to get gas (or I wasn’t gonna get to work!) I hurried into Speedway and was scrambling to pump gas as quickly as possible. Behind me, I hear someone say, “Excuse me, but isn’t your name Sarah?” I start thinking, great, I don’t have time to talk to anyone, dammit!

I turned around and I recognized the girl, so I say, “Yea, hey, how is you?” She just starts telling me that she was staring at me and she knew it had to be me because she recognized me car. We caught up for just a second and she was trying to get as much info from me as possible. I tell her that I work out like 6 days a week and she’s like, “Yea ya do! Look at the shape of your legs!” It made me smile. Then she turned to a woman at another pump and is like, “I didn’t even recognize her. She’s so small.”

So, I’m loving all the compliments lately. I don’t like to brag to people face to face, so I leave it to my blog. I figure, my blog, I can say what I want and I want to talk about myself!

Tired

Has anyone else been overly tired lately? I have and I'm not sure why. I seriously get like 7-9 hours of sleep a night! I should be the most energized person out there!

I have been slow to get out of bed for the past few weeks. I'm such a morning person too and I never have trouble getting out of bed!

I think I'm in my winter funk. I hate winter. Winter in Ohio is really grey and nasty. I want to go outside and workout. I'm tired of being cooped up in the gym. My gym is turning into a casting call for the Jersey Shore. There are too many super tanned, over styled hair, chicken legged guys running around. I've not seen that many tribal arm band tattoos in I don't know how long.

I've also been mouthy at the gym. I usually smile and nod when guys tell me how I SHOULD be working out. Lately I've been running my mouth back to them. I also assume that every guy looking at me is wanting to give me unsolicited advise so I just glare at them to make them go away.

So, maybe I'm not tired. Maybe I'm just in a foul mood. Probably both. And this was a much needed bitch fest.

Some people have no clue what they are talking about!

So, this happened to someone I work with....not me, but if it had I would have had a few things to say to this guy!

Ok, basically, someone I work with asked me if I do oblique exercises. I tell her that I do as much ab work as I can, including obliques. Then she wants to know if I use weights on some of my oblique exercises. I tell her that I do use weight on a lot of my ab work, including obliques.

Then she tells me this: She was at the gym doing some oblique exercises with weight. She said it was no more than 10 pounds and it was a workout she has been doing for over a year. The owner (male) of the gym comes out of his office and tells her to stop the exercise that she is doing. He then tells her that she is wasting her time doing that exercise because it won't make her waist smaller. Instead if will make her "bulky". She told him that she had been doing it for over a year. His response was something about how she shouldn't even use weights to workout because she will just get big and she doesn't want to get bulky. Doesn't she just want to slim down??

What a friggin' jerk!!

I told her that he might be the owner of the gym, but he clearly doesn't know anything about working out. There is NO WAY that she or anyone will get "bulky" from using weights. For that to happen you would have to take steroids. I've been lifting and lifting heavy for over 2 years and I have yet to get "bulky". Actually, I've done the opposite of getting bulky. I've lost an entire person from lifting heavy!

I also told her that if working out with weights made you "bulky" then Janelle should look like the Incredible Hulk! I just don't think that Janelle is anywhere near Incredible Hulk status.

Are Ashely and I posing with Janelle or Hulk?
It's just so confusing! All that weight
made us all so bulky!

From Google Images.
The Incredible Hulk or Janelle??
I just can't tell!!

   





I'll eat better when I'm old.

            I see all kinds of kids, I hear all kinds of conversations, and I get told a lot of strange things. I also love it when I don’t see a student for a few years and then run into them. It’s nice to catch up with them and it’s nice to see some things coming full circle.

 A few years ago I had a student that would eat breakfast during her first period class. She was in a different classroom, but I would always hear about what she pulled out of her book bag to eat. It was always leftovers from the night before: fried chicken, biscuits, pork rinds and hot sauce, cookies, cake, etc. She would take it all down too and she was tiny. She was barely 5 feet and barely 100 pounds.

            I would give her a bunch of crap for eating that way too. I would always tell her it would catch up to her. She would laugh and tell me she was young and could eat what she wanted. She even said, “I’ll eat better when I’m old. I’m young and I don’t want to think about healthy food. It’s gross.” She also told me that her family was overweight. It was kind of a joke between the students and the teachers to see what this girl was going to pull out of her bag for breakfast. Personally, I don’t know why that teacher let her eat during first period when she could have had breakfast in the cafeteria 10 minutes before that, but hey, not my classroom.

            It’s been a few years since I’ve seen this girl, until the other day. She’s in high school now, still eating like crap, barely 5 feet, and maybe 130 pounds. She has gained about 30 pounds or so since she was in 8^th grade. That was a few years ago, but that’s a lot for someone so young. I mean, that’s like 15 pounds a year. If she keeps that up, she’s going to be morbidly obese by the time she’s 20!

She said to me, “I think about what you said about the food catching up to me, but I don’t care. I’m young. I’ll worry about it later.” I gave her my best teacher pep talk and told her that if she didn’t stop eating Grippos and hot sauce for breakfast it was going to catch up to her faster than she could imagine. She told me that she hasn’t really gained that much weight and she is a growing girl. She also said that she doesn’t do anything active either. She’s too tired all the time but she thinks that’s from staying up late and going to school all day.

            I kinda wanted to shake her and tell her to get a grip on reality! Her eating has caught up to her! She’s tired, she’s lazy, and she’s making excuses! I do agree that she’s a teenager and she should have fun, but I don’t like that she is associating eating with fun.

            I had another female student last year who was about 5’7” and probably 300 pounds. She would eat breakfast at school. The difference though is that she would eat the school breakfast. She would a few servings of the school breakfast. Then she would pull out food from her bag. Usually it was a bag Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and a bottle of hot sauce. (Ok, I don’t understand why these kids are carrying hot sauce in their bags, but they do!) She would then eat those and then complain all morning about how hungry she was or how her stomach hurt. As the year went on I literally watched her gain more and more weight. I would venture to say that she probably put on 30 pounds through the course of the year. I watched her grow out of her clothes and still try to wear them. I watched her wear clothes that were too small and she would be so uncomfortable all day. I could not address the problem with this student though; she didn’t think there was a problem. She was a nice girl and I haven’t seen her since she was in my class, but I do think about her and her eating habits.

            I later told Janelle about these thoughts and conversations and she said, “Yuck. The time is now. You have to eat right, right now. Then you can have a bad day once in a while because the bad days aren’t everyday.” Of course Janelle would know the right thing to say. I just wish more kids and parents saw how important it was, right now! 

Because it's your job!

I had some time to kill and I decided to read the news. I should know better than to do this because every time I do I get upset about the state of the world. Then I always decide to read about current health and fitness news. That’s usually no better.

            I came across this article on CNN, Too few docs tell patients they're overweight, and I must say it was a good article. It was a little alarming, but still good. In a nut shell here’s what it’s about. Most people don’t even think they are overweight and doctors aren’t telling people that they are overweight which only makes people believe that they don’t have a weight issue.

            There was one paragraph that I have to comment on. The paragraph states:

            Doctors may be reluctant to broach the subject of weight for a number of reasons, Post says. For instance, busy physicians might not want to fall behind schedule by adding another topic to their list of things to discuss during an appointment. And many doctors have negative attitudes toward their heavier patients, whom they see as unlikely to stick to a diet and exercise program, he adds.

            Well, I know this does not accurately depict all doctors. God knows my doctors would comment on how much I weighted. I hope this doesn’t define any of your doctors either. It is their job to point out what is not healthy! It is their job to be “the bad guy” and tell it like it is about our health. My family doctor addressed my weight through the years and I was never mad at him for it. I expected it from him because it was his job.

I hope if people have doctors like this that they find a new one. Doctors are always behind when they have office hours. I know it sucks to wait for the doctor to show up for your appointment, but all patients are different. There is no mold for what happens at a doctor’s appointment and I can’t believe that a doctor wouldn’t want to ask a few more questions or make a few more comments. I mean, I see these commercials all the time about the questions you should ask your doctor, but what about what your doctor should be telling you?

            Ok, I think I’m done ranting now. Really, the article was a good one. I wouldn’t have told all of you to read it if I didn’t think it was worth reading. Anyway, some days I think I shouldn’t read the news. It get’s my heart racing, makes my blood pressure rise, and stresses me out! (I think that helps me burn a few extra calories though!)

Hey man, where's your hat?

             So, I wrote a blog, Hey man, nice hat, about his dude at the gym that always wears his cool hat and talks super loud! He used to annoy the crap out of Janelle, Ashley, and I, but now I hope he’s at the gym because his stories bring hours of entertainment. Yesterday at the gym was one of the best! Let me give you a few updates about “Hat Guy” before I tell you the joy he brought me yesterday at the gym.

             He said in the past that he always wears his hat because it would be like leaving the house without his pants on. No joke. He compared forgetting his hat to forgetting his pants. Well, lately he’s not been wearing the hat, but he’s managed to wear pants. Thank God. I thought he might be bald, but he does have a full head of hair.

It's like forgetting to put my pants on. 

Also he’s been wearing a different kind of muscle tee. He’s been wearing the kinds that are cut really far into the chest to show off his pecks. Well, he’s been doing that to show off his pierced nipples. I think they may be recently pierced. I have actually not seen the piercing. It was actually made known to me by Janelle via text message on a day when we could not all get to the gym at the same time. I was still at work and I nearly fell out of my chair when I read the text.

Just imagine a less buff
guy  with more peck and
nipple ring hanging out.

Ok, now you’re caught up on “Hat Guy”. Yesterday we were at the gym at our usual Saturday time and there are typically only older guys there at that time. These aren’t just any old guys though. These are guys that have been going to the gym longer than I’ve been alive and they are still pretty buff for old dudes.

First he was talking about going to bars with “Ladies Night” and making a “killin’ pickin’ up the chicks”. Ok, this guy looks like Ken Jennings, but only a little buffer. I think Ken has a better chance at pickin’ up the hoes than Hat Guy.

Ken Jennings, 74 time Jeopardy! champ,
or Hat Guy from the gym?

            Hat guy was talking about what he eats for breakfast. Please keep in mind that he was on the other side of the gym from us; roughly half a football field and we could hear him perfectly. He’s a super loud talker. For breakfast he has a bowl of fruit and 2 protein shakes; not 1, but 2 protein shakes. It’s very important that you know and so does everyone else that he has 2 protein shakes.

            Then he started talking about other gyms in the area. He started talking about a gym that is a racquetball gym and also has a bar. He said, “You know people that play racquetball, they like to drink. I could never get into racquetball. Who wants to hit a ball into a wall anyway? I went because I enjoy a cold beer after a workout.” Yea, he probably drinks his beer with his protein shakes. Weirdo. Then he said, “When I think of racquetball I think of Olivia Newton John and shit; all wearing leg warmers and shit.” This other dude looked at him and was like, “Why are you talking about Olivia Newton John?” I almost fell over I was laughing so hard.

Why do you know so much about
 Olivia and her leg warmers, Hat Guy?

            He still wasn’t done talking about gyms though. After that he said he was an old Gym Rat at Gold’s Gym and World Gym. Yea right! How does he have time to go to all of these gyms? He has now mentioned 3 different gyms, but is currently working out at a 4^th. Gym memberships are expensive. I just don’t think he can afford it. He is almost always at the gym when we are and that’s a lot. How does he have time to make it to the racquetball gym, Gold’s and World? They are all pretty far apart too. I think he must draw unemployment because he seems to have a lot of time on his hands, and I think he drives from gym to gym all day pretending to work out!

Hat Guy, shown above with
the blue dumbbells is the more
common, small breed of gym rat.

            This guy is annoying, but it’s also the entertaining kind of annoying. The people around him roll their eyes when he talks, but he remains oblivious. It’s honestly entertaining. I look forward for him being there when I am! 

Hey man, nice hat.

Ok, anyone who spends any amount of time at a co-ed gym has seen a ton of crazy things and crazy people. I could write a book just about the crazy people I encounter at the gym, but a short blog will have to do for now and focusing on one guy will have to do as well.

So, let my try to paint a picture of this guy for you. You’ve all seen a guy like this. In a nut shell, he can be described as having “short man syndrome”. This guy is short; probably around 5'5”. He is fairly muscular, but not as muscular as he thinks he is. He only works his upper body and not his lower body. He has little chicken legs. He wears muscle tanks that are too big and walks with his upper body puffed up. My sister likes to call it “invisible lat syndrome”. He also wears a knit snow cap all the time, but as silly as I think he looks, it’s not just his appearance and hat that annoy me. 

He is the loudest, most obnoxious dude in the gym. He is always trying to give out workout advice, but not even in a nice way. He has that mentality that he knows everything and you know nothing. Most of his advice is unsolicited as well.

One day he was telling another guy, who was twice the size he was and clearly this guy knew what he was doing, but this tiny guy really wanted to give him “advice”. He was telling him, loudly, to eat Kobe Beef because it’s a white meat cow, but the stores don’t tell you that. He then was telling this same guy that his form was off, and he needed to use lighter weights. Another time he told a group of very obviously fit guys that you can’t work out 2 days in a row because the blood won’t go to the muscles you just worked out.

Those situations are so funny because this guy has no clue what he’s talking about. He was giving advice to guys that had more knowledge on lifting than he does. It’s also so funny because this guy stands around giving out unwanted advice, but never seems to lift a weight. He stands near a lot of weights, but never seems to use them.

I think my favorite thing about this guy was when we heard him talking about his hat that he always wears. It was obvious that the guy who asked him was making fun of him and asked why he always wears the hat. He responded in a very matter-of-fact way, “I wear this hat everywhere. It would be like leaving the house without my pants on!” Janelle looked at me and really quietly and slowly said back to me, “without…his…pants…on.” We both just laughed and I’ve got news for that guy; forgetting your hat and forgetting your pants are two very different things.

I just can’t believe how loud he talks. He wants everyone to hear him. He wants to be knowledgeable, but he’s not. He’s also not very nice around Janelle and I; probably because we can lift more than him.

There are other guys like him, but he’s the worst one we’ve come across. There are other guys that are loud and talk about inappropriate things, but this guy takes the cake. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the gym has come across a guy like this. Maybe other people don’t notice these things, but I’m a people watcher. I’m constantly checking my surroundings and the gym is an awesome place to watch all kinds of people. 

Oh, the things you hear at the gym, part 1.

         That’s right; I’m already naming this as part 1, because I know there is more material for this than I could possibly write at one time. So, at the gym you see all kinds of people and hear all kinds of conversations. Now, most of the conversations you hear are about working out, diets, and what works or doesn’t work. Basically, I’m going to list some of the awesome tid bits I’ve heard over the past few years. These handy tid bits also come from employees talking to members and members talking to members.

*** CAUTION: DO NOT FOLLOW ANY OF THIS ADVICE, IT’S AWFUL!***

1. You can eat ANYTHING you want as long as you drink a glass of water when you are done. (Ok, I just have to make it known that an employee was saying that to a member. I have to tell you that because when Janelle told Zach he was like, “No, you’re lying. No one is that stupid. No one would believe that.” He refused to believe someone would say that.)
2. You can never rest once you start working out, because you don’t burn calories unless you are sweating. 
3. Get your heart rate high and don’t let it drop. If it doesn’t stay high, you might as well not even work out.
4. Apparently, when learning to do squats, it is best to have someone stand behind you in a squatted position and then you squat into their lap. That is so you can feel how low to go. “Just keep squatting, until your butt and thighs touch the top of my thighs.” Yea, that guy doesn’t work at the gym anymore. I wonder why?
5. A great way to work out your legs and butt is to bend over, grab your ankles, and bounce your butt up and down. That was the advice from the guy in number 4 too. Pervert.
6. The key to weight loss is not lifting heavy weights, but lifting light weights while in awkward positions. This way the muscles are confused and it makes them “fire” faster. (Ok, that was on E! New, but it was too good to not share.)
7. Never, ever, ever work out two days in a row. Even if you are working on different body parts from one day to the next, it’s no good. You have to rest for a day, or maybe two, between every workout.
8. Only eat 20 carbs for whole week and do this every week. 

*** AGAIN, FOLLOW NONE OF THIS ADVICE. IT CAME FROM PEOPLE WHO  HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!***