Week 4 Wednesday Weigh in and the beginning of summer!

My trainer will not be happy that I'm still doing Wednesday Weigh ins. He told me I needed to throw the scale away,  pay more attention to how I'm feeling, and how my clothes are fitting. He says the scale has too much power over people and that, that number can dictate how you feel the whole day. Have a great number in the morning and you're in a great mood and if you have a bad number it can ruin your mood for the day. I get where he is coming from, but I'm not the type of person that really cares about the number. I just like having it to keep me in check. I know that my weight can bounce around 5 to 7 lbs in one day. Not to get tooooooooo personal but I also know that lost more than the scale is saying this week because a little visitor came to visit for 3 to 5 days this week, if ya know what I mean, lol.  So this is my week 4 weigh in 

WHOOOHOOOO Down 1 lbs this week!!! Like I said though I think it could be a little more because I always weigh 2 to 3 more pounds around this time of the month. 

This past week has been super crazy for our family. Not only was it my husband's 34th birthday, but also our oldest son's last week of school. My little man is now a 3rd grader! 

I was really proud of myself this week! I went to the gym everyday (But Sunday, Sundays are my rest day), logged everyday in Myfitnesspal, and did intermediate fasting 100%. Iron Family, this is the longest I've been 100% with myself! In addition to the gym we've also gone on family walks to different area parks. I tried my hand at jogging, something I haven't done in a loooooong time. I was slow but it felt amazing to do it again. My husband was sneaky and took a photo of me while I was jogging. He had the two babies in the stroller behind me.  I really like the photo and wanted to put an inspirational saying on it. This is what I came up with. 

I will be writing more frequently now that school is out for all of us and I will have more time. 

Until next time, Stay strong Iron Family 

Wednesday Weigh in and a Hard Look at Reality.

       This week was my first week back with my trainer and I got a real big dose of a reality pill. He took my weight, body fat, and measurements, it wasn't pretty at all. The gym scale said I weighed 6 lbs more than my home scale. However, I know your weight can shift around 5 lbs in a given day. So I didn't let that get me down too much. It was the measurements that caused me to cringed. Sure you see that weight when you look in the mirror, but when you see it paired with a number it somehow makes it more real. The one thing I really like about my trainer is, he doesn't make you feel horrible about those numbers but he is also honest with you. He doesn't promise you a quick fix with his program and he reminds you what you put in, is what you get out of it. So we sat down for an hour to talk about my numbers, my macros, and eating plan along with my training plan. We decided to give intermediate fasting a try along with 20 minutes of fasted cardio in the morning on top of my regular 40 minutes of cardio during my regular workout. We are going to try that for 2 weeks and see what happens. 

       I will post my measurements for yesterday but not my macros. The marcos my trainer did for me are just that for me. He factors my body fat, lean body mass, and my goals to tailor the macros to each person.

        So according to the gym scale I am 307 (I will still be using my scale for official Wednesday Weigh Ins)

    Gym scale: 307

    Height: 5' 4"

    Body Fat %: 50% (Ugh....50% of me jiggles) 

    Neck: 16 inches

    Chest: 48 Inches

    Shoulders: 52 Inches

    Waist: 60 Inches

    Hips: 60+ Inches (First mini goal, is to lose enough inches to get this measurement)  

     Bicep: 17 Inches

     Thigh: 27 Inches

     Calf: 17 Inches

   According to my scale I had a .6 weight loss :-)


       This morning I did my first fasted cardio. It was a beautiful morning, even though it was a little chilly, for a walk/jog. 

  It was nice getting out and enjoying a little quiet mommy time. With 3 boys, I don't get much alone time, lol.


Until Next Time, Stay Strong Iron Family!  

Getting out of your comfort zone and social anxiety

      I seen a photo a while ago online that read,  "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." As someone who suffers from social anxiety, sometimes that first step out can be scary. I'm fine when I have people I know around me, but I get attacks when I go out alone to do unfamiliar things. I didn't always have these attacks and they increased along with my waistline. The more uncomfortable I became with myself, the more uncomfortable I became in social situations. A lot of it stems down to me feeling like every person I come across is judging me for my size. I know it sounds silly and most strangers could care less about what I look like. I think it comes down to that bullied little girl that still lives within me. 

     So in conjunction with losing weight, I'm also trying to push barriers and live more outside of my comfort zone. Last night was my first test. My trainer told me last week that he was competing and that I should go to the show to help get inspired again. I really wanted to go but knew that if none of my friends wanted to go (my husband had to stay home with the boys), I'd have to go alone. Well, Saturday had come and everyone had plans. I knew I wanted to go and had posted to my trainer that I would be at the night show. Thankfully I have a husband that understands that sometimes I need pushed out of that comfort zone and so lovingly does. Sometimes I just need to talk things through with him to give me the confidence I need. So I got myself ready and kissed the family as I walked out the door. 

     Now onto the fun part.......

    It seemed like there were anxiety triggers all around me not wanting me to go to the show, lol. The show was only 25 minutes away and I left with plenty of time. So I get there and I miss my turn, no big deal, I know this town and know of other areas I can park. So I park 3 blocks away not thinking anything of it. The shoes I wore are a little big on me......you see where this is going don't you.......and start rubbing my heel......hello blisters. I get there and something told me on the way I should have stopped by the ATM to get money out. Did I listen to my instinct, of course not, lol. I get there and it's cash only. No big deal, my bank has a branch just a block down. I'll walk down there and get cash out. So I walk, hobble, down to the bank. I get to the ATM.....it's not working. Someone jammed the ATM. At this point I call my husband almost in tears.....It starts to drizzle. Really I mean REALLY!?!?!?! I told him the situation. Him being the calm and rational one, calmly tells me that it's okay for me to use another banks ATM even though there's a fee. So luckily there's another bank across the street. So I hobble, gimp across the street and use that ATM. By the time I make it to the show and sit in my seat it's 5:05. WHEW! Thankfully the show is a local and laid-back show and it didn't start on time. 


You wanna know something.....even through all the barriers I went through to get to the show, I had a blast. Who knew you could go to something alone and still have a good time!  It was so motivating seeing all those people on stage and cheering for my trainer and his girlfriend. There was a womens figure competitor there that was 57 years old! She did outstanding! My trainer's girlfriend did amazing in the bikini round and placed 2nd. My trainer was awesome and placed 3rd in a large group of qualifiers. 

  

My trainer's girlfriend is on the right. She placed  2nd!

 Figure round (This is what class I want to compete in)

 This woman is 57!!!!!

My trainer is in the red shorts

Caleb (My trainer) placing 3rd

My trainer and his girlfriend Amanda (photo taken by his mom)

      Oh, I forgot to add, on top of everything, my nice expensive DSL camera decided not to work and I had to use my cell phone. 

       I learned a lot about myself last night. I can do these things! Even with all the obstacles in my way, I did it. I only had a slight moment when I wanted to turn around and go back home. I'm glad I didn't and was able to experience this and support my trainer and his girlfriend.  

Until next time, Stay Strong Iron Family.   

Wednesday Weigh in Week 2

       Welcome to week 2 of Wednesday Weigh In.  The first week back on track has been pretty good. There has been a few slip ups when it came to food choices. However, right now my goal is to eat on track 80% of the time. I am human and I know there will be errors. I have been staying active in either taking the boys for walks or hitting the gym. There were only 2 days in the past week that I didn't get some sort of activity in.  With that being said here is this weeks results.......

WHOOOHOOOO!!!! Down 4 lbs and sooo close to being out of the 300's



       Next week, I  start back with a trainer. Caleb was my trainer before I went on this downward spinal. He is an awesome trainer and makes me realize that I am so much stronger than I give myself credit for. He pushes me past my comfort zone and that's where amazing things happen. 


                


      I am stepping out of my comfort zone on my blog as well. In most cases, I refused to have my photo taken from below my chest. I have decided to post some before photos on here.

The first two photos are me at my heaviest weight. I was anywhere from 315 to 320 at my heaviest. 

I never noticed back then how large my arms where. They are larger than a 4 year old's waist! 

 This was taken at a good friend's wedding. I thought looked "thin." Wow can the eyes play tricks on us!  I remember being so hot and uncomfortable in this dress.  It was a hot muggy day and underneath this dress I have on a spanx tank and shorts. I did everything I could to look thinner. 

This last set of photos I just took yesterday in my gym's bathroom of all places, lol.  This is where I am as of right now. I think I may start taking monthly progress photos. I know it's hard to see your own body's progress and I like the idea of being able to document changes. 

    

I promise next month's photo will be better. This was a spur of the moment idea while I was doing cardio. 

Until next time, Stay strong Iron Family! 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

     To all the beautiful moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!  

     Today is just a pretty low key day. My husband works 12 hours on Sundays so it's just my 3 boys and I until he gets home. They did however give mommy the gift of sleeping in till 8am, lol. 

     Until the next post, Stay Strong Iron Family

Craving Killer and This Week's Goals

     Sorry for no blog yesterday. I'm still not sure what kind of writing schedule I will have. I know for sure Wednesdays will be weigh in Wednesdays but other than that I'm kinda winging it for now. 

    Yesterday was another beautiful day to get the kids out and explore. We as a family love to go to different parks in the area and explore the walking trails. My oldest refers to these as our family adventures. We also use these sometimes as Geocatching trips. My oldest loves to find them and it helps to keep him interested in the walk. Anyways, after I picked him up from school we headed to the garden park in our town to explore. 

     Today isn't as nice of a day so I'm using it as a rest day and letting the boys have a pajama party with movies and popcorn. I'm not so lucky and I'm catching up on cleaning and laundry. So maybe it isn't much of a rest day, haha.



I NEED to share this with you!!!  I just made this drink and it's a perfect replacement for a sweet treat. All you need is: 

  

 My husband bought an espresso machine so I used that to steam the half and half but you can also use this method as well  http://www.wikihow.com/Froth-Milk-for-Cappuccino-Without-Fancy-Tools 
 Anyways, all I did was heat my tea water and pour it over my tea bag with two packets of Splenda. While that seeped, I steamed a very small amount of half and half with a dash of the sugar-free salted caramel syrup.  I estimated the calories between 75 and 100. I could have lowered the calories by subbing low-fat milk or almond milk in place of the half and half.  It was perfect for a gloomy day like today. 

    I've been thinking about what my goals should be for this week. I'm thinking that two good ones would be to log my food everyday on myfitnesspal.com and aiming for at the least 5 days in the gym. I think that both of these are very doable and is something I should be doing weekly. 

Until next time, Stay Strong Iron Family!   

A little PR today!!!

      Today was my first day back in the gym after a loooooong break. Okay, more like a few months hiatus. A new 24 hour  facility just opened up down the road and I decided to check them out instead of making the 30 minute commute to my normal gym. They are offering a 30 day trial so I decided to take them up on it. It's a nice place for a "I don't want to make the drive" kinda day, but would I become a paying member......no. I prefer a certain gym atmosphere and this place was lacking that. I love gyms where you hear the banging of weights, the music is loud, and people are pumped with pre-workout. There's nothing wrong with this gym or other gyms like this, I just have my own preference.  

     Today's workout was back and chest. I had 2 PR's today! I was able to use 50 lb dumbbells for my incline chest press and 60 lb barbell for my bent over rows!! My biggest fear from not going to the gym was losing strength. I'm so thankful that, that didn't happen. I did some cardio on the stairmaster (I do actually like their stairmaster better than my gym's), treadmill, and bike. I get pretty bored with cardio, so I get through it by changing up machines and watching YouTube videos.  

   It's FINALLY getting somewhat nice out where we live! I get cabin fever so bad when it's gross out. It's been either cold or raining here for a few weeks. Today it reached almost 60 degrees so my husband and I took all the kids to the walking trail after our oldest was out of school. Our oldest likes to jog, so I jogged with him a little while my husband pushed the double stroller.   

   Now that the end of spring semester is over, I have a chance to read for pleasure. I bought a book on Whole 30 that is packed with recipes I want to try. I'm thinking about trying them and writing a review. I also bought Extreme Transformation written by Chris and Heidi Powell that I want to read as well. 

  I want to give a shout out to my first 3 followers!!!! Thank you Ladies :-) 

Until the next blog, Stay Strong Iron Family! 

Week 1 weigh in.

Welcome to the first Wednesday's weigh in. This will most likely become a weekly post where I will post a scale photo and do a recap.   

The First Step of this Journey

Well, every journey starts with the first step. This is not the first time I have taken that first step towards weight loss. I’ve been overweight/obese for most of my life. I spent most my school days being made fun of for not looking the part or fitting in with other students who were smaller than me. (I remember my most embarrassing moment in school. I’m not sure which grade I was in, either 2nd or 3rd, the nurse weighed us in front of the class and they read the numbers out loud. I remember the snicker of my classmates when my number was called 105lbs. The average weight for a 10 year-old ranges from 70 to 90 lbs. I was the heaviest girl if not the heaviest kid in the class.) 



Jump ahead a ***cough cough*** few years. When I was 19 my then fiancé Daryl and I moved out on our own. I was working from sun up to sun down. I worked in banking from 8:30am to 5:30pm and then 6pm to 10pm at a grocery store . Daryl and I ate out A LOT! It was a shock to my system. I grew up in a family that the only time we really ate out was for special occasions. We ate at a sports bar so much we had our own waitress that knew us by name. Over the course of time the weight slowly started to pile on. When I graduated in 1999 I weighed 185 pounds on our wedding day 4 years later on Aug. 16, 2003 I weighed in at 253 pounds. Then life happened and we had to move into my in-law’s home for a little over 2 years. While we lived there, I found a magazine called Oxygen. Looking through the pages something lite a fire in me. Here was a magazine with woman who had feminine muscles. They weren’t the over muscled woman that you think of when you hear the term bodybuilding. I knew I wanted to be one of those woman. So Daryl and I started to go to Oak Opens every Sunday rain, snow, or sunshine and walk the 5 mile trail. This walk worked its way to a run/walk and finally we were running the whole 5 miles. The girl that couldn’t do the one mile run without walking in middle school, COULD RUN 5 MILES!!!! Daryl and I even ran a 5 miler race in 2006. I was close to the last person to cross the finish line but I finished. HaHa, never said I was a fast runner. During this time I also joined my first gym. I wish I could say it was love at first weight……it wasn’t. I had no clue what I was doing. So I read books and my wonderful husband got me a subscription to that magazine that lit that fire. I slowly started to love going to the gym. I looked forward to feeling sore the next day. I even decided to get my personal training certificate. 




Between the runs, playing Sunday night softball, and the gym, I was able to get my weight down to 220 pounds in 2007. Then there was a BIG surprise July 4th 2007……..a positive pregnancy test!!!! I wish I could say that I kept up with working out and eating better……nope. When I went in to deliver Dylan on March 8th 2008, I weighed in a 285 lbs. I gave birth to an 8 lb. 10 oz. baby boy and fell in love in an instant. It didn’t matter to me that at my 8 week check-up my weight was still 285. I was in love and my new baby was all that mattered. He was perfect and such an easy laid-back baby. Then as he grew we noticed he wasn’t hitting milestones and was mute. We talked things over with his pediatrician and through a year of testing and many specialist our beautiful baby boy was diagnosed with both autism and cerebral palsy. In my mind, my needs no longer mattered. It was all about Dylan and getting him everything that he needed. The next few years it was all about therapy, playgroups, specialist, doctors, and test after test. 




Jumped ahead to 2011, Daryl and I decided to was time to go back to school. As much as we wanted to go to U of M. we both just missed getting in. We decided to attend Eastern Michigan and move to Ann Arbor. I decided I wanted to go for Athletic Training and then switched to exercise science with a minor in nutrition. After doing a lot of research on preschools up there, I found out that Ann Arbor had an amazing preschool for children with special needs. Dylan did amazing there and was starting to make leaps and bounds! I could finally start putting me on the front burner. I went out and bought a scale. Our’s had broken a few years prior and I never bought a new one. So that last weight that I weighed in at was the 285 lbs. after Dylan was born 3 years ago. I cried on the bathroom floor after I stepped on that scale. I had hit my highest weight ever, 315 lbs. I was devastated. How did I let myself go this bad? I joined a gym and met an amazing trainer, Major! He renewed that fire that was lit so long ago. 




Then life happened again! Daryl hit a deer on his way to work one morning and our CR-V was totaled. We had to get a new car which meant a new car payment. New car payment meant it made paying Ann Arbor rent impossible. So we moved back to Bowling Green in 2013 and started to attend BGSU. Money was a little tight when we first moved back so a gym membership was out for a few months. I finally got a gym membership in May, 5 months after we moved. A month later……. 





Then, on July 6th, 2014 after only training for a month, we were surprised with another positive pregnancy test. My first appointment I stepped on the scale and it read 305 lbs. I wasn’t so surprised this time because I knew that I wasn’t working out or eating the way I should have been. Being in school made cooking difficult and we ate a lot of fast food. This pregnancy was the complete opposite of Dylan’s with Dylan I had bouts of nausea but only got sick once. With this pregnancy I was sick all the time. Due to horrible morning sickness (which should be renamed morning/noon/night sickness) and later gestational diabetes. I was lucky and was able to control the gestational diabetes with diet and exercise. I dropped down to 284 lbs. the lowest weight since I was pregnant with Dylan. On Feb. 22nd 2014 a handsome curly haired boy was born. Tristan weighed in at 6 lbs. 13oz. This time at my 8 week appointment I weighed in at 278 lbs. 




Then SURPRISE at the beginning of August 2014, just a little over 6 months after Tristan was born we found out we were expecting yet again! My weight gain with my 3rd pregnancy was very slow. Luckily my 3rd pregnancy didn’t have the horrible morning sickness but I did wind up with the gestational diabetes again. Once again I was able to control it with diet and exercise. In the course of this pregnancy I gained 15 lbs. Then on March 25th, 2015, we welcomed our 3rd and final son, William “Liam”. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 2oz. Of course, just like our other two boys, it was love at first sight. 




And now here we are today as I start this journey once again. Liam is now a year I have started to get serious again. I started Sister Iron after I had Tristan with the hopes of blogging and someday vlogging my weight loss journey to help keep me accountable. I had to put it on hold for my pregnancy with Liam. So here I am, ready to start this journey once again. My official starting weight this time around is 305. My goal is to start a Wednesday weigh in post. I will be using my home scale to do these weigh in’s. 

Please understand posting my actual weight was a very difficult thing to do. I had a fear of people judging me based on these numbers. Then I really started thinking. People can visually see my weight and my size. Why am I worried about a number? This is also going to be a long road with many twist, turns, and a few bumps. The greatest paths often have these. My ultimate goal is to lose the weight and gained the muscle to compete in a figure competition. I want to thank you for following my journey and making it this far into this post.