BodyRev Sitrep Reports - Week of 19 FEB

REVVVVPORT!
REVMATES - I hope you all took advantage of the long weekend and energized those muscles while on FIRED UP adventures!

First - thank you for all your book feedback - I've just now been able to decipher all your points - it's very helpful to me, and much appreciated. On that note, many of you listed "Aldenisms" as a compelling topic of interest - my question to you is - What are your favorite Aldenisms?? - list as many as you want - it's hard for me to understand your "Aldenisms" until I hear it from you directly.

Second - as my ship leaves the harbor to start this book journey, many of you have add terrific feedback - some so good, I'd like to be able to quote you. However, if there is someone that is not Okay with me using their first name (or call sign, I will respect your privacy) please let me know.

Third - lets hear it about your food/mood log - I want honest answers - if you didn't do it, say so, but don't try to BS anyone, otherwise it will send the wrong message for those we have truly discovered that their mood is directly linked to their food...next up, and get ready, we're going to explore how exercise is linked to your mood....

STANDING-BY - ALDEN

My response to this week's report request...

FAIR week...

Legs - 2X (2wts)
Arms - 2X (2wts)
Abs - 2X (2 wts)
Cardio - 1X (1 wt)

3 - 1 HR walks
1 HR Snow shoveling

Exercise was only FAIR this week... I can and normally do better so I am not happy with my effort last week. Need to do better this week.

As for the food/mood log, I was doing very well documenting it until this weekend. And even then I didn't stop because of what I ate, I just fell short on time. I really like keeping the food log... it has helped me to make some decisions about what is going in my mouth (because not only am I logging it BUT I am doing so publicly by putting it on my blog). This is not to say that I have eaten perfectly but just knowing that I am going to have to put it down has sometimes changed what I have decided to eat (like that piece of vanilla bean cheesecake last night - passed on that!) BUT here is my problem... the mood part. First of all, TIRED. I am almost always tired. I work overnight part-time. And because of my involvement with the kids it is rare that I sleep more than 4-5 hours at any one time. Saturday nights are the only night where I can actually guarrantee getting an 8 hour night. It is so hard for me to tell if I am tired because of food or just simply because I am tired. As for mood, I had a few situational incidents going on the past two weeks that really affected my stress levels more so than any food I was eating. So while I still haven't been able to notice any correlation yet I will keep on blogging my logging simply because I like the effect that the food logging has had.

I have noticed extremely HIGH cravings for chocolate lately. I have had some success in fighting them but have sometimes given in... not sure what that is all about. Could it be the stress? Maybe...

On the subject of honesty... I have received comments from people appreciating how honest my logging is. I figure there is no other option as that is the only way that it will help me. Lying to make my results or food intake look better may make others say "Wow! Look at her go!" But in the long run, how do I benefit from that? And that is what this is all about for me... benefitting from the results of the revving and diet changes. When I first started out, I would avoid posting on the bad weeks. Too embarrassed to say, "I sucked this week! I was lazy!" But that too has been changed... now I am posting no matter what I did (I have to say how hard it was to post my Revving activity for this week...didn't want to do it and this little voice kept saying "Add another rotation... who will know" ... well, I will). I will post every week...good or bad... and then it goes onto my blog so I will always have what I posted. To quote Martha Stewart... Honesty...it's a Good thing!

So speaking of honesty... how's this... here's my other problem... discouragement. I know, Alden, I know, I know, I KNOW , that you have said DO NOT watch the scale. I know that but seeing the numbers dwindle in the past has helped give me the push when I really needed it. However, the end of December was the last time that I had a "loss". Ever since then I had fluctuated up and down 5 lbs but never lower than my last great loss. Now December I was horrible at exercising and the first two weeks of January were horrible as well. But I have been revving consistently (Even my fair week this last week was more than I was doing in December and January) for the last month. And still I have not lost any more weight. I am trying to stay upbeat and positive telling myself that I am building muscle, etc. etc... But I am someome who definitely has weight to LOSE and lots of it. So it is getting to be a little discouraging but I am trying to work thru it. Thanks to a pic posted of me on the BB this last week, I have received some nice emails from people commenting on my success. And I have pulled pics of me from last summer as a comparison to help me "SEE" the changes... it helps. But when people post that they have lost 20, 30, 50 lbs and have dropped 2, 4, 6, 8 dress sizes (And I am so completely thrilled for them, truly!) but I have lost a total of 30 lbs but only one jean size... I look at that and say "Huh? What is going on with me?" I know everyone is different thus the results will be different but sometimes getting our mind over that distinction takes a bit of work.

So enough of my whining... I just needed to post where I was at and the difficulties facing me right now. I am working thru it... I am thrilled with the success so far and am not ready to quit because even if I don't lose another pound, I am still less than I was 6 months ago... I have muscles where I didn't know you could have muscle and I am overall feeling better. I will focus on that and keep on revvving!

The response from the BB ladies was overwhelming... here are just a few... edited for space...

From Carole: Carrie, You are right (see, I remembered) when you said you'll focus on your success -- you are feeling better overall. You have muscles where you didn't have them before. Don't worry about the size thing.

To me, the important things are health and fitness, feeling good overall, and feeling better about myself.

From Quiche: You already know this but a reminder never hurts. Everybody attempts a new fitness or weight loss regimen for different reasons. When we all first started this a lot of ladies mentioned wanting to being inspirational (or even around for the longterm!) for their kids and I thought *dang, am I the only vain one who wants to look the best that I can naked??* but in reality our reasons for exercising change. Sometimes it's vanity because we want to look good for an event, sometimes it's fear because we see somebody else who hasn't taken care of their health and we don't want to suffer the same repercussions or fear because of a doctor's warning. So when you've been working it and have a minor slow down it is perfectly normal to ask/think WTF?? and then get over the hurdle by focusing on another goal. Just today it is all over the news about women and heart disease and it is suggested we get 30 minutes of exercise a day and take an aspirin. How many of your neighbors/coworkers are getting 30 minutes a day of exercise? Unfortunately, I bet there aren't a lot.

I think you have one of the best built in motivators out there...after seeing their Mom make the right choices your children are far less likely to grow up to be unhealthy adults.

Again, you know logically if you eat healthy and exercise you will continue to lose weight so don't let a sucky week get you down.

From Natalia: First off, congrats on losing 30 lbs! That is nothing to sneeze at! And keeping it off is fabulous as well. Sending a great, big hug your way.

I think, like others have said, it's different for everybody.

Me, I've lost somewhere between 20 & 25 pounds, to drop the first pant size. Dropping the next pant size was all about toning, I think. (FYI, that's in work/dress pants, not jeans. I'm still wearing my 14 jeans.) And, as a good friend pointed out, I carry my weight in my breasts, hips/thighs and butt. I have the upper/lower abs fat rolls, but have a much trimmer waist. Even in size 16 the waist line on pants were always too big for me, but to put them on over my hips/thighs/butt, I had to go that size.

I noticed the largest weight loss when I did the cardio at least 3x a week. And kept my calories at 1500 per day. Now that I'm focusing on arms and abs and legs (occasionally legs, I'm having a hard time motivating to that or cardio) I'm not noticing weight loss. Maintaining where I'm at, building muscle and toning.

P.S. Have you talked to your doc about being so tired? It could be lack of sleep, lack of good sleep, or it could be something else (low iron, thyroid, etc). Also, how much red meat do you eat? I've found that the less red meat in my diet the more tired I am. Just a thought!

From Erika:You're down 30 pounds!!! That's great news. I'm down pretty much none, but my arms look good :)

Here's the thing. You're not alone in the weight vs size thing. If I gain/lose 25 pounds,I'm less bulgy and look and feel a lot better, but I can pretty nearly wear the same wardrobe. I see people say they lose 10 pounds and lost 2 dress sizes (8 to 4, say) and I don't understand it. I *notice* when I gain/lose 5 pounds, but I can fluctuate that much in 1-3 days with various hormones. I know some people that need a different size clothing to accommodate that, I usually don't.

So, it's good that you posted your frustration about that as I have the same frustration. If I wanted to get down to a solid size 12, from my current 16 bordering on 18, I have to lose 50 pounds. And this is my target, although I'm perfectly happy being a 14, because I know I look fantastic at that final weight.

I don't lose weight from exercise unless I do hard cardio at least 3X a week, and it works better if I do 4. 2X is enough to keep me from ballooning. I've done too many weeks of 2X so whatever I lost before Xmas I gained back.

Your efforts posted today are what I would consider to be a 2X/week workout. So if your body works even remotely similarly to mine (and it seems to), celebrate the fact that you're stable and not going up and realize you need to double that up if you want the exercise to drive the weight loss. I seem to be doing well every other week and maintaining only in the off weeks. I have enough severe off weeks that I need to see a doc.

From Beki: You should have someone determine your frame size and figure your ideal weight based on that---body size is more than just how much fat you carry. I was thrilled to find out my ideal weight was way higher than what I had thrived for all my life.

I will be happy with a size 14 as my absolute smallest size because I want some padding. I don't want to be skin over bones---been there, done that---it was not attractive.

I figure I carry ten pounds just in breast tissue. I should have asked for extra weight allowance for that. LOL

Anyway I thought I needed to lose 80 pounds but found out from a Gastro specialist in Birmingham at UAB that 50 puts me a couple pounds under my ideal weight for my height and bodyframe. It really made my day . : )

From Emily: carrie, don't let that scale discourage you!! i know it's hard not to, but please don't... you inspire me every single week - when i read your blog, when i read your posts here... i love your attitude, and i love that you post when it's good, bad AND ugly, because i have all of those days too, and your honesty helps me accept that it's not all sunshine and roses, and that's ok, because other people have those days too...

i've lost a whole pound since we measured ourselves in mid-january and i've been revving consistantly and eating relatively well since then (minus this weekend, of course lol)... yipee skippee... =o( i feel different, i can feel muscles where i didn't feel anything before, but the scale hasn't budged... i'm finding clothes i own are fitting differently, but when i went out to buy new jeans i discovered that i wasn't really down a size at all - more like a half size, and i could wear different styles that i wouldn't have looked at before... *shrugs* it's frustrating at times 'cause i can tell you, nothing is melting off me... i'm thrilled it's worked that way for some of the ladies who have seen huge changes quite quickly, but i'm also a bit envious because i'm definitely not one of them...

From Mary Jo: first of all, don't use jeans to compare sizes with. Use some other form of clothing. Reason being is that my experience when buying jeans is you have to try on every pair! You can pick up three pairs of jeans the exact same size and type and they will all fit differently. Try something else.

Secondly, you have lost 30 lbs! Great job! Remember that it takes a lot longer to take weight off than to put it on! You are feeling better about yourself over all right? So don't let those numbers on the scale stumble you. You have reached a plateau but you WILL get past it because you have come so far and you have so many people here that will help you not to mention the feedback from your blog

From Laura: You really are doing great. You are just at one of those awful plateaus. I lost about 45 pounds a few years ago and I remember hitting plateaus that lasted for a while and I would get really discouraged. But, you have lost 30 pounds and that is awesome.

At the time I was losing weight, I had a friend who also wanted to lose weight. I was a size 12, ready to burst into a 14 - my friend was a 6, but felt she wanted to be thinner. Her waist was already so tiny. She lost 10 pounds and went to a size 2. I lost 45 and went down to a 6/8, but I still had plenty of "belly". It didn't matter what I ate or how much I exercised, that pooch was and still is there. We are all built so differently and carry our weight in such different ways, I learned to not be so hard on myself. I really tried to focus on being healthier (yeah, losing weight was great), but the being healthier is SO much more important. And remember, you might not be losing "weight" if you are replacing fat with muscle.

We are all here for you. Don't feel like you are whining - believe me, we understand where you are coming from.

And the one that literally made me cry...

From Andrea: I am going to be brutally honest here, so bear with me :)

I think you really need to look at pictures of yourself 6 months ago and those today. Look at the pitcures of the WI gathering you guys had. You do NOT look like you lost 30 pounds. You look like you lost 50!!! Your face is beautiful...not just without the weight you just LOOK happier. {I think there are pics of you in Jaypalooza from Atlanta before BR go compare those} I noticed a difference immediately and I haven't even met you! I have spent the past few days gushing to some other board members about how great you've done and you have motivated me to really get my butt back in gear. Hey I did Boot camp twice this week because of you :)

Don't think that just because YOU don't see the results or you don't hear about how you are affecting others, it isn't happening. Those of us who will never get down to single digit sizes need our own heroes too :) Thanks Carrie for taking this journey and being my hero ;)

Aren't they a fabulous group of ladies? Always supportive, always encouraging but not afraid to give a kick in the ASS when it is needed!

Here is what Alden had to say, in response to our posts...

SITREP 23FEB07

REVmates – I’m referring to this week as FLEET WEEK – because it is major milestone in your accomplishments as individuals and as a team (fleet).

Milestone #1 – THE STORM - Carrie. Now, before I begin, realize I’m not picking on you – I’m praising you! Carrie’s post depicts one of the most important challenges every single one of us have or will face in life – I’m not just talking about losing weight – I’m talking about accomplishing a goal…you see, losing weight is a goal – it’s no different than making money or finding love – it’s a goal – plain and simple. Her post describes her frustration of not seemingly accomplishing her goal of losing weight…even though she’s already lost 30lbs. I’m highlighting your post Carrie, because you are at the door to your future – you are on the edge of your comfort zone – you have an opportunity in front of you that will completely change your life if you choose to press-on; conversely, if you choose to turn around your ship and head back to port in commiserate with the other rust buckets beached at the pier, your life will become one of complete predictability – it will be mired in misery – period.

Carrie, what you’ve so eloquently and honestly written is what happens to EVERYONE single one of us in life – we get frustrated, we get angry, we want to blame someone or something for preventing us from getting what we want – your feelings are 100% Natural – understand this – now understand that this is the most critical juncture of your journey – this if your first storm – the waves (your weight) are about a Sea State 4 (4-6 ft swells – in your case 4-6lbs of fluctuations) – the currents have pushed you back a bit during the holidays, and some of this you’ve allowed to happened, but you’re not giving yourself a reprieve for it – so your frustration grows even stronger…and then the winds chime in (your friends, and their success – “I lost, I lost, I lost”)…and here’s where the going gets the toughest, because now you’re doubting yourself – your brain, your captain – is beginning to question your course – indecision will set in – your ship will lose it’s power and it’s rudder…and then…you’re back to port before you know it…..CARRIE NOW IS THE TIME – FULL SPEED AHEAD, DAMN THE TORPEDOES (as quoted from the famous Naval Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry). Your REVmates have stepped up brilliantly with their support – you have done EXACTLY what you should have done – explain how you feel and send out a message for help – you see, you ARE NOT ALONE – there’s an entire FLEET at sea weathering similar storms….this is IT – this is your moment to breakthrough, to realize that YOU are in CONTROL, and that you can CONTROL so much than you realize…and WHEN you weather this storm you will be a different person – stronger, more confident and more in control…each storm makes us stronger…embrace this storm Carrie!

***About your frustration – a watched pot never boils…remember this – stop watching your weight and starting watching your food and exercise input and output. Remember, your brain and your body are ying and yang – or in nautical terms – ebb and flow….realize that stress, sleep, water, food, fun, movement, and much more are all connected together – if you only ever focus on the weight and not the bigger picture of enjoying the journey then you’ll constantly be in storms during your journey.***

Milesonte #2 – THE GIFT – Emily/Sauerpaus/Natalia…welcome to your new you – each of you in your own way has accomplished the very essence of what all my posting are all about – enabling you to take control…Emily – you have taught yourself the link between your mood and your food – this in the words of George Bernard Shaw: “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime”…you now know how to fish – understanding this connection can be the difference between happiness and sorrow – you now can completely control your attitude if you so desire – of course, that’s up to you J but now you’re in control! HOOYAH EMILY!! Sauerpuss and Natalia, you both have also learned how to fish, but you’ve also shared one of the most important elements of your “new you” – your new found ability to do things that you formerly believed you couldn’t or shouldn’t do….what you’ve done is empower yourselves…and there’s no greater gift – congratulations!

REVmates, many of you already have experienced the Storm or the Gift – please share it, and understand, this is what it’s all about…and Welcome Isabel wholeheartedly so she understand that our Fleet leaves NO ONE BEHIND.

CHARLIE MIKE – ALDEN

Next week – I’ll answer questions – this weekend, think about your storm and your gift.

Aye, Aye, Captain!

I am bailing the swells of frustration that have started to seep over the sides of my ship. Storm is being weathered, black clouds are lightening, not quite blue skies but the sun is starting to peek thru the gray skies. The FLEET has responded to my distress call and assistance has been provided. No need for a tow at this point, I am moving under my own power once again... FULL SPEED AHEAD and DAMNING THE TORPEDOES, SIR!

And may I just add, Thank you, sir!