Weight loss goals... - Originally posted 5 October 2006

So, you know, I've been moaning and whining and bitching about my weight.

And, no, I haven't done that in vain... at least not yet...

I did watch what I was eating ever since. I focused on the RenFaire and the sewing as that was what I needed to do. But I went to the gym this past Tuesday and, boy, did that feel good. I was amazed at how I was not in bad shape. I mean, I knew that doing 3 hours of belly dancing on Mondays and then another hour on Wednesdays, plus the occasional Yoga classes, plus the additional belly dancing practices were helping my fitness level but I had no proof... well, besides my abs starting to rip and me looking more toned as some of my tribe sisters have commented.

On Tuesday, I ran on the threadmill... I had to... I started my "usual" "time to get back on the bandwagon so we are aiming at being able to do 30 minutes on that treadmill" program... Earlier this year, we went back to the gym for like a month or two (and then we were ill or something) and I could not do much on the treadmill... I was doing the elliptical stuff as it is easier for me and, whenever I would be on the treadmill, I would just walk... walk fast but walk nonetheless. In the winter of 2004-2005, I got in good shape, and was actually able to run for like 6 minutes followed by 2 minutes of walking (repeat until 30 minutes are over). I do interval training on cardio equipments, as this helps boost your cardio more efficiently.

Anyway... Tuesday, I was on that treadmill and, although it was very hot outside the gym, I was getting cold on the treadmill... because my cardio was back to a resting state... but I was walking. Walking somewhat fast. That was the usual thing that I would do when I would start back on the treadmill. So, after 10 minutes, I decided to attempt to run. And, whaddayaknow? I ran for 2 minutes followed by 3 minutes of walking (repeat until the remaining 20 minutes are elapsed). I was amazed at myself! After the first run, I got back to a resting state after a minute of walking. And then, for the rest of the time, I would get back to a resting rate some time between 1 minute and 1.5 minutes after starting to walk again. That means a goooooooooooooooooooood recovery rate. So, yeah, belly dancing can be harder than we think.

After the cardio stuff (I had done some stair master stuff earlier), I did some weight training because I was so hyper. I didn't do the bicep thing as I was supposed to so I got a little pain in my back yesterday but I know what to do not to have that pain... I was just stupid on Tuesday. I'll be more careful tonight. I was quite pleased too with what my body could do weight-training-wise. ;o)

And, see, that's part of the love-hate relationship with my body. While I am very thankful that it can do all that (the treadmill stuff and the belly dancing and the yoga), I hate the way that it looks in the mirror.

So. I did some research over the past few weeks. Per my research, I would need to lose about 60 lbs to say that I would be at a weight that is considered healthy. Now, I know that these things are not exact science so it is damn possible that I will not be able to reach the goal of 130 lbs (oops! I kind of just revealed my current weight if you know basic maths... ah, who cares?) if I am "too fit" (there is an infamous story of a girl that I knew back when I was 18 and she weighed more than I did but was leaner because she was a track and field girl) or I might go lower if my body lets me... so it's just a target.

And I am no dumb blonde so I know that muscle and fat don't weigh the same and don't take the same space so scale eight is only going to be one measurement. My body measurements (like chest, waist, hips, etc., how my clothes fit (or don't fit... can't wait to be too loose in my clothes), how I look in the mirror), are going to be other ways of looking at progress with my goals.

So, the pic above is something that I did with a web site called My Virtual Model ( www.mvm.com ). On that web site, you can put your body specs (like height, weight, skin color, hair color, etc.) and design your own model. Their goal is so that you can try clothes virtually and decide whether you like the look. So I had done that little exercise a while back but did it again today. So there is a model with me at my current weight, after losing 30 lbs, and after having lost all 60 lbs. That gives me something to look forward to! And it did feel like I was looking in the mirror, as creepy as it sounds.

I will really be looking at steps in terms of chunks of 10 lbs... makes it easier... plus, body measurements changing...

And, yes, it will mean that I will have to either redo or modify all of my belly dancing items... but that's not a bad problem to have... at all! ;o) And maybe I will splurge for the "real deal" and buy me some real Melos after 30 lbs.