Category Archives: Progress Report

Just as I’d wishfully predicted, my big gain from last week has been erased. I thought twice about weighing myself for fear of a bad number ruining yet another Friday for me, but I felt it was important to check in just for good measure. The results were positive; I clocked in at 151.2 pounds for a somewhat immaterial loss of 9.4 pounds. If I pretend last week never happened, I’m down 2.6 pounds so far in the month of June (I guess that’s still true whether or not last week happened). It’s the Baby Bear of losses; not too much, not too little. Juuuust right.

I’m glad I weighed in because I’m the type of person whose motivation snowballs. Instead of rebelling and eating a plateful of hash browns and binge drinking at lunch today, I’ll continue to make smart food choices and will not kick and scream too much before working out later. It’s been a solid 7 weeks since becoming a born again fat reducer, and I’m happy to say that it’s sort of a no-brainer to be “good,” nutrition and activity-wise. There have been a couple slip-ups here and there, but no complete derailments to report.

Also, I’ve been eating like an adult and not a broke college student scavenging her cupboards for canned tuna and dry ramen to make a sandwich, with marshmallows for dessert (actual items in my pantry).

Accidentally Blackened Salmon with Mango and Edamame

If I did munch on anything, it was relatively healthy and worth every bite. My teeth are still very sensitive from dental surgery (mostly a phantom/hypochondriac type sensitivity) and these chips were crispy, but not too rough on my mouth (stop it).

Way Better Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips

And finally, don’t blink or you might miss that there is a 10-week and approximately 10-pound difference in the pictures below. Hopefully it is obvious that the one on the left is the older one. A simple cotton skirt like this, with no rigidity or shape plus curving vertical stripes, is a disaster on my midsection normally. There may not be a noticeable visual difference, but I definitely felt more comfortable wearing it now. I didn’t spend all day tugging at it to make sure it was covering all my wobbly bits or making me look pregnant. It might be my new favorite outfit. Weee.

L: April 3rd; R: June 12th

Posted by Mae in Clothing, Progress Report

2 comments

Report Card: May 2013

May 31, 2013

Measurement	May 1st	May 31st	Difference
Body Weight	159.6lbs	153.8lbs	-5.8lbs
Body Fat Percentage	26.0%*	–	0.0
Bust	34″*	35″	+1″
Waist	31″*	31″	0″
Hips	36″*	37.5″	+1.5″
Right Bicep	12″*	12.5″	+0.5″
Right Thigh	20″*	21″	+1″
*Taken from last known measurement on October 27, 2012.
Favorite Accomplishment:	Completing my longest run, EVER! 6.07 miles, 12:09 pace; 1:13:46 overall. It is slow, but it is DONE.
Overall Grade: B+

It’s funny how weight loss works when you actually put in the effort. In the month of May, I felt like the old Mae, making the right food choices 90% of the time, with workout days outnumbering rest days by a whole bunch. Most importantly, I did it without starving myself. My daily calorie goal is 1600, and when I had a tough workout, I ate to make up for it. If you’re curious about my daily food intake, I publicized my MyFitnessPal food diary again and can be accessed from the menu on the right of this page. Or here. (Note: I got really lazy with tracking one or two days this week.)

Unfortunately, the last time I took my measurements was back in October during my lowest weight of 147-148, so I can only compare my current stats against those. Since then, I apparently grew about an inch in every direction! Oh well. June 30th will be better. FYI, my body fat percentage was last tested via water tank around the same time as I took my measurements, and if I had to guess, I went up a percentage or two, but I’ve been surprised before. This stat will likely only be updated once every six months. I really don’t want to be dunking in the tank every month. That shit is scary!

While I don’t have my exact inches from the beginning of the month, I can definitely say that I shrunk. I bought this dress from Modcloth in a size S back in February, and it had zero chance of fitting back then. I couldn’t even get it over my hips when it was completely unzipped! Every few weeks I’d try it on again, and though I got a touch closer each time, the outlook was bleak. On Wednesday, I extracted it from the depths of my closet and tried once again. Considering I could hardly breathe while wearing it, I wouldn’t exactly say that it fit, per se, but hey, it zipped up!

I hope you like this new format of progress reporting. At this point in my weight loss career, weekly weigh-ins seem overkill. Provided I keep this good streak going (and I will!), next month’s grades will be stellar. Some exciting things are happening in June, but I’ll fill you in on those once they happen.

Posted by Mae in Progress Report

2 comments

Getting Back on the 2-Wheeled Horse

May 25, 2013

Two and a half years ago [Edit: What the heck? I can't count. It was ONE and a half years ago.], I was hit by a car in a slow speed, low impact collision, while riding my bike home from work. I have probably talked about it here before so I’ll just quickly say that I was fine, bike was a little screwed up, but I walked away from it. Since I’m a totally serious athletic person now, and I lack the ability to spend money wisely, I ditched my old cruiser and bought a new road bike.

Gorgeous, right? I am pleased to have found an affordable, lightweight bike in my size range (extra small; fun-sized). My 2013 Charge Grater went on its maiden ride to work the other day. What I didn’t realize back then was that it would take me a long time to get over the fear of riding on the busy city streets again. I’ll admit, I was on edge the entire 3-mile round trip.

I guess the only way to gain my complete confidence back is to just keep riding, and that’s what I did today after I finished my 3-mile run. I rode the first mile on the busy boulevard towards my office, decided it was a bit sketch (super busy; weekend lunch hour on the busy street) so I circled back to my neighborhood and rode up and down the quiet residential streets.

Side note: it’s amazing how many fucking people don’t stop at stop signs. I guess it’s called the “California roll” for a reason. As much as I hate going to the DMV, or being inconvenienced in general, I am all for people having to retake both the written and behind-the-wheel test every 5 years. Hell, even 10 years might do you idiots some good. My dad is a driving instructor, so I learned at a young age to take that shit seriously. Sorry for the rant.

My ride was a relatively short one because I need to save my legs for tomorrow’s 6 mile run. I am also trying to not be completely freaked out by the idea of running 6 miles. That will officially be the longest run I’ve ever attempted. Sure, I’ve done 5 miles a couple times already, what’s another mile, right? Considering I am so dead tired after 5 I don’t know how I’ll manage it. But I gotta. And I will.

Patience is not one of my strong suits; I am an instant gratification type girl. I don’t mean to brag (lies) but I tend to be automatically good at things I attempt. Clearly I am a beginner, so for the time being it’s both physically and mentally hard for me. I’ve read that it takes months and months for people to see their full potential, and they probably don’t have my weak smoker lungs.

In other news, Happy Memorial Day weekend! (Thanks to all who have served and died for our freedom to run and ride and everything in between!) I kept thinking this was the last weekend of May so I was excited to post my 1-month progress report, but that will have to wait until next Saturday. Spoiler alert: I’m kicking ass.