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A Merry Life

Healthy Living & Budgeting Blog | Health, Wealth & Everything Else

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Ask Mary Anything: Measurements Edition

October 31, 2009 by Mary

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.

This post contains a ton of stuff, all about how I’m doing on my weight loss journey. Hopefully it will help you better understand me and my progress. First things first – my video check in with my progress over the last two weeks.  It’s a good one!

And how I did on my fitness goals for the week:

  • Climb the hill 10 + times.  (Halfway.  Will try to finish tomorrow.)
  • Make it to every strength training class.  (YES!)
  • Get 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night.  (YES!  Barely. ;)  7 counts tho!)

What I actually did this week for exercise:

Friday 10/30:

  • 1 hour total body strength class
  • 20 minutes walking (1 mile)

Thursday 10/29:

  • 1 hour lower body conditioning
  • 30 minutes walking (hill intervals)
  • 30 minutes water cardio drills/kickboxing

Wednesday 10/28:

  • 30 minute elliptical interval
  • 1 hour upper body weights
  • 1 hour bicycling

Tuesday 10/27:

  • 1 hour lower body conditioning (bumped up to ankle weights!)
  • 1 hour kickboxing class

Monday 10/26:

  • 1 hour upper body resistance class
  • 1 hour low impact aerobics
  • 15 minutes walking

Sunday 10/25:

  • 40 minutes walking (2 miles)

Total time exercised:  10:45!!

Did a great job with the exercise.  Had planned to workout this morning but unfortunately had to miss classes.  Still beat last week by 40 minutes.  Hehe.  Go me!

And now, I’m going to answer a couple related questions from readers for the new Ask Mary Anything series.  Woot!

Chocolateprn asked me:

1) Did you expect to see a bigger loss during this experience?
2) What sort of loses do the other participants see?

Personally I am really excited about the progress I’ve made while I’ve been here.  I suppose coming into it I had a lot of goals, but really has no idea what to expect from a weight loss retreat.  I’ve lost 13 pounds in two months.  That’s 1.6 pounds per week which is awesome.   Originally I wanted to lose 30 pounds while I was here but readjusted my goal to 20 pounds, since I’ve also been gaining quite a bit of muscle with all the strength training.  If I lose another 7 pounds the last month I am here I will hit that goal.   But more important than weight is measurements in inches.  I’ve lost a ton of inches and completely changed my body.

As far as what progress other participants see here I think the average is similar.  Healthy weight loss is around 1 – 2 pounds per week so that is what the program aims to make happen.  I know everyone I’ve talked to as they left has been very happy with their personal progress.

And just to put all this weight/measurement stuff into perspective, let me answer the question Kate asked:

How tall are you?

I am 5’2″.  I agree with you about how frustrating it is to read so much about weight loss and never know how tall someone is.  It makes a huge difference.  I’m on the shorter end (you seem super tall to me!) of the spectrum.  So, to sum it all up, right now I’m 5’2″, 228 pounds, and wear a 16/18 pants and large (or sometimes medium) shirts.

Alrighty!  That’s a ton of stuff.  Sorry!  I hope it helps put my experience into perspective, know all my measurements and what I’m doing for exercise!

Have a great weekend!  Happy Halloween!

Filed Under: Healthy Living, Weight Loss Tagged With: about me, Ask Anything, check in, Exercise, Green Mountain, height, measurements, Q & A, Video, weigh in, weight, Weight Loss, workouts


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Comments

  1. Lara (Thinspired) says

    October 31, 2009 at 2:31 pm

    Hi Mary!

    I can’t watch your video on the computer I’m on, but congrats on your weight loss. 13 lbs in two months is awesome, perfect time period I think.

    One thing I want to start doing is taking measurements (other than the scale). I agree that they can speak volumes about weight loss, much more than just how much you weigh!

    Thank you for your comments on my blog :)

  2. Trish @imaSucceeding says

    October 31, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    Congrats! You are doing great!

  3. Karen says

    October 31, 2009 at 2:53 pm

    Hey Mary,

    You rock!! Your progress is so inspirational and uplifting.. it’s been a pleasure to be able to watch you on your journey.

    One more month to go… I can’t wait to hear about your final results at Green Mountain. Sounds like a life-changing experience.
    :)
    Karen

  4. MackAttack says

    October 31, 2009 at 4:15 pm

    Yay way to go! 13 pounds is amazing. Great job! It really is interesting to see your height. I agree that it is interesting to see how tall everyone is. Makes a big difference!

  5. Mara @ What's For Dinner? says

    October 31, 2009 at 4:33 pm

    You’re doing awesome!! I’m 5’4″, so I know what you mean by feeling short :)

  6. Peanut Butter Bliss says

    October 31, 2009 at 6:28 pm

    wow I am so jealous you got that much sleep this week! good for you :)

  7. Sana says

    October 31, 2009 at 6:36 pm

    Great job! Thanks for sharing this with us!!!

  8. Mary says

    October 31, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    @Lara
    Thanks! I totally recommend taking other measurements. It’s nice to have lots of ways to track progress. :)

    @Karen
    Thanks!! I’m glad I’ve been able to share my journey with everyone! I’m super excited about my last month here. It’s going to be a good one! This whole experience really has been life-changing. I’ve changed a lot of the ways I think about food, which is awesome.

    @Mara
    Shorties unite!

    @Peanute Butter Bliss
    Hehe, I technically shouldn’t have met that goal, but I overslept on a couple of days. So that helped me meet the 7 hours a night. ;)

  9. Melissa says

    October 31, 2009 at 8:22 pm

    Congrats on your weight loss! 3lbs is good. And all the inches, Wow! By the way, I’m 5′ 2″ too, lol.

  10. South Beach Steve says

    October 31, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    Mary, congratulations on your successes so far. Four and a half inches in two weeks is pretty awesome!

  11. Diane Fit to the Finish says

    October 31, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    You’ve done amazingly well! I love the variety of exercise you are doing – that’s awesome. I agree that knowing how tall someone is makes a big difference in your understanding of how inches/pounds translate. In case you were dying to know, I’m just a hair under 5’10”!

  12. Fran says

    November 1, 2009 at 5:04 am

    Mary I’m still so impressed with all the working out you’re doing lately! You’re truly an inspiration!

    Keep up the good work, you’re doing great!

  13. John's Weight Loss Blog says

    November 1, 2009 at 6:57 am

    Sounds like you are doing awesome – consistent exercise is so important and something I’ve just not been able to get back to doing well. Keep up the good work!

  14. Andrea@WellnessNotes says

    November 1, 2009 at 7:39 am

    You are doing great! I think your weight loss is great and your measurements are awesome. I never took my measurements when I was losing weight but wish I had as I think it would have helped when there was no progress on the scale (which happened a lot).

    I loved the video; you are clearly in a good place… :) Enjoy your last month!

  15. Miz says

    November 1, 2009 at 8:38 am

    lovelove the videos and youre so right about the weight/height stuff.

    (I was on the receiving end of YOU ARE SO SHORT! comments at blogher. for some reason people thought I was 5’8″ or more! :))

  16. Melissa says

    November 1, 2009 at 9:20 am

    Happy Halloween to you!

    I liked reading your workout summary. Way to be active and SO SO SO close to meeting your 3 goals. :)

  17. anji says

    November 1, 2009 at 9:58 am

    Hello!

    Is it possible maybe you can email me some help on how to make a video for my blog? When I do it, it turns out to be toooooo huuuuuge. Any tips or tricks? I’d be very very grateful!!!!

    anji

  18. Jody - Fit at 51 says

    November 1, 2009 at 10:02 am

    GREAT RESULTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats Mary! I am short too, 5’1″ so it is hard on us shorter folks. Although people tend to think I am like 5’4″ or so…. not sure why.

    Keep it up!!!!! Doing awesome!

  19. AtomicHammock says

    November 1, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    I love your blog. Your personal story in inspiring and courageous. I wish you nothing but success.

    I may be able to help you. Obesity runs in my family and I have seen first-hand how difficult it can be to defeat. I myself have also struggled with weight loss in the past and from your posts I see you are in the same fight. It saddens me to see that you are necessarily so mindful of exercise and portion control – I admire your willpower and resolve but this is a battle you are unfortunately doomed to lose. However, there is help.

    Alert: I’m not selling anything! – I just want to share my success story.

    What you really want is your body to signal when it is properly full. Highly processed foods such as bread and pasta and refined corn products do not do this. In fact, they make you crave more. These foods are so common that now everyone thinks they are normal and we just need to exercise a lot and eat smaller portions to be fit. This is not so. We just need to eat the right stuff to achieve proper fullness and achieve proper insulin sensitivity. How to achieve proper insulin sensitivity? Two words: caveman diet. I have enjoyed very strong results by simply eliminating processed foods in favor of natural foods. Believe me, I have no willpower for portion control.

    Eating an essentially primitive diet, I dropped 31 pounds in 4 months – now holding steady. My cholesterol dropped 63 points, and my blood pressure went back to normal. I have a ton of energy, and I sleep like the dead. The best part is that this way of eating does not feel like a sacrifice. I just eat meat, fish, fruits, veggies, and nuts – all I want until I am full – no moderation required. This approach is better known as the ‘caveman diet’ – based on emulating the diet our bodies were designed to eat (by nature over eons of time) so I guess it makes sense that it works so well. Much has been written about paleolithic nutrition and I would encourage anyone who is serious about dropping weight and feeling good to read more.

    Further reading:

    note: I have no commercial interest in any of these books, I just think they are very good and they helped me –

    check out

    The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain
    Neanderthin by Ray Audette

    and my favorite –

    Cave Dan by Thomas Adam Troy

    – this one is actually a novel! – and a hilarious one at that. I downloaded the e-book from http://www.lulu.com (search: Cave Dan) for $4.99. It looks to me like the author wanted to elevate awareness of this cool diet that worked for him, and he chose a short novel as the vehicle. Clever stuff. I am a picky reader and this guy writes very well – Kurt Vonnegut meets Dave Barry. Anyway, the hero in Cave Dan is this sort of Everyman slob with a lot of health problems until he is forced to change his lifestyle and diet. There’s lots of great information immersed in 216 pages of ripping satire. I have paid over twenty dollars for diet books and many bad novels that did me no good. For five bucks, I’d recommend this novel to anyone.

    Best of luck to you – I hope this helps.
    AtomicHammock

  20. Mary says

    November 1, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    @anji
    My only advice would be to change the size of the embedded video. If you are using youtube you can do that by clicking the “customize” button right next to the for the embedded code. Once you click that you can choose a different size for the video. Hope that helps!

    @AtomicHammock
    Thanks for your comment and kind (sometimes?) words. I have heard of caveman/paleolithic diets and they do make a lot of sense. For me however, I’m happy with what I’m currently eating. I actually already eat VERY LITTLE processed food. Some weeks I eat none. So I’m good with that. :) My personal journey is less about what I’m eating and more about why and how I’m eating. So I’ll keep working on that.

  21. AtomicHammock says

    November 1, 2009 at 5:07 pm

    I wish you the very best of success!

  22. Jordan says

    November 2, 2009 at 10:11 pm

    Wow. I am very impressed as well as inspired by you. I have lacked the motivation but reading your blog has given me the push I need.
    I have just started a blog of my own to hold myself accountable and to create a community for others trying to better their lives. Hopefully I can spread hope and help the way that you do so well.

    Thank you and congratulations of your success so far!!!

  23. merri says

    November 3, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    Happy halloween! What did you dress up as? I am shorter than you…5’1! Come visit SF though, and you’ll be taller..this is the only place I’ve been where I routinely see people shorter than me. (very novel and awesome). 7-8 hours of sleep a night sounds heavenly… PS yay on all that exercising! Wish I could do so much!

  24. K Wulf says

    November 14, 2009 at 12:46 am

    “Cave Dan” on lulu.com is funnier than fat guys break dancing. I eat cave, and my weight is down and strength is up. I went from 245 to 345 on bench in 12 months, and feel great. Not bad for 52 yrs old.

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    […] Ask Mary Anything: Measurements Edition | A Merry Life […]

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