Swimmertainment

Okay friends, here we are again for another swimmertainment! Today I would like to focus on the good old, "Please, I beg of you, do not do that again."

So y'all remember the guy in the rainbow striped speedo? He is the one who would swim a length of the pool, hop out and either do jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups or all three. Well it is bad enough for a young (about 19), very thin guy to do this. It is a whole other story when a guy who is about 10 - 15 years older, about 150 pounds overweight, and very hairy does this. Thankfully he was not wearing a speedo! However it is rather awkward sharing a lane with said guy as he is climbing and pulling his way out of the pool as you are finishing a lap and his shorts are starting to droop and all you see is a hairy butt crack. "Please, I beg of you, stop doing that!" Please leave the pool for swimming and take the jumping jacks, sit ups, and push ups somewhere else!

Going back to yesterday's blog on what not to wear, I would like to talk about the other end of the spectrum. I have seen a lot (both in number and the physical amount) of butt cracks because bathing suites are too small. Please wear something that fits. While on this subject of what not to wear, if you are a guy and you have any extra weight (more specifically 100 pounds or more) please do not wear a speedo. I do not say this to be mean, I simply say this to say that it is not a good look and it is kinda awkward for everyone else. Ladies, your turn. Bikinis are great if you are in shape and sitting by the pool or on the beach. Please do not try to swim laps in a bikini. It is not a functional or practical bathing suite to swim laps in. Although it is HIGHLY entertaining to watch you attempt said task. So if you wear a bikini to swim laps, please know that I will have atleast a grin on my face as I watch you!

On another day in the pool, I finish up with my laps, grab my towel and head back to the locker room. The locker room is a fairly open space with lockers in the main part with bathroom stalls, shower stalls, and changing rooms off of the open space. When I walk into the locker room after swimming said laps and notice this gal changing into her bathing suite right next to the locker that I was using. A smidge awkward already but okay. Well as I get closer, I advert my eyes and quickly grab my bag so I can take it to a changing room when the lady jumps and yells "Excuse me! Why are you standing so close to me and why are you looking at me? Can't you tell that I am trying to change in privacy?!" I almost couldn't tell if she was being serious. I kind of wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this. I didn't know what to do so I just turned around and walked away. This is when I say "Please, I beg of you, stop doing that!" If you not want people to see you change, please use one of the changing rooms, otherwise please do not yell at people. It was highly entertaining to say the least.

I have one more story, as of right now, to share with you, but it is something crazy/ridiculous that I did while swimming. So I will save it for later. Hope y'all enjoyed today's ridiculousness!

All in.

What Not To Wear

What not to wear? Clothes that are too big. They make life hard. People keep saying isn't it a great feeling? Honestly, not really. It is a pain in the butt. You have keep pulling up your pants or your shirts have too much fabric and it really is just annoying. It also means you have to buy new clothes and that involves two things 1. Shopping and I do not like shopping and B. Money which is not growing on trees. However, I am real thankful for my parents who have bought me some new clothes and for the Old Navy gift card my brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Amber gave me for Christmas. I have added some clothes that I have shrunk out of. Not only for y'all to see, but also for me to look back on and see how far I have come and to encourage to keep going. Disclaimer, these pictures are bad and nowhere near my normal quality of picture taking, but I am okay with that for now.

 Pair of pants on the left - too big. 

Pair on the right - smaller size.

 Both too big...

 Pair on the left, too big pjs - also my favorite pair ever. Sad to put them to rest.

Pair on the right, new pair.

 Shirt on the left, old pj shirt. Also a favorite. If you are ever in Bozeman, I will pay you to buy 

me a new shirt! I am totally serious!

Shirt on the right, new pj shirt.

 Both pairs of pants...too big.

 Pair on the left, biggest pair of pants I have ever owned.

Pair on the right, two sizes smaller.

 I pulled this out to wear with a black dress to a dressy dinner with my 

dad's staff in Richmond. Too big. Wore a green sweater instead.

Slowly but surly, the box is filling up.

It hit me this morning that I have lost 41 pounds overall. 41! That is a big number! That is a lot of weight to lose. It often doesn't feel like a lot because I usually think week to week instead of overall. But today I was like woah! 40 lbs. I would be very impressed with anyone who has lost 40 lbs and I have done that and I need to be proud of myself!

I have lost this kid! This is my 4 1/2 year old nephew, Luke. I have 

officially lost him...and a smidge more!

All in.

Weekly Weigh-In

Well here I am, another pound lighter. A one pound less then last week and I will take it after a week of being sick, travel, and not the best workouts. I did not gain and I know I can make it through the the holidays without gaining weight.

12.26.12 Day 95, Lost:1 Total:36, Weight: 154

36 pounds on this program, 41 overall, 49 more to go. I can do this. I got this. More to come tomorrow!

All in.

Another Weekly Weigh-In

Here we are on another Tuesday. I'll keep this short, but here are some fun things. One thing being that I have lost 35 pounds on this program. 40 overall!! Yay! A few weeks ago, my health educator (the gal who leads our group), Meghan, asked us to write down a goal weight of where we wanted to be by New Years. I wrote down155. Well I hit that and now I have to think of a new goal weight.

12.18.12 Day 88, Lost:3, Total:35, Weight:155

And now I weigh less than this guy!!!

This is my sweet brother, Kory. Love him and the fact that I now weigh less than him! Kory and his wife, Sara, have been huge encouragers in this process and I have loved having them in on this journey! What a blessing!

All in.

Weekly Weigh-In and a 30lb Reward

This weekend was wonderful. I spent the weekend in Richmond with my Dad's staff and their spouses (for those who have spouses). Many of these people were friends of mine before they went on Young Life Staff or became a friend over the years. I am always a little sad at how short our weekends are for catching up with everyone. Most of the people there this weekend had no clue that I had started this program and it was such a great feeling to have so many of them notice the change. Such a sweet weekend with sweet friends.

Since we have a bunch of new readers to this blog, I will give a quick run down of what I do on a regular basis. If you want to know what I eat and about the program I am on, read this blog post. Every Tuesday, I go for a weigh in and post a picture and my progress here. I started this program at 190 lbs which is five pounds less then my heaviest. So in my pictures, it will say how much I've lost in total while on this program. Add five pounds and that is the real overall weight loss number. So here is this week's picture:

12.11.12 Day 81, Lost:3 Total:32, Weight:158

Also, for every 10lbs I lose on this program, I treat myself to something new as incentives along the way. I normally buy myself a Christmas cd from Starbucks this time of year and when I went tonight to pick one up for my 30lb reward, I chose Blake Shelton. Looking forward to listening to that!  Super excited!

More updates soon. All in.

Swimmertainment!

It's finally here, friends. Swimmertainment! As many of you know I like to swim laps at the local Rec Center. I started swimming laps at the of March and usually swim like five day a week. There is always something funny or weird happening when you are at the pool to swim. My friend, Natalee, and I worked together at Mark 2 and we both have worked with folks with disabilities in and out of Mark 2. With that being said, we have a saying (and not a bad one) that we have a high tolerance for awkward. So in the midst of something kind of awkward, we can stay calm and with a straight face. Well this has helped me while swimming. There have been several awkward moments at the gym that I have encountered then often texted Kory and Sara afterwards to share my awkward moments and they have shared in the laughter. So I'm bringing Swimmertainment to y'all so y'all can join in on the fun. Today I have a few stories to share:

So in order to get to the pool you have to walk through the locker room. I often go midday because it's the least crowded. However no matter what time I go, I somehow always go right before or right after the Senior Swim Class has been in the pool. I don't know what it is, but it always seems like every lady over the age of 60 has no issues when it comes to her body and believe that everyone should be okay with their nakedness. Multiple times I've walked into the locker room and have seen a lot of naked women; one lady in particular on multiple occasions. She looks like Betty White. One day in particular, I walk in to the locker room and Betty White is wearing a shirt, socks, and shoes but no underwear or pants and she's leaning forward to dry her hair in the hand dryer by the sink. Really Betty White's look-a-like? Sigh.

A few days later I was swimming laps and I look to the next lane over and it looks like the guy in the lane next is wearing socks. And I was very baffled by this. I tried to get a closer look to prove myself wrong. I thought maybe he's wearing some kind of swim shoe or something. As I was finishing a lap, I noticed he was getting out of the pool. And sure enough, he takes his socks off and rings them out one at a time then he walks back to the locker room barefoot. What? Seriously?

For my final story today, I have to tell you about rainbow speedo guy. This guy looks about 20ish and he gets in the pool wearing a rainbow colored banana hammock. I wish that were the awkward part, but lets be honest, lots of guys wear speedos and most of them shouldn't. I continue to swim, no big deal. Well then I realize that this guy didn't think that swimming was a good enough work out. So he would swim one length of the pool then get out and do jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, or all three. Then he would get back in, swim another length and do the same thing. Nobody should do these activities in a speedo. Ever. Just sayin'. Really rainbow speedo man?

I hope y'all enjoyed these stories. More to come. On a different not, both my brothers, Mike and Kory, are about 6'1"ish (that's my guess on their heights, I could be very wrong. I'm short, everyone is tall to me) and they both weigh in the 150s. I hate them both and their skinny-ness. So my next goal is to weigh less then both my brothers. Sigh.

All in.

Weekly Weigh-In

I know I promised a swimmertainment entry. I have not forgotten. I will this week. I promise. For real. This week has been crazy. I survived the movies (Breaking Dawn Part II, naturally) with my friends Stacey and Terresa without snacks and junk. So fun to have a girls afternoon with the two of them. This weekend I am heading to Richmond to hang out with the Young Life Staff and Spouses from our Region and I am SO looking forward to it! Cannot wait!  I will keep this blog short tonight. Here is the picture....

12.4.12 Day 74, Lost:2 Total:29, Weight: 161

All in.

Weekly Weigh-In

This week was hard. Avoiding Thanksgiving food was really hard and getting the physical activity while out of town (where it was freezing) and when my plans repeatedly fell through was even harder. It was a hard week and having a good attitude was hard too. I'm glad this week is over. I did really well  staying "in the box" and not eating all the delicious food, but I did it! And that is a huge win. And I still lost weight. I'm tired so I'll update more later - especially swimmertainment! But for now here's my picture for this week (with the magic button in my pants)!

11.27.12 Day 67, Lost:2 Total:27, Weight: 163

All in.

Weigh-In Tuesday and Instant Button

So I have been avoiding buying new pants because I know that I have a ways to go and I don't want to keep buying new pants. A family friend of ours, Janet, had these Instant Buttons that she dropped off at my house.

All that you have to do is add them to your pants - no tools needed. It definitely helps! It has made a huge difference. I just put off buying new pants a little longer. Thanks Janet.

The button closest to the hole is the original button and the other is 

clearly the new button. The pants now fit comfortably - not too tight 

or too lose! Awesome!

So I'm sure y'all aren't reading this blog for the Instant Button. This week was a good week on the scale! So here's the picture!

11.20.12 Day 61

Lost:3 Total:25

Weight: 165

Down 25 lbs on this program, 30 lbs overall. I am 1/3 of the way there! 30 lbs down, 60 more to go. That seems like a long way away. Sigh. It is still good.

All in.

Real And Hard, Good And Sweet

Today was kinda hard. I have kinda neglected to remind myself that clothes aren't going to fit properly while I'm still in this process. The other day when I went to try on new bathing suits, I picked up a couple of sizes to try on. The first one was the size smaller than the my original size and the other was two sizes smaller. The first suit was a smidge big and  the second suit was a smidge small, but not bad. I went with the second suit because I knew that I was still losing and the other suit was already a little big. Well today when I put it on at the gym, I kinda forgot that it was smaller than my last suit for some reason. I knew it was, but for some reason it was hard. I didn't like how I felt, I was uncomfortable and self-conscious. I think it's because I was feeling real good in the "big clothes". It's hard to know that I'm working so hard, but I've got so much more to go. I just wish it was as easy to lose as it is gain. This process would be a lot easier physically and emotionally. Also, as I was walking out of the locker room today, I passed the weight room just as all the high school guys were arriving after school and this one kid says to his friend "I weigh 147. Why is it so hard to gain weight? I want get to 150 like now." Seriously kid?!?! I'll give you some of my weight. And I want to get to 150 like now too. I talked to my friend Lindsay today and she was definitely encouraging in this. I'm feeling better now.

So my best friend and sister, Sara, last night sweetly requested something last night. I think her exact words were: "I demand to see pictures of your new bathing suit and not just your old bathing suit!" Said in a total joking manner, of course. So here are some pictures for you, S!

 Bathing suit on the left is the old one.

The one on the right is the new one.

 I bought new swim caps and goggles as well. All latex free

which is perfect for me! Love the latex free products!

On a brighter note, I've known for a week or two exactly what I wanted for my reward for losing 20 pounds. There's a very small handful of tv shows that I LOVE. I LOVE the show Friends. It's my favorite show - hands down. I own all 10 seasons on DVD. Well, there's another show that I recently watched the whole way through and quickly grew to love. And that show is Friday Night Lights. So for my 20lb reward, I treated myself to the first season on DVD!

I will start watching season 1 tonight! Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose!

All in.

Back On Track

Well I'm back on track...almost. I'm not on my three average 3lb/week loss, but this week I lost four this week! That means I'm out of the 170s and into the 160s and I passed the 20 pound mark! In less than two months! That feels good! 22 pounds down, 63 more to go!

 11.13.12 Day 54, Lost:4 Total:22, Weight 168

Needles to say, my clothes are fitting in new ways. Some things that use to fit are way too big. Some things that were a little too small are now a little big. Somethings now fit perfectly. And while the rest are getting closer to fitting. There are somethings that are way too big that it's time to get rid of and get new things - like my jeans, but I'm trying to hold off as long as possible because I know I'm still losing. Somethings, however, need to be replaced. Like the bathing suit I wear five days a week to swim laps. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods on Sunday to treat myself to a new bathing suit promising myself I wouldn't wear it until I officially l lost 20 pounds. And to my surprise I went down, not one, but two sizes! 

 This is my old suit that I wore for the last time today! 

Goodbye trusty suit, you will not be missed.

I have this huge rubbermaid container that I use use for old skit/club props and costumes and it didn't hold everything that I had. Before I moved to Oregon just over two years ago, I purged the box and gave most of the contents to the Young Life Area (you're welcome, Rob!) Well this box has been sitting empty for two years in my parents house and for some reason my mom thought to put the clothes in here that got too big for me and to have fun watch it pile up. So I agreed.

 This box is monstrous. I'm pretty sure I could fit in it myself.

I got to add my first "too big" item tonight with many more to come.

So here I am - finishing one week and about to start another. I'm tired. 63 pounds feels like a long way a way. But I'm here and sticking it out.

All in.

Some Thoughts

So this week's been hard. Especially the whole not losing anything, but I'll get to that more in a minute. So every few weeks they (meaning the nurses at the clinic) take my blood to make sure everything's going okay. I've never really asked them what they're testing because I've never had issues with anything like diabetes or my thryroid or anything else. I've been very fortunate in that area and honestly I've kinda taken it for granted. On Tuesday they drew blood as normal, had a hard time finding a vain - which in normal for me, sealed things up and I was on my way to class. Well I got a call on Wednesday morning from one of the nurses at the clinic, Jen. She said they got my results back and some of the numbers were abnormal and they wanted me to come in right away to retake my blood (and she did emphasis right away). So I walked into my mom's room and told her and left the house to head to the clinic. It hadn't set in yet. However, I wanted some people praying for me, but I didn't want to sound any alarms so I texted my dad, brother, and sister-in-law while I was at the gas station (don't worry I had already filled up and gotten back in the car). I knew it could be awhile before Kory and Sara read their texts so I went ahead and called them knowing that it was early and probably trying to get gets out the door for school. Kory answered and prayed with and for me and that was the first time I felt like "Oh this is a bit scary. It could be something or it could be nothing and I can't do anything to make it simply okay." I felt powerless. I had been working so hard to shed this weight and to be all around healthy, but I just felt helpless in that moment. I get there and Jen assures me that the doctor doesn't think anything's wrong, probably just a false reading, but they wanted to make sure. She also informed me that they had been testing my lung function, kidney function, and electrolytes and all three of those numbers were off - either high or low. Up until that point, my levels were in the good range.  After they took my blood again (which have I mentioned, I really don't like that process which is kinda funny because I have two tattoos, but I hated the fact that I had to give blood two days in a row) she told me that they should know the results within 24 hours and she'll call me either way. That was about noon. I hate to wait. Especially for stuff like that. I hated that phone call. Well it was about 4:30 Thursday afternoon and I couldn't wait so I called Jen and left a message. A little after 7 she called back and said everything was fine; nothing was wrong. So relieved, but still stressful and surreal. Definitely eye opening for sure, but regardless I am thankful that everything is okay. 

So I was talking with Sara last night and just talking through how it was hard not losing anything this week and the whole blood work bit and was just feeling discouraged and how I felt like by not losing anything this week it was like a major set back and how I now feel like I've added another month on to this program. And she patiently listened and just reminded me that it won't be a month longer, maybe just a week and that's okay. I didn't put this weight on overnight and I won't take it off overnight. That my focus should not be on the scale but what the Lord is doing in this time. I bought the book Made to Crave that I'm going to start doing with my friend, Teresa, and I downloaded the devotional to go along with it that Sara and I are going to be doing together. So I think those will be great resources for me to keep my mind set on what the Lord is trying to teach me.

On a different note, I dropped my 91 year old Grandma off at her house yesterday and one of her neighbors was outside. This neighbor did not know what I was doing and almost as soon as I stepped out of the car she said "Ashley! You look great! You've lost a good amount of weight! How much?" It was such a good feeling to have someone who had no clue that I've been working on it actually notice. It was definitely great!

Those are my thoughts for now. Until later.... All in.

Wah-Wah

This week was hard and tonight was even harder. I lost a big fat nothing this week. I worked so hard this week and the scale didn't budge. Yes it didn't go up, but it didn't go down either. I stayed faithfully "in the box" everyday this week, but nothing. It's hard. Next week though....

In the meantime here's this week's picture - even though I didn't lose anything.

11.6.12 Day 47, Lost:0 Total:18, Weight: 172

All in.

Wyatt

My brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Amber, have three boys, Jack, Luke, and Wyatt. Wyatt is 7 months old and weighs 18 pounds. Imagine that. I've lost 18 pounds and thus I've lost Wyatt. Mike, Amber, and the boys were in town this weekend and as I was holding him or carrying him around all I could think was "Dang this baby's kinda heavy and I've lost this much weight and I've got a lot more to go." I figured I'd take a picture of Wyatt and myself while they were here to give y'all a little visual.

So tomorrow night, I head back to the clinic for my weigh-in and meeting. We'll see if I hit that 20 pound mark. I think I've settled on a 20 pound incentive, but I'll keep that as a surprise til I officially hit the 20 pound mark. Until then....

All in.

It's the Magic Number

If you've heard the Curious George Soundtrack, you know that 3 is the magic number to reduce, reuse, recycle. Now I'm gonna have that song stuck in my head.

But you guessed it! I lost three pounds this week for a total of 18 pounds since I started (down 23 from my 

heaviest). I still can't seem to get over the fact that I've lost 18 pounds in just under 6 weeks. Who does that? If I keep up this weight, I will be out of the 170s this next week. That's absolutely crazy to me! Awesome, but crazy!

10.30.12 Day 40, Lost:3 Total:18, Weight: 172

I'm definitely beginning to get real tired of the food and shakes. I could really go for a tuna fish sandwich with a pickle right about now. Or pumpkin bread. I kinda miss the physical act of eating. I drink the majority of my calories. I miss being able to bite and chew my food. Is that weird?

Anyways. More to come later.

All in.

YYYYYYYYAAAAAYYYY!!!

So if y'all remember a few posts ago, I set up a few incentive ideas for myself in this weight loss journey. One being that I was going to set aside $1 for every pound I lose (so far so good) and when I reach my goal weight, I will do or buy something with that money. I still have not decided what that money is going towards, but I will let you know. 

The other incentive is every time I take off another 10 pounds, I will treat myself to something like download a new cd from itunes or by myself a new Starbucks mug. So when I hit my first 10 pound mark a week and a half ago, I knew what I wanted. I had wanted a couple of pairs of earrings that my friend Katie makes. Katie's awesome and she has her own business (http://www.onedelightfulbutton.com/). Katie and I were on Young Life at the same time and were even roommates for a very brief time. She and her husband, Philip, are now on staff in Massachusetts with their son, Judah, and we miss them here in Virginia Beach.

As I was making myself a shake this afternoon, I saw the mailman pull up with a large envelope and I knew just what is was. The earrings I ordered for Katie! I was so excited! Mostly because I knew I had worked hard to get some of the weight off and that was my reward. And now I have a pair of yellow earrings to my Oregon tshirt! Yay! Thanks Katie! 

Here are some pictures...

 They're here! Aren't this boxes really fun?!

Katie's Classic Button Earrings.

Katie has more color options and a great variety of earrings and other fun accessories.

Go to her website to check out more...

http://www.onedelightfulbutton.com/