Sneaking Back

Wow, no post since February. I lost some gusto and just didn't feel very interesting.  (Now keep in mind that there is a big difference between feeling interesting and acutally being interesting).

What has changed since February? Not much according to the scale. But at least there has been good news in my Spotty Brained world.... James got a new job!  He is completely excelling in a company who respects his opinion, gives him loads of responsibility and will soon be kicking him out of the country for some traveling.  None of which his old company came close to doing. 

With the new job has come "normal" working hours.  Normal working hours = Lillian fending for herself at home.  I'm happy I taught her to use the stove at age 3.  Of course, I am just kidding.  Really, just kidding. Put down the phone, I have proof, she's not home alone. She is, however, now in full time daycare. 

This has been a tough transition for all of us. Lillian is used to staying up kinda late and getting to sleep in.  Well, her 6:30 am wake up calls are not making her (or me!) a happy camper.  It's hard - of course, I want her getting a solid amount of sleep but jamming so much into a couple of hours after work is proving to be really hard and really stressful.  Timing seems to be everything and we are still having a bit of a rough time getting it down.

In terms of weight loss, I haven't been doing much of that. It used to drive me batty in my Weight Watchers Meeting when people would talk about not always being "on plan". I didn't get it. Why were they there? If you follow the plan, you will lose. Why would you not stick to what works?  Yet here I am not sticking to the plan even though I know good and well that it works.  Argh, what's wrong with me?

In hopes of giving a push, my friend and I joined a gym. As part of the welcome package, you get to meet with a personal trainer and they tell you just how out of shape you really are.  And, guess what? I really am out of shape.  Even with the weight that I have lost (between 30-35 lb) at this point, I'm physically in pretty sad shape.

And since I am overly honest on here....I will share with you these numbers and hopefully will get to report back later as to how these numbers have improved.

General snapshot - I am 34 years old.  My metabolic age is 51 years, 2 months. 

Ouch.

Body Fat %: 38.76. Body Composition age: 70 years old!  Not good. (But I imagine of where I was last year at this point)
This is the sucky test where your muscular and lean trainer grabs a big chunk of fat from your arm, stomach and thigh and pinches it into this pincher like contraption.Ugh.

Muscular Strength and Endurance: 5% of age category and like a 70 year old.  I had to do push ups.  NO SURPRISE. I have no and have never had arm strength. 

Exercise Assessment: 30% of age category and 47 years old.  Better, I guess.
For this I just walked on a treadmill for awhile.

Thank God I have some flexibility though to lower my old age:
Flexibilty: 70% of age category...and get this...I'm like an 18 year old!  Hellz ya!
I had to sit down with my legs out straight in front of me and lean forward as much as I could.

So those are my stats.  i definitely need to improve all of them and am excited to do so.  I've already taken a yoga and spin class and need to try out some more stuff.

And since I haven't done this in awhile and I have a new picture of myself - here are my before and during photos:

 So not a huge difference beween September and June - we're talking like 10 lbs at the most.  But definitely an improvement over last year. (side note: I was holding a 1/2 bagel behind my back) 

(Can anyone tell me what photo editing website is good now that picnik is gone?)

My shirt reads "We Like It Dirty"

That can only mean one thing - I did the Dirty Girl run! It was a great afternoon and I will share some pictures and the tale of getting really, really muddy on purpose.