Lifestyle change

So I've been in Cincinnati for about three weeks now, and so far I'm loving it. I'm working at dunnhumbyUSA as a senior associate on the Johnson & Johnson team, though I have 8 weeks of onboarding with all the other new graduate hires before I'm allowed to do any "real" work. I've had a couple little team presentations to prepare for, but nothing too taxing yet. I really enjoy all my co-workers, and I'm reassured that it really is the perfect company for me.

I must admit, though, that working 8-5 every day is quite an adjustment from the rather relaxed schedule I had spring quarter. It hasn't been quite as easy to stick to the "eat every 3 hours" rule that I followed when I was training with Amanda, but I'm doing the best I can. dunnhumby also provides lunch for us at least a few times a week, and typically, it's a boxed lunch, which equals a lot of carbs (sandwiches and cookies are almost guaranteed to be on the menu). I've finally gotten to the point of bringing my own lunch, just to help stay on track. On occasion I will treat myself to a cookie for dessert, but I just can't let myself eat them every day.

In terms of working out, I joined Urban Active for $30 a month, and it's about 7 minutes from my apartment. When I signed up, I also got a free personal training session. I wasn't impressed, and the price was quite high ($45 for a half hour). Luckily, my manager at work recommended her former trainer, Marijana, who is located in Northern Kentucky. It should be about a 10 minute drive, but in bad traffic, it's more like 25. Still worth it to me.

I had a consult/initial training session with Marijana last week, and I've decided to hire her for two sessions a week. As much as I'd like to think I could train myself with weights at Urban Active, it's quite busy and crowded there, and it's hard to get to the equipment I'm familiar with. I also just do a lot better when I have someone else I'm accountable to. I can easily get myself to the gym to do 45 minutes of cardio and some core work 4 times a week, but I need that extra push to get a really good strength training workout, and that's what Marijana will do for me. She's fantastic-- a lot like Amanda in that she's young, does figure competitions, and is very encouraging. She complimented Amanda's training of me, and said that my form was already good and she looked forward to pushing me even harder in the future.

The one key difference is in the diet that she recommends. When I told her that I tried to keep carbs below 100 grams per day and protein of around 140, she said she thought I could up my carbs and lower my protein intake now. When I started with Amanda, my goal was to be bikini ready, so she essentially had me on a competition diet so that I would look really toned. However, now that I'm just trying to maintain a nice figure, I don't have to be quite as strict. Marijana was also concerned that since I'm working 40 hours a week, I will also start to feel sluggish if I only consume 100 g of carbs a day. She made it very clear that since the diet has been working well for me, she didn't want me to change if I felt healthy and energetic on it, but that if I started feeling tired, I should talk to her about potential changes. She did recommend adding a little bit of fruit (which I stayed away from due to the sugar content), so I'm looking forward to eating bananas again :)

We have "bootcamp" at work this week, so we'll learn everything there is to know about dunnhumby condensed into several sessions throughout the week. I went through it last year as an intern, and I'm actually looking forward to the refresher.

The Final Tally

This morning was my final training session with Amanda. It was bittersweet. I was sad that I'm not going to be working out with her anymore, but I was absolutely thrilled with my final results.

On March 18, (my first meeting with her, which was actually two weeks before my first training session) I started at 158.5 pounds, and 24% body fat.

Today, June 15, I was down to 140 pounds and 16.5% body fat. Wow. It was a lot hard work, major diet changes and some serious sweat, but definitely worth all of the effort.

Amanda even baked me a delicious, yet somehow healthy cheesecake cupcake as a cheat treat for actually listening to her for the last three months. I couldn't have done it without her, but I feel really confident that I'll be able to keep it up going forward.

I'm moving to Cincinnati in a week, so be sure to keep checking back for updates!

Weekend Recap

I got home yesterday from our trip to Put-In-Bay, and it was a fun weekend. Looking good in a bathing suit at PIB was one of my motivations for starting this personal training plan, and it definitely paid off. I got a lot of compliments on the fact that people could see a big change, so that was really nice to hear. More than anything, I just felt really happy and proud of what I've been able to accomplish. I promised early on that I would post a before and after shot, so here it is. Wish I'd thought to take a photo of me actually AT P-I-B, but this will have to suffice.



I was still fairly strict with myself while I was at PIB, though I did have a few cookies and a brownie at Annie's bachelorette party. I also splurged on the way home yesterday and had some gelato, which frankly, wasn't all that impressive. I guess my sweet tooth has been defeated :)

I decided that I'm going to keep working out with Amanda until graduation. I feel like I have myself trained pretty well, but knowing that I still have to report to her is going to make it more difficult to cheat with my diet and workouts, which I'm trying to avoid doing. As long as I can keep myself disciplined before I move to Cincinnati in a couple weeks, I'm hoping that it will help me stay fairly disciplined once I move. Guess only time will tell.

One week to go!

I can't believe it's been 7 weeks that I've been working with Amanda now. My results are absolutely amazing... and I still have one more week before Put-In-Bay!!

I just bought a new bathing suit, and for once I actually enjoyed trying them on, and I feel really good about this one. Super simple blue and white stripe, but really cute.

This weekend I've been in Cincinnati to find an apartment, and I had success! I have a really nice two bedroom that's right in between two of the main squares in Cincinnati (Hyde Park Square and Mt. Lookout Square). I'm about a half mile from each of them, so easily walkable when the weather is nice. Yay!!

I did really well with my diet this weekend too. I knew that I was going to a wine tasting with my friend Krista on Friday, so on Thursday and Friday, I was very careful about keeping my carbs and fat really low so that I could enjoy a few glasses of wine and some appetizers. Turns out the apps were just cheese and veggies, but I enjoyed each bite :) I'm also staying at a Hannaford Suites hotel, so I have a kitchen in my room, which allowed me to go grocery shopping and cook my own meals. Saved me money on not dining out, and I didn't have to worry about finding more healthy options on menus. The only exception was that I went to Panera for lunch during the apartment hunt yesterday. I had their vegetarian black bean soup, which tastes delicious and isn't bad nutritionally, but has A LOT of sodium in it (as in, more than 1,500 mg). I tried to drink a lot of water to help flush it out, but I can tell I'm still retaining some water. I'm drinking plenty of water today too, so hopefully that will do the trick.

My hotel is right next to the mall, so after I found my apartment yesterday, I went shopping and had another day of nice surprises when it came to sizes. The size 6 pants that I bought a few weeks ago are now baggy, and don't look particularly flattering, so I went into the Limited and found a new pair of size 4s that fit much better. I also went into banana republic and found a new pair of jeans that were on sale for $25, so I was thrilled!

My training schedule with Amanda this week isn't particularly ideal, especially since it's crunch time before Put-In-Bay, but it'll have to work. Monday I have to do a group workout as she didn't have any individual time slots that fit my schedule. Then I'm in Tuesday and Wednesday evening, and Thursday morning. No workout on Friday, which is the day before we leave for PIB, so that day's exercise is up to me. Then I get to go crazy with my classmates all weekend! Sooo excited!!

Number Crunching

Had my first "official" weigh-in in about a month today, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. In the six weeks I've been working with Amanda, I've lost 7% body fat and 15 pounds!!!!! It's pretty incredible.

I went into the White and Black store yesterday to look for a formal dress (still not sure what I'm going to wear), and the sales associate was the same one who sold me an absolutely amazing dress right at the beginning of my training. I was a size 8 then, and yesterday, I was trying on size 2s and 4s. It was crazy! The girl even asked for Amanda's contact information... we'll see whether she actually calls, but it was a nice feeling to know that it really has made such an impact!

Formal Preparations

Fisher Formal is tomorrow night! I'm really excited, as this is one of the last times the majority of our classmates will all be together for a night! Last year's formal was so much fun, though I don't necessarily remember much about it (8 drink tickets will do that to you, I suppose). What's nice is that this year, they offered the option to buy a $35 ticket which got you 8 drinks and appetizers, or a $10 ticket that gets you appetizers and no drinks, so I'm going with that plan. Celina is having a pre-party at her house, so I'll bring some flavored vodka and some diet sprite to mix up and drink before heading to formal, and then I'll just munch on the appetizers and drink water once I get there.

I told Amanda about formal last week, and she said that as long as I was good with my diet Monday through Friday afternoon, I could go crazy and eat whatever I wanted once I got to formal, so I've been sure to keep my calorie counts really low. I'm also lowering my limits for carbs and fat today and tomorrow to prepare for all the yummy, classy bar-food type appetizers they're going to serve at formal (pizza, bruschetta, chicken satay, Asian spring rolls and a veggie and hummus tray). Coming up with 3 meals and 2 snacks that only amount to 40 grams of carbs and 25 grams of fat seemed like it would be quite a challenge, but thanks to the food tracker on Livestrong.com, I figured it out, and I don't think I'll feel too starved by the end of the day.

All I know is that the food at formal had better be really good to make today and tomorrow's diet worth it!

5 weeks in!

This will be a short post, but I'm still making great progress with my training!

I'm down 13 pounds from where I started (super exciting!), and while I don't know my exact body fat loss (Amanda has the body fat reader in her car, which has been in the shop for 2 weeks since she was in an accident, so she hasn't been able to get it), I see the results, and that's good enough for me.

I was trying on clothes at Macy's yesterday and actually looked at my body in an entirely different way. It's no longer just about looking "thinner"-- it's about looking healthier, and I definitely do. My waist is much slimmer, and my arms are getting really toned. Still working on my lower abs and legs, but they'll get there eventually.

Had lunch with my Mom and grandma yesterday, and while my grandma doesn't understand the point of all this (she "used to eat donuts made with lard, and [she's] still alive"), my mom was impressed with my progress and seemed motivated to take on a healthier lifestyle herself. I hope she does!

I think the real test will be bathing suit shopping in the next couple weeks. Put-in-Bay is just 3 short weeks away... can't wait!!