Weigh-in Wednesday: AHHHHH man!

First of all, I'm loving all the guesses on my exciting news (best guess: Olympic torch runner)!  Just a couple more hints:

• If everything works out, I'll need a whole new wardrobe (not weight-loss related)
• I'll be paying it forward
• And no, I'm not getting married.  Let's not rush into things, now.

On to the weigh-in...

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.

Last week weight:  127.0

Current weight:  126.4

Current loss:  -0.6
TOTAL LOSS:  -50.0

A regular happy face doesn't even cut it...

...even this one barley contains how I feel.

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WOOT WOOT!!!  Hit the 50lbs. mark on the dot!!  I was so excited when I weighed in with Trainer L, that I actually started to choke up and got a little teary eyed.  Kinda weird for Trainer L to see me get like that since normally he's used to seeing my heavy squatting face:

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My thoughts on hitting this tremendous milestone:

• This journey takes time.  I decided to lose the weight for good back in September of 2008... almost four years later and I'm down 50 lbs.  Many people can lose that amount of weight in less than a year, but this is MY journey and I did what worked for ME.
• Anyone who said losing weight is easy is a F*@$^% liar! Period!
• Every set back I had or mistake I made came with a valuable lesson learned.  Don't let these stand in your way of anything.
• Ice cream and pizza will always be a part of my life so it's just something I need to work around.  No big deal since I'm still moving in the right direction.
•  Reaching goals and milestones are AWESOME, but it doesn't end your journey.  You need to reevaluate where you are and strive to improve yourself for the rest of your life.  It's a lifestyle change... not an "only-till-I-lose-30-pounds" change.
• Health and fitness are no longer just things I do... it's now a part of who I am (another hint for my exciting news).
• I've still got a lot more work to do but I'm so excited about doing it!

Weigh-in Wednesday: WOW

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.

Last week weight:  128.2 

Current weight:  130.2

Current loss: +2
TOTAL LOSS:  -46.2

Yup, I blame it on Spring Break last week.  And yummy food this Saturday... garlic fries, bbq meat, fried pork chops, fried rice, Korean chicken, ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels.  Not the best choices for weight-loss BUT I expected it from last week so got in extra workouts.  This week will be WAY better!

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PR hit in back squats:  160 lbs. x 8 reps

PR hit in military press:  70 lbs. x 7 reps

 

PR hit in barbell row:  85 lbs. x 8 reps (could have gone heavier but I was on my 6th set.  Next week?)

 

Weigh-in Wednesday + weekend hike

Starting weight: 176.4 lbs.

Last week weight:  129.4

Current weight: 128.2

Current loss:  -1.2
TOTAL LOSS:  -48.2

PR hit in barbell bench press:  85 lbs. x 8 reps
Still have a WAYS to go with my bench press but hitting PR's (personal records) means improvement, right?   =)

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This past weekend I hit up a new-to-me hiking trail with my mom and some of her co-workers.  It was muddy... it was rainy... it was long... it was FUN!  For more details about the hike, see my post here.

Weigh-in Wednesday + Paleo recipe

Starting weight: 176.4 

Last week weight: 128.6
Current weight:  129.4

Current loss:  +0.8
TOTAL LOSS:  -47.0

Not disappointed at all.  Inches are still going down and since I'm in a muscle building workout program, the number on the scale will fluctuate.

Speaking of workouts...

PR hit in back squat:  155 lbs.  
That puts me between "intermediate" and "advance" according to these standards.  Not bad if my body weight keeps dropping and the barbel weight keeps increasing.

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Protein Cinnamon Swirl "Bread"

For this yumminess, I  followed this recipe by Jamie Eason but switched out the oat flour for almond flour and tweaked a little bit of the directions.  The end result was really good, but a little too sweet for me so next time I'm cutting the stevia in half.

Nutrition facts: Makes 16 squares

1 square = 55 calories, 1g fat, 8g carbs, 5g protein

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup stevia

1.5 cup almond flour

2 scoops vanilla protein powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites

1c unsweetened almond milk

1 4-oz jar baby food applesauce (or no sugar added applesauce)

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8x8 pan with olive oil.

2.) In a large bowl, combine stevia, almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt and mix well.

3.) In a medium bowl, combine egg whites, almond milk, and applesauce.  Combine with dry ingredients and fold together until incorporated.

4.) In a small bowl, scoop out about 1/2c of batter and combine with cinnamon.  Set aside.

5.) Pour batter from large bowl into pan, then drizzle batter + cinnamon (from step 4) into pan.

6.) Bake 25 minutes.

Weigh-in Wednesday: Wow!

Starting weight: 176.4 

Last week weight: 131.4

Current weight: 133.0

Current loss: +1.6

TOTAL LOSS:  -43.4

Not surprising considering my weekend of cheat days but it was what I expected.  Back to it this week since Super Bowl Sunday will put a small bump in the road, too.

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Yesterday's trainer session was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. 

PR's hit in both squat and chest press: 140 lbs. and 85 lbs. respectively.

I also got introduced (and fell in love) with this:

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If you don't know, education yourself about TRX suspension training.
So good our ARMY uses it to train.

SUPER excited to start using this with my personal trainer (PT) and even though it's not strength training like powerlifting, it's definitely something I want to continue with.