Sunday, January 15, 2012
YES!
Update soon folks, stay tuned. Should have a couple new vids up from pre-surgery today, as well as some new pics. So far, so good!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Twas the Night Before...
And I'm spent. I'm so nervous, and just want it over with. I will try to do a video blog on the way to surgery tomorrow morning. We will see if I am successful. *eek*
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
2 Days Pre-Op
Alrighty folks! I followed through on my promises! First off, here's some stuff just from tonight:
And of course, the infamous deadlift video! But I only banged out 9 reps because we both counted wrong LOL! Damnit! Ah well, it's at 145lbs and not 135lbs which was my last max.... so yay me!
Yay video blogging! LMAO! Only took me, four-ish weeks? None the less - hope you enjoyed!
My last pre-op appointment was on Monday and it went great. The lovely receptionist modeled all of my boxes of 'back up' sizers, etc. (as this is not your normal surgery, there are many, LOL!). Check this out:
Two more sleeps left. Will definitely do another video blog either later tonight or tomorrow summing up my thoughts prior to going in. I'm going to try to video as much as I can up until and after the surgery. So we'll see how far I get with that or if the nerves will get the best of me.
Big week! So excited!
And of course, the infamous deadlift video! But I only banged out 9 reps because we both counted wrong LOL! Damnit! Ah well, it's at 145lbs and not 135lbs which was my last max.... so yay me!
Yay video blogging! LMAO! Only took me, four-ish weeks? None the less - hope you enjoyed!
My last pre-op appointment was on Monday and it went great. The lovely receptionist modeled all of my boxes of 'back up' sizers, etc. (as this is not your normal surgery, there are many, LOL!). Check this out:
So those three boxes are all for me. This will hopefully turn out fantastic; thank god we have so many options. Very exciting!
Other then that, today I picked up the "Challenge" paperwork from my Trainer. Here it is:
Other then that, today I picked up the "Challenge" paperwork from my Trainer. Here it is:
As soon as I have the energy I will be filling this out and submitting it. Who knows if I'll win, but I did lose 20lbs in 20 sessions with my trainer, which is pretty phenomenal.
Two more sleeps left. Will definitely do another video blog either later tonight or tomorrow summing up my thoughts prior to going in. I'm going to try to video as much as I can up until and after the surgery. So we'll see how far I get with that or if the nerves will get the best of me.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Support the Team!
WELL! Because I'm a fun person, and everybody (for the most part) in my life has been so wonderfully supportive with my decision to go forward with surgery, I went and bought a bulk pack of "I Love Boobies" bracelets in support of breast cancer today! What better way to a) help a good cause, and b) tell my supporters that I really appreciate them.
Keepin it fresh!
So for those special people to me like my family (the ones that know), my friends, trainer, etc. I'll be giving them a bracelet just for fun!
Keepin it fresh! 
Life Changing 101
Alrighty boys and girls, here it is. An actual update in its entirety!
My plan here is to document this all out - in a long boring (hopefully not) blog post; and then do a summation on various points through video - which I just haven't been able to do yet. Frankly, because I've been too tired/lazy to set up the darn tripod and hit the record button... on that note though, I'm running out of time!!!
First of all, here's a quick challenge update:
So! Things are going pretty ok! Most impressively, I haven't found it an issue to completely cut alcohol out of my diet at all. I'm 2/3 of the way through and it hasn't been an issue. Exciting times - and Christmas Eve I will enjoy some Bailey's and Egg Nog and all will be well!
Now - to the bigger picture. In a nutshell, I realized that I needed to make some major changes in my life to facilitate the type of lifestyle I want to lead. With that, I had to put my "big girl panties" on, and do some things that weren't necessarily fun. Here's a quick breakdown of what I'm talking about:
1. Sell my horse.
2. Figure out realistic goals for training and set some dates.
3. Book surgery...
4. Figure out school (my chase to get a University degree continues).
So literally, that's what I've done.
I believe it was about a month ago when I decided that selling my horse was the only way to start this whole process. Obviously this is/was not an easy thing to do - and I literally relate it to selling a piece of your heart. Unfortunately, from a time and money standpoint, the investment was absolutely way more then I could handle anymore. The whole process was about as wonderful as it could get, and I can say that I am VERY content with how everything has transpired. There were many tears and a bit of heartache, but in the end I have no regrets about this decision. It was the right thing to do, and now she has someone who can dedicate all of their spare time to her.
As for realistic goals and training. Well, so far this time around my goals have been pretty well set - meaning they were challenging yet realistic, and aggressive enough to make some major gains in the process. That said, I really needed to sit down and think about what I wanted for myself and really think about whether or not I could actually do it or not. I am also much better with short term goals - long term goals are a little bit more difficult for me. I will say this, it is an ultimate dream to compete at a local show in the bikini division and do well at it. However, my training is about to get rail roaded by a little bit of an unexpected lay off. Let me explain.
For about 14 years now (yes, that long, really), I have been considering having breast reconstruction/augmentation done. I have a large asymmetry issue and it has been a source of emotional grief for years. After figuring out all of the above, I thought it was about time to really take control of my life and go through with it. I've never been in this kind of shape, and there's no time like the present. I have booked this surgery for December 2nd 2011 (exactly one week tomorrow), with a surgeon who I think is absolutely awesome.
Being the type of person I am, it was a very careful decision for me, and I am still extremely nervous (I'm sure you'll hear more about this moving forward), but it is a very exciting time and I just really hope things turn out great. This does mean that I will be laid off probably until the beginning of February - which also means that throughout my recovery, my supplementation (ex. 1000mg/day of Vitamin C and 25mg/day of Zinc, and so on) will have to be bang on, and so will my eating. I cannot afford to lose all of the traction I have gained over the last 6 months because of this - and with a little bit of focus and perseverance, I'm sure that remaining the same weight and almost the same conditioning will be possible. I am fully aware that I will lose lean muscle mass during this time, but I am hoping that this rest is well needed and that I will come out stronger in the end.
A few of you will remember the blog post I did a while back about falling off of my horse. Unfortunately, through that fall, over the past few weeks I've had to start going to physio again for nerve damage to my left arm - this has really affected my lifting negatively, and dealing with it via physio has helped, but it will be a slow recovery. This is another reason that the timing for surgery is right in that I truly believe my body needs some real time to recuperate. I am hoping all of these issues will be fixed when I go back, and will start slow and steady when I am ready at about 50% or less of what I am lifting now.
Last on that list is the University part - which I can say is all well under control. I start another course on January 19th and am looking forward to next steps.
My hope is to video blog this so that maybe, if anyone else is going through something similar, they can take solace in the fact that someone else has been there and done that. Surgery is 8 days away today, so wish me luck.
One more quick update... my last workout with my trainer was on Wednesday, but we had a fantastic session on Monday as well. I beat all of my personal bests for leg day. The biggest one being my January 1st deadlift goal of 135lbs x 3 sets x 10 reps. I banged this out NO PROBLEM on Monday - this is HUGE for me and I am VERY excited! I am hoping that this coming Monday, the 28th, I will be able to capture this on video just to prove I did it. It will probably be quite a long time before I pull that kind of weight again, so being able to watch the video will most likely be pretty motivating at a later date in time.
More to come... and, not to sound corny, but remember... nobody is going to live this life for you. If you want something, you have to go get it for yourself! Make it happen people!
My plan here is to document this all out - in a long boring (hopefully not) blog post; and then do a summation on various points through video - which I just haven't been able to do yet. Frankly, because I've been too tired/lazy to set up the darn tripod and hit the record button... on that note though, I'm running out of time!!!
First of all, here's a quick challenge update:
So! Things are going pretty ok! Most impressively, I haven't found it an issue to completely cut alcohol out of my diet at all. I'm 2/3 of the way through and it hasn't been an issue. Exciting times - and Christmas Eve I will enjoy some Bailey's and Egg Nog and all will be well!
Now - to the bigger picture. In a nutshell, I realized that I needed to make some major changes in my life to facilitate the type of lifestyle I want to lead. With that, I had to put my "big girl panties" on, and do some things that weren't necessarily fun. Here's a quick breakdown of what I'm talking about:
1. Sell my horse.
2. Figure out realistic goals for training and set some dates.
3. Book surgery...
4. Figure out school (my chase to get a University degree continues).
So literally, that's what I've done.
I believe it was about a month ago when I decided that selling my horse was the only way to start this whole process. Obviously this is/was not an easy thing to do - and I literally relate it to selling a piece of your heart. Unfortunately, from a time and money standpoint, the investment was absolutely way more then I could handle anymore. The whole process was about as wonderful as it could get, and I can say that I am VERY content with how everything has transpired. There were many tears and a bit of heartache, but in the end I have no regrets about this decision. It was the right thing to do, and now she has someone who can dedicate all of their spare time to her.
As for realistic goals and training. Well, so far this time around my goals have been pretty well set - meaning they were challenging yet realistic, and aggressive enough to make some major gains in the process. That said, I really needed to sit down and think about what I wanted for myself and really think about whether or not I could actually do it or not. I am also much better with short term goals - long term goals are a little bit more difficult for me. I will say this, it is an ultimate dream to compete at a local show in the bikini division and do well at it. However, my training is about to get rail roaded by a little bit of an unexpected lay off. Let me explain.
For about 14 years now (yes, that long, really), I have been considering having breast reconstruction/augmentation done. I have a large asymmetry issue and it has been a source of emotional grief for years. After figuring out all of the above, I thought it was about time to really take control of my life and go through with it. I've never been in this kind of shape, and there's no time like the present. I have booked this surgery for December 2nd 2011 (exactly one week tomorrow), with a surgeon who I think is absolutely awesome.
Being the type of person I am, it was a very careful decision for me, and I am still extremely nervous (I'm sure you'll hear more about this moving forward), but it is a very exciting time and I just really hope things turn out great. This does mean that I will be laid off probably until the beginning of February - which also means that throughout my recovery, my supplementation (ex. 1000mg/day of Vitamin C and 25mg/day of Zinc, and so on) will have to be bang on, and so will my eating. I cannot afford to lose all of the traction I have gained over the last 6 months because of this - and with a little bit of focus and perseverance, I'm sure that remaining the same weight and almost the same conditioning will be possible. I am fully aware that I will lose lean muscle mass during this time, but I am hoping that this rest is well needed and that I will come out stronger in the end.
A few of you will remember the blog post I did a while back about falling off of my horse. Unfortunately, through that fall, over the past few weeks I've had to start going to physio again for nerve damage to my left arm - this has really affected my lifting negatively, and dealing with it via physio has helped, but it will be a slow recovery. This is another reason that the timing for surgery is right in that I truly believe my body needs some real time to recuperate. I am hoping all of these issues will be fixed when I go back, and will start slow and steady when I am ready at about 50% or less of what I am lifting now.
Last on that list is the University part - which I can say is all well under control. I start another course on January 19th and am looking forward to next steps.
My hope is to video blog this so that maybe, if anyone else is going through something similar, they can take solace in the fact that someone else has been there and done that. Surgery is 8 days away today, so wish me luck.
One more quick update... my last workout with my trainer was on Wednesday, but we had a fantastic session on Monday as well. I beat all of my personal bests for leg day. The biggest one being my January 1st deadlift goal of 135lbs x 3 sets x 10 reps. I banged this out NO PROBLEM on Monday - this is HUGE for me and I am VERY excited! I am hoping that this coming Monday, the 28th, I will be able to capture this on video just to prove I did it. It will probably be quite a long time before I pull that kind of weight again, so being able to watch the video will most likely be pretty motivating at a later date in time.
More to come... and, not to sound corny, but remember... nobody is going to live this life for you. If you want something, you have to go get it for yourself! Make it happen people!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Lots, and Lots, and Lots, of News...
Update pending. But started this as a placeholder. Need to focus on getting a video blog done tonight or tomorrow to explain. But as a brief synopsis - I have now literally changed my entire life around to reach my physical goals and challenge myself like I never have before. Stay tuned!
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