A Miracle Happened Here

188.4 lbs. I shit you not. I read and re-read the scale.  That’s 5 lbs. overnight.

According to My Net Diary (again, cannot recommend this app enough), I burned over 1600 calories yesterday. This was because:

 1) instead of concentrating on either upper or lower body, I worked EVERYTHING to the tune of 1.25 hours of exercise. Per My Net Diary, one hour of weight training burns 571 calories. An hour and a quarter was 791 calories burned.

 2) I took on the Rotating Staircase of Death for 30 minutes. Even as slowly as I do it (about 33 steps per hour), I was drenched in sweat and I had walked up 60 floors (more than halfway up the Empire State Building. They have an annual race up the stairs. It’s by invitation only. I don’t plan on getting invited). This was good for 414 calories burned.

3) I walked/jogged on the treadmill for an hour. I was only going to do a half-hour, but “The Closer” was on and I didn’t want walk away from it. I varied speeds from 3 MPH up to 5 (and yes, I could do that for 2 minutes at a pop without keeling over) then back down. (This was all Torquemada’s idea). This was good for a burn of 553 calories.

Calorie intake was 1443.

Now here’s the funny part: I don’t hurt. Much.  And I went back today for yoga. And more cardio.  My gym clothes have never been so nasty (socks are now drying over the towel rod. I love it.

But here’s the really BIG news out of this overnight miracle:

I AM NO LONGER OBESE.

I was hoping to get down below the dividing line (191.5 lbs.) by next week but, Holy Cow, that’s been shattered. Granted, I’m still overweight but I am not clinically obese.

If someone said to me tomorrow, “C’mon, let’s go for a mule ride in down the Grand Canyon” (which is something I want to do), I CAN DO THAT.

Granted, I’m still overweight but I am not clinically obese.

If someone said to me tomorrow, “C’mon, let’s go for a mule ride in down the Grand Canyon” (which is something I want to do), I CAN DO THAT.

Granted, I’m still overweight but I am not clinically obese.

If someone said to me tomorrow, “C’mon, let’s go for a mule ride in down the Grand Canyon” (which is something I want to do), I CAN DO THAT.

In one great leap, I have put over 11 lbs. between the dreaded 200 mark and me. I felt like crying the first time the scale said 199. Today, I was ready to dance

For years, I have felt helpless against the fat, a prisoner in my own body. I had no confidence in myself as a woman (more on that later), I made an easy target for the casual viciousness of other people and I hated being in my own skin. I hated what I saw in the mirror, I hated having doctors tell me I needed to be on a shopping list of expensive (and I suspect ultimately harmful) medicines, I hated feeling the judgment in the eyes of others 9and I would judge others similar to me or greater in size). Kiss my lily-white ass, Pill Pushers.

No more. I have achieved something significant. I did this. Me.

I looked in the mirror this morning and saw that my belly was smaller and flatter (trust me, the “er” was necessary. I’m happy with my progress, but I’m also a realist). My jawline is getting more defined and I don’t have a linebacker’s neck: straight line from ears to shoulders. The scout for the Pats stopped calling last week. Standing full face on in front of the mirror, I could see that my shape was narrower. I still have a roll of fat, but it’s smaller.

I’m winning.

I can stand to look at my body. When I have asked it to sustain 6 minute bursts of faster legwork on the elliptical, it has done so. When I have finally coaxed my obliques out of their coma and into engaging and working, they have done so. I still can’t do a Pilates roll-up or the vinyasa flow from Plank (I sustained the pose during one whole segment today without needing to drop to the modification) to Cobra to Upward Dog (Yeah, my version is a belly flop), I’m getting closer. My triceps are coming on line and the arm flaps are disappearing. I still can’t do a push-up, but that’ll be coming soon.

That cardio blasting was important: it taught me that I could work harder and faster than I thought I could. I can do this. I can continue to do this. When I think I’m done, there’s still something left in the tank. “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” It sounds trite, but Henry Ford stated it properly. Self-confidence is the key to success. And in other related, startling news, the Earth is round.

I would not be in this position if I hadn’t met Torquemada and Lila.  I am blessed to have worked with these extraordinary ladies. Their style was what I needed: they have provided a spark to the pilot light within me.

From 193.6 to 188.4 lbs. overnight. That’s one giant leap for my ass.