After what felt like 2 weeks of PMS…I FINALLY got my period.

I know you’ve been wondering about my cycle, so I thought I’d go ahead and put it out there. I GOT MY PERIOD! Wahoooo! Ever since my miscarriage back in January, my cycles have been all over the place– anywhere between 4 and 7 weeks, which makes the “am I pregnant?” question never freaking ending. Grrr! And because I’m purposely not trying to get pregnant right now, it makes it that much more annoying.

Just as exciting as me getting my period is that fact that I am down almost 10lbs!

The scale bounced up to 185lbs late last week and hung out there for several days, but I’m happy to report that it’s come back down and is now .8lbs lower than it was before. Yay me! That makes it ALMOST 10 pounds in about 4 weeks. I’ll take it!  

It’s amazing what 10lbs will do. Back when I weighed over 300lbs I didn’t appreciate a 10lbs loss. It seemed so nominal in comparison to what I had to lose, but now that I weigh almost half that, and am far more in tune with my body, I really notice the difference 10bls makes. Not so much in how I look, though there is a definite difference in my waist area, but most importantly in how my body feels. 

A gallon of water weighs 8lbs, did you know that? Have you ever carried a gallon of water up a flight of stairs or around the block or through the grocery store?  It sucks. I wish that I had this same perspective back then. I would have appreciated my losses more and used them to keep me motivated rather than allowing them to make me feel defeated.

I really noticed those (almost) 10lbs today, especially as we were doing pull-ups. I’m still not where I was last April (before the great shoulder incident) but I can definitely tell I’m making progress again. A few weeks ago I was really struggling with pull-ups using TWO assistance bands (a green and purple for those of you familiar with those things) but today I was flying up, even get a few chest to bars, with just the green band. YAY me!

My hips seem to be doing better too. I skipped out on my massage yesterday because I was hyper-focused on a project I’m working on, but I’m SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY TO REPORT that today, for the FIRST TIME EVER, I actually jumped OVER the bar for all 36 bar over burpees. I was slow, having to stop and pscych myself up for each lateral jump, but I made myself do it. In the past I would have just stepped over the bar (my bad hips make it really hard for me to pull my knees up, vertically) but this time, I jumped every single one. It felt fantastic! If you aren’t familiar with my jumping issues you MUST check out this video from last year. It’s pretty freaking hilarious. It’s also the first and last time I’ve jumped that high– hopefully again…soon.

Couple today’s little victories with Wednesday’s (I posted about it on Facebook) when I kept up with the young 20-something boys who were in class with me…USING THE SAME KETTLEBELL WEIGHT. Whop- BAM!  Is all I have to say about that!

In other news…

I’ve decided to take the location film gig in September that I told you about last week, which means I won’t be competing in the Master’s Tour Comp. I have very mixed feelings about it but I think (hope) it will be a fantastic experience. I just wish it wasn’t so far away, for so long, and SO isolated!  I’m going to miss the crap out of Brett and Coop and YOU! What will I do without internet?!?!?

This past weekend was spent taking photos for the cookbook.

I thought it was going to be fun. I was wrong! I’m sure the raging PMS didn’t help, but good gawd, it was miserably stressful! And I’m not even sure how much I like most of the shots.

It’s hard to take a bad picture of beautiful, colorful foods, but I have no imagination, very little patience, and horrible organizational skills, so the whole experience just felt like torture! HA!

Did you see this one I posted on Facebook the other day? It’s a picture that my graphic designer sent me of her screen as she was looking through the pics. I didn’t even know he was there! Silly puppy dog!

The coaching site is coming along and I’m working on a few e-courses that I can’t wait to share with you! This weekend Brett and Coop and I will be heading up to the mountains to hang out with some friends, do some hiking, check out some waterfalls, and probably eat some good food and drink a couple of beers– which I plan to ENJOY!  There’s nothing like a good, cold beer after a day of hiking, swimming and exploring.

How are your weight loss goals coming along?  Are you feeling successful or defeated? Tell me one of your victories and one of your struggles. We’ve all got them! Comment below or on Facebook and let’s get through this together!