Alright, I’ve talked a few times about the Last 10 Bootcamp that Mary Ann is running at HEAT. It started on Friday so I weighed in Thursday night. I normally weigh in on Saturday mornings so I knew I’d be up a couple of lbs because of the switch to the night time weigh….the other 2 lbs I can’t explain. Well I can but who wants to blog about all the crap I ate J So instead of going down to get to 319 so I could get under 300 by the end of June, I went up…so I wonder if I tell myself I want to gain, if I’ll lose weight…..

So Thursday night I was busy getting the groceries required to follow my meal plan for this week. I’m feeling okay although the first weigh in is not until June 12th so we’ll see how I make out with that. My biggest fear is that I’m going to keep grabbing things thinking that I have a whole other week. If I put my mind to it, I can drop big numbers each week; however, my mind seems to have taken a vacation. I look forward to it returning sooner rather than later.

I start my new position on Monday in Bridgewater (yeah me! No more 4:30am alarm clock wake ups!) . I have to admit I am nervous from a diet perspective because of course there is fast food close by. I already have my lunch packed for tomorrow so I’m all good from that point so will have to make sure I am prepared each and every night. With the time I am gaining not driving to the city, surely I can find time to make sure my lunch is packed.

So hopefully I won’t be blogging anymore about my weight going up, I hope to report to you in two weeks time and have gone down a good number. Wish me luck!

Sorry, this should have been posted Thursday. I wrote it but forgot to post it.

First let me start by saying that I don’t embarrass easy….there really isn’t anything I won’t do or say (clearly, I blogged on the internet about my missing bras and how much I weigh). I do have to say that I was successful in finding my bras…just twenty minutes after posting my blog about them missing…..the embarrassing part is where I found them…here it goes…

So I finished my blog about my missing item and posted it. Writing about it got me more agitated that I couldn’t find it because really, where the hell could it have gone? The only thing I could think of was that somehow it got mixed in with the stuff from the clothes that were for sale and that someone was walking around with a mega size bra or it was sitting at the Daisy waiting for me to come buy it back.

I went into the laundry room and started digging through the mountains of clothes that are waiting to be washed, can’t find it. I go into my bedroom and dig through the mountain of clothes that are begging me to put them away, can’t find it. I go back out to the truck, I look in the backseat, under the seat, in the dash, in the back where the tables are, can’t find it. I even go into Kenny’s garage…not sure why…maybe in hope’s that the wind may have picked it up like a parasail and it somehow glided into the garage, nope not there either.

I walk back into the house, disheartened and confused. I start to make my lunch. I reach into the crisper to grab the lettuce and start to close the door when something catches my eye. You know that feeling when you’ve seen something but you react about 20 seconds after when you start thinking about it. That was me. I close the door and instantly reopen it. Surely to god, my bras are not in the fridge. Yep, there they are in the crisper of my fridge with the bag of onions I took to the bbq on Saturday. They were inside of a plastic bag, which I had placed in my sobey’s recyclable bag with everything else I was taking to the gym that day. I must have thrown them in that bag and they went into the plastic bag. On Saturday, I just threw the onions into the crisper plastic bag and all.

Well let me tell you, I buckled over laughing and almost peed myself. I laughed so hard I started crying or it was the smell of the onion, not sure which one yet. Needless to say, I now have my bras back and am very happy about it. It has taken three washes to get the smell of the onion out!

WARNING: BRA TALK IN THIS BLOG, IF YOU DON”T LIKE TO READ ABOUT THEM, STOP READING.

I’ve lost a lot of things in my 30 years on earth and quite often conclude that I have lost my mind but I have to say this is the first time that I have ever lost this item. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of anyone losing one of these or it’s just that I’m the only one who is stupid enough to admit it but it is true, I’ve lost my bra. Should mention that I have not lost only one bra….but two.

I can’t really tell you how it happened because I don’t know. It’s not like they could grow legs and walk away or that they are so small that I can’t see them. These are no normal size bras…..you could pitch them as tents and sleep a family of 8. Okay, well they aren’t that big but just needed you to visualize that these aren’t normal size bras we are talking about. Are you with me on the size? Okay good, let’s move on.

So picture it, Bridgewater 2009. It’s a beautiful Saturday morning and I am on my way to the gym. I have to double up on the bras when I go workout at HEAT because if not, I’d be smacking people all over the place so for the safety of all the fantastic HEAT members, I try to keep them secure as possible. I do the turbo sculpt and after class Wendy and I head out to start buying the food needed for our bbq and clothing sale. I change out of my gym clothes (including my two bras) and put fresh clothes on (bra included). Thinking back, I’m not really sure where I put them but I feel like I put them in my bag. The day went great, we raised a lot of money and when the day was over I packed everything up and put it in the truck. That was Saturday…..let’s fast forward to last night.

I get home twenty minutes later than normal from work because of the construction so it is 6:00pm and I am supposed to be picking Wendy up in five minutes to go to the gym. I am so hungry that there is no way I can go to the new turbo class without food in my stomach so I eat some supper. I go grab my shorts, tank top, and OH MY GOD WHERE THE HELL ARE MY BRAS. Okay Shawna, don’t panic, they have to be here somewhere. I run out to the truck hoping that I left them in the backseat, no such luck. I run back into the house and look in the bags that I had taken to the gym, again no such luck. Okay, this is a big issue. You don’t go to a gym with a top like me without a sports bra. I’m frantic at this point, I’m so nervous I’m cramping and I’m not sure what the heck I am going to do. I think for a moment that I won’t go, but tonight is the first night of the new round of turbo and I am NOT going to miss it. So I do it, I make the decision that I am going to turbo in my work bra (don’t worry, if you’re a nervous wreck at this point, I understand…I am too).

So I pick up Wendy, drive to the gym the whole time cursing about my situation. She tries to be the dear friend that she is by telling me no one will notice. Thanks Wendy, but it’s not like you don’t notice when someone that should have a sports bra on doesn’t have a sports bra on. We walk in and I ask a few people that were there on Saturday “Hey did you see my bra”…who goes around asking that question? Shawna Chetwynd, that’s who. I don’t know if they thought I was joking but I knew in five minutes when the music started, they were going to know that this lady was NOT joking.

The new Turbo ROCKED! Normally people are expecting me to act the fool (and of course I step up to the plate every time) but last night we were all focused on learning the moves so there was no pressure. I had to go low impact and all in all, aside from my two black eyes, no one else was hurt.

So for all you readers who have ever wanted to be a crime scene investigator, here’s the case for you. I definitely need to find it by Friday because it’s my favorite workout bra and we start the last 10 boot camp so will definitely be wanting to go high impact to lose those extra lbs.

Yes folks it’s true, the season I love and love to hate is upon us…bathing suit season.

Today was the clothing sale and BBQ for the Canadian Cancer society. I did the first class at HEAT this morning and then my gym buddy Wendy and I went to buy the food for the BBQ and then with help from many, set up the tables, sold clothes and food, and cleaned up. Exhausting day but totally worth it, we fundraised a lot of money. Mary Ann invited us down for a swim afterwards and she no sooner had the words out of her mouth and I could feel my blood pressure going up. Don’t get me wrong, I love to swim but aside from my award winning personality, there is nothing about me that looks good in a bathing suit. I get a suit on and instantly transform into “The Three Roll Wonder”…oh wait, maybe that’s my dancing stage name J but it applies here as well. Normally I would just sit on the side with my feet in but my three year old daughter loves to go in the water but unfortunately can’t swim. She also takes after her father in the stubbornness category and won’t wear a life jacket so I have to go in the pool with her.

We stop at Zellers on the way down because I couldn’t find Sydney’s (my youngest daughter) bathing suit. They had a buy one, get one free sale so instead of just walking in and buying her the bathing suit and getting another one for her free, I of course had to go look at the plus size bathing suits. Do you know they actually make bikinis in plus sizes? God bless those that are confident enough to wear a bikini but I know this plus size babe does not look good in one. I’m a bit attracted to the two piece ones, mainly because you can mix and match. The issue with the two piece is that every single one of the tops are padded. Those who know me, know that these puppies need not to be padded! I couldn’t try them on because of course I had hubby and the kids in the car waiting to go down for a swim so I grab them and go.

Overall, the suits weren’t that bad. There was quite a bit of adjusting throughout the swim that I had to do but mainly because Sydney kept hauling on my straps as I swam her around the pool. I was comfortable because I was among friends….when we go camping this summer and are around people I don’t know, we’ll see how comfortable I am then.

So if you are looking for nice suits at great prices, I recommend going to Zellers. It’s a 3 day sale only. I got Syd a cute Dora bathing suit and a two piece Bratz bathing suit.

Okay, so I was quickly reminded why I like my big baggy clothes. Not because they hide my size, you can clearly see how big I am by looking at me. Nope, the reason I love my big clothes is because it hides my many small rolls that aren’t easily seen when the clothes aren’t hugging to your body.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very excited about the drop in size and will continue to wear my new clothing; however, I couldn’t help but notice that my back looked like the Michelin Tire man….how come I didn’t see that in the mirrors of Zellers?

It really didn’t matter. I still sweated like a bugger tonight at Turbo Kick and although there are lots of mirrors at the gym, I never worry about how I look or what I’m wearing. I just do the workout, have a great time, and look forward to going back.

I’m still iffy on whether I’ll get rid of all my baggy clothes. My gym buddy Wendy told me there were a few shirts I had to get rid of because they were too baggy so I’ll throw them in the bag just to make her happy but the others I’m not sure I can give up.

I’m giving my clothes away for a Used Clothing sale that we are having this Saturday at the gym from 12-2. All of the proceeds go to Relay for Life so come check it out at 215 Dominion Street (Sears and Rewards entrance) Items will be $2.00 each (first come first serve). There will be a variety of sizes (right up to 4x) and there will be SOME kids clothes. Hope to see you there!

I need to tell you about my shopping experience on Saturday.  I am in desperate need of shorts but hate to spend big money on them because I am hoping to continue to drop sizes.  I’ve been going into Walmart and Zellers for months now and can never find elasticized shorts (just button ones).  I went into Zellers Saturday to pick up a birthday gift and spotted some elasticized shorts.  I instantly went for the 3x. Why I do that, I have no clue because the shorts I currently work out in are 2x but I guess it has been a habit for so long that I just instantly go there.  I picked up a few pairs of 2x and then grabbed the 1x just to see how far away I was from fitting into them.   I then moved to the tank tops.  They had a great selection of nice springy colors but I was undecided on the size.  Waist wise I normally do not have issues with the tops, my issue becomes fitting them over my….well you know, rhymes with crests.  I grabbed the 3X for safety, the 2x in hopes that they would fit, and the 1x to see how far away I was.  So in the dressing room I go.  I put the shorts on first so that I could then try on the tank tops and do my million angle shots that I have to do to make sure that I look okay.  Much to my surprise, the 2Xs were a little loose so I grab the 1X and SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They fit!!!!!!!!!!!  I wanted to jump up and down and scream but since my bladder isn’t what it used to be since hitting 30, I decided I didn’t want to risk peeing on my new shorts.

So now, the final face off.  The tank tops.  Will my excitement be busted by the struggles of trying to squeeze the tops down over my…..rhymes with crests or will I score another victory and walk away in the 2x.  My heart is pounding in my chest, I’m sure if I were to have wiped my brow at that very moment there would have been beads of sweat.  So I reach for the 2x, my hands are trembling (well not really).  I put it over my head, my arms go in, and down it goes…doesn’t even get caught on anything.   Sweet!  And now the ultimate question.  Do I try my luck and go for the 1x?  Is it possible?  I have had a feeling for the last month or so that I had successfully gone into the 2x and then some 1x may fit depending on the make.  Okay Shawna just try it, just put the darn thing on and then you’ll know.  So I try it and guess what…..it fits!  A 1x top fits over this girl who 1 year ago was in a 4x top just longing to get back into 3x.  Definitely a successful shopping trip.

When I went to the cash register, I turned the tags up so that the cashier could see the size.  I’m sure she thought I was crazy because of course she wouldn’t know what size I used to be but at that moment I was very proud and if I wanted to turn the tags to show the world, I was going to turn those tags up.  I’ve lost 40 lbs before but have never dropped this many sizes.  All the workouts I do at HEAT have some sort of sculpting to it even when you are doing the cardio so that is the biggest reason.  I’m still pretty excited about it and have already been in my closet twice today just to look at the tag so I know I wasn’t dreaming.

Aw…the long weekend! No better way to start it than a 2 hour workout at HEAT. Although I do have to say that today’s workout was tougher…I don’t know if it was because my mind was still reeling over the Prison Break finale or because I was distracted by the cold beer that awaited me J The gym is closed on Monday so I knew I had to work extra hard today and I’m praying that my willpower will pay a visit this weekend.

I weighed in today with Mary Ann. I am up three lbs from what I was four weeks ago when the Greatest Loser competition ended. Not bad considering how misbehaved I have been but I know I have to be careful because those lbs can sneak up at ANY time. I envision lbs to be like tiny gremlins just creeping in the bushes and waiting for the right moment. Maybe it’s when I’m putting that slice of pizza to my mouth or drinking that glass of pop, those gremlins are lurking and ready to attach themselves to my body so that I’m heavier at the next weigh in. Little buggers, at least let me pick where I want you to go! Seems like every lb I gain likes to go right to my stomach!

I used to be a BIG pop drinker. The pop lover still lurks inside of me somewhere and every once in a while will show itself but for the most part I have it contained. I averaged 4 L of pop per day. I know you probably think that it is impossible but this would be what my typical day would be: pop at breakfast (no lie, I don’t drink coffee so would go through Tim Horton’s drive thru and order a onion bagel toasted with butter and a can of coke). May sound disgusting but trust me, delicious! I would have another can by 10 am, normally two cans for lunch (so that’s over 1 litre just by lunch time)..guaranteed one in the afternoon and one on the way home (sometimes the one on the way home was a bottle), and then could polish of a 2 litre when I was home. I remember my doctor asking me once if I knew how much sugar was in pop. He asked me if I would take a spoonful of sugar and eat it, I said no…he said you may as well do it and you would intake less sugar than you do drinking pop. I still enjoy a glass every now and then but I really seem to mind it now that I am losing weight, doesn’t sit well on my stomach and doesn’t taste as good as it once did.

I hope you all have a great weekend, regardless of the weather make sure you enjoy it!

“Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake.”
~Author Unknown

I relate to that quote on so many different levels it isn’t even funny! I had a good day today and as I type this, I am finishing my last glass of water to meet my quota so I am very pleased with myself. I’m not a water lover so have to make a conscious effort everyday to get my 8 glasses in. The nights that I’m at HEAT, I have no problem getting my water in. The workouts are phenomenal and you sweat a lot so drinking the water is not an issue. I didn’t get to make it to the gym tonight due to a meeting at the school but will be there tomorrow night with bells on.

So I stepped on the scale like I said I would….EEK! I was up almost 3 lbs. It doesn’t surprise me because I wasn’t drinking any water and making lazy decisions. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I am so worried about disappointing everyone who supports me. I have so many people who cheer me along and I want to make them proud. I’m the type of person who wants to be thin but really don’t want to have to change what I do in order to get there. Good try Chetwynd, good try! Don’t get me wrong, I have worked hard over the last year but of course there are always things I could have done better.

I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t struggling tonight. I want to eat everything insight just out of habit, not because I’m hungry. It keeps bringing me back to the fact that when I allow myself to eat what I want as a “break”, I always struggle with getting back on track. I’ve committed to myself that I want to lose 10 lbs before the boot camp starts the end of May so I just need to suck it up and do it. Easier said than done. I didn’t get the size I am because I didn’t eat.

I was going to blog last night but was watching the disappointing Biggest Loser finale. I connect to that show (as many others do) but this time was different. It was like most of them forgot where they came from which really bugged me. They are inspirations because of the amount of weight that they lose and how great they look but they are all inspirations because they were once severely obese and worked hard to look great. When they look at their size 20 jeans (which I still can’t fit into) and say how disgusting it is that they were that size, I wonder if they even think for a moment how someone who is that size or larger than that size feels. As a good friend of mine used to say, “But I digress”.

I did get good news this week that I am very excited about. I am going to be transferring to Bridgewater (I currently work in the city). I really think that this is going to help my weight loss because I will actually get 8 hours of sleep a night and I’ll be able to catch the lunch time classes at the gym throughout the week. I can’t wait!

I had an interesting conversation with my dad over the weekend. My dad is the kind of person who can lose 10 lbs by blinking his eye so does not understand why it is so difficult for others to do it. He feels like it is as easy as saying no and strong willpower. I love my dad and agree with him in theory; however, someone does not become 200 lbs overweight because they could say no or because they have willpower. Don’t get me wrong, the willpower is there…I’m just too lazy to use it or afraid to use it; haven’t decided which one applies to me yet.

I won’t lie to you and say I had a good weekend. Actually I had a great weekend; it was the eating part that wasn’t the greatest. I’m scared to step on the scales (I’m always scared to step on the scales) but will do so tomorrow night just to see the damage. If I don’t, I won’t be able to see the impact that my poor choices have. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not beating myself up about it, just being real on the type of weekend that I had.

We took my mom to a buffet yesterday. It was really nice with lots of choices. When I went up to the table, the whole time I thought “Ok Shawna, you’re eating the tossed salad, you like tossed salad and you are going to eat it”. Well as soon as my eyes spotted the potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, broccoli salad (don’t let the name fool you, it’s high in cals) it was like the inner food demon inside of me started taking over. I could literally feel it taking control and when I went to reach for the salad tongs for the tossed salad, I dropped them. I know it is pure coincidence but for the purpose of this story I’m using it as a sign. The whole time I’m battling myself and I think to myself, “Ok how bad can the coleslaw really be, I mean its cabbage?” Well that’s like saying that corn twists are good for you because they have the word corn in them. Well unfortunately the story ends with the demon winning; however, I only put one tablespoon of each kind on my plate and filled the rest with the roasted veggies, salad, and meat. We won’t talk about the dessert table, don’t want the blog to be too long!

So now that I got that off my chest, I sit here reflecting and planning the rest of my week. Mary Ann is running a four-week program on May 29th to her members. It’s a smaller version of the Greatest Loser but mainly to keep us on track during what can be the toughest season to maintain. Some people find summer easy because you can get out walking, etc. I just see it as more opportunity to eat ice cream, bbqs, roasted marshmallows, etc. so I struggle with this season more than any. That’s why this program couldn’t have come at a better time. I’d like to be under 300 by July 1st so I have 26 lbs I have to lose. I figure if I can drop 7 lbs between now and May 29th (which is doable), I may just hit my goal. It feels great to have such a strong support system at HEAT. You’ll hear me say probably on more than one occasion, that I feel I rip Mary Ann off every month because the money I pay each month for my membership does not even compare to the friendships I have made, the support I have received, and the confidence I have regained in myself.

All of my weeks will not be perfect; however, I will get to where I’m going, I’m doing it at my pace where I am comfortable that I can keep it off. It may not be as fast as others and it may not be as consistent but it’s my way and in my books, that’s a pretty cool way!

Wow, my first blog!  I have to say I’m pretty excited to do this although it took me a while to get here.  I had two purposes in mind when I decided I wanted to start blogging.  Number one was to keep me accountable.  One thing I am not is a liar and you will learn pretty quickly that I say what I think (in a nice way of course) so if I am blogging for all of the internet world to read, I will be honest in how my day/week went so my hope is that when I want to go through drive thru or eat something that isn’t the greatest, I will think about how I will have to admit to all of you that I did that, we’ll see how it works.  Number two reason, is to help inspire those of all shapes and sizes through my journey.  Whether you have 10 lbs to lose or 200 lbs to lose, losing weight is a mental game and we all can relate to the different emotions and feelings we go through when trying to achieve our goals.  So here’s my story:

One of the many memories that stick to me is when I was 17 years old and I stepped on the scale and it said I was 200 lbs.  I should mention that I’m 5’11 so even though the scale said I was over 200, I hid it well because of my height.  My husband-to-be and I moved to Bridgewater when we were 19 and coming from the small fishing community of Lockeport who has ZERO fast food joints to Bridgewater, we thought we had died and gone to take out heaven!  Of course, I would smell the food and gain weight and my husband didn’t gain a thing!  Before I got pregnant with our first child at 21, I was 275 lbs and by the time I was ready to go back to work after 6 months off, I was over 320 lbs.  In between then and now, I had my second child and after I had her, I went to Weight Watchers where I weighed in at 350 lbs.  I did well for four months, lost 40 lbs and then started working in the city and gained it all back plus some. A little over a year ago, my friend and I started working out together for about an hour, three times a week.  We would do time on the treadmill and then some weights, the whole time watching Take Home Chef and drooling over the food   About three weeks in, my friend pitched the idea of going to HEAT Studio in Bridgewater.  They were running a Greatest Loser contest and she wanted to join.  I wasn’t keen on joining a gym where there were a lot of people because I didn’t like being stared at or being embarassed.  She did eventually convince me to go but I told my husband I was only going for the week until my friend was comfortable and then I was done.  I LOVED IT!  I decided to join the Greatest Loser contest.  I went in for my intial weigh in and in my head I thought I would be 340-350 lbs, I walked in and told Mary Ann (the owner of Heat Studios, you’ll hear me talk about her and HEAT a lot!) that I would probably not register on the scales.  I jumped on the scales and I  registered…..weighing in at 371.3 lbs….I was 29 years old and 29 lbs away from 400 lbs, how the freaking hell did that happen?  I’m not sure if I was more focused on the number on the scale or the fact that it was going to be published in the Bulletin once the competition was over.  So that takes you to my starting weight….

Today, I weigh 325 lbs.  At the end of this month, I will have been going to HEAT for one year and I love it.  I have never once felt judged and have developed the most amazing friendships.  I laugh a lot and never walk away thinking it was just exercise, I think of it as my time to myself…who would ever have thought that I would think of one hour of exercise that leaves me soaked, as fun…it still amazes me!  Yes I’m still 150 lbs overweight but hey I’m going down and having a blast doing it.  I’m following the nutrition program offered at the gym and go to 5-6 classes a week.  Some may think that 47 lbs in one year isn’t a whole lot when I have 200 to lose but I’m happy with my results.  I’ve stuck to something for a year (which I never do) and the scales go down instead of go up so how can I not be happy with that.

So I welcome you to join me as I blog about my journey.  I don’t have a goal weight in mind at this point.  It would be too overwhelming for me to say I want to weigh 175 lbs when I’m still over 300.  My first goal is to hit under 300 lbs and then I’ll take each new goal from there.  Sorry for the length but I thought it was only fair to give you my background.  I can’t promise there won’t be other entries from me that are long but I can promise that they will be real and if I can inspire one person to become physically active, I’ve achieved what I set out to do.  Til the next time…