The big winner

I found out yesterday that I won the Low Car Diet challenge. I am so excited and can't believe that I won :) It just shows that hard work and dedication sure do pay off. The big prize I won is a folding bicycle that unfortunately I am too short to ride. I tried twice! I think that I am going to sell the bike on Craigs List and use the money to buy a bike that I can actually ride. I also won $100 to Berry Chill, $100 to zip car, a free yoga outfit and mat from Lululemon, $50 to lettuce entertain you, another free month at Equinox and a free spa treatment at J. Gordon Salon. It amazes me how this experience that has changed my life has also given me so many fantastic prizes! They told me yesterday that my blogs actually broke the website one day because I wrote so much. That isn't quite surprising seeing as I always have a lot to say. I think that blogging is one of the things that helped me win and I plan on keeping it up.

I am excited to continue at Equinox for another month and hopefully I am able to continue with my current level of dedication to the gym. I think one of the things that will keep me motivated is the Bucktown 5k in 7 weeks. I signed up for it and hope to achieve my goal of completing it in under 45 minutes.

Speaking of running, it is time for me to go to the gym.

The end, but really just the beginning

Today is the final party. My 30 days are up and the challenge is over. I can't imagine how quickly the month passed. A lot has changed these past 30 days. I now spend at least 3 but usually 5 days in the gym and am starting to enjoy it a little more. I also truly think about what I am eating before I put it in my mouth and most of the time have been making smarter choices. I feel like a different person! I am so proud of myself for actually completing everything I said I was going to. Initially I wanted to lost 14 pounds which did not happen. Though the scale did go down, which is all that really matters. I have noticed that I am sleeping much better and have more energy during the day. I feel great!

I took today off of work because there is a party for us starting at 2pm at a bar in the West Loop. I am curious what is going to happen and if they are going to announce a winner of the contest. My plan is to do some laundry, clean my place and run before the party. It seems like a lot, but I think I can get it all done.

I haven't decided what I am going to do now that all my free memberships are up. I plan on joining a gym and would love for it to be Equinox, but I don't know if that is going to be possible. No matter what I am going to continue with the life changes and keep up the blog. I found that writing about what I am doing makes doing everything easier :)

xoxo

I HATE RUNNING

I feel the need to make it clear. I HATE RUNNING! I don't understand those people who love running, its like people who love brussel sprouts. It just doesn't make sense! I don't love vegetables, but I sure do love Pepperoni Pizza or French Fries, you get the point. I would much rather be sitting on the couch, eating the aforementioned pizza while watching crappy reality TV. With that being said, I LOVE the feeling I get after running. I feel great and re-energized. I also love that I know I don't have to do it again for at least 24 hours. What started me running is that I decided to try and run a 5k. I downloaded some podcasts called couch to 5k and I listen to then while running. So far I am on week 2 of 9 and can't imagine running a 5k in 8 weeks, but I guess I will have to wait and see.

The spray tan I got is fading nicely. I was worried that I would look strange as it fades. The only problem areas I have are behind my knees and under my arms because I am not as good about exfoliating those areas. I was them but I must not scrub hard enough. I learned from this tan and will do better the next time. I think that I am going to schedule my second tan for this week Wednesday so I am tan for the final Low Car Diet Friday.

I can't believe that my 4 weeks is up on Friday. The time has sure flow by quickly. I am proud of myself for sticking with the workout for 4 weeks. I have not been as vigilant with the diet, but that is something I am going to be working on the coming weeks. I hope to sign up for a membership at Equinox but I will see after the LCD ends Friday.

I will keep you all posted as I plow through this last week. I hope to make this week my best one yet!

me....tan....no way!

So it has been quite a while since I last posted. This week has proven to be busy for me which means that I haven't been hitting the gym as much as I should be. For the first two weeks of this adventure I was lucky because I didn't have any commitments after work and was able to go straight to the gym. This week I have had something every single night, except yesterday.

Yesterday after work I got my Berry Chill and grabbed the 36 Broadway bus up to the Equinox in Lincoln Park. The plan was to work out and then get my 1st of 2 Ortanic spray tans. I left myself plenty of time to exercise and shower off my stench before the tan. I hit the treadmill and did some interval training. My goal is to be able to run the Bucktown 5K in October so I have been trying to increase the amount of running I am able to do at one time. Yesterday I did my best yet! Hopefully I will be able to run a solid mile straight before the end of August. I am almost there :)

The spray tan was a new experience for me, but one I can't wait to do again. The spa at Equinox is beautiful and is where they do the tanning. The tan is actually airbrushed on by a person. I was worried that I would feel uncomfortable about someone seeing so much of my body (I had a tankini on, but pulled up the top so my stomach could get tanned) and being so up close and personal with me. The girl who did the tan made me feel extremely comfortable and it also helped that the two ladies before me were bigger than me :) The girl who tanned me warned me that I was going to turn quite dark over night but that most of the color would wash off in the shower and leave me with a healthy glow. When I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror I was extremely shocked. I looked like I had become another race over night! She was right that it washed off in the shower because the water coming off me this morning was brown. I now look like I went away and came home with healthy color. Everyone at work today could not believe how natural it looked. People who I haven't seen in a while came up to me and asked if I had been on vacation. I have one more tan to use and can't wait to use it!

Today I had a meeting after work and was not able to go to the gym, but I will be back in full force tomorrow. Hopefully I can run even further!

XOXO

The Weekend

I finally got to speak with the Registered Dietitian who came up with our diet plans. Part of our responsibility to him is to keep an electronic record of our food intake. Having to write everything down really makes me thing about what I am eating. The goal is for me to eat about 1500 calories a day and work out at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. I was pretty good with my eating during the day today because I brought both breakfast and lunch to work. Dinner was not so easy. I went to a friends house who was having a BBQ and there was so much wonderful food. I tasted everything :) I will have to be extra vigilant the rest of the weekend and make sure to exercise a lot.

Work today was pretty stressful and normally I would turn to food for some emotional eating. I was so proud of myself today because I stuck to only eating what I brought to work. One of my coworkers brought a huge tub of vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce to work today but I resisted. I knew that after work I would be able to indulge in some delish Berry Chill. I was able to get about 40 minutes of cardio in before the on-call pager for work went off and interrupted my workout. I don't get cell phone service in the gym so at that point I stopped so I could deal with work stuff.

The weather was perfect tonight. I had such a great time sitting outside and hope that it is nice again tomorrow. The plan is to wake up and hit the gym in my building before heading up to the roof and catching some rays. I will be wearing sunscreen, of course, because the sun is unhealthy and not part of the low car diet :)

Wish me luck!

Week Three

Today officially started week three. I have to say that I am so proud of myself for sticking with this as long as I have. I hope that working out and eating smart both become part of my daily life. I didn't work out the past two days, which made going to the gym today that much harder. Also, I had a raging headache that just wouldn't go away. I tried to make it through the gym today but was only really able to do weights and not much cardio. Hopefully tomorrow will be better :)

The teacher that subbed for the class I took Sunday came up to me in the gym today to see how I was doing. I was impressed that she remembered me and even more impressed that she mentioned seeing me before I even took the class. She teaches a class similar to the one that I take on Sundays called Evolution. I plan on taking her class and hopefully I will like it as much as the ones I take on Sunday.

Tonight I went to $1 burgers at Duffys again. After tonight I vow to NEVER GO BACK on nights it is raining. Apparently Duffys hosts a dodgeball league on Thursday night that plays outdoor. They were rained out tonight and overtook the bar. It took almost an hour to get my burger. I ordered my burger plain without a bun, seriously that is just a patty! I can't believe how long it took. I realize that it was a dollar but so not worth it.

I am bummed that I can't take my class on Sunday. I have a YLD board training that starts at the same time as my class. I hope to be able to motivate myself to at least run on the treadmill in my gym downstairs. Also Monday night I have something after work that is preventing me from getting to the gym. Next week is going to be quite challenging! Tomorrow is also going to be challenging. I am going to a friends house for a BBQ. I tend to eat everything in sight when presented with delish BBQ food. Hopefully I can control myself and still enjoy what I am eating.

We will see how I do. Wish me luck :)

Peapod

Today was a pretty great day. Work was crazy busy and stressful but that is how it always is when someone is off and we have to cover for them. After work I picked up a quick Berry Chill (small original plain) before heading to the gym. Tonight I had a session with my trainer Jenny. I got to the gym early and figured that I would start working out before my session with her. I am sure tomorrow I will regret that decision. I did some abs and about 20 minutes on the treadmill before getting my butt kicked by Jenny. Tomorrow I am going to be sore and unable to walk! I think that I am going to take tomorrow off from working out, but no worries because I will be back in the gym on Wednesday! I headed home after the workout to relax and watch the Bachelorette.

Since I am not able to drive my car I decided to try something new tonight, I ordered from Peapod. Well actually I ordered yesterday, it was delivered today. I am so pleased with Peapod and plan on ordering from them again. I noticed that my grocery bill was less expensive because I didn't have any of the impulse buys that I normally throw into my cart. The best part about it was that they were delivered right into my kitchen. I didn't need to worry about anything! The shipping was free because it was my first time ordering from them and for the next 60 days I continue to get free shipping. I am for sure going to order from them again! I can't wait to pack a healthy lunch with all the yummy food I now have!

I don't know if I will have anything to update on tomorrow, but if I do I will be sure to post!

Exhausted

While I am writing this I am struggling to keep my eyes open and it is only 7:15pm. Today I woke up around 9am so that I could make it to the gym by 10am. I did the same two classes that I did last Sunday, Skinny Jeans and Above the Belt. I was nervous because a different teacher was standing in for the teacher that normally teaches the class. Andrea is the normal teacher and she is my favorite! I did like the teacher that taught the class today, but not as much as Andrea. I walked the mile both to and from the gym and then did an hour at the gym. That alone was enough to make me tired!

After class I picked up a turkey sandwich for lunch and ran home to eat it before softball. I had a softball game from 1-2pm. It is about a mile walk each way to the softball field and the game was about an hour long. On top of the gym I could barely walk home!

After the softball game I had reserved a zip car so that I could drive to Berry Chill. The zip car was about a half mile from my house. In total I walked about 5 miles, spent an hour at the gym and another hour playing softball. This is the most exercise I think I have ever done in my life! I have to say that while I dragged myself everywhere today I am glad that I did it and know that I will sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow I have another session with Jenny. I am sure that she will kick my butt in the gym but I am looking forward to it because I have fun working out with her. I will try and update tomorrow after the gym, if I am still standing!

Week 2

Today was the first day of week two. I am surprised that I am still as pumped as I am because I haven't ever stuck with working out past the first week. Today I went to the gym right after work. It was raining, I was tired, and I was still sore from Tuesday with Jenny, but I went anyway. I am discovering that no matter what the excuse I still need to push myself to go to the gym. I learned tonight that I can work out, get home to shower and still meet my friends out with plenty of time. No more excuses for me!

Tonight I went to $1 burgers at Duffys. Normally I would order a burger with cheese and a side of fries or tater tots. Tonight I ordered a plain burger without the bun, such a change! I knew that I would have a difficult time eating veggies with everyone around me eating some form of fried potatoes. To solve my problem, I brought a baggie of baked lays with me. It satisfied me enough so that I didn't crave the fried version and was still healthy-ish. I was so proud of myself :) I am learning that I don't have to give up the foods I love. All I need to do is make some changes and the rest will fall into place.

I hope that this becomes a new way of life for me and that this time it sticks. I know there will be times that I cheat or eat something unhealthy because that is life. The goal I have is not to let one bad meal or one bad day ruin the whole week.

Jenny

Tonight was my first training session with Jenny. I am bummed that I only have two more sessions left because I know that I am not able to afford to keep up with the weekly sessions :( I can't pay the $80 a session it costs for Jenny, though I know she is totally worth it! I am so thankful to Equinox that they gave us the opportunity to have a trainer for this challenge!

My session tonight was so wonderful but extremely difficult. I was worried that I would hate it, but I loved every minute of it and the hour just flew by! Hopefully I will remember what I did tonight so that I can do it myself when I go to the gym. We spent lots of time doing different exercises for lower body, upper body and abs. For me the hardest part was the step ups she had me doing on the weight bench. Being so short seemed to make it even more difficult!

I am sure I will be super sore tomorrow which is alright because I have a Jewish Federation meeting after work. Hopefully I will be alright Thursday so I can get back into the gym. Even though I haven't been going to the gym for very long, I kind of miss it when I don't go. I never thought I would say those words!

After the gym I stopped at Berry Chill. I look forward to my Berry Chill everyday. Once this challenge is over I may have to continue to go daily anyway :) I discovered that I really like the original with watermelon.

Tomorrow there may not be an update, but I will post again on Thursday.

1st Zip Car experience

So today was my first experience using a zip car. I signed up for a Scion at the Lincoln Park Market. The only hard part about using a zip car is all the planning it takes. I need to plan ahead of time and sign up for when I need the zip car to start and when I need it to end. If someone else signs up after me, I can't extend the time if I am running late. If I bring the car back late then I am fined $50. Today I was good on time and even brought the car back about 20 minutes early! Though, I forgot that I was supposed to pick something up from a co-workers house. It was hard not being able to drive my car in that situation because it is so much easier to just run down to the garage and grab my car instead of having to sign up for a zip car. Fate intervened and my friend Gayle called just as I signed up for the zip car. She was in my neighborhood and drove me to my co-workers house. I was so thankful for her! We stopped at Berry Chill while we were out, but the line was out the door and down the block. We decided to pass tonight and it broke my streak of eating it 4 days in a row. I will have to make up for it tomorrow!

I took the zip car to the suburbs today. The plan was for me to go to the DMV in Deerfield to get my license and then meet my dad, Phyllis and Kailyn at Max and Bennys. Fortunately the traffic was minimal both ways and the zip car worked out perfectly!


Today was the first day since Thursday that I did not go to the gym. It felt kind of strange because I have gotten into the habit of going to the gym everyday. Tomorrow is my first workout with my trainer Jenny and I am sure she will more than make up for me missing a day. I am looking forward to working out with her because I have never worked out with a trainer before. Tomorrow I will post all about the workout.

I am going to get back to enjoying the bachelor men tell all!

Exhausted

Today I took the most amazing class ever at Equinox in Lincoln Park. The first 30 minutes was a class called The Skinny Jeans workout, it is only lower body. Then it was 30 minutes of upper body called Above the Belt. Both classes are taught by the same teacher, Andrea Rubenstein, and she is an incredible teacher. I worked muscles I didn't even know I had! I also decided to walk both too and from class which added about 9 blocks each way. Tomorrow I am going to be sore! After class I was starving and stopped at Panera. Normally I would order the creamy soup and the fattening sandwich. Today I had black bean soup and a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with veggies and NO mayo. I was so proud of myself and it was all delish!

Tonight I have Ilana and Austin's wedding in Oakbrook. Normally I would drive to the wedding, but I can't since I am not allowed to drive my car. Jen is going to drive us there and I am hoping to hitch a ride home with someone tomorrow because Jen is going to the burbs for work. I am sure I will figure something out. I am making Jen stop at Berry Chill on my way to the wedding so that I can get my daily fix :)

Tomorrow I have reserved a zip car to drive to the suburbs. The first stop will be the DMV to replace my drivers license and then I am meeting my dad for dinner. I have reserved a Scion and am excited because I have never driven one of those before. I am thinking of taking the day off from the gym tomorrow, but I will see how sore I am in the morning.

I will update more tomorrow.

Meeting Jenny

Today I got to meet my trainer for the first time. Her name is Jenny and she seems great! I am excited because her energy level is as high as mine is and she seems as motivated to help me as I am to help myself. Today we did my "Equifit" which basically told me what I already knew about myself. I am overweight, have no stamina or flexibility but have great blood pressure. I am glad to hear that my blood pressure is good because I am going to the gym to work on the other things. We did this test on the treadmill where she had me running fast at a high incline to get my heart rate up to my target level. IT WAS HORRIBLE! I am so glad that is done and over with. At the end of my four weeks I am going to schedule another session to figure out how far I made it. I can't wait to actually start training!

To backtrack a bit. I took the bus to the gym today. There were two older ladies that were also waiting to get on the bus and I asked them to take my picture at the bus stop. I have been asking people to take my picture all week so that I can document my progress and trust me when I say that people have been giving me some strange looks! Once I explained what I was doing to the ladies, they couldn't stop asking me questions. One of them told me that she had given up her car a while ago and uses zip cars herself. I took my picture with her and will post it below.

After the gym I went to Berry Chill for my daily fix. I was glad to know that it was open in the morning because it was about 10:30 when I got there. Surprisingly, I was not the only one there! Once I had finished my treat I hopped on the bus and headed to the green city market. My refrigerator is bare and I needed to stock it with healthy foods. The green city market is so amazing and always has such great produce and cheese. I always leave the market with so many wonderful purchases. Today I bought some cheese curds, blueberries, green beans, horseradish cheddar, apples and a loaf of whole wheat bread. Yummy!

Tonight I am going to the Chicago Fire game, thanks Jessica for the tickets :) Some of the people from my softball team and Jen will be going to the game as well. This is my first professional soccer game and I hope they win! I plan on eating something before I leave the house so that I am not hungry at the game and make poor eating choices. I will not be driving to the game which is a great feeling. One of the perks of not being able to drive my car is not having to drive :) I am not one of those people who enjoy driving so its nice not being able to.

Tomorrow I am going to the gym again. That will be 4 days in a row! I have to say that this is more exercise than I have gotten in the past few years and it feels great. I look forward to the classes I am taking and spending time at the gym. Those are words I never thought I would say!



At the bus stop with my new friend who also uses zip car




On the treadmill during my test. This is before I thought I was going to die.

My new trainer Jenny. This was after our session was over.

Enjoying my Berry Chill. It was a medium original with watermelon, pineapple and strawberry.

Buying green beans at the green city market.

Two days in a row

So I took my first class at Equinox today. It was called Dance Fusion and was so much fun! We moved the entire class and by the time I was done I was exhausted. The class started at 8am and was full of very diverse people. I would say that 90% of the class was over 60 with the oldest person being close to 80. I was surprised at how well the 80 year olds did and how they kept up even better than I did! There was one woman there who was somewhere between 60 and 70 who had a ton of plastic surgery. She was showing off her six-pack abs and had quite the awesome bod. I wanted to laugh out loud at all the work she had done though I was jealous of how good of shape she was in. When I am that age I hope to have a body half as good as this woman did! The teacher was amazing. I asked him what other classes he taught but unfortunately he only teaches this one at 8am on Friday mornings. I guess I won't be taking any more of his classes since I will be working the next 3 Fridays.

I also got my Berry Chill fix this afternoon. I am branching out and trying new flavors. Normally I just get the original but today I tried chocolate covered strawberry. It was so good! I am totally enjoying being forced to eat Berry Chill. There are so many options that I don't think I will ever get bored.

Tonight I am going out for sushi with some friends. Eating sushi is going to be difficult for me because I usually like the rolls that have mayo, fried and other delish things inside. Tonight I am going to try and eat lots of fresh fish without all the extra fattening additives. I also think that if I fill up on edamame then I won't eat as much of the sushi.

Tomorrow morning at 9am is my first meeting with my new trainer Jenny. I hope that she is nice but able to push me because I need the push. We are going to do what Equinox calls "Equifit". I don't really know what to expect except that it is going to be an analysis of my body or as I call it, tell me how fat I am. I don't know if I need someone else to tell me that, but we will see.

I will update you tomorrow and let you all know how it goes!

Update after the gym

I made it to thethe perks we get at the gym. It was nice finding out that I was the first person to get my membership and start working out. Saturday at 9am I am registered for a full body analysis. I am kind of scared gym today! I was bummed that I missed the dance class but spent some time on the elliptical instead. It took a while for me to get registered for my membership, but I am so excited for all of to actually see the results. Today I weighed myself in and wasn't really surprised what I saw. I knew I would be at my heaviest but hopefully after this month that will change. I won't share with you the number because a woman never tells her age or weight!

After the gym I met my mom for lunch and Berry Chill. We split a salad at Chili's. It was quite hard for me to see all of the other tables eating chips and salsa or other fattening foods, but I made it through lunch without a problem. After lunch we went right next door to Berry Chill and enjoyed a wonderful dessert. I am looking forward to being forced to eat Berry Chill 5 days a week!

Tomorrow morning I am going to hit the gym again. I need to keep up the momentum. Pictures from today will be posted tomorrow as well.

Things never seem to go how I want them to

It always seems that no matter how well I plan, something goes wrong. I set my alarm for 7am this morning, but was up at 6am before it even went off. Good, right?! So I decide to check my email to see if the zip car people wrote back about when I was going to have access to start everything. Apparently I can't go to the gym until noon today. I was really looking forward to taking the dance class! I went back to sleep and am up again getting ready for the gym. There really aren't any good classes this afternoon, but I am going to go and hit the machines anyway.

This has put a whole wrench in my plan and moves the DMV till Monday. Thank goodness I am also off of work then. After going to the gym today at noon I am going to hit up Berry Chill with my friend Deadra and then meet my mom on Michigan Ave.

Tonight my mom and I are going to see Elton John and Billy Joel and Wrigley Field. I am so excited! It is going to be very tough for me to limit my beer and fried food intake because to me fun = fattening. I know that my mom will be there to regulate, especially the beer drinking.

Wish me luck on the first day of the rest of my life! I will try and update again later today.

Why I chose the name of my blog and exciting opportunities

Those of you who are Jewish or have been around Jewish people probably know what a Shayna Punim is. For those of you who don't, it means pretty face in Yiddish. I am sure that it is no surprise to anyone who knows me that I could stand to lose a few pounds. Call it chubby, zaftig, cuddly, or any other synonym for fat but any way you slice it, it is still me! In general, people always tend to tell those of us who are overweight that we have a "pretty face". Apparently it is the only compliment that people feel is appropriate. I have heard this compliment on many occasions, but I feel that it is a backhanded compliment. On one hand it is nice to hear that you have a pretty face, but on the other hand I feel that it is a way to say that I am fat. This is why I have chosen to call my blog such a Shayna Punim. One of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster, has written a book about her struggles with weight loss. The book is called Such a Pretty Fat and it is AMAZING! Now I do not claim to be a writer by any means, but I hope to channel some of her humor into my writing.




For those of you who aren't aware, I am starting a new challenge in my life. I am participating in something called the "Low-car challenge". This is something that is being presented by Berry Chill and Zip Car. The main idea is that I am giving up the use of my car for a month and also incorporating other changes into my lifestyle. You can find out more information and follow my blog at www.zipcar.com/lowcardiet I will be updating this blog with similar or even the same posts for the next month or so. After a month this is the only blog that I will be using. Below you will find the post that I have sent in to zip car before it is posted on the website! I need all the support that I can get so please encourage me along the way, if you are able :)




Low-Car Diet Entry #1


So tonight was the kickoff event. I got to meet the other contestants and find out more about what I got myself into. I was quite nervous because I had no idea what to expect. When I got there I started talking to some of the other participants and everyone seemed so nice. Some of us even We were all in the same boat of not knowing what to expect. I left the event so excited for the road ahead of me. I can’t wait to start going to the gym and eating healthier. A new me starts tomorrow!

Zip Car is something that I have always been interested in, but I have never gone the step of actually looking into using the service. I guess I never needed to because I have a car already. My mother has been bugging me to sell my car for quite some time. Part of me treats my car as a safety blanket and worries what I would do without it. The other part of me realizes what an expense it really is and how infrequently I actually use it. This month will be a huge test and at the end maybe I will feel more comfortable being car free.

This diet is going to be a huge lifestyle change for me. I will admit that prior to all of this I have been pretty lazy. I don’t work out and don’t really watch what I eat. This is the kick in the rear that I really need to jump start my new lifestyle. Currently my mood is optimistic and I hope that lasts the whole month. I am off of work for the next few days which will make going to the gym easier. I already plan on taking a dance class from 8-9am tomorrow. Equinox here I come! I also plan on getting a zip car and going to the DMV to replace the drivers license I can’t seem to find and then stopping by Berry Chill for a snack. I don’t know about all of you in cyber world, but it sounds like the perfect day to me! I plan on keeping the blog updated with all of my stories both good and bad. Also, since I think that writing is therapeutic, I will be starting a separate blog that I plan on continuing once this challenge is over. You can read it at http://www.suchashaynapunim.blogspot.com/ Wish me luck!








Here are some pictures that I took:

This is me next to the new bike I am going to get when I win the competition. I need to go into this with a winning attitude!






Here are Jen and I sitting at the Sheffield Skybox rooftop. It was such a perfect night!

This is Dave Grotto. He wrote a book called "101 Foods That Could Save Your Life". He will be giving each of us our own diet plans and checking in with us to see how we are doing.