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Snack Girl Disappears

September 24, 2010   24 Comments

Snack Girl has been on a mission to lose the chub (AKA muffin top). The Snack Girl Challenge began with the simple goal of losing 10 pounds.

Snack Girl Disappears

I promised to keep people up to date on my progress so I am posting once a month. In August, I remained stagnant because of grief.

September, I am pleased to say, has been different. Maybe it is the SNAP in the air that comes with Fall - or maybe it is the MASSIVE pile of wood in my yard.

The Cain family has become New Englanders. And New England is really cold in the winter. My husband purchased a wood stove (with a great EPA rating) so we could use less oil in our house. And, he bought 3 cords of wood (I am taking away his credit card).

After the dump trucks unload the pile of wood in your yard, you must go out and stack it. Can't just leave it in a big pile!

So, I stacked wood all month and I went down one pants size (from 14 to 12) and shirt size (from large to medium). I also purchased every exercise video Jillian Michaels has made and did some of that.

The result has been NO CHANGE on the scale. It is as if those little numbers have gotten stuck. How could I have dropped a clothing size with no reduction in actually pounds?

My husband (who calls me the "amazing disappearing Lisa") thinks that I am gaining muscle.

But, who cares about the scale? I am feeling good and this feeling translates into other parts of my life. I have been trying to do a better job of putting myself first some of the time.

It isn't easy with 2 small children to find the time to exercise. What works for me is the minute I get them out the door for school, I turn on my exercise DVD. When I get up, I get dressed in my work out clothes.

All day long, I am much more relaxed and I think I am more efficient. Life has gotten easier since I added what seemed like an impossible task.

How is everybody else doing? Please share

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First 20 Comments: ( See all 24 )

I can totally relate. I usually live and die by the scale, but this time I've decided that the number isn't as important as to how I feel and whether my clothes are starting to become loose.

Thanks for your blog!

I still have to get my wood cut for the winter. Your post reminds me of how behind I am this year!

But I'm doing great on the weightloss side of the equation. But I had (and still have) a lot more than a 10 pound muffin top to deal with. As of this morning I've lost 49 pounds since you first issued your challenge. I'd like to lose about another 50 or so to get down to a healthy BMI. I expect the next 50 to be much harder than the first 80 have been. But I will keep on it!

Way to go, Vladdie! You are killing it. Go get that wood and you will keep melting away.

I weigh-in daily...however, I know how things fluctuate so I don't put all my faith in those numbers.

3 cords of wood??? Wow! That's a lot of stacking.

Lisa, that's great! Good job. Who cares about the numbers on the scale? If you have dropped a size by doing what your body naturally wants to do - build lean muscle - then that's awesome. It's the best kind of "weight loss". You'll burn more calories relaxing after a hard day of wood stacking with all that lean muscle, which is a wonderful bonus. Keep it up!

I've shifted my habits to be more primal (think marksdailyapple.com). I already eat clean, but now I'm piling on the veggies, meat, and I'm not worried about fats, because the fats I'm eating are from nuts, avocados, and some animal fat (but a reasonable amount). I feel great. Like you, the scale hasn't budged, but between this eating style and my continued Jillian workouts and other strength-building exercises, I see definition in places I've never seen it, and I'm fitting into pants that I haven't worn since I was nearly 10 lbs lighter. So I'm saying I'm building muscle - woohoo!

I can totally relate. My scale is up but my clothes fit fine. Still want the scale to say 20 pounds less.

Way to go Lisa! That's awesome....gotta get me a woodburning stove I guess. Yes, you are correct, you are gaining lean muscle....and muscle weighs more than fat. You've proved that with your reduction in clothes size!! BE PROUD!! You even sound spunkier in today's post! Best to you and get your shovel ready for those winters!! No plows....LOL

Ah Lisa, but you of all people should know that muscle weighs more than fat! You've built more muscle (which burns more fat the more it's used). A couple more cords of wood and I wouldn't want to run into you in a dark alley! (but it'd be great to run into you, Matt and the kids again in our old shared dimly lighted alley in SF).

I totally know what you mean - when I start training for a race I typically put on five pounds the first few weeks. I get frustrated but try to think positive that it's most likely muscle. Then all of the sudden I start dropping some weight once I'm into my routine - don't be surprised if you see the scale fall a bit! Not that it matters - you're living the healthy lifestyle and that's what's important!

Congrats! When the scale does not budge, but the inches decrease, it means you are actually losing FAT! More muscle means higher metabolism, too. Success of a weight loss plan should be determined by inches or how the clothes fit, not by the scale.

That's awesome Lisa! Stacking/cutting wood is a better workout than anything they've come up with in a gym. What are you going to do when it's all stacked? Unstack it and do it again?!? :-)

Congratulations on dropping the shirt and pant size! The same thing sort of happened to me, although dropping from size 12 to 10-ish and going from L to M shirt size (for some brands) was mainly changing my eating habits. I used to eat a ton, and eat only like two meals a day (especially huge meal at night). Once i stopped doing that and got on a more reasonable eating habit, I was able to drop 15 pounds without realizing. That Freshman 15 we gain back in college that stays for all 4 years, so much easier to loose once you're OUT of college!

I've been on a plateau since then, however, so I think next thing for me is to exercise more. 30 min a day at the gym on the easy exercise bike (with my trusty Nintendo DS games!) helped immensely with making myself feel like bloated and round. I haven't weighed myself though so I don't know if I'm loosing again, or if it's all just psychological. But whatever! as long as I feel damned good, yeah? :D

also if you've been stacking wood and gaining muscles, muscles burns calories even at resting state! So more than just burning off the calories while you're doing your Jillian workout, or when you're stacking wood. Even when you're just sitting around or doing other stuff, your brand spankin new muscles are chewing off the fat. I'll bet that's why you've lost those clothing sizes without realizing. :D

CONGRATS!

I love reading everyones comments! Inspiring to me! I've been putting on weight like crazy, but all of a sudden it's starting to come off. I'm going through menopause and I have a thyroid problem, which I guess just makes menopause harder, dang! But anyway all of a sudden I'm not so starving all the time and by watching what I eat more closely I've lost about 20 pounds. I've still been working out like crazy and running so I'm hoping when a little more weight comes off I'll be able to pick up my running speed. I've been so slow it's practically a fast walk sometimes!

It's all good and as long as this hunger thing stays under control, I can get back to where I want to be weight wise!

Congrats Lisa! Wow, that is a lot of wood! I'm from California, I'm not familiar with "cords of wood" but from that picture... Holy cow!!! Sounds like your husband is really supportive too, that's great. I was going through pictures the other night and I saw some of myself last year at the pumpkin patch... Oh man! I really did look preggo:-( No wonder I kept getting asked. Thanks for being so inspirational.

I lost 30 pounds and plateaued (and yes I have a muffin top...) but I'm realizing that part of the plateau is probably muscle as I upped my exercise. I'm still working on that last 7 pounds or so and find you inspiring.

I am doing great... Started January 11th, 2010, at 245 lbs (lifetime max of 265 last year), and down to 154 pounds as on Monday Morning. Happy to say I have 256 days of abstinence from compulsive overeating. OvereatersAnonymous is a free international 12-step group... Http://www.OA.org

"I am feeling good and this feeling translates into other parts of my life." THAT is what really counts. Keep at it!

Congrats!!! I too have loss inches and feel great. I recently changed to a Plant Based meat-free, dairy-free lifestyle because I became allergic to chicken (which was the only meat I've eaten in over 20 years)! I had hit a wall and couldn't lose anything for months...now it's falling off and I feel great. I switch between Jillian's Shred and Billy Blanks Jr's Cardioke!! Fun, fun, fun!!!

I'm sure you did go down a size by cutting wood. You're using your core muscles. If you seek a quicker turn around for weight loss or not even weight loss as much as fitting into those jeans, that's you've been wanting to wear for years, you must do at least 5 days of cardio for 1 hour incorporated with 3/30min muscle sessions per week. Also, you must mix up your cardio. Do your video two days, run/one day and bike 2 days. It's important to incorporate muscle confusion. Good luck!!

Awesome Lisa

You are so right when you say forget the scale. It is all about how YOU FEEL. I have been getting many of my clients to put a sticky note over their scale to read the number they desire to weigh. In the end it is not the number on the scale that counts, it is always HOW YOU FEEL!

Great job and keep it going
Your Friend In Health
Adam

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