What's your Non Scale Victory ( Brag away )

Melkor "Hey, crow away - we're all due a little brag time now and then. ( Which reminds me, I should change out the runner recruitment drive with something new, so if anyone want to have a brag thread up top, make one ;) )"

So here we go.

Since starting weight lifting vs doing cardio all the time - all though I've gained weight due to poor eating and stress and stuff I've managed to drop back from a size 14 to a 12 and the 12s are getting baggier every day.

So what is your personal achievement that you want to share!!  Brag it up folks!!

Last week at karate class, I hit the hand targets hard enough to make the sempai holding them say 'ouch!'. Me = strong. lol

It's nice to know that all accomplishments aren't about the weight on the scale.

This weekend I took a coulpe of college friends on a tour around Boston.  They kept complaining about how fast I was walking and how far we'd gone, and jokingly commented that they missed the old me haha.

I put a pair of jeans on I got about two months ago.  I had to take them off b/c they were so friggin lose-  they looked awful and BAGGY around my butt!!!  Yipee!

I sprint now!  9.2 on the treadmill.  Makes me feel like a warrior.

And I used a swiss ball for the first time yesterday.  I fell off trying to get into position a few times, but I stuck with it.  Who cares if people at the gym laugh; it's good to get a laugh when you work out!

I finally made it to the 400 pound deadlift club. Today I pulled 405 ( four 45 plates on each side) for one rep. I always stayed away from doing deadlifts for years and have been doing them for the last few months. Now the deadlift is one of my favorite exercises. They say a good goal is to deadlift 2X your own bodyweight and I am basically there ( I weigh 210). I am rather pround of myself in that respect because I have only been deadlifting for a few months.

I ran four miles today for the first time!

Original Post by ldm1403:

I ran four miles today for the first time!

 Congrats with that. I have respect for people who can run for that long. I have bad knees, so I can't do a lot of long distance running. The most I have ever done is 5 miles, and that was only twice in my whole life.

Within the last week I have been able to bench 100lbs (barbell) and do 3 unassisted chinups. Full pullups are my summer goal.

I am female, 124lbs

Original Post by cat-girl:

Within the last week I have been able to bench 100lbs (barbell) and do 3 unassisted chinups. Full pullups are my summer goal.

I am female, 124lbs

 That is awesome. Especially considering the fact that you are female and you can almost bench your own weight. Very cool. That is great on the chin-ups too.

Once you get your chin-ups down to a higher number, you should switch to actual pull-ups. Pull-ups are even tougher. :)

Keep up the good work!

I can now do 10 regular pushups in a decent amount of time.

Last night, my boyfriend and I needed to get a piece of sub-floor from Lowes to fix our sunroom. We need to strap it on to the top of my suv to get it home because it's so big. Although I've been able to hoist my end onto the car in the past, my arms would shake uncontrollably. The last few times we needed to do this, I would request someone from Lowes to help us so I wouldn't have to do it. Well, last night, I was feeling particularly strong, so I lifted my end, and we put it on the car with ease. I can't believe how light it felt! And the best part is, my arms didn't even shake! -- This small victory makes me want to lift heavier and heavier weights. I'm unstoppable now!

I just finished my first post-partum 5k. I'm 8.5 weeks PP and didn't run at all during my pregnancy!

The t-shirt that I wore to work today was so baggy I had to tuck it into the top of my scrubs---AND my stomach looked flat in the scrubs!!! (By the way, I am 51).

J-mom

I had to punch a new hole in my belt so they would actually hold up my pants!  Woot!

To add to this.  I've never been one to throw out clothes (mostly shorts and pants).  I always told myself, "ahh, i'll fit into these again one day".  Well, that day is here and now.  Opening up the suitcases was like going on a free shopping trip to the mall!  It's friggin awsome.

I've only lost 5 lbs but my pants are much looser and I can look in the mirror and see that I'm firming up. And, I feel SO much better 

3 days ago I ran an 8:38 mile, and yesterday I ran a 33:25 5K (with a 3 minute walking warm-up)!!! This is coming from a person who used to be unable to jog 1 LAP around a track!

These are so awesome to read! Keep up the great work, everyone!

My goal has always been to bench 350 pounds. After lifting weights consistently for 7 years, I put up 330 pounds back when I was 23. This was a little more than 1.5 times my bodyweight. Just as I was closing in on 350, I got injured. Even after I healed, I only got back into doing exercise sparatically. So six months ago when I got back into lifting full-time I told myself that I was going to get back to where I used to be.

I am almost there. Today I put up 315 pounds on the bench press (Three 45 pound plates on each side). So I am only 15 pounds away from getting back to where I was before my injury. To me this is amazing because six months ago, my strength wasn't even at 65% of what it used to be. Hopefully in 2-3 months, I will be able to put another 35 pounds on my bench and conquer 350!

10 wide-grip pull-ups. Starting to add weight now! I couldn't even lift myself halfway up before all this weight loss business.

10 good, solid push-ups (Nose touching the ground) with 51 lbs added.

A year ago I set a goal to run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes.  Big for me - I HATED to run. 

I live 3 miles from my job, and there's a gym at work where I can shower, so I started jogging to work instead of driving.  At first, it was a lot of walking and panting in between SLOW jogging.  Took me around 55 minutes at the beginning.  Eventually I got to where I could run the whole way, and it has become my normal routine.  I jog to music, and have steadily replaced old songs with newer, faster paced ones.

Then recently a friend asked me how long it took me to run to work, and I didn't really know.  So I timed myself - 31 minutes.  Wait...   31 minutes?!?  For 3 miles??  So I went to the gym to use the treadmill for the first time in a year, in order to really know how far I was going and how fast.  1.5 miles in 13:10!  

Now I'm trying to decide what upper-body-strength goals to set... (I've seriously neglected that!)

I went on an outing with my family yesterday, and was waiting outside for them while they were buying snacks.  There were full-length windows on the building I was standing by, so I could see my full reflection.  I looked surprisingly fit and trim, so I figured that my reflection was distorted.  Then, later that day, we were walking into a restaurant together and I could see my reflection in the door.  Again, I looked surprisingly fit and trim...and I noticed that the rest of my family looked the same as always, so the reflection must be accurate.  It just floored me to realize that I have gotten in shape and it was noticeable.  This may sound like no-big-deal, but for me (I have been plus-sized for my whole adult life) it just really felt good...I was so happy. 

Finally got my walks from 2 x’s a wk to 6 x’s a week, in April.

Then last month, walks went from .8 miles to 1-1.5 miles. AND I started adding scary neighborhood hills.

This morning I did 2 miles and included “the Butt Master” hill!! WOOHOO I feel awesome!