On Sundays, I step on the scale.
I don't actually have a scale at home because I am obsessive compulsive and I would be on it every morning, every night and soon you would see another spreadsheet that caculates my weight fluctuations over the course of the day.
Not healthy.
So I've limited myself to Sunday after my aerobics class.
Today was both elating and disappointing. Technically the math works out that if you burn/don't eat 1000 calories a day from your daily requirement (which you can figure out with a scientific calculator and a formula), you'll lose 2 pounds a week. I'll walk you through that formula when I have the patience and I forget how much I hate math.
Regardless, after three weeks with minimal slippage on the "life style" (diet = bad word) and decent gym appearances, I've lost 5 pounds.
This is awesome, because for some reason, weight loss revolves around numbers in 5's--5, 10, 15 pounds. Those are milestones. So even though my goal was 6, 5 still feels pretty good. But I'm kind of wondering about that one last pound. Why couldn't it take a hike like the rest of it's unwanting cousins?
The bottom line is this. We're a culture of fast, now, get it done yesterday. xenapal, quartrix, superweightlosspillsupreme...whatever they are. They promise "I lost 48 pounds--FAST!"
Sure, maybe they did, but let's get real. There's that little star at the bottom of the commercial that explains "*results not typical!" They were probably also dieting and exercising and getting paid to lose an inhuman amount of weight.
Safe weightloss is, I am not lying to you, 2 pounds a week. So no, you cannot lose 10 pounds before you go on spring break next week. Or if you can, you either had a plastic surgeon or you did something that did more damage to your body than good.
It will take you about a month to lose those 10 pounds. But think about it--a month really isn't THAT long.
Commit yourself to 1 month of watching what you eat (honestly, not forgetting about that cookie you had) and working out (running because you're late to a meeting does not count). I don't promise 10 pounds, but I do promise that you will lose something. At the very least, you will feel better about yourself.
In other news, next time I teach cycle, i'm using flo rida's "sugar"
Edit: I just realized that I needed to clarify those 10 pounds in a month. I'm talking about sustainable weight loss. Not water weight. Some people see huge numbers when their body starts to lose weight, but only about a third of this weight is actually fat. The rest of it is water. Remember, our bodies are primarily water weight...and being hydrated actually helps you burn fat. So dont' skimp on the water/fruits/vegetables, they'll help you out in the long run, even if you don't see massive water shed the first month.
Showing posts with label Weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weight loss. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
5 days Before the Shapeover
So, as you may recall, when I started this blog, I was all about Volumetrics. Don't get me wrong, I still am. I endorse calorie counting, becoming aware of the ingredients in your food, and making smarter choices--like ordering dressing on the side, knowing how big a real portion is, and learning to cook for yourself.
And yet, I knew that I would eventually fail at this. There's a certain peak at which you lose your mind and count everything (I was probably about 6 weeks away from this miracle), and then there's that week point (about 7 weeks in) where you lose the time/interest/and time for the grocery...there's a breaking point.
I'm doing a redirect. I am good about watching what I eat, which is really the main case that I have for doing a calorie count for a few months. It's good to know what you consume. I cook my meals using pam, I make Chadd's dinner with a ton of butter. The list could go on. But the point remains...calorie counting is, at worst, a learning experience.
I bought a book on Monday called "28-Day Body Shapeover," by the guy who wrote one of my favorite sculpting books for women--"Sculpting Her Body Perfect." This guy has the right idea--the way to tell how heavy your weights should be, how many reps, which exercises, how often, etc. I have used this book as a cheat sheet for...3 years? I'm going to give the 28 Day Body Shapeover, well...28 days.
I think it's important that if I choose to open my own gym, I can offer a "See It in a Month" option. You know that pre-wedding, pre-high school reunion, post-baby one month boot camp. I'm a little nervous about the diet that goes with it. It's not something that is sustainable for my lifestyle. For example:
Day One:
Meal One:
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1 scoop whey protein powder
- Coffee or tea
Meal Two:
- Strawberry Smoothie (1 c. strawberries, 1 scoop whey, 1 tablespoon flax oil, crushed ice)
Meal Three:
- 6 oz. grilled chicken breast
- large salad
Meal Four:
- 1 pear
Meal Five:
- 6 oz. flounder
- 12 oz. yellow squash.
I can do 28 Days. During those 28 days, I'm going to have to think of a follow up plan. Stay tuned...
In the mean time, I'm going to be home with my family for my brother's high school graduation, where I plan to indulge in wine, good food, and Florida heat.
You'll probably get a wine-induced post from me along the way.
And yet, I knew that I would eventually fail at this. There's a certain peak at which you lose your mind and count everything (I was probably about 6 weeks away from this miracle), and then there's that week point (about 7 weeks in) where you lose the time/interest/and time for the grocery...there's a breaking point.
I'm doing a redirect. I am good about watching what I eat, which is really the main case that I have for doing a calorie count for a few months. It's good to know what you consume. I cook my meals using pam, I make Chadd's dinner with a ton of butter. The list could go on. But the point remains...calorie counting is, at worst, a learning experience.
I bought a book on Monday called "28-Day Body Shapeover," by the guy who wrote one of my favorite sculpting books for women--"Sculpting Her Body Perfect." This guy has the right idea--the way to tell how heavy your weights should be, how many reps, which exercises, how often, etc. I have used this book as a cheat sheet for...3 years? I'm going to give the 28 Day Body Shapeover, well...28 days.
I think it's important that if I choose to open my own gym, I can offer a "See It in a Month" option. You know that pre-wedding, pre-high school reunion, post-baby one month boot camp. I'm a little nervous about the diet that goes with it. It's not something that is sustainable for my lifestyle. For example:
Day One:
Meal One:
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1 scoop whey protein powder
- Coffee or tea
Meal Two:
- Strawberry Smoothie (1 c. strawberries, 1 scoop whey, 1 tablespoon flax oil, crushed ice)
Meal Three:
- 6 oz. grilled chicken breast
- large salad
Meal Four:
- 1 pear
Meal Five:
- 6 oz. flounder
- 12 oz. yellow squash.
I can do 28 Days. During those 28 days, I'm going to have to think of a follow up plan. Stay tuned...
In the mean time, I'm going to be home with my family for my brother's high school graduation, where I plan to indulge in wine, good food, and Florida heat.
You'll probably get a wine-induced post from me along the way.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
The Pact
A good friend of mine and I have a similar goal. It's a number of pounds. We are different people with different lifestyles and eating habits, but we both like to cook, have significant others, and enjoy a love/hate relationship with running. We decided to embark on something we call the Pact.
The Pact is kind of a social experiment for both of us--a combination of social media and gym-buddying. We have different schedules and live too far away to be reliable gym buddies, so we began a blog only visible to ourselves where we:
- Update daily the amount of calories we've eaten
- Update daily our workout
- Update Sundays our weight
- Update win/fails
- Post recipes we'd otherwise have to email to each other.
The beauty of social media!
We have agreed to keep the blog internal between us since sensitive information (such as numbers...eek) are post on there, but I will be cross posting only my own updates that are interesting enough for the larger general public.
I have had a hard time with one or the other--just a gym buddy or just technology. I've kept blogs, I've used online calorie counting software, hell I've even built my own spreadsheet that tracked things for me. The problem that I have with them is burn out. I obsess from between 2-8 weeks and then have one day where I don't get around to it and boom. Three weeks go by and I havent' touched my calorie intake.
Also, my blog or my tracker sheets don't call me at 6 am to remind me that I need to go to the gym or slap my hand when I'm about to eat pizza. They just chug along and do exactly as I tell them. And let's be honest, who doesn't lie from time to time? I mean, really, is anyone's driver's license accurate under "Weight." It might as well say "My Ideal."
I've been through an unreal number of gym buddies...and usually the problem is that we're on different fitness levels or interests. K, for example, hates the treadmill. While I don't love it, I don't hate it to the point of avoidance. Also, I enjoy going to the gym to talk to her. Not to work out. Additionally, my morning gym buddy is a good friend of mine and since we no longer work in the same area, our morning coffee walk is out of the question, so I am yet again eager to chat with her while I walk for a half hour. I should get real. If I'm going to get up at 6am, I'd better damn well be ready to run, not to chat.
So, hopefully this will give me the independence to keep up the gym routine that I need to have while getting the support of my gym buddy.
Results to come!
The Pact is kind of a social experiment for both of us--a combination of social media and gym-buddying. We have different schedules and live too far away to be reliable gym buddies, so we began a blog only visible to ourselves where we:
- Update daily the amount of calories we've eaten
- Update daily our workout
- Update Sundays our weight
- Update win/fails
- Post recipes we'd otherwise have to email to each other.
The beauty of social media!
We have agreed to keep the blog internal between us since sensitive information (such as numbers...eek) are post on there, but I will be cross posting only my own updates that are interesting enough for the larger general public.
I have had a hard time with one or the other--just a gym buddy or just technology. I've kept blogs, I've used online calorie counting software, hell I've even built my own spreadsheet that tracked things for me. The problem that I have with them is burn out. I obsess from between 2-8 weeks and then have one day where I don't get around to it and boom. Three weeks go by and I havent' touched my calorie intake.
Also, my blog or my tracker sheets don't call me at 6 am to remind me that I need to go to the gym or slap my hand when I'm about to eat pizza. They just chug along and do exactly as I tell them. And let's be honest, who doesn't lie from time to time? I mean, really, is anyone's driver's license accurate under "Weight." It might as well say "My Ideal."
I've been through an unreal number of gym buddies...and usually the problem is that we're on different fitness levels or interests. K, for example, hates the treadmill. While I don't love it, I don't hate it to the point of avoidance. Also, I enjoy going to the gym to talk to her. Not to work out. Additionally, my morning gym buddy is a good friend of mine and since we no longer work in the same area, our morning coffee walk is out of the question, so I am yet again eager to chat with her while I walk for a half hour. I should get real. If I'm going to get up at 6am, I'd better damn well be ready to run, not to chat.
So, hopefully this will give me the independence to keep up the gym routine that I need to have while getting the support of my gym buddy.
Results to come!
Monday, July 7, 2014
A Little (less) About Me
Lately, in talks with a very close blogger to my heart (and my awesome Mom!) (you can read her blog here: http://niftyartgirl.blogspot.com/) I've realized that I need to refocus my blog. She's in the middle of an effort to build her business through media, and has taken cool courses on how to focus blogging. Check out her experiences.
I've enjoyed writing what I've been writing, but the blog has kind of trailed off of it's original path (which is fine). I want to keep in touch about me personally, as well. This started as a catalogue of my effort to watch what I eat (calorie counting) and my desire to stay fit.
I had ups and downs (just read back to some time around Easter of 2009) and lost and gained. So, I'm happy to remind you to remind me to stay honest with you all. That half bottle of prosecco during restaurant with good friend K of http://bitchywordsfromenglishnerds.blogspot.com/, yeah that was ALL me.
Sometime around late October, I stepped on the scale and basically threw up on myself. I was officially over the point that I told myself I would never go over. Instead of wig out, I partnered with a good friend of mine in our great secret blog project.
About 2 months later, I have found that this blog has been the biggest help. On days when I feel like I really really need that cookie, linking up with my co secret blogger, I get through it. We celebrate together, we commiserate together. I haven't seen her in a while, but I'm sure she looks dynamite.
And now to tell you all, thanks to the awesome bodybugg, calorie counting, and my secret co blogger, I have successfully lost 11.5 pounds since Thanksgiving. I am officially further along (and more easily won this time) than the beginning of 2009 when I started down this path. I am at a BMI of 23.4, which is on the higher end of a health range.
I am about 10.5 pounds away from my ideal ideal goal weight, but only about 7 pounds away from "I will be happy to maintain my weight here" weight. At the ideal ideal weight, I will be at a BMI of 21.6.
Ladies and gentlemen, it can be done with patience and a whole lotta learning. I strongly suggest reading food lables, checking out what is in your food, etc. It makes a big difference when that cookie that doesn't taste THAT good had a caloric value, doesn't it?
If that doesn't help. Check this business out:
I've enjoyed writing what I've been writing, but the blog has kind of trailed off of it's original path (which is fine). I want to keep in touch about me personally, as well. This started as a catalogue of my effort to watch what I eat (calorie counting) and my desire to stay fit.
I had ups and downs (just read back to some time around Easter of 2009) and lost and gained. So, I'm happy to remind you to remind me to stay honest with you all. That half bottle of prosecco during restaurant with good friend K of http://bitchywordsfromenglishnerds.blogspot.com/, yeah that was ALL me.
Sometime around late October, I stepped on the scale and basically threw up on myself. I was officially over the point that I told myself I would never go over. Instead of wig out, I partnered with a good friend of mine in our great secret blog project.
About 2 months later, I have found that this blog has been the biggest help. On days when I feel like I really really need that cookie, linking up with my co secret blogger, I get through it. We celebrate together, we commiserate together. I haven't seen her in a while, but I'm sure she looks dynamite.
And now to tell you all, thanks to the awesome bodybugg, calorie counting, and my secret co blogger, I have successfully lost 11.5 pounds since Thanksgiving. I am officially further along (and more easily won this time) than the beginning of 2009 when I started down this path. I am at a BMI of 23.4, which is on the higher end of a health range.
I am about 10.5 pounds away from my ideal ideal goal weight, but only about 7 pounds away from "I will be happy to maintain my weight here" weight. At the ideal ideal weight, I will be at a BMI of 21.6.
Ladies and gentlemen, it can be done with patience and a whole lotta learning. I strongly suggest reading food lables, checking out what is in your food, etc. It makes a big difference when that cookie that doesn't taste THAT good had a caloric value, doesn't it?
If that doesn't help. Check this business out:
That, my friends, is a pound of fat. Nothing like some visual imaging to keep you going, right? Those last 10 pounds are only as hard as you let them be.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Pound for Pound Challenge Repledge!
Update on the Pound for Pound challenge!
Remember that I pledged 10 pounds? Well, I did it. Now, time to repledge. Not going to lie, pledging something I can control to something that I can't (hunger...at least not on a large scale) is a motivating feeling. I'm pledging 5 pounds this time. If I lose 10 more pounds, I will be at my ideal weight, but 5 is something that my body will let me do. Then I'll reassess. I have 1 week to get below the 1something mark and into the 1somethings. I'm still in the debate mode of whether or not to post my weight and numbers. I may make myself in one of those virtual selvs and share that.
I'm watching Biggest Loser, Week 2 (this was 2 weeks ago). This is the episode every season where their doctor comes in and tells everyone what their real age is, what types of diseases they have, and how they should expect to age.
I encourage you to tune in and watch the Biggest Loser. I know a lot of people don't like it and blah blah blah, but I'll be damned if this show isn't actually very accurate. The information they distribute is very true. And the contestants are a great way to remind yourself that if someone who is literally hundreds of pounds over weight can work out for 8 hours a day, you can give it that extra push.
So go do it. And I encourage you to pledge a couple pounds to the pound for pound challenge.
Remember that I pledged 10 pounds? Well, I did it. Now, time to repledge. Not going to lie, pledging something I can control to something that I can't (hunger...at least not on a large scale) is a motivating feeling. I'm pledging 5 pounds this time. If I lose 10 more pounds, I will be at my ideal weight, but 5 is something that my body will let me do. Then I'll reassess. I have 1 week to get below the 1something mark and into the 1somethings. I'm still in the debate mode of whether or not to post my weight and numbers. I may make myself in one of those virtual selvs and share that.
I'm watching Biggest Loser, Week 2 (this was 2 weeks ago). This is the episode every season where their doctor comes in and tells everyone what their real age is, what types of diseases they have, and how they should expect to age.
I encourage you to tune in and watch the Biggest Loser. I know a lot of people don't like it and blah blah blah, but I'll be damned if this show isn't actually very accurate. The information they distribute is very true. And the contestants are a great way to remind yourself that if someone who is literally hundreds of pounds over weight can work out for 8 hours a day, you can give it that extra push.
So go do it. And I encourage you to pledge a couple pounds to the pound for pound challenge.
The Realist's Situation
Last night, Chadd came home and woke me up around quarter of 1 to show me the new coat he got that finally came in the mail.
Normally, this would have irritated me, save two things:
1) This coat literally caused a fashion emergency in Vegas. Only my boyfriend would be as straight as he is (he's basically 1 degree away from being a lumberjack, no offense to gay lumberjacks) and have a fashion emergency. Long story, we had the coat shipped in from California.
2) I had something to show off too. (See below)
Slightly related...
Did you watch The Jersey Shore? If you didn't, that was dumb. It was an awesome good/bad/so bad it's good MTV trash show. There is one clown in particular on this show you should be aware of--Mike. Mike the Situation.
Wait for it at 12 seconds. That's his "Situation." Literally, people, his abs are a situation and he calls himself Mike The Situation because of his freakish abs.
Back to point 2 of why I didn't mind that Chadd woke me up.
Folks. The Realist has a situation. It's not enough of a situation to be capitalized like properly named abs or be called "The" anything...but it's a freaking situation! I HAVE A SITUATION, HERE!
I'm almost at the point where I need a unique nickname for my developing situation. Like "the business" or something. Suggestions are welcome.
I went to bed prepared in a sports bra and running shorts. I wouldn't exactly say that I "hopped" out of bed, but once Chadd managed to get me to open my eyes and get out of bed to see his coat in the gleaming light of the kitchen it suddenly dawned on me why I was freezing to death instead of wearing sweats.
"Look at my situation," I told him.
I was praised adequately and sent back to bed where I fell asleep in less than 1 minute. If I get a big enough ego, I'm posting pictures.
Normally, this would have irritated me, save two things:
1) This coat literally caused a fashion emergency in Vegas. Only my boyfriend would be as straight as he is (he's basically 1 degree away from being a lumberjack, no offense to gay lumberjacks) and have a fashion emergency. Long story, we had the coat shipped in from California.
2) I had something to show off too. (See below)
Slightly related...
Did you watch The Jersey Shore? If you didn't, that was dumb. It was an awesome good/bad/so bad it's good MTV trash show. There is one clown in particular on this show you should be aware of--Mike. Mike the Situation.
Would you like to know why he is called Mike The Situation? Of course you would.
Wait for it at 12 seconds. That's his "Situation." Literally, people, his abs are a situation and he calls himself Mike The Situation because of his freakish abs.
Back to point 2 of why I didn't mind that Chadd woke me up.
Folks. The Realist has a situation. It's not enough of a situation to be capitalized like properly named abs or be called "The" anything...but it's a freaking situation! I HAVE A SITUATION, HERE!
I'm almost at the point where I need a unique nickname for my developing situation. Like "the business" or something. Suggestions are welcome.
I went to bed prepared in a sports bra and running shorts. I wouldn't exactly say that I "hopped" out of bed, but once Chadd managed to get me to open my eyes and get out of bed to see his coat in the gleaming light of the kitchen it suddenly dawned on me why I was freezing to death instead of wearing sweats.
"Look at my situation," I told him.
I was praised adequately and sent back to bed where I fell asleep in less than 1 minute. If I get a big enough ego, I'm posting pictures.
The Trouble with Results
I had the blown up ego and even took a picture, but it looked a little 14 year old naive myspace user, so I ditched the idea of posting pictures of my situation. I also have sore abs due to the fact that I spent over an hour walking around flexing.
In other news, I want to talk about results today. I've had a few conversations with a friend of mine (who may have convinced me into a three way pact with the devil to do another marathon and my first ironman...hahah, I know, right?) about results. We'll call them...WB for work buddy. WB's currently doing something called The Insanity Workout, which actually legitimately makes me tired to think about, but WB's been very patient indulging my fits of whining.
Bottom line. K and Chadd have both noticed my weight loss and WB promises me that if we were in the same city, they'd have noticed too.
Basically, the other day, when I hit 11 pounds of weight loss, I went "dammit, why hasn't someone said something?" K suggested that I'm around her and Chadd most of the time and they noticed. My coworkers, dude! We are three to a cube in our client's office! I see them more than her and Chadd combined!
The other possibility, which is legit, is that since I work in a very conservative environment, my clothes just really aren't showing it (and most of my weight loss has been around my midsection and thighs).
Regardless. I just wanted someone to be like "hey, you look like you've really slimmed down!" and I'd be all like "boom, look at my situation!" except not because that might get me fired. The point is, I have to remind myself that there's a fine line between losing for myself and losing for praise. Praise is nice, the actual loss is a far better gift since it's healthy/life lengthening. Self praise should and needs to be a bigger part of my routine. Every woman out there rips on herself entirely too much. I'm seriously guilty of it, and despite my dad's never ending quest to get me to kill that inner mean voice (he doesn't like or allow self-deprecating comments, which I've always thought is one of the best dad-things he's done), it's pretty persistent.
My solution is this. I will start telling myself one positive thing a day and I'm not talking "hey, nice hair." More like "damn girl, your arms are getting toned!" in my very very white girl ghetto voice. I will also freely tell people about my success (granted, at appropriate times). I will also build and maintain a good support group. Everyone needs outside input, so find the group that is likely to give it to you (honest feedback) and ask for their support. They'll give it.
So that's part one of the results discussion. The second part is not about recognition of results, but more about the effect of results.
I am guilty of the yo-yo, as I've discussed before, but the real issue is that at a certain point, we're really happy with what we've done and the next x pounds are part of the goal...but damn, we have a situation! I can kick back and relax, right? Yeah, no. I do that every time. I feel like counting my calories and working out and generally being fitness minded is great, but it's only around when I want to lose weight. I know that most of America struggles with this issue. We feel like we've done without or we've adjusted our schedule--temporarily. Except that's not how this works. You go right back up if you treat this is a temporary lifestyle.
I think I was on the dangerous edge of getting there. Two parties this weekend, each with their share of fatty foods and alcohol. I'm here, teetering on the edge of being close to the next set of ten pounds and I'm like...I've been so good, I can do a splurge weekend. Yeah, no. I can plan for the parties, have a slice of pizza, a drink or two, then call it quits. Soooo hard to reel ones self back in, isn't it?
I say I WAS on the dangerous edge. Last night, I went to the gym and had my body fat percentage measured. Now, not to make excuses here, but the guy said that they only use the scale, which is apparently the least accurate means of measuring body fat. But still. The number on that scale was horrifying. I might have lost 11 pounds, but that didn't mean that my body fat was gone. It meant that I must have been a lot worse off than I'd thought. I shudder to think about what would have happened without my Pact buddy.
I was so upset by the % last night that I couldn't remember my weight. He said I'd lost a pound but I couldn't remember what I told him I was the week before.
So this morning, at a more appropriate time (after cycle, before I'd eaten), I stepped on the scale at my gym and weighed in. You guys, I lost 1.75 pounds since Sunday. I had gained a half pound in Vegas, which I think is a victory, and then lost 1.75. Woohoo! I have moved from the 1X0's to the 1(X-1)0's! ie, if I were in the 180s, I'd have slipped into the 170s.
I am officially 9 pounds away from my original goal weight. 13 pounds lost (well, 12.75)! Sometimes that number seems huge and sometimes, inconsequential. I told my Pact buddy that I added a new goal to my weight loss--a body fat percentage change of 7%, then I'd reassess.
Bottom line:
- Surround yourself with a good support group and stay positive yourself.
- Don't be satisfied with results. Keep going or maintain. Never slide back!
In other news, I want to talk about results today. I've had a few conversations with a friend of mine (who may have convinced me into a three way pact with the devil to do another marathon and my first ironman...hahah, I know, right?) about results. We'll call them...WB for work buddy. WB's currently doing something called The Insanity Workout, which actually legitimately makes me tired to think about, but WB's been very patient indulging my fits of whining.
Bottom line. K and Chadd have both noticed my weight loss and WB promises me that if we were in the same city, they'd have noticed too.
Basically, the other day, when I hit 11 pounds of weight loss, I went "dammit, why hasn't someone said something?" K suggested that I'm around her and Chadd most of the time and they noticed. My coworkers, dude! We are three to a cube in our client's office! I see them more than her and Chadd combined!
The other possibility, which is legit, is that since I work in a very conservative environment, my clothes just really aren't showing it (and most of my weight loss has been around my midsection and thighs).
Regardless. I just wanted someone to be like "hey, you look like you've really slimmed down!" and I'd be all like "boom, look at my situation!" except not because that might get me fired. The point is, I have to remind myself that there's a fine line between losing for myself and losing for praise. Praise is nice, the actual loss is a far better gift since it's healthy/life lengthening. Self praise should and needs to be a bigger part of my routine. Every woman out there rips on herself entirely too much. I'm seriously guilty of it, and despite my dad's never ending quest to get me to kill that inner mean voice (he doesn't like or allow self-deprecating comments, which I've always thought is one of the best dad-things he's done), it's pretty persistent.
My solution is this. I will start telling myself one positive thing a day and I'm not talking "hey, nice hair." More like "damn girl, your arms are getting toned!" in my very very white girl ghetto voice. I will also freely tell people about my success (granted, at appropriate times). I will also build and maintain a good support group. Everyone needs outside input, so find the group that is likely to give it to you (honest feedback) and ask for their support. They'll give it.
So that's part one of the results discussion. The second part is not about recognition of results, but more about the effect of results.
I am guilty of the yo-yo, as I've discussed before, but the real issue is that at a certain point, we're really happy with what we've done and the next x pounds are part of the goal...but damn, we have a situation! I can kick back and relax, right? Yeah, no. I do that every time. I feel like counting my calories and working out and generally being fitness minded is great, but it's only around when I want to lose weight. I know that most of America struggles with this issue. We feel like we've done without or we've adjusted our schedule--temporarily. Except that's not how this works. You go right back up if you treat this is a temporary lifestyle.
I think I was on the dangerous edge of getting there. Two parties this weekend, each with their share of fatty foods and alcohol. I'm here, teetering on the edge of being close to the next set of ten pounds and I'm like...I've been so good, I can do a splurge weekend. Yeah, no. I can plan for the parties, have a slice of pizza, a drink or two, then call it quits. Soooo hard to reel ones self back in, isn't it?
I say I WAS on the dangerous edge. Last night, I went to the gym and had my body fat percentage measured. Now, not to make excuses here, but the guy said that they only use the scale, which is apparently the least accurate means of measuring body fat. But still. The number on that scale was horrifying. I might have lost 11 pounds, but that didn't mean that my body fat was gone. It meant that I must have been a lot worse off than I'd thought. I shudder to think about what would have happened without my Pact buddy.
I was so upset by the % last night that I couldn't remember my weight. He said I'd lost a pound but I couldn't remember what I told him I was the week before.
So this morning, at a more appropriate time (after cycle, before I'd eaten), I stepped on the scale at my gym and weighed in. You guys, I lost 1.75 pounds since Sunday. I had gained a half pound in Vegas, which I think is a victory, and then lost 1.75. Woohoo! I have moved from the 1X0's to the 1(X-1)0's! ie, if I were in the 180s, I'd have slipped into the 170s.
I am officially 9 pounds away from my original goal weight. 13 pounds lost (well, 12.75)! Sometimes that number seems huge and sometimes, inconsequential. I told my Pact buddy that I added a new goal to my weight loss--a body fat percentage change of 7%, then I'd reassess.
Bottom line:
- Surround yourself with a good support group and stay positive yourself.
- Don't be satisfied with results. Keep going or maintain. Never slide back!
Saturday, July 5, 2014
There Is No Finish Line
Today begins a new month and according to a variety of sources, this is supposed to be a month of great change and new beginnings and wonderful things happening. Whether or not that's true, focus on it and it will happen. "Thoughts become things, so choose good ones."
Keep in mind that health and fitness is not an end goal, it's a way of life. Weightloss may come to an end and maintenence may begin, but that doesn't mean to abandon everything. This is one of my favorite Nike ads:
Second post coming later today about how I got to where I am!
Keep in mind that health and fitness is not an end goal, it's a way of life. Weightloss may come to an end and maintenence may begin, but that doesn't mean to abandon everything. This is one of my favorite Nike ads:
Make health and fitness a way of life this month and you'll never have to worry about it again.
Second post coming later today about how I got to where I am!
How to Achieve a Situation (Or Issue)
I don't want to follow in Mike the Situation's footsteps, so Chadd and I have agreed to call my abs "an issue." They may be upgraded at some point, but for now, they're an issue.
Anyway, I had a few people ask me how I did it. Basically, here it is, here is what I did. I'm not saying it will work for everyone, I'm not saying it's easy, this really is a change of lifestyle. But hey, here I am to tell you that it works and that it really wasn't that painful.
1) Set a goal for yourself and make it realistic. My goal was 22 pounds by my birthday (in 2 weeks) and I made this goal late October/Early November. I knew it was a bit of a stretch, so I had a modified "I will be happy with myself if I do X instead." That goal was 15 pounds. I could go all consultanty on you and say to make it a SMART goal, but I can't remember the acronym, so just make sure that it's measurable and that you have a date attached to it.
2) Enlist Help. Remember my Pact buddy? She's been great and without her, I wouldn't be here. We blog every day on our private blog. This person keeps you accountable and also gives you someone who will be sympathetic to you when you have a "I really need pizza and wine" day. You may need to join weight watchers or something to find that person, but it's easier/better if its someone close to you. If you're that kind of person, you can also find free online communities. Check out Peer Trainer for a good resource.
3) Count Your Calories. I know that this went the way of the mixtape--why bother listening to the radio to record songs when you could log onto itunes, right? Wrong. In this case, the old way is the best way. Measure your food. Look up calories (you can google it, or use SparkPeople). Read labels and stick to the serving sizes. Depending on how many calories you burn, you need to cut between 500 and 1000 calories a day to see weight loss. 1 pound = 3500 calories. So if you want to lose 2 pounds a week, you need to be cutting back 1000 calories a day. It starts by writing down everything. I mean everything. I never said this was a quick fix!
Example:
Breakfast:
1 packet instant oatmeal: 120 calories
Snack:
Apple: 81 calories
Also, I think it's ridiculously important to know what goes into your food. Take back control of what is put in your food.
4) Determine your burn. This one is hard. Here are a few sites that will at least help you:
Calorie Count (this is pretty accurate)
Health Status
To be honest, I use my BodyBugg for this. It's the one thing that I've found to be the most accurate and my burn was my missing piece. You need to determine what you burn to make sure that you're accurately achieving the deficit that you think you are. Write this down every day next to your calories consumed, deficit written as well.
5) Plan it all out. Make it easier on yourself, instead of getting to the end of the day starving and only having 10 calories left to eat, sit down on Sunday night and write out your menu for the week. Go to the store and pick up those 100 calorie snacks, lean cuisines, whatever it is that will make it easier for you to space out your calorie needs.
6) Give yourself 1 day to splurge per week. I'm not saying to go out and clear out the all you can eat buffet. But now is the time to have a slice of pizza, or go out for a nice dinner and not worry about the calories in the steak. It makes it so much easier when you know that you have 1 day to fudge, whether you use it for a celebratory dinner or for a day when you're captive to office food. Life happens. Your diet must be flexible.
7) Weigh in 1x a week, same time, same day, same scale. Weighing in once a week under those circumstances gives you the most real picture of your weight loss. Try and do it first thing in the morning. If you notice your weight going up, reassess your meal plan/burn goal. Ladies, keep in mind we do have more fluctuations than men...
8) Reward yourself at milestones. I recently bought a groupon for a massage that I plan to use at -20 pounds. Only 7 pounds away! My Pact buddy is eyeing a pearl necklace to match her goal weight dress. Just make sure your reward is NOT food based, unless it's something fun like healthy cooking lessons.
9) Give yourself time. I've given myself about 3 months to get here and I know I'm not done yet. This is not a quick fix, but this is a realistic life style change.
10) Forgive yourself. This is the most important one. We all slip up now and again. But when you have a bad moment/day/week, get over it, forgive yourself, and start anew. Just because you slid backwards does not mean that you have to start all over again. You just need to keep going from where you are.
It all comes down to this simple fact: when calories in < calories out, you get weightloss. I encourage you, if you are pursuing weightloss, to boil it all down to this simple fact. Learn what you consume, learn what you burn, and make it part of your daily routine.
If you want a day in the life of me, I'll post one tomorrow. But there are the guidelines. Tune in tomorrow! A day in the life of me.
Anyway, I had a few people ask me how I did it. Basically, here it is, here is what I did. I'm not saying it will work for everyone, I'm not saying it's easy, this really is a change of lifestyle. But hey, here I am to tell you that it works and that it really wasn't that painful.
1) Set a goal for yourself and make it realistic. My goal was 22 pounds by my birthday (in 2 weeks) and I made this goal late October/Early November. I knew it was a bit of a stretch, so I had a modified "I will be happy with myself if I do X instead." That goal was 15 pounds. I could go all consultanty on you and say to make it a SMART goal, but I can't remember the acronym, so just make sure that it's measurable and that you have a date attached to it.
2) Enlist Help. Remember my Pact buddy? She's been great and without her, I wouldn't be here. We blog every day on our private blog. This person keeps you accountable and also gives you someone who will be sympathetic to you when you have a "I really need pizza and wine" day. You may need to join weight watchers or something to find that person, but it's easier/better if its someone close to you. If you're that kind of person, you can also find free online communities. Check out Peer Trainer for a good resource.
3) Count Your Calories. I know that this went the way of the mixtape--why bother listening to the radio to record songs when you could log onto itunes, right? Wrong. In this case, the old way is the best way. Measure your food. Look up calories (you can google it, or use SparkPeople). Read labels and stick to the serving sizes. Depending on how many calories you burn, you need to cut between 500 and 1000 calories a day to see weight loss. 1 pound = 3500 calories. So if you want to lose 2 pounds a week, you need to be cutting back 1000 calories a day. It starts by writing down everything. I mean everything. I never said this was a quick fix!
Example:
Breakfast:
1 packet instant oatmeal: 120 calories
Snack:
Apple: 81 calories
Also, I think it's ridiculously important to know what goes into your food. Take back control of what is put in your food.
4) Determine your burn. This one is hard. Here are a few sites that will at least help you:
Calorie Count (this is pretty accurate)
Health Status
To be honest, I use my BodyBugg for this. It's the one thing that I've found to be the most accurate and my burn was my missing piece. You need to determine what you burn to make sure that you're accurately achieving the deficit that you think you are. Write this down every day next to your calories consumed, deficit written as well.
5) Plan it all out. Make it easier on yourself, instead of getting to the end of the day starving and only having 10 calories left to eat, sit down on Sunday night and write out your menu for the week. Go to the store and pick up those 100 calorie snacks, lean cuisines, whatever it is that will make it easier for you to space out your calorie needs.
6) Give yourself 1 day to splurge per week. I'm not saying to go out and clear out the all you can eat buffet. But now is the time to have a slice of pizza, or go out for a nice dinner and not worry about the calories in the steak. It makes it so much easier when you know that you have 1 day to fudge, whether you use it for a celebratory dinner or for a day when you're captive to office food. Life happens. Your diet must be flexible.
7) Weigh in 1x a week, same time, same day, same scale. Weighing in once a week under those circumstances gives you the most real picture of your weight loss. Try and do it first thing in the morning. If you notice your weight going up, reassess your meal plan/burn goal. Ladies, keep in mind we do have more fluctuations than men...
8) Reward yourself at milestones. I recently bought a groupon for a massage that I plan to use at -20 pounds. Only 7 pounds away! My Pact buddy is eyeing a pearl necklace to match her goal weight dress. Just make sure your reward is NOT food based, unless it's something fun like healthy cooking lessons.
9) Give yourself time. I've given myself about 3 months to get here and I know I'm not done yet. This is not a quick fix, but this is a realistic life style change.
10) Forgive yourself. This is the most important one. We all slip up now and again. But when you have a bad moment/day/week, get over it, forgive yourself, and start anew. Just because you slid backwards does not mean that you have to start all over again. You just need to keep going from where you are.
It all comes down to this simple fact: when calories in < calories out, you get weightloss. I encourage you, if you are pursuing weightloss, to boil it all down to this simple fact. Learn what you consume, learn what you burn, and make it part of your daily routine.
If you want a day in the life of me, I'll post one tomorrow. But there are the guidelines. Tune in tomorrow! A day in the life of me.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Recipes and Nutritionists
Update on the recipe for the grilled chicken and salsa recipe in the Tuesday links--
Very good, I was missing the rosemary, but other than that, it turned out well. I needed to add salt, which is no surprise, but with a side of rice, it was a great meal. Just don't be like me and start making the recipe without reading the whole thing through (I'm terrible at doing that). I could have been doing two things at once, but instead I wound up doing one process (the marinating) only to find out I could have been roasting my tomatoes at the same time. Alas. Glad I had the Biggest Loser to keep me company while I cooked. The only beef I had with the whole thing was that it didn't reheat well. Though I've been having that issue with chicken lately. When I reheat it, the whole thing is tough and chewy and tastes...weird. Maybe I'm cooking it too much? Suggestions?
I was going to go for a run tonight, but our weather up here is drizzly and cold and I have my first appointment with my nutritionist at 7:45 tonight. I had to stay a tiny bit later at work than I expected, so by the time I got home, I was going to be cutting it close for running, showering, and walking down to GW. It's okay though. I was going to sleep in tomorrow, but instead I'm meeting up with my morning gym buddy to hit the weights, then my evening gym buddy after work to get in a run....oh, and Friday-Sunday I'll be working out intermittently through the days for my Les Mills Body Pump training!
Here are the concerns I plan to raise to my nutritionist:
1) If I am working out almost once a day, if not more than once a day, what staples do I need to have in my diet? What's the balance of nutrition that I need?
2) What kind of things should I add into my diet as I increase my endurance training for the 10 Miler and the Half Marathon (and eventually, the marathon)?
3) If I'm logging my calories very accurately every day (measuring food, etc.) and my body bugg is 90% accurate, then why am I not losing 2 pounds a week? Am I eating too much? Too little?
4) What kind of supplements should I be taking?
Here are my bets on what she'll say:
- I need to eat more
- I need to drink less wine (and/or prosecco)
- I need to cut the diet coke (currently at 1-2 cans a day)
- I need to eat more protein and find more calcium
- Iron is a must add to my supplements (which are currently at 0)
Update when I get home!
Very good, I was missing the rosemary, but other than that, it turned out well. I needed to add salt, which is no surprise, but with a side of rice, it was a great meal. Just don't be like me and start making the recipe without reading the whole thing through (I'm terrible at doing that). I could have been doing two things at once, but instead I wound up doing one process (the marinating) only to find out I could have been roasting my tomatoes at the same time. Alas. Glad I had the Biggest Loser to keep me company while I cooked. The only beef I had with the whole thing was that it didn't reheat well. Though I've been having that issue with chicken lately. When I reheat it, the whole thing is tough and chewy and tastes...weird. Maybe I'm cooking it too much? Suggestions?
I was going to go for a run tonight, but our weather up here is drizzly and cold and I have my first appointment with my nutritionist at 7:45 tonight. I had to stay a tiny bit later at work than I expected, so by the time I got home, I was going to be cutting it close for running, showering, and walking down to GW. It's okay though. I was going to sleep in tomorrow, but instead I'm meeting up with my morning gym buddy to hit the weights, then my evening gym buddy after work to get in a run....oh, and Friday-Sunday I'll be working out intermittently through the days for my Les Mills Body Pump training!
Here are the concerns I plan to raise to my nutritionist:
1) If I am working out almost once a day, if not more than once a day, what staples do I need to have in my diet? What's the balance of nutrition that I need?
2) What kind of things should I add into my diet as I increase my endurance training for the 10 Miler and the Half Marathon (and eventually, the marathon)?
3) If I'm logging my calories very accurately every day (measuring food, etc.) and my body bugg is 90% accurate, then why am I not losing 2 pounds a week? Am I eating too much? Too little?
4) What kind of supplements should I be taking?
Here are my bets on what she'll say:
- I need to eat more
- I need to drink less wine (and/or prosecco)
- I need to cut the diet coke (currently at 1-2 cans a day)
- I need to eat more protein and find more calcium
- Iron is a must add to my supplements (which are currently at 0)
Update when I get home!
Correction: Registered Dietician
Back from my first appointment with my REGISTERED DIETICIAN.
Remember This Post about the difference between an R.D. and a nutritionist? Review! I've been calling my awesome R.D. a nutritionist, which is incorrect, so disregard all that nutritionist talk :-)
Anyway, about the appointment:
She is awesome! This appointment was a get to know you session--we talked about my basics--my weight, my goal weight, my heaviest weight (oh man) and my lowest weight (Chadd gets the award for causing that one when he broke up with me...5 years ago?) and what I considered my ideal weight (my goal weight...minus 5 pounds would be like *ideal* though probably hard to maintain).
Highlights:
1) A glass of wine a day is fine. Two is not. Noted, though I probably average that out, but it's a good target to keep in mind.
2) Until we meet again (in three weeks, post Colorado trip), I need to keep an "emotional" diary in conjunction with my food diary. I'll be targeting how I feel--am I full? am I hungry? am I bored/tired/sad/happy? when I eat. This, I'm sure, will be a HUGE wake up call. I haven't really been tracking those patterns, and it will be interesting to see how those line up to my eating habits.
3) She said that my original body fat percentage measurement (remember that disasterous night?) is likely very inaccurate and gave me direction on how to make an appointment to use the BodPod. This, guys, is literally one of the most exciting things to happen to me. I have been DYING to find one of these. Do yourself a favor and get a giggle out of the video at the bottom of this page: http://www.lifemeasurement.com/products/testProcBodpod Seriously, watch it and tell me you don't crack up. Houston, we have lift off. Blast me into space.
I'm so psyched, can't wait to see what she has to say in 3 weeks!
Tomorrow--post about how I'm helping my NYC best friend, J, work on a project for med school!
Remember This Post about the difference between an R.D. and a nutritionist? Review! I've been calling my awesome R.D. a nutritionist, which is incorrect, so disregard all that nutritionist talk :-)
Anyway, about the appointment:
She is awesome! This appointment was a get to know you session--we talked about my basics--my weight, my goal weight, my heaviest weight (oh man) and my lowest weight (Chadd gets the award for causing that one when he broke up with me...5 years ago?) and what I considered my ideal weight (my goal weight...minus 5 pounds would be like *ideal* though probably hard to maintain).
Highlights:
1) A glass of wine a day is fine. Two is not. Noted, though I probably average that out, but it's a good target to keep in mind.
2) Until we meet again (in three weeks, post Colorado trip), I need to keep an "emotional" diary in conjunction with my food diary. I'll be targeting how I feel--am I full? am I hungry? am I bored/tired/sad/happy? when I eat. This, I'm sure, will be a HUGE wake up call. I haven't really been tracking those patterns, and it will be interesting to see how those line up to my eating habits.
3) She said that my original body fat percentage measurement (remember that disasterous night?) is likely very inaccurate and gave me direction on how to make an appointment to use the BodPod. This, guys, is literally one of the most exciting things to happen to me. I have been DYING to find one of these. Do yourself a favor and get a giggle out of the video at the bottom of this page: http://www.lifemeasurement.com/products/testProcBodpod Seriously, watch it and tell me you don't crack up. Houston, we have lift off. Blast me into space.
I'm so psyched, can't wait to see what she has to say in 3 weeks!
Tomorrow--post about how I'm helping my NYC best friend, J, work on a project for med school!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Frozen Food Review (3)
A few days late, but nevertheless, a third frozen food review for you on my quest to find something beyond a lean cuisine pizza.
Fat: 11g
Carbs: 37g
Protein: 11g
Taste:
Surprisingly fresh. It really did taste like I'd just cooked it myself--the peas in the pasta were crunchy instead of mushy. I was very very pleased with how flavorful the meal was. Pesto was salty without being processed, the veggies were crisp, and the pasta had life instead of being, well, again mush.
Rating:
Presentation (1-10): 9. Top of the charts, but something green over brown pasta is never stunning to look at. The veggies were different colors though (they retained their color) and the food had texture. I wasn't going...eww when I opened the package.
Taste (1-60): 53 Not quite as good as the Amy's tamale, which was a tough act to follow. The pasta was great, but I needed more variety. The food tasted fresh and clean, though, so a 55 is almost unfair.
Satiety (1-15): 8.5 Needed just a few more bites...then again, that's why it's 290 calories and not 310.
Nutritional Balance (1-15): 13, same as the tamale. Less food, less calories. I liked the protein appearance and I expected a high carb count there for the pasta.
Total (out of 100): 83.5
Would I buy it again? Yup. It's steep ($4.75), but it's fresh, and a nice pasta option (especially over the Lean Cuisine ravioli). Just make sure to bring extra fruit and veggies, it'll leave you hungry.
Kashi Pesto Pasta Primavera
The Skinny:
Calories: 290Fat: 11g
Carbs: 37g
Protein: 11g
Taste:
Surprisingly fresh. It really did taste like I'd just cooked it myself--the peas in the pasta were crunchy instead of mushy. I was very very pleased with how flavorful the meal was. Pesto was salty without being processed, the veggies were crisp, and the pasta had life instead of being, well, again mush.
Rating:
Presentation (1-10): 9. Top of the charts, but something green over brown pasta is never stunning to look at. The veggies were different colors though (they retained their color) and the food had texture. I wasn't going...eww when I opened the package.
Taste (1-60): 53 Not quite as good as the Amy's tamale, which was a tough act to follow. The pasta was great, but I needed more variety. The food tasted fresh and clean, though, so a 55 is almost unfair.
Satiety (1-15): 8.5 Needed just a few more bites...then again, that's why it's 290 calories and not 310.
Nutritional Balance (1-15): 13, same as the tamale. Less food, less calories. I liked the protein appearance and I expected a high carb count there for the pasta.
Total (out of 100): 83.5
Would I buy it again? Yup. It's steep ($4.75), but it's fresh, and a nice pasta option (especially over the Lean Cuisine ravioli). Just make sure to bring extra fruit and veggies, it'll leave you hungry.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Abs/Core Cheat Sheet: The 6 Moves Everyone Can (and Should) Do
Oops. Ran out of time yesterday to finish this post. Abs. Blah blah blah summer body blah blah. Whatever.
Summer bodies come and go, but a good posture is forever. No, I'm not channeling your ballet instructor from years ago, I'm telling you how to avoid being a little old hunched over man/woman.
I think we all know why abs are important, but I want to reiterate what the article from last Tuesday's links said: Core Strength (not just your abs) is the key to fitness success, pain relief in back/neck/shoulders, etc., and will make you all around stronger and leaner. Develop your core correctly (make sure you include lower back work, obliques, quads, and glutes) and you'll be one more step away from avoiding your back creeping up on you in your golden years.
Whether your new to core work or an old pro, here are my standbys that I almost always make my classes do:
1. Rope Pull:
2) Lower back lift:
3) Bicycle and Modified Bicycle:
4) Modified Sit-Up:
5) Invisible Chair:
Summer bodies come and go, but a good posture is forever. No, I'm not channeling your ballet instructor from years ago, I'm telling you how to avoid being a little old hunched over man/woman.
I think we all know why abs are important, but I want to reiterate what the article from last Tuesday's links said: Core Strength (not just your abs) is the key to fitness success, pain relief in back/neck/shoulders, etc., and will make you all around stronger and leaner. Develop your core correctly (make sure you include lower back work, obliques, quads, and glutes) and you'll be one more step away from avoiding your back creeping up on you in your golden years.
Whether your new to core work or an old pro, here are my standbys that I almost always make my classes do:
1. Rope Pull:
- Lie on your back, feet on the ground.
- Imagine that someone tied a rope around your chest and tied it to a beam in the ceiling.
- Grab the imaginary rope and "pull" yourself up the rope, hand over hand.
- Your shoulders should be coming off the ground.
- Tip: If your neck gets tired/starts to hurt, put one hands behind your head to support your neck.
- Tip: Make sure your chin is lifted off your chest (think about having about the space of a tennis ball between your chin and your chest).
- Beginners: 2 sets of 30 seconds with a 30 second break between sets
- Intermediate: 4 sets of 30 seconds, 15 second break between sets
- Advanced: 6 sets of 30 seconds, 10 second break between sets
- Challenge move (try this after you can go a full minute pulling yourself up without a break): lift feet off the ground so your knees are bent, shins are facing the ceiling (90 degree angle between your body and your thighs, 90 degree angle at your knees).
- Advanced challenge: legs straight up in the air.
2) Lower back lift:
- Start lying on your back, put your hands to your sides on the floor to balance yourself, feet flat on the ground.
- Squeeze your glutes and lift your hips up to the ceiling. Your body should be in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
- Tip: If you need more support, hold your lower back up, gently, with your hands.
- Beginner: Hold for 30 seconds, lower and rest for 30 seconds.
- Intermediate: Hold for 1 minute
- Advanced: Hold for 30 seconds with one leg extended, foot off the ground. Switch legs.
- Challenge move: Hold your hands up towards the ceiling, this will require balance and stability, keys to core training.
- Bonus Move: Do single glute squeezes, touching the ground with your glutes, then squeezing your glutes, lifting your hips up. Try to do 20.
3) Bicycle and Modified Bicycle:
- Still lying on the ground, hands behind your head, chin lifted off your chest.
- Twist your core so one elbow moves towards the opposite knee.
- The opposite leg should extend fully. Switch sides.
- Beginner: 10 on either side
- Intermediate: 20 on either side
- Advanced: 40 on either side
- Modified Bicycle/Challenge Move: Elbow to knee, opposite leg fully extends. The leg that is fully extended remains straight, lower it down to tap your heel on the ground, then back up. Switch sides.
4) Modified Sit-Up:
- Instead of having your hands behind your head as you would with a normal sit up, put your arms straight out in front of you.
- Count to two as you sit-up, then slide back down, to the count of 2.
- Make sure you keep your chin off of your chest and sit up with your chest leading--it should feel like that same rope from the first exercise is around your chest and pulling you up towards the ceiling, then down.
- This doesn't have to be a full sit up, just shoulder blades up off the ground.
- Beginner: 20
- Intermediate: 30
- Advanced/Challenge move: Hold a light weight or a ball in your hands.
5) Invisible Chair:
- Sit up with your heels on the ground (your knees will be a little more than a 90 degree angle), back straight.
- Hold your arms out in front of you.
- You will likely feel this in your quads and your lower back.
- Beginner: Hold this position for 30 seconds, rest, then another 30 seconds.
- Intermediate: Lift feet off the ground and hold your knees for balance. Hold for 30 seconds, rest, then another 30 seconds holding.
- Advanced: Lift feet off the ground and hold your hands out in front of you, not touching your knees. 2 sets of 30 seconds.
- Start on your hands and knees, hands should be directly under your shoulders, knees under your hips.
- Come onto your toes, into plank position. Your body should be in a straight line from the back for your neck to your heels.
- Hold this position without your stomach dropping (making dip in your back) or your butt rising (causing an arch in your back) for 30 seconds.
- Beginner: If you can't do a full plank, you can start on your knees. Just make sure you keep that straight line from the back of your knees up to the base of your neck.
- Intermediate/Advanced: Just hold it for longer! Other options include holding your plank while on your elbows/forearms instead of your hands.
- Challenge Move: Walking Plank: Start in a full plank (on your hands), then shift 1 arm at a time down to a plank on your forearms/elbows. Go back to your hands. Continue for 30 seconds.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
My Second RD Appt and the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run
I met with my Registered Dietician (RD) last Thursday after many a rescheduled appointment.
I have to say, if you've never sat down with an R.D., stop what you're doing, stop reading this blog, and go make an appointment. Get 4 sessions, and trust me.
The last time I met with my RD, I had brought her a food diary from about a week to two weeks of eating. I'm fairly meticulous with writing down what I eat, so that was the easy part. We talked about my goals, my life style, and some general rules, then she asked me to write down the emotional feelings I had every time I ate until our next meeting.
While that went out the window when I got busy, I did make note of my emotions while eating enough that this picture became clear:
- I woke up not hungry (even before and after a morning workout), got the office and wanted a cup of coffee, no food. Halfway into my coffee, I wanted to eat my desk and the hunger came out of no where.
- I ate again around 10:30 because I was starting to get the munchies. Usually a piece of fruit cured this.
- Since my team tends to eat together at noon, I was never hungry at the beginning of lunch. The hunger picked up halfway through lunch, then I finished ready for a food coma nap.
- 3:30 I get bored and want to snack. Has to be a slow to eat food--popcorn, grapes, anything that requires time to eat.
- Not hungry when I get home and especially not hungry after I workout. At all. I have to force myself to eat after a workout. But about an hour after my workout, again I am ready to destroy an entire pizza.
My RD and I went through discussing that pattern and it basically followed exactly what she suspected/had seen in my food log:
I'm not eating enough. Hi, shocker! I'm a really big proponent of calories in, calories out for weight loss and while it still holds through, I'm highly active and not fueling my body to that level. Am I starving myself? No, but is my body going "eh, let's not burn off that fat, we're a little worried about our caloric intake?" in a word, yes. It sounds a lot more like a bad thing than it actually is.
Think about your body as a car. Let's say that the gas tank can fuel for the energy needed for exactly 1 day, plus a little bit of top-off fuel. When you wake up in the morning (start your car) without eating breakfast, you're essentially running on fumes till you hit the gas station (first meal). If you're like me and try to get in a few morning workouts, you're running on fumes, then pushing your car to the gas station if you fail to eat before hand.
Of course, you want to fill up the gas tank all the way (stuffing yourself). Same thing happens if you decide to put in more miles in a day than your gas tank can hold (second workout) and you wind up filling up again before you take your car home and putting it in the garage.
Essentially, I burn on fumes, over load on food, get really tired, burn all my food off again, then eat a ton or not at all, then pass out and repeat. My consumption looked more like a tiny hill followed by a valley, then a big hill, a steep valley, a little hill, then a huge hill, then right back down and repeat.
My R.D. says that I need to fuel before and after my workouts and definitely eat a breakfast and fuel through my day.
I don't have the papers in front of me, but she outlined the amount of stuff I need to be getting in these food groups:
- Grains
- Protein
- Dairy
- Fruits
- Vegetables
It's a LOT of food. I know she was thinking that I'd be mentally tabbing up the calories from a sample meal, so she said something that I guess I knew in the back of my mind, but hadn't actually fleshed out into full thought.
I might have been eating the right amount of calories, but the nutrients? Who knows. I mean, what do you REALLY get out of a 100 calorie pack of chocolate pretzels? Probably not much. So we turned the attention to what kind of calories I was actually eating. Cutting out a lot of prepackaged frozen junk and turning to "whole" foods.
While I'll be eating a lot more food, I'll probably be eating the right amount of calories, with all the nutrients. I added milk back into my diet, which hasn't been there in years. My stomach and I are still trying to decide how this is going to work out, but it has been nice to induldge in a big frothy glass of milk, especially post workout for the perfect blend of carbs and protein (and it cuts off that huge hunger pang I have about an hour post workout).
I'll post the sample menu that my RD gave me when I get home.
We also talked about setting SMART goals. I think I've talked about smart goals, so I won't go there again, but if you're interested, just google it. We wound up setting two SMART goals for me with three supporting goals.
I'll post those, too, when I get home so I make sure I have them down right.
So far, so good. I'm on 5 of eating more like the way we discussed and I feel really full all the time and I have energy. Double win.
In totally different news,
The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was this weekend. This was my second 10 Miler, my first one, I came in with like a 1:26 something because I was running with my friend, Maureen, from work and she pushed the hell out of me. This year, by total accident, I ran into her among 15,000 people. We wound up running together again, all the time pushing the other by total accident. We each thought we were slowing up the other, so we kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Before I knew it, we'd crossed 4, just after mile 5, I saw Chadd where I handed off my jacket, then 6, then 7 (oh man, just a 5k left), then suddenly 8 and we only had about 17 minutes left to endure. Then 9 went by and holy moly there was a hill. Maureen put the pedal to the medal, and amazingly, my legs kept up with her. We crested the hill to see the arches were not exactly right around the bend. Falling back a bit, we tried to pick up the pace again and flew through the finish line.
Time: 1:21:29; Pace: 8:09
And just like that, another PR this year.
I can tell you that one of the most beautiful sounds to me in the world is the sound of silence and a thousand runners shoes hitting the pavement all around you.
I have to say, if you've never sat down with an R.D., stop what you're doing, stop reading this blog, and go make an appointment. Get 4 sessions, and trust me.
The last time I met with my RD, I had brought her a food diary from about a week to two weeks of eating. I'm fairly meticulous with writing down what I eat, so that was the easy part. We talked about my goals, my life style, and some general rules, then she asked me to write down the emotional feelings I had every time I ate until our next meeting.
While that went out the window when I got busy, I did make note of my emotions while eating enough that this picture became clear:
- I woke up not hungry (even before and after a morning workout), got the office and wanted a cup of coffee, no food. Halfway into my coffee, I wanted to eat my desk and the hunger came out of no where.
- I ate again around 10:30 because I was starting to get the munchies. Usually a piece of fruit cured this.
- Since my team tends to eat together at noon, I was never hungry at the beginning of lunch. The hunger picked up halfway through lunch, then I finished ready for a food coma nap.
- 3:30 I get bored and want to snack. Has to be a slow to eat food--popcorn, grapes, anything that requires time to eat.
- Not hungry when I get home and especially not hungry after I workout. At all. I have to force myself to eat after a workout. But about an hour after my workout, again I am ready to destroy an entire pizza.
My RD and I went through discussing that pattern and it basically followed exactly what she suspected/had seen in my food log:
I'm not eating enough. Hi, shocker! I'm a really big proponent of calories in, calories out for weight loss and while it still holds through, I'm highly active and not fueling my body to that level. Am I starving myself? No, but is my body going "eh, let's not burn off that fat, we're a little worried about our caloric intake?" in a word, yes. It sounds a lot more like a bad thing than it actually is.
Think about your body as a car. Let's say that the gas tank can fuel for the energy needed for exactly 1 day, plus a little bit of top-off fuel. When you wake up in the morning (start your car) without eating breakfast, you're essentially running on fumes till you hit the gas station (first meal). If you're like me and try to get in a few morning workouts, you're running on fumes, then pushing your car to the gas station if you fail to eat before hand.
Of course, you want to fill up the gas tank all the way (stuffing yourself). Same thing happens if you decide to put in more miles in a day than your gas tank can hold (second workout) and you wind up filling up again before you take your car home and putting it in the garage.
Essentially, I burn on fumes, over load on food, get really tired, burn all my food off again, then eat a ton or not at all, then pass out and repeat. My consumption looked more like a tiny hill followed by a valley, then a big hill, a steep valley, a little hill, then a huge hill, then right back down and repeat.
My R.D. says that I need to fuel before and after my workouts and definitely eat a breakfast and fuel through my day.
I don't have the papers in front of me, but she outlined the amount of stuff I need to be getting in these food groups:
- Grains
- Protein
- Dairy
- Fruits
- Vegetables
It's a LOT of food. I know she was thinking that I'd be mentally tabbing up the calories from a sample meal, so she said something that I guess I knew in the back of my mind, but hadn't actually fleshed out into full thought.
I might have been eating the right amount of calories, but the nutrients? Who knows. I mean, what do you REALLY get out of a 100 calorie pack of chocolate pretzels? Probably not much. So we turned the attention to what kind of calories I was actually eating. Cutting out a lot of prepackaged frozen junk and turning to "whole" foods.
While I'll be eating a lot more food, I'll probably be eating the right amount of calories, with all the nutrients. I added milk back into my diet, which hasn't been there in years. My stomach and I are still trying to decide how this is going to work out, but it has been nice to induldge in a big frothy glass of milk, especially post workout for the perfect blend of carbs and protein (and it cuts off that huge hunger pang I have about an hour post workout).
I'll post the sample menu that my RD gave me when I get home.
We also talked about setting SMART goals. I think I've talked about smart goals, so I won't go there again, but if you're interested, just google it. We wound up setting two SMART goals for me with three supporting goals.
I'll post those, too, when I get home so I make sure I have them down right.
So far, so good. I'm on 5 of eating more like the way we discussed and I feel really full all the time and I have energy. Double win.
In totally different news,
The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was this weekend. This was my second 10 Miler, my first one, I came in with like a 1:26 something because I was running with my friend, Maureen, from work and she pushed the hell out of me. This year, by total accident, I ran into her among 15,000 people. We wound up running together again, all the time pushing the other by total accident. We each thought we were slowing up the other, so we kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Before I knew it, we'd crossed 4, just after mile 5, I saw Chadd where I handed off my jacket, then 6, then 7 (oh man, just a 5k left), then suddenly 8 and we only had about 17 minutes left to endure. Then 9 went by and holy moly there was a hill. Maureen put the pedal to the medal, and amazingly, my legs kept up with her. We crested the hill to see the arches were not exactly right around the bend. Falling back a bit, we tried to pick up the pace again and flew through the finish line.
Time: 1:21:29; Pace: 8:09
And just like that, another PR this year.
I can tell you that one of the most beautiful sounds to me in the world is the sound of silence and a thousand runners shoes hitting the pavement all around you.
Old Habits, New Ways of Life
I had some awesome ideas on what to blog about today, but go figure, they literally flew out of my head. So instead, I'm going to talk a little bit about how I'm trying to stay healthy with my new life.
When I joined my last job, I was more focused on the fact that I was working my first full time job and that I wanted to make a good impression. My focus was entirely on my career, which was the right mindset...but it blew up in my face because I neglected everything else.
Over the course of two years, no joke, I gained nearly 20 pounds. I can't even tell you how hard it is to write that. We've all read those magazine articles about how if you do x (ex: drink a whole milk chai latte) x times a week (how about 3 times) over the course of x years (let's say 2), you will gain x pounds (how about 20?). My downfall was not chai lattes (at least not totally), it was the general lifestyle where I didn't focus on the pizza, the happy hours, the venti coffee drinks...and then I woke up one morning (when I started this blog) and asked myself "what have you done?" I lost 8 pounds. Then I celebrated and crapped out. Gained the 8 back, plus 1.
About the time that I began to realize I couldn't be happy and stay in my previous job, I also began to realize that I couldn't continue to treat myself the way I was treating myself.
You've read the story of how I managed to get through those months before I joined my new company, so now you know it's possible, but I was really worried about the transition. As unhappy as I was, I had a schedule I knew how to maintain, but I also had horrible habits.
If I didn't get up to go to the gym, I was usually up about 15 minutes before I had to walk out the door. I was hitting the right caloric intake, but at the risk of of getting the wrong nutrition. How do you make a day's worth of food in 5 minutes? Easy! You throw a lean cuisine, a 100 calorie pack, and some other processed stuff into a bag and off you go.
I promised myself when I started this job that I would live my life in a way that I was enjoying it. Every minute of it.
I have promised myself to do the following:
- Make a meal plan every weekend that does not involved processed food
- Wake up an hour before I have to leave
- Eat breakfast EVERY morning
- Make my lunch every day or have a plan if I have a client lunch meeting
- Make a gym schedule and stick to it (schedule must be flexible)
- Enjoy every meal that I eat (because calories suck if they taste bad)
I know it's only day three, but I've gotten up consistently an hour before I had to leave for work, gotten to work early for 30 minutes alone to have coffee and watch the news. I made a menu plan, cooked on Sunday, and have stuck with it. My gym schedule hit a bump tonight, but because it was flexible, I'm going tomorrow night and taking tonight to relax.
I have 8 pounds to go--I added two pounds to my goal weight loss, otherwise, I am proud to say that I've maintained my weightloss for the past two months and that as soon as I sign up for my trainer, I'll be back on track with all systems go to burn off 8 pounds by the middle of June.
I think the bottom line of this meandering post is this: if you're unhappy with where you are, nothing says you cannot change that. I know that I need milestones to help me change things, but think about what it is that you're dissatisfied with. Do you rush in the morning? Skip the gym? Rely on take out? Make an action plan and change it, because from where I'm sitting, and maybe it's the new job talking (it's so awesome, btw, I love being there), but changing something that makes you unhappy, as small as it may be, magnifies in how happy it makes you when you change it.
When I joined my last job, I was more focused on the fact that I was working my first full time job and that I wanted to make a good impression. My focus was entirely on my career, which was the right mindset...but it blew up in my face because I neglected everything else.
Over the course of two years, no joke, I gained nearly 20 pounds. I can't even tell you how hard it is to write that. We've all read those magazine articles about how if you do x (ex: drink a whole milk chai latte) x times a week (how about 3 times) over the course of x years (let's say 2), you will gain x pounds (how about 20?). My downfall was not chai lattes (at least not totally), it was the general lifestyle where I didn't focus on the pizza, the happy hours, the venti coffee drinks...and then I woke up one morning (when I started this blog) and asked myself "what have you done?" I lost 8 pounds. Then I celebrated and crapped out. Gained the 8 back, plus 1.
About the time that I began to realize I couldn't be happy and stay in my previous job, I also began to realize that I couldn't continue to treat myself the way I was treating myself.
You've read the story of how I managed to get through those months before I joined my new company, so now you know it's possible, but I was really worried about the transition. As unhappy as I was, I had a schedule I knew how to maintain, but I also had horrible habits.
If I didn't get up to go to the gym, I was usually up about 15 minutes before I had to walk out the door. I was hitting the right caloric intake, but at the risk of of getting the wrong nutrition. How do you make a day's worth of food in 5 minutes? Easy! You throw a lean cuisine, a 100 calorie pack, and some other processed stuff into a bag and off you go.
I promised myself when I started this job that I would live my life in a way that I was enjoying it. Every minute of it.
I have promised myself to do the following:
- Make a meal plan every weekend that does not involved processed food
- Wake up an hour before I have to leave
- Eat breakfast EVERY morning
- Make my lunch every day or have a plan if I have a client lunch meeting
- Make a gym schedule and stick to it (schedule must be flexible)
- Enjoy every meal that I eat (because calories suck if they taste bad)
I know it's only day three, but I've gotten up consistently an hour before I had to leave for work, gotten to work early for 30 minutes alone to have coffee and watch the news. I made a menu plan, cooked on Sunday, and have stuck with it. My gym schedule hit a bump tonight, but because it was flexible, I'm going tomorrow night and taking tonight to relax.
I have 8 pounds to go--I added two pounds to my goal weight loss, otherwise, I am proud to say that I've maintained my weightloss for the past two months and that as soon as I sign up for my trainer, I'll be back on track with all systems go to burn off 8 pounds by the middle of June.
I think the bottom line of this meandering post is this: if you're unhappy with where you are, nothing says you cannot change that. I know that I need milestones to help me change things, but think about what it is that you're dissatisfied with. Do you rush in the morning? Skip the gym? Rely on take out? Make an action plan and change it, because from where I'm sitting, and maybe it's the new job talking (it's so awesome, btw, I love being there), but changing something that makes you unhappy, as small as it may be, magnifies in how happy it makes you when you change it.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Update! I AM alive!
First of all. I am so so so sorry.
I know I've been neglecting the blog for about a month. It's been busy here, to say the least. I love my new job and have done a fairly decent job of staying healthy and keeping my work outs in line instead of ditching them like I did with my last job when things got busy.
I have a status update on my own fitness journey:
- I haven't stepped on the scale in over a month (mostly at the recommendation of my dietician who agrees with me and suggested I live by my own words that weight is the least accurate representation of your health)
- I fit into a size 2 levi jeans (ah!)
- I feel fantastic enough to not worry about the actual number on the scale
- Chadd and I are going to the beach with his family at the end of July (which has inspired me to whip my butt back into shape eating right)
I'm at that magical point in my life where I am 95% confident with how I look. I am still struggling (as I think I always will) with looking like a hard body runner's world model...because that's just not how it ever will be. I will always have a little softness because, well, women are supposed to. That's just how we're built.
Better milestones are shaving time off my races, having better endurance, and being able to eat an extra cheeseburger per week.
I concluded my sessions with my dietician the other week. She showed me how far we'd come--from me obsessively logging calories and having honest to goodness bad moods over going a few calories over my allotted calorie intake, measuring progress really only by weight loss, etc. I feel like I graduated from the school of learning to eat better. Now, I just need to enroll in the school of better time management.
I'm finding myself continuing to eat well, but I'm doing it by walking across the street to get a lean veggie curry dish from the Thai restaurant, or stopping by trader joe's for a salad, when I really need to be saving the money and just making food at home.
Currently, to keep myself at a place where I am comfortable/happy/confident, I need to do the following:
- 1 hour session with my personal trainer on Monday (extremely painful, extremely beneficial)
- 1 hour yoga on Tuesday morning, teach 1 hour step class on Tuesdays
- 1 hour workout on my own (usually running) or rest Wednesday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Thursday
- Rest on Friday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Saturday
- 1 hour 20-20-20 class on Sunday
At best, I get three days off if I'm not teaching a Thursday or a Saturday (usually I do one or the other).
The problem here is that I don't have a lot of time for running. It's already June which means I should be warming up my marathon training this month. My plan for my modified schedule looks like this:
Monday: AM: 5 mile run; PM: 1 hr. training session
Tuesday: AM: Yoga; PM: Teach Step
Wednesday: AM or PM: 5 mile run
Thursday: PM: Body Pump or 6 mile run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Body Pump or Long Run
Sunday: 20-20-20 and Long Run (if Long Run wasn't done on Saturday)
It looks like a lot, but just like some people like to come home from work and read, or go for a walk, or go out for drinks, I really do enjoy going to the gym, coming home to feeling physically relaxed, making dinner, popping on the tv, and chilling out.
When Chadd changes jobs, we'll likely move a few of those workouts to the morning so that we can spend time together in the evening. I have four more sessions with Kimina (my awesome awesome awesome trainer), once those are over, I'll probably use that time for more running, then sign up again for another 8 sessions closer to the marathon.
New feature to blog will be food planning. Probably will appear this weekend!
In the mean time, where are you with your fitness goals?
I know I've been neglecting the blog for about a month. It's been busy here, to say the least. I love my new job and have done a fairly decent job of staying healthy and keeping my work outs in line instead of ditching them like I did with my last job when things got busy.
I have a status update on my own fitness journey:
- I haven't stepped on the scale in over a month (mostly at the recommendation of my dietician who agrees with me and suggested I live by my own words that weight is the least accurate representation of your health)
- I fit into a size 2 levi jeans (ah!)
- I feel fantastic enough to not worry about the actual number on the scale
- Chadd and I are going to the beach with his family at the end of July (which has inspired me to whip my butt back into shape eating right)
I'm at that magical point in my life where I am 95% confident with how I look. I am still struggling (as I think I always will) with looking like a hard body runner's world model...because that's just not how it ever will be. I will always have a little softness because, well, women are supposed to. That's just how we're built.
Better milestones are shaving time off my races, having better endurance, and being able to eat an extra cheeseburger per week.
I concluded my sessions with my dietician the other week. She showed me how far we'd come--from me obsessively logging calories and having honest to goodness bad moods over going a few calories over my allotted calorie intake, measuring progress really only by weight loss, etc. I feel like I graduated from the school of learning to eat better. Now, I just need to enroll in the school of better time management.
I'm finding myself continuing to eat well, but I'm doing it by walking across the street to get a lean veggie curry dish from the Thai restaurant, or stopping by trader joe's for a salad, when I really need to be saving the money and just making food at home.
Currently, to keep myself at a place where I am comfortable/happy/confident, I need to do the following:
- 1 hour session with my personal trainer on Monday (extremely painful, extremely beneficial)
- 1 hour yoga on Tuesday morning, teach 1 hour step class on Tuesdays
- 1 hour workout on my own (usually running) or rest Wednesday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Thursday
- Rest on Friday
- 1 hour Body Pump class on Saturday
- 1 hour 20-20-20 class on Sunday
At best, I get three days off if I'm not teaching a Thursday or a Saturday (usually I do one or the other).
The problem here is that I don't have a lot of time for running. It's already June which means I should be warming up my marathon training this month. My plan for my modified schedule looks like this:
Monday: AM: 5 mile run; PM: 1 hr. training session
Tuesday: AM: Yoga; PM: Teach Step
Wednesday: AM or PM: 5 mile run
Thursday: PM: Body Pump or 6 mile run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Body Pump or Long Run
Sunday: 20-20-20 and Long Run (if Long Run wasn't done on Saturday)
It looks like a lot, but just like some people like to come home from work and read, or go for a walk, or go out for drinks, I really do enjoy going to the gym, coming home to feeling physically relaxed, making dinner, popping on the tv, and chilling out.
When Chadd changes jobs, we'll likely move a few of those workouts to the morning so that we can spend time together in the evening. I have four more sessions with Kimina (my awesome awesome awesome trainer), once those are over, I'll probably use that time for more running, then sign up again for another 8 sessions closer to the marathon.
New feature to blog will be food planning. Probably will appear this weekend!
In the mean time, where are you with your fitness goals?
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Weekend of Car Problems
Hello from hot and humid DC...I had intended to spend this Saturday morning getting up early and getting out for my first long run...but in case you weren't aware, we're in the middle of a sever heat wave. It literally says on the weather map "oppressive" across the DC area. I didn't even know that was a category...
Anyway, it doesn't matter anyway because I had to take the car to the dealership at 7:30 for repairs (sigh. $$$$$) and I'm still there right now. It's only been an hour, but it feels like some sort of time warp. And place warp.
I'm not kidding, the guy to my right is drawing some sort of psychadelic butterfly woman with a rainbow background. Not like doodling, either, like full on massive sheet of paper with pastels. Sooner I can go home, the better. There are at least three other people in the room with me who are conversing with the tv. Not in a crazy kind of way, but in the way that they're literally having a conversation with the today show. Example: TV: "If you have an allergy to wheat gluten...it can cause *list symptoms" Person: Mmmmmhmm, sure nuff!
I'm in a real conundrum. I took about a week off of working out. Mostly because this week was hell on wheels at work. Don't get me wrong, unlike my last job, I actually enjoy my work and so it hasn't been horrible, but it's taken a toll on my exercise and sleep time.
But that's not the conundrum. The real reason I've taken a week off is because I really hate running on a treadmill. Really hate it, but it's been too hot to go outside unless I'm up really early, and I've been too tired to do that.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to motivate myself to get up and get out there. I have a marathon AND a Ragnar relay breathing down my neck, so I really don't have a negotiable way out.
Since Chadd's out of town this weekend, I have plenty of time to plan. What do I do well? I plan.
If I ever get to leave the dealership, then I'm going to go home and after some fun time with my weightloss buddy, start doing some planning. I'm going to come up with my meal plans again, I always prefer to do that because it takes all the last minute what to eat guess work out of my nights, especially when making a quesadilla sounds like the only option.
I'm also going to brainstorm things to do instead of running ... maybe it's that I have to go and spend an hour on the bike or cross trainer (x-train), maybe it's that I go swimming at the Y (in this heat? yes please...), or a walk. It's still hot outside, but I could probably manage walking (knowing that I'll likely jog)
So. That was written a while ago, in between then and now, I stopped by the diner next door for food, then walked the mile to Ikea to look for a new solution for our desk (we're getting rid of it, since we never use it...) but we need something to put all the stuff in that was in the desk.
Can I just tell you....it's ridiculously hot outside. I literally was sweating through my shirt walking the mile back from Ikea. I'm sure I looked like a crazy homeless person, walking down the highway, but whatever, better than sitting here in the mechanic's...which is playing some terrible 3-d animated kid's show about dogs that race car.
Okay. Thank God. I'm writing this at 10:45 at night...the car is almost repaired (a long story that isn't worth getting into) and my weightloss buddy and I had a great day at Joann fabrics, crafting, eating pizza, and chatting.
Hopefully I'll actually get my food/workout plans together tomorrow. I'll share them soon, whether it's tomorrow or the day after...or the day after that!
Anyway, it doesn't matter anyway because I had to take the car to the dealership at 7:30 for repairs (sigh. $$$$$) and I'm still there right now. It's only been an hour, but it feels like some sort of time warp. And place warp.
I'm not kidding, the guy to my right is drawing some sort of psychadelic butterfly woman with a rainbow background. Not like doodling, either, like full on massive sheet of paper with pastels. Sooner I can go home, the better. There are at least three other people in the room with me who are conversing with the tv. Not in a crazy kind of way, but in the way that they're literally having a conversation with the today show. Example: TV: "If you have an allergy to wheat gluten...it can cause *list symptoms" Person: Mmmmmhmm, sure nuff!
I'm in a real conundrum. I took about a week off of working out. Mostly because this week was hell on wheels at work. Don't get me wrong, unlike my last job, I actually enjoy my work and so it hasn't been horrible, but it's taken a toll on my exercise and sleep time.
But that's not the conundrum. The real reason I've taken a week off is because I really hate running on a treadmill. Really hate it, but it's been too hot to go outside unless I'm up really early, and I've been too tired to do that.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to motivate myself to get up and get out there. I have a marathon AND a Ragnar relay breathing down my neck, so I really don't have a negotiable way out.
Since Chadd's out of town this weekend, I have plenty of time to plan. What do I do well? I plan.
If I ever get to leave the dealership, then I'm going to go home and after some fun time with my weightloss buddy, start doing some planning. I'm going to come up with my meal plans again, I always prefer to do that because it takes all the last minute what to eat guess work out of my nights, especially when making a quesadilla sounds like the only option.
I'm also going to brainstorm things to do instead of running ... maybe it's that I have to go and spend an hour on the bike or cross trainer (x-train), maybe it's that I go swimming at the Y (in this heat? yes please...), or a walk. It's still hot outside, but I could probably manage walking (knowing that I'll likely jog)
So. That was written a while ago, in between then and now, I stopped by the diner next door for food, then walked the mile to Ikea to look for a new solution for our desk (we're getting rid of it, since we never use it...) but we need something to put all the stuff in that was in the desk.
Can I just tell you....it's ridiculously hot outside. I literally was sweating through my shirt walking the mile back from Ikea. I'm sure I looked like a crazy homeless person, walking down the highway, but whatever, better than sitting here in the mechanic's...which is playing some terrible 3-d animated kid's show about dogs that race car.
Okay. Thank God. I'm writing this at 10:45 at night...the car is almost repaired (a long story that isn't worth getting into) and my weightloss buddy and I had a great day at Joann fabrics, crafting, eating pizza, and chatting.
Hopefully I'll actually get my food/workout plans together tomorrow. I'll share them soon, whether it's tomorrow or the day after...or the day after that!
False Starts
It is so hard to get started back on a routine, isn't it?
I did a lot of great planning this weekend (see last post). I went to the grocery and did a power sweep through the store--bought lots of fresh veggies, stuff for healthy lunches, and good filling snacks. I made a running plan that I'm comfortable with...then last night, the sneaky Sunday night time warp happened.
It's that weird time vortex where one second, it's 9:30 and you're excited that you're going to go to bed before 11, then something happens (I called my mom because I thought I had SO much time to kill before 10:30...) then I looked up at it was 10:30. No big deal, takes me 10 minutes to get ready for bed...I'd still make my mark of before 11.
I was certainly IN bed before 11, but somehow I wasted like 2 hours on the internets and all of a sudden, past midnight.
I knew then that my 6:30 gym time was just not gonna happen. Didn't help that one of the cats is on steroids, and they make him thirsty...and because of course he's the special one and of course, he only drinks water out of the running faucet...so I was woken up twice through the night because he was thirsty. Poor kitty.
So, my gym time didn't happen this morning. It's okay because, unlike most of my days, I actually have time for the gym tonight.
20 minutes on the dreadmill, then 20-30 minutes of weights.
I did a few good things though--my bodybugg subscription recently expired, so I renewed it for 6 months. I'm getting back on this daily, even though I need to be careful of obsessively calorie counting, because with training, I need to keep an eye on my intake and on food trends that might show up in my training/recovery.
I also packed a healthy lunch last night (turkey breast, pita sandwich, carrots, and a beautiful peach from the market) that was ready to go when I woke up late this morning (typical.) It seriously takes 5 minutes to make lunch the night before, I need to make a commitment to just do this.
The thing I don't want to do? Get on the scale.
It's such a headgame because I recognize I've gained a little weight back (I'd guess about 5 pounds), but somehow, I feel like if I don't step on that scale it won't be true? Go figure.
I should take my own advice: "don't obsess on the number because it's one of the least accurate representation of how healthy you are when you're a fairly healthy weight to begin with...and because it can always always change...it just takes time."
So here's to taking time...
Day One, Good to Go
I will never take a week off of running during training season again.
You all know how freakin hot it's been here, so it makes sense that all will power I had totally got zapped as the temperatures rose above 100 degrees.
Last night, I had to get real, so I went to the gym and jumped onto the dreadmill for a 5k. Worst 5k ever (aside from the Wolftrap 5k, which was heinous due to the billion hills). I barely made it alive off the treadmill, then I did a quick set of weights for shoulders, biceps, triceps, chest/back, glutes, quads, and inner/outer thighs. Horrible.
However, I'm glad I did it. The first run back after time off is always the worst; I expect Wednesday's run with my beginner group to be a lot smoother and my Thursday night run to be awesome.
Anyway, I got back in the exercise saddle and hit my caloric burn of just over 2500 (target).
I did a great job with food:
Breakfast:
- protein packed kashi crunch cereal (HIGHLY recommend)
- banana
Snack:
- yogurt
Lunch:
- pita sandwich with turkey, pepper jack cheese, onions, and tomatoes (used our toaster oven to make it melty and crispy
- 100 cal. pack of cookies
Snack:
- 100 cal. popcorn
- Peach
Dinner:
- HUGE salad with homemade dressing (mom--the Karen Otteinger dressing with the Ramen noodle seasoning)
- Radishes with french bread and a little butter
- 1 glass of wine
Calories came in around 1400, which is a bit low for my target (1500). I'll probably make up for it tonight at the BierGarten Haus (mmm), but I'm already planning on the salmon with the herb butter on the side and a big beer.
Tonight is Step, so cross training is a go!
What did y'all do in the heat? Did you keep working out or crap out, like me?
You all know how freakin hot it's been here, so it makes sense that all will power I had totally got zapped as the temperatures rose above 100 degrees.
Last night, I had to get real, so I went to the gym and jumped onto the dreadmill for a 5k. Worst 5k ever (aside from the Wolftrap 5k, which was heinous due to the billion hills). I barely made it alive off the treadmill, then I did a quick set of weights for shoulders, biceps, triceps, chest/back, glutes, quads, and inner/outer thighs. Horrible.
However, I'm glad I did it. The first run back after time off is always the worst; I expect Wednesday's run with my beginner group to be a lot smoother and my Thursday night run to be awesome.
Anyway, I got back in the exercise saddle and hit my caloric burn of just over 2500 (target).
I did a great job with food:
Breakfast:
- protein packed kashi crunch cereal (HIGHLY recommend)
- banana
Snack:
- yogurt
Lunch:
- pita sandwich with turkey, pepper jack cheese, onions, and tomatoes (used our toaster oven to make it melty and crispy
- 100 cal. pack of cookies
Snack:
- 100 cal. popcorn
- Peach
Dinner:
- HUGE salad with homemade dressing (mom--the Karen Otteinger dressing with the Ramen noodle seasoning)
- Radishes with french bread and a little butter
- 1 glass of wine
Calories came in around 1400, which is a bit low for my target (1500). I'll probably make up for it tonight at the BierGarten Haus (mmm), but I'm already planning on the salmon with the herb butter on the side and a big beer.
Tonight is Step, so cross training is a go!
What did y'all do in the heat? Did you keep working out or crap out, like me?
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
More Exciting Things: A Month in the Life of Me
My Trainer Bob inspired me--he has a 4 week program (involving his videos) that you follow with his commentary.
If you give me 1 month, watch what you eat/drink (don't cheat) and do what I'm telling you to do here, I'll show you at least 5 pounds of weight loss. Ready? Sure you are.
Monday:
- Run, jog, or walk for 1 hour. This may also be elliptical, biking, or swimming. If you are walking, keep the pace going. Got some energy? Give me 1 minute of jogging per 2, 3, 4, or 5 minutes of running. Try to spike your cardio at LEAST 1 minute for every 10.
- Stretch
- Drink 3 full bottles of water throughout the day
- Tell yourself one thing that you love about your body. Mine? I love my slight ab definition at the top of my abs.
Tomorrow is group fitness!
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