16 June 2012

Success



Down 1.8 lbs this week!! That is definitely success. I was hoping to just maintain since I was a little off kilter this week. I was not expecting this. But, as the quote says, success is the sum of small efforts. So even though I didn't workout as much as I wanted and I ate some things I shouldn't have, the small things that I did right worked. Awesome.

I had a thought last night, I had been taking Osteo Bi-flex for about 4 months because of my horrible joints. A couple of weeks ago I ran out and I had thought I'd stop taking it - I had a reason for stopping but I can not remember it now. Anyway, I stopped. Since then I've had some aches and pains in my joints. Now I've also kicked up the workouts so the aches and pains could be from that. Or it could be a combination of the two. Hmmmm....I wonder. Maybe I should start taking it again and see if it helps.

Today is going to be another busy Saturday. I'm heading to the gym this morning, I'm definitely doing Body Pump but I'm debating on Zumba. I could run instead and since that's what I really want to do, maybe I'll do that. Then I'll do Body Pump.  Hmmm....decisions, decisions....... Then this afternoon there is a reception at the Hawaiian Humane Society that I've been invited to. That will be fun,  I get to go see all the doggies.....

So the good news from yesterday, which I believe I never wrote about, was that I registered for the Great Aloha Run.  They had their first festival downtown yesterday from 11-1 and since I was done teaching at 11, Amber and I headed down there. It was a lot of fun.  They had a 1/2 mile walk around the park it was in and there were stations along the way that gave out things; hand sanitizer, sunscreen; lip balm; stress balls; etc.  The Great Aloha Run is sponsored by Kaiser and so they weave in healthy living into the whole things. At the very end of the walk they gave out little Subway sandwiches....sweet!!!  They also had booths where you could test your sunglasses (Amber's cheap-o's were as good as my expensive ones), see the sun damage to your skin, get your bodyfat measured, things like that. It was good fun and I'm glad I got a chance to go. Usually these are held while I'm teaching and there is no way for me to make it.  Finally.

So that's that for now. I'm off to get ready to head out to the gym. In spite of myself I lost weight this week, time to get back on track and work at it..

15 June 2012

Hold on, it's getting bumpy



I knew this would happen and I'm trying very hard to keep things in perspective and not let them spin out of control. On Monday I hurt my foot. It's nothing new, something I've dealt with for years, but it happened and it hurt. Bad. I immediately dug out my orthotics and put them in and they are most definitely helping. But, after Tuesday's workout when I was nearly in tears from pain, I decided it would probably be wise to rest a little. Well, it has been good for my foot, but as I wrote in my last post, exercise for me is more about the mental game. My workouts serve as a reminder of exactly what I'm doing and help keep me on track food wise. Since I didn't workout Wednesday, Thursday, and today, things have been a little bit wonky. Nothing terribly serious, I just need to keep it in check. Oh right, let's not forget the absolutely killer heat and humidity we've had this week. That makes me feel like a limp noodle that does not want to move. So it's been a little bit tough. I'm hoping to have maintained my weight from last week and not gone up. It hasn't been horrible, I'm talking a little ice cream one night, and some pretzels yesterday. Nothing crazy just not what I want to be doing. Tomorrow morning I'm heading back to the gym for Zumba and Body Pump. I need to push myself and I need to feel that workout high.

I did, however, get some computer problems straightened out. I needed a VGA cable for my monitor and some hp batteries for my laptop. I need to take a picture of my office and post it. There are now more computers in here then dogs. And there are a lot of dogs......

13 June 2012

It's the mental part...

I read a lot of articles about fitness, nutrition, weight loss, etc. I find them mostly interesting and I'm always open to learning new things. A couple of days I read an article about weight loss and how it's all about the diet. The basic argument, and I'm paraphrasing a whole lot, was that exercise is not that important and you have to focus on your diet in order to really lose weight. As I read that I was thinking about some videos I had seen a year or two ago. The trainer was trying to make the point that diet was more important then exercise and he set up a demonstration. Basically he worked out while another guy ate pizza. The pizza eater counted how many calories he ate and the guy working out then figured how long he would have to work to burn the calories off. So the pizza guy ate a slice in like 2 minutes and the exerciser calculated that he would have to work out for 20 minutes to burn it off - or something like that, you get the idea. After seeing those videos I agreed and really tried to focus on what I eat. I think that was the beginning of my clean eating routine. So as I'm reading the article yesterday, I'm thinking about those videos and the lack of success I had focusing on just diet. That's when it occurred to me, you have to watch your diet closely because you can't work off what you eat, but exercise is important for other reasons.

When I work out it does things to me that have nothing to do with burning off calories. It makes me feel good. The more I workout the easier it is for me to follow a clean eating plan. The more I workout the more confidence I have that I can do this. I increase my body confidence. I feel more energetic and want to do things. Exercising sets me up mentally so that I can focus on eating. I think that what you eat is far more important then your workout, but you need to get out there and move too. It does things that no amount of food can.

12 June 2012

Consistency



Really is the key. Just keep on truckin' and things will happen. I have been keeping myself on track and it's getting easier and easier to stay there. Today I went to the gym and did a strength workout on my own. Now, I have to tell you, I am very intimidated in the gym. I am. I can do cardio on every machine they have and not think twice, but strength. Yikes!!!But I did it. I followed the program the trainer had me do last week and I just did it. So very, very proud of myself. In just a week I've gained some strength. The weights from last week were light. I didn't increase them because I thought I might be wrong. But I"m not. So next week the weight goes up....

That's all I did today though. My foot is hurting and I'm not sure why, so I decided to take it easy. I'm walking a little funny and it's starting to affect my knee. That is bad. Tomorrow I'm going to put my orthotics in my shoes. I have not worn them in months.

Okay, off to log my food and see how much I burned today.

11 June 2012

Back on track



Before the train derails completely. Looking over the past couple of days, my calorie burn has been pretty good. Friday it was 2388, Saturday - 3016, and yesterday it was 2107. My goal is to burn 2350 a day and eat 1350 for a deficit of 1,000 calories a day which leads to 2 pounds a week. Or so. With Saturday's extreme activity levels I ended up eating more then I should, I'm sure, and yesterday I was tired. Just tired, so I took it rather easy. I did some furniture refinishing but that was about it. So today it's time to get back on track before I veer off course entirely.

For this week, I want to track all my meals and hit my 2350 calorie burn everyday. That's all I'm going to focus on this week. Today is a holiday here in Hawaii so I'm going to take advantage of it. I'm going to work on my refinishing project a little, go to the gym for Zumba and do my couch to 5k workout for the day. Then it's prep for classes this week and work on the thesis..... Okay, I'm off....

10 June 2012

A real rant....



Here is an article that tells about Weight Watchers endorsing some of McDonald's foods. When I initially read about this I thought it was no big deal since when I was on Weight Watchers I would go to McDonald's once in a while. But the more I thought about it the angrier I got. McDonald's?!?!?!? Really?!?!?!? Now granted this is happening in New Zealand and not the US, but still. (Completely off topic, Zealand is not in spell-check!!!) I have a strong dislike of politicians and government trying to regulate what we eat. New York recently banned the sale of soda over 16 oz. Stupid. There are refills and you can buy more then one. The whole idea is just ridiculous. I hate the idea of trying to regulate and think that money and effort would be much better spent on education. Instead of telling people they can't drink a 32 oz soda, show them how much sugar is in that soda. Have a list of problems associated with drinking that much sugar regularly. Education not regulation. On the flip side of the regulation coin is the endorsement side. I've lost faith with Weight Watchers over the years anyway because their system used to promote more processed food than whole food. In the last few years it's changes and you are no longer penalized for eating fruits and veggies. But to endorse McDonald's?? Really??? By putting the Weight Watchers logo on McDonald's advertising people will get the idea that it's healthy. IT'S NOT!!!!! Yes, eating it once in a while is probably not going to kill you, but there are people who will use the WW logo as an excuse to eat it all the time. There are people who live on WW frozen meals even though they are highly processed and fairly tasteless. Yes, I used to eat them but I learned about them and stopped. See, education is really what is needed. People are basically pretty dumb and have no desire to look further then the surface. People will see the WW logo, not even really think about just go "oh, WW approves it must be good" This is just so, so, so wrong.......

Yesterday



turned out to be an awesome, activity filled day. I started the day by heading out to Zumba. I have done Zumba before and I'm not a huge fan of it, but I've never really given it a serious try. So I'm going to. I'm going to go once or twice a week and see if it grows on me. After Zumba my friend was teaching BodyPump so I decided to stay for that. So that's 2 hours of working out yesterday morning. I came home, showered, grabbed a sandwich because I was starving, and headed out to the Challenge Nation Scavenger Hunt. I met a group of friends at Gordon Biersch, we had a beer and then the race began. It was a race through downtown Honolulu and we had to find locations based on clues, and take pictures there. It was good fun. But we were running around, and I mean running, downtown Honolulu between 1-2pm, the hottest part of the day. We were sweating bullets....Afterwards, we came in 26th out of 145 teams, we sat and I had a root beer and some guava sorbet - Awesome!!!! I came home, took another shower, and pretty much vegged the rest of the night. It was a great, fun-filled day.

Right after the race, I was not hungry and I should have been. But this is how my body works, when it's working right. After an exertion or workout, I will not be hungry and in fact will be slightly nauseous. This doesn't last long, depends on how long I was exerting myself. For instance, after the hour scavenger hunt I did not get hungry till about 5pm. Yes, I did have a root beer and a sorbet but considering how many calories I burned, that snack was nothing. But around 5pm I started to get hungry, really, really hungry. The interesting part, and again a way I know my body is beginning to function properly, is that it is not your normal hunger. This is a deep, almost cellular, hunger. While I was extremely hungry I did not want anything that was easy - translation: crap. I could have run to Jack-in-the-Box or Burger King, but that was not what I wanted. I wanted good, wholesome food that was healthy. I was dying for an apple but we were all out. I ended up making a homemade hamburger helper dish. Organic ground beef, peppers, onions, pasta, and a little cream of chicken soup. It was awesome, filling, and exactly what I wanted. Perfect. There is a rule of thumb in the dieting world, if you think you are hungry but don't want to eat an apple, it's head hunger not stomach hunger. Well, for me when I'm working out and eating right, the reverse is true. If I'm deeply hungry, I won't want any crap, only good whole food. Interesting that the more I take care of my body the more my body wants to be taken care of.

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...