Friday, February 27, 2009

Mind-Body Connection

I am a strong believer in the power of the mind. You know, Mind over matter/If you don't mind, it doesn't matter/Where the mind leads, the rest will follow/If you can dream it, you can achieve it/be careful what you wish for, etc. There's a very strong connection between what the mind can conjure up, and how the body reacts.

For example. Think of a beautiful, picture perfect lemon. Pretty, isn't it? Now imagine taking a huge bite out of that lemon! Did your face just wrinkle up at the tartness you imagined? That's the mind-body connection in action.

I unfortunately have a really strong connection between the two. In some ways it's good. I've been able to really work on my attitudes towards food, towards exercise, adopting a lifestyle rather than a quick fix "diet". But there's certain issues that seem to make that connection really go wonky.

For instance, I am prone to a bit of anxiety and stress. Always have been, probably always will be, even though I've learned some effective coping mechanisms. Part of that stress is the fact that I internalize things a lot. Granted, put a keyboard in front of me and you'll know my life's story, but otherwise I tend to hold things in...

Yep, you guessed it, it doesn't work too well for me. You can only hold so many things in before some sort of meltdown/explosion happens. But right before that, when my emotional holding tank starts to reach critical mass, it taps into my bodys systems as back up... and, well, backs up everything. Without getting /too/ TMI, it's like my body holds on to every little calorie, ounce of water, bit of fat, etc, like there were no tomorrow. As soon as I either have my meltdown or have some sort of emotion release and let the pent up stuff go, so does my body... sometimes really quickly. It's, well, bleck, but effective. :P

Along the same lines, I'm not so good with change. I've been getting better at it, but I am very much a creature of habit and don't react well to disruptions. I forget things, get flustered, aggravated, etc. My body is totally the same with that. I've realized it's pretty much a given I will gain 3-5 pounds on a trip. Doesn't matter if it's a week, a weekend or over night, my body freaks out. I'm not saying this as a 'oh well, throw in the towel and do whatever on trips' excuse. At home I can rest, or exercise a lot, eat really well, or throw in some indulgent days and my body says "YAY! Variety!" On a trip, I can eat super healthy, or like crap, workout or not, doesn't matter - there's a disruption in the routine so my body holds on to everything like it was gold. [And yes, I do realize that part of the traveling gain is due to eating out/sodium increase.] As soon as I'm home a day or two it's back to normal.

I have been more, well, mindful, of what my body and my brain needs lately, and trying to pay attention to the normal energy cycles that I go through. I'm hoping to be able to short circuit some of these issues by working on my own stress levels and letting go on a more regular basis. :)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I need to be done more often!




This week has been a 'getting back to business' week. I have been so "done" all month and it has really been a big eye opener for me and making me realize that my priorities need to be re-evaluated. Yes, its awesome to have specific goals to work towards, and those can involve specific numbers, like on a scale or my body fat %, but I was starting to ignore the the signals my body was giving me and hyper focusing on tracking/weighing/and doing what ever it took to get to that goal (aka get to my goal weight in MY time frame) at the risk of my own health.

I had a great workout last night with my trainer. I have to admit there were about 50 times during the day that I almost called and said "done! no more. Can't do it." But mostly, I wanted to say, "I feel weak. I'm insecure and have no confidence that I can even do this without bursting into tears. I'm scared." So I did... sort of.

I got there and Steve started his usual banter, "Steph! Lookin' good! How's it going?!"

/My/ usual response is "Lets do this!/Unbelievable/great!"

Yesterday I said, "I'm pooped."

"greaaheywhat?" o_O

We ended up having a nice chat that involved him doing much finger wagging, and reminding me of listening to my body better. When it says "DONE", stop doing things and rest! Not next month, not next week, NOW. Oh, and tell him /before/ we start working out if I'm at that "done" stage.

I then proceeded to have a kick butt workout, and even had a personal best on a couple of the exercises! I commented, "Guess I need to be 'done' more often."

Yeah, it's great to be motivated into action by the physical changes and looking better, and honestly, the far in the future health benefits didn't get me out of bed like looking hot in my wedding dress did. That's what I needed to get moving and to learn how to build healthy habits that will keep me going for the long haul.

I'm realizing now that I've taken the time to build the healthy habits and they fit INTO my life rather than taking over my life, that is what's going to keep me going. If I get sick, I'll get well faster. If I get injured, I'll recover faster. If my hubby wants to go hiking up a huge mountain tomorrow, I can say KEEP UP!

Don't get me wrong, I'm still working on being a total buff trophy wife babeola, I'm just re-thinking my approach.




Technorati : , , , , ,

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Happiness is... A good PR agent!


Looks like the High Fructose Corn Syrup PR folks have a new client: Trans Fat!

::throws confetti::

I saw the commercial for Smart Balance, saying how they have the lowest amount of transfat... /only/ .07 g/serving, which means it's healthy, right?! Combine that with a nice glass of HFCS (in moderation of course) and a schmear of almost transfatty free spread on your enriched & nearly additive free bread and you're set!

Yeah, whatever.

It's really annoying how there's this push to make things that really aren't good for you seem like a reasonable, healthy choice.

But that's really it, isn't it? Choice.

I have chosen to eliminate foods from my grocery cart that contain ingredients that I can't identify, that were created in someone's lab, etc. I have chosen to eat a 'clean' diet that's free of extra stuff that my body can't process and doesn't do anything to promote good healthy.

But there are times when I choose to, say, eat out at a restaurant or at someone's home, and I'm not able to control what they put in the food. And I still choose to add a scoop of Tim Horton's hot cocoa to my coffee once in a while, knowing full well that it's got hydrogenated oil in it.

There may be a time when I find that completely unacceptable, but right now, I'm ok with that. :)

Oh, and Bon Mardi Gras, tout les mondes!!! (hey, my French classes in High School paid off!)



Speaking of choices, I'm soooo tempted to exercise my choice of doing my Mardi Gras duty of having a paczki! It's a tradition that my mom started and I know Bashas' always has at least a few varieties... but also know I'll feel like total poo afterwards from it... *sigh*




Technorati : , , ,

Friday, February 20, 2009

Another *duh* moment




I had another instance of giving someone advice that was really intended for myself. This week has really helped me overall, and the PTB have made sure that I'm getting the message loud and clear. I haven't really sought out any particular information on the 'rest & recovery' thing, but it's definitely found me.

I realized that even career bodybuilders and athletes don't operate at 100% _all_ the time. They do 60% one week, 80% the next, 70%, THEN 100%, only to back down again. It's a push/pull thing to challenge themselves then have some recovery time before pushing really hard, etc. So here are people who's job it is to force their bodies into peak performance, and yet, they understand that it's best to mix up the intensity levels.

So why do *I*, a mere mortal who is just discovering her inner athlete, think that I'm able to operate at a level far above that?

*duh*

Ok, ok, I gets it! LOL!




Technorati : , ,

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Rest & Recovery




I feel like there needs to be a 12-step program for people who are forced into inactivity after finally getting used to all the activity. As one of my lovely commenter's pointed out - it's my 'rest and recovery' time... Nice as it is, I'm sooo itching to get back to working out, but I shall bide my time until I go for a walk on Saturday to get my body moving again... how my lungs act will dictate where I walk.

I think that's been the most frustrating part - my allergies have really kicked in. I've had to use my inhaler 3 times this week, which is 3 times more than in the past 6 months. eeks!

But the interesting thing is that this break has also included a food break of sorts. I'm still mindful of what I'm eating, but instead of tracking every little thing, I've been experimenting with my 'intuitive' eating... using the general portion guidelines and making sure I have a balance of carbs, protein and a little fat with every meal/snack.

Not only have I dropped a pound this week (think by body was just being grateful for the rest! :) I decided to record my food today and I'm smack on where I want to be ratio wise, calorie wise, and the fiber is way higher than I expected it to be. Go me!

This experiment came about because I was starting to feel a bit disconnected from the process. While it's good to use a food log to track what you're eating and identifying trends, I felt like I was relying a little *too* much on it. Sort of like the scale - when you find that you're weighing yourself 3-4 times a day, it's time to back away and let your body do it's thing with out the constant micromanagement.

Apparently, at least for this week, I know what the heck I'm doing. And I've also got my shopping list for the next 2 weeks worth of meals (that's the next experiment - having groceries/meals on hand for at least 2 weeks so I don't have to keep going to the store.)




Technorati : , , , , ,

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Meh


Some days are just more challenging than others. Not sure what's going on but I am feeling so bleh and have no energy, not to mention the fact that everything and every one is annoying right now. I'm even contemplating cancelling the appt with my trainer tomorrow, that's how bleh I feel. I think my sinuses are starting their spring time rebellion. I even had to use my inhaler last night - the first time in at least 6-8 months. And thinking back, I totally blame the walk on Sunday in the wind & chilly weather.


*doh*


I'm trying to feel the love today - I mean, I'm wearing a skirt I haven't worn in ages (and also remembering why I didn't wear it much when it did fit!) and finally fit into the pants that, until this weekend, I considered my nemesis. (these are size 14 linen pants and I swear they're really size 12-13!) so that should be enough to make me jump my happy butt out of bed in the morning and head to the gym, right?


Yeah, not so much, really. The headache, cranky lungs, and achy body are giving me a different message.


I was having a conversation with a friend of mine this weekend about how my body is just frustrating me lately. It's like the stories you hear about people getting those challenges right before a major breakthrough... About how I feel at the moment, and while I don't want to stop, there's minimal oomph to push me right now.


So this week shall be about focusing on rest, on nutrition, and moderate movement...


With that, think I need make a call. Erg.




Technorati : , , ,

Friday, February 13, 2009

It's the little things

When big stuff hits me, it can be easy to either shut down or to completely ignore it. It's huge so it's too hard to take in, ya know? Easily overwhelmed and all that fun stuff. It's usually those simple little things that really knock me through a loop.

I was talking with a friend of mine who is getting more focused on her fitness journey (yay! proud of you, M!) and she was telling me about the rewards she picked for consistency and she picked some good ones.

I keep reading that you should set up rewards for yourself as something to work towards, keep you motivated, etc. Putting your rewards on your goal poster makes it more real, and helps you focus, yadda yadda yadda.

I've tried it a few times but ya know what, never has worked for me. In this conversation with M, I figured out why: I've never had to /really/ work for anything, and it really shows in some of the things I've had to learn and work on as an adult - money management, debt reduction, clutter - both body and house, etc. That realization totally floored me.

Growing up an only child, I always joked about being spoiled but not rotten. If I needed or wanted something, I got it. Though my mom would get really frustrated when we'd go shopping because usually I didn't really ever want anything, and forget about clothes shopping... that loathing started early on... and y'all know how I feel about it now! LOL!

Oddly, while I'm not really reward driven, I'm good with delayed gratification. I'm one of those annoying people who can have a fully wrapped Christmas gift in front of me for weeks and never even shake it to guess what's inside, or can have some of my favorite (non perishable) goodies in front of me and pass them by for days. Or, as is the case now, working my tail off for several months for minimal progress in measurements and on the scale... knowing I'll get there. It may be a reason for why my emotional eating issues were semi-easy to deal with. There's a few that are still hanging on, but they're more manageable than not.

The awesome thing that I'm learning is that it's never too late to learn. No, I didn't learn the goal setting lessons as a kid, but you know what, I'm learning them now. I did see my parents set goals and while there were definite setbacks, there were also achievements. My MK director, bless her heart, banged her head against the wall many times trying to get me to 'get it'... Well, it took many years but I finally see the value and the purpose in it, and it's sticking.

The little seeds that had been planted throughout my life are now taking root, and growing like bamboo!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Thinking about fixing to get ready to get started


In my Mary Kay days, I was soooo excited about my business! I could spend HOURS thinking about all the great things I would do with all the money I would make, and the great team I was going to build and how far I would go and and and… you get the idea.

Know how much money I made and far I got with all the thinking and the planning?

Go on, guess!

Yeah, didn't get very far at all.

It wasn't for lack of information; it wasn't for lack of motivation or excitement; It was because I spent all my time thinking about the end, and then would think about fixin' to get ready to get started… but never did.

Why? I found excuses to not do the work (because that litter box need cleaning and dishes need to be done and that movie ain't gonna watch itself ya know?!). I spent all my brain power thinking about it I was exhausted when it came down to do it. Rather than just doing /something/ I chose to do nothing, then whined about my business not growing. I knew I could be a Director, or even a National Sales Director, and that I could be one of those mad stylin' ladies who were earning $15,000 a MONTH. But I didn't because I never got started. I was waiting for all the lights to turn green at the same time before I got started on my awesome trip to stardom.

Guess what? It never happened.

So, what does this have to do with Tough Love Thursday and weight loss?

Everything!

How many times have you had a great PLAN that you'll start as soon as Monday comes/the first of the year or month comes around/you go shopping/this holiday passes/you get through your cousin's dog's birthday party/you finish reading this or that book/your child (who's 4) graduates from college/etc.? Or you do well for a while, fall off the 'wagon' and then procrastinate about jumping back on. Or you overdo and rationalize it as 'oh, I'll do better next time'.

Here's the real question: What the heck are you waiting for?! Everything to be absolutely perfect? For the rest of the world to disappear so you can do your thing to get skinny, /then/ figure out how to deal with reality?

And here's the Tough Love Truths:

1) There will never, ever, ever be a perfect time to start your journey to lose fat, get healthy and fit.

By postponing your journey, you're postponing your joy. You're allowing your perfectionism and the all or nothing attitude to win, and you make your chances for success even smaller.

2) There will ALWAYS be a party, a birthday, a holiday, etc.

As near as I can tell, most of them are actually planned out and posted on this thing called… oh what is it? Oh yeah, a calendar. Basically, every day is an opportunity for eating; you have to decide which event is important to you, and what's more important: Being in charge of food, or the food being in charge of you.

3) Losing weight is hard work.

I'm not just talking about the physical sweat, either. You will have to work every day on reshaping the way you think about food, about movement, and even harder: how you think and act toward yourself. There will always be crisis', sick kids/parents/spouses/self, there will be work stress, there will be life stress. Life is difficult at best, but we're in it together, and together we are stronger, better, and faster… wait, wrong show… you know what I mean!

4) Losing weight is hard work, but it's not impossible.

It's a long slow process, but the most important thing is to keep your long term goal in mind of being with people you love for a long time and improving your overall heath. It requires baby steps, it requires you to pay attention, it requires you to be proactive rather than reactive, it requires you to plan and it requires you to commit to yourself. But it doesn't require you to do any of those things perfectly, or all at once.

It doesn't mean grueling hours in the gym or giving up your favorite food. It means making a slight attitude shift of knowing WHY you are doing it, and making the decisions of what to do or not to do based on how they impact your goals.

You are worth it!!! You are worth getting to know and you are sooo worth the work that's involved!

Start to live your life as if you're already at you've already reached your goal, as if you're already successful in this journey. Begin your QUEST (Quit Using Excuses Sabotaging Triumph) today... be dramatic! Draw an imaginary line in the sand with yourself and turn moment-to-moment decisions into black and white. When we QUEST there is no wiggle room. Pick one thing you are going to stop doing, then let's go Cold Turkey!

Besides, when was the last time you heard a successful person say, "I should have..."?




Technorati : , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Word of the day Wednesday: Tolerance


I love drama!



Ok, wait... I like to see/read the whole dramatic changes that people go through when they make the decision to turn their lives around, be it losing weight, getting out of debt, cleaning the heck out of their house, totally changing careers, etc. It's powerful, uplifting stuff... till you come across something that makes you wanna smack the person.

Case in point (note: quotes are my own paraphrasing, but it's part of the usual vocabulary for change ;): I was reading about a woman's "transformation". Her "after" photo was amazing! She looked sooo hawt! Musckles popping out. Strong. The picture of health at 125#! I'm reading about her struggle, how she'd "let herself go", and she decided that "enough was enough." She drew that invisible line in the sand and said "No more!" Through trials and tribulations, she saw the path to good health and took it.

I was hearing angels singing and a halo forming around this woman's head... then I read the clincher... at her heaviest weight (it was italicised for extra emphasis on her hugeness) she was (ready for it?) 142 pounds!!!

Oh the humanity!

Wait. What?

Seriously? There's a big part of me that gets really indignant when I read stories like that. I mean, really, 142?! That's it?!?! What does she know about weight struggles? That's less than my goal weight! I've topped out at 218 (at least the highest that I actually saw on a scale...who knows how much heavier I was before that) and would dream of being 'only' 142... that same "shameful" number of this woman.

It then hit me. You can be a "skinny fat" person who starts out wanting to get rid of those stubborn 15#, or you can be a "fit fat" person, who needs to shed 50, 100, 200#. Does it really matter where you start from as long as you get started? Does it really matter what size you are if it makes you feel uncomfortable with yourself and in your own skin?

So instead of getting all uppity, I got the message to step back and put it in perspective. Numbers are just numbers. Where I am now is not quite where I want to be, but to someone else, I may be at their goal weight/look.

It's not about begrudging someone else's success, it's about taking the bits of the message of how they changed their life and incorporating it into mine, and creating my own success story.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr




Technorati : , , , ,

Monday, February 9, 2009

Complements and Choices...


I've commented in the past that I am searching for the 'perfect' snappy comeback for the times when people hit me with the inevitable "You've lost weight!" statement. It bugs me when people comment on it because there's so much more that's gone on for me beyond the physical weight - the emotional and attitude changes, the way I approach exercise, the physical strength I'm building, etc. But then I have to step back - they don't know all that, all they see is what's going on on the outside; the physical transformation which some days is more obvious than others. (Today's one of those days - I had on my favorite skirt and sweater... and there was no way to make it look like I /wasn't/ swimming in it. *sigh* another one for the donate pile.)

*MRSMOOSE really summed it up well with her blog entry. I mean, it's something that I'm just... doing... once it becomes a true habit, a true life style change, it becomes part of who you are rather than something that you're doing for a set purpose.

So I've finally come up with the perfect response: "Thank you." Now if I can come up with a way to deflect the "How much?!" question, I'll be golden. ;)

And I have a feeling I'll be dealing with that question tonight, too. I had a quandary - got an invite from friends I haven't seen in a while to have dinner. I enjoy seeing them, but was a bit annoyed because tonight's my usual weight workout night and I /really/ enjoy those! Ok, I don't enjoy the gym on Monday nights, but still, the musckly strain and sweat... fun! (I'm getting to be one of /those/ people. LOL!) I was very close to saying 'Can't make it' when my very Wise friend pointed out that going the gym shouldn't interfere with my life, it should enhance it.

It's about making choices to spend the time on what's important - yes, my health is very important to me, and getting my body to where I want it to be by the end of this 12 week series is also important. But if I cut out everything and everyone in the process, what's going to be left to enjoy when I come up for air?!

So the choice was made - do a body weight routine at home, go have fun with friends and get over it. :) Now if I could just get a hold of a transporter to allow the hubby to join us, it would be a perfect evening!!




Technorati : , , , , , , ,

Friday, February 6, 2009

If I only had a brain...




The good news is that it only took a bagel yesterday and a Kashi bar w/my smoothie today to get my *bonked* brain back to mostly functional. OMG it was rough going though. It's so weird how a seemingly slight imbalance can effect you for days!

This morning was the worst though - I was worried I'd have to call in clumsy to work because I dropped, spilled, slopped & knocked over pretty much anything I touched, not to mention walking into the same darn wall twice. Gah! Then I had to pay attention/focus enough to take minutes at a meeting this morning. Yeah, whatever. Thank heavens for my little recorder dealy.

Finally starting to feel back to normal, and will continue keep things up so I can kick my own butt tonight at the gym and not fall down or something silly.

I swear there's times when I can do everything I'm supposed to, and the body will decide that it's not. good. enough. As long as I get the full message of who is /really/ in charge, it settles down again. Always a fun learning experience, no?




Technorati : , , , ,

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Why?


"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want." - Zig Ziglar


I've been struggling lately. Here. I signed up and got all my books and started studying for the Personal Trainer certification, and now I have doubts about it. I mean, I'm not near my goal weight, I barely know what I'm doing, I'm doubting my abilities and wondering WHY do I even want to do this? Why am I putting so much time, energy, thought, and money into pursuing this path?



Well, that's the $10M question... or at least, that's what the answer will be worth.

So, what happens when you throw a question like that to the universe? The universe usually gives you your answer, subtly at first, then beats you over the head with it. Hard. Although I figured out that sometimes you need to get really, really pi$$ed off about something to get your mind to focus and get to the heart of the matter.


My beating came from 2 sources:

1) I made the mistake of watching the Biggest Loser this wee. I honestly thought I had taken it off the TiVo (and will be doing so lest I risk a threat of divorce or being hog tied and thrown in the closet when it's on. Honest, honey. :) but there it was being recorded, and I decided to check who was still there, etc. That was when the Ms. M proceeded to hit every button I had to hit to the point that I scared the cats because I was screaming at the TV! I do respect what she has to say in terms of motivation and helping people get through emotional issues once and for all. That part rocks and I know she learned a lot of it from her mom, which is way awesome. The rest, she needs to just stop because it's crap. Yes it makes for goodtv , yes it has a small grain of truth in it, but it's crap. Just motivate people and make your people do crazy things in the gym but stop with the rest. Seriously.




I know that people totally idolize her, and that scares me. It's the fact that she may be the only fitness 'expert' that people ever see, and she may inspire or scare people away from working with a personal trainer/coach, and if they take her word as law... yeah, it just scares me.




2) I read my friend Ramona's amazing blog entry about food. It really drove home a) how far I've come in my overall relationship with food, and b) how the whole 'diet' mentality really forces unhealthy attitudes towards food. In the world of weight loss, there are so many articles on how to eat 'healthy', learn to love it, 'banish cravings', 'get rid of the junk', etc. One of the blogs that I enjoy reading is Pasta Queen - this woman literally lost more than 1/2 her body weight through changing the way she ate and exercising. She went from a total sedentary life to running marathons! Amazing!!! but she still is battling her fooddeamons. I've seen/read so many stories where someone has lost a huge amount of physical weight, but is still weighed down by food issues.




There's the other half of that same coin - the new converts that have no tolerance for people who don't eat healthy all the time, that haven't jumped on their bandwagon and/or are trying to force their lifestyle on other people.




It really goes to show me that they haven't actually learned anything. They've adopted a narrow view of how things should be and have an unhealthy attitude towards food. It's either good or bad in their minds, rather than it just being food. Behind it all there is always the fear that, on a bad day, with the stars misaligned, they'll meet their trigger food(s) in a dark alley and there will be no hope for them.



THESE are the reasons WHY I want to continue the path I am on. I am far from perfect, but I have learned a lot along the way - hello, still dealing with hypothyroid, PCOS, and probably the onset of menopause. Whee for me! I feel that I have a skill set to help cut through the crap, get down to solid nutrition, goal setting, efficient exercise, working through issues, etc., and allow people to live a healthy life. Heck, maybe learn to love themselves in the process. Yes, it's more touchy feely than me screaming at someone in the gym, but seriously?! Who does that help? I'm all for tough love, but that's just... well, tough.




And as the quote says, if I can help other people, it helps me live the life I want to live. I love to share what I know, to learn new things and to work with people that want to be better people. I've got a lot of big dreams, and want to see them grow.




So, my friends, that's why I am going to be studying like a mad woman for the next several months and workin' my tail off at the gym (barring any future BONK episodes! eesh! :)

BONK!




Yeah, that was me last night. Learned the joy of why it's important to eat several small meals throughout the day rather than a HUGE lunch and rely on the full feeling in your belly to carry you though an hour long intensive workout.

*BONK*

If you're not familiar with it, the best description I read of it is that it's pretty much a food fight. Your body is fighting with itself to get that last bit of glycogen in your system and can cause the brain to go 'done' (which happened in my case) or worst case, seeing Thing 1 & Thing 2 run circles around you while you take the road up on its offer to be a comfy bed...

So yeah. That was fun, and spend most of today trying to make nicey-nice with my blood sugar and the rest of my system without going too far overboard.

Love getting those lessons, especially when I start to get a bit cocky about my abilities. Yeah.

(oh, and Hubby... if you're reading this... surprise! Love you! :)




Technorati : , ,

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Active Rest Weekend


"Life is not static; it is dynamic. Whether we like it or not, our tomorrows will be different from our todays. "
W.L. Barth


So, yeah... was an interesting weekend. I rested, but yet didn't. It was awesome! It was actually a little scary how easy it was to not rush to the gym, or get myself ready to do pilates or whatever at home. But I totally enjoyed the down time. Caught up on BSG, cuddled with the kittens, read and was pretty much passed out by 11-ish. My body was grateful as well as the scale reflected a happy number too. (it was gone after Sunday's Football Fondue fest, but that's another story!) Saturday I decided to go do the River walk for about 40-45 minutes at whatever speed I walked. I had to keep holding myself back because I kept wanting to pick up the pace but I enjoyed myself none the less. The rest of the day, not so much. Apparently I kept pushing a wee bit to hard and the PTB decided to pull out the big guns and gave me several "Slow the frack down" messages that I finally got. I sliced my thumb open, almost dropped a knife point down on my foot (just missed on the drop /and/ the bounce.. .*whew*) then almost burned myself making dinner. When I knocked a bottle of chocolate milk on the floor and it went everywhere I finally took the hint. Parked myself on the couch the rest of the night. :)


Sunday was a lot of fun - was the Hubby's b-day and a great party with friends... if only the Cardinal's had gotten the memo they were supposed to win the game it would have been fantastic. I swear, moment's of indecision and hesitation lost that game... think there's a life lesson there?! Most likely. :) But there was much food and drink to console ourselves. Ooof.


Went back to the gym yesterday morning, and it was a little rough going but still did pretty well with the cardio. HATED going last night - I swear it's like amateur night from 5-7 on Monday nights at the gym! But I went... found a small corner - really small since the weight 'cage' was packed! - to do my strength stuff and am happily sore for it today.


So the lesson learned - it's ok to take a weekend off, and will come back all the better for it. Looking forward to the next one in about 6 weeks. That'll put me at week 12 of this series, so I can bask in my successful battle against the belly flab and plan my next attack.


*doh* forgot to take my 1st of the month progress photos. Must do that tonight!!!




Technorati : , , , , , , ,

Monday, February 2, 2009

January wrap-up & Plan for Feb


Wow! It's already February!?!?! Where did the month go?!

Well, apparently it went by fast and fabulously furious. Here's my wrap up from the month:

Weight: 167.4 (Down 3.8#)

BF: 30.54 (down 1.8% which works out to a little over .3% a week. This is based on the accumeasure and can change based on what results my trainer gets on Wed. eeps.)

My measurements (these are pretty subjective in general)

Chest- 40" (-.5")
Neck- 13.25" (-.5")
Waist 1 - 4" above belly button: 34.5 (-1.0)
Waist 2 - at belly button: 38.5 (-.5... apparently this will be the site of the final fat battle! LOL!)
Hips - 41 (-1.0)
Inner thigh - 23 (-1.0)
Calf - 15 (+.5 and I sooo need to take a photo of my calves and the spiffy definition)
Bicep - 11.5 (-.5)

So overall, seems to finally be showing some changes!

My plan for a fabulous Feburary:

-Continue to eat at 40% Carb/30% Protein/30% Fat
-3 HIIT/2 Moderate Cardio workouts a week
-3 days of strength training a week - 1 day with the trainer
-Body Measure 1st of March, BF measure 2/14. I'm getting a bit too frustrated doing BF% measurements weekly because I don't feel I can see 'enough' of a change so I'm going to hold back a bit and do it every 2 weeks.




Technorati : , , ,