Have you got your race on?

I am signed up for two 5k races in a week.  Eight days actually.  I'll be running (ha!  I use that term loosely!) in a Turkey Trot to support Chloe's Sunshine Playground and I'll also be doing the Santa Run which supports community holiday events.

Yeah.  I haven't run since my last 5k the end of September.  I'm not expecting my best time or even close to it.  I'm expecting to finish and that's about it.  Since this Saturday the high is supposed to 31* and it is supposed to snow ... finishing sounds good enough to me!

I had a sister-in-law blog about finishing her first ever race, a half-marathon, this weekend.  I felt a twinge of jealousy.  Why am I not doing a half-marathon like her?  Why is her time so much better than I could ever do?  Why doesn't her hair looked messed up at all in those pictures?  Doesn't she sweat?

Then I came back to my reality ... I don't really like running!  Ha!  Why would I want to run for 2 hours straight?  I'm ready to be done 20 minutes in to my 5k races because I'm bored, especially if I don't have something interesting on my iPod.   I do sweat.  I do look ruffled and like I just ran a race when I finish.  But I do the races.

I do the races to force myself to stay physical.  It gives me a goal.  I need that goal.

Someday I'll make a goal to run a 5k in a truly respectable time, but for now, just finishing is good enough for me.

Should I try running in my snow boots on Saturday?

-Cindy

The Pinocchio Workout

Today I decided to try something new.

It's been difficult to get into my routine.  The kids are halfway through their first quarter of the school year and I just can't seem to get it together.

So today I just started all over again, with a fresh new start.....

A new class at the gym at a new time.

I decided to check out the AquaFit class.  It's a cardio and weight resistance class in the pool.  It sounded fun and would be a great chance to recharge my routine. 

So I walked into the pool area and found 18 other people in the water just beginning their warm ups.

I was younger than all of them by at least 40 years.

I inwardly groaned because, come on, I've been squatting pretty impressive weights in the Pump class.  I've been jumping and running in the sports' inspired class.  I've been kicking and punching imaginary enemies and slicing pirates in my Combat class.  What the heck would a class catering to old people have to offer?

But my entire body will tell you, it is a deceptively hard-core class.  What I've deemed "The Pinocchio Workout."  It's deceiving.

I'm actually looking forward to this class.  It should give me something new and challenging to do.

I think this might be fun after all.

-Shelly

Startup

Yesterday my health care provider approved me for starting up an exercise routine. Today I paid my opening gym fees and got on an elliptical machine for the first time in more than a year. I know what I have been capable of; and today was hard. I went at about 2/3 of the pace that was once my "easy" pace. I was really whooped after 20 minutes and pushed myself to go for 30.

It is hard to start a new good habit. It is hard to change lifestyle, and it is hard to take the first step in a good, worthy, change-making goal.

For me, anyway, it's hard.
You?
What successes have you had in making new changes? Feel free to brag and congratulate yourself.
What helps push you through from "hard" to "habit?" Feel free to share.

I draw on my healthy supply of stubborn.
I reflect often on my motivation.
And I turn to my support. I love having a workout buddy in the gym with me; but right now I go alone... so in lieu of an on site workout buddy, I'm calling to all you.

Pat me on the back, brag about your own work - whatever the goal, and pass around the encouragement.

Weekly Goals

Okay, so it's that time of the week to realize that the weekend is over and it's time to get serious again.

Really, I think long term goals are important and necessary.  But they can't be fulfilled without the accomplishment of smaller, more manageable goals.  I encourage you to think of those things that you want to do in the long run: lose weight, eat healthily, not gain too much pregnancy weight, sleep more, etc. 

I've been trying to get back on the weight loss wagon, but I seem to lose steam by the end of the week.  I'm hoping if I have a forum to report to, I might be more conscientious of how I spend every day and what I do (or don't do).  If I will help me, maybe it can help you too.

What do you want to accomplish this week?  Just think of one goal that will help you feel good/healthy/invigorated.

This week I plan to exercise AT LEAST four times.  That includes running and/or videos.  I don't have a gym membership.  And until they are free and a lot closer to my house, I probably will continue my makeshift exercise programs for a long time.

What do you hope to do this week?

Hey! A New Post!!

That's right. After nearly two months of silence, the Bloggest Loser is active again.

I've thought about posting several of the health issues I've dealt with over the last several weeks:

Eating well during pregnancy
Depression eating
Controlling portion sizes during the holidays
Healthy alternatives to holiday cookies and chocolates

Can you tell which aspect of health I've been struggling with lately?

So here it is, a new year.  Time for resolutions.  So far, I've kept my food journal and actually been kind of low in my calorie intake.  I'm going to have to bump it up a little. 

I also started exercising again.  It's been a while.  I pretty much quit running after the two 5k's I did at Thanksgiving.  So now my muscles are screaming at me.  But it's the satisfying, "I HURT SO GOOD!" kind of way. 

And here we are.  I look forward to starting this blog back up again.  I've got some recruits to help me keep things going.  I think it's going to be a beautiful thing!

Bloggest Loser Day 22 and Weekly Check In

I'm a little late this week.  Sorry about that.  I had no internet over the weekend and by the time we got home from my dad's house Sunday night, I nearly went straight to bed!!  That rarely happens.

Anywhooo...

Pam won the weigh in with a loss of 1.68%!!

Two weeks in a row, Pam!  You're doing something right!!

I have yet to officially weigh in for this week.  I was doing my weigh ins on Fridays, but I got a new toy last week and I set it up on Tuesday, so that is my new weigh in date since it won't let me weigh in any earlier than that.

It's a Bodybugg.  Like the one they use on The Biggest Loser.  You can get it at 24 Hour Fitness.  I'm loving it.  I track my food on the BB (Bodybugg) website, just like I was before, but my calorie output is constantly monitored.  I'm still in my programming stage.  After the first week it will be easier to figure out what my goal calories burned should be and that will dictate what my calories in should be.  I've been burning around 3000 calories a day.  It's been really fun to see.  There's a grid of how many calories I burn each hour.  You can see the spikes: when I run, when I grocery shop, when the kids get home from school, when I lift weight, when I do the dishes.  I like it.  It cost a pretty penny, but Josh justified that it costs less than sending me to the ER again because I don't know what my body is actually doing.  Josh is so good to me.

So, I'll be posting my weight loss in the comments section with everyone else. 

Goals for this week: Run, eat well, GO TO BED BEFORE 11PM, and drink lots of water.

How did you do this week?  Any good news?  Anything to vent about?  New goals?  Did you accomplish your goals from last week?  What do you think of the new Biggest Loser season?  So many people affected by deaths this season!  But the story that got me the most was the mother who had to take her daughter to the hospital because she didn't eat so she wouldn't end up overweight like her mother.  I bawled.  That one hits close to home.  I love my mom, but I've always worried about being overweight like her.  And I have three daughters.  It's a cycle I don't want to continue.

Anyway, tell me how you did and I'll post my loss on Tuesday!

Go Here for the weight lost calculator.

My (Birthing) Plateau Story

I think that anytime you do some life-altering event, people are always willing to support you. And help you, if needed. And offer lots of advice.

I've come to discover that getting healthy is like going through labor.... there is conflicting advice about everything. Everyone wants to share their successes and their horror stories. And their 1 in a million event that only they have ever experienced. Sometimes the water breaks, sometimes labor is induced. Some go all natural, some get as many drugs as possible. It's all so different for everyone.

But the other day Crisanne brought out a good point. How do you get past a plateau?

This is a good question. One I've been reading/thinking/asking/researching a lot about. It's something I dread happening again. How to we avoid or overcome it?

So here's what I've discovered either has worked for me or several different sources seem to agree with. It's my own birthing story, if you will, of how to get past a plateau.

FUEL

First and foremost, make sure you have enough fuel for your body. This is the part that I have the most questions about. Five small meals? Three regular meals and a snack? No snack? Big breakfast? Big lunch? How many calories? How many carbs, protein or fat? How do you eat healthily but keep the kids satisfied too? Can my grocery bill afford it?

I thought I had all this figured out until I got sick last week. I'm trying a few new things. I've decided to start using Calorie Count from about.com. You set up your personal information and it takes into consideration your activity level and fitness goals. I did read the best advice about how much to eat at which times of day: everyone is different, find what works for you. Your lifestyle, schedule, and physical demands are different than others'.

STRENGTH TRAIN

Here's something I didn't know.... Your body protects its fat. Simply said, your body will get rid of excess muscle before it will use its fat to burn fuel. So, you have to use and develop your muscles so your body will revert to burning fat. Plus, muscle will help your metabolism function much better.

Don't worry about getting all huge and buff. Just learn how to gain the type of muscle you want. Heavy weight with fewer reps will give you muscle mass. Lower weight with higher reps will give you long, lean muscles.

MUSCLE CONFUSION

Your body is always trying to find stabilize itself. That's why we get plateaus in the first place. One thing we can try is confusing our muscles. Alternate workouts. If you do a lot of running, add some swimming in there. Alternate videos. Try a different time of day. If you always workout in the morning, your body begins to prepare for your workout before you even change into your workout clothes. Let your body think it's going to work out and begin getting hyped up for it, but trick it by exercising in the afternoon instead. It'll burn more calories throughout the day. Tricky, eh?

Don't get stuck in a rut with the same old thing all the time. Try a new what, when, where, or how.

RECOVER

I read that you want to take in carbs and protein 15 to 60 minutes after your workout. You want the protein for your muscles and the carbs to keep up your energy.

Are you getting enough vitamins and minerals from your diet? Do you need a multi-vitamin? Mostly likely, a vitamin will be sufficient and you don't need to run out and get whey or something similar.

Get enough sleep. Josh brought up a good point. If you are the perfect Molly Mormon Momma and you fulfill your calling, and take the kids to soccer/band/mutual/Scouts/piano, and you work out twice a day, and you make love to your husband seven days a week (his example, remember), and you care for your garden, etc, you will still hit a plateau and stop losing weight if you are only getting five hours of sleep a night.

Hydrate yourself. I don't know that many of us can confidently say that we get enough water every single day. We need to replenish the water we've lost while sweating but also flush out all the impurities.

So, those are the things I've decided may be helpful. At least for me. Remember, every body is different. And adding a strength training routine may take a couple of weeks to see results. Muscle weighs more than fat (yadda, yadda) and adding muscle will change your inches a little. At least at first.

Maybe see if any of these things are worth trying. Give it a few weeks. And hopefully we'll all get through the plateau periods somewhat easily.

Bloggest Loser Day 14 and Weekly Check In

So much to report.......

First of all,

Pam won the weigh in with a loss of 2.3%!

Congrats, Pam! Glad your foot is finally feeling better!!

So let's get down to business.

This week was a major lesson learned. MAJOR. I ended up losing a mere 1.01% of my weight. Better than last week, and over 1%, so hooray. But after the week I had, I'm just happy I lost anything at all.

Yes, it was my birthday and I had a lot of good food. Hopefully I'll get the details about that on my other blog soon.

But beyond that, it was the trip to the ER that rattled me. Long story short, after a few days of breathing problems (every 4th breath was a conscientious deep inhale and I often felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen, like a yawn that isn't satisfying), I had Josh take me to the doctor on Wednesday afternoon because I had shortness of breath. I was worried that I had some sort of respiratory problem. I ended up with an IV of fluids, chest x-ray, CAT scan, EKG, blood work, and oxygen. Luckily, there were no clots or growths in my lungs. Everything looked healthy, except for my sodium bicarbonate level. It was very low. The doc thought I might be dehydrated since I was experiencing a metabolic acidosis, but I had no other symptoms.

It took a while, but we finally figured out (Josh figured it out, have I ever mentioned how amazing he is?) that I probably had ketoacidosis. What are these words I'm using? I had no idea.

Basically, I was keeping to my recommended online food journal, but the website doesn't take into account the person's activity level. I was eating 1200 to 1550 calories/day. My body wasn't getting enough fuel to run off of. Now, you want a deficit in your calories in order to burn fat, but when you don't get enough fuel you burn fat, muscle, and you begin to keep too much acid within your body.

In my case, the way my body dealt with trying to expel the extra acid was by breathing in more O2 and breathing out more CO2 (carbon dioxide is acidic, oxygen is the alkalotic buffer). The plan to fix it: eat more calories. It's taken me two days of eating anything I want (Italian food, cake, etc) and I'm finally breathing normally again.

I want to tell you about this for one main reason:

ARE YOU EATING ENOUGH????

You want to keep your food in control, but are you getting enough? I did a lot of research after getting home from the ER Wednesday night. It seems pretty agreed that with my rigorous exercising, I should have been eating at least 1700 to 1800 calories a day. Do you know your magic number?

As far as my goal to drink more water than Crystal Light (and then trying to cut out diet drinks altogether), I did pretty well.

Now that my eating is back in order and my breathing is almost completely back to normal, I have a lot of the same goals: eat enough, keep up my exercise, and drink LOTS of water. Oh, and watch The Biggest Loser this Tuesday. Hooray for season premiere week!

So, that was my lesson this week. Did you learn anything new this week? Did you accomplish your goals? What new goals do you have for this week. How'd your weight loss go? (Go HERE for the calculator.) Trials? Successes? Tell me all about your week!

A Letter to Me

There are some fun movies and songs out there than talk about going back in time. Some are do-over movies like 17 Again. Some are about time travel like Back to the Future. There's a song out by Brad Paisley talking about if he could write a letter to his 17-year-old self, he'd say all these different things.

I don't know that I'd write a letter to myself at 17. I got through high school just fine, with some minor heartaches. But who didn't?

Now, I might write a letter to myself from 10 years ago.

It would go something like this:

Hey, I know you're happily married and recently discovered that you are having your first baby. That's so great. You will be very happy.

Just do me a favor, would you? Do more Kegels, please. Jumping jacks suck.

Thanks, Me

The Bloggest Loser Day 7 and Weekly Check In

Here it is. Another week has passed and it's time to pull out the Honesty. How did this week go? Did you accomplish your goals?



It's also time for our first official weigh in. Go HERE for the Weight Loss Percentage Calculator. And prepare to share.

This week I accomplished my goal of registering for the Bone Marrow Drive. It's a huge commitment. You are put in the registry until the age of 61. Amazing, isn't it? But I think they said only 1 out of 20,000 people match. I did the easy part with the cheek swab. Now it's up to the database to do the rest.


I also worked out pretty hard this week. I did my running (including the extra run last night), I did my work out video 6 days, I kept my food journal and (mostly) kept on it. Still, I only lost .25% of my weight this week. Yup. That's half a pound. I've also been taking my measurements. Somehow I still lost half an inch in my bust, a full inch in my waist, and gained a half an inch in my hips. My body is shifting and changing, but that scale didn't move. I admit, I got really upset about it. Then I went and found THIS ARTICLE. I encourage you to take a look at it. It talks a lot about weight being deceiving and an unreliable resource for measuring weight loss.

The article encourages you to find out your body fat percentage. You can use an online tool HERE. ****Warning**** This tool places you in categories of Essential Fat, Athlete, Fit, Normal, and Obese. I'm no longer obese according to my weight, but I am according to my body fat. So be aware. It really sucks to see yourself in the Obese category!! But even with my gain in my hips, I lost .5% of my body fat last week. That's awesome.

After reading about all of this, I think we'll keep the traditional weight loss percentage winner, but instead of having a winner for the most inches lost, we'll have a winner for the most body fat lost. Or do you want to do both inches and body fat lost? That would be a potential of three winners. Chime in and tell me your opinion.

So here it is. Leave your percentage of weight lost. And your body fat lost, if so desired. Was this week easy? Harder than you thought? Are you hopeful? Or just plain discouraged. Btw, if you're discouraged, hang in there with us. This will all be worth it in 83 more days!!

And for anyone not Bloggest Loser-ing with us (and those that are), what goals do you have this week? Mine include all I've been doing plus drinking more water than Crystal Light.

My Workout Buddy

Today was the first day that I tried to do a video after running.

Oy.

It was only in the low 90s this morning as I did my Couch to 5k. I'm on w4d2. It was cloudy and actually kind of cool outside (Monday when I ran it was about 10 degrees hotter out) yet I was tempted to stop and walk during some of my running time. I didn't know what was wrong with me, until I realized that I was running at a faster pace than I had on Monday without the stroller. What was up with that? Millie and I had a great time in the cooler weather. Then we came home and I did the strength training workout from Power 90. You know, the forerunner for P90X. I'm a bit old-school.

But every time I turn on the dvd player, Millie is right there trying to work out with me. She does squats really well. She also gets on all fours and blows her breath out really hard through her mouth. These are her push ups.

Today she was stretching with me.

Notice her lack of a shirt. That's because when I get done running my gross, sweaty cotton t-shirt comes off. Don't worry I still have my sports bra on. And it's my house and I think I can run around in my underwear if I want to. But, Millie see, Millie do.

Of course, Millie's cuteness is the best part of my workout. Maybe I'll be as cute as her in about 90 days or so.

Weekly Check In

It's Week 3 Day 1 of my Couch to 5k program. This morning I was joined by my sister Tara for my run. It wasn't bad. I was a little nervous to run more than 90 seconds at a time. My knees have been threatening to begin the overwhelming pain they gave me last year when I tried running. But I did pretty well. Tara did really well, especially since it was her first run in a while. We made it back and survived. If you can imagine that.

I kept to my goals this last week. I kept running like I was supposed to. I worked out twice during the week. And I kept my food journal. New challenge is to make sure I'm getting enough food because I've noticed that I'm starting to cut too much out. Sometimes finding that balance is tough. The good news: I lost another 3 lbs.

This week's goals: Continue running and keeping the food journal. But I think I need to step it up with a new goal. Something I don't think about all the time. (You don't know this because you're not sitting here next to me as I type this, but I had to stop and think about this for a minute.) I think I'll have to add the goal for personal scripture study. We do family scriptures, and I was doing really well with my personal scripture reading, but with my routine changes it got overlooked. So that's got to be put back into my day.

What are your goals? How did you do last week? Did you get your short term goal taken care of? What do you want to do this week?

I've got a suggested goal for anyone wanting to do the Bloggest Loser, which begins next Monday. Take this week to begin your new eating or exercising regimen. That way next week you can continue doing it (or tweak it to something that works better) and it may be easier to get the results you hope for. I think that was my downfall over the summer. I wanted to suddenly do a lot of things differently and demanded results that first week and just got bummed when I couldn't do it all. I lost steam and gained weight instead of losing it.

Anyway. How'd you do?

Check In

It's Monday. Time to evaluate the goals we've made this last week and look forward to a fresh, new week.

Last week my goal was to begin my running regime and keep up on my food journal. Did it. Woo-hoo! And I lost two lbs this week. Bonus!

Plus, Cindy sent me an early birthday present. I got to use my new mp-3 player for the first time today. It was so nice to have someone else keep track of my time to run or walk. And who can turn down some good tunes?

This week I want to continue my running. I want to make sure I get at least two days of a workout as well. I'll keep up my food journal and stay away from the sweets.

I'll tell ya. I had some major temptations this week. I wanted some really good and gooey brownie batter. And ice cream. And chocolate in any form. Our church choir practice is held at the choir director's house and she always has some warm, homemade goodies to share. Yesterday were no-bake cookies. My mouth watered and I almost gave in. But if I had, I would've taken her up on her offer for two cookies. Then I probably would've snuck a third one. But I didn't. My will power to stop is not completely developed yet and I don't need the opportunity it test it. I won't always have to say No. Someday I'll be able to say, "Just one, thanks" again.

How did your goals go this week? We all have some good and admirable long-term goals. What is one short-term goal that you can complete this week that will help you with your overall goal? Mine is to keep running. It's getting to be something I look forward to everyday. That makes me happy.

The Ah-Ha Moment

I'm trying to get myself in order. I think I've reached that Ah-Ha Moment. My body is stuck in a rut. And although my husband (who is the greatest man in the world) loves me no matter what, I want to love that way I look. I'm sick of rockin' Mom Jeans.



In case you missed it, here is the worst line, "Get the jeans that says, 'I'm not a woman anymore. I'm a mom.'"

It's sooo wrong!

What??? Moms can still be women? They can feel beautiful, and happy, and maybe even (dare I say it?) sexy??

I'm going to step out on a limb here and say: Sure. Why the heck not?

Last week I established the routine of walking the kids to their bus stop and then taking Millie for a stroll through the neighborhood. It's helped me get into a good mindset that I'm going to use that time from 8 - 9 am to exercise. This week I'm alternating between my c25k program and my Biggest Loser workout. Today was the workout. It went fine, but I was kind of halfhearted. I let Millie distract me a bit. It wasn't that I didn't want to do it, because I actually did. I think I'm off my game a bit because I only have my 8 lb weights (I left my 5lb ones at my parents' house in MT) and my muscles are a little scared of those heavier weights.

I'm also trying to stick with my No Sweets Policy. Last week, with just my walking and my no sweets I lost 3 lbs. That's right! So, I'm very nervous to let myself have any sweets. Because I'm afraid I'll go overboard. I don't know how many years it's been since I didn't go more than two days without some form of sugar. Probably why it's been so hard to lose weight!!

You may be thinking, "Shelly, you're so adorably ridiculous!! 8 lbs isn't much to lift! And no one in their right mind would be that addicted to sugar."

My reply to you is this: Yes, I am adorable. Thank you.

Also, I'm discovering that I've lost control over my body and habits. I let it go and didn't worry about it. Now I'm taking it back. It's really hard and I don't always want to do it, but it's necessary. I can't stay in the weight bracket I'm in. It's not healthy. And it's not going to be easy to not gain the old weight back if I don't change. I'm already 30+ lbs less than I was two years ago. I'm not going back to that weight again!! Not unless I'm pregnant. And then I'd like it to be baby weight, not:




Been there, done that!

Never again, thank you!