Who Are the People In Your Neighborhood?

I've made a new discovery this week.  Workout videos are boring.

To do a workout video, you have to clean the room you're working in (always a pain with 1 or 2 2-year-olds hanging around), take over the TV so no one else can watch anything, and be surrounded by the reminders that you have other things to do (those stupid dishes mock me every single day).  Plus, it's the same routine every time.

I've learned this week that I'd rather go running for 5 days in a row than break it up with a cardio video in between my runs. 

Being outside is invigorating.  I know I'm at an advantage by living in Arizona, but it's starting to be more tolerable in the mornings and soon it will be absolutely heavenly.  I love the sounds, the smells, the freedom of the open road. 

Every morning I have someone to wave at.  It makes me feel a part of our neighborhood.  And if you've ever heard of Sesame Street, you know how important that is.

I have noticed that we have a few more people in our neighborhood than what the song describes.  We've got the electric company guys, the pest control guys, the pool guys, the landscapers (they even stop their work to wave as I run past them), the moms with strollers and dogs, the roller bladers, the "in shape" runners, the old guy, and many kids of different ages waiting for the school buses. 

However, I have yet to discover cheese in my neighborhood.  Or Ben Stiller.

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.

Questions of the Day

I'm wondering.....

What made you take the first step to begin getting healthier?

Like, the literal first step?  What made you pull that workout DVD out of its dusty case?  What made you begin trying to keep track of what you eat everyday?  What caused you to decide that you have a goal, a plan, and a desire?

My first step came about with a conglomeration of fresh starts.

Me.  About 40 lbs ago.

Josh and I graduated from college and decided to move away from Colorado.  The little college town we lived in stifled us.  We weren't happy and we wanted to escape.  We weren't opposed to staying in Colorado, but we thought we'd take an even bigger risk and move to Montana. 

And we did.

We moved the week between Christmas 2007 and New Years 2008.  A new lifestyle (no more college living), a new job, a new state, a new year.  I'd known I needed to lose weight.  With both of my parents Type II diabetics, I knew I was heading down the same path.  I had already had to be mindful of my high cholesterol.  It was time to let that first step finally happen.  And then the second.  And then the third.

So that leads me to my next question.

What keeps you motivated to keep going?

If you don't have a bad day, then you're not paying attention to your own life.  Sorry.  That there's reality.  What has kept you going during those bad times?

My latest bad time was from about January to July of this year.  Major plateau.  And I quit my consistent exercise or even caring about what I ate.

I had to remember...

What keeps me going is the need to be healthy.  I'll never forget the first time I saw my dad after he had been diagnosed with diabetes.  He discovered it when he lost a lot of weight.  I had never seen my dad so thin.  My dad.  The man I considered Superman.  The man I thought would always be the big, strong beacon of stability in my life.  Hugging him freaked me out.  I could nearly touch my elbows. 

I want my health for myself, but also for my family.  If I can prevent my children from crying about how unhealthy their mother is, then I'll be happy.  I don't want to lessen my time with my husband or kids because I was lazy or didn't want to say no to the bag of cookies.  I really don't know how preventable my parents' health issues are.  I have a feeling they're more preventable than not.  But their health scares me and I want to break the cycle before it becomes unbreakable.

So leave a comment with your story.  Or blog it and let me know so I can read it. 

What made you take the first step to get healthy?

What keeps you going?

The Unspoken Runner's Rules

I've Friended the Couch to 5k group on Facebook.  They have all sorts of posts all the time (about 50 times a day) and some of them I think, "That's nice."  Others I think, "Man, I wonder if anyone else needed to know about this."

One of today's links was to an article about the unspoken rules of runners.

If you are a runner, want to be a runner, or are considering being a runner, I highly recommend reading this.  It's pretty light hearted but touches on a lot of different subjects.

For Pete's Sake, Stand Still at Red Lights

Sharks die when they stop moving. Runners do not. Keep this in mind next time you encounter a don't walk sign at a busy intersection. There's no need to jog in place or dance from foot to foot like you have to pee. Just chill. Wait a few moments. Note: If a nonrunner waiting with you at the crosswalk is dancing from foot to foot, he or she may indeed have to pee. Give this person wide berth.  (A Few Rules To Run By By Mark Remy Runner's World)

 A Few Rules To Run By Active.com

Bless This Food

I came across this yesterday and thought it was pretty funny. Enjoy...

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.

The Run of Shame

Last night we went to a talent show at church which also had a dessert pot luck. I had a tiny bit of Millie's brownie. That's all. I stood strong and didn't give in to temptations even though my calories would've allowed me to have a cookie or two.

I was strong for two reasons: #1 I'm waiting until my birthday for permission to eat baked goodies. #2 I had a disappointing weigh in yesterday morning. More on that tomorrow when we do the check in.

But tonight I wasn't as strong. I ate Chinese food.

Oh, and it was good. I liked it. I could've eaten all of it by myself. I did pass on the rice, though. I don't know how many calories I consumed, but I'm pretty sure I cheated my butt off.

So I decided to go running. It was a run of shame. I don't know if it was the incredible number of carbs and sugar or the guilt that got me so rearing to go. But I ran well and enjoyed it. It was my first night run and I enjoyed some of the things I don't usually get to experience in the mornings. No Millie, for one. Also, there are so many different scents in the air. I loved the smell of the charcoal grills and the fresh laundry smells. I had a race with a cricket. He jumped once for two of my steps. Finally he realized I'm awesome and he jumped off the sidewalk.

I wasn't a fan of the dark, though. I don't know how many more night runs I'll get to do, but it was a nice change of pace. Even if it was simply due to transgression.

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.

The Freedom of Phoebe

Yesterday my sister and I went running before our separate Labor Day activities led us in different directions. Seriously. I think she went northeast and I headed southwest.

It was the first day I got to run in my new shoes. And I had no stroller.

It was like freedom!

Weekly Check In and Bloggest Loser Day 1

I know not everyone plans to play along with The Bloggest Loser, but it seems that everyone has a goal to achieve. So, every Sunday/Monday we'll combine both efforts. We'll report on our goals and weight lost. We'll just multi-task.

So, how did your goals go last week? I did pretty well with mine. Of course, I'm more excited than heck to use my new shoes for tomorrow's run. I can't wait!!! Am I supposed to be this giddy about running? I think I may be getting too much desert air.

How did your goals go last week? Success? Difficulties?

I have a new goal to add this week. This week I am going to do something that scares me to death, but it's for a good cause. A young woman in our ward has leukemia and needs a bone marrow donation. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to find a match, so our ward is participating in a "Bone Marrow Drive." We'll just do a cheek swab to see if we happen to match. I know this is a good thing to do and I want to help if I can. This does, however, scare the living daylights out of me. I've never been able to donate blood because of my intense fear of needles. I've tried, but been rejected. And this is a lot more involved, but there's more of a demand for life, I think. Lots of people can and do donate blood. I've never heard of a bone marrow drive before. And the way this will be set up, even if we don't match the young woman in our ward, our info will be in the database for potential use for others needing a match. I get really antsy just thinking about it. But I want to do it. I can't let my fear and nausea keep me from possibly saving someone's life. I'm going to do this. The cheek swab will be nothing, so I can get through that easily enough.

What new goal will you add this week?

And since this is the first entry for the Bloggest Loser (a day early, but I don't plan to get on the computer tomorrow) be sure to post if you're playing. Don't forget to grab your initial weight and measurements. Take a before picture of yourself. And eat lots of chocolate, cake, cookies, and pizza. Oh, sorry. That was my inner competitive saboteur rearing her ugly head.

So tell me. How'd you do? Any new goals? Are you playing? Anything you need to get off your chest?

I'm here for you!

Shoes and Music

Today the love of my life bought me my running shoes. We'd created a plan to purchase these shoes, knowing they'd be pricey. I love my husband and my shoes were my birthday present. It's probably the first time in years that I've known what I want for my birthday.

So I got me some Nikes.

The experience was really kind of fun. He evaluated how I run and walk. After he figured out my mechanical needs, he had me try a few different shoes to compare my comfort with each of them. I was surprised at how simple it was, but how much I LOVE my new shoes.

Aren't they pretty?

So, the other birthday gift I got brought me into the 21st century (thank you, Cindy!) and I've happily used it every time I've run. It's my new mp3 player.

I'm loving it.

But tell me, what's on your playlists?

The Bloggest Loser Season Two -- Pre-Season

Like my icon? I find that it has a bit of a notable, however comical, look. Yes, I made it myself. Yes, I have no idea how to really make it. And yes, unless I can figure out how to make a nice looking one, this will be our rally sign during this competition. I know. You wish you had my talents. It's okay. We all have our strengths.

So, let's get ready to rumble, shall we?

The competition:

Lose as much weight in 90 days as is healthily possible.

Check in every week to report your percentage of weight loss.

Share your triumphs, challenges, advice, helpful links, and any other tidbits of info you can think of.

At the end of the 90 days, report your final percentage weight lost and (optional) total inches lost.

The Prize:

$10,000. Hahahaha! I wish! Would you settle for bragging rights? Because that's all you get, my friend.

Things to do before Day 1:

Weigh yourself. This will be your beginning weight you will use in your final weigh in.

Take a picture of yourself. This will be a good guide to help you see any changes your body makes.

Optional: Measure yourself, specifically your bust/chest, waist, and hips. You may see a greater result in your measurements than your weight.

We could have two winners: one with the greatest percentage of body weight lost and one with the greatest inches lost.

Don't worry:

This is all done by the honor system. You will never be asked to report your weight, measurements, or pictures. If you want to share to keep better track of the numbers, feel free. Just be prepared to report your percentages lost and the total inches lost if you choose to join that part of the competition.

We begin Monday, September 6th. Yeah, that's Labor Day. I do have impeccable timing, don't I?

And we'll still have a weekly goal check in for those that don't want to participate in The Bloggest Loser, but still want to set different goals.

You ready?

My BIGGEST Fear

I'm sure you've seen something like this before:

And if you're related to me, you've seen it at one of our family reunions. I love my family, but my cousin so correctly coined the phrase "Bailey butt" when referring to my female relatives on that side of the family.

Now, the Baileys have a regal lineage. We're related to the Spencers of Wales (meaning Princess Diana) and the heritage includes Lady Godiva and other notable royals. But the more current generations have got back. We're talking Sir Mix a Lot back (not a member of royalty, despite his self-proclaimed title).

So this is my fear. I've been losing weight, but it's mostly the weight I gained over the last several months. However, I'm almost at my lowest weight since I was pregnant with Emma, nearly 10 years ago. I'm so afraid that I'll plateau again. Then I'll be stuck with this Bailey butt forever. I know I have to confuse my body with my eating and exercising. If my body gets too used to everything, it will adjust and stay there.

I don't want to get stuck with this:

I'm really hoping that my efforts will continue to work before I hit a plateau. I'm afraid if I do hit one, I'll lose my resolve to keep moving forward.

Ah, genetics!! Why do you hinder me so???