I honestly have no idea where the weeks have gone! There's been a lot of chaos at home lately, what with birthday parties (Jett is 3!) and company (my niece and nephew stayed for a couple weeks!) and summer just being busy. I don't even remember where I left off so I'll try my best to get the last three weeks straightened out in my mind.
First of all: my knees. I've been seeing a physical therapist once a week to get those figured out. The biggest problem is that I overpronate. There's something called a navicular drop: it measures just how far your arch falls when you stand up. My physical therapist said that he typically starts recommending orthotics when someone's navicular drop is 5 mm. Mine is 10 mm. Ha! No wonder I've had knee pain. He gave me some orthotics to try and they have helped tremendously! However, years of overpronating have caused muscle imbalances that need to be corrected. My hip abductors are considerably weaker than they should be, so he has me doing exercises to strengthen them. I'm also doing exercises to increase core strength, as that can sometimes be a culprit too. I'm learning a lot about how my body works together, or doesn't, and it's helping me to be more conscious about having proper form even with the simplest things, like going up or down stairs.
Secondly: I did the Shakeology cleanse for three days. Actually what happened is that I started on a Sunday but it also happened to be a graduation day and I went to one graduation where I simply couldn't resist the pulled pork sandwiches and cupcakes. I decided to officially start the cleanse the next day, but what happened is that I think by the third day (technically the fourth day) my body was done with it and I really struggled. I felt great on Monday and Tuesday but by Wednesday I was just weak and miserable and enduring to the end. I even felt terrible on Thursday, like I had just had the flu practically. I lost weight that has stayed off but I'm not sure if I would recommend it to others. I haven't decided if I really felt it benefited me. Well, let me put it this way: I doubt I would do another one based on how I felt the last day and the day after. It wasn't worth it to feel that awful afterwards. Not even to lose a few pounds.
My mindset has totally changed. I used to juice fast just to drop weight, and now my preferred method of shedding pounds is to exercise. It feels healthier to think that way.
In the last three weeks, my diet and exercise have been quite lackluster. Between resting my knees and having company, I've been struggling for the last week or so to get back to a diet I can live with. It's hard to get up at 6 these days again. I will get back to it, but it has been a struggle. Incidentally I've also been too busy to really weigh myself either, let alone take inches. I will try to remember to do it tomorrow morning and post those changes as that is one of the main purposes of this blog.
I'm currently starting a week of doubles with this program. I know it's a lot to take on, but I am looking forward to the cardio boost. I have 28 Insanity workouts left. I would like to complete them in 20 days. It will be a challenge, to be sure...
I'm sure there's more I could share but that's all I have time for. I will post updated measurements tomorrow.
*Update*
This morning I weighed 146.2. That's a loss of 5.6 lbs since I started. Not a whole lot of loss over the course of 13 weeks, but I have done nothing but gain since starting Insanity. However, I can tell it's not fat that is coming on because my clothes are fitting better than ever.
Also, since beginning I have lost 5 inches in my waist and an inch and a half in my hips. I'll take it!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Weeks 9 and 10
I really shouldn't do these double posts. I always forget what I shared last time, and a lot can happen in two weeks!
Like, for example, a person's knees could go out.
This is a boo hiss poor me post. Last week there was a night where I had trouble sleeping from the pain in my knees. I woke up the next morning and knew there was no way I'd be working out that day or any day real soon. That was last Friday. Words can't really express how crushed I was by that, as, once again, my knees failed me just as I felt like I was getting close to accomplishing something.
Time to go see a physical therapist.
I plan to make some calls tomorrow and see how this whole process works, but I want to get this figured out for good. If my kneecap simply isn't tracking properly, then maybe it's just a matter of correcting a muscle imbalance. Maybe I can wear a brace. If there's a cartilage issue.. it could be a bit more troublesome. I don't know anything about this stuff, all I know is that it has plagued me my whole life and I am willing to do anything to get it fixed. That is my current focus.
So... yes. I am currently on hiatus from Insanity. And man do I miss it. I was almost done with week four, just about ready for recovery week and then month two.
But there's nothing I can do about that right now, so I have to look at other options. I'm considering P90X with some modifications. I think I would really benefit from the strengthening of P90X in the long run. Perhaps it would even help strengthen my quadriceps enough to get my kneecap tracking properly, who knows. (not me.) I think P90X is more doable with bad knees than Insanity is.
So that's where I'm at.
My weight. It has steadily gone up since starting Insanity. I'm sure birthday week and a whole bunch of graduations didn't really help though. I'm currently at 148.4. I think I'm up 1.5 inches in my waist and a quarter inch in my hips. Not a whole lot of good news in this post.
I am on day one of a shakeology cleanse, however. I know it sounds like a gimmicky thing, but it's three days and it'll be my way of easing into a sugar-free diet. The diet includes three shakeology shakes per day, one piece of fruit, and a salad with lean protein. It only amounts to around 900 calories which sort of makes me cringe, but I will press on through three days as long as I keep feeling okay. Then it's time to move on to my new way of life: the white-out. Mentally I'm there. I have no cravings for sugar today. I'm anxious to start taking care of my diet. I'm confident I will start losing once my diet improves.
I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day. See you next week.
Like, for example, a person's knees could go out.
This is a boo hiss poor me post. Last week there was a night where I had trouble sleeping from the pain in my knees. I woke up the next morning and knew there was no way I'd be working out that day or any day real soon. That was last Friday. Words can't really express how crushed I was by that, as, once again, my knees failed me just as I felt like I was getting close to accomplishing something.
Time to go see a physical therapist.
I plan to make some calls tomorrow and see how this whole process works, but I want to get this figured out for good. If my kneecap simply isn't tracking properly, then maybe it's just a matter of correcting a muscle imbalance. Maybe I can wear a brace. If there's a cartilage issue.. it could be a bit more troublesome. I don't know anything about this stuff, all I know is that it has plagued me my whole life and I am willing to do anything to get it fixed. That is my current focus.
So... yes. I am currently on hiatus from Insanity. And man do I miss it. I was almost done with week four, just about ready for recovery week and then month two.
But there's nothing I can do about that right now, so I have to look at other options. I'm considering P90X with some modifications. I think I would really benefit from the strengthening of P90X in the long run. Perhaps it would even help strengthen my quadriceps enough to get my kneecap tracking properly, who knows. (not me.) I think P90X is more doable with bad knees than Insanity is.
So that's where I'm at.
My weight. It has steadily gone up since starting Insanity. I'm sure birthday week and a whole bunch of graduations didn't really help though. I'm currently at 148.4. I think I'm up 1.5 inches in my waist and a quarter inch in my hips. Not a whole lot of good news in this post.
I am on day one of a shakeology cleanse, however. I know it sounds like a gimmicky thing, but it's three days and it'll be my way of easing into a sugar-free diet. The diet includes three shakeology shakes per day, one piece of fruit, and a salad with lean protein. It only amounts to around 900 calories which sort of makes me cringe, but I will press on through three days as long as I keep feeling okay. Then it's time to move on to my new way of life: the white-out. Mentally I'm there. I have no cravings for sugar today. I'm anxious to start taking care of my diet. I'm confident I will start losing once my diet improves.
I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day. See you next week.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Week 8
Current weight: 144.0. That is a loss of 1.6 pounds from last week. Granted I went up like three pounds that week, but at least we're on the right track now.
And honestly, I can't say the number on the scale has affected me much in this process. I know if I'm putting in the work, so even if the scale doesn't show it, all that matters to me is that I feel better. Which I do.
Inches lost. I lost another half inch in my waist for a total of five inches so far. Hips are holding steady, so just an inch and a half lost there. Side note: it is really hard to keep track of inches. Half the time I can't remember where I measured the previous week so I'm hoping that I'm following this correctly. For my waist measurement I'm going with the narrowest part, and for my hips I'm going with the widest part.
Some have asked why I don't share what my waist and hip measurements actually are since I share my weight. I don't have a ready answer for that. I think of someone's weight just being an arbitrary number for the most part. Someone my height might weigh anywhere from 120 to 160 and look and feel healthy, so I've never put much stock in that number. But measurements are different somehow. Maybe a bit too revealing. I'm not sure. I'm happy to share the difference I'm seeing each week, but sharing the actual number feels too personal.
Okay. Exercise! I have finished two whole weeks of Insanity. I can officially say that's further than I've ever gotten through the program without missing workouts. Since I began Insanity, I have lost three inches in my waist and a quarter inch in my hips. I have been very, very happy with this program. Not even because it's helping me to lose weight or inches. Ultimately it's just something I want to complete, and I feel very accomplished when I log that workout every day. I saw something on Pinterest but can't find it now. It was something like this:
I just recently began getting through the entire warm up without taking a break, and I can't even say that I do that every time. His warm up is no joke. In fact, a few months ago when I had decided I couldn't do Insanity yet, I had thought about just doing the warm up for my daily workout. It is absolutely wicked. So yes, getting through these workouts is a huge victory for me. Insanity is helping me in other areas as well. I was itching to go for a jog last night, and I ended up going four miles in 50 minutes. I previously could go around a half mile. That's after just two weeks of Insanity. So to say that I'm excited to see what happens after all nine weeks is a massive understatement.
Getting long-winded here.
Diet: guess who has two stubby thumbs and wants to try something new? Story of my life. Ever since I got pregnant with Ember, I have had intentions of going back to my no-sugar diet. I call it a diet not because it's a fad but because it's a lifestyle change I want to make. (I hate it when people say lifestyle change, by the way.) It's basically a white-out diet: less than 20 grams of table sugar a day, no white flour, rice, potatoes, dairy, or bananas. Why bananas? I think I'm prone to insulin resistance, and bananas are on the nix-list for people who are trying to overcome it. I think the rest of those are fairly self-explanatory.
The reason I want to get back to this diet is because I can't even explain how fantastic I felt when I was avoiding those foods. I already generally avoid dairy, rice, potatoes, and white flour. I want to make more of a conscious effort though, so I can really see how it affects how I feel. Plus, when I did this before, I lost over two pounds a week without exercising, so I would love to see how it stacks up when doing Insanity as well. And I like that it doesn't involve calorie counting at all. It just precludes me from making bad decisions almost entirely.
This has gone on long enough. Oh, I did want to add that I most definitely am a morning exerciser. After two weeks of getting up and getting it done, I won't do it any other way. I love getting it done first thing.
Have a great week, everyone! See you next week.
And honestly, I can't say the number on the scale has affected me much in this process. I know if I'm putting in the work, so even if the scale doesn't show it, all that matters to me is that I feel better. Which I do.
Inches lost. I lost another half inch in my waist for a total of five inches so far. Hips are holding steady, so just an inch and a half lost there. Side note: it is really hard to keep track of inches. Half the time I can't remember where I measured the previous week so I'm hoping that I'm following this correctly. For my waist measurement I'm going with the narrowest part, and for my hips I'm going with the widest part.
Some have asked why I don't share what my waist and hip measurements actually are since I share my weight. I don't have a ready answer for that. I think of someone's weight just being an arbitrary number for the most part. Someone my height might weigh anywhere from 120 to 160 and look and feel healthy, so I've never put much stock in that number. But measurements are different somehow. Maybe a bit too revealing. I'm not sure. I'm happy to share the difference I'm seeing each week, but sharing the actual number feels too personal.
Okay. Exercise! I have finished two whole weeks of Insanity. I can officially say that's further than I've ever gotten through the program without missing workouts. Since I began Insanity, I have lost three inches in my waist and a quarter inch in my hips. I have been very, very happy with this program. Not even because it's helping me to lose weight or inches. Ultimately it's just something I want to complete, and I feel very accomplished when I log that workout every day. I saw something on Pinterest but can't find it now. It was something like this:
I just recently began getting through the entire warm up without taking a break, and I can't even say that I do that every time. His warm up is no joke. In fact, a few months ago when I had decided I couldn't do Insanity yet, I had thought about just doing the warm up for my daily workout. It is absolutely wicked. So yes, getting through these workouts is a huge victory for me. Insanity is helping me in other areas as well. I was itching to go for a jog last night, and I ended up going four miles in 50 minutes. I previously could go around a half mile. That's after just two weeks of Insanity. So to say that I'm excited to see what happens after all nine weeks is a massive understatement.
Getting long-winded here.
Diet: guess who has two stubby thumbs and wants to try something new? Story of my life. Ever since I got pregnant with Ember, I have had intentions of going back to my no-sugar diet. I call it a diet not because it's a fad but because it's a lifestyle change I want to make. (I hate it when people say lifestyle change, by the way.) It's basically a white-out diet: less than 20 grams of table sugar a day, no white flour, rice, potatoes, dairy, or bananas. Why bananas? I think I'm prone to insulin resistance, and bananas are on the nix-list for people who are trying to overcome it. I think the rest of those are fairly self-explanatory.
The reason I want to get back to this diet is because I can't even explain how fantastic I felt when I was avoiding those foods. I already generally avoid dairy, rice, potatoes, and white flour. I want to make more of a conscious effort though, so I can really see how it affects how I feel. Plus, when I did this before, I lost over two pounds a week without exercising, so I would love to see how it stacks up when doing Insanity as well. And I like that it doesn't involve calorie counting at all. It just precludes me from making bad decisions almost entirely.
This has gone on long enough. Oh, I did want to add that I most definitely am a morning exerciser. After two weeks of getting up and getting it done, I won't do it any other way. I love getting it done first thing.
Have a great week, everyone! See you next week.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Week 7
The body is a funny thing. After an entire week of working out harder than I have in years (or ever), I somehow managed to put on three pounds. My official weight on Monday morning was 145.6. I could sit and analyze what happened or speculate about reasons why it went up rather than down, but ultimately all that matters to me is that I feel great. I feel stronger already. I don't have any knee pain, which surprises me. And I'm starting to be able to do the pushups unmodified, although my wrist still hurts a little bit at times. I don't push it too much.
Another reason I'm not agonizing over my weight too much is the fact that I dropped 2.5 inches in my waist in one week. A quarter inch in my hips. Overall that's 4.5 inches lost in the waist and 1.5 inches in the hips.
Insanity is different this time. The first few times I tried it, it was a constant inner struggle to start the dvd, let alone finish it. This time I look forward to the workout, and I have more mental stamina to push through the difficult parts. It feels very empowering.
I've been trying to get my workout started by 6, but it poses a dilemma where breakfast is concerned. I don't like to eat too much right before working out, but it's not recommended to try to do this workout on an empty stomach either. My solution? I need to get up even earlier. I'm going to be setting my alarm for 5. That way I can eat breakfast and start the workout about 30 minutes later. I would like to start by 5:45 daily because in a few weeks we'll be hitting the hour long workouts and I'll need to get up earlier anyway.
One of the biggest things I'm learning is that a support group is vital to sticking to this program. I am meeting a lot of new people who are starting out with this program for the first time and a few that have completed it before but are doing it again. We network with each other and help to keep each other accountable. We share tips and motivations, and congratulate each other on progress made. It has made a world of difference for me this time.
Now: diet. Couple of things. First, for the rest of this program I'm going to give up coffee. I've already quit drinking anything but water and coffee, but now it's time that coffee gets the boot. I need to get my water intake up and coffee is hindering that.
Second: Shakeology. I bought a 30 day supply of chocolate shakeology. The instructions say to mix one scoop with 8 oz of liquid, but that is way too chocolatey to be palatable. I use half a scoop for 10-12 oz of liquid. I have to say I do enjoy it that way. I use it as a snack every day and it tides me over for a very long time. I kind of wonder if it has acted as a recovery drink as well, because I haven't had any soreness or stiffness to contend with.
Third: meal planning. There is a nutrition guide with the program. I am reviewing the recipes and compiling my grocery list so I can start after I get groceries on Thursday. I was also given a copy of the "Slim in 6" diet plan. It's very clean eating, lots of lean protein and veggies, very few carbs. It's only recommended for 6 days but I want to see if I can modify it a bit so it's more balanced. I don't like to "diet", meaning I don't like to try eating plans if I don't think it's something I can do forever. If I can only do a plan for a few days or a week, it must not be healthy in the long term.
I have a lot on my plate right now. I'm very anxious to give the nutrition guide a try and see how it reflects on the scale and in measurements next week. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep pushing play.
Another reason I'm not agonizing over my weight too much is the fact that I dropped 2.5 inches in my waist in one week. A quarter inch in my hips. Overall that's 4.5 inches lost in the waist and 1.5 inches in the hips.
Insanity is different this time. The first few times I tried it, it was a constant inner struggle to start the dvd, let alone finish it. This time I look forward to the workout, and I have more mental stamina to push through the difficult parts. It feels very empowering.
I've been trying to get my workout started by 6, but it poses a dilemma where breakfast is concerned. I don't like to eat too much right before working out, but it's not recommended to try to do this workout on an empty stomach either. My solution? I need to get up even earlier. I'm going to be setting my alarm for 5. That way I can eat breakfast and start the workout about 30 minutes later. I would like to start by 5:45 daily because in a few weeks we'll be hitting the hour long workouts and I'll need to get up earlier anyway.
One of the biggest things I'm learning is that a support group is vital to sticking to this program. I am meeting a lot of new people who are starting out with this program for the first time and a few that have completed it before but are doing it again. We network with each other and help to keep each other accountable. We share tips and motivations, and congratulate each other on progress made. It has made a world of difference for me this time.
Now: diet. Couple of things. First, for the rest of this program I'm going to give up coffee. I've already quit drinking anything but water and coffee, but now it's time that coffee gets the boot. I need to get my water intake up and coffee is hindering that.
Second: Shakeology. I bought a 30 day supply of chocolate shakeology. The instructions say to mix one scoop with 8 oz of liquid, but that is way too chocolatey to be palatable. I use half a scoop for 10-12 oz of liquid. I have to say I do enjoy it that way. I use it as a snack every day and it tides me over for a very long time. I kind of wonder if it has acted as a recovery drink as well, because I haven't had any soreness or stiffness to contend with.
Third: meal planning. There is a nutrition guide with the program. I am reviewing the recipes and compiling my grocery list so I can start after I get groceries on Thursday. I was also given a copy of the "Slim in 6" diet plan. It's very clean eating, lots of lean protein and veggies, very few carbs. It's only recommended for 6 days but I want to see if I can modify it a bit so it's more balanced. I don't like to "diet", meaning I don't like to try eating plans if I don't think it's something I can do forever. If I can only do a plan for a few days or a week, it must not be healthy in the long term.
I have a lot on my plate right now. I'm very anxious to give the nutrition guide a try and see how it reflects on the scale and in measurements next week. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep pushing play.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Weeks 5 and 6
Disregard everything I said about holding off on Insanity. I start tomorrow! More on that in a second.
Last week I weighed in at 144.8. Today I weigh 142.8. I seem to alternate weeks of losing nothing and dropping two pounds, but so far it has kept me on track for the most part. Frustratingly, my inches have stayed the same. But since I started this round, I have lost 9 pounds.
However.. I don't take much comfort from the numbers on the scale. I don't feel like I look much different, and I still feel pretty tired and weak for the most part. I want to feel strong and healthy. I have been following a Beachbody coach on facebook, and she recently posted an invitation to an Insanity challenge. She created an accountability group, and the timing was just right for me. I decided to join. I do much better when I have people who hold me accountable. The group involves doing the Insanity program, which is six days a week, and the Shakeology 'diet'. I'm not looking to cut calories; in fact, if anything I'm looking to add more. I don't think I get enough calories as it is now. So I'll be adding my daily shake as a snack and not a meal replacement. I do like that the Shakeology shakes are all natural and have no bleck sweeteners. I have yet to try one though, so we'll see if they pass muster when I get my bag tomorrow. I've heard they are fantastic though.
Today I do my Fitness Test and we start Insanity tomorrow. My biggest concern is finding the time to do it every day, so my current plan is to roll my bones out of bed at 6 and attempt it then. I think after a week or two of getting up early I'll be hooked on getting up early and getting it done. I'm going to stick it out for two weeks before I decide if I'm a morning exerciser. I just know that I'm usually so exhausted by evening that it's hard to commit to a workout then.
On a different front: my protein shakes. I have finally found a recipe so good that even my kids love it! It's 3/4 a scoop of vanilla protein powder, a handful of strawberries and pineapple, a couple tablespoons each of vanilla yogurt and orange concentrate, organic unsweetened soy milk, and a handful of ice. I pop it all in my Magic Bullet and I have my shake in just a minute. I have to sneak around the house drinking it or my kids scarf it all.
I have modified my goal weight to be 130 rather than 135. I can tell that I have more to lose than 8 pounds.
Next time I write, I will have completed six Insanity workouts. I'm hoping for big results!
Last week I weighed in at 144.8. Today I weigh 142.8. I seem to alternate weeks of losing nothing and dropping two pounds, but so far it has kept me on track for the most part. Frustratingly, my inches have stayed the same. But since I started this round, I have lost 9 pounds.
However.. I don't take much comfort from the numbers on the scale. I don't feel like I look much different, and I still feel pretty tired and weak for the most part. I want to feel strong and healthy. I have been following a Beachbody coach on facebook, and she recently posted an invitation to an Insanity challenge. She created an accountability group, and the timing was just right for me. I decided to join. I do much better when I have people who hold me accountable. The group involves doing the Insanity program, which is six days a week, and the Shakeology 'diet'. I'm not looking to cut calories; in fact, if anything I'm looking to add more. I don't think I get enough calories as it is now. So I'll be adding my daily shake as a snack and not a meal replacement. I do like that the Shakeology shakes are all natural and have no bleck sweeteners. I have yet to try one though, so we'll see if they pass muster when I get my bag tomorrow. I've heard they are fantastic though.
Today I do my Fitness Test and we start Insanity tomorrow. My biggest concern is finding the time to do it every day, so my current plan is to roll my bones out of bed at 6 and attempt it then. I think after a week or two of getting up early I'll be hooked on getting up early and getting it done. I'm going to stick it out for two weeks before I decide if I'm a morning exerciser. I just know that I'm usually so exhausted by evening that it's hard to commit to a workout then.
On a different front: my protein shakes. I have finally found a recipe so good that even my kids love it! It's 3/4 a scoop of vanilla protein powder, a handful of strawberries and pineapple, a couple tablespoons each of vanilla yogurt and orange concentrate, organic unsweetened soy milk, and a handful of ice. I pop it all in my Magic Bullet and I have my shake in just a minute. I have to sneak around the house drinking it or my kids scarf it all.
I have modified my goal weight to be 130 rather than 135. I can tell that I have more to lose than 8 pounds.
Next time I write, I will have completed six Insanity workouts. I'm hoping for big results!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Combined post next week.
I will cover weeks 5 and 6 next week. Today my mind is on a woman to whom we will be paying our last respects. Sometimes when I was sick growing up, she would take me in if my parents had to work. She knew how to make a kid feel special and pampered. She was the sweetest person I've ever known, and she always made us feel so welcome (even though I'm sure we were a bit daunting, the seven of us). I will never forget the twinkle in her eye when she would smile, or her laughter which was frequent. She had the most infectious laugh.
To know Thelma is to love her and think of her fondly. We'll say goodbye today but she and her influence won't soon be forgotten.
Until next week.
To know Thelma is to love her and think of her fondly. We'll say goodbye today but she and her influence won't soon be forgotten.
Until next week.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Weeks 3 and 4
My apologies. I had a particularly busy week last week, and by the time things slowed down I decided just to combine two weeks in one post.
Last Monday my weight was unchanged: 148.4 if I remember correctly. This morning it was 145.2. That's a loss of 3.2 pounds from week 2, and a total loss so far of 6.6 pounds. I feel like I'm on track finally!
Couple of things: my review of the Gorilla app and some news from the doctor.
First of all, the Gorilla app. I really like it so far. I love that I can do it anytime (even without shoes if I'm so inclined) and I can easily keep track of how many workouts I have done for purposes of my reward system. However, I want to add in a few other apps to try as well. I have four separate apps that have 5 minute workouts for targeting certain areas: abs, arms, butt, and legs. I'm going to throw those in as well. I can rarely make a schedule of workouts for the week and stick to it, so I need to learn to make use of time as it comes available. That's why I like these short little workouts. And so far they seem to be helping. Once I get a bit more advanced I'll go back to attempting Insanity.
Secondly.. I had a doctor's visit and they wanted to do some blood work. The results came back that my thyroid levels are low, my vitamin D levels are low, and I'm low in iron. No wonder I've been exhausted and light headed all the time! I just attributed it to being a mom. I need to go back in 90 days to recheck everything, but in the meantime I'm taking mega-doses of iron, Vitamin D, and a whole bunch of other vitamins. It's funny.. as much as I think I know about vitamins and their deficiencies, I did not see this news coming at all. I had no idea. It's nice to have a diagnosis that should be relatively easy to fix. I was getting frustrated with my ongoing exhaustion.
I feel great having dropped over 6 pounds so far. I really felt like I wasn't capable of losing weight without doing something drastic. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that. I didn't think I'd see results. I guess now I know that I just haven't tried hard enough in the past. One battle I've always had is compulsive eating. I don't have one serving of ice cream, I have three. Or six. I cannot stop at one candy bar or one brownie. And I can't even do it with things that aren't treats, like my regular meals. I hadn't really noticed how rare it was for me to only take one helping of whatever I was eating. In the past two weeks I've really tried to pay attention to that. I stop after one serving. I avoid the foods that I think I can't stop with. And it's showing on the scale, which motivates me to stick with it.
So here's to another week with good results. Until next time! Thanks for reading!
Side note: I did not take measurements this morning. I'll do that tomorrow morning and update this post at that time.
**Update**
As promised, here are the updated inches lost. From two weeks ago I have lost another half inch in the waist for a total 2 inches total so far, and another inch off my hips for a total of one and a quarter inches. I don't know if it's realistic to have "goal" inches but I'm currently 4.5 inches from my goal in the waist and 2.75 inches from my goal in the hips.
And as I sit here and update this, I'm drinking a protein shake made from a scoop of vanilla powder, organic sugar-free soy milk, about a cup of tropical fruit (pineapple, mango, and strawberry) and a couple tablespoons each of vanilla yogurt and OJ concentrate. It's pretty good, but even all that fruit doesn't drown out the vanilla taste of the powder. Next time I'm going with flavorless I think. But for now I think I'll reduce to 3/4 of a scoop and see how that goes.
Last Monday my weight was unchanged: 148.4 if I remember correctly. This morning it was 145.2. That's a loss of 3.2 pounds from week 2, and a total loss so far of 6.6 pounds. I feel like I'm on track finally!
Couple of things: my review of the Gorilla app and some news from the doctor.
First of all, the Gorilla app. I really like it so far. I love that I can do it anytime (even without shoes if I'm so inclined) and I can easily keep track of how many workouts I have done for purposes of my reward system. However, I want to add in a few other apps to try as well. I have four separate apps that have 5 minute workouts for targeting certain areas: abs, arms, butt, and legs. I'm going to throw those in as well. I can rarely make a schedule of workouts for the week and stick to it, so I need to learn to make use of time as it comes available. That's why I like these short little workouts. And so far they seem to be helping. Once I get a bit more advanced I'll go back to attempting Insanity.
Secondly.. I had a doctor's visit and they wanted to do some blood work. The results came back that my thyroid levels are low, my vitamin D levels are low, and I'm low in iron. No wonder I've been exhausted and light headed all the time! I just attributed it to being a mom. I need to go back in 90 days to recheck everything, but in the meantime I'm taking mega-doses of iron, Vitamin D, and a whole bunch of other vitamins. It's funny.. as much as I think I know about vitamins and their deficiencies, I did not see this news coming at all. I had no idea. It's nice to have a diagnosis that should be relatively easy to fix. I was getting frustrated with my ongoing exhaustion.
I feel great having dropped over 6 pounds so far. I really felt like I wasn't capable of losing weight without doing something drastic. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that. I didn't think I'd see results. I guess now I know that I just haven't tried hard enough in the past. One battle I've always had is compulsive eating. I don't have one serving of ice cream, I have three. Or six. I cannot stop at one candy bar or one brownie. And I can't even do it with things that aren't treats, like my regular meals. I hadn't really noticed how rare it was for me to only take one helping of whatever I was eating. In the past two weeks I've really tried to pay attention to that. I stop after one serving. I avoid the foods that I think I can't stop with. And it's showing on the scale, which motivates me to stick with it.
So here's to another week with good results. Until next time! Thanks for reading!
Side note: I did not take measurements this morning. I'll do that tomorrow morning and update this post at that time.
**Update**
As promised, here are the updated inches lost. From two weeks ago I have lost another half inch in the waist for a total 2 inches total so far, and another inch off my hips for a total of one and a quarter inches. I don't know if it's realistic to have "goal" inches but I'm currently 4.5 inches from my goal in the waist and 2.75 inches from my goal in the hips.
And as I sit here and update this, I'm drinking a protein shake made from a scoop of vanilla powder, organic sugar-free soy milk, about a cup of tropical fruit (pineapple, mango, and strawberry) and a couple tablespoons each of vanilla yogurt and OJ concentrate. It's pretty good, but even all that fruit doesn't drown out the vanilla taste of the powder. Next time I'm going with flavorless I think. But for now I think I'll reduce to 3/4 of a scoop and see how that goes.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Coffee Protein Shake review
I said I was going to try to find a recipe for a coffee flavored protein shake and post it when I found it. I couldn't wait to get a decent protein mix, and I think I found one that will work long term. Gold Standard Natural 100% Whey in vanilla. I'm not normally a fan of vanilla flavoring, but I thought that would go better with coffee than chocolate. I don't like mocha as well.
Okay. Ingredients:
8 oz organic unsweetened soy milk
1 scoop of the protein mix
Hazelnut decaf coffee, brewed over ice (to taste)
And that's it! It's not nearly as involved as I was thinking it would be.
I would recommend brewing the coffee quite strong as it will be very diluted by the protein shake. I brewed the coffee over ice, so it was quite diluted to begin with. I think I might make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge instead. I would prefer a stronger coffee taste.
Sweetness: I found it to be just fine. I prefer my coffee pretty sweet, and while this wasn't terribly sweet, it wasn't lacking either.
Flavor: Lacking. It simply tasted too watered down. I'll try the stronger coffee and possibly less soy milk tomorrow. Otherwise it tasted just as a vanilla iced coffee would (an extremely watered down one). I'm tempted to try adding cinnamon tomorrow. No icky after taste, because there are no artificial sweeteners. However, the flavor of the protein shake by itself is just too vanilla-y. But I'm not a vanilla person. I would like to try the chocolate one on its own.
Consistency: Surprisingly SMOOTH! Not thick, not chalky, not clumpy.. it blended quite nicely together in my shaker cup. I did add a bit more powder just to see how well it stirred with a spoon, and it got five stars. Excellent, excellent consistency. That alone would sell this product. I thought it would be much thicker than a normal iced coffee, but it is truly the exact same consistency.
Quantity: More than I could finish. I have to tweak my amounts. It was enough for two large cups (with plenty of ice).
Filling: To some extent. It won't work as a meal replacement at all. Rather, it'll be nice to have had some protein in the morning in case I do miss my breakfast which happens often. But it's no "shake".
Overall review: I think it'll work! Kill two birds with one stone: replace my typical morning coffee full of cream, sugar, and caffeine, and add in some protein in the morning.
Of course since it's vanilla, I can always blend in berries or a banana or add yogurt to thicken it up. Vanilla is pretty versatile. If I get sick of doing the coffee, I can probably find a hundred different ways to mix it up.
Huh. It didn't occur to me until just now that I could mix the coffee and the powder and skip the soy milk altogether. I could even drink it hot that way.
See what I mean? All kinds of ways to do it.
To healthy alternatives. Good night.
Okay. Ingredients:
8 oz organic unsweetened soy milk
1 scoop of the protein mix
Hazelnut decaf coffee, brewed over ice (to taste)
And that's it! It's not nearly as involved as I was thinking it would be.
I would recommend brewing the coffee quite strong as it will be very diluted by the protein shake. I brewed the coffee over ice, so it was quite diluted to begin with. I think I might make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge instead. I would prefer a stronger coffee taste.
Sweetness: I found it to be just fine. I prefer my coffee pretty sweet, and while this wasn't terribly sweet, it wasn't lacking either.
Flavor: Lacking. It simply tasted too watered down. I'll try the stronger coffee and possibly less soy milk tomorrow. Otherwise it tasted just as a vanilla iced coffee would (an extremely watered down one). I'm tempted to try adding cinnamon tomorrow. No icky after taste, because there are no artificial sweeteners. However, the flavor of the protein shake by itself is just too vanilla-y. But I'm not a vanilla person. I would like to try the chocolate one on its own.
Consistency: Surprisingly SMOOTH! Not thick, not chalky, not clumpy.. it blended quite nicely together in my shaker cup. I did add a bit more powder just to see how well it stirred with a spoon, and it got five stars. Excellent, excellent consistency. That alone would sell this product. I thought it would be much thicker than a normal iced coffee, but it is truly the exact same consistency.
Quantity: More than I could finish. I have to tweak my amounts. It was enough for two large cups (with plenty of ice).
Filling: To some extent. It won't work as a meal replacement at all. Rather, it'll be nice to have had some protein in the morning in case I do miss my breakfast which happens often. But it's no "shake".
Overall review: I think it'll work! Kill two birds with one stone: replace my typical morning coffee full of cream, sugar, and caffeine, and add in some protein in the morning.
Of course since it's vanilla, I can always blend in berries or a banana or add yogurt to thicken it up. Vanilla is pretty versatile. If I get sick of doing the coffee, I can probably find a hundred different ways to mix it up.
Huh. It didn't occur to me until just now that I could mix the coffee and the powder and skip the soy milk altogether. I could even drink it hot that way.
See what I mean? All kinds of ways to do it.
To healthy alternatives. Good night.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Week 2
Today's weight: 148.4
That's a loss of 3.4 lbs since last Monday. I also lost 1.5 inches from my waist, and a quarter inch off my hips.
I'm so excited! Especially since I didn't do anything drastically different other than drink less coffee and more water. I still have not made the time to work out. But seeing the scale go down is motivation enough to start. I will definitely be working out this week.
Don't get me wrong, I know it was water weight. But getting out of the 150s got me over a hump. It's easier to make good choices when I've already lost a few pounds, because I don't want to undo my progress. I certainly can't see anything different when I look in the mirror, but knowing I'm on the right track is very motivating.
I downloaded an app called Gorilla Workout. I'll review it next Monday after I've had a chance to use it this week.
It looks very basic but is broken down into levels based on your current ability to determine where your starting point is. The goal is to get to the highest level of fitness. Each workout is created for you and uses only your body weight, no other tools needed. It's a similar concept to Insanity, which is that you can do basic strength training moves in rapid succession to increase endurance, muscle mass, and still get all the benefits of high-intensity interval training.
As far as diet, I'm still trying to ramp up my water intake, but I am amazed at how much better I feel when I do. One thing I struggle with is my morning coffee. I crave it and look forward to it. I feel extremely deprived without coffee. I'd like to find a good protein shake/smoothie recipe that I can make in the mornings that is relatively low in sugar and high in protein. How great would it be if there's one that tastes like coffee?! I'm going to look. If I find a recipe and it turns out pretty good, I'll post a separate entry with the recipe.
In fact, I'm going to go look into that now.
Until then!
That's a loss of 3.4 lbs since last Monday. I also lost 1.5 inches from my waist, and a quarter inch off my hips.
I'm so excited! Especially since I didn't do anything drastically different other than drink less coffee and more water. I still have not made the time to work out. But seeing the scale go down is motivation enough to start. I will definitely be working out this week.
Don't get me wrong, I know it was water weight. But getting out of the 150s got me over a hump. It's easier to make good choices when I've already lost a few pounds, because I don't want to undo my progress. I certainly can't see anything different when I look in the mirror, but knowing I'm on the right track is very motivating.
I downloaded an app called Gorilla Workout. I'll review it next Monday after I've had a chance to use it this week.
It looks very basic but is broken down into levels based on your current ability to determine where your starting point is. The goal is to get to the highest level of fitness. Each workout is created for you and uses only your body weight, no other tools needed. It's a similar concept to Insanity, which is that you can do basic strength training moves in rapid succession to increase endurance, muscle mass, and still get all the benefits of high-intensity interval training.
As far as diet, I'm still trying to ramp up my water intake, but I am amazed at how much better I feel when I do. One thing I struggle with is my morning coffee. I crave it and look forward to it. I feel extremely deprived without coffee. I'd like to find a good protein shake/smoothie recipe that I can make in the mornings that is relatively low in sugar and high in protein. How great would it be if there's one that tastes like coffee?! I'm going to look. If I find a recipe and it turns out pretty good, I'll post a separate entry with the recipe.
In fact, I'm going to go look into that now.
Until then!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Week 1
I didn't have [make] the time to weigh myself until this morning, so I guess today is my starting weight. I am weighing in at 151.8 to start. My subsequent posts will be on Mondays.
And this is the perfect segue into a battle I have this time of year. I struggle with making time for eating right and exercising when I feel busy. And spring is BUSY. I tend to put off less urgent things until I can spend a bit more time focusing on them. I need to figure out how to incorporate this stuff into my daily life regardless of how busy I am, or it will never be a lifestyle change.
The best way for me to do that is through my diet. I have to take time to eat regardless, so all I need to do is make the choice a healthier one. I'm also going to make use of little opportunities that come up (like when both kids happen to nap simultaneously) to squeeze in a workout.
If I keep waiting for my life to slow down, I'm never going to start.
This week is the perfect time to put that to the test. I have a lot going on this week.. so much so that I'm not exactly sure why I'm sitting at my computer right now. On that note, I'm going to end this post. I will make it happen this week, cats. To a lower weight next week.
And this is the perfect segue into a battle I have this time of year. I struggle with making time for eating right and exercising when I feel busy. And spring is BUSY. I tend to put off less urgent things until I can spend a bit more time focusing on them. I need to figure out how to incorporate this stuff into my daily life regardless of how busy I am, or it will never be a lifestyle change.
The best way for me to do that is through my diet. I have to take time to eat regardless, so all I need to do is make the choice a healthier one. I'm also going to make use of little opportunities that come up (like when both kids happen to nap simultaneously) to squeeze in a workout.
If I keep waiting for my life to slow down, I'm never going to start.
This week is the perfect time to put that to the test. I have a lot going on this week.. so much so that I'm not exactly sure why I'm sitting at my computer right now. On that note, I'm going to end this post. I will make it happen this week, cats. To a lower weight next week.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Begin again. Again.
It has been MONTHS since I last updated. To be honest, I almost forgot this blog existed. After my beloved grandma passed away last fall, daily life took a backseat for a while. Then it was the holidays. At Christmas time, we came down with the stomach flu, all of us. And at least one of us has been sick EVER SINCE! Up until this week. We have had pneumonia, bronchitis, colds, coughs, sniffles, sore throats, ear infections, weird stomach pains that landed us in the ER, rinse, repeat. I have never been so completely annoyed with my health in all my life. I'm tired of feeling old and moldy. I'm getting my health back.
In the midst of getting sick repeatedly, I had made several vows of getting back on track with exercise and this blog, but just as I would work up the motivation I'd get sick again. This time I feel like I can really commit without fear of getting derailed again.
So here we go again.
This time I have a plan. For realsies.
I know, I know. I always have a 'plan'. But if you remember, I sort of went with the no-plan plan last time and I really think that's why I lost motivation so easily. I do better with a goal in mind and a method in place.
Goal: 135
Method: Quit eating
Kidding. This might sound like quite the lofty goal, but ideally I would like to lose one pound a week. That's all. As someone who has resorted to very drastic weight-loss methods in the past, I'm officially worried about doing permanent damage to my metabolism. I'm going the slow but sure route this time.
Brief weight history: I currently weigh somewhere between 150 and 155. I'm around 5'8". My body seems content to be around 150 it seems. I always 'normalize' here. After college, getting married, fasting, having babies, switching jobs, quitting work altogether, rarely exercising, and consistently eating sub-par foods... I always find myself in the 150s. It's my body's comfort zone. So I guess the good news is that I haven't put on any weight since I last posted. My body does not appear to be in an upward trend, just a holding pattern. So in theory, any changes I make for the better are going to result in some weight loss.
What changes?
1. I'm going to drink water. Not just more water. Enough water. Oddly enough, this is the one I'm dreading the most.
2. I will eat breakfast. Bah. I'm not sure when this became such a chore, but I really need to find ways to make this happen. I'm no longer a breakfast person.
3. I'm going to weigh in once a week and post the results here.
4. Exercise. I consistently struggle to find the time/motivation/ability/desire to exercise. My current solution is to try to work out downstairs while the kids play. I'll let you know how that goes.
5. Rewards! I get a reward for every five pounds I lose and for every five hours I work out. The rewards are yet to be determined, but shopping will be involved. And a pedicure. Ooh, and a massage. I think they should be: 5 lbs- manicure, 10 lbs - pedicure, 15 lbs - massage, and goal - new clothes. And for exercising: every five hours I exercise earns me a new song on iTunes. Sounds small, but it's enough.
Tools:
I have a few tools for keeping me motivated and accountable.
1. A body measuring tape. I'll take measurements weekly. When the scale fluctuates, it's nice to see that inches are still melting away.
2. lolo Treadmill running app. It analyzes your playlist to come up with beats per minute of each song. It then creates a custom playlist for your running program so you are always running to the exact beat of the music. How sweet is that?!
3. This blog. I'm going to keep track of my desired weight for each week. I'll then post my actual weight so I can see if I'm meeting my goal.
As usual, I have my (meticulously googled) plan in place. Now I just need to implement it. I doubt I'll be able to regularly do updates on Wednesdays, so I have yet to pick a specific day. But this time.. I will keep updating this blog! Nothing will interfere this time.
Swear.
So let's begin again.. again.
In the midst of getting sick repeatedly, I had made several vows of getting back on track with exercise and this blog, but just as I would work up the motivation I'd get sick again. This time I feel like I can really commit without fear of getting derailed again.
So here we go again.
This time I have a plan. For realsies.
I know, I know. I always have a 'plan'. But if you remember, I sort of went with the no-plan plan last time and I really think that's why I lost motivation so easily. I do better with a goal in mind and a method in place.
Goal: 135
Method: Quit eating
Kidding. This might sound like quite the lofty goal, but ideally I would like to lose one pound a week. That's all. As someone who has resorted to very drastic weight-loss methods in the past, I'm officially worried about doing permanent damage to my metabolism. I'm going the slow but sure route this time.
Brief weight history: I currently weigh somewhere between 150 and 155. I'm around 5'8". My body seems content to be around 150 it seems. I always 'normalize' here. After college, getting married, fasting, having babies, switching jobs, quitting work altogether, rarely exercising, and consistently eating sub-par foods... I always find myself in the 150s. It's my body's comfort zone. So I guess the good news is that I haven't put on any weight since I last posted. My body does not appear to be in an upward trend, just a holding pattern. So in theory, any changes I make for the better are going to result in some weight loss.
What changes?
1. I'm going to drink water. Not just more water. Enough water. Oddly enough, this is the one I'm dreading the most.
2. I will eat breakfast. Bah. I'm not sure when this became such a chore, but I really need to find ways to make this happen. I'm no longer a breakfast person.
3. I'm going to weigh in once a week and post the results here.
4. Exercise. I consistently struggle to find the time/motivation/ability/desire to exercise. My current solution is to try to work out downstairs while the kids play. I'll let you know how that goes.
5. Rewards! I get a reward for every five pounds I lose and for every five hours I work out. The rewards are yet to be determined, but shopping will be involved. And a pedicure. Ooh, and a massage. I think they should be: 5 lbs- manicure, 10 lbs - pedicure, 15 lbs - massage, and goal - new clothes. And for exercising: every five hours I exercise earns me a new song on iTunes. Sounds small, but it's enough.
Tools:
I have a few tools for keeping me motivated and accountable.
1. A body measuring tape. I'll take measurements weekly. When the scale fluctuates, it's nice to see that inches are still melting away.
2. lolo Treadmill running app. It analyzes your playlist to come up with beats per minute of each song. It then creates a custom playlist for your running program so you are always running to the exact beat of the music. How sweet is that?!
3. This blog. I'm going to keep track of my desired weight for each week. I'll then post my actual weight so I can see if I'm meeting my goal.
As usual, I have my (meticulously googled) plan in place. Now I just need to implement it. I doubt I'll be able to regularly do updates on Wednesdays, so I have yet to pick a specific day. But this time.. I will keep updating this blog! Nothing will interfere this time.
Swear.
So let's begin again.. again.
Friday, November 11, 2011
November 11, 2011
It has been a month since I last posted. Hard to believe that that much time has passed already. The last time I posted was Tuesday, October 11th. My beloved Grandma Aggie passed away the next day. We miss her dearly, and she has been the focus of many days since. This blog has fallen onto the back burner yet again as a result.
But I would like to do a quick update. Things have been busy around the house, too. The kids are both teething, so my days have been quite full and busy, and nights are short. I have to admit, I'm seriously in shock that it has already been a whole month since my last update. I'll try to get better about posting.
Okay. First things first. Since I last posted, I have lost around 7 pounds! I am now ten pounds over my wedding weight. I have been doing Insanity (with some reluctance) and while I'm still nowhere capable of finishing a whole workout (I can still barely get through the warm-up), I have noticed a change in my muscle tone. In that they are sore constantly. Kidding. But I have definitely noticed a little 'looseness' in my clothes that wasn't there before. Very happy about seeing results.
Another victory: I no longer have gallbladder pain! I did a modified gallbladder diet which consisted, to my dismay, of apple juice and walnut oil. I did that for two days with very small meals for supper. To my surprise, my gallbladder pain has since disappeared. As maintenance I'm going to start taking walnut oil at least once a day. Two tablespoons at suppertime. I'm so excited about that change, because the gallbladder pain was hindering me from working out.
What else... ah, yes. My cupboards. I last reported that I was going to start slowly but surely letting things run out that were unhealthy. As you already know, I no longer keep pop in the house. I do buy one from a pop machine on occasion, but that has dipped drastically. I still drink coffee, but, and this might sound strange, I switched to a sugared creamer. Here's why.. when I used real cream and added my own sugar, I was using about 4 teaspoons of sugar. That's 16 grams, if I'm doing the math right. When I use the creamer, it's only 5 grams of sugar. Plus it tastes better. So there you have it, I made my swap. And believe it or not, it's actually cheaper to buy the creamer than the real cream! I found that interesting. I have let the following foods run out: flour (so no more dumplings or baked goods), macaroni and cheese, candy, sugary snacks, boxed cake mixes, pancake mix, and white frozen bread dough. We still have ice cream and salty snacks on hand because Jason enjoys them, but they don't tempt me at all. Those of you that know what an ice cream fiend I used to be will be happy to know that I finally burned myself out on it! Yes, thank you, I realize the irony of getting "burned out" on ice cream.
Finally, I had two skirt victories this last week. I was able to pull on two denim skirts that I wore pre-pregnancy. It's the little things like that (expanding my wardrobe) that are very motivating to me.
So onward ho. Here's hoping for more victories to report next week.
But I would like to do a quick update. Things have been busy around the house, too. The kids are both teething, so my days have been quite full and busy, and nights are short. I have to admit, I'm seriously in shock that it has already been a whole month since my last update. I'll try to get better about posting.
Okay. First things first. Since I last posted, I have lost around 7 pounds! I am now ten pounds over my wedding weight. I have been doing Insanity (with some reluctance) and while I'm still nowhere capable of finishing a whole workout (I can still barely get through the warm-up), I have noticed a change in my muscle tone. In that they are sore constantly. Kidding. But I have definitely noticed a little 'looseness' in my clothes that wasn't there before. Very happy about seeing results.
Another victory: I no longer have gallbladder pain! I did a modified gallbladder diet which consisted, to my dismay, of apple juice and walnut oil. I did that for two days with very small meals for supper. To my surprise, my gallbladder pain has since disappeared. As maintenance I'm going to start taking walnut oil at least once a day. Two tablespoons at suppertime. I'm so excited about that change, because the gallbladder pain was hindering me from working out.
What else... ah, yes. My cupboards. I last reported that I was going to start slowly but surely letting things run out that were unhealthy. As you already know, I no longer keep pop in the house. I do buy one from a pop machine on occasion, but that has dipped drastically. I still drink coffee, but, and this might sound strange, I switched to a sugared creamer. Here's why.. when I used real cream and added my own sugar, I was using about 4 teaspoons of sugar. That's 16 grams, if I'm doing the math right. When I use the creamer, it's only 5 grams of sugar. Plus it tastes better. So there you have it, I made my swap. And believe it or not, it's actually cheaper to buy the creamer than the real cream! I found that interesting. I have let the following foods run out: flour (so no more dumplings or baked goods), macaroni and cheese, candy, sugary snacks, boxed cake mixes, pancake mix, and white frozen bread dough. We still have ice cream and salty snacks on hand because Jason enjoys them, but they don't tempt me at all. Those of you that know what an ice cream fiend I used to be will be happy to know that I finally burned myself out on it! Yes, thank you, I realize the irony of getting "burned out" on ice cream.
Finally, I had two skirt victories this last week. I was able to pull on two denim skirts that I wore pre-pregnancy. It's the little things like that (expanding my wardrobe) that are very motivating to me.
So onward ho. Here's hoping for more victories to report next week.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Baby steps
Short one this week. Some things came up last week so I was not able to do my gallbladder diet. I hope to get to it very soon, but as long as things are as hectic as they're promising to continue to be this week, it'll be too hard to start something new. But when I do, I'll let you know if I experience any improvement in my symptoms.
Until then.. I have been slowly trying to eliminate unhealthy foods in my house and simply not replenish them. We've gotten to the bottom of the flour barrel! I have decided not to buy flour for now and see how it goes. This one will be particularly interesting because there are so many unhealthy things that I can and do make with flour that it'll be nice to have no choice but to make something else. So far we've been out of flour a week and it hasn't been a concern.
Another one is cream. I love cream in my coffee, and as soon as it's out, I won't be buying more. Without cream, I'm pretty sure my coffee intake will dwindle quite a bit too. So that's knocking a few birds out with one stone.
This approach has worked with pop and sweets so far, and I'm excited to see just how healthy I can get my cupboards.
The other issue: exercise. I was out of town for most of last week, so exercise resumes tonight. I am determined to do Insanity again, and I think I have figured out the best time and way to get it done. I'm going to start fresh. The next time I post, I will have completed the first week of Insanity. I PROMISE.
My weight is down only two tenths of a pound for now. Haven't done measurements but I'll do some tomorrow morning. So... baby steps. But we'll get there.
Until then.. I have been slowly trying to eliminate unhealthy foods in my house and simply not replenish them. We've gotten to the bottom of the flour barrel! I have decided not to buy flour for now and see how it goes. This one will be particularly interesting because there are so many unhealthy things that I can and do make with flour that it'll be nice to have no choice but to make something else. So far we've been out of flour a week and it hasn't been a concern.
Another one is cream. I love cream in my coffee, and as soon as it's out, I won't be buying more. Without cream, I'm pretty sure my coffee intake will dwindle quite a bit too. So that's knocking a few birds out with one stone.
This approach has worked with pop and sweets so far, and I'm excited to see just how healthy I can get my cupboards.
The other issue: exercise. I was out of town for most of last week, so exercise resumes tonight. I am determined to do Insanity again, and I think I have figured out the best time and way to get it done. I'm going to start fresh. The next time I post, I will have completed the first week of Insanity. I PROMISE.
My weight is down only two tenths of a pound for now. Haven't done measurements but I'll do some tomorrow morning. So... baby steps. But we'll get there.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
October 2, 2011
Hahaha! Yeah, I’m laughing. That’s how much of a joke this blog is. It, admittedly, has been a long time since I’ve updated or even cared if I updated. Lots of things going on as usual, but particularly convention and preps. It’s a busy time and a very hard time to focus on diet and exercise!
But worse, I’ve been derailed by increasing bouts of gallbladder pain. It’s an epidemic in my family. Almost everyone in my family has had issues with gallbladder failure eventually, so it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to believe I was headed down the same path. But if you know me at all, you know I’m going to try the natural route first.
First of all, what leads to gallbladder pain? Bad bile. Bile that has formed stones, bile that has become stagnant, bile that is too concentrated. This can often just be hereditary, and in my case I believe that’s a huge part of it, but I still believe there are other things at play. I have a diet high in sugar, flour, and saturated fat. It’s low in unsaturated fat and water, unfortunately. Bile becomes too concentrated when a person becomes dehydrated, and over time leads to stone formation. However, once the stones have formed, you can’t just drink water and hope to cure yourself.
So.. I’m going to do a gallbladder/liver cleanse.
Oh come on, you knew that was coming.
Here’s how it works. When you consume fat, your body uses bile to emulsify it and prepare it for absorption. Your body prepares bile in anticipation of a meal, so whether you eat fat or not, your body is going to build up its store. So let’s say you skip breakfast regularly. There’s bile sitting in your gallbladder waiting to be used but isn’t needed. It becomes stagnant and more prone to stone development. Let’s say for lunch you just grab a banana and have steamed vegetables and brown rice. You are eating zero fat, therefore your bile is again not needed and left in your gallbladder unused. It’s very important to eat a healthy amount of unsaturated fat at every meal to empty the gallbladder so that it doesn’t sit unused and cause problems. Does that make sense? So remember in the 80s and 90s when low-fat diets were the biggest thing? I haven’t checked statistics or anything, but I’m willing to bet that gallbladder removals skyrocketed after that. As for my sisters, they had done juice fasts immediately prior to suffering severe gallbladder pain. As someone who has also done juice fasting, I’m sure it has contributed to the pain I have now. In fact I remember quitting the very first fast I did because of the horrible pain I now know is gallbladder pain. I’m also a serial breakfast skipper (not by choice but because of busy mornings) and I don’t eat a lot of healthy fat. I eat a lot of carbs and might eat one meal that contains an enormous amount of saturated fat after which I’m suffering terrible gallbladder pain.
Bile is formed in the liver and simply stored in the gallbladder until it is needed. Therefore, gallstones can be present in both places. The cleanse or flush I want to try would remove stones from both places because it uses the body’s normal process of bile formation to flush out stones. The process is just greatly intensified.
Think of a hose that is filled with marbles. What is needed to remove the marbles from the hose? Water pressure. However, the water pressure is greatly diminished by the presence of the marbles. You can see where it would become a vicious cycle with gallstones. As stones form and diminish the flow of bile over time, the decreased pressure leads to stagnation and development of further stones, etc. But what if you could greatly increase the pressure within the hose for a brief time? And make the hose just a bit bigger temporarily so that the marbles could come out more easily? Some of the marbles would come out of the hose, and any other marbles in the hose would be pushed forward. This is the action of a gallbladder cleanse. It’s simply increasing the size of the ducts and the pressure inside the liver and gallbladder so that stones can be pushed forward and, best case scenario, dislodged altogether.
Here’s how I will attempt it:
Days 1-5
• Drink lots and lots of water. The body uses a tremendous amount of water to create bile. Drinking enough water helps to prevent further stones from forming.
• Drink lots and lots of apple juice. The malic acid in apple juice can help to soften and dissolve gallstones in preparation.
• Take double doses of magnesium taurate. Magnesium is what will serve to dilate the bile ducts and make it easier for stones to pass through unimpeded. (i.e. without triggering a full blown attack)
• Cut out dairy and sugar. Eat plenty of unsaturated fat throughout the day, as well as lots of vegetables, fruits, and other good carbs.
Day 6
• I will eat NO FAT in my breakfast or lunch. This will serve to build up pressure for the cleanse.
• Breakfast: Fruit and apple juice
• Lunch: Steamed vegetables and brown rice, apple juice
• 2-4 pm: Combine 4 oz of walnut oil with 4 oz of apple juice and drink. Follow by 4 oz of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Do this process four times total in two hours.
• As you might guess, drinking a full 16 oz of pure fat in the form of walnut oil combined with the increased pressure in the gallbladder from a morning of no fat at all combined with the dilating effect of the magnesium taurate leads to a highly effective and powerful “flush” of the liver and gallbladder that allows for the removal of stones and chaff and bad bile. Sounds good in theory, right?
Post-cleanse
After the cleanse I will begin my “white-out” diet. Low sugar, no flour or dairy or potatoes. But that’s a blog entry for another day. Hah! I need to buy things for this cleanse, so I will begin on Tuesday of this week. I intend to do an official start of Insanity tomorrow. I did one workout last week but didn’t count it. Also.. I have been off pop for a week. Anxious to see what this week brings!
First of all, what leads to gallbladder pain? Bad bile. Bile that has formed stones, bile that has become stagnant, bile that is too concentrated. This can often just be hereditary, and in my case I believe that’s a huge part of it, but I still believe there are other things at play. I have a diet high in sugar, flour, and saturated fat. It’s low in unsaturated fat and water, unfortunately. Bile becomes too concentrated when a person becomes dehydrated, and over time leads to stone formation. However, once the stones have formed, you can’t just drink water and hope to cure yourself.
So.. I’m going to do a gallbladder/liver cleanse.
Oh come on, you knew that was coming.
Here’s how it works. When you consume fat, your body uses bile to emulsify it and prepare it for absorption. Your body prepares bile in anticipation of a meal, so whether you eat fat or not, your body is going to build up its store. So let’s say you skip breakfast regularly. There’s bile sitting in your gallbladder waiting to be used but isn’t needed. It becomes stagnant and more prone to stone development. Let’s say for lunch you just grab a banana and have steamed vegetables and brown rice. You are eating zero fat, therefore your bile is again not needed and left in your gallbladder unused. It’s very important to eat a healthy amount of unsaturated fat at every meal to empty the gallbladder so that it doesn’t sit unused and cause problems. Does that make sense? So remember in the 80s and 90s when low-fat diets were the biggest thing? I haven’t checked statistics or anything, but I’m willing to bet that gallbladder removals skyrocketed after that. As for my sisters, they had done juice fasts immediately prior to suffering severe gallbladder pain. As someone who has also done juice fasting, I’m sure it has contributed to the pain I have now. In fact I remember quitting the very first fast I did because of the horrible pain I now know is gallbladder pain. I’m also a serial breakfast skipper (not by choice but because of busy mornings) and I don’t eat a lot of healthy fat. I eat a lot of carbs and might eat one meal that contains an enormous amount of saturated fat after which I’m suffering terrible gallbladder pain.
Bile is formed in the liver and simply stored in the gallbladder until it is needed. Therefore, gallstones can be present in both places. The cleanse or flush I want to try would remove stones from both places because it uses the body’s normal process of bile formation to flush out stones. The process is just greatly intensified.
Think of a hose that is filled with marbles. What is needed to remove the marbles from the hose? Water pressure. However, the water pressure is greatly diminished by the presence of the marbles. You can see where it would become a vicious cycle with gallstones. As stones form and diminish the flow of bile over time, the decreased pressure leads to stagnation and development of further stones, etc. But what if you could greatly increase the pressure within the hose for a brief time? And make the hose just a bit bigger temporarily so that the marbles could come out more easily? Some of the marbles would come out of the hose, and any other marbles in the hose would be pushed forward. This is the action of a gallbladder cleanse. It’s simply increasing the size of the ducts and the pressure inside the liver and gallbladder so that stones can be pushed forward and, best case scenario, dislodged altogether.
Here’s how I will attempt it:
Days 1-5
• Drink lots and lots of water. The body uses a tremendous amount of water to create bile. Drinking enough water helps to prevent further stones from forming.
• Drink lots and lots of apple juice. The malic acid in apple juice can help to soften and dissolve gallstones in preparation.
• Take double doses of magnesium taurate. Magnesium is what will serve to dilate the bile ducts and make it easier for stones to pass through unimpeded. (i.e. without triggering a full blown attack)
• Cut out dairy and sugar. Eat plenty of unsaturated fat throughout the day, as well as lots of vegetables, fruits, and other good carbs.
Day 6
• I will eat NO FAT in my breakfast or lunch. This will serve to build up pressure for the cleanse.
• Breakfast: Fruit and apple juice
• Lunch: Steamed vegetables and brown rice, apple juice
• 2-4 pm: Combine 4 oz of walnut oil with 4 oz of apple juice and drink. Follow by 4 oz of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Do this process four times total in two hours.
• As you might guess, drinking a full 16 oz of pure fat in the form of walnut oil combined with the increased pressure in the gallbladder from a morning of no fat at all combined with the dilating effect of the magnesium taurate leads to a highly effective and powerful “flush” of the liver and gallbladder that allows for the removal of stones and chaff and bad bile. Sounds good in theory, right?
Post-cleanse
After the cleanse I will begin my “white-out” diet. Low sugar, no flour or dairy or potatoes. But that’s a blog entry for another day. Hah! I need to buy things for this cleanse, so I will begin on Tuesday of this week. I intend to do an official start of Insanity tomorrow. I did one workout last week but didn’t count it. Also.. I have been off pop for a week. Anxious to see what this week brings!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Format = Flushed
I'm a mom. Finding time to write in this blog is hard, to say the least. I like having it and while it doesn't keep me as motivated as I had hoped, it does keep me honest about my eating and exercising habits. It makes me much more conscious of the behaviors that are contributing to the need for this blog in the first place.
Let's just say that I don't care to post my weight every week. First of all, I think weight is somewhat irrelevant in that it fluctuates frequently, it isn't a very accurate measure of body composition, and it varies so greatly from person to person that it doesn't tell a reliable or relatable story. I think I have gotten too caught up in weight. And honestly, I think shows like the Biggest Loser do too. I've read too many horror stories about contestants who quit eating and quit drinking water before the last weigh-in just to attempt to win the show. One of the contestants actually got so dehydrated that he was urinating blood! Anyway, my point is.. if you get too hung up on the "number", you'll start to engage in more questionable tactics to achieve it.
Take it from someone who used to juice fast. I weighed 140 when I got married and in just a few months, I was up to 153. I decided to try a juice fast. I think the first one I did was 8 or 9 days long with a 2 day break and then another ten days or so. I lost 23 lbs. But it was horrible. Unfortunately, I got hooked on the results I achieved (which didn't last) and I began a four-year stint of yo-yo fasting. It has destroyed my metabolism, to be sure. It has also given me a near-constant desire to regain control through juice fasting time and time again. I haven't fasted since January 2010, and I like to believe I will never try it again. I know it's harmful for me. But I still have the urge to do it, just to get the short-term drop on the scale.
If I ever mention anything in my blog about being tempted to do a fast just to get a head start, please send me a message reminding me that I'm an idiot. But be nice about it, sheesh.
I heard recently that 3% of diets work in the long-term. Three percent. What's the point? In the past year or so, I've really tried to get myself out of the mindset of calorie restriction and just focus more on WHAT I'm eating. Initially this whole blog was about cutting out sugar and seeing how I felt. I would like to get back to that point. So... that is the renewed focus of this blog. I will no longer be posting my weight. I will, however, post inches. And maybe periodically I'll just give an update as to the total pounds lost overall, but that is no longer the focus of this blog. I'm removing my weekly numbers since ultimately I have nothing to show for the past 3 months anyway. We are starting fresh.
So what have I done so far to kick this off? Well.. I took my vitamins this morning! I haven't spouted off about vitamins in a long time! So here goes, this is what I'm taking: Vitamins A, a super B complex with vitamin C, D, E, a prenatal vitamin, magnesium taurate, coenzyme B-complex, fish oil, lutein, probiotics, and glucosamine and chondroitin. Calcium is suspiciously absent because I'm trying to fix what I think is a magnesium deficiency. Once those symptoms disappear, I'll start taking Calcium and Magnesium conjunctively in a 10:4 ratio.
Another thing: I won't be keeping pop or junk food in the house. It's much easier to deny myself things that I don't even have around. Plus we live in the country, so it's not like I can just run out and get whatever I'm craving without piling the kids in the car and driving 50 minutes both ways.
One last thing: exercise. I am struggling to figure out some way that I can get Insanity back in my daily routine. I want to do it. But with Ember teething, I can only set her down for a few minutes at a time before she's screaming again. And her naps have been very brief catnaps. I can't rely on finding a babysitter every day when I want to work out, so I have to figure out something that will keep her entertained during the time that I exercise. Maybe just the video itself will keep her entertained. But for an hour? I doubt it. I guess I'll have to try it. I have to figure something out.
All for now. Until next week!
Let's just say that I don't care to post my weight every week. First of all, I think weight is somewhat irrelevant in that it fluctuates frequently, it isn't a very accurate measure of body composition, and it varies so greatly from person to person that it doesn't tell a reliable or relatable story. I think I have gotten too caught up in weight. And honestly, I think shows like the Biggest Loser do too. I've read too many horror stories about contestants who quit eating and quit drinking water before the last weigh-in just to attempt to win the show. One of the contestants actually got so dehydrated that he was urinating blood! Anyway, my point is.. if you get too hung up on the "number", you'll start to engage in more questionable tactics to achieve it.
Take it from someone who used to juice fast. I weighed 140 when I got married and in just a few months, I was up to 153. I decided to try a juice fast. I think the first one I did was 8 or 9 days long with a 2 day break and then another ten days or so. I lost 23 lbs. But it was horrible. Unfortunately, I got hooked on the results I achieved (which didn't last) and I began a four-year stint of yo-yo fasting. It has destroyed my metabolism, to be sure. It has also given me a near-constant desire to regain control through juice fasting time and time again. I haven't fasted since January 2010, and I like to believe I will never try it again. I know it's harmful for me. But I still have the urge to do it, just to get the short-term drop on the scale.
If I ever mention anything in my blog about being tempted to do a fast just to get a head start, please send me a message reminding me that I'm an idiot. But be nice about it, sheesh.
I heard recently that 3% of diets work in the long-term. Three percent. What's the point? In the past year or so, I've really tried to get myself out of the mindset of calorie restriction and just focus more on WHAT I'm eating. Initially this whole blog was about cutting out sugar and seeing how I felt. I would like to get back to that point. So... that is the renewed focus of this blog. I will no longer be posting my weight. I will, however, post inches. And maybe periodically I'll just give an update as to the total pounds lost overall, but that is no longer the focus of this blog. I'm removing my weekly numbers since ultimately I have nothing to show for the past 3 months anyway. We are starting fresh.
So what have I done so far to kick this off? Well.. I took my vitamins this morning! I haven't spouted off about vitamins in a long time! So here goes, this is what I'm taking: Vitamins A, a super B complex with vitamin C, D, E, a prenatal vitamin, magnesium taurate, coenzyme B-complex, fish oil, lutein, probiotics, and glucosamine and chondroitin. Calcium is suspiciously absent because I'm trying to fix what I think is a magnesium deficiency. Once those symptoms disappear, I'll start taking Calcium and Magnesium conjunctively in a 10:4 ratio.
Another thing: I won't be keeping pop or junk food in the house. It's much easier to deny myself things that I don't even have around. Plus we live in the country, so it's not like I can just run out and get whatever I'm craving without piling the kids in the car and driving 50 minutes both ways.
One last thing: exercise. I am struggling to figure out some way that I can get Insanity back in my daily routine. I want to do it. But with Ember teething, I can only set her down for a few minutes at a time before she's screaming again. And her naps have been very brief catnaps. I can't rely on finding a babysitter every day when I want to work out, so I have to figure out something that will keep her entertained during the time that I exercise. Maybe just the video itself will keep her entertained. But for an hour? I doubt it. I guess I'll have to try it. I have to figure something out.
All for now. Until next week!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Weeks Eleven and Twelve
SIGHH. Yeah, that's right. I'm a couple weeks late posting this. I'm trying to decide if I should give all my excuses or just blow past them. Hah. I have not been exercising lately, let's leave it at that. No, I should add that I've also been out of control eating-wise.
Struggles are still the same: finding time to exercise is hard with two kids, and Ember is teething which means we've struggled to get her down by 10:30 or 11 most nights. Jason works a lot this time of year, so I can't rely on him to watch the kids. My only real option is to do it after the kids are asleep, but since Jett wakes up at 6 these days, I'm not overly inclined to stay up late. What it boils down to is finding my motivation again.
Eating will always be my biggest struggle. I'm a compulsive person, especially with food. I'm also very impulsive with food, so it's very important that I don't have things laying around. Or that the things I do have laying around are healthy.
I wish I would've planted the garden this year.
Numbers. More big mopey sighs. My weight is 157. Waist: 34.5 inches. Hips: 38.5 inches. Up, up, up.
Next week my best friend is coming to visit for most of the week. She's pregnant, so we won't be eating healthy or exercising. I can promise you that! But after that.. I'll get serious. Right? I have to. I can't keep posting these terrible blog updates, it's killing me. Blah.
Well, I can't end on that note, so here's what I propose. I will figure out some way to have the kids in the basement with me while I do my workout. Even if Jett decides to join me (i.e. get in my way), it's still better than nothing, right? And I can see if Ember will keep entertained in her exersaucer. There's hope.
Until the next time. And the next time.
Struggles are still the same: finding time to exercise is hard with two kids, and Ember is teething which means we've struggled to get her down by 10:30 or 11 most nights. Jason works a lot this time of year, so I can't rely on him to watch the kids. My only real option is to do it after the kids are asleep, but since Jett wakes up at 6 these days, I'm not overly inclined to stay up late. What it boils down to is finding my motivation again.
Eating will always be my biggest struggle. I'm a compulsive person, especially with food. I'm also very impulsive with food, so it's very important that I don't have things laying around. Or that the things I do have laying around are healthy.
I wish I would've planted the garden this year.
Numbers. More big mopey sighs. My weight is 157. Waist: 34.5 inches. Hips: 38.5 inches. Up, up, up.
Next week my best friend is coming to visit for most of the week. She's pregnant, so we won't be eating healthy or exercising. I can promise you that! But after that.. I'll get serious. Right? I have to. I can't keep posting these terrible blog updates, it's killing me. Blah.
Well, I can't end on that note, so here's what I propose. I will figure out some way to have the kids in the basement with me while I do my workout. Even if Jett decides to join me (i.e. get in my way), it's still better than nothing, right? And I can see if Ember will keep entertained in her exersaucer. There's hope.
Until the next time. And the next time.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Weeks Nine and Ten
My two week results are NOT amazing. As I mentioned before, I was on vacation for ten days which made it difficult to find time to work out. I did manage it a couple days, but it got harder as the week progressed. Now we are home again and I have yet to get back in the swing of things. I haven't even unpacked yet! It has been hectic, don't judge me.
Stats: current weight- 156.4. Waist - 33 inches, hips - 37.5 inches. This is why I'm glad I'm not just going by weight. I went up like three pounds but still lost a quarter inch in my waist. Hips stayed the same.
Wednesdays are hard but I'm hoping to resume my workouts tomorrow. Next Monday we will see just how much impact a full week of Insanity really has!
Now that I'll be getting back to some semblance of normalcy, I really will start taking my vitamins. Other goals: same old, same old.. reduce sugar and pop, focus on eating better. With organization, these things will come.
This post is lame sauce, but it's all I have for now. Until next week.
Stats: current weight- 156.4. Waist - 33 inches, hips - 37.5 inches. This is why I'm glad I'm not just going by weight. I went up like three pounds but still lost a quarter inch in my waist. Hips stayed the same.
Wednesdays are hard but I'm hoping to resume my workouts tomorrow. Next Monday we will see just how much impact a full week of Insanity really has!
Now that I'll be getting back to some semblance of normalcy, I really will start taking my vitamins. Other goals: same old, same old.. reduce sugar and pop, focus on eating better. With organization, these things will come.
This post is lame sauce, but it's all I have for now. Until next week.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Week Eight
Let's get right into it. Current weight- 153.2 lbs, waist- 33.25 inches, hips- 37.5 inches. That's a loss of 2.2 lbs, 2.25 inches in my waist, and 1.5 inches in my hips in one week.
Insanity works.
I really only did five workouts, four of which were intense cardio. The actual cardio portion was between 20-25 minutes. All in all, I didn't spend a lot of time doing hard workouts or weight-lifting. But I was incredibly sore every day. I still haven't finished a whole workout without having to take a break. In fact, I still haven't finished the whole WARM-UP without having to take a break. It's intense. But I don't dread it each day! I look forward to it!
My biggest issue with Insanity at this point is how much my knees are starting to hurt. I don't know if it's a lack of stretching properly or what, because they don't ever hurt during the workout itself. It's more of a stiff feeling later.
The other hard thing? Dehydration headaches. I usually drink 34 ounces of water just in the half hour or so that I'm working out, but the rest of the day is pretty hard to drink water. I'm still battling the occasional pop and iced coffee, but I don't feel it's a compulsive habit at least. And I've quit going to Starbucks! I just have to learn to like water more. I know from experience that the more I drink, the more I start to crave it again but MAN does a cold mountain dew look better some days!
I am leaving Thursday for a family vacation and won't be back until a week from Saturday (the 23rd). I won't be doing a "numbers" post next Monday while I'm there, but I may post a brief update from my phone. My next measurements will be after two weeks, so I'm anxious to see what kind of progress there is! And even though I'll be on vacation, Jenny, the one who got me on to Insanity in the first place, has encouraged me to do my workouts while I'm there. I intend to. I hope it works out. I'm not excited about trying to do them in the middle of the condo!
Things I need to work on in this upcoming week: cutting back on sweets, drinking more water, and taking my vitamins. I'll start taking chondroitin and glucosamine and see if that helps my joints. I'm so old..
Until next time!
Insanity works.
I really only did five workouts, four of which were intense cardio. The actual cardio portion was between 20-25 minutes. All in all, I didn't spend a lot of time doing hard workouts or weight-lifting. But I was incredibly sore every day. I still haven't finished a whole workout without having to take a break. In fact, I still haven't finished the whole WARM-UP without having to take a break. It's intense. But I don't dread it each day! I look forward to it!
My biggest issue with Insanity at this point is how much my knees are starting to hurt. I don't know if it's a lack of stretching properly or what, because they don't ever hurt during the workout itself. It's more of a stiff feeling later.
The other hard thing? Dehydration headaches. I usually drink 34 ounces of water just in the half hour or so that I'm working out, but the rest of the day is pretty hard to drink water. I'm still battling the occasional pop and iced coffee, but I don't feel it's a compulsive habit at least. And I've quit going to Starbucks! I just have to learn to like water more. I know from experience that the more I drink, the more I start to crave it again but MAN does a cold mountain dew look better some days!
I am leaving Thursday for a family vacation and won't be back until a week from Saturday (the 23rd). I won't be doing a "numbers" post next Monday while I'm there, but I may post a brief update from my phone. My next measurements will be after two weeks, so I'm anxious to see what kind of progress there is! And even though I'll be on vacation, Jenny, the one who got me on to Insanity in the first place, has encouraged me to do my workouts while I'm there. I intend to. I hope it works out. I'm not excited about trying to do them in the middle of the condo!
Things I need to work on in this upcoming week: cutting back on sweets, drinking more water, and taking my vitamins. I'll start taking chondroitin and glucosamine and see if that helps my joints. I'm so old..
Until next time!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Week Six and Seven
I am PUMPED! As promised, I got Insanity. I am only on day three, but I can safely say that these workouts WILL change me. This level of interval training is so intense that I can't sustain a whole 20 minutes yet. I'm totally a beginner, though, so I'm hoping it comes with time.
Let me backtrack. I just came off a 12 day vacation to Colorado, that's why I didn't post last Monday. I couldn't even weigh myself, so I posted that my weight stayed the same. I weighed myself on Monday and it was 155.4. Yesterday I hopped on the scale after I did Insanity and I was up to 157.4 so I think I have been fairly dehydrated. The numbers may even be higher next week. However, I did take some measurements this time! They are as follows (as of last Saturday):
Waist at belly button: 35.5 inches (ugh.. 29 in high school)
Hips: 39 inches
I will now start posting my weight AND my weekly measurements every Monday. (I promise I'll be better. Wait, I have another long vacation coming up.. but after that I will!)
The hardest part right now is reducing sugar. I'm trying to be more conscious of what I eat. I've given up pop for the most part, but I still cave for the occasional iced coffee. I'm adding more fiber and protein to my diet, though, and that definitely helps with cravings. Another hard thing? Getting enough water. Water bites to drink. It's so bland and boring. Ugh. Hopefully I soon crave it, because I was seeing spots in my workout yesterday.
Well, not much time to write today, but this blog will be a priority going forward. Thanks for tuning in!
Let me backtrack. I just came off a 12 day vacation to Colorado, that's why I didn't post last Monday. I couldn't even weigh myself, so I posted that my weight stayed the same. I weighed myself on Monday and it was 155.4. Yesterday I hopped on the scale after I did Insanity and I was up to 157.4 so I think I have been fairly dehydrated. The numbers may even be higher next week. However, I did take some measurements this time! They are as follows (as of last Saturday):
Waist at belly button: 35.5 inches (ugh.. 29 in high school)
Hips: 39 inches
I will now start posting my weight AND my weekly measurements every Monday. (I promise I'll be better. Wait, I have another long vacation coming up.. but after that I will!)
The hardest part right now is reducing sugar. I'm trying to be more conscious of what I eat. I've given up pop for the most part, but I still cave for the occasional iced coffee. I'm adding more fiber and protein to my diet, though, and that definitely helps with cravings. Another hard thing? Getting enough water. Water bites to drink. It's so bland and boring. Ugh. Hopefully I soon crave it, because I was seeing spots in my workout yesterday.
Well, not much time to write today, but this blog will be a priority going forward. Thanks for tuning in!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Week Five.
I started off this week at 156.8. The numbers are slowly going south luckily, but I think it's just normal fluctuation. I still can't get over how busy life can be as a stay-at-home mom, but I'm finally feeling things slow down a little.
I talked to Jenny this week and she showed me a clip from Insanity. WOW. It looks unbelievable. You know it's tough because all these conditioned athletes are just dying in the video. Well.. Crazy is as crazy does. I'm getting it. I'm nowhere near in shape enough to make it through, but I'm pumped to try.
I saw an article this week about good cardio vs. bad cardio. I hadn't ever really thought about any cardio being bad necessarily. Without summarizing all the points in the article, I'll just point out what made me sit up and take notice. What do marathoners look like? Are you surprised by the number of people you know that run long distances but still seem to struggle with their weight? I have always found that to be such a paradox. How can someone have a spare tire when they just ran seventeen miles?! Now think about how sprinters look. Google them. They are ripped. Ridiculously toned. Healthy and strong without a hint of the "skinny flabby" thing that some marathoners have going on.
The difference of course is the type of cardio. Marathoners do a constant low intensity cardio workout every time they run. Sprinters, on the other hand, do bursts of maximum intensity cardio over and over. The big difference is in the interval training.
Normally at this point I would quote statistics and spout off about everything I think I know, but I will spare you just this once. Let me just say that I'm convinced that this high intensity interval training is going to be the answer for me personally. I can't commit to running long distances and I like variety. Insanity sounds perfect for the likes of me. I'm so excited to start.
I talked to Jenny this week and she showed me a clip from Insanity. WOW. It looks unbelievable. You know it's tough because all these conditioned athletes are just dying in the video. Well.. Crazy is as crazy does. I'm getting it. I'm nowhere near in shape enough to make it through, but I'm pumped to try.
I saw an article this week about good cardio vs. bad cardio. I hadn't ever really thought about any cardio being bad necessarily. Without summarizing all the points in the article, I'll just point out what made me sit up and take notice. What do marathoners look like? Are you surprised by the number of people you know that run long distances but still seem to struggle with their weight? I have always found that to be such a paradox. How can someone have a spare tire when they just ran seventeen miles?! Now think about how sprinters look. Google them. They are ripped. Ridiculously toned. Healthy and strong without a hint of the "skinny flabby" thing that some marathoners have going on.
The difference of course is the type of cardio. Marathoners do a constant low intensity cardio workout every time they run. Sprinters, on the other hand, do bursts of maximum intensity cardio over and over. The big difference is in the interval training.
Normally at this point I would quote statistics and spout off about everything I think I know, but I will spare you just this once. Let me just say that I'm convinced that this high intensity interval training is going to be the answer for me personally. I can't commit to running long distances and I like variety. Insanity sounds perfect for the likes of me. I'm so excited to start.
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