Are Plateaus Inevitable?

I’m starting to think the answer to that question is ‘no.’ Not if you have a body bugg. Plateaus happen when you body doesn’t need as many calories to function [as in after losing some weight], so unless you up your activity level, you’ll end up taking in the same amount of calories you’re burning. Also, if you’re on a very restrictive plan already, your metabolism will eventually slow down so that you reach an equilibrium of sorts. But… it’ll be interesting to see if I run into this problem knowing how many calories I’m burning each day vs. what I’m taking in. I have a feeling the answer is ‘no’…

I eat anywhere from 1,500 to 2,200 calories a day, depending on the circumstances, my choices, and my appetite. But I also burn at least 1,000 calories more than I take in, so I’m always in a caloric deficit. If people pick an arbitrary number – like 1,200 calories and stick to that, eventually it’ll either be too much, or not enough, theoretically…

So, I’ll keep you posted on that aspect of using a body bugg – IF the dreaded plateau does strike. lol… so far, so good. I did have no weightloss for about 2 weeks, but I think it had more to do with my monthly cycle than anything else. Once my period was over, I dropped over 4lbs, seemingly overnight. That’s just how my body works, I guess. As long as it’s temporary and I immediately catch up to the pace I’m going for [2-2.5lbs/wk], I don’t care.

I took some measurements today and was pleasantly surprised. Especially when compared to my original measurements when I started this journey almost 2 years ago:

Here are my inches lost to date:

Chest: 7.5″
Waist: 10″
Hips: 10″
Thighs: 8″ [ea]
Calves: 2.5″ [ea]
Arms: 3.5″ [ea]
Neck: 3″

That last measurement blows me away – 3 inches off my neck! lol… I’ve lost 40lbs so far [40.2 if you want to get technical], and I’m shooting for another 55 lbs to get to my goal weight. At the pace I’m going now, if I can keep it up, I should get there by early to mid April, 2010 – a mere 5 months. That’s just amazing to me. I lost all of 7lbs all of last year because I wasn’t tracking what I was eating. I did drop a dress size from exercising and my body comp changing for the better, but then my weight just stayed the same for months and months until I got frustrated enough to look for something that would work for me – I found clean-eating, Tosca Reno, Oxygen Magazine and Chalene Johnson… and on Chalene’s recommendation – the body bugg. It’s been a slow but steady progression to figuring this all out for myself, but now that everything is clicking, it really does seem pretty easy. If you told me even 6 month ago that it could be this simple, I wouldn’t have believed you…

I’ve tried keeping a food journal in the past  but I was always tracking too many things – carbs, fat grams, protein, etc. And then I’d judge myself, or if I wanted something ‘bad’, I didn’t want to write it down – because that would make it real, disturbing my delicate state of denial. So I’d give up. All I track now are calories, and I eat whatever I want, but because I track calories, and because I like how I feel when I make healthier choices, I tend to want healthier foods 9 times out of 10. I do have chocolate almost every day. I do have snacks like crackers and cheese. Trackign calories has helped me to understand portion sizes. I see what I eat now and compare it to how I WAS eating – even while ‘dieting’ – and it’s no wonder I either gained weight or didn’t lose anything. When they say a food journal is key for most people to reach their weightloss goals and to sustain them, they’re not joking.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get comfortable enough to intuitively know approximately what I’m taking in vs. burning each day after I get to my goal weight. I suspect I’ll continue to use a food journal… even if I stop using the body bug. It’s pretty easy to remember about how many calories you burn during certain activities… and I would think once I don’t have anymore fat to lose, as long as I burn what I’m taking in, I won’t gain anything back. I’ll either be able to eat more, or have less daily activity. Right now I shoot for an hour and a half of ‘activity’ and 10,000 steps, 3,000-3,250 calories burned… yesterday I beat all my targets and didn’t even workout – I tend to do more around the house because I have more energy [and because I know it burns calories] and by bouncing on my stability ball while watching TV. So I gave my body a break from weight lifting and the 45 minutes of cardio I usually do, and today I feel fantastic, and ready to tackle the 2-3 hours of raking and bagging leaves that we have to do.

Losing weight isn’t the rocket science the diet industry will have you believe. It’s in their best interest to give you a taste of success only to take it away, so you keep coming back for more – buying their books, products, ’systems’, etc… It’s such a sham. If your goal is to lose weight only, then you don’t care that the diet your on doesn’t make nutritional sense as long as the number on the scale moves down. If your goal is to get healthy and fit, nutrition is everything – it affects your performance in everything you do. Which sounds more intelligent?  [It only took 25 years to become obvious for me]. ;)

Thoughts: 11.1.09

This is beginning of week 5 for me with the body bugg, and I’m down 11 lbs. It does what it says it does if you track your calories. I’m finally a believer. After dieting and FAILING miserably for so many years, I finally feel like I’m going to do this and make it to my goals. It’s very new, very awesome sensation. lol…

I would have figured I’d get bored with tracking calories, but I haven’t. I actually love knowing how many calories I’m consuming because I love hitting all my daily targets for calorie burning, steps, activity duration, etc. I’m a body bugg-a-holic if there is such a thing. lol

I’ve also discovered a great trick to making sure I burn up all my calories for the day. I love TV and I watch too much of it, but I bought myself a stability ball, and now I bounce on it while I watch TV – it works so well that I know I burn 350 calories while watching 45 minutes of news! If I know we have a lot of shows ot catch up on and will be in front of the TV for 2-3 hours [I know, it's a lot...], at least now I know I can burn 1,000 calories or more doing it. It doesn’t replace my daily workouts but it does mean I can just do ONE workout a day and then burn off the rest of my calories while watching TV vs. doing 2 workouts a day like I was doing before, which felt like too much. Bouncing isn’t that hard on the body, but working out twice a day can be.

I’m going to try dropping my calories from 1,850 to 1,750 and burning 3,000 a day vs. 2,850 to see if I can increase my weekly weightloss from 2lbs to 2.5lbs. If it’s too much I’ll go back to what I was doing before [1,000 calorie deficit per day instead of 1,250]. By kicking my routine up a notch, the body bugg software claims I’ll reach my goal by April 9th. Which is great because it gives me time to settle into my new size [whatever that ends up being] and gives me time to do a little shopping – we have a few weddings to go to in May. If/when I reach my goal it’ll mean I’ve lost a total of 95lbs. How crazy is that? I’m almost halfway there – I’ve lost 39 lbs so far since I started this journey. I’m still not 100% sure my goal weight of 159 lbs is correct or not, but I weighed 160 at the end of highschool and again when I lost the weight I gained after my first year of college, so my ‘ideal’ weight is probably around that number. I can always reevaluate once I get there if I think I can lose a few more lbs… and if my body stops at 165 or 170 and I look and feel great, I’m fine with that, too.  =)

The best part of counting calories and living this way is, nothing is off limits. I eat mostly healthy, but now and then I can splurge if I plan for it. Last night my husband took me out for a delicious lobster dinner. I had a 1.5 lb lobster and I dunked every piece in butter – I also made sure to let most of it drip off, and in the end I probably ate about a tablespoon total of the butter, which is about 105 calories. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. When we got home I had enough calories left over to have some popcorn while we watched a movie and a few squares of chocolate. That whole thing about some people being able to eat whatever they want is true – as long as it doesn’t mean their taking in more calories than they burn.

I used to think maintaining a big weightloss would be tough, but if you exercise, it really doesn’t need to be. If I’m burning 1,250 calories more than I’m taking in now, to lose the weight, it means I either keep up the activity level and I get to eat a LOT more, or I can eat about the same amount of food and I don’t have to worry about being SO active every day [right now I do about 10,000 steps and get in about an hour and a half of activity per day, at a minimum]. It’ll mean I can take a couple of days off each week and really let my body recover fully before pushing it again.

This whole experience has been such an eye-opener. I know I won’t ever have the same issues with weight gain again. I know I’ll be ready to move on with the rest of my life when I reach my goals. This will be the toughest thing I’ve ever done. But once I figured out what works for me it stopped being an uphill battle, and turned into a happy journey.  =)  I’m enjoying it every step of the way.

In case you’re wondering about the stability ball, this is the one I have. It’s made to withstand 1,200 lbs – it’s made more rugged for weightlifting. I’ll be getting another as we finish off part of our basement as a gym so I can use it in place of a weight bench: Rhino Skin Stability Ball [image courtesy of amazon.com]

Counting Calories – 3 Weeks In…

It’s been 3 weeks since I started counting my calories, keeping a food journal and using the Body Bugg. I have to say, it’s been easy, almost fun, but only because of the Body Bugg. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t stick to it with the enthusiasm I have if I didn’t get the 2nd half of the story. Counting calories is one thing, but if you have no idea how much you’re burning, there’s a whole world of motivation that’s missing from the equation – at least for me. I know myself too well. I think the Body Bugg satisfies my ‘inner scientist’ – it’s taken the dieting out of it for me – now everything is an experiment. Everything is measured and counted – which was unfathomable for me before – but now it serves a purpose. It gives me the information I need to know approximately how big a caloric deficit I create each day. It takes the guess work out. Food has finally become what it should be for me – FUEL. 

So, how am I doing 3 weeks in? Well, I’ve lost 8.4 lbs. My goal is a 1,000 calorie deficit each day, which should equal an approximate 2 lb fatloss each week. I’m a little ahead of the curve right now, and am curious to see if it slows down to the 2lb/wk pace or if it’s a little more random than that. As long as it’s steady in the right direction, I’ll be happy. At 2 lbs/wk I’ll reach my goal weight by late May/early June. 

I still have that pinch of fear in the back of my mind that I might fail. That it’s too good to be true, that weightloss is NEVER this easy and it’ll suddenly stop working for me. Because every other ‘diet’ I’ve done in the past 25 years has let me down in some form [or was too crazy to maintain realistically and as a result I let myself down in giving up]. But the other side of that mentality is slowly gaining strength. That feeling of, not only hope, but confidence that it WILL work, that I WILL reach my goal, that it WILL continue to be easy and fun and that I’ve truly changed my lifestyle for the better and I’ll be rid of the ‘weight-monkey’ that’s been riding on my back almost my whole life once and for all! 

I did something last week that was a little scary for me. It’s going to sound silly, I’m sure, but it was a big deal. I’ve always wanted a pair of knee-high leather boots with some sort of heel. The only problem was, my calves were always too big to fit into even the ‘wide calf’ style boots. Well, I found a pair on zappos that sounded great and according to the description, were maybe a 1/2 inch smaller than my calf measurement. But they were a great price and had so many great reviews for comfort and style that I went for it, figuring they’d fit soon and if I waited until they did, they wouldn’t be available anymore. The came in, I tried them on and the damn things FIT!!! And they looked HOT! It was a very unusual feeling for me to finally achieve something like that. It’s trivial, but until now, was always unattainable, and that made it momentous to me. I love them, and I’ll be wearing them all winter with skirts and I’ll feel great about it. 

I also have had a really cool fitted leather jacket for years, that I bought when it was on clearance at the end of the season and it never fit. AT the time it ALMOST fit – and then I gained more weight and it ended up at the back of my closet and I completely forgot about it – until last week – when I cleaned out my closet and all of my drawers and got rid of clothes that were either too big now, or stuff I knew I’d never wear even if it did fit. When I saw the jacket, I didn’t have much hope of it fitting and if it didn’t, I probably would have gotten rid of it. I put it on – it was LOOSE on the arms [there was a time I couldn't get my arms in without cutting off circulation], and I was able to zip it up and I could still breathe! lol… It was slightly snug across the chest, but it had wiggle room around the waist, and the way it’s cut, it actually is very slimming. I wore it to work for the first time the other day and everyone noticed it and complimented me on it. When I told them I’d had it for probably 10 years now and have never been able to wear it, a few people were really supportive and said congrats. It was a small win, but a win nonetheless, so I’ll take it! 

It’s these little things that keep me going now – not so much the number on the scale or even the number of my clothing size… I’m all about the next little apparel goal. Next up is to go to a regular clothing store – not plus size – and buy a regular pair of jeans that have absolutely NO STRETCH to them at all. I’m sick of stretch unless it’s fitness gear. I gained a lot of weight and was able to stay in denial of it because my clothes were stretchy. From now on, if it doesn’t have a button and zipper, I’m not buying it. And if it has any sort of ’spandex’ listed as a material… forget it!

This week I was able to fit into the next size down in my jeans. They’re the smallest size you can get at a lane bryant – a size 1. They fit pretty perfectly but because they have stretch in them, they’re not 100% flattering around the hips. They look worlds better than my older jeans – that are loose enough that they remind me of elephant skin. Not flattering at all… I’m conflicted, though. Do I go get a few more pairs in different rinses and lengths, or so I wait another month or so and try my luck at a regular store… hmmm… decisions. I live in jeans for work – we’re a casual place, so 1 pair of jeans isn’t going to cut it. I keep throwing my older jeans in the wash in the hottest water setting and in the dryer extra long in an attempt to shrink them, but I think at this point I can’t get them any smaller. lol… I never thought I’d have this dilemma.

Body Bugg & Counting Calories…

Update: Just found out the sale [free digital readout with armband purchase] ends Wednesday [9/30/09]. Fyi…  =)

This has been a pretty fluid and interesting journey so far… things seem to be happening at a decent progression. I’m figuring things out, getting stronger and smarter about health and fitness with each passing month. I’m at the point fitness-wise where I feel confident trying new sports like kayaking [just have to make the time!], but I haven’t lost any weight in the past few months. I finally had to accept the fact that it was time to track calories burned vs. calories consumed. I watch Biggest Loser and have always found inspiration in the show, but they tend to be vague on the specifics of the program they have the contestants on – until this year. I know they use the Body Bugg to track calories burned, and I now know they put them on a 1.200 calorie a day diet. What I didn’t know until last week was that they expect the women to burn 6,000 calories a day, and the men, 8,000. That is CRAZY!!! I suppose if you didn’t have to work and had all day, it’s easily doable, but not for people with full time jobs, houses, families, responsibilities, etc. But it was good to know. There’s no magic behind their incredible weekly losses – they literally work their asses off!

So… I found a coupon and 24 hour fitness was running a special – buy the Body Bugg, get the digital display for free [here a link to the product page if you're interested], so I went ahead and ordered it – with apprehension. I’ve never counted calories before and I was worried it would be $224 wasted. Not so at all! It’s incredibly easy to use and really informative. It told me  that in order to lose 2lbs per week to meet my weightloss goal by mid-May, I need to consume 1,850 calories a day and burn 2,850 calories a day. The first night I put the bugg on, it told me I burned 700 calories in my sleep alone! Pretty awesome. Weightlifting is paying off in that department. I absolutely LOVE the Body Bugg. Chalene Johnson, the creator of Turbo Jam and her ChaLEAN Extreme strength training program also fell in love with it and contacted 24hr fitness to be able to offer a coupon special for her followers: bbgcj24

Counting calories is time consuming when you make most of your food from scratch, but I think as long as I measure and write it all down with calculations made, it’ll be a lot easier to make the same dish the next time without taking so much time to figure out all the calories, etc. I made a great minestrone-style soup the other night that turned out to be only 165 calories for a 300g serving [a pretty decent sized bowlful] so I added in a tbsp of parmasan cheese for another 20 calories and it was amazingly delicious and satisfying. It’s definitely been a huge eye-opener the past few days, seeing what has how many calories. I was blown away by how many calories nuts have. I had made a trail mix and I was eating it in 1/2 cup servings – turns out it’s 355 calories, which can throw me off if I’m not careful. 

It’s too soon to report any real weightloss, but I will as I go along. I did lose 2lbs from yesterday, but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s that time of the month so I think it was just bloat going away… I’ll be interested to see where I’m at in a week, in a month and in a few months, to see if I can turn this program into steady, healthy fat loss. I decided that as a reward for making my goal by May [just in time for 2 weddings, which means SHOPPING for some sexy party dresses], I’m treating myself to a trip and some shopping in London. I’ve always wanted to go, since I was a kid, so it’s been a long time coming – and celebrating an achievement this momentous in London with my husband is the perfect ‘reward.’  =)

WHEN I reach my goal in May, it will have been about 2 1/2 years since I decided it was time to do something about my health. If you had told me at the time that it would take that long I would have been disappointed. One thing I’ve learned through this whole process is good things are worth working for. And I have no doubt I’ll get there. In the meantime, I can’t wait until I can do 10 full pushups – not having to go to my knees after 5. It’s the smaller goals inbetween the big ones that keep me motivated.  =)

This is my menu for today. I’m going to put it in this post as an example, but also for my own reference:

• Protein shake [made into 2 meals, before and after workout]: 375
• 2 eggs over easy, 1 tsp oil, 1 slice whole grain bread: 350
• 1/2 cup 2% Greek yogurt with agave, vanilla, lemon zest and 1 cup berries: 170
• Homemade minestrone soup with 1 Tbsp parmesan: 185
• Veggie sticks [carrot, celery, cuke & red pepper] with 1/4 C hommus: 160
• 4oz Roasted chicken breast, 1/4 C [dry - not sure what that'll end up being cooked...?] Brown Rice
& 3 oz garlic sauteed asparagus [including oil]: 360
• 8oz black seedless grapes & 1 light mini baby bell cheese: 195
—————-
Total calories: 1,795

[Image courtesy of 24hourfitness.com]

Thoughts: 9.1.09

I just got back from visiting my mother in Florida. She lost 25lbs and that was my bargain – for every 25lbs she lost, I’d go visit again. I’ve been there 3 times in the past year, which is a record. She’s doing well considering she had a stroke in March. Since then she’s completely changed her diet. Now, she eats fairly healthy, but in my opinion, she doesn’t eat enough – and definitely not enough protein. But I think the stroke and the subsequent Diabetes diagnosis has actually given her a fear of eating. Being around her just made me realize yet again why it’s so important I take care of myself now and forever and not get complacent about diet and exercise. But here I sit at 8:28pm trying to conjure up the motivation to go workout [since I wasn't able to this morning]. I guess I just really don’t like working out in the evenings. I much prefer mornings. I know once I go upstairs and start my warmup, I’ll be energized and I’ll have a great workout, and feel like a million bucks afterward. I’m even sitting in my workout gear. I’m thinking the disruption in my routine the past several weeks isn’t helping between travelling and my husband working crazy hours – he gets home late, we eat late, we stop watching TV late and get to bed WAY too late… part of me wants to be ’selfish’ by eating at a normal hour, watching TV on my own and going to bed at a reasonable hour – about the time he gets home, but the other part of me wants to be selfish and stay up and spend time with him because I miss him. Hence why I’m conflicted about every little thing lately. Someone moved my cheese… 

I’m also trying to stay away from wheat products because while I was in Florida for 5 days I didn’t eat any wheat and my tummy flattened out nicely – I forget how badly wheat [gluten] makes me bloated. But without wheat, it limits my quick meals – I love making wraps with whole grain, omega-3 infused lavash, stuffing them with veggies and lean protein to take on the go. I also love using half a wrap, lining it with all-natural peanut butter and rolling it up around half a banana as a quick on-the-go breakfast. I adore pasta – whole grain – tossed with plenty of veggies and – you guessed it – lean protein. Without those quick meal options I have to be more creative. What’s sad is, I have plenty of fruit and veggies around, and plenty of protein in the freezer – I just never remember to take anything out in time to make a fast meal. Lame, I know. I really need to get back to meal planning on Sundays so I know what to take out when during the week – take the guesswork out of it. 

Anyway, I’ve only lost a few more pounds so I’m up to 33lbs lost. I set a goal last night – I want to lose another 25lbs by January 1st, and the LAST [I hope] 25lbs by May 21st – because we have 2 weddings to go to in the Spring – the first of which is on May 21st, the second one is a week after in Chicago, where we’ll see my husband’s relatives for the first time in almost 3 years. It would be fun to knock there socks off and say I’ve lost 80lbs since they’ve seen me. lol… Oh – I said ‘I hope’ to the last 25lbs because of the whole ‘I don’t know what my ideal weight is’ thing. Some days I think I’d be perfectly happy at 175 and other days I want to go for 150 – which I haven’t weighed since I was 14, so I’m not sure that’s realistic [I really am an athletic build - I'm not petite]. I figure I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, see how I look and feel at 175 and decide then if I feel like moving on or maintaining from there. 

I’m definitely procrastinating. But I’m also picturing myself working out, which is helping me feel the need to cut this post short and get off my butt! Seeing a Cirque Du Soleil show on Sunday also is HUGE motivation to exercise, too. I think there will always be a part of me that wishes I could be one of the performers in those shows. I especially love the contortionists… Maybe it’s time to dig out some of those DVDs to keep around and watch from time to time as a reminder. 

Image courtesy of About.com:Montreal

Mini Meals… Follow Up.

I need to be more careful of typos when I post – my last post was chalk FULL of typos! I didn’t sleep much last night and I guess wasn’t paying as close attention as I normally do… 

Anyway – I wanted to follow up on my post about trying the 5-8 mini meals a day vs. 3 squares. I have to say, it’s almost a no-brainer. I feel so much better when I eat more frequently. I tend to eat just enough – I hardly ever overeat anymore, because I know I’m eating in another 2-3 hours. The only real problem I was having was transporting 4 mini-meals to work each day. My lunch bag wasn’t big enough, so I finally found one that I absolutely LOVE and is perfect when you use those square ziplock plastic storage containers:

Quiksilver Beach Trip Bag

$51 is more than I expected to pay, but it’s so well made that I know it’ll last me for years, and it makes my life a lot easier, so it’s definitely worth it. It has a nice, thick plastic inner liner that’s easily wipeable, and there’s no PVC in any part of the bag. It’s also tall and relatively thin for a large insulated bag, so it’s a lot easier to transport along with a purse and laptop bag to haul around – that was important, too. It has an inner zippered mess pocket under the lid for cuttlery, etc. and a padded, rubberized shoulder pad on the strap to prevent slipping. I highly recommend it. It can easily fit 4 of the 4-cup sized square ziplock containers or 8 of the 2-cup square containers AND still have room for a water bottle and fresh fruit on top of the containers without crushing them. It’s also great for trips to the beach, travel, picnics, etc. 

So back to mini-meals. Here’s a sampling of how I eat in a day:

1) Wakeup/pre-workout: pineapple-banana smoothie made with unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2) Post workout: Veggie & Egg scramble in 1/2 slice whole grain lavash wrap
3) Greek yogurt with lemon zest, vanilla & agave nectar and fresh berries
4) Chicken salad made with Greek Yogurt, fresh herbs & dijon mustard dressing, grapes, celery, onion & walnuts on a bed of spring greens
5) Apple with all-natural peanut butter
6) Veggie sticks with garlic bean dip
7) Pan seared salmon filet with broccoli and rosemary roasted baby potatoes 
8) Handful of nuts if I get hungry before bed [optional]

On my rest days, my appetite may not be as strong and I may just eat 5 or 6 meals in a day – I go with the flow… What’s funny is, on the days I work from home, I tend to eat less because I don’t pre-package my meals in the morning, and then I eat too much at main meals because I didn’t have enough throughout the day. The solution to that is packing up my meals in the morning like it’s a regular drive-75-miles-to-work day, which is something I’m going to do this week.

So, this way of eating works well for me and I’m sticking to it!  

Photo credit: Zappos.com

Inspiration? =)

I went out with a friend last week. She just had a baby girl in April and has decided she’s ready to start working out and eating healthier. She was somewhat overweight before she got pregnant, and she said she really felt how out of shape she was through her pregnancy and wanted to make sure she never felt that way again – pregnant or otherwise! Her husband paid for a personal trainer 2x/week for 6 weeks to help her get started and she told me when we were at dinner, that I was a big part of her inspiration! Nobody has EVER told me I was their inspiration  - at least not for fitness. I still have a ways to go myself, but I’ve also come a long way in how I look and feel and apparently it’s more obvious than I had thought. I’ve lost 32 lbs and 2 dress sizes since January, and I have another 48 lbs to go and maybe 2 or 3 more dress sizes [I'm a 14/16 now, I'd like to get to a 10/12] to reach my goal – and if I need to lose more, sobeit, but gotta start somewhere! lol… 

One surprising thing about being told you’re someone’s inspiration is it turned out to be the ultimate motivation to keep going and start being more vigilant about eating healthy. I’m not a die-hard dieter anymore. I eat healthy 80% of the time, but I do still have bad habits that need breaking – like eating in front of the TV, craving not-so-good for me snacks while watching TV after dinner. I know if I could just kick that habit and get MORE sleep [the never ending battle for me], the pounds would start flying off instead of crawling. Each week I learn more, find new tricks and get better organized. It’s definitely been a journey and now I’m excited to share all the things I’ve learned with a dear friend who has similar goals, which is really satisfying. 

I’m a graphic designer by trade and I’m good at what I do, but lately I’ve been feeling unchallenged and unsatisfied with it. I could totally see myself switching gears and getting certified to be a personal trainer. I’m not there yet, and it might be something I tackle after having kids, but I definitely have the confidence to do it. And I think having that ‘before’ picture to show my someday clients will only help motivate them more, knowing their trainer has ‘been there’ and ‘done that’ and knows what they’re going through. The idea of helping people transform their health and their lives for the better gets me excited [I originally wanted to be a doctor, but couldn't afford the schooling]. It’s like what Mike Myers’ ‘Middle Aged Man’ used to say when asked ‘why he does it’: “I want to share my knowledge!” lol… 

I spent 6 hours yesterday going through all the boxes in the basement, dumping old stuff, moving furniture, heavy boxes and then walking it all up our bulkhead stairs [short and very steap] with my husband, and then single-handedly packing a 12′x8′x4′ dumpster – using my ‘mad layout skillz’ to utilize EVERY SQUARE INCH of space. My husband was astounded that I was able to fit EVERYTHING we wanted to get rid of in there [we had a lot of old stuff that we just don't use, including furniture and then all the crap the previous own was nice enough to leave for us like old, broken air conditioners, cinder blocks, old broken cast-iron water pumps, a giant water tank, etc.]. When the dumpster was delivered yesterday morning he was convinced we’d need to get a 2nd one after they hauled the first one away. Needless to say he’s very happy we can save the $300+ AND we got it all done in a day instead of a whole weekend. It was tough, and by the end of the day I was so tired, sore and RAVENOUS, but I was also giddy. Giddy from getting it all done, from feeling how powerful I felt for doing so much heavy labor for so long without injury, for packing that dumpster so tightly my dad would have been proud… I even used space inside an old microwave, inside an old dresser and all the drawers, filing cabinet drawers. Everything fit perfectly. And now it’s gone, along with all the baggage of having so much crap lingering in the basement. 

I’m a little banged up and bruised, but I’m hardly sore at all, which is shocking to me. I’m amazed at how fast and far my body has come in just 4-5 months of switching to lifting heavy weights 3x/week [vs lighter weights and more reps, which I always hated doing]. Working my core 2-3 x/week has also made a huge difference… but the best part about yesterday is, now we have so much more space open in the basement… that now it’s time to kick up the exercise routine another notch by getting a treadmill for uphill power walking and sprint work, as well as being able to jump around without shaking the house [like I would if I tried doing plyometrics in my little upstairs yoga room]. And I’ve always wanted a heavy bag – to beat the bag out of after a 2 hour commute home like I had on Friday. 

I found myself day dreaming last night about all the sports I’ve wanted to try – or go back to doing – but never felt I could because I was so overweight and out of shape. Things I used to tell myself I’d only do or try WHEN I lost ALL the weight. Now I realize that’s dumb. I’m in the best shape of my life right now and it’s only going to get better and easier as I lose the rest of the weight. There’s no reason to wait forever. I want to go kayaking this summer. I have a friend who has 2 kayaks and lives on a little Island on the North Shore, so I’m going to take her up on her offer to go with her sometime soon before the summer is over! I also think I’d LOVE rock-climbing. I’ll have to find a place that has a decent indoor wall to start with, but once I’m confident, I think I’d love to do the real thing outside even more. I already love hiking and now that I have the lower body power to do it at a much faster pace, I’m going to add sprints on the not so rocky parts of the trails. 

I never thought of myself as the ‘outdoorsy type’ but now I know that we’re all inherently ‘outdoorsy’, we just stop enjoying the outdoors and being active when life gets too busy and we get too tired… and we forget how great it can be!  =)  I also thought that feeling tired and old came with age and there was nothing you can do about it – boy am I GLAD I was so wrong about that! I feel younger and stronger now than I did at 18! Muscle is a miracle, especially combined with clean, whole fuel. I used to think it was hard and complicated to get healthy. It’s not. It requires a little work and planning but the rewards are so worth it!

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail…

That saying gets more and more true as I get older. I’m realizing that if I don’t rough out a menu plan on the weekend, it’s too easy to get tired, bored and uncreative and that leads to eating crappy. I also realize that I need to keep things simple, no matter how much I love to create new recipes, there’s a time for that, and there’s a time for sticking to simple, easy to throw together meals. 

I actually used this blog for it’s original intended purpose. I went back and reread what I was doing while in Florida where 8 lbs fell off me in 2 weeks. I’ve made things too complicated since then and it’s time to dial it back. My fridge is too full at the moment – all healthy stuff, but there’s only so much fruit you can eat in a week before it all goes bad… I got a little over-excited about making smoothies and juices. Lesson learned! I think I’d rather go the market a few times per week than buy too much at once and HOPE to finish it all – especially without a meal plan. I hate wasting food, too. 

So, here’s the back to basics plan: 

Upon waking up, before working out [6:30 AM]: smoothie with a little protein powder, some fruit and almond milk.

After working out/’breakfast’ [8:00 AM]: either 2 eggs scrambled with herbs and veggies, or over easy on top of veggies… or fruit with low-fat greek yogurt. 

Mid-morning snack [10:30 AM]: If I’m hungry I’ll go for a piece of fruit with a small handful of nuts, or fruit with greek yogurt if I didn’t have that already for breakfast.

Lunch [1:00 PM]: Salad with some sort of protein thrown in [leftover roasted chicken, shrimp, fish, tuna salad, etc.] or leftovers from dinner the night before of some kind of lean protein, steamed veggies and some whole grain like brown rice, quinoa, millet, etc. 

Snack 1 [3:00 PM]: Switch to veggies… either plain, raw veggies or dipped in some sort of healthy dip [hommus, or a 'ranch' dip made with low fat greek yogurt & fresh herbs]

Snack 2 [4:45 PM]: I need one before I hit the road – my commute is over an hour each way… so it’s a good time for some bean salad, or some soup, or even just an apple and a handful of roasted almonds

Dinner [ideally,7:00 PM]: Salad with a leftover protein, freshly made protein with salad or steamed veggies, or even a soup, depending on my appetite.

Snack [9:00 PM]: If we actually eat dinner at a decent hour I might get hungry again before bed… normally some tea with almond milk does the trick. I don’t like eating too close to bedtime… but sometimes I do get ravenous again, in which case make a small protein smoothie might do the trick, or a few veggies with dip or hommus. I want to try to avoid sweet stuff like fruit before bed if I can help it.

The goal is to get into bed by 11:00 pm, so that I get a good 7 1/2 hours when I wake up at 6:30… I honestly just need more discipline. And I’m capable of it, I just need to make it habit. I’ve been able to change so many bad habits over the past several years, but getting enough sleep is not one of them. I’m off and on and that needs to change. The older I get, the tougher it is to function without plenty of sleep… and I know it only slows my metabolism down to be sleep deprived all the time. It’s something I CAN control, too, so it’s time to grow up and go to bed on time! lol

Smoothies – The Answer?

I haven’t written in a while – things have been busy. But as a quick update, I’ve been keeping up with my exercise program and have been making great progress in overall strength and endurance. I’m feeling so much stronger – and YOUNGER – thanks to consistantly lifting heavy weights during my resistance training sessions 3x per week. I can’t say enough about how big a difference it makes. If you don’t life weights for fear of bulking up [if you're a woman], or because you think the only way to burn fat is to do massive amounts of cardio – it just isn’t true. Most women I’ve read about that compete in figure competitions say they’d give up cardio in a heartbeat if they had to choose because they couldn’t stay ripped without weight training. 

So… exercise is going great. I’m still struggling with getting enough sleep but it’s getting better. I’m getting 6 1/2 to 7 hours a night and I’m working my way up to 7 1/2 to 8 hours… and I’m finally making some decent progress with my diet. I’m eating clean for the most part but was having problems with my sweet tooth and propensity for snacking after dinner while watching TV… I believe I found my ‘cure’ last night – a super-quick and yummy fruit smoothie seems to take the edge off, satisfies my sweet tooth and is substantial enough with natural fiber to quell the late night hungries [when you work out 5-6 days a week intensely I can tell you my appetite has never been so HUGE! I eat 6-7 mini-meals a day and usually a full dinner and I can still get ravenous before bed!]. I have a huge, industrial strength juicer, too, so I’m going to start putting that to good use as well. 

Here’s my plan: I’m going to make a fruit smoothie before working out in the morning for quick energy and easy digestion. This morning I’m having a smoothie with 1/2 a ripe banana, 1 very ripe peach and about a cup of red seedless grapes – just whizzed together using a ‘boat motor’ hand mixer – no water or anything else necessary. It’s thick and absolutely delicious with plenty of fiber in it to keep my stomach busy, but not so heavy that it’ll make me sick when I go to workout in a few minutes. I’d also like to make a smoothie to bring to work to have that hour or two after lunch when I start craving chocolate. I usually have some sort of veggie snack, but I find I need 2 snacks before I leave work at 5:00, so I can have a smoothie pick me up around 3:00 and then my usual veggie-based snack [like a bean salad or crudité and hummus... whatever I've got that I can grab quickly in the morning]. Then I think I’ll save the veggie juice/fruit smoothie combo for TV time before bed so it’s not so sweet and is packed with all the nutrients I need to repair overnight. 

I’m going to try this for the next few weeks and see how I feel. I’ll probably keep up my protein smoothies after a tough weight training workout for the extra protein but I don’t feel like I need that every day. 

And for when I absolutely need something more ’snack-like’ to munch on in the evenings, I’m going to try making plain popcorn in a brown paper lunch bag in the microwave so I don’t need to break out a pot and use oil… because I discovered that if you drizzle a little agave nectar on popcorn and mix it up so it all gets a very light coating [not too sticky or sweet], you can use a lot less salt because it’ll stick to the popcorn better and it ends up being the BEST kettle corn you’ve ever tasted without being horrible for you!  =)

I haven’t weighed myself in a while only because I managed to drop a whole dress size while my weight didn’t budge, so I’m not so concerned with the scale, and more interested in my measurements. Here’s where I’m at now:

Chest: 6″ down        [5" to go]
Waist: 9″ down        [8" to go]
Hips: 8.5″ down       [4" to go]
Thighs: 5.5″ down    [3" to go]
Calves: 2.75″ down  [1.25" to go]
Arms: 2.5″ down      [1.5" to go] 

The ‘to go’ numbers are a best-guess on what my goal measurement for each should be, so that number might change a bit as I get closer to those measurements… I don’t have a lot to go on because the last time I was truly ’slim’ I was 16 or 17 and hadn’t filled out yet [and I grew another inch after highschool]. 

Incidentally – I lost all those inches – a total of  34.25″ – after losing only 30lbs. I really do think I’ve burned off a lot more than 30lbs of fat, and I replaced a portion of the weight with muscle. So the balance is 30lbs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve burned off between 40-50lbs of fat. And, it’s taken this long but my family is finally seeing the difference, too – I don’t see them that often, but at a family party this past weekend everybody blurted out compliments like, “you look FABULOUS!” It was actually really great to hear it. In the past I’d been squirrelly about compliments and didn’t want any attention directed at me, good or bad – and I almost never believed people when I did get a compliment. Now I enjoy it and just say, “thank you!”  =D

Thoughts: 6.13.09

I’ve been struggling with what my ultimate goal is for weight, forgetting that I had found that Athletic BMI Calculator a while back and even posted on this blog on the left under ‘helpful tools’… I just checked it out and was pleased to see that after losing 30lbs I’ve dropped 4 points in BMI. I’m no longer considered ‘obese’ – I’m just ‘hefty.’ lol… Oddly, this week I feel like I’ve dropped more body fat, but the scale hasn’t budged. I haven’t been so great with eating and drinking enough water the past week due to catching a nasty cold and just being exhausted and lazy. So I’m hoping that after a week or two of eating better and getting more H2O, the scale will budge a bit. 

We just booked a trip to Bermuda for the 3rd week of September to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary – 14 weeks from today. I decided it’s time to lose ‘the next 30′ by then. I’ve had enough of a break and maintained my 30 lb loss for the past month, which is great. I’ve kept up my training [minus this week due to being sick], and I’m ready to commit to making my goal by our trip. My reward, I decided is taking an intro to Scuba dive – I’ve always wanted to go scuba diving, so that’s what I’m working toward. I can’t wait! My husband will have to watch from the shore [or boat] since he gets freaked out by water in general… something to do with one of his brothers almost drowning him as a kid… Ironically, he married a fish. I can swim all day long, as far out as I can get, for as long as possible and I’m in heaven. [I'm a Pisces... he's a Virgo...]. 

I really am amazed at how different I feel just in the last 3 months between losing some weight and boosting my exercise sessions. I’m so much stronger. Last year this time I was still struggling with my balance to even attempt a lunge – now I love them and love how strong I feel when I do them. 

Anyway… getting back to the point of this post… I had ot remind myself that I DO have a goal weight – or at least a decent range that I can, in fact, focus on. My goal weight range is: 163-168 lbs. That gets me in the ‘desireable’ 20-22 BMI range. Getting to 25 and being within the ‘healthy acceptable’ range will be a great next goal, though: 192 lbs. That’s where I want to get to before we leave for Bermuda. It’s good to have goals. 

My plan is to make a short list of  healthy meals and snacks and just staying within that list for the next 3 months, barring exceptions here and there when we go out. I’ve gotten a lot better at making healthier choices, though, and we don’t go out nearly as often anymore, so not a problem. I’ll keep updating as I go along. Time to wash up and get into the city to see the Boston Pops perform for the Apollo 11 Anniversary. Should be pretty cool.  =)