Tag Archives: health

Somebody kick me into gear!

As I mentioned in my last post, physically I feel terrible.

  • I’ve dropped my oral birth control
  • Emotions are across-the-board-crazy
  • Bloating
  • Eating poorly
  • Not exercising
  • Not getting enough sleep
  • Gaining weight
I’ve been diagnosed with a prolapse, which is causing all bits of discomfort – but which cannot be repaired by means other than kegel exercises until I’m done having kids because it’s not “severe” and having children will reverse any repairs done.

I’m trying to find that “oomph”, that push, that drive, that I had last year – but I’m still looking. I’m hoping with the weather turning it’ll soon get easier. Funny, that. I was sure once the weather got cooler I’d be all over regular exercise – when in fact I find I HATE exercising when it’s cold and gray. Need to get back to eating healthy, and exercising during my lunch. What’s sad is that when I’m exercising, I’m not reading as much :( I do most of my reading during my lunch time so I have to pick one over the other…

Game plan is to get back on track – diet wise. I need to start eating the right stuff more often. I find I’m hungry ALL the time and yet still tired and without energy after eating. Not good. Need to get back to eating a good serving of protein and fiber at every meal. With a better diet, I know the rest will fall into place.

I found this interesting simulator that will predict, based on a reduced calorie diet and exercise plan, how long it’ll take to lose a specific amount of weight. This is not a “new” idea or anything, but the simulator is tremendously customizable and provides an abundant amount of information. I was able to tweak it according to what I wanted to change – and I did a bit of give and take to make it realistic. It says that at my current weight I can reach my goal in six months by walking on my two work breaks, jogging during my lunch, and eating a little more than 1400 calories a day – seems do-able. However, even though it assumes your body fat percentage and predicts it in the future, due to the fact that it doesn’t have any specific inputs for diet (how much of each caloric type you’re consuming,) you cannot tweak the diet to work on your body fat percentage.

Working 80%

Recently, well okay – more than recently, I’ve been thinking about the fact that I wish I could work less hours. I feel terrible wishing I could work less while there are others out there wishing they could work at all.

But then it got me thinking about this video I watched awhile back, that was talking about the idea of working everyone at 80% in order to employ more people, and all the benefits of working less in general.

At first, it seems foolish. But before you scoff at it, and think how it wont work RIGHT NOW, think about how it would work if we gave it a future?

Right now I struggle with finding time to do the following:

  • Eat right or exercise. It takes time to plan the right meals, shop for the right food, prepare the right meals, and exercise consistently.
  • Spending time with ALL of my family – individually.
  • Spending time to pursue personal hobbies and relaxing.

In my pursuit of all of these things, I find I spend more money on time saving convenience items, consume more in general, and produce more waste. A great example is pre-cut veggies that are also individually packaged. This saves a ton of time, is more expensive, and produces more waste then if I were to do this myself. DIY projects are great for everyone, but no one has time for them – and don’t even THINK about repairs, just throw that broken chair away and buy another.

I know that there are people out there, working minimum wage and trying to support a family on a single income. This would not work for everyone without some real change in our working wage laws - but it can happen! This isn’t a “I want to be lazy and work less” kind of idea, this is “I want to work and have a life and family” kind of idea.

8 Hours a Night

Yesterday I started a more deliberate diet and exercise program. Food wise, I was satisfied - though I really need to drink more water. Exercise wise, I did okay. Spent about 30 minutes on a stair stepper in my work’s gym. I’d never used a stair stepper before, but given my lower body bulk (I’m 5′ 1″, 165 lbs – size 14/16 on my lower half size M/10 on my top half) I figure it would be the best group of muscles to start on.

The machine started at level 5, but I thought I needed to set it lower because it was taking all of my strength to push down on the steps to get them to lower at any reasonable speed to get my heart pumping. Whenever I envisioned a stair stepper, I thought you were supposed to be quickly climbing these imaginary stairs – but I was moving so slow it was as though I were climbing a ladder. I looked all over the machine to see if I could find some set of instructions on how to set the level, but the the instructions were very basic and simply said to “increase level as needed”. Halfway through my workout I had the brilliant idea to set the level higher, closer to 10, and suddenly I was getting the workout I was looking for. Ends up I was fighting the steps that were trying to support me as I worked out, not act as a resistance.

Got home last night exhausted. I’m not surprised, since I only got about 4 hours of sleep the night before, but it was still disappointing to fall asleep at 8pm and wake up this morning at 4:15am – still tired. I haven’t been sleeping enough as it is, supplementing sleep with caffeine and food, so I’m hoping that catching up will not make me so tired every night. Either that, or resort to more caffeine!

The Game Plan

Yesterday I had quite the meltdown in regards to health, exercise & grocery shopping.

As you may or may not know, I’ve been battling with getting back “on the wagon” in regards to healthy eating and exercise. I became really disillusioned after my lack of result with ChaLEAN Extreme (which I loved, I just didn’t love working so hard for such little results) and haven’t found a program since. Luckily I haven’t gained any weight since I lost – so I think that’s a good indicator that my diet really isn’t the thing holding me back any longer.

On top of that, I’m getting conflicting information from all angles. One minute I’m eating too many calories, the next minute I’m not eating enough. I need to do cardio. I need to do weight training. I need to not exercise and just diet for awhile. Etc, etc, etc.

Tack that onto the fact that we’re trying desperately to budget our money better and I simply can’t follow some special “only for me” meal plan because that equates to a double grocery bill that’s out of reach and three sets of cooking individuals in one house.

Needless to say, it’s been a struggle.

I need help. I need a game plan. I think I’ve got it though!

First: I’m going to get back onto a cardio plan and forgo the weight training to see if I get better results. I didn’t care for Jillian’s 30 Day Shred (it was boring, and I was developing a lot of pain) so I’m going to try for another suggested trainer: Denise Austin. I bought one of her cardio DVDs at an awesome price and I’m pinning my hopes that it wont be as boring or pain inducing as Jillian. I know that they’ll come a point where I’ll plateau - and when that happens I’m going to pick up ChaLEAN Extreme again.

Second: My husband and I went to B&N and found a cookbook that was full of healthy, simple, supposedly budget friendly recipes. It also has a lot of great tips for eating healthy in general, and my husband is confident he can do the cooking which is one of the most important things (I get home too late, I’m too tired, and I need help). I know that some of you sent me recipes and suggested books, and generally were amazingly supportive and helpful – I can’t thank you enough!

Third: I’m going to mark my calories needs at my weight multiplied by seven, and then I’m going to halve whatever calories I burn and eat that half back in order to fuel my workouts but not sabotage my diet. Also, I’m going to just eat a 30/30/20 ratio – 30% carbs, 30% protein & 20% fat. That’s approximately 85 grams of carbs & protein and 25 grams of fat a day.

I feel really positive about the choices, I just hope I’m not let down again. I’m sick of fighting this fight and feeling like I’ll never see and end. I’m okay with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I just want to feel like it’s to keep rather than to lose.

ChaLEAN Extreme – Burn Circuit Results

I took off last week, because I was supposed to track my first 30 day results in the middle of the week and it threw off my entire routine. Anyhow, last night I took the measurements from my first 30 days and here is a summary of the results:

Measurement Change
Weight (lbs) -3.4
Body Fat #1 (mm): -19
Body Fat #2 (mm): -19
Body Fat #3 (mm): -15
Body Fat % -13.50%
Chest (in)* 1
Upper Arm (in) 1
Waist (in) -1.5
Hips (in) -0.5
Abductors (in) -0.25
Thighs (in) 0.75
*I’m going to retake this measurement using the sports clothing I originally used for measurements because I believe my non-sports clothing created more lift and therefore skewed this number.

I’m unsure of how to interpret these results, because they don’t seem good enough and that is really discouraging. Yes, I lost weight. Yes, I lost inches. But not nearly as much as I would have assumed after kicking my ass five days a week for a month in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet. How is it I’m medically obese but I can’t lose weight with diet and exercise?

The number that baffles me the most is my body fat loss. If I’m doing the math right, I’ve lost 41.54% of my original body fat and I’m now the lowest of the “healthy” range for fat percentage – if I lose anymore I’ll be considered “under fat”.

What am I doing wrong?

I’m going to keep going with the program, and not think about these numbers again until the end of the next 30 days. I just hope by then a bit more is revealed.

ChaLEAN Extreme – Week 4 of 12

Last week was my best week of all! 1500 calories seems to be my sweet spot, something I can meet, but still keeps me in check when it comes to junk food. I still wasn’t able to drink water as much as I’d like, but I’m no longer feeling really thirsty nor experiencing other bodily signs that I’m dehydrated.

Getting all my workouts completed during my work week really improved my weekend AND my workouts. Once Friday night hit, and I knew I didn’t have to stress about fitting in a workout on Saturday or Sunday, I was tremendously relieved.

Also last week I took something from the ChaLEAN Extreme motivational CD to heart. She was talking about how your friends and family can make you fat, because whenever its time to socialize it’s surrounding food or drinks. So, when it came to meet up with my friend Jose, I took the initiative and suggested a hike through a local wildlife preserve. It was a lot of fun, and really made the time we were hanging out a lot more fulfilling. I got sunburned though, no fun.

DAY TRACKING WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4
DAY 1 BURN CIRCUIT 1 5 5 5 5
Calorie Goal 5 5 5 5
Water Intake 3 3 3 3
DAY 2 REST 5 5 5 5
Calorie Goal 3 5 5 5
Water Intake 3 3 3 3
DAY 3 BURN CIRCUIT 2 5 5 5 5
Calorie Goal 2 5 5 5
Water Intake 3 3 3 3
DAY 4 BURN INTERVALS 5 5 4 5
AB BURNER 4 4 0 0
Calorie Goal 2 5 3 5
Water Intake 3 3 3 3
DAY 5 BURN CIRCUIT 3 5 4 0 5
Calorie Goal 2 2 2 5
Water Intake 3 3 3 3
DAY 6 BURN IT OFF 4 0 0 5
RECHARGE 4 0 0 5
Calorie Goal 5 5 2 5
Water Intake 3 3 3 3
DAY 7 REST 4 4 5 5
Calorie Goal 2 3 3 5
Water Intake 3 3 3 3
SCORE: 83 83 70 96

 

Legend:
5 Correct
4 Correct, Day Before
4 Correct, Day After
3 Too Little
2 Too Much

ChaLEAN Extreme – Week 3 of 12

I’m really disappointed in myself last week. Took off Thursday & Friday from work for a family gig that lasted until Saturday night. I therefore did not do my Friday or Saturday routine and that’s just not acceptable. Furthermore I haven’t been committing to drinking more water and only committed to my higher calorie goal.

New week though, going to just work twice as hard. This week I’m lowering my calorie goal to 1600 (I wasn’t able to eat 1900 with my good recipes, so I just started eating junk), trying to drink more water still, and switched to chew-able fiber supplements instead of water additives that were hard to remember 3x a day.

Also, to not allow myself to keep slacking, I’m moving my rest days to the end of the week, which seems to be when I slack. I’m hoping it wont dramatically effect my body’s ability to recover – going to drink lots of water and keep up on my rest and protein intake.

Its exciting to realize that in eight days I’m going to be tracking the first set of my results. I hope that I see some great results, I’m going to be terribly disappointed if I don’t. I would probably send back the system – because I feel I’ve given it my all and if that’s not good enough then it’s obviously not the system for me.

DAY TRACKING WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3
DAY 1 BURN CIRCUIT 1 5 5 5
Calorie Goal 5 5 5
Water Intake 3 3 3
DAY 2 REST 5 5 5
Calorie Goal 3 5 5
Water Intake 3 3 3
DAY 3 BURN CIRCUIT 2 5 5 5
Calorie Goal 2 5 5
Water Intake 3 3 3
DAY 4 BURN INTERVALS 5 5 4
AB BURNER 4 4 0
Calorie Goal 2 5 3
Water Intake 3 3 3
DAY 5 BURN CIRCUIT 3 5 4 0
Calorie Goal 2 2 2
Water Intake 3 3 3
DAY 6 BURN IT OFF 4 0 0
RECHARGE 4 0 0
Calorie Goal 5 5 2
Water Intake 3 3 3
DAY 7 REST 4 4 5
Calorie Goal 2 3 3
Water Intake 3 3 3
SCORE: 83 83 70

 

Legend:
5 Correct
4 Correct, Day Before
4 Correct, Day After
3 Too Little
2 Too Much

ChaLEAN Extreme – Week 2 of 12

I didn’t do any better this second week as the first, it was my 4 day work week and being away from my routine (working out during lunch) put a kink in my progress. Plus, I was really busy all three days. I almost skipped two workouts – but forced myself to do at least one of them on Sunday afternoon while the baby slept.

I realize I have to schedule – and mean it! – my workouts on the days I’m away from work. This week I’m taking off both Thursday and Friday, so I need to prioritize.

I also could still not drink as much water as suggested, and can’t seem to find an easy way to make my fiber supplements portable. I bought some powder you add to a drink, but I don’t think that’s going to keep working. I think I’m going to have to move onto the chewable tablets.

Since I was doing one of my ST exercises at home, I bought a set of adjustable weights from Target, made by Reebok. There are not a lot of affordable adjustable weight options out there, so I’m glad to have found one that get’s the job done. I was going to spend $45 on just two sets of weights (5 lbs & 10 lbs) and since I knew I’d be surpassing that soon I saw it as a waste of money. These were only $25 more and now I’m ready to go up to 25 lbs each!

DAY TRACKING WEEK 1 WEEK 2
DAY 1 BURN CIRCUIT 1 5 5
Calorie Goal 5 5
Water Intake 3 3
DAY 2 REST 5 5
Calorie Goal 3 5
Water Intake 3 3
DAY 3 BURN CIRCUIT 2 5 5
Calorie Goal 2 5
Water Intake 3 3
DAY 4 BURN INTERVALS 5 5
AB BURNER 4 4
Calorie Goal 2 5
Water Intake 3 3
DAY 5 BURN CIRCUIT 3 5 4
Calorie Goal 2 2
Water Intake 3 3
DAY 6 BURN IT OFF 4 0
RECHARGE 4 0
Calorie Goal 5 5
Water Intake 3 3
DAY 7 REST 4 4
Calorie Goal 2 3
Water Intake 3 3
SCORE: 83 83
Legend:
5 Correct
4 Correct, Day Before
4 Correct, Day After
3 Too Little
2 Too Much

ChaLEAN Extreme – Week 1 of 12

This is the first of 12 posts that I hope to do. There are certain goals I want to achieve each week, so I figure blogging about them will help me either accomplish them or at least keep me accountable to my friends and family for why I was unable to accomplish them.

I’m really proud of what I did last week. Looking at my chart and scoring I realize I didn’t do PERFECT, but I did all of my workouts, didn’t go more than 200 calories over my goal (and that was only once) and always stayed within a healthy calorie range in regards to net calories (calories eaten minus calories burned). Plus, it was my first week – so I’m not going to beat myself up about anything.

But my goals for Week 2 are drinking more water, taking in MORE calories (I wasn’t hungry, I was just very tired with low energy on 1400 cal/day), and adding a fiber supplement. We’ll see how it goes!

DAY TRACKING WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4
DAY 1 BURN CIRCUIT 1 5
Calorie Goal 5
Water Intake 3
DAY 2 REST 5
Calorie Goal 3
Water Intake 3
DAY 3 BURN CIRCUIT 2 5
Calorie Goal 2
Water Intake 3
DAY 4 BURN INTERVALS 5
AB BURNER 4
Calorie Goal 2
Water Intake 3
DAY 5 BURN CIRCUIT 3 5
Calorie Goal 2
Water Intake 3
DAY 6 BURN IT OFF 4
RECHARGE 4
Calorie Goal 5
Water Intake 3
DAY 7 REST 4
Calorie Goal 2
Water Intake 3
SCORE: 83/115 (72%)
Legend:
5 Correct
4 Correct, Day Before
4 Correct, Day After
3 Too Little
2 Too Much

Muscle burns fat!

Last week was full of failure in regards to my health. I ate poorly. I didn’t exercise. I was sick with a stomach bug. However, this week – starting Monday – I’m starting fresh with something new: The ChaLEAN Extreme plan, created by Chalene Johnson. Its a weight training program that is designed to build muscle to burn fat and change your body in 90 days (3 phases). For as long as I can remember reading MT‘s blog posts about health, she has always said great things about Chalene Johnson and her ability to really inspire and support others with their goals. Once I realized that Jillian Michaels wasn’t doing it for me, I wanted to go with something new. Most people may know Chalene from her very popular Turbo Jam series. Even I have heard of Turbo Jam – even though I didn’t know anything of Chalene.

Let's get EXTREME!!!

I ordered the program and recieved it late last week. Before Monday I shopped for some of the recipes she suggested, made sure I had the equipment I needed, and got my sister on board as well. After noting our measurements (with the tape measure, body fat, and weight scale), we braved the camera and took the dreaded “before” pictures, which I don’t even want to look at until I have my “after” pictures. Chalene makes me feel so confident about the plan that I KNOW that I’ll do well, I just hope I’m not disappointed by my actual results. I keep watching the short info-commercial on the Beach Body website thinking to myself, “I can do this! I want this!”

Yesterday I did the first workout (using my iPad in the office gym), and I felt like I did well! I was struggling, but able to keep up 90% of the time. I’m only able to use 5 and 10 pound weights now, but I felt good after the workout so I’m sure I’ll progress in weights quickly. Now to make the investment in free weights… they are so expensive! I tried finding some on Craigslist, no go.

Today is my first rest day. I wanted to workout anyhow (I’m just so excited!!!), but I didn’t want to fatigue my body so soon into this routine so I braved the temptation and simply read during my lunch hour. I’ll have plenty of workouts between now and my next rest day: Sunday. I’m nervous about doing the cardio portion of the program (Thursday) because I suck at following quick, high energy workouts (that’s why I did so well with my first workout, she kept telling me to slow down). Hell – I wasn’t even able to keep up with the damn warm up my first day! I’m sure it’ll get easier, as I familiarize myself with the routines.