Today's Workout:
5 min Recumbent Bike warmup
30 min Arc Trainer - Interval level 3
5 min Treadmill cool down
STRETCH
Today the stretch deserved CAPITAL letters. I got home last night and was sore. My arms and abs and legs. Just all a big bucket of soreness. Maybe I didn't have enough water in the week. Maybe I didn't stretch enough. No idea. I was sore. This morning I woke up still sore. I made myself complete my workout using the just-one-more-minute strategy, promising myself I could quit after just. one. more minute.
And then I got to stretch. Ahhhh. It felt so good. I just kept stretching. Ten minutes went by and I had done every stretch I could think of minus a few Yoga positions. It was awesome. I love stretches like that. Like waking up unassisted after a great night's sleep and you just stretch your body awake. It felt like that. So awesome.
Following yesterday's post, a commenter asked about my progress on the no elevator resolution. I'm well overdue to give an update on that one. To my original resolution I have stuck! I have not taken the elevator at work since April 24th. Additionally, I stopped taking the elevator at my hospital when I have my PT appointments. As of today I have been completely elevator free for 21 days. Three whole weeks! I can't say it has gotten easy, but I'm learning more about how to protect my knees when I climb stairs (abs - get some) and I can now climb two consecutive flights without gasping for air at the top. Woohoo!
I'm sure I'll take the elevator again at some point, but I find myself actively seeking out the alternatives these days. That coming from the girl who knew all the passages between her college campus buildings so that she'd never ever have to take the stairs is quite an accomplishment. I've also found that someone has posted signs with encouraging slogans in the stairwells at the hospital. It's nice to have some one encourage you to keep moving when you really wish you'd gotten on the elevator with the 10 other people you passed in the lobby.
But the best feeling was the first day I took the stairs to PT. There was a woman waiting outside the elevator on level 1. I passed her on my very first trip to the stairs. When I exited the stairwell on level 2 she was just leaving the elevator. As we walked along side each other, she said "You just inspired me. I'm not taking that elevator anymore." Maybe I inspired her, but her comment has stayed with me every day since then. Everyday that I have to walk past the elevator and slog up another flight of stairs her words come to mind. I love that my choice touched someone. And I'm so very thankful she shared that moment with me.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Getting my Butt Kicked
This morning I met with my trainer (it sounds sooo cool to have a trainer) and here's what we did.
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. With every exercise I felt a little better. It felt really good to get moving this morning and try some new things. I also had two major accomplishments. One - Check out the 30 sec planks! That's my longest since removing the knee bent modification a few weeks ago. Maybe by the end of June I'll be able to do a plank without any modification. That would be seriously amazing.
My second accomplishment was going to the gym in my running pants. Back when I thought I was going to run 5Ks this year, I bought an awesome pair of Under Armour running pants. Given my size I had to buy a Mens XL to fit my butt and I was only willing wear them with a very long shirt or short skirt. I just felt like there was too much of me showing in those tight pants.
However, in the past month, all my workout clothes have been starting to sag and some are impossible to workout in they are so loose (sooo awesome!). A friend suggested I wear the running pants. I tried them on last night thinking there was no way I was wearing them to the gym. I'm not into showing off my body at the gym. And those pants were still tight. Then I noticed my XL t-shirt (just started wearing XL in the past month as well - down from a 2X - Woohoo!) now fits comfortably around my hips!!! No stretching or pulling at all. That means a good portion of my butt is covered and the outfit doesn't look immodest at all! In fact, I might even be looking a little cute. :) Very very cool accomplishment. And it felt much better to workout in pants that fit.
Update 120604: Added Arm Work
10min Treadmill warmupI felt pretty low going into the gym this morning. My husband and kids were all up during the night and I'm the only person who wakes up every time someone else wakes up. All I can say is at least they all went back to bed easily and I got 3 solid hours of sleep before my alarm went off. I was concerned about keeping up my energy during me workout.
25 Swiss Ball Crunches
12 Swiss Ball Bridges
5 Swiss Ball Bridges bringing Legs In (meaning: do a SB Bridge; while still bridged bed knees to pull feet in; then extend out and lower back to the ground)
12 Swiss Ball Bridges
5 Swiss Ball Bridges bringing Legs In
20 Bird Dogs (10 each side)
2 Planks with arms on Bosu - 30 sec hold each
Side Planks with arm on Bosu - 25 sec hold each side
12 Hip Extensions
12 Dirty Dogs (this one is funny - it works the Gluteus Medius/Minimus and the motions is pretty much a dog lifting it's leg against a fire hydrant)
12 Hip Extensions
12 Dirty Dogs
12 Adductors
Arm Work - All exercises done on Swiss Ball with 5lb weight in each hand:
Front RaiseStretch
Side Raise
Shoulder Press
Bicep Curl
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. With every exercise I felt a little better. It felt really good to get moving this morning and try some new things. I also had two major accomplishments. One - Check out the 30 sec planks! That's my longest since removing the knee bent modification a few weeks ago. Maybe by the end of June I'll be able to do a plank without any modification. That would be seriously amazing.
My second accomplishment was going to the gym in my running pants. Back when I thought I was going to run 5Ks this year, I bought an awesome pair of Under Armour running pants. Given my size I had to buy a Mens XL to fit my butt and I was only willing wear them with a very long shirt or short skirt. I just felt like there was too much of me showing in those tight pants.
However, in the past month, all my workout clothes have been starting to sag and some are impossible to workout in they are so loose (sooo awesome!). A friend suggested I wear the running pants. I tried them on last night thinking there was no way I was wearing them to the gym. I'm not into showing off my body at the gym. And those pants were still tight. Then I noticed my XL t-shirt (just started wearing XL in the past month as well - down from a 2X - Woohoo!) now fits comfortably around my hips!!! No stretching or pulling at all. That means a good portion of my butt is covered and the outfit doesn't look immodest at all! In fact, I might even be looking a little cute. :) Very very cool accomplishment. And it felt much better to workout in pants that fit.
Update 120604: Added Arm Work
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Workout 120529: Focus
Tuesday's Cardio:
5 min Stationary Bike warmup
25 min Elliptical - Cross Trainer 2 setting
5 min Treadmill cool down
Stretch
Oh the stretching felt good today. So good. I'm in love with the Figure Four stretch (which I could be calling the completely wrong name). It is awesome and feels so good. Yesterday and today I repeated my hamstring stretch after I did the figure four and it made a huge difference. I'll have to play around a little more with the order of my stretches and see what happens.
I've been thinking on a new goal or habit for this week and I'm kind of at a loss. I'm feeling pretty good with the progress I'm making. I don't know that I want to mix anything up. Or add anything new in. So... I guess I'm not. However, I am open to any suggestions. Let me know in the comments.
Over the past couple of weeks I've been talking with my husband more and more about what I'm doing. I've been complaining about how many calories are in something or how there is no data available for a lot of restaurants. And did you know that alcohol doesn't have the nutritional data printed on the labels? I find that to be unacceptable.
As you can see I have a lot to talk about. I'm pretty into this right now. I would call it a hobby but I feel that doesn't reflect well on my sticking to it. Whatever I call it, a good portion of my energy each day is dedicating to figuring, tracking, calculating and planning my diet. Given that I like to control things, all these numbers and ideas can make me a ratchet up the intensity to a point where those around me get annoyed.
So I asked my husband if I was being better this time around. I don't want to be a lunatic after all. His response? "You are talking about it incessantly, but it's better than talking about the budget."
*sigh*
My husband is very supportive. But I don't want to be a bore. And I don't want to drive him crazy. And I worry about what all this talk says to my girls. But I'm also not sure there is a better way. To accomplish this goal I have to be a little obsessive, right? That focus is commendable? And healthy?
5 min Stationary Bike warmup
25 min Elliptical - Cross Trainer 2 setting
5 min Treadmill cool down
Stretch
Oh the stretching felt good today. So good. I'm in love with the Figure Four stretch (which I could be calling the completely wrong name). It is awesome and feels so good. Yesterday and today I repeated my hamstring stretch after I did the figure four and it made a huge difference. I'll have to play around a little more with the order of my stretches and see what happens.
I've been thinking on a new goal or habit for this week and I'm kind of at a loss. I'm feeling pretty good with the progress I'm making. I don't know that I want to mix anything up. Or add anything new in. So... I guess I'm not. However, I am open to any suggestions. Let me know in the comments.
Over the past couple of weeks I've been talking with my husband more and more about what I'm doing. I've been complaining about how many calories are in something or how there is no data available for a lot of restaurants. And did you know that alcohol doesn't have the nutritional data printed on the labels? I find that to be unacceptable.
As you can see I have a lot to talk about. I'm pretty into this right now. I would call it a hobby but I feel that doesn't reflect well on my sticking to it. Whatever I call it, a good portion of my energy each day is dedicating to figuring, tracking, calculating and planning my diet. Given that I like to control things, all these numbers and ideas can make me a ratchet up the intensity to a point where those around me get annoyed.
So I asked my husband if I was being better this time around. I don't want to be a lunatic after all. His response? "You are talking about it incessantly, but it's better than talking about the budget."
*sigh*
My husband is very supportive. But I don't want to be a bore. And I don't want to drive him crazy. And I worry about what all this talk says to my girls. But I'm also not sure there is a better way. To accomplish this goal I have to be a little obsessive, right? That focus is commendable? And healthy?
Monday, May 28, 2012
Workout 120528: Tears of Joy
Today I repeated the trainer workout from last week. It felt good. Very few twinges, though I did have to take it slow on the stairs when I was going between the circuit and cardio rooms. I think I most liked that I worked up a sweat while going through a wide range of motions. I wasn't just one the elliptical for 30 minutes straight. Not that I won't still be doing that. I just think it would be mind-numbing to do it every day.
I don't have PT this week so I'm headed to the gym everyday. Tomorrow will be a long cardio workout. I meet with the trainer on Wednesday to try out another strength routine. This one will be more inline with what I've been doing at PT most likely. I asked for that as I'm not having PT this week.
But none of that was what moved me to tears.
At the end of my workout, I laid down to stretch my legs. Glut Stretch. IT Band Stretch. This Figure Four Stretch the trainer showed me. It stretches the same muscles (or close to the same muscles) that seem to be aggravating my coccyx.
Then it occurred to me to me to try a back massage. Or tummy massage. It is something we did in Yoga. You pull your knees into your chest and then circle them around. Being that you are on your back it massages the back and the stomach. It is supposed to feel great, but I'd log written it off because of the scar tissue in my hips. Everything was just too sore. It hurt too much.
This morning it didn't.
I don't have PT this week so I'm headed to the gym everyday. Tomorrow will be a long cardio workout. I meet with the trainer on Wednesday to try out another strength routine. This one will be more inline with what I've been doing at PT most likely. I asked for that as I'm not having PT this week.
But none of that was what moved me to tears.
At the end of my workout, I laid down to stretch my legs. Glut Stretch. IT Band Stretch. This Figure Four Stretch the trainer showed me. It stretches the same muscles (or close to the same muscles) that seem to be aggravating my coccyx.
Then it occurred to me to me to try a back massage. Or tummy massage. It is something we did in Yoga. You pull your knees into your chest and then circle them around. Being that you are on your back it massages the back and the stomach. It is supposed to feel great, but I'd log written it off because of the scar tissue in my hips. Everything was just too sore. It hurt too much.
This morning it didn't.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Engineering My Life
I'm an Engineer. Albeit a Software Engineer, but an Engineer nonetheless. Looking up common qualities found in Engineers:
However, this is my life. It isn't a problem to be solved. Maybe my weight is, but not me. The road I'm walking right now is long and hard and not always kind. The weight I want so desperately to shed is part of me, part of who I am. I keep approaching it as a problem needing a solution. But I'm starting to think there is no solution. There is just me, in all my glorious imperfection. I can devise strategies, make new habits and try to eliminate behaviors that don't benefit me, but at the end of the day... This is me we're talking about. And I'm not a problem.
So where does that leave me?
I have the desire to change an aspect of myself. My weight. There are many traits I possess which have manifested in weight gain. One by one, I must address them. With each I get to brainstorm what I want my life to look like and decide on changes I want to make to get there. Through this process I get to reinvent myself. Re-engineer my life.
That sounds exciting. I've done it before to different degrees. Moving away from home. Integrating myself into a professional team. Becoming a Working Mom. But I must remember to value the process as much as the result. I don't know what the result will look like yet. Weight-loss is the goal, but the result will be much more. It will be me.
- Problem Solver
- Communicates well
- Analytical
- Creative
- Detail Oriented
However, this is my life. It isn't a problem to be solved. Maybe my weight is, but not me. The road I'm walking right now is long and hard and not always kind. The weight I want so desperately to shed is part of me, part of who I am. I keep approaching it as a problem needing a solution. But I'm starting to think there is no solution. There is just me, in all my glorious imperfection. I can devise strategies, make new habits and try to eliminate behaviors that don't benefit me, but at the end of the day... This is me we're talking about. And I'm not a problem.
So where does that leave me?
I have the desire to change an aspect of myself. My weight. There are many traits I possess which have manifested in weight gain. One by one, I must address them. With each I get to brainstorm what I want my life to look like and decide on changes I want to make to get there. Through this process I get to reinvent myself. Re-engineer my life.
That sounds exciting. I've done it before to different degrees. Moving away from home. Integrating myself into a professional team. Becoming a Working Mom. But I must remember to value the process as much as the result. I don't know what the result will look like yet. Weight-loss is the goal, but the result will be much more. It will be me.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Calorie Counting
For the past week and a half my goal has been Calorie Counting. Here's the data:
All in all I think I've done well. I'm considering any value within 50 calories of my 1600 calorie goal to be a success. That makes 6 out of 11 days successful. Not passing grades in school, but for my first 11 days of calorie counting I find it to be acceptable.
The first day I tracked, I also input the food into Weight Watchers. There my daily points allowance was 35 points. The food I consumed that Monday was 37 points. Comparing calories to points is like comparing apples to oranges, but I was glad to see that my 1600 calories loosely correlated to the number of points I was allowed in the WW program.
Not tracking is what I have the biggest problem with. I need to track every day. I had a rough day on Thursday and just gave up towards the end of the day. It's not good that I gave up but I am proud that I kept up my tracking. Friday I intended to track, but left my book in my car and then ate out lunch and had completely given up by dinner time. As I would tell my 3 year old, that is unacceptable.
Over the past 11 days I've felt pretty good. There haven't been any crash days like I experienced 2 weeks ago and my cravings have been manageable. I've used Spark People to support calorie lookups as well as general web sources. I even started asking Siri for calorie information. I dare say it's been fun getting this setup and figured out.
I'm going to hold steady and see what my June weigh-in says about my progress. Again this month... I'm hopeful!
| Monday, May 14 | 1622 | 37 WW Points |
| Tuesday, May 15 | 1875 | |
| Wednesday, May 16 | 1620 | |
| Thursday, May 17 | 2292 | Began the day well, but made worse choices as the day progressed. Bad Choices culminated in a 500 calorie ice cream cone. |
| Friday, May 18 | --- | No tracking today. |
| Saturday, May 19 | 1608 | |
| Sunday, May 20 | 1550 | |
| Monday, May 21 | 1746 | |
| Tuesday, May 22 | 1566 | |
| Wednesday, May 23 | 1755 | |
| Thursday, May 24 | 1605 |
All in all I think I've done well. I'm considering any value within 50 calories of my 1600 calorie goal to be a success. That makes 6 out of 11 days successful. Not passing grades in school, but for my first 11 days of calorie counting I find it to be acceptable.
The first day I tracked, I also input the food into Weight Watchers. There my daily points allowance was 35 points. The food I consumed that Monday was 37 points. Comparing calories to points is like comparing apples to oranges, but I was glad to see that my 1600 calories loosely correlated to the number of points I was allowed in the WW program.
Not tracking is what I have the biggest problem with. I need to track every day. I had a rough day on Thursday and just gave up towards the end of the day. It's not good that I gave up but I am proud that I kept up my tracking. Friday I intended to track, but left my book in my car and then ate out lunch and had completely given up by dinner time. As I would tell my 3 year old, that is unacceptable.
Over the past 11 days I've felt pretty good. There haven't been any crash days like I experienced 2 weeks ago and my cravings have been manageable. I've used Spark People to support calorie lookups as well as general web sources. I even started asking Siri for calorie information. I dare say it's been fun getting this setup and figured out.
I'm going to hold steady and see what my June weigh-in says about my progress. Again this month... I'm hopeful!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
I rock!
Today I ate out with my team. I ordered a broiled crab cake and sauteed vegetables. It tasted great and now I can still have my pasta for dinner. The fries were tempting, but I resisted! It took the drive from the restaurant to my office for the full feeling to set in. But now it's here and I'm so happy I didn't eat more. I must remember this lesson in the coming weeks.
1. Research the restaurant.
2. Make healthy substitutions.
3. Stick to your plan.
I know not every restaurant visit will go this way, but it is nice to have a plan of attack which is working.
1. Research the restaurant.
2. Make healthy substitutions.
3. Stick to your plan.
I know not every restaurant visit will go this way, but it is nice to have a plan of attack which is working.
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