Tag: Fitness

Whoo HOOO! 138.6

I weighed in again this AM. I was a bit nervous actually. I thought perhaps yesterday was a fluke and maybe I was back up. Funny my body “felt” thinner when I was heavier at 141.8 and this morning, I “felt” heavier. But yay, the scale showed 138.6. I’m definitely feeling back to normal.

I am pretty sure it’s really not possible to gain and lose 3 pounds of actual fat in such a small amount of time, so I assume my slight weight gain and loss was due to some sort of water retention.

Hmm, possibly from the rise in activity too. I’ve been working with DH moving and stacking firewood, and we’ve been walking and biking more too. I think I heard somewhere that you can have a temporary weight gain when you’re working your muscles. Don’t they hold in water or something? I’ll have to do some research.

Anyway, I really think I’m back on track. I’m back to eating “clean” and it feels wonderful! But the slightly lower calorie restriction has been a little bit difficult. I’ve definitely been keeping under my lower 1650 calories, but it’s been a challenge. I’m thinking I’ll wait one more day or two, weigh in, and then incrementally raise it back up to 1800 during the following week or so.

Life is good!

Making Some Spring Adjustments – Diet, Fitness, Food, Mental Outlook

I’m making this post public for complete personal accountability. It’s the only way I’m going to be able to get through this rough patch and stick to my healthy lifestyle plan! I can’t allow this to discourage me or set me back into old habits!

So, I’ve lowered my calories by 30 over at MyFitnessPal. I’m going by what they suggested for my calories, but I manually adjust some nutrients:

Calories: 1770
Carbs: 50% 221g
Protein: 20% 89g
Fat: 30% 59g
Sat Fat: 15g
Poly: 20g
Monounsat: 24g
Cholesterol: 300mg
Sodium: 2500mg
Potassium: 3500mg
Fiber: 30g
Sugar: 30g

No, 30 calories isn’t a big daily change, but it’ll total 210 calories per week, and that might help.

I’m not not sure that I’m gaining weight, but I’ve been feeling *heavier*, and I’ve noticed my body shape is changing. My upper body is fine, in fact, I’m very happy with my arms! I feel like my lower body is getting a bit flabby. I noticed my ankles this morning, and they seemed cankle-ish. Ugh. Please no! No more cankles! And my stomach area isn’t as flat as it was a couple of months ago.

I’ve been neglecting exercise, and I know that is a big part of my problem! I was sticking to my 2 days of fitness per week until last week. sigh. Only one day last week. Not good!

I haven’t really weighed myself in the last couple of days, I think I’m avoiding it. Hopefully I’m still about 140ish, but I think I feel better when I’m down to 138-139 pounds.

transitional spring flowers

I am also in another food “transition” period. I went through last October as well, after blueberries were long gone, and before California navel oranges were in season. Now that it’s spring, the Washington organic apples are becoming a bit soft, they’re not as crisp, so I haven’t been buying as many. and my beloved oranges are going to be out of season very soon.

It’ll be awhile until local seasonal summer fruit is available, like peaches, nectarines, blueberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, watermelon.

I always have a harder time with satiety in between seasons. I’m bored with food and I’m having a difficult time with it. I’ve been noticing that I’m eating, even though I’m not necessarily hungry. Like right this minute, I have a few calories left, but I’m necessarily hungry, but my body doesn’t feel satisfied. I want to eat more, but I really don’t NEED to eat more. Compulsive compulsive compulsive! It probably doesn’t help that I’m constantly reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows on TV!

I suppose it’s also not helping that I’m trying to detox off dairy and eggs for at least 2 weeks, maybe a month.

So, I am glad spring is here though, and it should be easier psychologically with the warmer weather. I’ll want to walk or bike outside more! I know I’ll be back on track soon. I just need to get beyond this little bump in the road! But in the meantime, I think I’ll get a teenie tiny snack. I wish I could have a chunk o’ cheese, but I’ll just get an orange.

:) Life is good!

Day One – Keeping Accountable

I’m going to start working out again. Making a public announcement will hopefully keep me accountable.

Wii Fit this AM, good workout on the “bike” – gotta keep it up. I’m shooting for 2-3 times per week. That is reasonable and doable!

I haven’t gained any weight (still 138-140), but my lower body area is feeling a bit gushy lately. Gotta get the leg muscles working again!

Hope I Am Back on Fitness Track

Finally worked out again this morning. I’ve been in a fitness lag of sorts, but it surprisingly hasn’t affected my weight in the least. I guess my metabolism is good, even without actual exercise. I am active all day long, so I guess that is most important.

Anyway, I worked out for 35 minutes on the Wii Fit this morning. I hope to get back into a routine again, of at least 3-4 days a week. I’ll start back on the Walk it Out game too, and maybe invest in a couple of new games later this season.

Couch To 5K (C25K)

Well, I semi-started the Couch to 5K program this morning. I was inspired by my sister-in-law who has been walking/jogging; since we have a planned camping trip next month together, I thought it was a good incentive for me to get going too, so I can keep up with her if we decide to jog around the campground.

Anyway, I took one of our dogs walking this morning. I won’t take her every morning because she’s a little distracting, but I figure once a week would be a good change of pace. So, I walked 1.43 miles in about 27 minutes. I did one burst jog during the walk back (5mph). Next time when I am alone, I’ll throw in more bursts.

Then maybe next week, I will start on the official Week #1 for C25K program.

154.6 – yay yay yay

Lost one more pound. Crazy! 154.6 – weighed on Wii Fit too, and it said 155

So that is about 45 pounds total! Crazy! I gotta start toning more, getting back to doing yoga more often! I try doing it for a couple of minutes in the morning, but now that my yoga mat is here from Amazon, I should be doing longer sessions!

First Bike Ride of the Season

I am so proud of myself! Wow! My DH and I went on our first bike ride of the season (40 minutes trip). I kicked ass! He had a difficult time keeping up, and I wasn’t even going at my peek!

I tried to burst a couple of times and it was amazing. Usually, when I bike, especially the first few times of the year, my legs feel like they are going to fall off if I keep going. Only once or twice did my legs feel any kind of pressure, and it only lasted a few seconds. I was so happy! I was a bit chilly at times, even with my ear muffs.

Wow, I think this is probably the best shape I have been EVER! Or for at least as long as I can remember. I don’t remember feeling this good when I was in my 20’s!

My DH felt jelly legs by the time we got home, but I was still raring to go! I decided to try jogging from our driveway to the end of our street. Not very long, probably not even a minute, but I did it! And I felt great! I walked back feeling very proud and invigorated!

The Biggest Loser Simple Swaps – Book Review

When I first heard about the book, The Biggest Loser Simple Swaps: 100 Easy Changes to Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle, I assumed from the title, that it was mainly about food swaps. Use olive oil instead of butter, or instead of eating a fatty donut, try whole wheat toast. Similar to the “Eat This, Not That” book series.

But once I started reading, I realized it was so much more.

The book starts with summaries and Simple Swaps from various Biggest Loser contestants. I found this section of the book the most inspiring. My favorite was Jen Eisenbarth from season 3.

Swap someone else’s voice for your own. We’re told what’s acceptable and what’s not by others. But listen to your voice. Figure out what works for you.

What an inspirational quote! It set the tone for the whole book for me.

I haven’t read all of the prior Biggest Loser books, but it’s good to see better food recommendations in this book as compared to the ones I have read. They even recommend grass fed beef and free range chicken, but alas don’t mention any better pork, eggs and dairy, but I guess that goes without saying. It’s definitely a clean eating lifestyle that’s promoted.

It’s definitely a bright, very easy to read book with lots of color and photos.

Most recipes include a color photo of the finished dish, and of course, the nutritional data is included.

What I didn’t like is that exact amounts for some ingredients were lacking. Such as 2 slices of cheese or one breast of chicken. Yes, one could assume that it’s 1 oz cheese or one pound of raw chicken, but it be so easier to see it in the recipe, just to keep it straight. Calories can differ drastically when you aren’t using exact measurements!

Recipes that sounded intriguing.

Tangy turkey wrap pg 92
Asian Wild Rice Saute pg 110
Buttermilk Cornbread pg 111
Nutty Waldorf Salad pg 133
Mini Apple Gingerbread Cupcakes pg 152

There are lots of good tips, for instance, if a food contains more than 9 grams protein it’s considered high protein. I didn’t realize that! I love Jillian’s tip on page 173. Use a deck of cards for your workout content!

Same as prior books, they suggest unrealistic (and unhealthy) calorie goals. “Present weight x 7” – for my weight of 161, that calculates to 1127, way below the suggested minimum of 1200 calories and extremely below my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) of 1454 calories just to stay alive! I wish they would stop suggesting such unrealistic calorie consumption! That’s not something that a person can live with for life!

The other complaint is that they promote processed soy meat-free products, like soy hotdogs, sausage, pastrami. And they sort of suggest using artificial sweeteners in a roundabout way, but they did highlight healthier sugar substitutions like agave and stevia.

Overall I thought The Biggest Loser Simple Swaps: 100 Easy Changes to Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle would be very helpful for someone needing good weight loss information and inspiration. It’s a way of life not a diet! But as I said previously, the calorie goal suggestions should be completely ignored!

Disclaimer:
I love reading cookbooks, like some people love reading novels! I am inspired by recipes, and enjoy learning ideas from cookbooks; I like putting my own spin on a recipe rather than exactly following it. Please keep in mind that my opinions might be completely different from the other home cooks.

Yoga Revisited

This morning, I woke up and my whole upper body was wonderfully sore!

I have been working out every night, and last night I thought there might not be enough time since we went out to eat to the Outback, but I looked at the clock, it was 7pm, and I thought okay, let’s do something.

So, I checked out the fitness shows on OnDemand, and decided I wanted to try yoga again. I chose “Yoga Works” Beginner. It was pretty intense considering I am still a newbie but I did a good job! I was so proud of myself! My Downward Dog pose is so much better now! And I could even do the Cobra and I was shocked that I tried and could accomplish the Upward Dog as well. I only stopped once or twice. It felt amazing afterward!

And this morning, my muscles were feeling the workout. But the cool thing is once I was up and moving around, my muscles aren’t so bad. It’s really amazing and wonderful what my body is able to do now. I am so proud and happy!