Week 34 Progress Report and Goal 35

August 27, 2013

So, I’m not going to list all my goals in detail tonight. I’m late posting this and time is not really on my side right now. School began at the University where I work on Monday. It’s always a busy time, and I’m being pulled in many different directions. I have a list of tasks I need to accomplish at work that keeps getting longer and longer. Every time I try to sit down with my boss to prioritize the list something happens or someone needs me. Anyway, I’m super tired both mentally and physically. So I’m just going to say that I met each of my 34 goals last week. Yay!

My 35th goal for week 35 is to eat out no more than twice per week. Except on vacations. If I’m on a vacation the goal is to eat out no more than once a day. I have a vacation this week and I’m bringing food with me. But I’m sure you all know that part of a vacation is eating out. It’s part of the experience. So the goal has some wiggle room during the very few times I go on a trip the rest of the year.

I’m leaving Thursday night to go down to  Disneyland. The Disneyland Half Marathon is on Sunday and I’m running it with 2 of my sisters. I’m super excited and I can’t wait!

I’m doing the Bod Pod again Thursday morning. I can’t work out or eat 3 hours before I go. My appointment is at 9am so I’m doing a 45 minute workout at 5am and downing a protein shake right after. All before 6am so I can truly say I did not eat or work out 3 hours before. If I get a sec (ha ha) I’ll post my results before I leave on my trip.

My numbers are the same as last week. Sad face. Well, not TOO sad. I’m fitting into a pair of 9/10 slacks for the first time this year and my leggings that I wore yesterday did the “elephant ankle and knee” thing. So YAY for those things! Seriously, those slacks and I have tried each other on almost every week the past few months. Finally — FINALLY — on Friday I could wear them and they fit GREAT! I got so many compliments on how great I looked, too! And today when I buckled my belt it went to the very last hole! If I keep this up I’ll have to buy a new, smaller belt! I am SO okay with that! So, maybe something was off with my measuring. Or maybe something else is at play. Either way, I can’t help but be happy even though I stayed the same in the numbers department 🙂

Okay, time to sign off. Spent too much time online already 🙂

 

Week 34, Goal 34

This week’s new goal is:

List 3 things I’m grateful for each week.

Sometimes I take things for granted. Not on purpose, but when I go about my day and I have so much to focus on I sometimes don’t think about important things and what they mean in my life. This goal will help me stop and take time to be grateful.

In other news I promised yesterday to talk about the Sworkit App. My BFF introduced me to it. It’s a free app that generates random workouts for you. You don’t need any extra equipment. You pick the type of workout you want: strength, cardio, stretching. You can choose your area of focus for strength or do total body. You can choose your cardio intensity. You choose how long you want to work out. The app changes exercises every 30 seconds and has rest periods built in every 2 minutes.

On Friday I did I full intensity cardio workout for 60 minutes. It was awesome! Here are the reasons I love it:

It was fun because it was random. I never knew what I was going to do next.

Because it was on my phone and not a DVD I could watch tv while I worked out.

It was hard! Switching exercises every 30 seconds kept my HR up great! And because the exercises are generated randomly, it’s possible to have to do 2 sets of burpees in a row. (Yeah, that happened.)

It’s FREE!

So I highly recommend everyone download this app. Like NOW!

Work out happy 🙂

Week 33 Progress Report

August 19, 2013

Current Weight: 173.5 lbs. (down 8.5 lbs from start)

Current Measurements:

• Bicep – 12.25″ (down .75″ from start)
• Natural Waist – 28.5″ (down 1.5″ from start)
• Belly Button – 31.5″ (down 3.5″ from start)
• Smallest part of hips – 40″ (down 2″ from start)
• Widest part of hips – 42″ (down 2″ from start)
• Upper thigh – 21.75″ (down 1.25″ from start)
• Mid-thigh – 19″ (down 1.5″ from start)
• Above knee – 17″ (down .5″ from start)
• Calf – 15.75″ (down .5″ from start)
• Ankle – 9.25″ (d0wn .5″ from start)

Moving again in the right direction, though slowly still. Part of me is a little discouraged that after 33 weeks I’m barely into my size 10s. And not even all of my size 10s. ::sigh:: I care less that I’m only down 8.5 lbs as I know that I’ve gained a lot of muscle. But after number crunching last week when I learned about the Harris Benedict Method of finding TDEE, I think I’m going to change my calorie goal. Again. Sheesh, I always switch this one up. But I work out 6 days a week for at least an hour at fairly high intensity. So I know my biggest problem has to be my calorie consumption. When I blogged last week about the Harris Benedict Method I came up with a chart that would help me decide how many calories to eat based on how long I worked out that day. It was a good idea, but this weekend made me realize that weekends suck. Because I have no set routine on Saturdays it’s hard to keep my eating in check. Also on Sundays it can be tough because I eat dinner at my mom’s house and never know what I’m going to be offered. I know these are only excuses, but back when I did Weight Watchers (and lost my first 30 lbs that I’ve since been able to keep off) I ate great during the week and gave myself the weekend off from counting. This didn’t mean I could go crazy. It just meant that if I had a 0 calorie deficit 2 days of the week it wasn’t a big deal because I had such a large deficit the other 5 days. So here I go experimenting again. Basically I’m going to still work out 6 days a week, and most of them will be over an hour so I can get a little extra burn. As for calorie intake, I’m going back to a weekly overall deficit instead of a daily one. When I was doing Sparkpeople.com I did a weekly deficit and I got down to 163 lbs. So according to my number crunching the least I should eat is 1,914 calories. So M-F I’m going to eat between 1,900-1,950 depending on my workout. And Sat/Sun I will eat around my maintenance level which would be 2,700 or less. I’m not going to count in detail on those days, I’m going to estimate the best I can. Anyway, I hope this will help me be better during the week and not binge on the weekends. I have found if I make time to allow myself to indulge my sweet tooth then I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself the rest of the time. We’ll see how this goes this next week.

Here’s how I did on goals 1-33 last week:

Goal One – Workout schedule run 3 days a week, strength train 3 days a week, Sun rest (short, low impact workout, if any) – Currently in training for my next HM

• Tuesday – Outdoor running, 3.1 miles; Billy Blanks Rockin’ Buns DVD
• Wednesday – Outdoor running, 7  miles
• Thursday – Billy Blanks Rockin’ Abs and Sculpt Express DVDs
• Friday – Cardio workout using the Sworkit App (more on that in an upcoming post)
• Saturday – 5 mile hike
• Sunday – Rest day
• Monday – Outdoor running, 12 miles

Goal Two – No carbonation at least 6 days a week

• A root beer on Saturday – it was free with my meal 😉

Goal Three – Eat so that I have an average caloric deficit of 500-1,000 every day. (I’ll change the wording of this goal next week)

• T – 730 deficit
• W – 767 deficit
• H – 759 deficit
• F – 1,000 deficit
• Sat – Didn’t count
• Sun – Day off from counting
• M – 1,811 deficit

Goal Four – Eat at least 2 fruits every day

• T – apple, kiwi, grapes, banana
• W – tomato, avocado, apple, grapes, banana
• H – apple, banana, grapes, kiwi
• F – strawberries, blueberries, apple, pineapple, grapes, banana
• Sat – banana, plums, tomato, avocado
• Sun – banana, grapes, peach
• M – apple, grapes, banana, kiwi

Goal Five – Write a weekly mantra/inspiring phrase on my bathroom mirror and repeat it throughout the day.

• “Be happy with what you have while working for what you want.” – Helen Keller

Goal Six – Have a good cry.

• Friday

Goal Seven – Consume at least 120 ounces of plain water

• Tuesday – 168
• Wednesday – 168
• Thursday – 168
• Friday – 126
• Saturday – 120
• Sunday – 132
• Monday – 126 and still counting

Goal Eight – Do something nice for someone

• My best friend suggested that I do my best to serve others more, but to make sure to count the little things I do. I appreciated her advice because I sometimes think I have to do something magnificent or it doesn’t count. This week I feel like I did good with this. I visited a friend, and I spent a whole day with my 12-13 year old girls.

Goal Nine – Do isometrics while on the train to/from work and while at my desk

• Yes.

Goal Ten – Don’t stand still

• Yes.

Goal 11 – Read something related to health and fitness

• I read more from Tom Venuto. I signed up to receive his online newsletter, and everything is so interesting. I read today about how fitness magazines are often in bed with the diet pill companies.

Goal 12 – Notice Beauty

• Rocks and water! Even after a major rock slide Donut Falls is still beautiful and calming. We are a bit fuzzy in the pic, but the rocks look great!

Me with my 12-13 year olds from church

Goal 13 – Take Time to Relax Somehow

• Hot bath on Saturday and a Sunday nap

Goal 14 – Take the Stairs to the 3rd Floor before using the 2nd Floor bathroom

• Yes.

Goal 15 – Download and use a Health and Fitness App

• MyFitnessPal, AND Sworkit (again, more on this in an upcoming post)

Goal 16 – No eating after 7pm at least 5 days/week

• I ate after 7pm on Saturday

Goal 17 – Belly Laugh

• Saturday while hanging with the 12-13 year old girls I teach at church. They are sil-ly!

Goal 18 – Touch base with an out-of-town friend and family member

• Spoke with my BFF on Friday and my Montana sister on Wednesday (or was it Tuesday?)

Goal 19 – Double Stretching

• Yes.

Goal 20 – Work Out for at Least One Hour, 6 days a week

• T – 77 minutes
• W- 70 minutes
• H – 75 minutes
• F – 60 minutes
• Sat – 60 minutes
• Sun – Rest day
• M – 126 minutes

Goal 21 – Eat at least 2 vegetables each day

• T – carrots, sugar snap peas
• W – carrots, lettuce
• H – carrots
• F – corn, onion, lettuce
• Sat – carrots, lettuce
• Sun – carrots, zucchini
• M – carrots, sugar snap peas

Goal 22 – Take an actual rest day on Sunday

• Yep

Goal 23 – Use 10 lb hand weights during strength workouts

• Yes.

Goal 24 – Take a walk 2-3 times during the week

• I took a walk Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Goal 25 – Think of something I don’t miss from an unhealthy lifestyle

• I don’t miss fast food. French fries, triple stacked burgers, ginormous milkshakes. Nope. Don’t miss those. Now don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy a hamburger, sweet potato fries, and a small milkshake every now and again. But I don’t miss the super sized life being my staples.

Goal 26 – Be in bed and ready to sleep 7-8 hours before the time my alarm is set for the next morning.

• Yes, except for Friday night.

Goal 27 – Congratulate myself when I make good choices

• I bought some “back to school” clothes for being awesome during my workouts this week. And after this morning’s 12 mile run I truly feel like I deserved it!

Goal 28 – Try a new fruit or vegetable

• I tried a donut peach. I saw them at the store and assumed they would taste a bit different since they look so different from regular peaches. But they taste just like normal. Mmm, fail. LOL!

Goal 29 – Try to eat 55% carbs, 30% fats, and 15% protein

• Doing better with this 🙂

Goal 30 – Complete household cleaning chart weekly

• I did pretty good. I cleaned pretty good in preparation for my girls to come to my house on Saturday. But then we went on a hike and brought some dirt back with us. And then we baked cookies and got flour all over. But, hey, it was fun!

Goal 31 – Eat a rainbow

• Red – gala apple, strawberries, tomato
• Orange/Yellow – carrots, corn, apricots, peach, pineapple
• Green – avocado, zucchini, kiwi, lettuce, sugar snap peas, granny smith apple
• Blue/Purple/Black – black grapes, plums, blueberries
• White – banana, onion

Goal 32 – What I like about Me

• I like how strong I have gotten over the years. I’m so amazed that after my 12 mile run today I’m not sore or tired. I felt great after my 11 mile run a couple weeks ago, too. My legs feel awesome! I remember it wasn’t always this way. I remember how bad my legs would hurt running more than 6 miles. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago. But now my legs are stronger than ever. And with my continued efforts I will keep getting stronger 🙂

Goal 33 – Do less modified versions of my workouts

• Did regulation pushups as much as I could. But this week’s workout aren’t ones I normally need to do a lot of modified versions. No, that’s this coming week with Jillian. Yikes!

How Many Calories to Eat

Hey all! I was perusing Tom Venuto’s blog, and I came across this article about how to calculate your caloric deficit. Making sure we get enough while not getting too much is one of the hardest things about weight loss or weight maintenance. I have definitely struggled with it, though I think I’ve got the basics down and I’m doing all right. But the below calculations have proven to be far more accurate estimates than my ballpark guesstimates.

I am a number cruncher (when I want to be) so though Tom gives a few ways to come up with a good estimate, I chose to use the Harris Benedict Method. It goes a little something like this:

Good ol’ Tom

The Harris Benedict Method

Use this formula for a very accurate estimate of your maintenance level if you know your body weight but not your body fat percentage. For fat loss, create a 20-30% deficit below maintenance.

Note: BMR = basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of energy you require for normal body functions at rest (does not include activity).

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) – (6.8 X age in years)

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) – (4.7 X age in years)

Conversions

1 inch = 2.54 cm.
1 kilogram = 2.2 lbs.

Example:

You are female
You are 30 yrs old
You are 5′ 6 ” tall (167.6 cm)
You weigh 120 lbs. (54.5 kilos)
Your BMR = 655 + 523 + 302 – 141 = 1339 calories/day

Now that you know your BMR, you can calculate your maintenance level, (also known as total daily energy expenditure or TDEE), by multiplying your BMR by your activity multiplier from the chart below:

Activity Multiplier:

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job
Or 2X day training, i.e marathon, competition etc.)

Example:

Your BMR is 1339 calories per day
Your activity level is moderately active (work out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1339 = 2075 calories/day

Once you calculate your TDEE, Tom recommends a 20-30% deficit.

So I am female

I am 34 years old

I am 5’10.5″ (179.07 cm) – I always say 5’11” because it mostly keeps the short guys away 😉

I weigh 174lbs (80kg)

My BMR = 655+768+322.3-159.8 = 1585 cals/day

My activity level is very active (I work out at least an hour 6 days/wk and train vigorously)

My activity factor is 1.725

My TDEE = 1.725X1585 = 2734 cals/day (which would be maintenance)

A 20% deficit = 2187

A 30% deficit = 1914

This formula is great for me at this point. I only have about 15-20lbs left to lose (I’ve never been below 163, so I’m not sure if I NEED to get all the way down to 155 – I may end up perfectly happy in the upper 150’s). Those last 15-20 seem to always be the hardest to lose. Looking back on my eating habits, I have been in the 20% deficit area (2187) for the most part. But now I’ve set up a little chart for myself that spans the 20-30% range based on the length of my workouts:

60 min or less = 1900

61 – 75 min = 1975

76 – 90 min = 2050

91 – 105 min = 2125

106 min or more = 2200

I am excited to start trying to stick with this! Like I said, my eating habits have been fairly good when compared to these numbers. But I think this chart will help me get a bit of an extra deficit on days I don’t work out as long. Or maybe it will inspire me to work out longer just so I can eat a little bit more 😉 Either way, it’s something new to try. And the other cool thing about it is that when you lose weight, you need to recalculate. I like that because I don’t want to get stuck in a rut. Hopefully this will mean I’ll need to re-crunch my numbers on a weekly basis because, you know, I’m hoping to lose weight on a weekly basis. Though I haven’t lost weight or even inches in a few weeks, I think I know why and I think things will look better soon. And using the Harris Benedict Method to figure out how much to eat is only going to help.

The other method that looked awesome is the Katch McArdle Formula. I couldn’t use it because you need to know your body fat percentage AND your lean body mass. I KNEW those numbers back in May when I did the Bod Pod. But hopefully those numbers have changed by now in my favor. When I go again on August 29th I can try the formula. The only problem is I can’t get my body fat percentage tested on a weekly basis, so I won’t be able to utilize this formula consistently to keep it current and accurate. However, I wanted to throw it on here in case anyone wants to use it:

The Katch McArdle Formula

Use this formula for a very accurate estimate of your maintenance level if you know your body fat percentage and lean body mass. For fat loss, create a 20-30% deficit below maintenance.

BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

Example:

You are female
You weigh 120 lbs. (54.5 kilos)
Your body fat percentage is 20% (24 lbs. fat, 96 lbs. lean)
Your lean mass is 96 lbs. (43.6 kilos)
Your BMR = 370 + (21.6 X 43.6) = 1312 calories

To determine TDEE from BMR, you simply multiply BMR by the activity multiplier:

Your BMR is 1312
Your activity level is moderately active (working out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1312 = 2033 calories per day

Happy counting 🙂

Week 33, Goal 33

This week’s new goal is:

Do less modified versions of my workouts

There are some exercises in some of my DVDs that I have to do modified versions of. This week’s goal was originally going to be “Don’t do the modified versions.” But I realize after 32 weeks that I shouldn’t set myself up for failure. So I’m going to start out doing the regular version of, say, pushups. Then if I have to go down on my knees I will without beating myself up about it. I’m sure there are only so many of these I can do

before I have to do these

And that’s okay. And on my Jillian Michaels workout… let’s just say I may only be able to do one or two of the regular versions of some of those crazy moves before modifying again. But it’s all good. I’m gonna try and who knows? I may surprise myself 🙂

Week 32 Progress Report

August 13, 2013

Current Weight: 174 lbs. (down 8 lbs from start)

Current Measurements:

• Bicep – 12.25″ (down .75″ from start)
• Natural Waist – 28.5″ (down 1.5″ from start)
• Belly Button – 31.5″ (down 3.5″ from start)
• Smallest part of hips – 40″ (down 2″ from start)
• Widest part of hips – 42.25″ (down 1.75″ from start)
• Upper thigh – 22″ (down 1″ from start)
• Mid-thigh – 19″ (down 1.5″ from start)
• Above knee – 17″ (down .5″ from start)
• Calf – 15.75″ (down .5″ from start)
• Ankle – 9.25″ (d0wn .5″ from start)

Didn’t move at all this week, but it’s also TOM so I’m not too worried about it. I usually post my progress report on Mondays but for some reason my Mondays have been busy. I hope to get back to doing that next week, cuz it kinda throws me off. Anyway. Before typing up my progress on my goals I want to justify something first. I too a random rest day on Wednesday but still took my normal rest day on Sunday. I also didn’t count my calories either day. I’m letting it slide because I made sure to have a few days in which I worked out for more than an hour and a few days in which I had more than a 1,000 calorie deficit. Hopefully that made up for it. Even if it didn’t quite, I’m not down on myself about it. Life happened, what can I say?

Here’s how I did on goals 1-32 last week:

Goal One – Workout schedule run 3 days a week, strength train 3 days a week, Sun rest (short, low impact workout, if any) – Currently in training for my next HM

• Tuesday – Outdoor running, 5 miles
• Wednesday – Rest day
• Thursday – The Biggest Loser Boot Camp and Weight Loss Yoga DVDs
• Friday – Outdoor running, 11 miles
• Saturday – 3.27 mile walk; my own strength circuit
• Sunday – Rest day
• Monday – Outdoor running, 5.75 miles

Goal Two – No carbonation at least 6 days a week

• None!

Goal Three – Eat so that I have an average caloric deficit of 500-1,000 every day.

• T – 873 deficit
• W – didn’t count
• H – 1,333 deficit
• F – 1,430 deficit
• Sat – 500 deficit
• Sun – Day off from counting
• M – 795 deficit

Goal Four – Eat at least 2 fruits every day

• T – apple, honeydew
• W – tomato, avocado, apple
• H – apple, strawberries, blueberries
• F – apricots, plums, grapes, tomatoes
• Sat – apple, kiwi, grapes
• Sun – banana, grapes, kiwi
• M – apple, grapes, banana, kiwi

Goal Five – Write a weekly mantra/inspiring phrase on my bathroom mirror and repeat it throughout the day.

• “You don’t get what you want. You get what you work for.”

Goal Six – Have a good cry.

• Saturday and Sunday

Goal Seven – Consume at least 120 ounces of plain water

• Tuesday – 136
• Wednesday – 128
• Thursday – 152
• Friday – 168
• Saturday – 160
• Sunday – 120
• Monday – 120 and still counting

Goal Eight – Do something nice for someone

• I had a rough week, so this one is hard to think of. I guess maybe I can count that I imparted of my “wisdom” to my best friend and my sister about various things concerning their children’s development.

Goal Nine – Do isometrics while on the train to/from work and while at my desk

• Yes.

Goal Ten – Don’t stand still

• Yes.

Goal 11 – Read something related to health and fitness

• I set out to research something entirely different from what I ended up reading. I read this blog entry from Tom Venuto. I think I may have heard of him before now, but I never really knew who he was. Well, this blog entry about the differences between males and females when it comes to weight loss was pretty good. Now, of course, I am a very tall (almost Amazonian) woman, and his example was for a petite 4’11” woman. However, the basic principles still apply. And I like what he had to say and, more importantly, HOW he said it. Very real, and very layman. I get what he was saying and it made me want to buy his book so I can learn how to “measure body fat percentage in the privacy of my own home.” That’d be neat-o! I also subscribed to his free email newsletter. Um, I think I like this guy 😉

Goal 12 – Notice Beauty

• I re-noticed (is that a word?) the beauty of friendship. I may not have a large group of friends, but I at least have one friend who knows me better than anyone else.

Goal 13 – Take Time to Relax Somehow

• Sunday nap

Goal 14 – Take the Stairs to the 3rd Floor before using the 2nd Floor bathroom

• Yes.

Goal 15 – Download and use a Health and Fitness App

• MyFitnessPal.

Goal 16 – No eating after 7pm at least 5 days/week

• I ate after 7pm on Saturday

Goal 17 – Belly Laugh

• Saturday night while playing games with friends

Goal 18 – Touch base with an out-of-town friend and family member

• Spoke with my BFF on Sunday and my Montana sister yesterday.

Goal 19 – Double Stretching

• Yes.

Goal 20 – Work Out for at Least One Hour, 6 days a week

• T – 60 minutes
• W- rest day
• H – 120 minutes
• F – 119 minutes
• Sat – 85 minutes
• Sun – Rest day
• M – 60 minutes

Goal 21 – Eat at least 2 vegetables each day

• T – carrots, jicama
• W – carrots, lettuce
• H – carrots
• F – cauliflower, sweet potatoes, lettuce
• Sat – carrots, potatoes
• Sun – carrots, sugar snap peas
• M – carrots, sugar snap peas

Goal 22 – Take an actual rest day on Sunday

• Yep

Goal 23 – Use 10 lb hand weights during strength workouts

• Yes.

Goal 24 – Take a walk 2-3 times during the week

• I took a walk Friday and Saturday.

Goal 25 – Think of something I don’t miss from an unhealthy lifestyle

• I don’t miss hording. My mom was a single mother of 5 girls. There were times growing up that I remember not having enough food in the house. Now, I was also an emotional eater. So whether or not we actually had enough food may have been a misconception at the time. What I considered “enough” was probably way too much. But I would horde food and it like it was going out of style. Yeah, don’t miss that.

Goal 26 – Be in bed and ready to sleep 7-8 hours before the time my alarm is set for the next morning.

• Yes, and I actually slept this week too!

Goal 27 – Congratulate myself when I make good choices

• Several high fives to myself for getting through a rough patch this week.

Goal 28 – Try a new fruit or vegetable

• I tried honeydew and jicama. I didn’t care for the honeydew, which didn’t surprise me because I don’t like other melons. I really liked the jicama, I just don’t like how laborious it is to peel them 😉

Goal 29 – Try to eat 55% carbs, 30% fats, and 15% protein

• I’m doing good at this! Wednesday I went over on my fat – more than I would consider it okay to be. Whoops! I had Cafe Rio that day. Maybe that did it? Well, I love me some Cafe Rio so I can’t say I’ll never eat there again. Just work to make sure I don’t go that far over that often.

Goal 30 – Complete household cleaning chart weekly

• I did good. I still didn’t get everything done. It’s easy for me to skip things like “tidy up my office” when nobody ever sees it but me.

Goal 31 – Eat a rainbow

• Red – apple, strawberries, tomato
• Orange/Yellow – carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots
• Green – avocado, honeydew, kiwi, lettuce, sugar snap peas
• Blue/Purple/Black – black grapes, blueberries, plums
• White – banana, potatoes, jicama, cauliflower

Goal 32 – What I like about Me

• I like my ability to get back up once I’ve been knocked down. Not only am I able to do this, but even right after getting knocked down as I lie in the muck and mud and struggle to find my footing and wonder if it’s even worth it — even during that struggle I know and I’m able to remind myself that I will find my footing and it is worth it.

Week 32, Goal 32

This week’s goal is:

Write down something I like about myself

Because I’m basically amazing.

Typically I wouldn’t start this until I post my weekly progress report on Monday, but I feel like tooting my own horn right now.

Something I like about myself is my ability to laugh at the ridiculous and not stress. Now, granted, I am human and I can get stressed as much as anyone. But I can usually go with the flow and laugh things off.

For example, this evening my boss and I had to work later than we normally would during a break between semesters. During these breaks there are no children or teachers at the center, just my boss and I gearing up for the next semester, so we work only till about 3 or 4 depending on what needs to be done.

This is also the time for hiring new folks, so we’ve been setting up interviews. One prospective employee couldn’t interview until 4:30 tonight. Blast. Guess we have to work until 5. Well, the interview went great and we offered him a teaching position on the spot. We were showing him around the program, and by this time it was already a bit past 5. But, hey, he was awesome. No biggie.

Lastly we showed him the playground. Then we tried to get back into the building. We tried every door possible to get back into the building. Um, yeah, campus security decided to lock up early. Great. All our stuff was inside, including our cell phones! I thought it was pretty hilarious. My boss was a little stressed because she needed to get home so her husband could work. But I was cool. We started walking to find an open building, ran into someone who works in the President’s building who was on his way home. Super nice guy, let us into his office and called campus security for us.

I finally got on the road around 5:50, so I opted out of going grocery shopping tonight (which means I only had 1 vegetable today – I’ll live). I was laughing about it almost the whole way home. My cell is always in my back pocket. So of course the one time it’s not is the time we get locked out of the building. Ah, life! “How quaint the ways of Paradox, at common sense she gaily mocks.”

Anyway, good times. And huzzah for me being in a good humor about it. Yeah, I’m pretty cool like that 🙂

 

Week 31 Progress Report

August 6, 2013

Current Weight: 174 lbs. (down 8 lbs from start)

Current Measurements:

• Bicep – 12.25″ (down .75″ from start)
• Natural Waist – 28.5″ (down 1.5″ from start)
• Belly Button – 31.5″ (down 3.5″ from start)
• Smallest part of hips – 40″ (down 2″ from start)
• Widest part of hips – 42.25″ (down 1.75″ from start)
• Upper thigh – 22″ (down 1″ from start)
• Mid-thigh – 19″ (down 1.5″ from start)
• Above knee – 17″ (down .5″ from start)
• Calf – 15.75″ (down .5″ from start)
• Ankle – 9.25″ (d0wn .5″ from start)

After Week 30 – when I didn’t even weigh in to view the damage I’d done – I’m happy to say that today I am still at 174lbs, where I was 2 weeks ago. So whatever I gained during week 30, I lost again during this past week. And that’s pretty cool! My measurements are also still the same EXCEPT for my ankle – I’m down another quarter of an inch in my ankle!! Yay! For someone who has been accused of having cankles for much of her life, this is huge!!!

Here’s how I did on goals 1-31 last week:

Goal One – Workout schedule run 3 days a week, strength train 3 days a week, Sun rest (short, low impact workout, if any) – Currently in training for my next HM

• Tuesday – The Firm Total Body Time Crunch DVD; Kathy Smith Aerobox DVD
• Wednesday – Outdoor running, 3.1 miles; Dancing with the Stars Cardio DVD
• Thursday – The Firm Total Body Time Crunch DVD
• Friday – Outdoor running, 10 miles
• Saturday – Hike/walk in the mountains
• Sunday – Rest day
• Monday – Kathy Smith Kickboxing DVD

Goal Two – No carbonation at least 6 days a week

• Had a Diet Coke on Friday AND on Saturday. I haven’t been sleeping well (still) so I’ve been exhausted during the day. I don’t drink coffee and I think 5 Hour Energy’s are disgusting. So Diet Coke it is. But I’ve slept better since Saturday night, so hopefully I won’t have that problem much anymore

Goal Three – Eat so that I have an average caloric deficit of 500-1,000 every day.

• T – 774 deficit
• W – 754 deficit
• H – 772 deficit
• F – 500 deficit
• Sat – 500 deficit
• Sun – Day off from counting
• M – 1097 deficit

Goal Four – Eat at least 2 fruits every day

• T – apple, banana, tomato, mango
• W – tomato, avocado, banana
• H – banana, grapes, tomato
• F – banana, apple, grapes
• Sat – tomato, banana, avocado, strawberries, grapes
• Sun – banana, tomato
• M – tomato, avocado

Goal Five – Write a weekly mantra/inspiring phrase on my bathroom mirror and repeat it throughout the day.

• “You’re prettiest when you smile.”

Goal Six – Have a good cry.

• Saturday afternoon. I was SO tired!

Goal Seven – Consume at least 120 ounces of plain water

• Tuesday – 168
• Wednesday – 152
• Thursday – 128
• Friday – 136
• Saturday – 120
• Sunday – 120
• Monday – 136

Goal Eight – Do something nice for someone

• I went to a cabin with some friends over the weekend, and one of my friends forgot her sleeping bag. I let her use the one that was meant for me, since I had also brought a sheet with me.

Goal Nine – Do isometrics while on the train to/from work and while at my desk

• Yes.

Goal Ten – Don’t stand still

• Yes.

Goal 11 – Read something related to health and fitness

• I reread the information I got when I got my body composition tested. I’ve made my appointment to do it again at the end of this month. When I did it in May I had 33% body fat, so naturally my hope is that I’ve gone down since then. Just gearing up now.

Goal 12 – Notice Beauty

• Though I have always known Mandy Patinkin has a beautiful voice, until I saw him in person Saturday night, I had no idea what a great entertainer he was. What a beautiful performance! The below video is not from the concert I went to, but you get the point 🙂

Goal 13 – Take Time to Relax Somehow

• One would think my trip to the cabin was relaxing but, well, it wasn’t. It was fun, but not relaxing. Sunday I slept a lot to make up for lost time. THAT was relaxing 🙂

Goal 14 – Take the Stairs to the 3rd Floor before using the 2nd Floor bathroom

• Yes.

Goal 15 – Download and use a Health and Fitness App

• MyFitnessPal.

Goal 16 – No eating after 7pm at least 5 days/week

• I ate after 7pm on Friday.

Goal 17 – Belly Laugh

• Lots of laughing with the girls at the cabin.

Goal 18 – Touch base with an out-of-town friend and family member

• Spoke with my BFF on Sunday, and have been in constant contact with my sis in California to encourage her in her training for her first HM Labor Day weekend.

Goal 19 – Double Stretching

• Yes.

Goal 20 – Work Out for at Least One Hour, 6 days a week

• T – 80 minutes
• W- 63 minutes
• H – 60 minutes
• F – 109 minutes
• Sat – ? minutes (we went for a walk/hike but I didn’t keep track…)
• Sun – Rest day
• M – 53 minutes

Goal 21 – Eat at least 2 vegetables each day

• T – carrots, lettuce, cabbage, potatoes
• W – sugar snap peas, lettuce
• H – spinach, lettuce, sugar snap peas
• F – carrots, lettuce
• Sat – lettuce
• Sun – lettuce, cabbage, beets
• M – carrots, lettuce, pickles

Goal 22 – Take an actual rest day on Sunday

• Oh, yes!

Goal 23 – Use 10 lb hand weights during strength workouts

• Yes.

Goal 24 – Take a walk 2-3 times during the week

• I took lots of walks, actually.

Goal 25 – Think of something I don’t miss from an unhealthy lifestyle

• I don’t miss eating due to boredom. I used to eat all the time simply because I wasn’t doing anything else.

Goal 26 – Be in bed and ready to sleep 7-8 hours before the time my alarm is set for the next morning.

• Yes, though, it still doesn’t always seem to matter. ::sigh::

Goal 27 – Congratulate myself when I make good choices

• Due to not sleeping well there were 2 days when I slept through my workout – but I came home and worked out after work BOTH days! That’s such a hard thing for me to do, but I did it! Go me!

Goal 28 – Try a new fruit or vegetable

• I tried a mango – yum! And a beet – tasteless. P.S. I also tried eggplant during week 30, and I kinda liked it.

Goal 29 – Try to eat 55% carbs, 30% fats, and 15% protein

• I did well. Went over on my protein on Wednesday, then over on my carbs on Thursday. I guess they balance each other out 😉

Goal 30 – Complete household cleaning chart weekly

• Yeah, not so much this week. I was busy with a lot of things that I normally am not busy with. Hope to get back on the cleaning this week.

Goal 31 – Eat a rainbow

• Red – apple, strawberries, tomato, beets
• Orange/Yellow – mango, carrots
• Green – avocado, lettuce, sugar snap peas, pickles
• Blue/Purple/Black – black grapes, purple grapes, purple cabbage
• White – banana, potatoes

Week 31, Goal 31

Better late than never, but this week’s goal is:

Eat a Rainbow every week

I hope to be able to do this every day, but Sundays are hard. Those are my rest days, so I have to eat a lot less, and I eat dinner at my Mom’s house and don’t always get a say in what we have.

I have shared this goal with a few people, and many of them asked me what that meant. I guess I assumed this was a thing, you know. Something people just knew about. I knew about it before I took a health and fitness course last fall, but my professor gave us a cool guide that I will share with you momentarily.

Basically you eat a fruit or vegetable in each color group. Yellow and orange are combined, as are purple, blue and black. Anyway, here is the handy-dandy guide:

Red:

Red apples, blood oranges, cherries, red currants, red grapes, pink/red grapefruits, red pears, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes, beets, red peppers, radishes, radicchio, red onions, red potatoes, rhubarb

Orange/Yellow:

Yellow apples, apricots, cantaloupe, cape gooseberries, yellow figs, grapefruit, golden kiwifruit, kumquat, lemon, mango, mandarins, nectarines, oranges, guava, papayas, peaches, yellow pears, persimmons, tangerines, yellow watermelon, yellow beets, butternut squash, carrots, yellow onions, yellow/orange peppers, yellow potatoes, pumpkin, rutabagas, yellow summer squash, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, yams, yellow tomatoes, yellow winter squash

Green:

Avocados, green apples, green grapes, honeydew, kiwifruit, limes, green pears, artichokes, arugula, asparagus, broccoflower, broccoli, broccoli rabe, brussel sprouts, Chinese cabbage, green beans, green cabbage, celery, chayote squash, cucumbers, endive, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, green onions, okra, peas, green peppers, soy beans, snow peas, sugar snap peas, spinach, watercress, zucchini

Blue/Purple/Black:

Black grapes, blackberries, blueberries, black currant, boysenberries, elderberries, huckleberries, figs, purple grapes, plums, prunes, raisins, purple asparagus, purple cabbage, purple carrots, eggplant, purple Belgian endive, purple peppers, purple-fleshed potatoes, black salsify

White:

Bananas, brown pears, coconut, dates, white nectarines, white peaches, white grapes, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, Jerusalem artichoke, jicama, kohlrabi, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, shallots, turnips, white corn.

The guide is also helpful because it gives me good ideas for my goal of trying a new fruit or vegetable every week.

Speaking of that goal, my roommate is basically amazing. She thought of my goal when she went grocery shopping, and came back with a guava, honeydew, and jicama for me. Love her 🙂

Week 30 Confessions

Ugh. Well. Time to own up I suppose.

Week 30 was not a good week. My workouts were ridiculous – when they actually happened. And my food intake… Well, one thing at a time.

Tuesday and Friday I slept through my workouts. I haven’t been sleeping well and I was soooooo tired. On Tuesday I had planned to make up my missed workout later in the week. By Friday I knew that was not going to happen.

On Wednesday I went for a run. I was supposed to run 6.5 miles. My legs hurt a lot and I was struggling. I made it 3.4 miles, then decided to just walk the rest of the way home. At least I worked out that day.

Thursday I went for a warm-up jog before my strength circuit. A mile from my house I fell down. Went BOOM. I have NEVER fallen while running before. And it hurt. I scraped my knees and hands.

Battle Scar

I know it doesn’t look like much, but guess what folks – it STILL hurts! Anyway, after I fell I spit out the bug in my mouth, picked up my water bottle, and walked home. I washed off my injuries, then crawled back into bed. I was done.

Saturday was “get back into the swing of things” day. I planned to do a 2 hour workout. After a half hour I changed that to 1 hour. After 45 minutes of Jillian Michaels yelling at me I burst into tears. But I finished the hour. Barely. My body is still sore from Saturday. But that’s what I get for not doing any strength training for a full week.

Today I really did go running. I went my full 6.5 miles. I was slower than I had been lately, but just going the distance was the goal. And since my HM is creeping up on me, I’ll take what I can get. Just RUN, Amy! I’m thinking working out is getting back on track.

My eating last week also sucked. I was hungry all the time. Everything looked good. I never felt full. So I just kept eating. You would have thought I was pre-menstrual, but no such luck. I didn’t even feel stressed or anything. Just tired. My roommate said she felt similar – maybe something weird going around that made you tired and hungry. Whatever it was, I gave into it all week. Today I am back on track, thankfully.

So, normally I list a rundown of all of my goals (up to 30 now) and weigh-in and take measurements. I’m not doing that today. I’m sure I gained weight/inches. I accept full responsibility, but looking at the numbers – though it would hold me accountable – might just depress me enough to eat more. So I’m just going to start from here. No weigh-in till next week.

I made some good choices worth celebrating, though. I baked brownies yesterday (I had been promising my roommate) and I only ate 4 (they were bite sized – 1/48 of a pan)  – 2 yesterday and 2 today, then brought the rest for my staff at work so they wouldn’t be in my house. Also, I went grocery shopping after work and the only things I bought that have sugar in them are my fresh produce. No ice cream. No cookies. No chocolate. Pretty proud of myself for all of that. I’m trying to jump on the “fruit for dessert” bandwagon. This doesn’t mean no chocolate ever. I just need a bit of a “cleanse”, if you will. At least for today. My family is going to Olive Garden tomorrow night. I just might have an Andes mint after. Oh, but I’m only ordering soup and salad so it’s okay.

::sigh::

What in the world happened last week? I’m still at a loss though I’ve been wracking my brain. But, oh well. My friend Carolyn said today that if only 1 week out of 52 sucks, that’s still super good odds. She’s right. That’s a score of 98% – still an A! Now, those of you who have been following me for a while know that this isn’t my first bad week. I had a really bad one back in March. And I’m likely to have at least one more before the year is through. But even with 3 crappy weeks, it’s still an A – 94%. I’m good with that.

My clothes still fit, so that’s a plus. Even the size 10s that I’ve just barely been able to fit in again still fit okay. A bit more snuggly, perhaps. But if last week was super awful I probably wouldn’t be able to zip them up anymore. Chalk it up to my body having mercy on me.

Anyway, I’m doing okay. Not giving up. I’m moving forward knowing I can do this. I mean, if something like this can happen:

I mean, right?

I can at least get down to that size 8 I’ve always dreamed of. I’m so close. Maybe just over the next hill. Or the next. Or the next. Or the next. But eventually. Sooner than never.

That matters.