Put'em Up! Put'em Up! No Cowardly Lion Here!

I’ve discovered I love boxing.  I like slipping on the gloves, strapping down the Velcro, tapping my knuckles together, getting my stance ready, and punching.  Right now I box a little every Friday with my trainer.  He puts on punch mitts, I wear fight gloves, and he teaches me how to swing.  Each boxing session is a workout that leaves me red in the face and out of breath; each jab, each hit, each upper cut allows me to knock out my tensions and aggressions.  I will literally back my trainer up against the wall and it feels good!  I love the feeling of rhythmically hitting and hitting hard.  Oh yes, I will be adding a heavyweight punching bag to the my home gym.  I’ve done a little research and boxing for exercise can be a cardio boom and whether I’m picturing the person who cut me off at the intersection, a disruptive student, or sexy skinny person, I may like this punching thing a little too much.  Anyway, this chick will be leaner, stronger, and tougher.  Let me remind you, as I mentioned in my earlier post, one of my other forms of exercise is circuit training (using free weights) to increase lean muscle mass in order to boost my metabolism.  So, while the pounds may not be dropping as fast, I do feel myself getting stronger and I can tell my body shape is slowly changing.   I am hoping to hit the 15 pound mark very soon.  I am close! 

Part of my positive attitude right now is my support system.  I read recently that those who are most successful in losing weight and keeping it off have the following people on their team:

1. The food friend- the person who cooks with you, eats with you, grocery shops with you,  helps make the healthy lists, supports smart dining out choices, gets on board with all the good food and eats essentially what you eat do

2. The workout buddy- the person who gets down and dirty and exercises with you, is an accountability partner, sweats with you and motivates you, works hard with you and suffers through the pain with you

3. The encourager- someone who has persisted through challenges, someone who will be encouraging, someone who will understand when things get tough and not look down on you but not let you give up either, someone who recognizes the good things you’re doing

I believe I have a solid team in place and I understand that I cannot do this alone.  I do not think that any change in life is easy and I am not too strong or too weak to admit that I need people in my life to help me accomplish this. 

In many of my literature classes we encounter stories with a protagonist, often an underdog, on a quest in order to reach some sort of tangible goal. Oftentimes, the physical journey is full of obstacles and challenges that the protagonist must overcome.  In fact, some of these obstacles are either tempting or incredibly dangerous.  However, it is by facing these challenges that the hero tests himself, gains a better understanding of himself, receives some sort of enlightenment, and develops physical and mental fortitude.  Hopefully, each obstacle I face serves as a lesson.  I want this journey to lead to better physical, emotional and mental health and a new understanding of myself and my capabilities.  Let me say again that I embrace the beauty and boldness of my size, and that this journey is not about being thin.  This journey is about being healthier and strong.  I want to better the things about myself that I am able to.  I want to empower myself.  I want to be a woman of love, yes, but also of action and determination.  Lord, help me box myself out of my weaknesses!

Hara Hachi Earthlings!

Obviously, I’ve been slacking in my blogging portion against this war on fat!  OK, I just cracked myself up.  Honestly, I sometimes feel as though I’m writing to no one or myself or space.  Is anyone out there?  Hello?   Hello?  Hello? (faint echo)   After talking with a friend, I’ve decided that it’s important for me to keep expressing my thoughts, as well as my frustrations, and to impart all my new knowledge! So here it goes space friends. 

I am tracking how much I eat and how many calories I'm eating. Again, my get healthy plan is not about extreme diets but simply making smarter choices and embracing new information. Keeping a log of what I eat, and being diligent about it, is a great way for me right now to do this. Tracking my exercise is an added benefit. For me, logging my food is about understanding my food choices and how much they cost...what am I willing to spend on my food- I'm teaching myself to look at the price tag before buying.  As I stated in my earlier post, my research showed me that there seemed to be a consensus among health experts regarding the formula for determining calorie intake and it was the same as the Loseit! one so I've been consistently logging my every morsel, drink and exercise for the last two weeks. This, I am particularly proud of!  A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that keeping a food diary can double your weight loss.  Score!  This is reason enough for me to keep track! 

Did you notice that scholarly little reference? I've also been reading quite a bit and I'd like to share some of my findings that I think are useful or profound or profoundly useful. I won't share all my wisdom at once because as Mark Twain said, “be careful reading health books, you may die of a misprint.”  Therefore, I think it’s wise to ingest a few tips at a time. 

Okinawans practice a type of calorie and weight control, naturally, called “Hara hachi bu,” which basically means eat until 80% full and then stop.  You need to pace yourself as you eat, stop at 80%, and let your stomach have time to tell your brain that you’re full.  The island of Okinawa happens to be one of the healthiest populations on earth.  This practice is different than the American version of “eat until you must unbutton your pants for the ride home” because it tastes so good I can’t control myself.  This is sometimes followed by cries of,  “who said ice cream?”  Hara hachi bu.  Eat slowly.  Pace yourself.  Enjoy.  Stop before you’re too full. 

I have also continued working out 3 to 4 times per week.  This has been going on for about 5 weeks now.   My main goal for exercise was to decrease blood pressure, increase heart health, improve mood, and boost energy.  I am a bit shocked to say that already my doctor has lowered my dose of blood pressure medicine.  This is encouraging.  I also keep reading over and over again that exercise, especially circuit training (working with weights), increases metabolism.  As a woman with PCOS, I need the help.  Basically, to banish fat and build muscle, which I want to do, I need to do strength training a couple days a week and cardio a few days a week.  I can do this!  I am meeting with a trainer once a week for 10 weeks to make sure I’m working hard but working safe.  Last week was meeting number one and a bit of boxing happened.  I gave him a beat down...  Just saying!

Well earthlings, after all of these positives, I will end with my frustration.  After 5 weeks, I have lost about 9 pounds.  I feel like it should be more.  Call me greedy but I am working my A*S off.   I truly exercise hard.  I do NOT cheat on my eating.  I eat smart and healthy and good while still enjoying what I eat.  I log my food and calories daily.  However, the last two weeks have been a mystery for me.  The scale has not been moving.  I talked to my doctor about a medication I’m on to see if that might be an issue.  I’m going to try drinking more water.  The book I’m reading now says if you feel like you’re hitting a plateau it may be one of three things:  1.  your body is changing but the scale is not,  2.  you need more calories  3.  you need less calories.  I’m trying to be patient and I’m thankful I have a good team in place! 

I have a vision and it requires sacrifice and change. 

Calorie Grazer Math Hater

Never, ever did I think MY healthy journey would include counting calories.  As I tell my students, never say never.  After doing some research, I've discovered that counting calories is not what it used to be.  With today's technology, it's so much easier!  Basically, this got started because a good friend of mine and her husband were actually concerned that when I started eating better and adding exercise that I might not be eating enough calories for what my body needed to lose weight.  Ironic, huh?  This actually ties in with some other news I've seen about women who have the "fat gene" and PCOS.  Anyway, I digress.  After checking out sites such as Livestrong.com and Loseit.com and I found that free websites make tracking calories easy and eye opening.  While I think both sites have great information, Loseit is a bit more user friendly for me.  Both figure out how many calories you should be eating a day based on your age, weight, height and gender.  Both have phone applications if you want to download or if you do not have that type of cell you can enter all your meals via computer.  Their database of foods is large so all I have to do is enter in what I eat and how much and it figures out the calories for me!  Yeah!  Trust me, I hate math.  Believe it or not, I also like the accountability of logging in what I eat all day.  I may not do this forever, but for now it's important. 

I am learning I work best as a grazer.  Seriously.  I need to eat a little bit all day long.  My body and brain function much better this way.  I stay happier and more focused and I'm less likely to binge or have rash cravings.  I'm fine without traditional "meals" per say.  So, I graze and I keep track of everything I munch on.  The other cool feature about Loseit.com, for example, is that in addition to adding food, I can log in exercise.  It has a big list of exercises to pick from and I can select how long I did it and at what intensity.  Based on my age and weight, the program calculates how many calories I burned and logs it for me!  Love it. 

Every week of this journey I am arming myself with one or two more pieces of knowledge followed by an action.   Each small step is important.  Here's another example: knowing we eat out at least once a week, I downloaded a few applications that provide nutritional information for many restaurants so I can know ahead of time what to order.  I'm not going to deprive myself.  I can still eat good food...I just need to be aware.  What I sometimes think is the healthy option is not always the best way to go! 

As I said in my previous post, I get tired and overwhelmed at times.  I feel like I'm a journey that is never ending.  In a sense it is.  But, at other times, I feel empowered.  I'm feeding myself with knowledge and strength.  Want to know new exercises, I'll share.  Interested in brain food, let me know.  Curious about high fiber snacks, I got your back.  This is how I keep my magic bag full of new skinny chick treats so I can graze... And now here I am, a math hater, a calculator carrier, counting calories.  Thank God for modern technology! 

Big Girl Camp?

I'm feeling frustrated right now. It's like I want the rest of my world to stop while I focus on this journey. I'm suddenly and instantly overwhelmed. I finished my workout today, and I should have been pumped. All I could feel was a sense of sudden dread. We're behind on laundry, work is stressful, and the real meals that need cooked require using fresh ingredients and I'm too tired to mess with it! Can't everything just STOP...at least for awhile so I can just DO this?! I want to read articles and books, stretch, exercise, plan, have time to clean vegetables, pack lunch, keep my eyes on the prize, etc. As it is now, I'm feeling a bit half-assed at many things. Seriously, how much easier and faster could this process be if I could devote more time and attention. Ugghh. I need to be sent to a ranch or a camp or given paid leave or something. I know there's a fat camp in Minnesota but it costs about $2,000.00 and, well, it's colder there. Deep breaths.

Quick Update...

Weighed in this morning and lost 4.6 pounds.  Yes!  This means I've shed 8 pounds since January 3rd.  I will take it.  Today officially begins the fourth Monday of my getting fitter journey and while it hasn't been a cinch, I'm still playing to my dark strengths: being stubborn, fiery, and a little compulsive.  I hope I can keep this up as the harder days approach. 

Stinking Scale (play nice)

What's weighing on my mind at the moment is tomorrow's weigh in.  I have, rather coldly, turned a blind eye to the scale sitting ominously in the corner waiting to feel my feet step apprehensively upon it's surface to weigh judgment upon me without justice.  Last week, even though my monthly visitor came and spent the entire week with me, I could not resist the pull of the scale calling my name almost every day.  I ate well and worked hard but each morning as I slid onto that fiend my confusion and frustration rolled as the numbers shifted  up, down, up, and barely down.  I'm sure I was bloated...right?  I mean, all that hard work and I only lost one pound. 

This week, no monthly visitor and no extra steps on the scale.  It tried to beckon me and I resisted its pleas.  I have not stepped on the scale since last Monday.  Here is what I am currently telling myself: regardless of the number glaring up at me tomorrow morning, I've completed over five hours of exercise this week and I'm truly eating healthy.  I do feel better.  Take that!  Blueberries and kiwi are my new fruit friends.  My purse is always full of "skinny chick treats" and I'm carrying a freaking water bottle for goodness' sake.  OK, if I'm being completely honest, I do still hope the scale of justice tips in my favor!

On another note, here are some simple ideas I'm exploring.  Every movement we make consumes calories.  This includes my bigger workouts but it also includes cooking, brushing my teeth, pushing a grocery cart, stretching, dancing around my living room, an extra trip to fill my awesome water bottle at the fountain, etc.  Basically,  I just need to move more, a little longer and a bit more intentionally.  Next, is food.  From the beginning I've said this journey is about being healthy and not about dieting.  We all need food and I, for one, am a foodie.  I'm having fun reading about healthful food options, foods for brain power and I'm discovering many things I like that surprise me.  My repertoire is expanding.  It's something new to be educated about, and, most importantly, I'm not starving myself or grumpy or bitter or bound by rules. 

I will stay standing and I will finish what I started!  Wish me luck tomorrow morning...

p.s.- Glee Version of "Dream On" with Neil Patrick Harris and Matthew Morrison is an awesome workout song for motivation!

Bob My Builder

I have officially worked out four days a week for two full weeks. My hope is that if I continue like this for 4 full weeks it will become habit!  Supposedly, research says repeat something for three weeks and it shall become habit, but I figure 1) I'm stubborn and 2) working out is not in my blood. Therefore, I better add some cushion.  I'm just waiting until magically, it sticks, and I wake up one morning and become one of those obnoxiously obsessive people (yes, right now I think they are obnoxious) who just must work out at least five days a week or they don't feel complete! Of course, I do have obsessive issues.  I mean, I can totally see myself addicted to exercise.  hahahahaha.

On a more serious note, I've decided on my new motto: "stand up and finish what you started."  I saw it on this season of The Biggest Loser. It's a quote from Bob Harper (the trainer). Now, I don't typically watch this show and I was leery this time. On one hand, I want to be inspired, but on the other hand, I don't want to be discouraged by the huge numbers these people are dropping on the scales each week. Let's face it. In reality, I work during the day and can't exercise five hours at a time, I don't have a trainer, there are no medics next to me when I'm working out, I'm not secluded from other people and restaurants and I don't have someone helping me with food.  However, I really like a couple of their workout videos and I think Bob is adorbs, so, I turned it on to see what, if anything, I could glean from their process. Here's what I got.
1.  Hallelujah...there are some people bigger than me on the show.
2.  Two people, with lots of weight still to lose, already lost 100 pounds, on their own, before getting on the show.
3.  If they can work out that hard, I can work out as hard as I am if not harder.

Another quote that resonated with me, from Bob of course, was during a conversation he had with a guy who kept focusing on all the weight he had to lose and he kept feeling defeated before he really got started.  Bob said, "We gotta think about what we gotta do today...
otherwise it will just mess with your head."  Love it!

P.S.- I now, as of three days ago, am carrying around a water bottle and actually drinking from it and...wait for it....refilling it!  One more positive change.