Biggest Loser

So, at my school, we are having a 9 week Biggest Loser contest.

I have tried these competitions before and for me, they do not usually work.  What happens is I pay the fee, get on the scale each week and actually weigh more at the end than at the beginning.  Why?????  Not sure!  Maybe it is that perfectionist in me coming out and saying, "If I can't win the whole thing, then no point in winning."  Isn't a net loss a win?  Of course it is!  

I have decided that this time will be different.  When the competition is over, I would like to be at least 10 pounds lighter.  And if I don't win any money, no big deal!  I paid for someone holding me accountable.  I paid for motivation.  And...I got a heck of a deal!

As I was searching for some images to add, I found the before/after picture of the above girl.  I have never seen the show, but just from the pictures, she reminds me of myself.  I am into the baggy t-shirts because that is all I feel comfortable in anymore.  I could look like the after version if I work at it.  It might take a while, but I really could do that!

So, today was our second weigh in for the competition.  The first week I lost 4 pounds and this week (when I thought I was wearing heavier clothes) I lost 1 pound.  5 pounds BABY!  Here I come!!!!  :)

Set a date!

Let me just say that I really dislike exercise!  Since the beginning of January, I have been exercising for 25 minutes almost every evening.  As much as I did NOT want to exercise tonight, I made myself do it.

Most of my exercise right now is either riding my stationary bicycle or my couch 2 5k running/walking plan.

I would LOVE to say that I ran an entire 5k, but I have too many issues with feet and shin splints.  What I have discovered is that I do ok on my treadmill, but when I run on an incline or on concrete, then I have pain.  Knowing this, I have decided to run a 5k anyway!  I will be running my 5k on Trudy Treadmill, right in my own basement.  This way, I don't have to worry about the weather, the hills, or the running surface.

I felt it important to set a date for this 5k.  This is my goal, what I am reaching for.  If I don't set a date, then I will procrastinate.  No more excuses!

My 5k is scheduled for the week of March 15th.  This gives me some flexibility, but holds me accountable.  It also gives me enough time to train.  I may not run the entire thing, but I will do my best.  Heck, I might even make a t-shirt for the event!  :)

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Data

This is my 20th year as an educator and my first year as a school counselor.  As a teacher, and now even more as a counselor, we base many of our decisions on the data that we collect.  This got me thinking of how data relates to losing weight.

For as long as I can remember I have measured my success in weight loss solely by a number on the scale.  No matter how I really feel, when I weigh in, that number can determine whether I am happy with myself or beat myself up for not being perfect.  Just as we do not measure the success of a student solely on one assessment, I really should not measure my success on one number and nothing else.

When I decided that I was going to incorporate exercise as a normal part of my life and eat less calories than I expend, I started keeping track of my exercise.

I wanted to work out at least 25 minutes a day.  After a few no exercise days, I think 25 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week is a better place to start.

I belong to the online Weight Watchers community and keep telling myself I am wasting my membership by NOT tracking what I eat.  I am still having trouble with this.  At this point, incorporating exercise and other good habits into my life is more imortant than tracking everything I eat.

Today is January 23rd and here are my stats so far:

13 workouts of at least 25 minutes
419.5 minutes
35.8 miles biked
16.75 miles on the treadmill
Finished week 3, day 1 of Couch Potato 2 5K!
Can hold a plank for 45 seconds

That is quite a bit!  :)

Hanging in there!

So, this is kind of how I feel right now.  I've started to make some good habits, but it is getting tough to continue.  It would be so much easier just to give up on this healthy stuff and quit.  Add to that mix a stressful 2 days and I just feel like eating everything in sight!

I came home today and my daughter, having known I've had a rough 2 days, had fresh homeade cookies when I walked in the door.  What a sweetie!

Is it bad to eat a cookie?  No.  Then I had another cookie.  And some pita chips.  And I made some dip for the pita chips.  Next came pizza for supper.

What I am finding, is that when I am under a lot of stress, I use food to make me feel better.  And once I eat a little something "non-healthy", I decide that means I can eat a lot of the non-healthy foods.  Well, today, I decided NOT to let a few poor decisions ruin all my efforts.

You know what?  I have put in 12-25 minute (or longer) workouts since January 1!  That is PROGRESS, BABY!  While I might feel like giving up, I really cannot do that.  I NEED to lose some weight to improve my health!  I am going to Puerto Rico in June.  I want to be able to wear appropriate summer clothing and feel good about it!

SO...I thought of my friend Michele, who runs EVERY morning, NO MATTER WHAT!  Here is a picture of her after her run.  Her caption:  "It can be done at 4 below!"

And I thought to myself, "If Michele can run OUTSIDE when it is that cold outside, I have NO excuse for walking downstairs and getting on my bike or treadmill for 25 minutes."  And, guess what?  I went downstairs and got my workout on!  :)

Keeping track

How do you keep track of exercise?  Do you keep track?

I have a notebook that sits on a shelf in the room with Trudy Treadmill and Barbara Bicycle.  It isn't fancy, but I do write down the date, how many minutes, and how many calories the machine says I've burned.  When I bike, I write the work "bike" by the minutes.  If I complete a workout on a DVD, I write the name of the DVD and the time.  Nothing high tech.

I have another journal that I keep in the the middle bathroom drawer.  That is my weight journal (since Suzy Scale is in the bathroom).  I have been writing down my weight for the past 3 or 4 years, mainly every week.  I have been known to skip a few weeks.  If I have several weights for the same week, that usually means I was feeling good about my progress at that point!  :)

At some point, I may try to create a google form for this stuff so I can have nice, clean, digital versions, but right now I am liking my current method.

I like both journals because they help me see the "bigger picture" that I don't always see.  Right now my exercise journal shows that I have exercised  for the last 8 days in a row.  That is a HUGE accomplishment for me.  INTENTIONAL EXERCISE.  The more days I have down, the more I am motivated to go visit Trudy Treadmill or Barbara Bicycle.  I don't want to let them down.  :)

While the weight journal has not always made me feel good, I can look at it and see patterns.  It really boosts my spirits to find out that I really did not gain 30 pounds since last year.  The pounds have been creeping up much more gradually.  It also helps to know that while I have not had a loss since October, I had one over winter vacation!  Go me!  (Trust me, I have to do these things to pump myself up.  Otherwise, I just feel overwhelmed by the road ahead.)

I found the following picture and I think it fits perfectly!

Journal on!

Six days

I am excited!  For 6 days in a row, I have worked out for 25 minutes or more!  If you only knew what a couch potato I am, you would NOT believe this at all.

Tomorrow will make a full week.  WOW!  Yeah Carey!

I just keep thinking, "Just 25 minutes a day."  If I want to make a change, I HAVE to do something different.  Little by little, I am making positive changes.

Today's successes:

• Week 2 Day 1 of Couch 2 5K COMPLETED!
• I drank 3-24 oz bottles of H20!
• I avoided late night snacking
• I exercised for at least 25 minutes 6 days in a row!
• I did a plank for 20 seconds!

Tomorrow I start the Biggest Loser at my school.  I plan to WIN!

Couch 2 5K

Running seems to be a popular thing nowadays.  I do not look anything like a runner, but I would LOVE to someday be called one.

7th grade PE class introduced me to running.  We had a lake close to our school.  One and a half times around was a mile.  I remember when we were first told we were going to run a "lake road mile".  I was excited!  That didn't last real long because before you knew it, I was huffing and puffing and walking instead of running.  Over the course of several weeks, we finally were able to run the entire time.  I felt so accomplished!  I didn't necessarily enjoy running, but I REALLY liked the feeling I got when I finished!

I still want THAT.  I want to be able to run a mile straight and feel like I really did something.  So, I have started the Couch 2 5K running plan.  Modern technology makes it super easy to train.  If you

have a ipod touch or a smartphone, there are NUMEROUS apps available that allow you to play music while run/walking and voice alerts will tell you when to run and when to walk.  The app I have is called the Ease in to 5K app and it looks like the picture above.  It was free when I got it and I think it still is.  

The app has a different workout for each session.  There are 8 weeks of workouts where you work out 3 days a week.  It starts out slow with day one, running no more than 60 seconds at a time.  I love how you are able to add your music to the workout or sometimes I listen to Pandora and just put my music on pause so I get more of a "radio" variety.

If I leave my glasses on when I run, I can see how much time I have left on my specific run or walk and I can also see where I am in the workout (for example:  Run 4 of 8).  The total time is on the screen as is the time remaining in each walk/run.

Since I am not ready to run outside yet (people--yikes!), I also love the fact that I can pause my workout at any time should I need more water, a tissue, whatever the case may be.

When finished there is an option to post to Facebook or Twitter (not sure why they don't have Blogger on that!).  Another option is to map it so you can see what that looks like.  I don't use the mapping option because I know where Trudy Treadmill is.  An option I do use is the option to journal.  Above is a screen shot of journal.  How cool is that?!  :)

I have completed my first week of the program.  The first day my run/walk session was followed with extreme plantar fascitis pain.  I spoke to a friend about it and she gave me the hint NOT to use the incline option on my treadmill because that is a killer for people who suffer from plantar fascitis.  I listened to her advice and have not had any more trouble!  YEAH!!!  Thank you Lesley!!!

Do I want to sign up for a 5k that takes place this spring?  YOU BET!  But, I know myself better.  If I am going to practice with Trudy Treadmill, then running a 5k with hills and concrete is just going to cause injury.  Before signing up for such a thing, my goal is to run the 5k on Trudy.  

Once Trudy and I run a 5k, I will advance to the high school track.  Maybe after that I'll try hills and concrete, but at this point I will be SUPER HAPPY with a 5k run on Trudy.  

I am going to set a goal of running a 5k on Trudy on or before March 15th.  Who's with me?

Video Review #2: Hit the Spot CORE COMPLETE

Denise Austin is my all time favorite fitness guru!  I know, some people find her hard to swallow, say she is too enthusiastic, makes too many mistakes in her videos, etc, etc.  That is why I like her!

This woman is in her 50s and looks AMAZING!  She as much energy as my 5 year old nephew and she motivates me!

I have almost 10 Denise dvds.  I love that many of her routines are 10 minutes long.  As a teacher, I was SUPER BUSY and found it hard to find any time to fit in exercise.  10 minutes seemed about all I could do before crashing into bed.

I chose this video because it uses the stability ball.

I will be real honest.  I have gained a considerable amount of weight in my belly and I think that is why I am having a lot of back pain right now.  Weak muscles in the front, causes extra stress on my back.  Yep...no fun.

So, the stability ball offers support for my back.  I like that.

This dvd includes:

• 5 minute warm up (5 min)
• Core & upper body workout (15 min)
• Core & legs workout (15 min)
• Core & buns workout (15 min)
• Core Complete Challenge (full body workout=18 min)

Fitness level:  Beginner to Advanced (Denise shows how to modify the moves to fit your level)

Equipment needed:  stability ball and hand weights

Tonight I chose the warm up and the Core & buns workout.  The warm up went fast.  I loved it.  Not difficult, but definitely got my heart rate up there.

The Core & Buns workout also went by fast.  Denise had me going from weights to ball and floor to standing up.  Lots of movement.  There was only one point when I had a REALLY hard time balancing and I felt like a total goon.  I finally, moved the ball and myself close to a chair so I had some stability.  

Other than my own balance issues, I felt like this workout gave me plenty of moves to strengthen my gluteus maximus and my core.  In fact, I could really feel the workout in my thighs after the dvd was over.  No pain, no gain, right?

I would give this dvd an A.

This is a picture of the part where I could NOT keep my balance and looked like a total fool.

Balance

So, what do you do when you go off plan?  Eat way too much?

This is where I throw in the hat, and say, "Ok, I might as well have some cookies, ice cream, etc... because I've already screwed up."  All or nothing behavior.

Why?  Why does that make any sense at all?

Ever watch a thin person eat?  She may eat a big meal laden with calories.  And then what?  She goes to the gym!

As I see it, being at a healthy weight is all about balance.  When I go off plan, I should balance the off plan activity with either healthier food the rest of the day or add more exercise to balance it out.  Easy to say, but harder to follow.

Why is this so hard to follow?  Well, I have had 40 plus years of creating the habits I have.  Breaking a habit, especially one of that age, is not something that happens over night.  But it IS possible.

It just takes a lot of motivation, desire, and faith.  And don't forget a house full of healthy choices.  It is way easier to stay on plan when healthy choices are abundantly found throughout the house.

So...last night we realized that both kids were out for the evening.  I suggested that we go out to eat.  We ate a favorite Mexican restaurant and I ate a lot of cheesy food.  When we left, I felt stuffed.

I am so proud of what I did when we came home!  Gues what?  I went downstairs and said hello to Trudy Treadmill.  Together, we worked on week 1 day 2 of the couch to 5k plan.  I feel so much better having done that than having taken the other route and gone hog wild with food.  AND...because I exercised, I ended up getting in 4-24 oz bottles of water yesterday.  Whooo hoooo!  That, for me, is an accomplishment.

So, today when I was craving the leftovers of my meal last night my husband told me that we left the leftover box in the car all night and temps in the garage were not cold enough to keep the food safe from bacteria, etc.  So...no leftovers.  Kind of sad about that, but it is probably a good thing!

How are you balancing your life?  Would love to hear from you!

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25 minutes

Thanks to Lakeisha and her inspiring video, I went downstairs and had a date with Barbara Bicycle.  I set Pandora to my Black Eyed Peas station, turned up the volume and started pedaling!

25 minutes and (supposedly) 318 calories later, I feel PROUD of myself for cycling 5.4 miles.  Not only did I exercise, but I also drank 2-24 ounce water bottles of water while doing so!  Yeah me!

I can do 25 minutes every day!  

We Are So Smart!

Thanks Ranita for enlightening me on this new information!  :)

Guest video

Sunshine journal:
-Water instead of doctored up coffee
-Avoided snacking in between meals

Today I am in need of motivation so I have a guest speaker in the form of a video.  I am so proud of what this lady has accomplished!  She is amazing!  Are you ready to take a 100 day challenge?
Woman goes to the gym for 100 days and makes this timelapse video. [VIDEO]

Temptation

Do you ever feel like this?  That was me today.

Choosing healthy over delicious is a VERY tough call!  How do you handle the temptation?  Is it wrong to choose the cake, brownie, chips, (you name it) over the healthy dish?  When is it ok to choose the high calorie/fat/carb dish?

We MUST live on food to live; that is what makes it so hard to make healthy choices.

If I have faith that I can be successful at weight loss, then I can choose the healthy option this time.  Sometimes I tell myself I can have both;  I just have to eat the healthier choice first.  If I tell myself I can't have something, it just makes me crave it more.  If I say I can have it after I make a healthy choice, then I feel empowered.  Mind games like these help me make better choices.  And each time I choose the healthier choice, I am strengthening my resistence muscle, making it easier to choose healthy the next time.

For me, losing weight is a mental game.  Sometimes I do not choose the healthy route.  In fact there are days when I make several unhealthy choices.  Skinny people do this too!  They just don't do it over and over again.

My sister is thin, in great shape, and downright beautiful (both inside and out).  Once a year our parents rent a 4 bedroom/bath cabin for my brother, sister, and my family's vacation.  We don't go out to eat;  we take turns making meals and everybody makes delicious food.  We hang out in the cabin, play cards, listen to music, and eat, eat, eat.  It is a GREAT time.  My sister makes some of the best and fattening food/drinks and she definitely partakes in all that is offered.

How does she say so trim and fit?  She refuses to take home any leftovers because her fridge and pantry are only stocked with healthy food.  She has a gym membership and loves going to kick boxing and spinning classes.  In her basement she has a treadmill and a spinning bike...both items that are used regularly.  The great majority of the time my sister is dedicated to eating healthy and being active and THAT is why she is so physically fit.

I am working to follow my sister's lead.  Today I:

• chose water instead of coffee
• wrote down everything I ate for breakfast

Step by step I am changing my habits.  It took me a lifetime to create these habits so it will take a while to create new, healthier habits.  I have faith that I can do this!

What healthy choices have you made today?

Don't compare!

This is something we need to remember as we are transorming our bodies!  Don't compare to others.  Each of us has our own journey.

:) Carey

Leslie Sansone You Can Do! Abs

Cleaning on New Year's Eve I found 29 fitness dvds...many of which I have never used.  I will say that after purchasing each one, I usually watched it for a little bit.  Yes!  Just watched it.  HA!  Real useful that has been.

Well...since finding the dvds, I organized them and decided that I would TRY each one this year and review it.  So, today is the day for the first dvd review!  :)  Happy Day!

I purchased this dvd at Walmart over 5 years ago.  I am sure it was not more than $10.  

Equipment needed:  stability ball

Level of fitness:  Beginner

Grade:  B (because I think it needs to be more intense to experience results)

I chose this dvd to review first because I actually DID this workout once and remember it being easy.  Since my current level of fitness is out of shape, I thought this would be a good starter dvd.  :)

There are 4 choices of workouts on this dvd.  I chose the core workout which was surprisingly short.  It didn't even feel like 10 minutes.

Let me start out by saying that I really never carried weight around my middle until this past year.  Carrying that extra belly weight has caused a lot of back pain so I am a little hesitant to do any exercises that might hurt my back.  

This is a GREAT starter dvd!  The moves were simple and Leslie Sansone walks you through the moves step by step.  I feel that using the stability ball for the exercises really stretched out my core muscles and actually made me feel better.  I did feel like a big dufus trying to get my balance while doing the leg lifts.  Maybe my core muscles are too out of shape or maybe that is just how it is.  I gave up on the ball and just did the leg lifts on the floor when she switched to the second leg.  

While I was pleased that the workout was finished before I expected it to be, I think that to see results I would need to run through it twice or maybe even three times.

Will I do this again?  YES!  I think I will try it out for a week and see how that goes.  :)

What fitness dvd have you tried this week?  I'd LOVE to see your comments.  :)Carey

Weight Watchers ActiveLink

I have been wearing my Weight Watcher's ActiveLink since the day I got it (almost 2 years ago)!  If you are unfamiliar with the ActiveLink, it is similar to a Fitbit in that you wear it and it tracks your activity.  In my opinion, the ActiveLink is better because it tracks the intensity of your movement and it tells you how many Weight Watchers points you earned through your activity.  It syncs with the Weight Watchers app and shows you charts on your activity by the hour, day, week, month, 6 week period, or year.

Of course, you have to have an online subscription to Weight Watchers for this to work.  I will say, that is why I have kept my subscription going.

Today has not been the best day as far as weight watching goes.  It started out with a good breakfast, a bottle of water, and even my daily multivitamin.  

Because I have faith in my ability to succeed at losing weight, I am going to concentrate on the positives, not the negatives.  So...my post is short today, but I am still working for a more positive me!  :)

Sunshine Journal 1/2/14

• I tracked all my points today!
• I drank 2 (26 oz) water bottles.
• I refrained from after meal snacking.
• I controlled my food intake!
  

Starting out strong!

We really need to go shopping so I have a better choice of healthy foods to eat.

Well, it snowed last night and I really do NOT feel like driving in this stuff so I have to do the best with what we have at home.

Here is a pic of my lunch for today:  cup a soup (1 point), 34 grams of Healthy Pop popcorn (3 points) and a pepper jack cheese stick (1 point).  If I went shopping, the soup would be homeade, but this was an ok substitution.

What healthy lunches can you share?  I'd love to hear about them!

A New Year: A New Me!

For my birthday my mom gave me a book by Chantel Hobbs entitled, The One Day Way.  At first I was a little hurt that she got me a weight loss book.  I mean, what is she trying to tell me?  After a little more thought, I realized that she was actually right on in gifting that to me.  I am a collector of many things.  Two of my favorite collections are books on weight loss/fitness and fitness DVDs.  So...after much complaining I started reading the book.

Chantel Hobbs lost 200 pounds and has kept it off for over 9 years.  That, to me, is phenomenal!  It makes the 50 I would like to lose sound a lot more do-able!  I am not finished with the book, but am highlighting and really taking what she says to heart.  She claims you need 3 things to successfully lose weight:

1. faith 
2. food and 
3. fitness.  

You need faith to believe in your ability to change, food to fuel your body, and fitness to commit to being the best you can be.  I am ready to make a significant change!


Here's what I have done so far:

• I started sunshine journal where I jot down what I have done to positively make a change in my body.  I think starting today, I will post that on my blog.  These are not necessarily earth-shattering events, just small positive steps that I need to celebrate.
• I organized all our family dvds.  In doing so, I found that I have 29 fitness dvds!  Sure do!  All different.  Some are actually multiple dvd sets so I actually have more than 29!
• I decided that my new year's resolution would be to try (that means actively get off the couch and do) each dvd in the year 2014.  I will be blogging about each one.  This is a totally do-able thing!
• I went to visit Trudy Treadmill, my long-lost friend and started Couch Potato to 5K today.  Week 1, Day 1 down!
• I tracked my food (even the "bad" stuff) on my Weight Watchers app.

Ok.  So, that is my start.  This is a new year and if I want to make changes, I have to try some new things!  

Happy New Year to you!  What are you doing different this year?

:) Carey