By the numbers

I'm really proud of my eating today. Here's my nifty little graph (really I see alot more details in my daily report, but this was an easy bit to share):

I'm really satisfied with getting these graphs to look so similar. Even though I am following the meal plan there is always something different in my diet than what is on the actual plan (like I choose nonfat vanilla yogurt over plain, since that's just gross). When I change from the plan I try my best to substitute with something of equal benefit, its not like I substitute breakfast for a Snickers bar.

My daily diet goal is to eat within the range of 1350 - 1700 calories. Then there are more specific goals like a range for fat, protein, carbs, folate, cholesterol.

It was a great week at the gym too! I have gotten to a point of really pushing myself past the comfort spot on the bike. I'm able to get into that zone and get to that 7th mile (in a 30 minute session). The weather here has been beautiful, making me want to go and be outside alot! On the weekends this is possible, but its still too dark after work to do outdoor activities. I need to do some maintenance on my bike, but once that's done I should be able to ride on weekends on the trail down the road.

Well I need to get going prepping my lunch for tomorrow (I've now realized that if I don't put in the effort the night before I won't be ready in the morning, and I'd be more likely to grab something I shouldn't).

Vital Statistics:
Weight: 184.8 (-1 from last week = right on track!)
Days without smoking: 31!!! ($123 saved!!)
Miles on the bike: 7

TV's at the gym?

For me workout motivation, in the moment, comes from my music on my ipod. I have spent hours updating and modifying my ipod to have a workout mix that is perfect for me. It has all of my favorite artists, an overabundance of sugary pop music but also a lot of high energy house/trance to push me to peddle or run a little faster.

What doesn't motivate me when I'm on a machine is watching tv. I workout in a cardio room with 9 large flat screens on the wall, plus every machine, except the stairmasters, comes with a tv attached. I observe these people who walk slowly while being plugged in to their favorite tv show and I wonder if the tv is benefiting them or not. I suppose that by being distracted with whatever is on the tv someone might be inclined to workout longer than they would otherwise, but what if it doesn't have them pushing themselves? I have the same thoughts about reading a book or playing a Nintendo DS while on the workout equipment. It just seems pointless and counter productive.

Obviously its not for me, I want my pumping music. When I get tired, I say, just keep running/peddling/stepping until the end of this song. Next thing I know the next song is halfway over and I didn't even notice that I just finished another mile.

This week has felt very back on track. I have started using Sparkpeople.com to track food and activities. Its a free website and they have meal plans, articles, tips, tricks, message boards and everything you could look for when trying to reach your weightloss goals. I have started using their meal plans, which even puts together a grocery list for you. I love it! And as a bonus my husband is on board with it too! That is going to make it so much easier to keep the food component of this journey on track.

Now I know I said I didn't like to diet, and here I am following a meal plan, but this feels different. It has me looking at calories consumed in addition to fat, cholesterol, protein, and other things my body needs. Its incredibly flexible. Because I do the grocery shopping (as opposed to say having meals delivered) I can decide to switch out a particular meal for something else that is more appealing or I can make adjustments for special meals, like just date night with my husband. But the other great thing about it is I am now paying incredible attention to my portions. I am weighing everything, and reading the serving sizes on the side of packaging. Finally, it is forcing me to eat those dastardly fruits and veggies, which I so didn't eat before. Its not that I don't like them, I do, but I could never quite bring myself to choose them before.

It was a good week at the gym too. I made 10 minutes on the stair master!!! It felt so amazing! And I didn't die or lose a limb.

Stats:
Weight: 185.8 (downward momentum!)
Stairs: 10 minutes
Green things: more than I can count!

I have not given up but I have quit

My apologies to you for not posting in 6 weeks (or something like that). And my apologies to myself for not following through on the weight loss. Lots of IFs roll through my head about this time... If I had kept at it I might weigh ____... If I hadn't made too much dinner and then eaten it all I might have stayed motivated.

Well the IF game is not fair.

The reality is that I did not follow through on my track and therefore I have not seen my goals attained, yet. These goals are important to me and I am going to attain them!

Today I weigh in at 186.6. Right about back where I started this mission at.

The saddest part is that I was enjoying the workout routine I had created and I let the busy feeling of the Holidays and some sickness derail that routine. I will enjoy it again.

With the new year has come one of the best decisions I have made as an adult; a decision that will hopefully have an impact on my health and my ability to get a good workout: I quite smoking!! Now I realize that you may not all know that smoking had become such a part of my daily routine, but it had. I didn't get in the car without smoking. I was averaging about 13 cigarettes a day and it didn't take much for me to go even more than that. Poor Zeus doesn't know how to go out side and do his business on his own because I have always gone out with him and smoked. At least he didn't when I first quit. Now I am 17 days without smoking, I have not smoked 223 cigarettes and I have saved $70.30!!! I have a nifty app on my phone that keeps track of all of these things. Anytime that I would think about going outside or stopping to buy cigarettes I would look at the statistics as the reminder of where I was heading. Now I just check it once a day out of curiosity, mostly about the savings because that is just amazing. So even though I have not worked out or lost weight I have done something great for myself!

Sorry for the rambling nature of this post. After so long of not posting my brain is just jumbled with things that I have thought of sharing and its hard to get it all organized.

As a reminder of my stats:
Weight: 186.6
Time since a workout: 6 weeks

The bird did not survive, but did I?

That's a big yes. Thanksgiving was great but one of the best parts is the fact that I did not over do it! And I lost weight, details below.

The big challenge this week is that I had a massage/adjustment yesterday. My muscles have always been really tight and today I am feeling the soreness of trying to loosen up those muscles and getting things back in alignment. In order to not let my muscles slip back into knots I am trying to have a low activity level. So today and tomorrow will be no workout days. Tomorrow I might do an evening walk with the dogs if I am feeling up to it then. So we'll see.

One thing that I think helped this week were some choices Jacob and I made when we ate out while running errands. Three times this week we ate some Pho. If you don't know Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup with meat and veggies. We really like Pho and it is our most typical meal out. Nutritional facts about chicken Pho: here. Though it is high in sodium, the bulk of my diet is very low sodium, I'm just not a salt girl, so I don't feel too bad about having a high sodium meal on occasion. And you can't deny that its a much better option than pulling up to a drive through and ordering a large size #1 with an XL Coke. I only ever get the chicken variety, or Pho Ga. The beef balls and other interesting looking pieces of "meat" just scare me a little. We actually had a bad experience at one place this week, reviewed it on Yelp. But we made up for it on Saturday with a stop at our favorite spot, Beef Noodle #1 (you gotta love the name).

Time to get focused on progress for this week.

Vital Statistics:
Weight: 183.4
December weight goal: down 5 pounds by 12/31.

Prepping for the feast!

This past week was not as good as the first. I didn't get to the gym as often as I wanted to. Only twice actually. I did supplement the workouts with a Saturday afternoon walking around downtown SF in the rain with my friend Sarah and her little man. Dodging bums and shopping masses has to count for something right? Really we spent more time sitting at Wolfgang Puck's in the Macy's basement talking, but I needed the emotional connection of friendship this week. I've been thinking alot this past week about life stuff which I think contributed to the lack of get up and go I had at times. But the couple hours with a friend meant a lot.

I did do really well with food this week. No over-indulging. However, I wasn't so hot about writing it down this week. After proclaiming the greatness of my little book, it made its way out of my purse and didn't get back in there. It is there now and I'll be relying on that accountability again.

So week one I felt really great about all of the effort I made towards my goals, but I didn't lose any weight. Now that has caught up, despite not feeling like I put in 100%, I am down a little over a pound. And I can feel changes in my body in those little ways that probably only I notice, maybe that's just self obsessing.

Vital Statistics:
Weight: 184.8
Pies on the menu this week: 2 - pumpkin & pecan, just a little taste of each ;)
Group Classes: 0
Immediate goal: Get back to tracking & get 4 workouts in before Sunday.

One week down

Well here we are, one week into this whole adventure. In the last week I have been to the gym 4 times, though I missed spinning on Saturday. I would say that Yoga was a standout from the week. I felt it through my whole body for the next two days after the class. Definitely need that stretch.

Tonight's workout was great! I have already worked my way up to 7 minutes on the stair master. Being at 10 minutes by the end of the month will be no sweat (ha!). I worked on my legs, my back, my arms, my chest, and kept a good pace going the whole time.

This week I am looking forward to Circuit Training tomorrow, yoga on Wednesday, and hopefully I'll make it to spinning on Saturday. Plus my regular combination of bike/elliptical/stair/weight machines.

The thing that I am most proud of is the fact that I actually tracked everything in my fitbook for the whole week. It really is a great and simple way to keep track of everything. I was honest with myself in there down to the last fun size candy bar from the Halloween bowl. After my workouts I sit in the car for a few minutes and write down my summary; it feels really great to be able to look at a little scrap of paper that shows how hard I worked.

Here's to another great week!

Vital Stats:
Weight: 186 (a flat week, but I can feel a difference, so no disappointment here)
StairMaster: 7 Minutes
Spinning classes: 0

Yoga = calm?

Tonight I went to my first group class as the gym. Yoga. Should have been easy. It wasn’t easy, but it was good.

I took my first Yoga class about 6 years ago at West Valley and another semester’s worth at SJSU. Since then I have off and on taken classes with friends at various gyms. So the principles of yogic breathing and moving through postures are not foreign to me.

Tonight’s instructor was amazing!! She was very sweet. At the beginning of the class she looked me in the eye then walked over to introduce herself, since I was obviously new to her class. How amazing that a woman who teaches at more than one gym, and probably sees over 200 people through her classes each week, was able to see the new face in the room and take the time. Later when she came through and gave me a pointer for my posture she used my name. Again after class she found me and asked how I felt and invited me back to her class. Just this part of the experience alone has made me decide that Yoga just might be my new Wednesday activity for the foreseeable future.

The workout itself was great! We worked our way through the postures in a different pattern than what I was used to, but underneath it all the postures were the same. At some points we sped it up and moved through it all very quickly. And at other times (typically right when I needed it) we slowed it back down.

My body feels stretched from tip to top! I think that this class will massively aid in achieving some improved flexibility. And balance! It takes an immense amount of balance to have one foot and one palm on the floor while your other leg points to the ceiling and your other arm is stretched in front of you. Are you trying it yet? Good now hold for about thirty seconds while also taking very deep breaths and feeling the breath move through your throat into your chest and ultimately into your abdomen. Exhale slowly. Feel your breath leave that same path, your navel moves toward your spine, the air moves up, and slowly out of your mouth. How’s that’s feel? Though I had some teetering moments I was able to feel that I stayed up with my classmates.

And for the record I did feel calm throughout it all and afterwards. It is such a great workout in a quiet way so your brain does have the ability to calm a little. You are not watching the tv, or the person on the bike next to you. There is no clanking of weights. Just the instructor’s voice, breathing and some “white noise” type of music.

The end result of this evening was a great workout and a lot of sweat. I have never sweat so much during Yoga. And I was not doing “hot” yoga. I will definitely be back next week!