Cardio Max 05/16/2012

I tried out my new 5-lb dumbbells yesterday, which helped the challenge factor of my weightlifting workout. I like the dumbbells and think they are perfect! At least for now. I’m sure I’ll outgrow them soon, at the rate I’m going. But I need to keep challenging myself or I will get bored. I am still very motivated to be healthy, and I’m strong because I’m following my beliefs. If I believe in something, I will defend it to the end. This new path on my health journey seems like it will be permanent. Paths can turn into roads, right? I’m not counting my chickens though…once I get in shape and continue to workout and eat right, then maybe I’ll believe I did it – solved my weight problem. I’ve been on this journey, with successes and pitfalls, enough to know that things can change pretty quickly. I’m just praying that I stay true to my beliefs and not give in to temptation or start feeling like food is for pleasure rather than for fuel. I can do this if I just stay focused and strong.

I also popped in my The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max DVD and had fun! I couldn’t believe I was doing cardio! There was also some strength training involved, because my leg muscles got tired and some of the crew used dumbbells. I’ll tell ya, I have a lot of progressing I can do with this DVD. First of all, I got through the entire workout without puking or dying. In fact, I felt okay afterwards, but my body heat was extremely high, so I ended up lightheaded and with a headache. A glass of water, a cold shower, and one Ibruprofen fixed that. These are the things I can do to improve my cardio workout: jump around more (there are alternative movements and I chose the easier ones – with less jumping – most of the time), do real pushups, use dumbbells, and add level 2 and then level 3 workouts. I like having something to work towards and accomplish, so I’m glad I got this DVD.

My healthy eating is going great! I usually eat every four hours, mostly meats and vegetables, and nuts and fruit for snacks. Plus, only plain, filtered water. I fill up my carafe every night and I think it’s 80 ounces in size, so that’s 10 glasses a day. No wonder I feel like I’m constantly drinking water. It just feels so good to hydrate myself with plain, cold water. I find I don’t get full on food unless I drink water with it. I do not choose foods because they taste good. Rather, I choose foods that my body needs to function well. I usually choose foods with lots of nutrients (veggies) and foods that compliment my “getting fit” goals (meat). I’ve replaced carbohydrates (cereal, sweetened yogurt, granola bars, bagels, pudding, oatmeal, etc.) with meat and vegetables. In addition, I eliminated caffeine (and I feel great!) and reduced the amount of artificial sweeteners I have. No diet drinks (except an occasional flavored water that has no carbs). I use one packet of Splenda a day at the most (some days I go without it) in a low-carb muffin. I have that when I want something “grainy.”

I will say, I’m not seeing results fast enough. I’m the “hurry up so we can get there” type of person. I don’t weigh myself, so I may be losing weight, but I’m not sure. I must be losing weight, but without seeing the number on the scale, it’s not the same. I will still avoid the scale and hopefully I’ll get used to it. I don’t want to do anything on this “get fit” journey that I won’t be able to do in maintenance. No temporary fixes here! I’m also the “do it right the first time” type of person, because I’m a perfectionist and like problems to be completely solved right away. I guess my issue is that I don’t see any changes in the mirror. But I do feel stronger and my fitness level has greatly improved since two months ago. Back then, I didn’t want to leave the house, and taking stairs was hard. But it wasn’t that I couldn’t do those things, it was that I didn’t want to do them. Motivation and determination are powerful things!

I hope you will join me on this journey to get fit and healthy! Do it because you care about yourself or because you want to care about yourself. Do it to have a healthy rest of your life. Do it for happiness. You will feel so much happier by taking good care of yourself. Until next time…

A Variety of Workouts 05/13/2012

This last week I did various workouts. I had no real schedule or plan (except to workout everyday if I could); I just did the exercises I felt like doing. I find I like a variety, so I need to satisfy that. I did weightlifting, yoga/pilates, and power-walking–something for each of the six days I worked out.

I am awaiting two 5-lb dumbbells to arrive in a couple of days. I am looking forward to trying them out with my beginners weightlifting DVD. Before, I was using 3-lb dumbbells, which were too light. I was doing 24 reps with them, so I needed to upgrade.

Along with the dumbbells, I’m expecting The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max DVD. I want to add in some cardio to my workouts. I need to do cardio, even though I don’t like to sweat and get out of breath easily. Cardio is good for my heart and lungs.

I will let you all know how the dumbbells and DVD are in my next post. Until then, be strong and healthy!

Excited About My Journey! 05/06/2012

I am really motivated to get fit. Some days are better than others, but overall I’ve drastically improved my lifestyle and eating habits. Now I snack on raw almonds and fruit, when I used to snack on cereal and granola bars. Tonight for an evening snack I had tuna salad wrapped in a romaine lettuce leaf. I’m noticing the better choices I’m making and it makes me happy I choose to eat healthy, whole foods, because I feel better when I do! Dieting is about choice, not want, because we all want M&Ms, but they’re not good for us, so we must commit to making healthy choices, because we care about our health, our bodies, ourselves!

I am not weighing myself regularly. I weighed in once to get a baseline for my new lifestyle, a starting point if you will, which I recorded on my Team Beachbody profile. I even took my measurements for the first time ever! I record my workouts on the Beachbody website too. I am aiming at getting fit, not losing weight. I want to be fitter so that I can exercise easier and move around more easily. I want to feel what being in shape feels like. I want to be even fitter than I was as a teenager, because back then, even though I was in the normal weight range, I wasn’t in good shape, because running was a challenge. I want to do better than that!

I like challenging myself with exercise. I am doing all sorts of different workouts: a weight loss yoga DVD, a beginners strength training DVD, my own strength training workout with dumbbells, and power-walking different routes in my neighborhood. I want to add in more cardio eventually, but right now the strength training and walking is challenging, and that makes it similar to a cardio workout because my heart rate goes up.

Some tips for getting fit:

• Make the decision to commit to a healthy lifestyle and keep it in the front of your mind to motivate you. Do it for your health, mind, and body.
• Exercise everyday. There is no reason not to be active every day. Take a day off if you feel super sore or just need a break, but don’t schedule breaks. Don’t force a break on yourself if you don’t really need one.
• Go food shopping at least once a week to keep plenty of fresh and healthy fruits, veggies, and meats in the kitchen. Eating healthy does not have to be much different in cost than eating unhealthy. Spend your money on all healthy foods instead and you will feel fuller and more satisfied, so you will eat less, which benefits both your wallet and your body!
• Do not weigh yourself. Make the focus be to get fit and healthy and feel better. The changes you make will naturally make you smaller, but you don’t need to keep tabs on it. Besides, the scale reveals the number of pounds you weigh; it does not determine how much is muscle and how much is fat. Muscle weighs more than fat, so the scale is not an accurate measure of being fit. Instead, if you must, use the tape measure occasionally. Even better: gauge by your level of fitness and how your clothes fit.
• Drink only water. Everything else is processed.

I also recommend cutting out processed food from your diet, especially sugar, which is a heart attack waiting to happen. Sugar causes high blood pressure and diabetes, and turns tumors cancerous. Besides that, it’s your choice on what diet works for you. Personally, I do a low-carb diet, because I have a sensitivity to carbs and a slow metabolism. Even “healthy” carbs make me fat and sluggish. My technique is Atkins + clean eating. I eat a lot of protein, fruits, and veggies and drink water 99% of the time. I even cut out my morning coffees.

You can do it too! Get on the health boat! Do it for you!

Made my goal! 04/26/2012

I accomplished a short-term goal today: I power-walked a 2-mile route! Since I first started being more active one month ago, I have taken baby steps to get to where I am today. I started with simply going out of the house more (which requires taking stairs and moving around), doing housework (which is a little workout in itself), and doing laundry (which requires lots of stairs). Then, I began walking a 1/2 mile slowly. It was doable, got me accustomed to being on my feet, and got me used to exercising. Then, I incorporated eight lower-back exercises that my doctor prescribed me from my physical exam in February, and some stretches. Along the way, I’ve added pushups, crunches, lunges, and arm exercises with weights. Some days I would strength-train and some days I would walk; a couple times I did both in the same day. I did the 1/2 mile route several times, then a one-mile route several times, then one mile fast a couple times, and now 2 miles fast!

As you can see, I’ve had to work my way up to where I am (which is far from being able to run – my long-term goal – but I’ll get there!), because I was sedentary for the last year, and very sedentary for 3 months before I started being active, in which I wouldn’t leave my house because it was too much work, painful for my knees, and hard on my lungs. I finally decided I did not want to be confined to my house for the rest of my life and feel so out-of-shape, so I took action. Now, I like moving around and doing things. I like exercising every day. And, during the last week, I’ve incorporated a healthy diet, so that I can exercise more effectively and advance with it. I may not get thin, but I want to get in shape by improving my strength and endurance. I’m highly motivated to do this and not about to quit anytime soon!

All About Exercise 04/24/2012

My health journey is half diet and half exercise. So let’s talk about exercise today. I did a workout at midnight last night. I’ve increased the number of pushups I do to 20 and the number of crunches to 30, and I’ve added lunges. That’s on top of the stretches, back exercises, and arm (with weights) exercises that I do. It was great to get the workout done, but I prefer doing my workouts in the afternoon.

I just got back from a power walk an hour ago. I can still feel the endorphins! I walked as fast as I could with my tired legs and being able to complete the mile walk. The last time I power-walked, which was also the first time, was last Friday, and I felt so lightheaded afterwards that I had to lie down for fifteen minutes. This time, I sat down and rested afterwards, but I felt clearheaded and in a positive mood.

The walk was refreshing and liberating. I moved my arms more, which helped me to walk faster. I did a cool-down at the end. Afterwards, my body tingled and my muscles felt loose, as if I just got a massage. A walk is an amazing total-body workout. Plus, my back feels better!

I want to walk more often. Unfortunately life has been getting in the way, such as schedules and the weather. I do enjoy my walks when I go though. I can’t wait until I can power-walk the two mile route!

I Will Succeed This Time! 04/24/2012

I did low-carb before. One year ago, when I became a freelance writer, I gave up on almost one year of following a low-carb diet. I admit, I gained all the weight back. Oh well. I will try again!

I am sensitive to carbs and have been since I was 19. There was a point when I had no money for food for one month. When I started eating again, I gained a lot of weight. I tried diet pills, Slim Fast shakes, a nutritionist, and Atkins. I successfully lost the weight with Atkins, but I had a difficult time adjusting to maintenance. In other words, I overindulged and gained most of the weight back. I then tried to eat very little, which equaled a grilled cheese sandwich at 11 am and a small chicken sandwich for dinner. I lost a few pounds, but didn’t stick with it for long…because then I met my husband and he accepted me however I looked, so I put on some weight. I eventually did Weight Watchers and lost quite a bit of weight, but didn’t get down to where I got with Atkins. Then I tried eating only one meal a day, because I decided I had a faulty metabolism and that was how much food my body needed, which lasted a few days. I took diet pills again and then went to a low-calorie diet (i.e. eat as little as possible and try to eat healthy) and started exercising. I got into a car accident, which broke both of my legs, and that stopped my diet and exercise routine. I gained a lot of weight and then tried Atkins again. Repeat once more.

Except, I’m not doing Atkins this time, because I’m doing it backwards. Rather than starting out very strict with cutting carbs and then increasing the carbs a little to maintain, I’m slowly cutting out carbs until I reach an amount that is good for me. I’m not counting carbs everyday either. I know it is not logical to do so, because I’m not going to want to count and measure the nutrients in every food I eat for the rest of my life. My approach is for lifelong weight loss, and the changes I make are going to be ones I can stick with for life.

My focus is also more health-related and my motivation to lose weight is to be healthy. I want to eventually drink only pure water, because diet drinks have additives and chemicals in them. In addition, I want to avoid artificial sweeteners, because I’m afraid of the effect they could have on my health (I heard they can cause cancer and I don’t want to take that risk). I have started training my body to like real food, such as vegetables, fats, and proteins, rather than processed foods. No caffeine would be a great goal too, but that’s hard to do!

Small steps in the right direction is what I’m aiming for. I want to be able to run someday, even with my past leg injuries. I am aiming for strength, not thinness. I want to be able to leave my house when I’m older, rather than be so heavy and out-of-shape that I can’t. Being obese is not fun, because the extra weight is hard on my body. I want to be in-shape.

I’m not even weighing myself at this point. I don’t want to be obsessed with minor fluctuations of the scale. When I go down in clothing sizes and feel smaller and look smaller, I will know I lost weight. I do not have a weight goal. My goals are to be in-shape and be able to run.

You can do it too! Join me on this journey!

Day 2 04/21/2012

I did a power walk yesterday, so today I did exercises for 25 minutes. It took me a while to get around to doing them, but I did. I was not able to increase the number of crunches (yet). I think it’s because I only did crunches once so far and that was at least a week ago. I did the same number this time.

I think I like walking better, but exercising at home is very convenient. So at least they both have positive attributes.

I had turkey, cheese, and mayo roll-ups and a small salad with ranch dressing around 11:30 am. Then I had scrambled eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes with ketchup around 3:30 pm. I had a plain, nonfat Greek yogurt cup with sugar-free preserves and 1/2 of a small bowl of watermelon and strawberries at 6:30 pm. I’m pretty much done eating for the day. I think I did well!

I have to reconsider my nutrients now that I don’t eat certain foods. For example, I don’t drink milk anymore, so I will probably want to take a calcium supplement.

It’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so I’m going to have to think of something else active to do. Any ideas?

Goal Accomplished and Prepared for the Week 04/20/2012

I accomplished the goal I set for myself yesterday – to go for a power walk. It’s taken me several weeks to work up to that. I started by casually walking a 1/2 mile and did that a few times. Then I did 3/4 of a mile twice, 1 mile twice, and then 2 miles once – all casual walking. Today I decided I would increase my pace to a fast walk for 1 mile. I made it, without pain, just got a good workout in my shins, even though I collapsed on my bed for 15 minutes afterwards (the steep stair-climb to my apartment at the end made me feel light-headed). I am very happy to have accomplished that goal!

A little later, I made a large veggie salad and a medium fruit salad that will last me the week. I also did the food shopping today and picked up a couple cups of plain Greek yogurt and sugar-free preserves, various meats for dinners during the week, a container of almonds, deli meat and cheese, and other things of course! I purchased a water filter pitcher several months ago, so I have an endless supply of water, and lemon juice to go with it sometimes So I’m all prepared for healthy eating!

Stepping it up a Notch 04/19/2012

When I discovered I was having limitations with being mobile, I have worked on steadily increasing my activity level. My current aim is to exercise every other day. Some days I go for a walk (1 to 2 miles). Other days, I do five minutes of stretching – arms, neck, sides of abdomen, back, hips, legs, and feet – and then lower-back exercises, crunches, pushups, and arm exercises using hand weights (the last one I just added in yesterday). I do it because it feels good to move. I’m very grateful that I feel motivated to exercise. I want to increase my activity level even more. My dream is to be able to run again. But to do that, I need to lose weight first….

Which is why I’m cutting back on my carbs. I either have a slow metabolism, a sensitivity to carbs, or both, because when I eat healthy, including healthy carbs, I am still significantly heavier than when I avoid carbs. So I am opting to avoid carbs, and I hope I maintain the desire to remain low-carb, because that is what is best for me. I am hoping to take off 60 lbs so that I will feel better, move more easily, have less body pain, and be able to exercise more.

Diabetes is in my family history, so I have to be very careful to avoid sugar. I do that already, but sugar is in many foods, so even though the food is considered a healthy food, it probably still has a lot of sugar in it. Carbs are nearly as influential over glucose levels as refined sugar, because they are close in composition, for they both spike glucose levels quickly and let them drop just as quickly. Complex carbohydrates have more fiber and, therefore, effect glucose levels less. But my situation is unique, as I am unique, and it’s based on how my body works, so even complex carbohydrates have too much sugar in them for me to reach a healthy weight. The only sugar I can tolerate is from whole foods like fruit.

I am very excited about this new venture. I do not plan to do anything extreme with my diet or exercise. In fact, I plan on starting slow in the beginning, by cutting out the highest carb foods like cereal, granola bars, and regular yogurt, and then cutting out more as needed. However, if I truly want a bowl of cereal or something, I will have a small portion. I do not want to deprive myself or drastically change my diet, because then I will not stick with the changes for long. But I do want to eliminate most carbs so that I will eat mostly whole foods and avoid processed foods, including all foods high in carbs. I want sugar out of my system.

My goal of losing 60 lbs (out of 100 lbs of excess weight) is a reasonable goal. It will take off significant weight so that I will have less physical pain and have more mobility, but it’s not an extreme goal, so it will be easier to stick to the changes. I know I should strive for the ultimate, but when it comes to weight loss I’m glorious at gaining it all back, and I want to avoid that. Some weight loss maintained is better than none.

I also am looking forward to exercising more – higher intensity and frequency. My next short-term goals (starting tomorrow) are “power-walk” the 2-mile stretch I do, increase my crunches to 30, and avoid cereal. Little steps will take me to where I want to go!

Living an active life 03/30/2012

It’s an amazing feeling to want to be active and exercise. I’m doing it because it makes me feel good, not to try to lose weight, and that is what keeps me active. This is the exercise I do:

1. I like going for walks with my husband near where we live. I feel safe when he’s with me and I enjoy his company.
2. I end up doing stretching of some sort everyday, because I cannot help but to stretch – my body calls for it. I couldn’t go a day without stretching a part of my body!
3. I also do back exercises occasionally, and hopefully I will do them more often now that I’m enjoying being active. (I developed a bad back from all the time I spent at the computer with a poorly-supportive chair. Now I put a pillow behind my back and that helps. Someday soon I will get a new and better chair.)

I’m also being active in life in general. I go out regularly, I talk to my family and friends, I eat a healthy diet, I wash up often, I have a good relationship with my husband, I take care of things around the house, I go shopping at least once a week to get healthy foods and household products for my family, I take care of my cat, and I do work that I enjoy. I also feel peaceful and content, and I do things that relax me, like reading and hot showers (not at the same time!

Overall, I’m taking care of myself and others and living a healthy life, and it feels great!