A new week and a new plan. I've been feeling kind of burnt out going to the gym 5 days a week. I think I will only go 4 days this week, which will be a good switch up. Monday I am meeting a girlfriend after work for tea so I will not be working out after work. I am working four ten hour days this week, so my workout is pushed to after work. My schedule will be 6:30am - 5pm. I guess I could get up at 4am and go to the gym, but.......I love my sleep too much. I will workout at 5:30pm - 6:45pm and then come home to start dinner. It will be fun having a new schedule this week! I love to switch it up sometimes.
Workout plan for the week:
Sunday: Hour hike at Davidson Mesa, 20 min bike ride to gym, 45 minutes treadmill run /walk interval
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Eliptical 30 minutes (level 7), Run/Walk Interval 30 minutes, free weights for arms, 25 crunches, 25 leg lifts, stretch 15 min
Wednesday: Shiva Yoga 50 minutes and 30 minutes walk with Jorge
Thursday: Eliptical 30 minutes (level 7), Run/Walk Interval 30 minutes, free weights for arms, 25 crunches, 25 leg lifts, stretch 15 min
Friday: Off of work, so I would like to maybe go to Marshall Mesa or someplace outside - 2 hour hike. Arc trainer at the gym 30 minutes in the morning. Meditate 20 minutes
Saturday: Snowshoe?
Dinner plan for the week:
Sunday: Naked Bratwurst and Steamed Broccoli
Monday: Tuna Salad
Tuesday: Zataran's Red Beans and Rice and side salad
Wednesday: Pork Chops and peas
Thursday: Chicken with paprika sauce over rice
Friday: Asian peanut chicken and veggies with rice noodles
Saturday: Roast Chicken
As you can see on the exercise schedule, I have added in a meditation session on Friday. I would like to start adding these in as scheduled sessions, because it is much like establishing my exercise routine. Meditation should also be scheduled and become part of my routine. There are several different ways to meditate; in silence, chanting, with music, walking, gardening, in yoga relaxation poses, etc. My favorite way I have come across in the past is sitting cross legged and chanting "Om mani padme hum" for every bead on my homemade prayer beads. That's roughly 108 times. It focuses me, I think of nothing else, but concentrating on those words. This is a good resource of it meaning of "Om mani padme hum". I also love to listen to the CDs of Hindu and Buddhist chants I have, I load them into my Shuffle and sit with my eyes closed focusing on the words and music. It is very calming. A good start to a new tradition.
Last week I derailed a few times on the eating healthy, but my exercise went really well. Last Sunday my plan was to try to the balance ball video and do PM yoga. That didn't happen. Monday and Wednesday were awesome. I ran Monday for 15 minutes straight, Wednesday for 18 minutes straight, and Friday for 15 minutes straight. This is big for me because I prefer to do run walk intervals. I just felt like running, so I did it and it felt great. On those days I also did the eliptical for 30 minutes and rowed ten minutes. The eliptical is an awesome warm up for the treadmill I have found. Tuesday I did Kundalini yoga, no eliptical. However we did take Jorge out for a long walk. Thursday I did yoga and we also walked Jorge. Yesterday, Saturday, I took off. We had a lot of errands to run and also wanted to see a movie.
Today is a start to a new week. We will go for an hour hike and do some weights. Since I won't be working out on Monday, we're planning on riding our bikes to the gym and getting in some cardio. I'm working four tens this week, should be interesting for the work out schedule. I'll be working out after work at 5:30pm instead of the morning since I need to be into work by 6:30am. Should be interesting.
Eating this week was a bit crazy. We stuck to the meal plans, but on top of that we had popcorn a few times, peanuts, crackers, and a few other things. It was emotional eating and I realize that. At least it was wasn't french fries or doritoes. We only have healthy snacks in the house. Still doesn't justify it. My weight pretty much stayed the same, no gain, no loss. This I will take!
So this morning we rolled out of bed and made it to the gym by 6:45am. I got on the elliptical and exercised at level 5 for 30 minutes. At the end my heart rate was only 135. That is not good enough. I need to notch it up a level now to like 6 or 7 because I am not getting my heart rate up enough.
However……..since I had planned to do 45 minutes of cardio today, I decided to jump on the treadmill. I really wasn’t that tired from the elliptical so I pumped up the treadmill to 4.5 (I usually run at 5.0). I decided I would just run as long as I could and then walk. Well, I only planned to do the treadmill for 15 minutes and I ran the whole time! I am super excited. This is really good for me because I hate running the whole time, I usually want to only do intervals, but since I notched it down to 4.5 I was able to run the entire 15 minutes. I will do this in spurts and see how it works for me. It felt awesome to get my heart rate up finally, I really could have gone longer, but I didn’t want to push it. I was wearing my old exercise shoes because I couldn’t wear my new ones. On Saturday I got a huge blister from snowshoeing and my new shoes touched it, whereas my old shoes do not.
My focus this week is keeping my heart rate up past 145 during cardio for 45 minutes. I also rented a video for my balance ball and I am going to try that, hoping it will provide a good core challenge, which I really really need.
Workout plan for the week:
Sunday: Balance Ball video, PM Yoga
Monday, Wednesday: Eliptical 45 minutes, free weights for arms, 25 crunches, 25 leg lifts, stretch 15 min
Tuesday: Kundalini Yoga 50 minutes and arc trainer 30 minutes
Thursday: Shiva Rea's Yoga 60 minutes and 30 minute brisk walk with Jorge
Friday: 30 minute treadmill run / walk interval, 30 minute eliptical, free weights for arms, 25 crunches, 25 leg lifts, stretch 15 min
Saturday: walk/hike outside 6o minutes or more
Dinner plan for the week:
Sunday: BBQ Pork and peas
Monday: Salad with left over BBQ pork, tomato, onion, sunflower seeds, cheese
Tuesday: Taco Salad with seasoned ground beef, tomato, onion, cheese
Wednesday: Veggie salad with tomato, pepper, onion, sunflower seeds, cheese
Thursday: Chicken with paprika sauce over rice
Friday: Whole Wheat Pasta
Saturday: Not sure yet, hopefully something in the crock pot
As I sit here to write this, I don't want to. I'm feeling very introverted this weekend. I'm feeling pessimistic towards weight loss. Sometimes I just don't understand and sometimes I just don't want to care anymore. The good thing is though, that I do care and I care a lot. In the past I would have given up by now, but since I am older and more understanding of the phrase "We are what we eat", I will not give up. I will continue to learn what foods are best for me, what food provide the best energy, the best nutrition. I am certainly learning how much courage, strength, and endurance I do have. I am respecting my body and my mind, trying new things both in foods and exercise. I am most proud of myself for no negative talk towards my body and allowing myself those special treats once in a while like wine, chocolate, and pizzasta at Aunt Pat's on Friday night (trust me, you don't even want to know how many calories are in that!).
I'm not obsessive, however I do need to be stern with myself or I would give in to the excuses (oh this little bag of chips isn't bad, it's too cold to go to the gym, I had a busy day, etc etc etc). It's getting so much easier with establishing this routine and eating well. My body actually craves the exercise and veggies and protein. I've been craving salt lately, maybe because of all the sweating and the large amounts of water and tea I am drinking.
As you can see, I am down three pounds since last week, that means I am down 12 pounds total from my very first weigh in. I am celebrating by getting a new pair of exercise shoes. I absolutely love my New Balance, however they are a year old and have almost no tread and no cushioning left. I am hoping Kohl's has an affordable pair in stock this weekend. I have a 15% off coupon. I think this should help with my knees, which are amazingly better since last week by the way. I read that knee pain can also be caused by tight hamstrings. So I stretched a lot last week and did a massage on my legs a couple times last week with coconut oil and arnica. I also only ran one day and the rest of the days I did eliptical and arc trainer. This leads me to my reflection on last week.
Monday and Wednesday were great. I did the eliptical 45 minutes both of those days, along with my stretching, free weights for arms, and some crunches. I did not row however, didn't have enough time. I headed Stacy's advice (see comment below post) and have decided to eliminate lunges all together. My body weight is too heavy at this point to put all of that stress on my joints. I love the eliptical and will also try it backwards, which should switch it up a bit. Tuesday was so hilarious. Like I said, I wanted to rent some different videos from the library. I ended up renting Kundalini Yoga with Gurmuhk. Check out this video (however this little example does not do Kundalini Yoga justice!!):
Kundalini Yoga is NOT like the regular Hatha or Vinyasa yoga I usually do. Those two types are focused more on breath, poses, deep stretching, whereas Kundalini yoga is faster paced, no poses, and your heart rate is increased almost immediately. I felt like I got an amazing work out and it was awesome to try a new type of yoga. I was definitley looking for more of a challenge and that was it! What was so funny is that Dan got up with me and tried it out. He never gets up to do yoga, so I am not sure what sparked him to try this out. With some of the embarrasing motions and breathing exercises, we about die laughing after the video was over. He was sore for three days if that says anything.
After Kundalini yoga last Tuesday I headed to the gym and did the arc trainer for 45 minutes. Thursday was a wash. I went to the doctor in the morning for a physical so I didn't get a work out in. Hubby and I walked the dog after work, that was it. Friday I did 30 minutes on the eliptical and then wanted to try out running again after my knee issues last week. It went well, I did a walk / run interval for 20 minutes. I was nervous, but my knees actually felt fine. I also got in some crunches and free weights. Saturday was super awesome. Dan and I went up to Brainard Lake and did a three hour 3.5 mile round trip snowshoe hike. It was beautiful and took a lot of effort, which burned a lot of calories I presume. Plus, my dog Jorge doesn't like to be in the snow that much, he is too small and has minimal fur to keep him warm. In that case he gets cold and we put him in my Pearl Izumi backpack with a blanket and then I hike him. He weighs about 15 pounds, so that's a good reminder of my weight loss. I lose 12 pounds, but then hike him around weighing 15 punds in my backpack. Great workout too!
Since my knees are killing me this week, I have decided to not do the run/walk interval. I am going to do the eliptical and the Cybex arc trainer instead. It will take the pressure off of my knees. I really want to focus more on my core and use my exercise ball more, but I have not done the research to really put together a routine. I looked at the library and put a few DVDs on hold, so maybe this will help in developing an action plan. I am staying away from squats and lunges this week, my knees just can't take it. I want to try a new form of yoga, it is called Kundalini yoga and the library has a DVD, I put a hold on it because it was in yet.
My focus this week is stretching, free weights for my arms, and keeping my heart rate up past 150 on the eliptical and cross trainer for 45 minutes.
Workout plan for the week:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Eliptical 45 minutes, 15 minutes row, free weights for arms, stretch 15 min
Tuesday and Thursday: Yoga 45 minutes and arc trainer 45 minute
Saturday: walk/hike outside 3o minutes or more
Sunday Off
Dinner plan for the week:
Sunday: Going out with friends
Monday: Pork Chops and Peas
Tuesday: Naked Burger and Brussel Sprouts
Wednesday: Mushroom Sauce and Rice
Thursday: Tuna of Chicken Salad (not sure which yet)
I am down .2 ounces and this is definitely not a loss. Anything under a 1 pound loss is to me just water weight. This week was a wash. Last Sunday I just had this intuitive feeling that I wouldn't lose anything. It was hard this past week. I wasn't as tired as a few weeks ago, I was just dealing with some things. For one, Aunt Flo came to visit, which I only missed yoga and eliptical on Thursday because of it. I was experiencing some back pain and a slacker attitude because of it. Plus I only do yoga poses to comfort the pain, never a full routine to avoid inversion poses. However on Friday, I made up for missing Thursday with doing my run/walk interval for an hour instead of only 30 minutes. It was awesome. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were great, I did what I had planned. Saturday, we did a two hour hike on Marshall Mesa.
So why didn't I lose anything? Well, one is the water retention from my hormones and two, I indulged a little this week. I had peanuts a few nights as a snack, popcorn one night, and four glasses of wine over five days. Yep, it was indulgence, my will power broke down. I'm ok with that though. I did better than my last monthly, because sometimes I could sit down and drink a bottle of wine and eat a bag of potatoes chips, know what I mean ladies?
My exercise was spot on though and I am proud of that. I felt really strong this week, despite the fact my knees have decided to divorce me. They are angry little knees, in complete and utter pain for six days now. What the hell happened? Am I pushing it too hard? Do I weigh too much for my frame size and now it is crushing my knees? Is it my shoes? They are only a year old. Yes, they look a little worn out, but only one year old. I don't know. Hil suggested arthiritis since it is common in our family, but now, at 30? During the hike, I thought I was going to fall down the mesa and roll into the highway, if I moved my knees just slightly to the right or left. If I walk straight they are 'ok', but if I squat, they feel like they are going to give out. Maybe they're not strong enough yet.
I do beleive in healing and I DON'T beleive in "No Pain No Gain". I think when something hurts, your body is trying to tell you something. Instead of resting at the very sign of pain, I still did my routine. However, I did take a few ibuprofen, I elevated, I iced, I rubbed arnic on them, and I also massaged today with coconut oil. It has helped yes, but they still feel a little wobbily. The question is, should I take more time off? Should I change around my routine and do something different and less running? Well, in order to keep my heart rate up, I think I will do less running and more eliptical and cross training this coming week.
A buddhist saying I like to repeat to myself is "Pain is Given, Suffering is Optional". This comes into play in physical and emotional pain.
Wow, it's February! It's also week 6 of the new year and I am proud to have been sharing this health blog. It's really helped keep me on track and staying positive about it. I love seeing the results of my hard work. Making these changes in my life has opened my eyes to how important eating healthy and exercising really is and also what a huge difference it makes. I have increased energy and it's showing in my attitude, my home, and my life.
In my reflection post, I wrote a little about if I should increase the amount of time I exercise versus increasing the amount of energy output. This is hard to explain, I don't know what it's called, maybe level of exertion. Let me explain. Right now I've been running at 5.0 on the treadmill for 2.5 minutes and then walking at 3.5 for 2.5 minutes for 30 minutes straight. Raising the level of exertion would be to up the running to 5.2 and the walking to 3.7 and keep the times the same at 2.5 minutes each for 30 minutes. This will be a good change to work a little harder. I would like to also increase my core workout this week. I need more core exercises, I have an exercise ball so I will do a few things on that too.
Workout plan for the week:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Run/walk interval 30 minutes (Walk 2.5 minutes at 3.7 mph and Run 2.5 minutes at 5.2 mph), free weights for arms, stretch 15 min, 12 side lunges, 12 front lunges, 20 crunches, 5 push ups, exercise ball (bridge and strength)
Tuesday and Thursday: Yoga 45 minutes and elliptical or arc trainer 45 minute
Saturday: AM yoga, walk/hike outside 3o minutes or more
Sunday Off
Dinner plan for the week:
Sunday: Homemade bread with peanut butter and Dan's homemade chili
Monday: Leftover bread and chili
Tuesday: Salad with turkey, cheese, tomato, red onion, asian peanut vinaigrette
Wednesday: Salad with tuna, tomato, red onion and mozzarella cheese
Thursday: Bagel Sandwich with egg, ham, and cheese
Despite eating more calories than normal on Friday and Saturday, I actually lost 3.6 pounds last week. I lost one inch from my belly since two weeks ago. I had a good week in exercise last week. I put in more cardio as planned, I even put in a little more, going beyond 30 minutes to an hour of cardio on Tuesday night and then 45 minutes of cardio on Thursday and 40 minutes on Friday. I think this really upped my metabolism. Saturday my sister Hil and I went on an hour and half hike on Marshall Mesa (against the 40 mile per hour winds which were killer, but fun!). I was going to take Saturday off from exercise, but instead I am taking today off. I think we'll take Jorge out for a little walk, but I seriously need a day to recover. My right knee was hurting a little yesterday, it felt swollen and tender inside. Last night I put it up and rubbed arnica on it. I buy it as an ointment and it works magically! This morning my knee feels way better. I will also stretch today, I really would like to do one of my favorite yoga tapes to get a deep stretch, but I know that I shouldn't push it.
It is important to keep your body guessing. Not staying with an exact routine everyday or your body will get used to it. For example, if you run every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for 30 minutes and do the same free weight arm exercises right afterwards, your body will get used to the routine and think it's just going through the motions. You need to spice it up a bit, like interval running with walking, cross training on bikes or ellipticals, and changing up the time of day you exercise. I usually workout in the mornings, but this week, I did cardio on Tuesday night and Friday night. I also went for a hike Saturday since it was so nice out and decided not to stay inside on machines.
My question is though "Should I increase times at this point? Or should I increase energy output?" I like the times I am doing, 30 minutes to 45 minutes on average for cardio is great for me. It's not too lengthy, since let's face, we all have other things to do than stay in the gym all morning. I'm thinking I might up the energy output, by running on the treadmill at 5.2 and walking at 3.7. I want to keep pushing it, but not over doing it resulting in an injury.
Eating last week went well, I did allow myself a few special things; Boulder Potato Chips (one snack bag, hey they're all natural, so I decided it was ok), Friday night we ate out at Tibet Restaurant for our 11 year anniversary. So delicious! I really stayed away from chocolate this week, I think I had one Andes Mint. I had about four glasses of wine over a five day period and a vodka tonic Thursday night. Saturday we had mimosas since my sister and boyfriend stayed the night and we celebrated her getting a job.
Ok, so I splurged this week, but it doesn't bother me. I didn't eat in excess and I enjoyed myself. It's about me being mindful about what I am eating, making good choices, cutting portion sizes and also being happy. If you regret and hate everything you put in your mouth, your body will psychosomatically react to not letting it go, to keeping it all inside. I am happy to make these important changes in my life and look forward to the wonderful changes in my routine. One thing people on 'diets' do not understand is that your body absolutely needs food and from all food groups. By cutting out a certain food group, let's say carbs, your body will react yes and you may lose a lot of weight (but gain it all back plus more later when they bring it back into their lives, trust me I did it about 7 years ago!). What about the nutrients you get from grains? the excellent fiber needed to keep digestion regular? You are also cutting out a vital energy source your body uses to do all of the exercise. Balancing your food groups is a better decision to make and eating better options such as whole grains instead of bleached white flour is also good.
