Measure This!

So, it's been awhile, twitloss! 

I think we all had so much to do, blogging about this just fell by the wayside.  But, luckily for me, actually doing it has stayed pretty consistent.  Since we've lasted talked (October 17, 2011) I've lost about 25lbs, according to the scale. Some of that is muscle, though, because I've taken up lifting heavy things.  I like the heavy lifting!  There is something about the constant challenge and the immediate goals that make it appealing. I mean, constantly working up to lifting the next weight is a very satisfying.

Anyway, I also recently started C25K after saying I would NEVER run. One of the people at the gym talked me into trying it, and it hasn't killed me yet.  I'm only on week 2, but I'm considering this a milestone.


The 18th is also Measurements Day.  I'm trying to get this to be a monthly holiday, but so far no one is feeling it but me. This seems like a good place to track measurements though, so here goes:

Between December 18 and January 18:  Waist 1.5 inches gone, Hips 1 inch gone, Chest, same.

This is also month 6 of taking measurements so in 6 months, I've lost 6 inches from my waist (yippee!); 4 inches from my hips (hoooray!); and 2.5 inches from my chest.

A total of 12.5 inches gone in 6 months. And that's not counting biceps and thighs and calves and all the other things that people measure. I can barely remember to measure the big 3, adding anything else would be pointless. Still, I'll take 12.5 inches. I certainly DO NOT want or need them back.

So, this was me in November 2011, shortly after my last post.  And on the right, me on Monday, January 14th.  Apparently, wearing a nametag makes you look much heavier.  Who knew! 

Onward!

Thanksgiving is for eating!

Remember when Adam Sandler was funny?


Greetings, twitloss peeps!  So it's the week for eating.  I'm going to give you some anti-twitloss advice.  EAT THANKGSGIVING DINNER.  No, really.  Look, I get it that we're all trying to be healthier.  #twitloss is about losing weight, sure, but not just about losing weight.  It's about being healthier for ourselves, our families, all of that feel good stuff we love to embrace, especially around holiday time.  Right?

So, I've seen more "swap this for that" and "how to eat without really eating"
 articles than I care to and the holiday season is just starting.  But, if you're spending all of your time worrying about what NOT to eat, and how not to eat it, how much are you enjoying the holiday?  How much are you enjoying the company around you if you're so worried about the calories in two spoonfuls of mashed potatoes vs. two spoonfuls of green bean casserole?  And, the reality is, Thanksgiving is ONE DAY.  (okay, with leftovers it can be two or three days...although if you're shopping appropriately, you're going to burn a lot of Black Friday!)  You're not going to wreck your lifestyle indulging on one day.  You're just not.  This is, of course, provided you're doing what you're supposed to be doing all the other days.  That's the real key, isn't it, though?  What are you doing every other day?

Regardless of that, don't let anxiety ruin your holiday.  If you haven't been as good and/or diligent as you fell you should have been, re-commit the day after Thanksgiving.  And, definitely, re-make some of those holiday favorites so that they are healthier if it makes you feel better.  Sometimes, the changes don't taste any different but can make a real difference in the amount of calories consumed.  I'm all for that. But getting down on yourself because you want to enjoy a holiday meal with family and friends?  That isn't going to make you any skinnier or healthier. If anything, it'll make you eat MORE because you'll feel bad about everything. Cut back on calories throughout the week, work out more after the holiday, there are lots of ways to counteract a big meal on the big day.  Just.....take some time off from #twitloss to ENJOY the holiday.  It only comes around once a year. 

Take a walk afterwards......it does more than sooth a guilty conscience. Look:

 

Sure, I want to look like this 

(in a lovely shade of brown, please, and without seeing my ribs!) 

but it isn't going to happen overnight.  And it isn't going to NOT happen because of Thanksgiving.  It's the work I do all the OTHER days of the year (and genetics) that will determine the outcome. So, have a guilt free Thanksgiving, and burn a ton of calories shopping (or avoiding shopping) over the weekend.  

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Dear Diary

Good morning, twitlosers.  Twitloss followers?  You know what I mean!   It's been awhile since my last confession, right?  But, this blog is NEW and IMPROVED with more bloggers, and more fun.
But, like most of my school career, I haven't prepared for class. So this post is mostly going to be things I've been thinking about.  Ready?  Here we go.....

I actually like working out.  Shhhh, don't tell my friend Beth.  She told me this would happen, and I didn't believe her.  So we can NEVER tell her we had this conversation, okay?  I really did think she was full of the crazy when she said it.  After all, I've "worked out" before and never came to the realization that I liked it.  I certainly wasn't any good at it.  I absolutely NEVER looked forward to it.  Now, as I'm typing this, I am thinking about how I can't wait until my afternoon meeting is over, I can go home, put on my new shoes, and hit the gym. This is progress, people. Serious, serious progress.

I'm not gonna lie, seeing results helps. I am wearing a pair of pants that had been slated for goodwill because I couldn't get them buttoned, and a sweater that had been hiding out in the back of my closet because it was too tight.  The pants now are belted, and are still loose in the waist.  The sweater is on the baggy side of fitting. This is definitely motivation. I still have clothes in my closet that I can't wear yet. Those are my next goals.

Did I happen to mention that they've opened a freaking donut shop across the parking lot from me? Um....yeah, I am there almost everyday. The OLD me would be there eating a bunch of stuff without regard to calories. But you know what? It really isn't that hard to keep track of the calories eaten, even when it is donuts. Most of the online calorie trackers have Dunkin Donuts in there, and even though the store isn't a DD, the calorie counts are probably similar for things like glazed, cake, frosted, etc. Once you see how many calories you're eating, that is often good enough to make you turn away from the 2nd or 3rd donut.  I never would have believe that either, but it's true.

I guess all of this is a long winded way of saying.....hang in there. Whatever you're doing, it may not seem like it is working, but it is. It seems like it is taking FREAKING FOREVER, I know. Slow and Steady have never been two words I embraced, especially not in this situation.  But keep at it.  Before you know it, you'll be anxious to get to the gym.

Laugh all you want, it'll happen to you too.....

Happy Monday!

Slow and Steady is a mofo

Good Morning, twitloss followers. Happy Tuesday. I don't really have anything important or beneficial or even helpful to say. But I can almost always do funny. And whiny. Congrats, today you're gonna get a little of both!

Last year when we started this, I swear it seemed like the weight came off SO much faster. I lost 27lbs last year. Now, I gained 20 of them back, so......maybe there is a lesson in that.

This time around, I've lost 13. Since May. Yes, there is a 100% increase in weight lifting this time around, and I can see REAL differences. My clothes don't fit......in a good way. There is muscle definition. I didn't look this good last summer. But the scale was definitely friendlier.



Last week, I lost 1.2lbs. If that isn't enough to make you hurl curses at the scale, you have so much more patience than I do. I prefer 3's and 5's and, hey, I wouldn't even mind a 7 every now and again. 1.2? I'm surprised that was even enough to register. Definitely slow motion. I do wish I could embed that video.....

Anyway, so what's a girl to do, right? I mean, sure you could go crazy, cut your calories down to 300/day, send your body into starvation, wreck your metabolism and move the scale quicker. I mean, yeah, it's an option. Or, I could sprinkle fairy dust Sensa over my food and magically lose weight. Or, I could just do what I've been doing. I actually like working out (never thought I'd say that!) I don't mind counting calories, mostly because I don't see any other way of eating the right amount of whatever the hell I want. Sure, I could cut everything out, eat just stuff that is "good for me" and never worry about it. I've been down that road before, though, and it's a dead end. A shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch and a "healthy" dinner? Yeah, not so much.

Slow and steady is a mofo, but it works. Just.....don't be surprised to hear occasional bitching. This video will help. You're welcome.

Eat and Lose?

Wow, it's been awhile! Dear Twitloss, it's been many, MANY months since my last confession.....

Today's post is sponsored by Debbie Allen talking about the cost of fame.




Iconic, no? It also seems to be correct. Except, instead of fame we're talking a better body. A healthier body? If you follow me on twitter you've been seeing a bunch of workout tweets with crazy calorie burns for the past month. Awesome, right? Well, yes. But, there are still pitfalls lurking to screw with your head (via the scale) and your metabolism. I hate pitfalls.

So, the workouts: I dropped my fancy pants gym (FPG) and joined the Y. Now, I loved FPG, but my employer set up a deal with the Y's around the city for employees and the cost per month is nearly half FPG. For what I was doing there, it certainly wasn't worth double the price. Plus, I can go to any Y in the city AND there is one about 3 minutes from my house. Can't beat that. The one closest to me is pretty small, but they do have some fun classes there, and there is one a little farther away which has MORE classes. I wasn't big on classes at FPG, but they now make up the majority of my workout. The schedule:

Monday -- Zumba! There are two zumba classes, Monday and Wednesday. The Monday class is more latin inspire, the Wednesday class is more hip hop inspired. Both are fun, but the Wednesday class is killer. My knees protested, so Monday zumba it is. Weights before if I can get there in time.

Tuesday -- wildcard. No Y on Tuesdays. I either do something at home (treadmill, exercise dvd, zumba on the playstation, etc) or it's a rest day.

Wednesday -- Step aerobics. I tried this for the first time on a Saturday morning and it was NOT the beginning class. Oops. I stayed for the whole thing. I didn't die. But, I decided the beginning class was really where I belonged. It's still hard as ****. Weights before if I can get there in time. Weights after if I'm not exhausted.

Thursday -- Urban Line Dancing. Dancing is supposed to be fun, right? Um.....last week I burned 826 calories having "fun" for an hour. Bring. It. On.

Friday -- Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Rest day. WHOOOO!

Saturday -- Weights and Cardio at the Y. Treadmill? Elliptical? Stationary Bike? You know.

Sunday -- Usually a rest day, but if the spirit moves me I might walk a mile. An easy day.

It's great fun, but guess what? The scale wasn't moving. No, these aren't olympic sized workouts, but going from relatively nothing to relatively a lot should move the gauge, right? The first week, it was all good. 5lbs down! Then.....crickets. So what could be the problem? I smell pitfall.....

Calorie count could be off -- this is always a possibility. But, I'm using a heart rate monitor, the kind with a chest strap so it continually monitors and you're not stopping to take your pulse, so the count was as accurate as I was likely to get.

Food logging was off -- it's always a possibility that you're eating MORE than you're recording. In fact, it's almost always a SURE THING you're eating more than you're recording. I have a food scale, and I measure things, but I'm not a fanatic. (unless, of course, you think having a food scale makes you a fanatic.....) And, there is always a pinch or a taste here and there, right? But was it enough of a pinch or taste to offset 700 and 800 calorie workouts 4-5 days a week? No.

Hmmmm.....definitely not at a plateau, because I haven't been doing anything long enough to plateau. So, wtf?

I've been a Sparkpeople member since 2007 and I like many things about the site. But, a friend of mine started using LoseIt.com and I joined on there so we could be "friends" and I found it was a stripped down version that I liked. She uses it on her smartphone, I use it over the web. I'm sure there are lots of features I don't use, but it's great for logging food and exercise. I began noticing something, though. It would subtract the exercise cals from your daily allottment.

Say what?!

So, I started on May 19th, Lose It thinks I should eat 1684 cals a day. I like that number. Turns out, though, after exercise, I had a net of 523 calories. Hmmmm. If you think you can do anything on 523 calories a day, you are sadly mistaken. If you keep that up, for say......5 weeks.....then your body will go into starvation mode. Sparkpeople, for all it's good qualities, doesn't make the connection between calories in and calories out. Lose It does it, not only for the day, but tallies it up for the week, which makes it even more plain how I was getting in the way of my own progress.

5 weeks ago: 1,706 calories UNDER my weekly budget
4 weeks ago: 542 calories under
3 weeks ago: 739 calories under
2 weeks ago: 2,661 calories under (someone call a doctor!)
last week: 2,749 calories under

And all of these numbers came with going over daily calorie counts 1 or 2 days a week. Something is definitely not right with that picture.

Now, conventional wisdom would be -- if you're working out and eating fewer calories than advised, you should weigh less. A lot less. That isn't what was happening, though. Instead, my body was all pissed off because it was hungry! There is no way any doctor would tell me to eat 500, 700, 900 calories a day, right? The fewest I've ever heard suggested to anyone was 1200 cals. The amount of calories you're allotted IS the diet. 1200, 1600, etc. It's so much better than the 2000, 3000, 6000 (oops!) you were eating before. So to go below that is just insane.

Now, yes, my clothes fit better. Down a size already. Yes, building muscle. But that would have happened anyway, and I'd probably be farther along than I am if I would have simply eaten my exercise calories. For more on that concept, click here.

So, my goal for this week is to EAT MORE! Yeah, I kinda like the sound of that. Instead of being 800+ calories under budget at the end of the day, I'd like to hit the number right on, or be a little under. Yesterday, I was 158 under at the end of the day.

Is this the answer? Who knows. Maybe the problem is inaccurate logging, or a faulty heart rate monitor calorie counter. But, even if the numbers don't change dramatically, it will be one pitfall overcome.

Happy Tuesday!

Jump Around

It's been awhile, right? I can't remember when my last post was. NO, don't go looking it up! You'll just make both of us depressed! There is a good news/bad news kind of situation going on. The BAD news is that I've gained back.....probably....ten lbs. The GOOD news is that I've only gained back 10 lbs! Given that I've basically done NOTHING for the past 3 months or so, that's not bad at all.

Except I'm kinda tired. Working out really DOES give you energy. I thought that was a myth, you see, because it kind of sneaks up on you. I mean, everyone I know hates to work out. I don't care what they tell you, it is not fun. It ain't. I just ain't. But there is that huge rush after it's over. I'm not sure it's all endorphins either. I think part of it is just relief that the ish is over for the day! And.......probably some endorphins as well. We like science here. No science deniers.

But the long term energy boost sneaks up on you. You don't even realize you have more energy, you just.....have it. I miss that feeling.

I haven't given up ALL of my semi healthy habits, though. I still use my food scale. Not as often as I should, but often. I measure chips, ice cream, candy, you name it. I still don't buy snacks to have around the house. Check that, I don't buy many snacks.....and I stay away from the snacks that I can't turn down. I have chips here, but I have no problem saying no to chips. They aren't a huge temptation for me. Cookies, on the other hand, are a problem. Cupcakes? Forgetaboutit.

My two huge problems/stumbling blocks/clusterfucks.... have been Fast Food (aka, Satan) and not working out. (aka The Devil.) Of course, not counting calories is bad, but who wants to count calories when you KNOW the number is going to be crazy because you had Starbucks for breakfast and McDonalds for dinner? So, we're staring over again. Better food choices, yes, but I'm not silly enough to think I can go from fast food to zero in one day. But what I can do is jump around. So, in honor of my new commitment....

jiggy me this

First, let me just say I am SO sorry. No, not for missing last week. I'm sorry for this video. I didn't want to post it. I didn't. No, really, I didn't. I don't even LIKE this song. No, I don't. Stop it. I DON'T! But.....it was in my head. And it's so catchy. And, before I knew it, I was embedding it right here. Sigh.



So. Damn. Catchy. Will Smith, you're the devil! The DEVIL I SAY! But....maybe if I put this on my MP3 player I'll run faster trying to get away from it.....

Anyway, it appears I am back on the wagon for real this time. Back to the gym AND back to recording calories. Hooray! My legs are protesting the return to treadmill inclines. Tough shit.

Now if I could just back away from the cheesecake and key lime pie.....although, I have to tell you all that I have broken (at least temporarily) my cupcake addiction! And, I'm working on the fast food addiction. Yes, I've been cooking a lot more things at home but....fast food is so fast! Obviously, there are still areas that need some work.

Happy Tuesday!

Nobody's Fool

The videos are usually brought on by inspiration, rather than having anything to do with the actual topic. Today is a nice, if unexpected, mix of both. If you like 80s hair bands, this is the video for you. If not, meet me after the jump.....






So, today I got the P90-X dvds from the library. After watching the "watch this first" video, and watching the 50 warning screens about how this "isn't for everyone" blah blah blah, I got into the first video and it was chest and back. Well, I don't have the pull up bar so that was a bust. I took it out and flipped to the cardio disc. It said I need yoga blocks (wha???) and some other stuff that I didn't have, but I figured some of it would be just cardio, right? It was. I knew, though, that when the warm up was running (they called it jogging....ha ha ha ha) that I was in trouble. I think I got through 5 minutes (out of 45) and that was enough for me. I took it out and put in a walking dvd.

Sometimes, you really SHOULD listen to those stupid ass warnings. I'm not fit enough to get fit with P90-X. I'm more like P-65.....

But, if YOU are fit enough to let P90-X make you sweat, here is a little Keith Sweat inspiration to send you on your way. Vaya Con Dios!

Happy Tuesday!

Fairly Fit! (but that's below average)

Good evening, fair bloggers! I wish I had something fantastic to report (like I'm fully back on track) but I don't. I'm kinda sorta back on track. Yet, I've lost 2lbs this week.

This is my new motivation. Not that I expect to look like Toni, but MY version of Toni. (Which is short. LOL)



Anyway, today I had a follow up General Fitness Assessment at the gym. I already did the measurements a few weeks ago, but I've improved in every category: Aerobic Index, Body Comp, Flexibility, Strength and Endurance. Now, when I say I "improved", please take that with a huge portion of salt like substance. My flexibility was, and still is, pretty awful. But, it's better than it was on January 30th. Where do I kick ass? Endurance, of all things. What else would you expect from a dirty girl? THE GYM tests endurance using Push Ups (in 30 seconds) and Crunches (in 60 seconds) I blasted past the averages and that was the only category where I hit "Excel".

Overall, I'm just a slight bit away from "Average". In January, my Overall assessment was squarely in the middle of the "Low" category. So, what a difference six months makes. Onward! Happy Tuesday.

Right on Track? Maybe.

Really, this song sounds as good to me now as it did then. I have an addiction to the 80s that cannot be broken!




Happy Tuesday! I don't have much to report this week except that I'm going to try something new. Do you ever get bored with all of this? We've been doing this since March, right? Feb? I can't remember. At any rate, it's all starting to get a bit same old same for me. Yeah, I've lost 24.2 lbs, but looking at that number (which hasn't moved in awhile) is even boring to me now. I can tell because I've started slacking. Slacking off on exercise....slacking on the food recording.....yeah. Not good. So, time for a "mini" challenge. And, lucky me, I have a time frame all set. Bar exam results are due back on October 1, so that seems like a perfect window of time to do something worthwhile. So, instead of my usual ticker, I made a new one to see how much weight I can lose between now and then. Maybe I'll get to 31 lbs, and maybe not. But, I do love a challenge! Who would like to take the Bar Results Challenge with me?

Get your groove on

Well, yesterday Lynette distracted us with her adorable kids.





I don't have kids. So, I started wracking my brain for things to distract you. I finally settled on a few of my favorite workout tunes in honor of me getting back on the workout wagon. I don't have any *news* to report, maybe that will come next week. But, I can't wait to hear what YOUR favorite workout songs are. I need new ones.









Classic cardio song


Another classic cardio song


Marc!


Aguanile! (If you haven't seen this movie, btw, you MUST!)

and they're off (again)

You must believe me when I say that I did NOT want to use this video. Not today. Not ever. But, when I jumped in the car this morning, this was on the radio. I thought I could shake it, but it is STILL IN MY HEAD. So, now, it gets to be in your head. Don't blame me. The radio hates us.



Okay, now that that is out of the way, there is okay news, good news, and lazy ass news. Which do you want first? Lazy ass news it is!

I haven't worked out in a week. That's right. I have done absolutely NOTHING for the past week! Nothing. No treadmill. No DVDs. No gym. No weights. No walking around the parking lot. No crunches. No push ups. No thing. How do I feel? Um... kinda weak and lethargic. Exhausted. Getting back on the workout wagon will help, but I can't manage it. I'm blaming PMS, who's with me? (You people are enablers, the lot of you!)

The okay news is that, even though I've been a lazy ass all week, I've still lost 3.2lbs. This really is sending the wrong message. Don't workout and lose weight? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is like the anti message. But, I'm sure there is a direct connection between lack of cupcakes and lack of 3.2 lbs. Hmmm....

The GOOD news is that I got a silver star (or a B+) on my doctor appointment last week. She was impressed with my weight loss efforts. My blood sugar, which is high but not high enough to be on insulin (Thank GOD) is lower. And, she said, if it is just a teeny tiny bit lower when I go back in December, I won't have to take any medicine at all anymore. How is THAT for a Christmas present?! So, with that motivation......maybe I can make it back to the gym. :-) Happy Tuesday!

not THAT much wiggle....

If you knew who did this song, you get a gold star! I could barely remember the refrain.

Anyway, Happy Wednesday people! Yes, I know that it was supposed to be Happy Tuesday, but right about now I can barely remember what my name is, much less what day I'm supposed to post! But, I *DO* remember that I am supposed to post measurements this week instead of weight loss (or gain). Let me hit you with some numbers:

Chest: Starting 45 (really?!) Today: 42
Waist: Starting 46.75 Today: 38
Hips: Starting 47 Today: 42
Thigh: Starting 27 Today: 25

Okay, since I am a primarily lower body exerciser (walking, jogging, lower body strength training) WHY hasn't that thigh measurement decreased more than that?! What is really cool is that I can feel the line between the muscle and all that extra stuff that needs to go away. Sometimes, when I stand just right, the moon is in Venus, and I flex, I can actually SEE that line too.

That waist measurement is still out of control. OUT. OF. CONTROL. Less cupcakes, more.....gym. The ab strength is there, crunches are the only part of my gym health assessment that I kicked ass on in January. But, still.

We can't even talk about that chest measurement. Have I mentioned that they've ALREADY been reduced? Yes. They have. And, compared to what they used to be, they certainly look manageable now. But DAMN. :-)

So, overall, 18.5 inches lost. And the more important number, I had ZERO (0!) cupcakes this week.

Happy Wednesday!

PS: Seriously, no more than five minutes after I hit 'publish post', does this show up on Yahoo: 4 Reasons Diets Fail. It's all info you've heard before, but nice to hear it again. Don't expect miracles.....blah blah blah.

Don't Disturb This Groove

A friend of mine posted this video on facebook to remind us all how damn old we are! And, that turned out to be the theme of my post this week.




Why? Because there wasn't much movement this week. I was a better exerciser, but not really a better eater. I think I lost .4lbs. Not too much, but better than gaining, so we'll take it. A trip to the grocery store resulted in better things to eat, so maybe next Tuesday will have better results. All in all, this was a status quo week. Next week, measurements! Someone suggested that for when the scale isn't moving. It's a great idea, I just keep forgetting. (maybe THAT should have been the song this week!) So, next week. I'm marking it on my calendar. Until then........ Happy Tuesday!

Confessions

I don't think I've been quite as bad as Usher, but.....




Man, have I been naughty. So naughty, in fact, I have gained 3 lbs! No, 3 lbs isn't a huge amount, but it is definitely more than I wanted. It is moving in the WRONG direction. It all started here of course. I brought home a lot of cupcakes one weekend. I wanted to try a bunch of different flavors, so I did. I didn't eat them all in one DAY, but.....over the weekend......sigh. After that, a general laxness about keeping track of food plus a general laxness about exercising......well, you get the point, right?

The GOOD news (is there good news?!) is that even when I was bad, I wasn't terrible. Why? Because I didn't have things here to be terrible. Once the cupcakes were gone, of course. I don't have candy, or cookies, or Coke, or chips around the house anymore. Not buying these things at the grocery store probably saved me from a calorie bender. Yeah, I bought chips from the vending machine to eat with lunch, but when you're buying calories .90 at a time, there is a built in limit. The other good news (ha ha ha ha) is that even at the vending machine, there are better choices made. No cookies or fruit pies or candy bars. We had a new juvenile selector librarian start this week so that meant, of course, bringing food in. One donut, instead of multiple donuts. One slice of cake (pre-sliced, thank GOD!) instead of multiples. This #twitloss thing is there even when you think you're NOT doing it.

Yeah, I'm still pretty fucking pissed off about the 3lbs, but it could have easily been 5 or 6 or more. And that, my friends, is how to see the world through rose colored glasses! Happy Tuesday!

I'm a loser (baby)

I hate that song, ya know? I listened to it again, thinking I might use it, but the chorus is all I'm interested in. Sorry, Beck fans. Instead, you get something that may be even worse.

This song has been in my head for DAYS. I don't know why.




Anyway, I don't have much to report this week. Down, 1.2lbs. (WHOO!) But not because I did anything special. I still don't have any idea how this calories in vs. calories out thing works. This week I was WAY over my cals one day, and under most of the other days. I suppose it all balances out? I worked out 6 of 7 days again, so (theoretically) I should have lost MORE than 1.2 measly pounds, right? Who can figure this out? If you see Jillian Michaels out there in the world could you send her my way? Thanks!

In the meantime, #twitloss rolls on. Happy Tuesday!

She's a maneater!

It's on my cardio mix! And....it's kinda talking about food, right? At least the kind I like to eat....

Besides, watching that video gives me inspiration to do MORE cardio so I can look like that....except a little more brown. :-)



Happy Wednesday, everbody! I'm in a great mood so you must know what that means. That's right, the scale is cooperating again!







Not only did I lose the 1lb I had gained last week, it took two of his friends too! Later, pounds! Don't come back!

I increased my calories just a bit over the past week, going up to 1650 instead of 1550. And, there were a couple days when I was above that (up to 1800) and a few days when I was below (but never below 1200) Maybe that helped. I got 195 minutes of cardio in. When you think about it, that isn't a lot. My goal was 200 minutes or 40 minutes, 5 days a week. That really should be more like 60 minutes, 5 days a week. Or 6 days a week. But, there is no way I have enough motivation to work out that much. So, we do what we can do until we're motivated to do more. Nelly Furtado abs might motivate me to do more.

Bonus NF video. Also on my cardio mix and BY FAR my favorite song of hers.

AMR/BMR/WTF?

Christmas in May? You're welcome! I'm truly scraping the bottom of the "food lyrics" barrel....






Anyway......so I gained 1.7lbs this week. Might as well get that out of the way up front, right? I haven't been eating any of the things in that song....but when I look at my food log, it is full of things that probably aren't so hot. AND, I went over my calories 3 or 4 days last week.....but, I also worked out 6 out of 7 days last week. 1.7lbs is within the margin of error, right? I only managed 8 glasses of water ONE day in the past TWO weeks. Hmmmmm.....Houston, I see the fucking problem!



I was flipping through this Jillian Michaels book yesterday (Thank you library!) and read her section on BMR (basic metabolism rate) and AMR (active metabolism rate). See more here.

A google search brought me to a blog page that had a similar calculation plus a little more explanation here.

I did both calculations and......it would seem I'm not eating ENOUGH calories. I know, is that crazy or what? The first thing I thought was, but I gained weight, so WTF? Could be a factor of many things: did I read the scale correctly two weeks ago? Did I really gain weight? Water weight? Pizza weight? Did I read the scale correctly this morning? Was I wearing different clothing or amount of clothing? I can't remember two weeks ago, people! It isn't enough of a gain that I'll stress about it. But, still is a gain. If you don't eat enough calories, according to Jillian, you'll put your body into deprivation and won't lose any weight. If I have increased the amount of exercise I do (and I have) and still eating fewer calories......sounds like a recipe for disaster. Yet, kinda hard to take that line of thought seriously when people on The Biggest Loser are losing 10, 15lbs per week (if not more) by eating WAY fewer calories and doing MUCH more exercise.

So, I think the strategy this week will be (again) more water. And keep a much closer eye on calories in vs. calories out. Wouldn't it be awesome if I really was eating too few calories?! Yeah, probably not gonna be the case. :-) Happy Tuesday!

Can't Touch This

As if you didn't know what was coming. Even though I was home sick, I still got my cardio in for the day. Thought maybe I should share some with you!







Okay, now that we got that out of the way..... I don't have much in the way news to report this week. I stayed home sick today and completely forgot to weigh in before stuffing my face. So, just for the sake of consistency, maybe tomorrow morning. Besides, who wants to talk about that when I can talk about my new obsession?


Yes, I have fallen under the evil spell of Whole Foods, and it started with a simple need for pine nuts. Somehow, last week, I got it into my head that I was going to make pesto. Pretty simple, but I've never done it. The grocery stores I normally go to (Kroger and/or Marsh) have pine nuts sometimes, but no guarantees they'll be there when you want them. A few years back, our locally owned indie market was bought out by Whole Foods, and I figured there was a much higher chance of finding pine nuts there anytime, so I wandered over.

Oh. My. God. I am not a foodie. Not in any way. The farthest I'll go is maybe a foodie hanger on. I'm an addict to cooking shows.......yes, all of them. But, when it comes to actually COOKING.....well......not so much. Whole foods will make you want to cook things. There are so many interesting ingredients, things you see on shows like Top Chef and Chopped. Even though I went there with the intention of getting things to make pesto, I also ended up buying Cilantro Lime Pesto (delicious.) Crab and Lobster ravioli (delicious) and my new absolute favorite Spicy Crab dip. Are you kidding me?! That is the best stuff ever! Garlic Naan, frozen Indian dinners....I spent way too much money. That's the down side of it all: Whole Foods really will take a whole lot of money. I certainly couldn't use it as my regular grocery store.

And, even though I am in no way a food snob, the food that I've eaten from there so far tastes fresher. It just does. That could all be in my head, but my head thinks it tastes fresher.


Tomorrow is my pesto making day, so hopefully it doesn't all go horribly wrong. But, if it does, I can just go back to Whole Foods and get more? Yes.....until I go broke.

Happy Tuesday!

Another One Bites the Dust

You did nothing to deserve it, but you're getting Freddie Mercury in his underwear shorts. No, no, don't thank me. It's my PLEASURE!



Heh. Watching that made me really happy!

Anyway, hey everybody! Sorry today's post is late. Last night was crazy with about 400 people (despite what our print media reported) coming out to protest library closings. I stood outside for 3 hours talking to an overflow crowd who couldn't get inside the building (due to fire code restrictions) and trying to keep everyone's spirits up. No cardio involved, but there should be points for standing outside, right? I mean, it was chilly! :-)

This was a much better week, even though I am still not back on track as far as working out goes. My goal is for 200 minutes/week. Last week? um....57 minutes. But they were QUALITY minutes, right? Um....probably not. LOL. Don't know if I am fully back yet, or if I still have an RT hangover, but I hope to at least double the minutes this week. I have 31 minutes so far.....
(By the way, I have 2/3 of my RT thoughts up on my blog here and here if you're interested.)

I AM back to the food tracking, though. It helps to do it, even if I go over the amount (1550) Sparkpeople thinks I should have. Who asked them, anyway? It actually makes me feel better because when I think I totally blew it, turns out it was just 100-200 over. That is a lot, but not enough to become distraught. Makes it easier to jump back on the wagon the next day instead of saying the whole week is shot because I had a cupcake.

Hmmmm.....cupcakes........


The three main problems I've noticed: I do NOT eat vegetables. I do NOT drink enough water. I am chronically over my sodium intake. And, by "chronically" I mean every single day. Everyday. For someone with high blood pressure, this is NOT a good thing. I hate salt, so it isn't that I'm salting the hell out of everything. This is all from packaged foods. Packaged foods have a hell of a lot of sodium, and that is mostly what I eat. Being too lazy to cook is going to kill me unless I do something drastic (like stop being too lazy to cook!)

I'm not a fan of vegetables. Looking back over the past two weeks, I don't know that I've had any. Maybe one day. One meal. One serving. I love spinach, but I don't eat it very often. I'm a midwesterner! We like our vegetables starchy! Potatoes! Corn! You know, the GOOD ones.

And water. Sigh. I DO like water. Love it, in fact. But, for some reason, I don't drink nearly enough of it. Don't ask me why. I take it to work with me everyday and usually end up bringing it home. If I workout, I drink a lot more of it. That makes perfect sense. But, since I've not been working out......well, you get the picture.

SO, this week's "Gotta Do Better" is going to be water! (Because I can't face the other two yet...). I'm aiming for 8-8s a day, and will report back next week!

Tales from the closet:

On a GOOD note, I tried on a few of my "tracking" items today and they all fit! You know what tracking items are, right? Things that "used to" fit or things you bought hoping they would fit someday......I have a pair of jeans I used to love that I couldn't even zip in January. They fit, but they're still a liiiiiiiitle bit tight. I'd wear them out, but not out to dinner! I have a shirt that I bought that I could barely button, and now buttons fine, but is a little tight around the stubborn belly that refuses to vanish as fast as I want it to. And I tried on two pairs of pants that were a 16, which is a size smaller than I wear. One was really loose. One was okay. So, maybe I skipped 16 and went right to 14? Who knows. At any rate, it was mostly all good news from the closet! My NEW tracking items are shorts that are all size 14s and I couldn't even get a leg into last summer. They laughed when I pulled them over my ass and tried to button them. Shorts can be so mean sometimes.

So, this week, just getting back on track with food helped me lose 1.8lbs for a grand total of 21! Glad for it, but miles to go before I sleep.....Happy Tuesday!