I'm Still Alive

Asics Gel- Noosa Tri

Well, I completed week one of couch to 5k!  I am feeling on top of the world!  I decided today to take my workout outside.  I've never really been able to get into running before.  I've always wanted to, but just haven't been able to do it!  I don't know why it's so different this time, but it just is working, so I am sticking with it!  I think a lot of it stems from the fact that my friends are doing this online with me.

My problems with plantar fasciitis are really flaring up, so I decided it was time for some new running shoes.  After lots of online research, talking to friends, consulting LOTS of running sites,  I decided to order the Gel Noosa Tri from Asics.  I know, all of you real runners are groaning and going "what?  you didn't try them on??????"  I know, I know.  I hate going to the store to buy shoes because I always end up feeling so pressured by the sales person that I always end up buying the wrong thing.  So, I like to do my online research, and then buy from Zappos.com.  They have free shipping and then if I hate them, I can send them back for free.  Been shopping there for years.  So, wish me luck that these will be my proverbial glass slipper!

On the Third day of P90X Tony Horton Gave to Me...

On the third day of P90X Tony Horton gave to me...

Arms made of jello...
Shoulders made with noodles...
Triceps made of rubber...
and abs that are, hmmm, well, just sore!

I figured I better write about day three right away because it's hard to type even now and it's going to be worse later. My arms are just limp. I am sure they will be sore tomorrow, so if you don't hear from me for a few days, it's just because I can't type with my nose very well.

In all seriousness, it was an amazing workout. Not too much, not too little, intense, hell yes!!! Again, they show many variations and ways to do everything.

One thing I also like abut each DVD (I can't remember if I already mentioned this, so if I already did, too bad :p) is that you have several options on how to watch it. Normal, with some music in the background and Tony talking. Normal with no music. Music with minimal talking. Music only or silent. Very cool. If you get sick of his voice, which I haven't yet, he's very funny and motivational, you could change it up. I like having options!

So, day three and I can't say I've lost weight yet, but I am feeling really great about this and about the fact that I am doing something to change my condition.

The opening episode of The Biggest Loser really helped get me motivated. If they can do it, so can I. I am already partial to teams pink and green, but we will see where the season goes!

I can't wait to get back below 200. (Yikes, did I mention I'd crept back up there?) Ya. Barf. 9 pounds to get back to Onderland, folks. I need a mini goal. Hmmmm, I think when I get back down there, I will go get my nails done! They are really bad so I hope it doesn't take long :)

Have a great day! Check my blog tomorrow for my review of P90X Yoga!!!

I Lived Through the Second P90X Workout!

They call it "Cardio-X" I think the X is latin for the 10th stage of hell. WOW! The workout is 43 minutes and 18 seconds long. According to my heart rate monitor, is took me about 50 minutes because I had to keep pausing to remember how to breathe, take water, and pray my heart didn't explode! Man, I am sooooooooooooo out of shape.

Al of that aside, I loved every second of it. I was sweating so bad I had to towel off several times. Tony Horton is AWESOME! He is so real. I know that sounds lame, but he is just so ordinary. He was doing a move, and lost his balance. He laughed and said something like "It happens to everyone, you don't need to look pretty, just keep moving". He does stress proper form, but he also "keeps it real" by not being perfect. I love that! Most fancy videos would totally take it out and redo it when the trainer fell over or screwed up, and this one doesn't, and I like that. It gives me hope that although I am not perfect I will get better.

I also like that along with Tony, there are three other people doing the workout. 3 different from yesterday's, so I am guessing each one has new people. That's good because I would get sick of looking at the same people every single day.

The four people, including Tony Horton, show different angles and modifications. He also says that maybe you won't even be able to do what those four are doing, but stresses to do the best you can, and keep moving.

I really am liking this system so far!!! I am learning to "bring it" in my own way...one day at a time!!!

Mini Goals

Today I want to talk about goals. Sure, I want to wear a size 4. Sure, I want to look smoking hot. Blah, blah, blah. When you are obese, you don't see yourself as thin. You see yourself as disgustingly fat, and seeing your end goal is impossible. It's frustrating, counter productive and if you keep thinking of how much weight you have to lose, you will fall down into a pit of despair and not even try. I know this. I have been there.

But then one day I read about small goals. I am not talking 25 pounds as a small goal. Think smaller. Tiny baby step goals. TINY! When you break your weight loss, your exercise and your diet into little smaller chunks, it's much easier to focus and to wrap your brain around it. I've been doing little tiny baby steps for awhile now, and they add up. I am down 55 pounds. Had I started with "I am going to lose 50 pounds" I never would have done it!

Let's focus on the three main areas - your weight loss, your exercise and your diet, and find small manageable goals within each one.

Let's start with weight loss. Everyone has a different opinion on the scale, and personally, I think you should weigh yourself every single day. People who say "Only weigh once a week" are probably skinny people. For all of us that are overweight, we know that it is all too easy to have a really bad week and pack on five pounds or more! If you weigh yourself every single day, granted, maybe there is some water weight involved, but it keeps you honest and helps you stay on track. Did you eat pizza last night and the scale is up 3 pounds today? Then let your small goal for the day be to eat clean, workout a little longer, and not let that 3 pounds spiral out of control.

What do you weigh right now? For me, I am hovering bouncing back around 180 for a bit now. My goal right now is to get below 175. Note that I am not looking at a HUGE goal. I am not looking at the weight I want to be forever. I am focusing on the weight I want to be VERY soon. I remember not all that long ago that my big goal was to be able to stand on the scale with all my clothes on and be under 200. Obviously I can do that now, and it feels great. I adjust my mini goals as needed. Sometimes it's just a matter of wanting to lose half a pound.

We are going on vacation next week, and I am pretty nervous. I won't be doing my workouts every day, but I will be walking at the amusement parks a lot. I will be eating out a lot, so that makes me nervous too. My weight goal for vacation is to not go above 185. That's five pounds above where I am now. If I can get back from vacation and be under 185, I will be thrilled. 185 is my magic 50 pound number, so this is very important to me.

By setting small weight loss goals and limits for yourself, you eventually will accomplish the bigger goals. Now let's look at exercise mini goals. If you tell yourself, "I am going to work out for 2 hours every day for the next three weeks" chances are you will crash and burn. Take it one day at a time. One workout at a time. I have days where I even take it one song at a time. One mile at a time. One minute at a time.

Plan and prepare are key to success. The night before, make sure you set out your workout clothes, and pack your gym bag. It's so much easier to fail if you do not plan. It's easier to NOT go to the gym, right? But if all your things are sitting out, well, it's just plain easier. Now, let's say you are on the treadmill. I know I can't run five miles, but I know I can run 1 minute. Maybe starting out you can only run ten seconds. Maybe you are stronger and can run for one song on your Ipod. Figure out what works for you to break it down into manageable pieces that you can accomplish.

I used to be only able to walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes at about 3 mph when I started. Now I can do 45 minutes with 2 minute intervals of jogging at 5.2 mph and walking at 4 mph! That's a big difference. But it didn't happen overnight. I built up slowly. Reevaluate your goals as often as you need to do so.

Now let's talk about food. Again, planning is so key. You aren't going to go from existing on McDonalds to eating sprouts overnight. By going WAY overboard, most people set themselves up to fail. Make small goals, small changes. Maybe your goal today is to get rid of five things from your pantry that aren't healthy. Your goal for tomorrow could be to clean your fridge. You can take your food goals in steps. For instance, you could go from full fat salad dressing to light salad dressing to fat free salad dressing to dressing on the side and only dipping your fork into it, to no dressing, just a spritz of oil/vinegar. You could go from 3 slices of cheese on a sandwich down to 2, down to one, down to low fat, down to 1/2 a slice of low fat down to none.

Cutting cheese WAY down in my diet was a huge deal. Cheese was my favorite, and I never thought I could live with out it. I used to put cheese on EVERYTHING! Sandwiches, soups, salads, on vegetables, and more. It was just on everything. I cut to one slice. I changed to low fat. I broke it down. I told myself I would have one sandwich without cheese, and then next time I could have one with it. Funny, I never went back. I told myself one day, "No cheese on your broccoli today." And I never went back. Little by little I cut it out. I do still eat it but very rarely, maybe once every week or two. I do still enjoy a nice piece of pizza here and there, but I don't eat it multiple times a day like I used to do.

So, to wrap up, break it down. Small, manageable goals! You can do this. We are all in this together!!!

Love, laughter and light,
Mrs. ChildFun

Working With Friends and Weekly Check Ins

Can you believe we've already been in this challenge 5 weeks? Are you ready for weigh ins tomorrow? What are you doing for a last chance workout? Is your eating in check today?

If you are wondering what I am talking about, I took the advice of nearly every single expert out there, and decided to work out with friends. But, we took it a step father. Me and 33 of my online friends each threw $25 in a pile, and teamed up with partners to try to win it all. We spend the week motivating each other on ChildFun's Diet and Exercise Motivation Boards, we email each other, we connect on Facebook, we send encouragements by text, and telephone. We overloaded ourselves with support and it's paying off! In the first four weeks of our challenge, the 34 of us have lost a total of 183.4 pounds. We've lost an overweight woman! We've lost 2.85% of our weight. To figure your percentage of body weight lost, use this formula:

((IW-AW)/IW) * 100= weight loss percentage

IW=Initial Weight - AW=Actual Weight

We weigh in once a week and keep track of our pounds and percentage of weight lost. It's been a real eye opener. We did this for 10 weeks before Christmas, and I lost 25 pounds! It's so exciting to work with others and to have them support you. This challenge started right after New Year's and goes until March 30th.

We all have different goals and different diets and different exercise habits, but we all support each other. Some weeks some lose, some weeks some gain, some weeks some stay the same. But, it's the thirteen week period that counts. From week one to week thirteen, that's where you see the big changes. In the last challenge, I had weeks where I gained or stayed the same, but over the 10 weeks, I lost 25 pounds, and that is amazing!

As for me, I am excited for weigh ins tomorrow. I worked super hard this week and I think it will show on the scale tomorrow. My scale has only moved up in three weeks and it's been very frustrating. This week I rededicated myself to measuring my food, to journaling it very carefully, and to really taking a good look at my protein intake. According to my guru, Tosca Reno, you shouldn't eat more than 25 grams of protein at a time as any more than that turns to fat. So, I really paid close attention to this too. And of course, worked out. I went to spinning twice and my fitness class twice, and lifted twice, and when I get done with this blog I will be running on my treadmill and then lifting again.

So, what can you take from my rambling? Support, support, support! Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, online friends, schoolmates, anyone, and get a group or challenge of your own going! It is the ultimate motivation. Having someone to be responsible to is a really useful tool!

Anyway, off to my "last chance workout" and the rest of my day. I hope you had a great weekend!

Love, laughter and light,

Mrs. ChildFun

Stuck? Get Unstuck!!!

I keep talking about being stuck and having to change things up. Our bodies are smart. The one sided conversation from our little fat cells goes something like this....

"Oh, so you are going to not give me as much food? Find, take this. 'Kazaam' thunder thighs for you. I will save all your fat, and some extra I borrowed from the fat neighbor kid, and place it all on your thighs."

or...

"Oh, what happened, we worked out all week, and I wasn't expecting it, and somehow you shook off 5 pounds of precious lard? Well, guess what, body? You've been eating the exact same healthy crap, the exact number of calories, and doing the exact boring amount of cardio for two weeks. I know your routine now, and I know the exact amount of energy that you need to use so that we don't lose any more precious, precious fat!!!"

When you eat healthy and exercise, you are a step in the right direction, but there is more to weight loss than that. You need to plan, plan, plan and plan. It doesn't matter which diet you are following. Right now, I follow the principles of clean eating. I need to know that I have healthy food and Whey protein in my house at all times. I need my fridge stocked with fresh fruit, vegetables and lean protein. I need to know that I have enough eggs, etc. If you don't have the right foods, you will fail.

Now, you settle into a routine, and that is the worst thing you can do to sabotage your success! You need to constantly commit to challenging yourself and changing things up. Normally walk 45 minutes on the treadmill? Try walking 20, jumping rope for 10 and then walking another 15. Or if you are at the gym, jump on an elliptical for 45 the norm? Try 15 on the elliptical, 15 on the treadmill and 15 on a stairclimber. Add in a day (or two or three preferably) of serious weight training. Grab a copy of Oxygen magazine, or go to their website, and you will find lots of fat blasting muscle building routines that can easily be done at home.

And settling into the same routines with food can send you into a stall as well. Eating the same amount of calories every day, at the same time every day, and the same foods every day leads your body into a lull and it becomes comfortable and uses the least amount of calories because it knows what to expect. To fire up the metabolism furnace, shake things up once in awhile. Eat a bigger breakfast, smaller supper. Try new foods. Have one "high" day where you add about 500 calories into your diet, and then back down the next. (Do this no more that twice a week though).

So shake it up somehow! My change this week was to exercise before breakfast. I had settled into a comfy routine, and the weight loss stopped. I have been right about the same for about 3 weeks now. I hope I see a change on that scale at Monday's weigh in. I really am thinking positive that I will.

And remember - when you cheat and eat bad and skip your workouts, you are only cheating yourself. You deserve the best, so give it to yourself! I am by no means an expert, but I want to help as many people as I can! Together, we can do this!

Love, laughter and light,

Mrs. ChildFun