Saturday we all got together for our morning workout. This week, we took a field trip to Kanapaha Park. It was a bit cold, but the wind was worse. But we took it all in stride as we tromped back and forth on the soccer field. It felt good to be in the sunshine and the cold & wind quickly disappeared. They worked us out hard and pushed us to our limits. Although there were times when I wanted to stop, I pushed on to the finish, giving it my all. As I continue to think about the contest, I am realizing that I have already won. There are lots of people who would LOVE to be in my place. Getting the expert advise & training is priceless. Thank you again to Dan, Meghan & Caitlyn for all of their dedication to our training.
My new way of eating is getting easier. I made a homemade trail mix. It is perfect to grab on the go when I am in a rush and need to take a meal. I'm also getting used to Greek Yogurt. Its really good and good for me. I'm going to post a list of my 320 cal meals if you're interested in getting ideas. I sometimes let the day get away from me and realized that I haven't eaten at my 3 hour mark. My stomach usually reminds me. I also try to prepare things on Sunday for the week. I did my trail mix, boiled some eggs and cut some fruit. I'm also trying to keep myself from feeling deprived. We have regular pizza/movie nights on Fridays. Pizza isn't really healthy, but its good and watching my family chow down isn't really fun. So, I checked on the calorie count and a slice of pepperoni pizza from Dominos and it is 324 calories. So, I eat one piece and call it a night! I allow myself anything, but I just make sure to keep the portion in check.
We didn't have an official weigh-in this week, but I weighed myself and home to find that I have lost 4 more lbs! This is great news because just this week, they gave me a goal of 8 lbs lost in the first month. Our first month-end weigh in is Feb. 5th and I'm over half way to my goal!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
New Way of Thinking About Eating
This morning I had my one-on-one session with Dan from Sweat Life Fitness (which turned into a 3 on 1 since Julia & Drew had to come with me!). He went over the basics of how the body burns energy (calories). He told me about how these low cal diets and such work by starving the body. But once you go back to a normal diet, the body moves into fat storing mode and thus you gain weight back. The best method, is to feed your body what it needs to run and then workout to burn the excess of what you eat. So, I need to burn at least 500 calories a day more than I eat in order to get a 1 lb weekly weight loss (7x500=3500 cal=1 lb). It is not too motivating to see only 1 lb gone off the scale, but along with the other activities of taking care of the kids and other things that aren't considered "exercise," I should lose more like 2 lbs a week. This is what most people consider a healthy amount to lose per week.
So, I'm starting this journey with a new approach-you can't starve your body. In order to make this a permanent change, slow and steady wins the race. Although I would love to see all of this weight gone in 3 months, it might realisticly take 6 months.
My goal is to only eat 320 calories per meal, 5 times a day. The reason is because the liver can't hold more than that amount of "energy" at one time. When you eat more and don't burn it off, it stores as fat. This will keep my body happy and keep any fat from accumulating!
Of course, these 320 calories should be equal size of protein & carbs and some good fat. So I also have to plan for a well balanced meal. This is getting easier as I find more foods I enjoy. I like nuts, so they are a good source of protein and fruit is always a good carb! The key is portion control and making sure I get something down every 3 hours....which isn't always easy as I chase around 3 kids!!!
So, I'm starting this journey with a new approach-you can't starve your body. In order to make this a permanent change, slow and steady wins the race. Although I would love to see all of this weight gone in 3 months, it might realisticly take 6 months.
My goal is to only eat 320 calories per meal, 5 times a day. The reason is because the liver can't hold more than that amount of "energy" at one time. When you eat more and don't burn it off, it stores as fat. This will keep my body happy and keep any fat from accumulating!
Of course, these 320 calories should be equal size of protein & carbs and some good fat. So I also have to plan for a well balanced meal. This is getting easier as I find more foods I enjoy. I like nuts, so they are a good source of protein and fruit is always a good carb! The key is portion control and making sure I get something down every 3 hours....which isn't always easy as I chase around 3 kids!!!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Week Two - No more Mrs. Nice Gal
Ok, so I started off this week trying to figure out how to incorporate more cardio workouts into my off days from training. As a member of GHFC, they watch my kids for me while I work out and that is a bonus! Time away to myself and a workout...what could be better! But my plan came to a halt when my middle child started running a fever on Monday. I couldn't take him to the gym and spread the germs and it was raining outside???? What to do??? So I search my house up and down for my old Tae-Bo workout VCR tape, only to find that I tossed it years ago! Plan B: as the little two woke from their naps, there was a clearing in the weather, so I threw two in the BOB jogger (I LOVE THIS THING) and my oldest rode his scooter. We headed over to Jonesville park, only two blocks from my house. We took two trips around the trail, which is such a great new area, but I do feel like someone might jump out on me when I'm in the back part since it is wooded and no one would even see if someone was trying to kill me! But I forged on and we made it around twice before the sprinkles of rain started coming down. My kids loved it and I felt like I got a workout in!
Today, I was also stuck home with a sick child, so I tuned into Fit TV and did two 20-min cardio workouts. It was fun to do it at home and the time flew by! We also had our big workout tonight with the trainers. They are getting tougher on us and push us when the exercises look like they are too easy. But I like to push myself, so BRING IT!
Today, I was also stuck home with a sick child, so I tuned into Fit TV and did two 20-min cardio workouts. It was fun to do it at home and the time flew by! We also had our big workout tonight with the trainers. They are getting tougher on us and push us when the exercises look like they are too easy. But I like to push myself, so BRING IT!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
First week down!
Today finished off our first week of training. Saturdays are the only days that all 7 of us will workout together. It is also weigh-in day. I did OK, 1.25 lbs. down. But the competetive side came out in me when I learned that some lost 4 & 3 lbs.....urrggg! The entire workout I had to look around to see what everyone else was doing to make sure I was stepping it up! I didn't do well at my food intake this week (see CVS sabotage post). So I was very excited to do our "field trip" to Publix to go through the aisles and see what foods we should/shouldn't eat! Most of it wasn't new to me, but although I knew that certain things were bad for me, it didn't stop me from eating them. The basics of what we learned is to shop the outside aisles of the supermarket and stay away from all the processed foods in the middle...as much as possible! Half of my cart should be made up from the produce section! Yikes! This is going to be hard for me mainly because I am so cost conscience of our grocery bill and now I'm going to have to shop in the more expensive areas of the store. The workout part is easy...because you just show up and they tell you want to do. The real competition is going to come down to who does better with their diet and I need to step that up. Pizza night last night was not the best thing for my plan, but I did limit myself to only one slice so that I wasn't depriving myself. I need to plan ahead better, have some new healthy snacks ready and plan healthy dinners and I should be able to do this! Ready, set, gooooooooooo!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
CVS is already trying to Sabotage Me
OK, so if you know me well, you know that I've been on this coupon kick for the past 18 months. I'm determined to get the best deals in town! So I know how to scan a store to look for the "deals"! I had to go to CVS on my way home both Tuesday & today because I ordered some pictures. Of course they weren't in on Tuesday so I had to come back today.
What is staring at me when I check out....the candy bar section. And on top of that, when I scan my CVS card, it spits out coupons for candy bars. So, they have a sale that made the candy bar free and you earned $0.50 when you used the coupon. And on top of that, it was my favorite chocolate....Dove! So, in my usual style, I said to myself that I "earn" it by working out and got my free candy bar. Not too bad, but 200 calories that I didn't need!
Today, just hit the repeat button and know tht I didn't need that chocolate.
I won't be stopping by CVS on my way home anymore!!!!
What is staring at me when I check out....the candy bar section. And on top of that, when I scan my CVS card, it spits out coupons for candy bars. So, they have a sale that made the candy bar free and you earned $0.50 when you used the coupon. And on top of that, it was my favorite chocolate....Dove! So, in my usual style, I said to myself that I "earn" it by working out and got my free candy bar. Not too bad, but 200 calories that I didn't need!
Today, just hit the repeat button and know tht I didn't need that chocolate.
I won't be stopping by CVS on my way home anymore!!!!
Days 1 & 2
OK, so most of you know now that I've been selected to participate in a contest for Giggle Magazzine (www.gigglemag.com) with Sweat Life Fitness (www.sweatlifefitness.com). I am one of 7 moms in Gainesville selected. I think we might have been the only people brave enough to put ourselves out there for all of Gainesville to see. Because when you agree to participate, you agree to let yourself be out there for everyone to see. That is the part that frightened me! I think it is because I'm in total denial of how bad off I am after having 3 kids. I call it my baby weight, but when it has been on me for 5 years (after my first born), I'm not sure I can blame it on the kids!
We began on Saturday, Jan. 8th with our weigh-in and measurements. We were all horrified by our numbers, especially since they took them in cm and not inch. We met our trainers, Dan Griffin (owner), Megan Merkle and Intern (I'll let you know when she has worked hard enough to be called by her first name). They began slowly and I had a ton of questions for them about what all I can do.....now! I'm not used to doing things slowing, but they want to ease us all into this lifestyle change. On my way to the weigh-in a song by Usher came on the radio: More Here is a line: "Gonna push it to the limit, give it more". I declared that this will be my motivational workout song to get me pumped up to workout more....get off the couch more....lose more!!!! Listen to it, turn it up, get motivated too!
Tuesday I was excited about our first workout. I chose to work out at the 7:30 PM time so I could go after Chris got off work. I wasn't sure what to expect but all I had to do was watch 5 minutes of the Biggest Loser and I knew I was in for an intense workout and a reality check on how out of shape I have become. But Megan & Intern eased us into the workout slow. We were learning proper form and how to do the exercies correctly. Since I've been an athlete for most of my life, I've been pretty well schooled on the basics of form and style. I know how to do a proper squat/sit up/push up. But it's always good to get a refresher course! We did 3 circuits along with a warm up and cool down and I was suprised when it was over and I wasn't too exhausted. But I was sure I would be sore the next day!
To my surprise, I wasn't very sore the next day. I was planning on taking the day off and exercising my rest period (a time that the trainers say is very important) but my friend A. called me at 8:30AM to ask me to meet her at the gym. She is motivated by me being in this program and is determined to help me and help herself along the way. We did a low cardio class and then an abs/glutes class (which was way harder!). But the rest of the day my body was in overdrive. I felt hungry all day. I tried to obey the eating rules they had gone over at the first meeting (trying to stick to eating only 300 calories at a time) but my body was hungry. For the rest of the day my body could not get satisfied. I tried drinking lots of water to fill up my hungry stomach, but that didn't work. I feel like I probably ate more that day and it probably negated the calories I burned during the workout! This has always been a problem that I'm hoping to learn how to curve. I feel like "hey I worked out, I can eat this...." and thus I end up eating to negate the workout. I'll let you know if I figure out how to curve this hunger!
Today, I woke up very sore. Especially in my quads where I really felt the burn! But I drank lots of water an hydrated for my workout. I also need to figure out how to curb that mid afternoon snack crave. Today it was skittles, which isn't normal, but I found some that I had bought after halloween and planned on putting them in the pinata for my son's party, but we didn't do the pinata and thus they were calling my name. I also ate a full meal at 6PM right before my 7:30PM workout. Not really the smartest thing to do, but I didn't want to eat at 9PM after the workout. After the first circuit, I felt the food in my stomach and it wasn't feeling good! But I pushed through it! Today's circuit was much harder than the first. They stepped us up. Added 10lb weights to a few of the exercises and shortened the break in between. I felt good afterwards. I will be sore tomorrow! But I'm looking forward to Saturday when we'll head to Publix after the workout and learn how to shop for better food!
We began on Saturday, Jan. 8th with our weigh-in and measurements. We were all horrified by our numbers, especially since they took them in cm and not inch. We met our trainers, Dan Griffin (owner), Megan Merkle and Intern (I'll let you know when she has worked hard enough to be called by her first name). They began slowly and I had a ton of questions for them about what all I can do.....now! I'm not used to doing things slowing, but they want to ease us all into this lifestyle change. On my way to the weigh-in a song by Usher came on the radio: More Here is a line: "Gonna push it to the limit, give it more". I declared that this will be my motivational workout song to get me pumped up to workout more....get off the couch more....lose more!!!! Listen to it, turn it up, get motivated too!
Tuesday I was excited about our first workout. I chose to work out at the 7:30 PM time so I could go after Chris got off work. I wasn't sure what to expect but all I had to do was watch 5 minutes of the Biggest Loser and I knew I was in for an intense workout and a reality check on how out of shape I have become. But Megan & Intern eased us into the workout slow. We were learning proper form and how to do the exercies correctly. Since I've been an athlete for most of my life, I've been pretty well schooled on the basics of form and style. I know how to do a proper squat/sit up/push up. But it's always good to get a refresher course! We did 3 circuits along with a warm up and cool down and I was suprised when it was over and I wasn't too exhausted. But I was sure I would be sore the next day!
To my surprise, I wasn't very sore the next day. I was planning on taking the day off and exercising my rest period (a time that the trainers say is very important) but my friend A. called me at 8:30AM to ask me to meet her at the gym. She is motivated by me being in this program and is determined to help me and help herself along the way. We did a low cardio class and then an abs/glutes class (which was way harder!). But the rest of the day my body was in overdrive. I felt hungry all day. I tried to obey the eating rules they had gone over at the first meeting (trying to stick to eating only 300 calories at a time) but my body was hungry. For the rest of the day my body could not get satisfied. I tried drinking lots of water to fill up my hungry stomach, but that didn't work. I feel like I probably ate more that day and it probably negated the calories I burned during the workout! This has always been a problem that I'm hoping to learn how to curve. I feel like "hey I worked out, I can eat this...." and thus I end up eating to negate the workout. I'll let you know if I figure out how to curve this hunger!
Today, I woke up very sore. Especially in my quads where I really felt the burn! But I drank lots of water an hydrated for my workout. I also need to figure out how to curb that mid afternoon snack crave. Today it was skittles, which isn't normal, but I found some that I had bought after halloween and planned on putting them in the pinata for my son's party, but we didn't do the pinata and thus they were calling my name. I also ate a full meal at 6PM right before my 7:30PM workout. Not really the smartest thing to do, but I didn't want to eat at 9PM after the workout. After the first circuit, I felt the food in my stomach and it wasn't feeling good! But I pushed through it! Today's circuit was much harder than the first. They stepped us up. Added 10lb weights to a few of the exercises and shortened the break in between. I felt good afterwards. I will be sore tomorrow! But I'm looking forward to Saturday when we'll head to Publix after the workout and learn how to shop for better food!
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