Food

So.

Food.

For me, this is difficult. I love food. I also love filler.

You know, filler. It's the extra. It is not food, but you put it in your mouth, and eat it, and it tastes good. But it's not good for you?

Candy.
Cake.
Ice Cream.
BURGERS.
PIZZA.

I've been doing quite well for the past week and a half on my eating.  I've found that I really do like the food that comes from My Fit Foods. It encourages having 5 meals a day. And most meals are gluten free and have a significant ratio of protein, and always a green veggie.  I've been going for 4 meals lately. But sometimes. Sometimes, I still fall back into the old habit of stopping by the CVS after lunch and grabbing a bag of candy and pretty much hoovering the whole thing in less than an hour.

Yes. It's a horrible habit. It's stress caused and just causes more stress. But I have figured out that I do still crave my sweets and my desserts. But I don't want them to have as much influence on my waistline.

So. Planning. I've been able to stick to the plan for the mostpart.

My schedule for the past week or so has been:

7:30 am Wake up.
Get Ready.
8:30 Shakeology while headed to work
Noon: Lunch.
3 or 4 pm: Snack.
5:30 or 6 pm: Home.
15-20 minutes later: Workout.
7:30 or 8 pm: Dinner.

Sometimes I munch a protein granola bar in between getting home and working out. It depends on how I feel. I'm trying to only do that when I feel that I would not be able to complete the workout.

And then after dinner, I'll have a beer or two while reading or watching some TV with my boyfriend before bed.

Now, I've moved my workout to the mornings so that I can do events after work. These past two weeks, I've tried to keep all of my BeerSox work on the weekends, but that didn't last long. Tonight, I have a Pub night. Hopefully, I'll be able to focus on what portion of food I want and focus on meat and a bit of green veggie and maybe a small amount of starch. But can't let myself go full on burger mode.  I cheated last night with dinner because I knew it'd be easy and I'd been craving it for a couple of weeks. French Toast. There's a little bit of egg, right? But seriously, I could have made something else. I just need to plan ahead and make sure that I have the right ingredients on hand.

Food. I dream about it. I love it.
I just need to remember that I also have goals and physical fuel needs that go beyond grease & carbs.

I got jello (sugar free and fat free) to make to keep a little dessert on hand for when I want to have that something extra. I just need to make it and store it so that I grab it rather than go down to the corner store.

Right?

~Katie

Lunkerhead strikes again!

The temp dropped 30 degrees overnight, so I was warm snuggles in bed this morning & it was a long workout day. I did kick myself out of bed in time to finish the Burn intervals workout which is 45 minutes, but not the AB burner workout.

Now I have to shower before I'm cooled off, but that's what I get for being a lunkerhead...

But hey! Morning workout!

I have an event after work, so I won't be able to do the abs until really late or tomorrow. :-/

~Katie

Another rest day

It's another rest day and I am still going to try to do something after work. Maybe I'll just do the cycle for a while, but I've been feeling too good this week. My PMS was pretty nonexistent and I'm feeling happy in my head, so I might as well keep it up. Plus, I can cycle and read pretty readily!

Tomorrow, back at it! This time, pushing to use 10 lbs instead of 5 if I can and 15 instead of 10 & 20 instead of 15. I don't think I'm pushing hard enough to fail except for the push-ups. The push-ups are getting better. I need to place a pillow under my chest to make sure I go down far enough.

~Katie

Week 2 Burn 1

Still trying to switch to morning workouts. But I think Wednesday is the first day I really can. This morning, I had to bring my cat to the vet to get bloodwork done so he can get a couple teeth removed Friday. Being ready to go at 7:30 am is difficult enough without making time to workout beforehand. Tomorrow is the morning the bug man comes over. So for now, I will continue working out as post-work decompression.

Contemplating cleaning out the garage to make a workout room there. Ceiling fans and wood floors don't make for enough room for 2 people jumping around. We'll see what Saturday brings.

Decided that I like making sure I have My Fit Foods for lunch, afternoon snack & dinner. Helps to know that I'm eating well rather than springing for a quick fix. Relearning portions.

Workout this evening went well. Tried pushing it up a notch & then backed down to 5 lbs on some that I probably should have stayed at 10 lbs with.

DID WAY MORE PUSH-UPS!!!!

Woo!

~Katie

Off day

So today was my day off. But after brunch and yesterday's anniversary celebration, I felt the need to sweat it out.

I got Best of Turbofire HIITs with my challenge pack, so I did that & AB Igniter for 30 sweaty minutes.

~Katie

On the schedule!

Today, I knew I needed to be showered, and at Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company to set up my table to sell at their anniversary party.

So I woke up early. On a Saturday. And got my workout in! Burn It Off and Recharge! I only got halfway through Recharge though before I needed to get into the shower & ready, so I'll have to make it up later, or tomorrow on my off day.

I noticed also that this morning's rally happened much more easily for us!

~Katie

Burn Intervals and AB Burner

Tonight was the long workout & aerobics workout. I didn't get home until 8 :30 pm since I had my first therapy session tonight. I think it will be a good relationship.

The workout. Let's see, lots of plyometrics and lunging and high rep/light weights in between. It wrung me out. By the end, I was doing the lower intensity moves because I was all over the place.

And then had to take my inhaler at 20 minutes left of the 45 minute workout. Then a small break and on to ABs!!! Or as I should name them UGHs! I stink at them now.

Interesting point: Riley the dog was hyper before I started, and when I took breaks, but when I started moving, she just laid down off to the side and watched & waited. It was like having a cheerleader.

~Katie

A bit on weights

For ChaLEAN Extreme, you need weights or resistance bands.

 I wanted to be able to travel with it, but also prefer weights, so I got both. I haven't done a resistance band workout, but it was within a dinner out pricing, so I added it on. It will be nice to not have to rely on a hotel gym having the equipment.

These are the bands that I got

But I prefer to use weights when I'm at home, because I feel the resistance the whole way and not as a gradual increase like the bands.  I had a pair of 2 lbs and 5 lbs dumbells at the house already, and I've found that the 2 lbs is WAY too light for me. The 5 lbs is something that I will quickly move beyond, as well. What can I say? I carry a laptop bag and a heavy purse every day. Dumbells are EXPENSIVE! Especially to have the range of weights that I'd like to have. I wasn't ready to commit to buying lots of sets for over $100, so I got this modular set that I could grow with.

The 1 lb weights don't come with the set

 

I am a bit underwhelmed by it. The securing mechanism doesn't stay tight and the post gets in the way sometimes. It'll make do, but with the options that are available, the bar with the two screw caps are 4 lbs, then you need to be balanced, so you're options are pairs of 4 lbs, 10 lbs, 14 lbs, and 20 lbs or singles 26 lbs, 30 lbs, and 36 lbs, which is fine, but not great when it's slipping and sliding and you have to pause and reconfigure the weights in the middle of the program if you want to jump up or down with them.

So I've now gone and invested in 10, 15, and 20 lbs free dumbells so that I can easily switch between.  I may sell the modular set, or I may play around with loading it up to over 20 lbs for when I just need to use one HEAVY weight. We'll see. If you have dumbells, use them! If you aren't sure what weights you need to start with, go to a store or gym and see which weight you need to not be able to any more after 12 reps.

Quoting Chalene Johnson "Muscle Burns Fat!"

Katie

A New Direction

Hi, this is me. I'm Katie.

I have gone from fit to flabby to fit again and flabby flabby flabby flabby in the past 15 years.

Exercise had always been part of my life growing up. Track & Field and basketball through middle school and high school. Sometimes working out 3 times a day to keep up with the sports. And it was always because I had to for a team. In college, I ran, and I went to the gym. Sometimes. I gained the freshman 15 easily and the summer after my freshman year, cut Snapple from my diet and started getting in a running routine again.  I lost it easily and kept it up in fits and spurts through college and maintained a pretty decent size 10 inamongst my late nights studying and blowing off steam.  Then graduate school where I was going to the gym often, finding my love of the erg machine and walking a mile with hills each day from my parking lot to the physics department. So I stayed in shape mostly.  Then came time to work. My motivation flagged. I was going through a rather deep depression and gained a bit of weight, but not too much. Started therapy and began going to the gym on a regular basis again and again, fell in love with the erg machine. Moved, changed jobs and the gym was way out of the way. But I had a neighborhood that I walked in. I walked everywhere. I slimmed down to a size 8.

Me in 2008. My goal is to be there again, just with more muscle.

This was when I started really having a social life. I finally felt like I was making friends and spending time with them. So a lot of my socializing involves eating and drinking. I transitioned to craft beer. Moved again, and started a business. So between work, settling in my home, and running a business, working out and finding the time to do anything other than grab easy food and go was difficult and I have ballooned. Surpassing any weight that I had ever been. Even while pregnant I was 20 lbs lighter than I am today. I am in the worst shape of my life. But, for the most part, I am happy. I am fulfilled. I have great friendships and am working on building my own business.  So that's where I am. My inside is still not perfectly balanced, but I'm addressing that by returning to therapy. And my physical shape is awful.

Last year, I trained and biked the MS150 and started attempting to do weigh watchers. I lost a bit of weight and was able to fit into some of my size 10 clothes well again, but I fell off the wagon when I started investing more and more time into my business. Which my business needed it. And then, then I went and I fell in love with an amazing man. And we were indulgent. No food or drink was off limits. But I gained any weight I had lost and I gained more. And I started feeling fat and sloppy and hated the way I fit into clothes. And my job has been rather stressful, so I've been stress eating when I should be doing activity to combat the stress. I started down the self-loathing path that is very dangerous for me.  So I enough. I don't want to look like this anymore and I don't want to feel like this anymore.

So I'm on a journey. I'm on a challenge. My friend Jennifer Burgess is a role model for me. She has shaped up from having twins 20 months ago and now has a 6 pack. She is a BeachBody Coach. And I have joined her February Challenge group, but started as soon as I got my materials.

So join me as I forge a new direction and carve out time for myself to be good to my body and still keep all the rest of my balls in the air.  Join me as I improve myself body, mind, and soul. So that I can love myself as much as my family and my boyfriend love me.

James & I at a friend's wedding

I have started each day with a Shakeology shake in my blenderball cup.  I am splitting between chocolate and greenberry flavors.

Chocolate is more like Chocolate/berry (either cherry or raspberry, but berry-like) and I've had it with both water plain and with coffee as the base. I like having it with the coffee as it just ups the morning wakeup factor a little bit.

Greenberry is more like banana cinnamon. REALLY. I expected greens and berries. But it's not. So don't expect it. If you like bananas (I do), then this will be great for you. It's like a spiced banana bread in a cup. I haven't tried it with anything other than water, yet. I'm thinking about brewing some green tea to use as a base in the mornings. Some suggest orange juice, but I'm trying to cut out the sugars in the juice.

The workout program I'm using

For fitness, I'm following the ChaLEAN Extreme workout regime and am just on my first week, so today is my first of the Burn Intervals and AB Burner workouts.  I am a lunkerhead. I sleep until the last possible minute, so for the moment, I'm working out in the evening, after work. But I am missing out on a lot of activities by doing this. I'm being kind to myself by first transitioning to the working out 5 days a week. Next week, I start kicking it to the morning before I leave for work. Which means that I need to wake up 2 hours earlier than usual. 10-15 minutes for water & changing, 30-45 minutes for working out (though the Burn Intervals is 45 minutes alone, so with the AB Burner, it's longer), 10 minutes to cool down, 20 minute shower, 30 minutes for getting ready.

Right now, I'm only minimally changing the way I eat. I'm getting lunch and snack at My Fit Foods and trying to focus on eating dinners that have a high protein ratio (a lot less pizza), and have so far been maintaining keeping my alcoholic drinks per night to 2 or less (I've overindulged a couple nights this January).  I'm in the craft beer business, so no, I won't be giving that up. I need to stay knowledgable and connected to the scene. This change in lifestyle has to be gradual.

Stats
Weight: 181 lbs
Pushups: almost able to do 1 on my knees. Seriously. I can go halfway down and then up.
Lower Body Weights: 9 lbs
Upper Body Weights: 5 lbs
Back Weights: 9 lbs

Scary Images!

Yes, this is me. I need to retake my before photos in front of something that's white instead of my beige wall.

Keeping Strong,
Katie