Well, I'd be lying if I said that week 2 was easy on me. It kicked my hiney. And as we finish up that second week and start up the third, this is about the time that my gung-ho, rah-rah, I can do this, I'm going to be smokin' hot by this time next year attitude dies out. And it usually is about the time I start paying the price for the other aspects of my life that I'm neglecting in order to take care of my health.
First let me say that Scott rocks. If you didn't already know this, he is the most amazing guy. :) But he is struggling right now with my being gone even more than before as are the kids. Daddy's not as good at things like remembering to have Gracie do her homework if I get home late or remembering to even brush her hair, let alone pull it back or anything and so then she's upset when I get home at night because she didn't get her book report turned in and is crying because she got to school and realized her hair wasn't brushed. I am trying to work on her taking more responsibility for herself, her homework, etc but it's a process. And in the meantime, I feel guilty and like the worst mom ever.
And I am so tired from: a. the increased intensity, duration and frequency of workouts, b. Daniel STILL not sleeping (he has a new cold and I hope not another ear infection or I'll shoot myself), and c. the change in schedule (getting up at 5, but still going to bed at 11 or 12). I know these things will get better and its an adjustment, but right now, when I get home, I do dinner, homework, baths, bedtime with the kids and by the time I come back downstairs, pack the kids' lunches, make sure everyone has clothes for tomorrow, pack my gym bag, load the dishwasher, etc...even with Scott helping me with it all, I am just p00ped.
The kids are cranky a lot because they aren't seeing me as much because I'm gone every morning and because I'm getting into work later half the time because of going to the gym first or taking a longer lunch hour, sometimes I'm working later too. And since they're cranky, they're kicking Scott's azz when he's home with them, so then he's not getting as much done around the house and such as he used to for me which just puts us further behind on everything. And he's cranky too which makes things oh-so-pleasant when I DO get home.
Add to that tomorrow is my final exam and skills assessment in my networking class. And my house is a mess, I'm behind on laundry and I have family coming into town this weekend for Daniel's party, Gracie's musical performance, and Ian's first t-ball game <-- Can we throw a few MORE things into one weekend?!?! Thank GOD that my housekeeper is coming on Wed, then I just have to manage to keep the house clean for three more days! LOL And I just think to myself, "is it worth it?!? I'm making my family miserable (and myself in some respects) so that I can do this?" This is the point in the past where I fall off the wagon. This is the point where in the past I'd stop walking, stop running, stop going to the gym, stop whatever and focus on the rest of my life. But I know I have to push past this. I know it's better for the whole family in the end. I need to do this. I need to do this. I need to do this. It has become my mantra.
Ok, so there's the vent. The positive spin though is that I know I'll get through this. All my friends and family are so supportive. And my team is so supportive and they are really a huge part of keeping me going and showing up for workouts. That and the fact Scott would kick my slightly smaller butt if I stopped going after paying all that money!
And here's the rah-rah, not a vent part:
1. I lost another 3 pounds this week for a total of 8
2. Me and the kids hiked up Bishop's Peak on Sunday....something I haven't done in forever and wouldn't have thought to do if it weren't for the challenge. Did we make it all the way? Heck no. But we had fun and we almost made it to the tree line. The kids are so excited and want to do Madonna Mountain next weekend.
3. My snacking habits are definitely subsiding. I may not be eating perfectly all the time, but I have noticed I don't feel the need to munch nearly so much as I used to and I'm able to turn down temptation a little more readily.
4. I am actually eating some veggies, if you can believe that one. I'm starting slow by putting them in salads and other dishes, but I've been regularly consuming them on a daily basis which is a HUGE improvement over my former veggie intake.
5. I've drastically cut back on my diet dr pepper intake (although not gone completely) and greatly increased my water intake
Those are all good things and help motivate me to keep going.
On a neither rah-rah nor venting note: boot camp this morning just. about. killed. me. My teammate Alyse just had to email our assigned trainer Kate that one of the trainers didn't give us a good workout on Thursday last week. Well, Kate and another kick butt trainer do the Monday boot camp. Oh yes, we paid for Alyse's comments. It was so brutal! I don't think I've ever sweat that much in my life. They gave us like NO breaks between sets and some killer Biggest Loser burpees and similar moves, along with some Jillian Michaels "unless you puke, pass out or die, keep running" attitude. At the end, Kate looks around the room and says, "Does anyone not feel sufficiently challenged?" You can bet no one said a word. Granted, that was in part because most of us couldn't breathe, but still.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Week 1 Weigh In
Woo hoo! Down 5 lbs. Haven't lost that much in a week since I first did weight watchers like 6 years ago! I don't think I ate enough calories this week though so I'll have to keep an eye on that.
I did have my metabolic testing, but I was surprised by the results. My RMR (resting metabolic rate) was much higher than I expected...2000 calories! Add in normal daily activities took me up to 2700. That's insane to me. But I guess if you have been overweight for a while, which I have, then you have to develop muscle mass to lug around all that extra weight. So that makes your metabolism higher than a thinner person who doesn't work out to intentionally build that muscle up. Interesting. I'm learning so much and it's only going into week 2.
And did I mention again that my team rocks?!?! GO 6 PACK!!!!
I did have my metabolic testing, but I was surprised by the results. My RMR (resting metabolic rate) was much higher than I expected...2000 calories! Add in normal daily activities took me up to 2700. That's insane to me. But I guess if you have been overweight for a while, which I have, then you have to develop muscle mass to lug around all that extra weight. So that makes your metabolism higher than a thinner person who doesn't work out to intentionally build that muscle up. Interesting. I'm learning so much and it's only going into week 2.
And did I mention again that my team rocks?!?! GO 6 PACK!!!!
Transformation Challenge - Week 2
Friday, 13Mar09
This week was a challenging one, at best. The workouts seemed harder, getting up early seemed harder, but I pushed through. I did miss Monday's boot camp because I set the alarm for 5 PM instead of 5AM, but I'm going to make it up...gulp...tomorrow morning. I am dreading getting up and getting to SLO and exercising that early (7 am) on a Saturday, but I gotta do it. And I need to get some cardio in as well.
A big challenge this week was not letting life derail me like I usually would right about now. I had a tough weekend and wasn't able to prep for the week like I would like and it made it that much harder to stick with the program. Scott has been amazing because I know it has been hard on him. But he understands that I need to do this and is doing his best to make it happen.
My team continues to amaze me...so supportive and encouraging and motivated.
GO TEAM 6 PACK!
This week was a challenging one, at best. The workouts seemed harder, getting up early seemed harder, but I pushed through. I did miss Monday's boot camp because I set the alarm for 5 PM instead of 5AM, but I'm going to make it up...gulp...tomorrow morning. I am dreading getting up and getting to SLO and exercising that early (7 am) on a Saturday, but I gotta do it. And I need to get some cardio in as well.
A big challenge this week was not letting life derail me like I usually would right about now. I had a tough weekend and wasn't able to prep for the week like I would like and it made it that much harder to stick with the program. Scott has been amazing because I know it has been hard on him. But he understands that I need to do this and is doing his best to make it happen.
My team continues to amaze me...so supportive and encouraging and motivated.
GO TEAM 6 PACK!
Transformation Challenge - Week 1
I'm posting a few posts belatedly, so post dates don't correspond with actual dates.
06Mar09 - End of week 1
This morning I had my third kick-azz cardio/resistance training session for the week, followed by my 4th cardio solo workout of the week. Even though I still have one more solo cardio workout to do tomorrow, I think it's safe to say that I made it through week 1 alive. LOL
I was sick as a dog the first half of this week so I just had to push through it. No excuses. You only get two excused absences and then they boot you out of the program and I am definitely not letting that happen to me!
This is awesome because if I were working out solo, I so would have opted to stay in bed and sleep in until I had to go to work because I was sick. But you know what? It didn't kill me to work out. I might have *felt* like I was gonna die, but hey, who's to say that isn't just from the whooping the trainers were doling out vs. the bug I was fighting, right? ;-)
The biggest challenge this week has been food. I didn't get a chance to grocery shop, prep veggies, prep fruit, grill chicken, etc for the week as I had planned because I literally could not get out of bed on Sunday. And then once the week started...whoa!
So I've been eating healthy with what I had available to me at home and at work. And when I'm occasionally given the choice between eating something crappy and eating nothing, I've been choosing to eat nothing. And I know that's not good because I'm burning all kinds of energy working out, but I'm really trying to make this a permanent lifestyle change. I feel like if I pick the crappy food, then I'm not changing my eating habits, even if I'm still well within my daily calories. I'm sure when I turn in my food journal on Monday I will be scolded for eating two few calories, but I'll do better next week.
Having to turn in my journal for the nutritionist to grade and give pointers is way keeping me in check on eating too. I mean, yeah, I had to journal in WW, but who was going to see it? If I didn't journal an entire day or stayed in my points, but ate crappy, who was going to really know other than me? This is definitely the discipline I needed to force me to be honest with myself about what I was really eating as well as getting in that gym every day so that at the end of 12 weeks, it's just part of my life. It's what I do, there isn't even a question, it's just there, you know?
Tomorrow is the nutrition/diet seminar and cooking class. Can't wait! I'm anxious to get some of the questions that have come up this week about nutrition answered as well as learn some other stuff I didn't even know that I didn't know!
And did I mention I love my team? They are some really neat ladies and we have fun together. We're going to try to take a hike up a Bishop's occasionally and go kayaking once in a while in addition to our normal workouts. And one of the gals is making us all team T-shirts. We definitely seem to be a lot more supportive of each other and cohesive as a team than some of the other gals. Not that it matters. Our goal isn't to be the "best" team, but to just make some changes in our lives and get healthy for the long term. If we win the challenge by doing that, great!
I have my metabolic testing on Saturday morning - 12 hour fast, no caffeine, no exercise, just water and any required medications. Sit in a dark room for 12 minutes, don't think about anything really...but DON'T FALL ASLEEP! Um, yeah, I've been getting about 5-6 hours a night interrupted at least 3 times for the past two months. Good luck with my not falling asleep! LOL But I can't wait to hear what they say..."Yes, Heather, your metabolism is complete sh!t. You need to workout three hours a day and eat 500 calories. With that program, you should be able to lose about 0.5 lbs/week. Isn't that great?" HA! I'm sure it won't be quite that bad, but I'm interested. Can't wait to find out.
06Mar09 - End of week 1
This morning I had my third kick-azz cardio/resistance training session for the week, followed by my 4th cardio solo workout of the week. Even though I still have one more solo cardio workout to do tomorrow, I think it's safe to say that I made it through week 1 alive. LOL
I was sick as a dog the first half of this week so I just had to push through it. No excuses. You only get two excused absences and then they boot you out of the program and I am definitely not letting that happen to me!
This is awesome because if I were working out solo, I so would have opted to stay in bed and sleep in until I had to go to work because I was sick. But you know what? It didn't kill me to work out. I might have *felt* like I was gonna die, but hey, who's to say that isn't just from the whooping the trainers were doling out vs. the bug I was fighting, right? ;-)
The biggest challenge this week has been food. I didn't get a chance to grocery shop, prep veggies, prep fruit, grill chicken, etc for the week as I had planned because I literally could not get out of bed on Sunday. And then once the week started...whoa!
So I've been eating healthy with what I had available to me at home and at work. And when I'm occasionally given the choice between eating something crappy and eating nothing, I've been choosing to eat nothing. And I know that's not good because I'm burning all kinds of energy working out, but I'm really trying to make this a permanent lifestyle change. I feel like if I pick the crappy food, then I'm not changing my eating habits, even if I'm still well within my daily calories. I'm sure when I turn in my food journal on Monday I will be scolded for eating two few calories, but I'll do better next week.
Having to turn in my journal for the nutritionist to grade and give pointers is way keeping me in check on eating too. I mean, yeah, I had to journal in WW, but who was going to see it? If I didn't journal an entire day or stayed in my points, but ate crappy, who was going to really know other than me? This is definitely the discipline I needed to force me to be honest with myself about what I was really eating as well as getting in that gym every day so that at the end of 12 weeks, it's just part of my life. It's what I do, there isn't even a question, it's just there, you know?
Tomorrow is the nutrition/diet seminar and cooking class. Can't wait! I'm anxious to get some of the questions that have come up this week about nutrition answered as well as learn some other stuff I didn't even know that I didn't know!
And did I mention I love my team? They are some really neat ladies and we have fun together. We're going to try to take a hike up a Bishop's occasionally and go kayaking once in a while in addition to our normal workouts. And one of the gals is making us all team T-shirts. We definitely seem to be a lot more supportive of each other and cohesive as a team than some of the other gals. Not that it matters. Our goal isn't to be the "best" team, but to just make some changes in our lives and get healthy for the long term. If we win the challenge by doing that, great!
I have my metabolic testing on Saturday morning - 12 hour fast, no caffeine, no exercise, just water and any required medications. Sit in a dark room for 12 minutes, don't think about anything really...but DON'T FALL ASLEEP! Um, yeah, I've been getting about 5-6 hours a night interrupted at least 3 times for the past two months. Good luck with my not falling asleep! LOL But I can't wait to hear what they say..."Yes, Heather, your metabolism is complete sh!t. You need to workout three hours a day and eat 500 calories. With that program, you should be able to lose about 0.5 lbs/week. Isn't that great?" HA! I'm sure it won't be quite that bad, but I'm interested. Can't wait to find out.
Transformation Challenge
Ok, since I last posted about my weight loss journey, a lot has changed. I decided to join a gym and hire a personal trainer to keep me accountable. I needed something drastic to make me stick with an exercise routine. I looked around and decided to go back to Equilibrium in SLO. I used to belong waaaaay back when it was Cory Everson's. Back then I liked the fact that it was a women-only gym, and I still do. But what really attracted me to this gym this time around was the fact that they look at every aspect of wellness as being important, not just diet and physical fitness.
So I started working with the trainer twice a week and it felt good. And I was doing cardio 2-4 times a week at the gym, and I felt good. But then a couple weeks passed, life happened and I fell off the cardio wagon and was just making it in to the training appts. That still felt good, but I had gained a few pounds and I knew just weight training wasn't going to do it for me. I needed to be better about cardio and I was struggling with making myself a priority enough to get in there and do it.
Not too long after I joined EQ, they announced their Transformation Challenge. This intrigued me. Eight women would be chosen out of ?? applicants to take part in the challenge which includes a personal training sessions, nutritionist services, etc. My main motivation was that it might provide the accountability I needed on the cardio side. Also, letting my competitive side (bet ya didn't know I had one, did ya?) push me to do this 110%. Think Biggest Loser but on a smaller, local scale.
The first step of the process was a panel interview - panel of trainers, etc and a panel of wannabe contestents. They said at the end of the interview, "if you don't make it in, don't feel bad, just know that we thought you had something going for you that some other folks didn't." Right there I thought, that's it, I won't make it in, I already started training at their gym with a trainer, they figure I can do it on my own. Frick. LOL
And sure enough, I was not one of the chosen 8. However....they were able to offer it to up to 30 more women at a discounted rate and I think I was literally the first person to ask, "where do I sign?" The more I learned about it, the more impressed I was with this challenge...it really was taking in every aspect of health and wellness. There would be seminars on nutrition, stress management, etc, weekly weigh-ins with a nutritionist reviewing our food journals, etc. This was exactly what I needed!
I'm not expecting to lose 100 lbs in 3 months like those people on biggest loser (although it would be nice..ha ha) but I do hope to walk away from this with some permanent lifestyle changes that include eating healthier every day and making exercise part of my daily life. Wish me luck!
So I started working with the trainer twice a week and it felt good. And I was doing cardio 2-4 times a week at the gym, and I felt good. But then a couple weeks passed, life happened and I fell off the cardio wagon and was just making it in to the training appts. That still felt good, but I had gained a few pounds and I knew just weight training wasn't going to do it for me. I needed to be better about cardio and I was struggling with making myself a priority enough to get in there and do it.
Not too long after I joined EQ, they announced their Transformation Challenge. This intrigued me. Eight women would be chosen out of ?? applicants to take part in the challenge which includes a personal training sessions, nutritionist services, etc. My main motivation was that it might provide the accountability I needed on the cardio side. Also, letting my competitive side (bet ya didn't know I had one, did ya?) push me to do this 110%. Think Biggest Loser but on a smaller, local scale.
The first step of the process was a panel interview - panel of trainers, etc and a panel of wannabe contestents. They said at the end of the interview, "if you don't make it in, don't feel bad, just know that we thought you had something going for you that some other folks didn't." Right there I thought, that's it, I won't make it in, I already started training at their gym with a trainer, they figure I can do it on my own. Frick. LOL
And sure enough, I was not one of the chosen 8. However....they were able to offer it to up to 30 more women at a discounted rate and I think I was literally the first person to ask, "where do I sign?" The more I learned about it, the more impressed I was with this challenge...it really was taking in every aspect of health and wellness. There would be seminars on nutrition, stress management, etc, weekly weigh-ins with a nutritionist reviewing our food journals, etc. This was exactly what I needed!
I'm not expecting to lose 100 lbs in 3 months like those people on biggest loser (although it would be nice..ha ha) but I do hope to walk away from this with some permanent lifestyle changes that include eating healthier every day and making exercise part of my daily life. Wish me luck!
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