Fat Fitness

Entries from January 2007

Induction

January 30, 2007 · 2 Comments

So, I’m doing a South Beach ‘induction.’ Yay. We shall see how it works. So far so good. Although I did have M&M’s today. Oh well. Dinner is better. Lean meat and salad. Mmm! J introduced me to these Perisan cucumbers from Trader Joe’s. Omigod…they are fantastic! So I sliced some up and put them on the salad along with other veggies that I had on hand.

I went to get my ass kicked today. Damn. I worked muscles that I didn’t even know I had. It really hurt. But…eh. What else am I going to do? Nothing? NO! So after the good ass kicking, I did ten minutes on the ellipitcal and twenty on the treadmill while watching American Idol (don’t say anything). Here are the fruits of my labor, including both the training session and my cardio. hehe. :D

Exercise Time: 1 hour 16 minutes

Average Heart Rate: 135 HP

Time in Zone: 49 minutes

Calories Burned: 872

BMI 45.6 surprise!!

Categories: Getting my Ass Kicked

Stats!!

January 29, 2007 · 2 Comments

Hey ya’ll. Finally, J and I walked the butte. She does it everyday, but I have a hard time getting over here. It’s great exercise, relatively close to home, and you feel like you’re out in the woods instead of in the middle of the city. Anyway, I think I’ve gone on about it before. Today was the first time I was able to monitor myself on the butte with my heart rate monitor. I’m really proud of myself! Check it out.

Exercise Time: 1 hour 8 minutes

Average Heart Rate: 152 HP

In the Zone: 51 minutes

Calories Burned: 1040

BMI: 45.6 (along with the accusatory ‘obesity’ which flashes across the screen…YES!  I know. Thank you.)

Tomorrow is another training session. Woo.

Today I’m going to go shopping, and I’m making J come with me. She’ll be good for helping me buy the good stuff. South Beach, Phase I is effectively in place. Ready to launch. *whimper* Even though I’ve been trying to get started for a few months now, I still feel as clueless as before. With practice, though, I’ll do better. I just need to give myself space to learn, fail, and learn again. I refuse to beat myself up over it. My goal is to be 100 pounds lighter by 12/22, and I can do it with enough motivation and determination. On the other hand, if I don’t reach that goal, it’s not the end of the world. Continuing the way I am right now, I’ll have lost something at least. YAY!

Until next time. :D

Categories: Getting my Ass Kicked · Pontificatin' · Rallyin' · Weekend Warrior

Watchin’ CSI! Woo!

January 26, 2007 · Leave a Comment

Went to the gym today for another training session, yay. This time we worked with a machine that simulates free weights except…different. Don’t ask me how. Anyway we worked on my upper body today, and it was not fun. My posture feels all whacked, but the trainer said that I looked good. Eventually I’ll get it. Then we had a heart to heart about my eating habits for the last few days and how to avoid the normal bad snacking habits. I found it really useful. Then I did about fifteen minutes on the treadmill and ten on the elliptical. Unfortunately, I forgot to start my heart rate monitor so I was only able to get about 25 minutes of stats. Stupid! I have to say that I had a really good moment on the elliptical (a machine I hate yet love) when my iPod shuffled up Dominick Eulberg’s Fleucht…fabulous techno with a moderate beat which is perfect for me. Got my heart rate up and kept me going for a good six minutes on that stupid elliptical. Yay! Know I know what to add to my workout playlist besides Ladytron. :D

On the the numbers…keep in mind I forgot to turn it on for the majority of my workout…but here is twenty-five minutes worth.

Exercise Time: 26 minutes

Average Heart Rate: 153HP

Time in Zone: 17 minutes

Calories burned: 398

BMI 45.6

For some wierd reason when I looked up these stats on my monitor, the BMI read out kept flashing ‘obesity.’ I mean…if it’s telling me that a BMI of 45.6 is considered obese (which, DUH, of course it is)…wouldn’t it just say ‘obese?’

Anyway…another night…feelin’ good. I had a salad and chicken breast…mmm! But, I just had to top it off with a nice Belgian beer, Gulden Draak. Being the stupid brainless idiot I am, I shook the bottle before opening it and of course lost half the bottle to foamy head. A four dollar bottle of beer wasted. Don’t ask why I did that, I just did. Sheesh.

Anyway…now to watch the rest of CSI and then 30 Rock. I have my priorities, after all.

Categories: Getting my Ass Kicked · Sound Off

Workout Stats

January 24, 2007 · Leave a Comment

I intend to use this space to record my workout stats as well…as I remember to do it.

Did a half hour session with my trainer. Mostly working on my core, keeping the abdomen tight, my upper thighs, butt and lower back. Ow! But it felt good. My heart rate was about 125-130 during that, which is just barely in my ‘zone.’

Then I did ten minutes on the treadmill at speed 3.1 and 3.0 elevation. That’s like a vigorous walk up a nice hill. Then I did ten minutes on the eliptical.

Now, thanks to my nifty heart rate monitor, here are some cold, hard numbers.

Exercise time: 54 minutes

Average Heart Rate: 138 HP (target 124-162)

Time in Zone: 32 minutes

Calories Burned: 683

BMI: 45.6

Then I had a salad and a Skinny Cow fudge bar for dinner. Yum!

Categories: Getting my Ass Kicked

times, they are a-changin’

January 23, 2007 · 2 Comments

Changes, changes, changes. We live in a constant state of change. We’re fooling ourselves if we think otherwise. And, by ‘we’ I totally mean ‘me.’

So, this weekend I visited the gym for the first time since the holidays. Not to work out, but to check in with my personal trainer. I decided that, in order to get a good start on this weight loss thing, I needed some consistant ass-kicking. So, while I can afford it, I’m going to pay someone to kick my ass for me since I don’t have anyone in my life who can do it for me. I’ll be going in for my ass-kicking twice a week. This is probably going to be the best thing I’ve ever spent my money on. In fact, I’m curious to try to start a savings program at the same time. Every time I want to go eat fast food or eat out because I’m too lazy to cook (this doesn’t, of course, count going out with friends and stuff), I should put the money I would have spent into savings. And this savings would go towards offsetting the cost of personal training sessions. In theory, that’s a great idea, huh? The trick is to put into practice. I bet that I could do it…and that I’d be surprised at the results. Then again…I always pile too much on my plate and then get discouraged that I couldn’t do it all.

Anyway…so, my measurements were taken, including…dum dum duuuuuuum…my weight. The scale listed me as 301. Funny, ‘cause my scale at home said 290 that very morning. I guess the gym scale is off, but whatever. It’s just a number. What’s important is making that number go down, no matter what it starts out as. And the other important thing is making my measurements get smaller too. Hehe. So, amazingly, I’m not depressed or ashamed or discouraged about it. It’ll get lower.

I did do some walking on the treadmill that day, and had the chance to use my nifty new heart rate monitor. It’s more useful than I anticipated it to be. It actually tells you how many calories you’ve burned based on your weight and height that you preset and your heart rate as you exercise! There are some other measurements of which I’m not sure the importance could be, but in time it’ll come to me.

My meals have been a mish-mash of good and bad. I have been visiting fast food joints, but I make a point to order a salad if I find myself at a drive-thru. Still not completely healthy…but, you know, sometimes I really do turn off my brain and go about business as usual…and that includes a quick meal from a drive thru. Personal victories in that department have been 1) not getting that cheeseburger that I had originally left the house to get and ordering a salad, or 2) talking myself out of eating there entirely. I’ve also been making a point to eat at home more. Quick meals include, but aren’t limited to (because some of my fave restaurants deliver), salad topped with a fruit, a vegetable, and grilled chicken. Oh, and, most recently, Toby’s Feta salad dressing. I could do with a little less dressing, but hey…baby steps. Also, I’ve continued to allow myself ice cream by getting Skinny Cow products. They’re really good, and don’t do a lot of damage. And allow myself only one box per week or week and a half (each box comes with four to six servings). Now…whether or not the box actually lasts the entire week is another story…but I’m a compulsive eater…so I think you know what happens.

My main obstacle with eating is keeping it up during the work day. I almost never prepare my lunches the day before, so I usually end up eating both breakfast and lunch from the deli downstairs at work. For breakfasts, it’s not so bad. I get a carton of non fat milk and a granola bar. If I’m really bad, I’ll go to Starbucks and get a non-fat latte and a bagel. Then for lunch I’ll usually get something from downstairs. I try to stick with salads, but sometimes those salads aren’t very appealing. I’d do better to stick a ton of lettuce in a Tupperware and eat that instead.

Anyway…I’ve babbled on enough for today. Expect more updates as I start getting my ass kicked at the gym and continue saying no to what I really, really want. (and sometimes saying yes…hehe)

The good news in all of this is that my personal trainer believes that I can be 100 lbs lighter by the end of this year for my 30th birthday. Maybe she says that to get me to pay for more sessions, but I’m going to choose to go with it. Even if I don’t lose that much by the end of the year, I’ll at least be lighter and I’ll have done all that I could have to get healthy. This has to be my main objective this year.

Okay.  

Categories: Pontificatin' · Rallyin' · Weekend Warrior

yay

January 5, 2007 · 3 Comments

I’M BACK!! And ready to hit the ground running. So, I backed off a bit for the holidays and I can’t say that I regret it. In fact, I’m glad that I did. I was able to relax, enjoy the holidays and sample some of the goodies along the way. The victory lies in the fact that, while visiting my hometown and all the familial stress there, I did not binge. We went out to eat a lot but I did not eat as much as I would normally have eaten. In fact, I made a point to eat only half of my meals and take the rest home. My choices could have been a bit better…although, for my birthday all I really wanted was a sloppy cheesy enchilada instead of the fajitas…but sour cream and guacamole fixes everything. LOL!
Anyway…now that the holidays are officially over, I’m ready to get back to a regular schedule.
But…the funny thing is, people…before the holidays I weighed in at 290. Last weekend I weighed in at 285! I know that there are all sorts of reasons which make a person’s weight fluctuate…but I’m stoked that I’m back down to my lowest weight so far in the process.
My plan is this: to make healthy food choices instead of whatever is quick and easy. Cut out most sugar. I will log my meals at least once a week in SparkPeople to gauge how I’m doing with caloric intake and such just to make sure that a ‘normal’ meal in my eyes isn’t back to 3500 calories!! I will not be following SparkPeople’s diet suggestions because when I did, I always felt completely drained and exhausted. Instead, I’ll be following the basic ideas of South Beach and the Zone and all that…working with the glycemic index. I’ve been told by my doctor that I am ‘pre-diabetic,’ so I think that this will be the best way to go.
As far as exercise goes, I’d like to take vigorous walks three times a week and do strength training three times a week. I’m still trying to find a schedule that works for me. Working ten hours a day sucks. I can’t get up any earlier than I already am to get to the gym, and I hate coming home so late. I’ll have to find some kind of compromise.
And I haven’t been to OA in awhile. Honestly, I don’t get it, yet. I still want to continue, so I need to get back into it again. I just feel uncomfortable with how devout the regulars are. There is a book out there about 12 step programs written by an Orthodox priest. I’d like to check it out and see what he has to say. Maybe I can employ his suggestions with the OA steps.
I have a few diet buddies too! J is like my twin. We both have a nice chunk of weight to lose, only she’s been doing it longer than I have and has been really successful. And then my dear ol’ dad has offered to be my diet buddy too (even though he’s actually fit and in waaaaaaay better shape than I am). So I’ve got my team!
All in all…I’m doing well and I’m determined to greet the end of the year and the big 3-0 at 100 pounds lighter. I have to! I can’t lose sight of this.

Categories: Pontificatin' · Rallyin'