Back on the wagon, again.

Hello.  It's been a few years.  Since I last posted, I've lost some weight and gained some weight
Somehow, these gains and losses have canceled each other out and I'm at the same weight that I was when I last posted.  I've had a few struggles in my life recently including eczema breakouts, constant feelings of fatigue, and feeling lost in my career and personal life.

I've learned that the main culprit for my skin problems is sleep.  If I'm in bed by 10 and sleep a whole night, my eczema goes away.  Sleep doesn't take away my fatigue, though.  I have a feeling that my diet is not fueling my body.

There was a period of time when I ate salads, only.  The only carbs I ate was an ounce of oatmeal for breakfast.  I lost a ton of weight, and was theoretically eating enough calories to fuel me.  After awhile, I was constantly tired.  I really liked my results on the scale but didn't like how I was feeling so I begrudgingly started eating carbs again.

2016 was probably the worst year of my life.  I want to turn a new page.  Maybe hopping on the weight loss wagon again is my attempt at gaining some control, but I've always wanted to be 20 pounds less than I am now.  So, here I go.

My primary tool is kindness to myself.  As long as I try just a little bit, I'll be happy.

I'll use the Loseit app to log my calorie intake and exercise.

I'll also use a calendar where I can see all the days of 2017.  Every time I exercise for 30 minutes, I put a sticker on the day.  That way, I have a visual of my exercise.  If I see a streak of not exercising, I'll know that I need to do something to get in the game.

Also, as part of my efforts to be nice to myself, I'll allow myself to exercise casually.  I don't have to run or do something stressful and strenuous in order to put a sticker on the calendar.  A 30 minute stroll will suffice.

Finally, I have a fitbit to keep track of my steps.  I'm not asking for the world from myself.  I'll just aim for 7500 steps a day.  I'll log my progress on this blog.

The body achieves what the mind believes

Some new workouts that I've done recently:

• Couch to 10k
• Abtacular Pilates Workout | Pilates Bootcamp With Cassey Ho on Livestrong Woman
• NTC Shoulder Ripper (under get focused)
• NTC Hope Solo Unbeatable
• Hundred pushups, starting at week 3 with upper body elevated to height of a park bench

Since completing the C25K program, I've decided to start the Couch to 10K program.  I'm using an app by Zen Labs (which also made the C25K program that I used).  I really like it.  I am on Week 10, day 1, which I will conquer today.  I'm a bit daunted by running 45 minutes, but logically speaking, if I can run for 30 minutes straight, then I should theoretically be able to run for 15 minutes, rest for 1 minute, and repeat 2 more times.  So I jogged at Terry Hershey Park for the first time this weekend.  I usually don't like driving unless I have to, but
a.  I was curious.  What is it like to jog at Terry Hershey Park?
b.  I enjoyed jogging at Memorial Park with my friend and her dog.  Perhaps Terry Hershey Park would be just as enjoyable.
c.  I jog on concrete in my neighborhood.  I have paranoia that I'm hurting myself by jogging on concrete.  I assumed the Park had asphalt, graphite, or dirt trails.
d.  My neighborhood is flat.  I was looking for something less flat.

Well, it was awesome.  There were lots of people and interesting scenery.

I am now in the 140s with regards to weight.  I am elated.  I should probably take a picture of myself, which I will do when I get home. I am now at a Starbucks.  I am in love with SBX cake pops, btw.  When I bought a peppermint brownie today, the person behind the counter told me that 1 extra mini treat is $1.  I decided why not?  BIG MISTAKE.

1.  Each pop is 170 calories.  Not worth.
2.  I started feeling disgusting half way through the first pop.  This is the EXACT same reaction I had the last time I ate a cake pop (which might have been a month ago).  Why do I not learn?!?

This SBX is right by Hershey Park so I'm going to go to the park soon and jog my C210K.

I took a hiatus from hundred pushups and realized that I liked the way that my upper body (and body) looked better when I'm doing pushups.  So, I've decided to start with the program again, except instead of doing pushups on the knees, I'll do pushups slightly elevated.  I been hearing that when one does pushups on knees, it still helps strengthen pecs, but the person forgoes the core benefits of pushups.  The slightly elevated pushups (even pushups against the wall) are easier than standard pushups but also provide core benefits as well.

I have another fitness role model:  P!nk!  She is ripped and hot.  She lost 55 pounds post pregnancy.  I just watched her Try video yesterday (which is AWESOME BTW), and was in awe of her body.  In an effort to have a body similar to hers, I've started doing pushups again.

Also, I did the before shower Lish workout, yesterday.  It was tough.  But then I started thinking about something a classmate said to me, about if I power through the tough workouts, that's when I'll start to see changes, which reminded me of the Lisa Venn diagram.  P!nk hired Jillian Michaels and Jeanette Jenkins to whip her into shape.  J. Jenkins has a workout on NTC and it is no joke.  Seriously, I couldn't do it the last time I tried.  Maybe I will try it later today.  Actually, I just watched some moves from it.  Ugh.

Another form of progress is that there are workouts on NTC that were once un-doable, i.e. the 45 Get Lean workouts, esp. Cardio Surge.  Well, I can complete them now.  I'm starting to sweat less when I do them.  I tried the Fitness Blender Ski workout that I like so much the other day.  The last time I did it (which was over a month ago), it was a struggle.  Now, I completed.  I will take this as a sign of progress towards fitness.  I feel like I'm on the cusp of the intermediate level workouts on NTC and am trying new workouts to ease my way into the intermediate level workouts.

Thanksgiving is this week.  Happy Thanksgiving.  I have so much to be thankful for.  I'll list 5 right now:

1.  Friends in Houston
2.  My family - my parents for their support while I'm looking for a job
3.  My classmates at Anderson
4.  My progress in fitness
5.  My faith - I would be so lost without faith in God and Jesus Christ's death and resurrection

piqued interest in intermittent fasting

I've recently heard about intermittent fasting as a new health trend.  I've read a bit about it, but there doesn't seem to be any defined structure except go for a large chunk of the day not eating and then eat during a small window of time. 

I like this, because it seems to simplify life: just one healthy meal a day.  It's a time savings.  I haven't tried intermittent fasting, yet, but it made an impression on me that going hungry for a few hours might be OK.

I ate under my calorie floor yesterday and ended up losing 1 pound. I think I was able to to do this because I let my body go hungry for a little longer than it was comfortable doing.  I've decided that I want to try doing this a little bit more frequently - let myself experience hunger.

PLUS, fasting is a spiritual discipline. 

Lish workouts that I mentioned in previous blog posts

My malaise has not disappeared despite my best efforts to make it go away.  This past weekend, I had two birthday parties and ate a lot.  I did end up going for a walk on one of the party nights (very scary, walking around the neighborhood at night).  But then another night, I did nothing.  I ended up 1500 calories over my calorie limit for the week (yikes!!).  A highlight of my past week, though, was jogging at Memorial Park in Houston.  I saw lots of people of all shapes and sizes.  I ran with my friend's wife who is super fit and their giant dog.  The loop around the park was a bit less than 3 miles.  I ended up running a little over 3 miles, which is pretty amazing.  On the last day of C25K, the app instructs me to run 30 minutes, which is what I do.  But, 30 minutes for me is less than 3 miles.

Well, this is a new week and new beginning.  It did not start well.  I was very grumpy yesterday and ended up doing no exercise.  The whole time I was busy not exercising, I was thinking about how exercise improves mood, but I chose to lie on my bed and be upset / read.  Makes no sense.

At the same time, I always have an urge to exercise in the morning, but I don't, because I think that I should work instead.  Well, this morning, I got up super early and started a new exercise program: C210k!  I've run a 10k before, but I think I'm ready to do it again.  I was kindof dragging my feet getting out the door, but once the voice on the app told me to start running, I went.  AND, it was fun!!  AND, there were others around the neighborhood exercising as well.  It always makes me feel happier when I see others around the neighborhood jogging besides me.  Plus, I jogged faster than my normal speed.  Maybe my bucket list goal of a 10 minute mile for 5k is attainable.  So, things that have helped me improve my speed around the neighborhood include my jog around Memorial Park and occasional jogs on the treadmill (which by the way have gotten a lot easier).

Also, during this period of malaise, I've been thinking about low effort exercise routines (entry level routines if you will) that I can do, just to get me started.  Then I remembered how I enjoyed these workouts that Lish posted.  When I went back to the pages in which I posted the workouts, they were no longer there.  I think something weird happened when I copied and pasted the image from Lish's Facebook page to my blog.  Lish quit BodyRock, and I think BodyRock made her delete her profile.  The images that I pasted were somehow linked to her Facebook page I suspect.  Luckily, I wrote the workouts down on a piece of scratch paper and never threw the paper away.

So here is one Lish workout:

1.  50 jumping jacks
2.  10 pushups
3.  20 sit ups
4.  20 bicycles
5.  20 mountain climbers
6.  30 s plank

Do 3x - This would make sense as a wake up workout

Here is another Lish workout:

1.  10 burpees
2.  15 jump squats
3.  10 pushups
4.  20 jump lunges
5.  20 sit ups
6.  20 mountain climbers
7.  10 squats
8.  10 squat jumps
9.  20 knee highs

Do 3x - I believe this was labeled as a before shower workout (I'm not sure.  Memory hazy)

Anyhow, there is a podcast called Get Fit Guy.  He was giving hints on how to burn more fat.  One of them is to do small exercises throughout the day (which makes sense).   I might just randomly bust out one of these circuits when I want to procrastinate during the day.

Cooking Classy: Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta

Here's something that I plan to cook for my next Bible study:

Cooking Classy: Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta: If you love Italian food then this is a deluxe meal you will most definitely want to try! It is fancy, loaded with fresh goodness, creamy...

Exercise until my lungs are burning

I've been really into basketball lately. I've heard a lot about Kobe Bryant's work ethic and wanted to learn a bit more.  I did some research and I could have heard wrong, but I saw a youtube video in which he said something along the lines of exercising until my lungs are burning and that I have a strong desire to spit blood. 

Well, that is very extreme, but I must say that I find my hundred pushup challenge to be very rewarding and every time I do it, I do pushups to the point that I can do no more.  From this program, I can see that I have been getting stronger.  Looking over my log, it's amazing.  At one point in time, I can barely eek out 20 pushups (don't forget my pushups are on my knees).  Now, I can do 50!

I was very happy about yesterday's leg exercises because my legs were screaming towards the end.  Both routines included squats galore and then isometric holds which were insane.  During lean machine, I needed to break, but during Fitness Blender, I held the isometric squat hold, although but squat jumps after that were less than enthusiastic.

I'm very proud of the fact that yesterday, on the treadmill, I ran for two eight minute blocks, one of which had a period in which the treadmill was on an incline of 3.  Compared to my jogs around my Houston neighborhood, a 3 incline is pretty extreme.  Even though I was constantly looking at the clock yesterday, I didn't sweat that much.  Maybe because I was jogging right underneath a fan.  Who knows.  I am dreading the 20 minute run on the 'mill, but I think I might be ready.  I want to remember Kobe's advice: exercise until my lungs are burning. Or Cassey's - Train insane or remain the same.  Or that Venn diagram - get out of my comfort zone (because that's where change happens).

Next time, another Lakes on Eldridge run.  I'm looking forward.

Undisciplined

I'm sorry.  I'm not up to date on this blog.  I have been exercising.  I'm just tired.  But maybe this should be an exercise in discipline: both discipline in time management and stick-to-it-ness.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012:

Mediocre eating day.
Calorie Summary

Calorie consumption: 1530 Cal;
Exercise calories burned: 243 Cal
Net calories consumed: 1287 Cal

Exercise Summary

• NTC Core Crunch - I kindof enjoy this. 
• Kill That Muffin Top for Beginners | Pilates Bootcamp With Cassey Ho on Livestrong Woman
• Cassey Ho & Ashley Borden: Amazing Thigh Workout

My abs were shot when I decided to do some Pilates with Cassey.  I struggled to suffer through the Amazing Thigh Workout.  The Muffin Top for Beginners was rough as well.  I would do the Amazing Thigh workout again.

Yesterday was an AWESOME eating day.
 Calorie Summary

Calorie consumption: 1382 Cal;
Exercise calories burned: 0 Cal
Net calories consumed: 1382 Cal

My awesome eating day was supported by the fact that the person who brought food to Bible study brought very little food.  I think it was perfect.  I managed to eat enough to not go over my calorie limit for the day.

Today was a MEH eating day.

Calorie Summary

Calorie consumption: 1690 Cal;
Exercise calories burned: 297 Cal
Net calories consumed: 1392 Cal

Exercise Summary

• C25K Wk5 Day 2 on the treadmill
• The Lean Machines Tone Your Inner Thighs and Butt
• Fitness Blender Booty Blaster Killer 5 Minute Butt and Thigh Workout Challenge

 I really enjoyed today's workouts. They all challenged me but were doable.  I had tons of fun.