I didn’t know *that* could hurt!
Posted by: Kathy on: June 7, 2008
So, yesterday I did my first P90X workout — the Core Synergistics one. Of course I didn’t do it right along with them — not only were the moves for the most part completely unfamiliar, but I’m out of shape, and couldn’t physically keep up with them. And that’s okay. I did what I could do. I felt pretty good after the workout, but as the evening wore on, I felt a little more and more sore. This morning when I woke up, I was *really* sore. I didn’t even know I had muscles there! It’s the glutes, but this is a deep soreness — like I’ve never worked these muscles before in my life. Oh, yeah, this program is good!
P90X
Posted by: Kathy on: June 6, 2008
- In: exercise
- 2 Comments
Ok, so I’ve taken a break from losing weight. Yeah, right — totally and completely fell off the wagon — stopped watching what I ate, stopped exercising, stopped everything, and gained my weight back. But that’s gonna change.
My husband and I ordered the P90X system (got it off of eBay). We did the preliminary stuff yesterday (weighed, measured, did the “pre-fit” test which we both barely passed, etc.). The “pre-fit test” didn’t seem to be that difficult, on paper anyway, but I gotta tell you, I was sore from that! And I was afraid that today was gonna be even worse.
There are 3 different ways you can do the P90X program — original, doubles, and lean. I’m doing the third, because I want to lose the chub, and don’t really care about bulking up and getting my muscles big. I bet that a lot of women go this way! My husband is probably going to do the original series, which has a lot of workouts of the different major muscle groups.
The first workout was “core synergistics” and it was pretty cool. I wasn’t able to do everything (a couple of the moves were rather tricky, and I’m just not able to do push-ups that well, but I bet that I did about half of what the people on the video did, which is better than what I had expected. I’m a little worried that my form wasn’t what it should have been, but I did my best. Right now, I’m tired, but I still feel more sore from what I did yesterday than from what I did about an hour ago.
The pre-fit test I did yesterday included 2 minutes of jumping jacks; and a move where it looks like you’re sitting in a chair against the wall, except there isn’t a chair — you just have to sit there as long as you can; and also an attempt [pathetic, feeble attempt] on my part to do a chin-up or a pull-up. I could feel my muscles trying to work, but my husband said I didn’t move at all. But my muscles are *sore* from trying.
Anyway, it’s a cool workout, and I worked up a sweat and could feel the burn; but it wasn’t so difficult that I felt like I just had to give up and do nothing. Seeing the video people’s perfect form gives me something to shoot for… not to mention their ability to hold certain yoga positions when I can barely get into them.
Let the garbage can eat it
Posted by: Kathy on: April 15, 2008
- In: weight loss
- 1 Comment
One of the struggles in my mind as regards eating is my frugality, my waistline, and my appetite.
Most of the foods that I enjoy eating are neither frugal nor low-fat and/or low-calorie. Pizza, for instance. The way I prepare it (which is the best that I’ve ever eaten, in or out of a restaurant), is fairly expensive. It’s cheaper than going out to eat, but not by much. One pizza which feeds our family costs about $10 in ingredients. It also uses one pound of mozzarella by itself, plus pepperoni and Italian sausage. We use mushrooms and spinach as well, but those are healthy so don’t count in this discussion (plus the amount we use is probably negligible for the calorie count, and they are the cheapest of the ingredients by weight of volume as well). All sweets fall into this category as well. Even if they’re very cheap, they’re unhealthy and unnecessary.
But I try to be frugal (as much as my husband allows), so when it comes to left-overs, I hate to throw things out. So I eat them. But they add up too! I’m trying to get it in my mind that it’s just as wasteful to throw something into my mouth unnecessarily as it is to throw something into the garbage can. If I don’t need it, then it’s wasteful and “waist-full”!!
So, the few bites of peanut butter and jelly sandwich that my kids didn’t eat can either be saved for later (and they probably wouldn’t eat it because it would be mushy), I can eat it, or I can toss it. Usually I eat it so it’s not “wasteful” (my dad was full-blooded Dutch, so I’m frugal by nature as well as “nurture” — we didn’t have enough money growing up to be wasteful)… but it’s still wasteful to eat that which I don’t need. And it’s probably worse, because it’s unhealthy for me. Even if the actual food isn’t just loaded down with fat and calories and artificial ingredients, it still contributes to me carrying around at least 30 extra pounds that I ought not have.
So my new motto needs to be “Let the garbage can eat it!!”
Reasons vs. Excuses
Posted by: Kathy on: April 14, 2008
There are so many avenues to take with a title like this. Think about it. So many people say they do something or don’t do something because of [fill in the blank], when the reality is that it’s because of something else.
For example, I want to do the Dave Ramsey thing — get out of debt and stay that way. I’ve probably said “Dave Ramsey” too much and have turned my husband off of him. So, I’m not saying anything right now. It’s in my long-term goals, but I want to win the war even if I lose a few battles. I’ve asked him to do the whole Dave thing, and he “doesn’t like Dave Ramsey.” I’ve asked him why and his answer is that Dave doesn’t like any debt, and sometimes debt is necessary — for instance, med school costs a lot of money, and most people couldn’t go without a student loan of some sort (unless they came from a wealthy family).
But that’s his excuse, not his reason (imho). His reason is that the Dave Ramsey program is too hard. He doesn’t want to cut expenses that much, and “live on beans and rice, rice and beans.” He wants to out-earn our wants, but I know that can’t happen. You can always find something to spend your money on.
On another blog, someone wrote that the father of her child has told her that if he didn’t have to pay child support, if it wasn’t something forced on him, then he’d be more involved in their child’s life. Bull. That’s his excuse, not his reason. She’s toying with the idea of letting him out of his obligation, so that he won’t have that excuse any more. But that’s the funny thing about excuses — if you don’t have one, you can always come up with another.
If you don’t work-out, it’s almost never because you literally don’t have enough time. It’s because you choose not to make the time to work out. (The only exception I can think of is if you literally are working or sleeping 24/7.) But if I have time to get on the computer for half an hour, or even for 5 minute segments, I have time to do a work-out video, or at least some crunches or leg lifts or something. Something. Anything.
A broken leg is a reason not to go for a walk. “It’s cold” is merely an excuse.
But my clothes still fit….
Posted by: Kathy on: April 13, 2008
- In: weight loss
- 1 Comment
I can’t be fat, right?
Weight has a tendency to creep up on you. You wear your clothes, and then they feel a little snug. So you get more comfortable clothes from your drawer or the back of the closet. Ah, sweat pants! Then you go shopping for more clothes (or in my case, get clothes that my sister was purging from her overstuffed closet), and get clothes that fit. Gradually, ever so gradually, you stop wearing your clothes that previously fit, and get bigger clothes. Your clothes still fit! But they’re different clothes.
Then one day you pull out your jeans (that all used to fit), and find that you can’t button them. The fact that you can fit into your new jeans doesn’t matter. You can’t fit into clothes you used to be able to wear.
So now you have a choice — ignore the fact that your old clothes are in fact too small, which means that you are now in fact too big; or make the choice to get back into your old clothes.
This happened to me. I knew I was eating too much and not exercising enough. I felt like I was gaining weight. But my clothes still fit. The fact that most of them were stretchy and knit didn’t change the fact that they still fit. But it also didn’t hide the fact that I was gaining weight. But then come out the jeans. My new jeans fit. (But what size are they? I don’t look.) And my old jeans? I can get into them, but they’re tight. Not too tight to wear at all, but they’re not exactly comfortable.
But this has been an effective tool. Wearing clothes that are too comfortable makes it too easy to eat too much. Not only does something tight across your tummy make you not as hungry, but it is also a physical reminder that you are too fat, so ought to not eat as much.
This is one of my problems — when I get to a certain point of weight loss, or to where my clothes fit, I start feeling good about myself, and feel like I’ve got this weight thing licked. Then I slack off. And eat more and exercise less. Fooling myself into thinking that I’m still doing what I had been doing. Knowing I’m lying to myself. Gotta stop it!
Back to the Drawing Board
Posted by: Kathy on: April 12, 2008
- In: weight loss
- 1 Comment
Blogging about losing weight was good at the first. Then I started blogging too much and not losing enough weight. Too much computer, not enough exercise. And I stopped counting my calories, and basically went back to the way I was eating before, therefore I’m heading back to the weight I was before. Not good!
I wore my yellow dress to church this past Sunday, which was the first time I’ve put it on in months. Since I was breastfeeding the last time I wore it (and am rather buxom to start with), it wouldn’t zip, but it was easy to say that it was due to the extra boobage rather than just the extra fat. Well, my son has weaned, and while I can wear the dress, it was tight. It’s never been tight. (But then, the last time I actually wore it somewhere was before I got pregnant four years ago. Since then, I’ve been pregnant and/or breastfeeding.) That wasn’t a good sign. Other clothes are tight. So I stepped on the scale today, and that was an even worse sign!
Reading Jennifer’s blog about not putting goals too far out was good. People are different — some people get overwhelmed by a goal too big or too far away, while others rise to the challenge. I’m not sure where I am. I liked her idea about “just one pound.” Fifty pounds does seem like an awful lot, especially since I’ve frittered away three months (twelve weeks, twelve pounds), and should have only 38 pounds left, when in reality, I have 47 pounds to go. And probably 35 weeks to do it in, if I’m going to stick to my one-year goal.
I must keep this blog up. To let it go is to admit failure. To keep it quiet is to ignore the problem. To keep writing on it is to face the problem and address the issue. It’s about accountability. And getting it down in black and white. Seeing it as it really is, and not as I pretend it to be. Enough is enough.
Good news and bad news
Posted by: Kathy on: March 22, 2008
I’m allergic to chocolate. Enough said.
Long story: I bought some Valentine’s M&Ms on clearance, and one night ate some. The next night I ate more. The next day (Wednesday) I felt ill, and was indeed sick, but I’ll spare you the details. Let’s just say, the good news is I lost a few pounds. Nobody in my family got sick until Saturday night, and that might have been something they ate (the oven-fried potatoes I made were a little heavy on the oil, and that just might not have set right with them). My older son never got it, but my younger son did, so I got to experience the wonderful sensation of fresh vomit on my shirt. Several times. I did lots of laundry.
Since I’m allergic to red dye #40 (it makes my nose itch if I touch it), I thought it was logical that I might have become allergic to it if I ate it, so I blamed the food coloring of the red and pink M&Ms. I gave my stomach a few days, and ate some Hershey’s kisses (also Valentine’s clearance candy), and my stomach kinda hurt afterwards. I thought maybe my stomach just wasn’t completely settled from my recent illness. A few days later, I ate a few, and my stomach hurt again. The next day, I went to my mom’s, and she had fresh chocolate chip cookies. I ate one, plus the rest of the cookie batter. And my stomach hurt.
See, I’m like Daffy Duck: “I don’t like pain–it hurts me!” But I still want chocolate. Every time I look at it, I start salivating and my stomach starts hurting. But I’ve eaten chocolate cake and it didn’t bother my stomach. It might be that something made with cocoa is fine, but whatever is in processed chocolate (milk, semi-sweet or dark) upsets my stomach.
So, the good news is that not being able to eat chocolate should make it easier to say no and eat less and gain weight. The bad news is, I still want it, and I’m even more tempted to eat other bad things to make up for no chocolate.
I just don’t get it
Posted by: Kathy on: February 14, 2008
- In: diet| exercise
- 3 Comments
Not as bad as I feared
Posted by: Kathy on: February 11, 2008
….but not as good as I hoped. I did gain back 1 pound from my total weight loss. So I’m typing this short post and then going to work out. I have written down my calories today–and I’ve been hungry so I must have been eating more than I thought I did last week. 
I can’t find my DVD that I want to do, so I’m going to hop on the treadmill w/a movie and see how far I get. It’s a little disheartening because I can only do about 10-15 minutes on the ‘mill, while I know I can walk even a few miles at a pop outside. I think it’s the incline or the drag of the treadmill. I got it at a yard sale, so I’m not sure if it’s designed to be tough, or it needs to be lubed or something. Either way, it works and it cost $20, so it’s no big deal either way. I just figure it’s resistance training and walking in one! 
Falling off the Wagon
Posted by: Kathy on: February 10, 2008
Big-time!
Tomorrow is another day, and I’ll get back on the strait-and-narrow on Monday.
It’s been easy to cut calories since I started counting them–very easy. And the weight slipped off just like in the formulas (3500 calories equals 1 pound). A family sickness gave me the excuse not to work out (had to hold my baby practically all day), but having reduced my calories kept my weight going down even without working out. So I haven’t done that in a couple of weeks. That’s bad. I’ve also not been writing down my calories–but I justified it by saying that I knew most of what I ate, and figured out what I didn’t, and kept a running tally in my head. Maybe I was fooling myself. But I do tend to eat the same things in a row (make one meal and then eat left-overs; or make pancakes one day and eat them for several mornings in a row), so it’s an easy thing to tell myself that I know what I’m eating.
So last week I knew I should have done better, but Friday was our 5th anniversary, and my husband and I planned on going out on Saturday to celebrate….to Outback Steakhouse. So, looking forward to that, I really should have scaled back on my calories (1300 per day maximum–but that presupposes that I actually counted my calories this week, which I confess I did not do very well), so that I could indulge last night without going too much over an average of 1800 calories for the past 7 days. Except for the Bloomin’ Onion (YUM!) and the fruit smoothie I had, the meal was pretty good–I had a side salad, and for an entree, had grilled chicken over wild rice. And I didn’t eat all of my entree. I can’t say for sure that the entree was necessarily healthy (possibly prepared with lots of hidden butter, and almost definitely too much sodium), but it was a lot better for me than the deep-fat-fried, batter-dipped onion as an appetizer!
But I need to get better. The first weeks were too easy, and now I’ve slipped. Plain and simple. I need to tighten up–go back to day one and start writing down and start exercising again. I’ve got goals, which I need to review, and make sure I hit my markers. Fifty pounds is not going to come off of me this year by wishing–only by doing. One month is already gone from this year, so I have eleven to go. Hopefully, I haven’t put back any of the 8 pounds I’ve lost (but I’m not going to check my weight until tomorrow morning), so one pound a week is very doable, and I can probably do it faster, especially if I kick back up the exercise.
It’s kinda frustrating to my brain, too, because I actually liked doing the exercises, and was feeling better and stronger, so I’m not really sure why I quit it so easily. Do I just like looking and feeling the way I do? Not really….but truthfully, part of me must like it better than it likes working out and controlling my mouth.
Tomorrow is another day……
