May 13th, 2008 by Cynthia
Shows what I know. I was thinking "Ate fast food salad Saturday night.", skipped some meals, didn't eat veggies with every meal, was getting a little lax with prompt food and exercise logging, didn't exercise as much and what do you know... maybe my body needed a little rest.
Yesterday's weigh-in at 219.6 was a pleasant surprise!
Today's weigh-in was even more pleasant, though I suspect that is simply a water issue. Pool workouts seem to suck me dry... and that's even with drinking 20 cups of water yesterday! The hydration percentage difference on my Tanita scale was telling. Yesterday, 35.9%... today 35.0%.
Still, it feels good to be tasting the 2-teens!
Here's the calorie per day breakdown for the curious:
Monday = 2141
Tuesday = 1825
Wednesday = 2243
Thursday = 1581
Friday = 2436
Saturday = 2358
Sunday = 1681
Total of 14,265 for the week.
What I aim for weekly is 14,700, i.e. 500 cal/day deficit. Probably explains why I was so hungry yesterday!
With a road trip coming up, my aim is to enjoy myself, but hopefully in a moderate fashion so I don't totally destroy my recent progress.
May 11th, 2008 by Cynthia
I'm going off on a little road trip to the Seattle area next weekend and getting things ready and packed for it distracted me most of yesterday. No workout... forgot to eat my 4th meal and ended by having hubby bring me a Jack In The Box fajita pita and salad late last night when he got off his evening shift. And inhaled them both!
I rather suspect this week is not going to be entirely stellar in terms of workouts and possibly not ideal for eating either, but I will do my best to keep mostly on track. A little break on workouts probably won't hurt my body. And I do need to do some serious housecleaning before I leave, which should burn some calories. I'm already planning on how to keep my eating within reasonable bounds, while still enjoying my trip!
Blog posts may be sparse this week. Just sayin'.
The official weigh-ins tomorrow and next Monday may not be pretty. I can accept that. Any bad looking numbers are going to be primarily, if not completely water weight, so nothing that I plan to worry over!
Today's eating is going well so far. Made a nice smoothie early this morning, then followed that a few hours later with a small stir fry of salmon, asparagus and toasted cashews with a little red curry sauce. And yeah, I know... fish before lunch sounds weird, but trust me, I loved every bite!
PN Tuna Burgers are made and sitting in the fridge ready for tonight. We'll have them with asparagus and tomato soup.
Happy Mother's Day to all who are celebrating!
May 9th, 2008 by Cynthia
I figured out the other day why doing lunges is so darned difficult.
I realized that I've NEVER done them before at any point of my entire life! No wonder it's been a struggle! It's an entire motor skill I've not used, never learned. Balance on these is really tough for me. I'm not sure I could do them at all without the assist of the TRX trainer or my fitness ball.
I'm working on it. Today, we did intervals in water aerobics and I threw myself at that, so I was wiped after. Didn't want to walk or swim. But I did take the time to get in the shallow end and practice walking lunges in the water. It's not real work for my muscles because of the water support, but it's hard balancing in the water, so I thought it would help me with that and just getting the form and motion down.
Anyway, good class, good workout.
My new 2X swimsuit (hopefully the LAST 2X) arrived yesterday. It fits! It actually looks a bit more stylish, or at least you can tell that I have an hourglass shape. Though I think the top half of the hour glass is shrinking more than the bottom half. I'm not sure how good it will be for swimming, but I expect I can live with it for the three months it will last.
I just had a smoothie of fresh pineapple, banana, coconut milk, green tea and vanilla protein powder. And spinach. Hit the spot!
May 8th, 2008 by Cynthia
Not me! I happened to regularly read John Is Fit a fellow bloggers journey from fat to fit and he gave away a free bicycle in this post! I didn't win that bike, sigh, but as he is not the only blogger giving out a bike, I'll keep trying! And I'll try to keep updating this page as I find contests. There is one catch... though fitness blogs are worldwide phenomenons, the bike contest itself is only open to United States residents.
And a nice bike it looks to be too! A Fuji Crosstown 2.0. The winner will also get some coupons for Lipton Tea and a $75 check towards professional bike assembly, in case you are not a do-it-your-self sort.
Apparently, Lipton is doing a whole contest thing to promote their new white iced tea. And part of it has been giving some lucky blog writers actual bikes to give away in exchange for promoting their contest. Well, I don't have a free bike to give out, but at least I can point you to where you can enter for one! And you might enjoy some blog reading expansion!
Honestly, I haven't myself used Lipton tea in a long while, but maybe I'll take a gander at their offerings next time I'm at the store. Certainly I have no objections to black tea, red tea, green tea or white tea. Count me in for herbal tea as well. Let's just say I'm a big tea drinker and leave it at that!
(Note... the new white tea offerings have not yet shown up at my Safeway as of May 12... but I'll keep an eye out.)
All aboard the bike contest express!
I think it's cool that Lipton is supporting the blog fitness/fat loss movement by doing this bike giveaway! Requirements for an entry differ from blog to blog, likewise for entry deadlines.
Head on over to these other fine blogs for more chances to win!
Scale Junkie
No More Fat Dad
She Just Walks Around With It
A Sizable Apple
Finding Flabuless and Downsize TV
InMyHeels
She Knows
Everyday Goddess
I know I wouldn't mind winning a bike! Riding it, after all these years of NOT riding might be interesting! Especially on our hilly street! Hope it has good brakes or I might entertain the neighbors by going SPLAT!
May 7th, 2008 by Cynthia
I did my very first suspended plank today! Lasted all of 4 seconds. Heck, just getting my feet properly in the loops and rotated over into position without slipping out of the TRX trainer was a first!
I'd tried once before when I first got the trainer, and found it to be absolutely impossible. Could NOT do it. Worse, the DVD said that unless you could do a full regular plank for at least a minute, you shouldn't try to go suspended.
But I CAN'T do a regular plank... the position my feet are in for that stretches them in a scream provoking and painful manner. I tried briefly last fall and set my foot progress back a good while. So I had thought that with my feet suspended, maybe I could do it.
Then I couldn't because my core was too weak!
So I always substituted kneeling planks for as long as I could hold 'em instead. I don't know why I tried the suspended plank today... just did.
I was so jazzed that I managed to get my body up for even those few seconds, I rested and then tried again! I made 10 seconds. My heart rate went from 106 to 125 bpm! I know, seems so pitiful. But I was practically dancing, because I can DO it!
Oh yeah... I also managed 12 lunges on each leg with the trainer assist. Progress forward!
According to my heart rate monitor, I burned 350 calories for the 35 minutes I did on the trainer. Average heart rate 111 bpm (64%). Max heart rate 143 (83%). 25 minutes in the light aerobic zone... 8 minutes in my regular working aerobic zone. I managed Nordic Track skiing for 20 minutes after. Supposedly that burnt 275 calories... hard to believe, but my heart rate was up, so maybe. Average heart rate 137 bpm (79%) and max rate 147 bpm (85%). Had to stop after 20 minutes, my feet were going numb.
Made a wonderful Gourmet Nutrition v2.0 Pina Colada smoothie in my new Vita-Mix with green tea, light coconut milk, fresh pineapple and banana for my very necessary post-workout meal.
May 7th, 2008 by Cynthia
About a month ago, my twenty year old Vita-Mix Maxi-4000 blender started showing signs of imminent death. I started seeing chunks of ice, fruit, even spinach left in my smoothies, the motor didn't sound good at all and it was starting to emit some nasty burning smells.
I was immediately sad. I used this kitchen appliance daily, sometimes more than once a day. It ground my flax seeds and made my smoothies and protein shakes. I've made fresh applesauce in it, ground wheat berries to flour and more. Truth is, I barely tapped the full potential of the machine while I owned it, but for what it did do well, it was super! And it provided such a neat retro look in my kitchen.
If you are familiar with Vita-Mix blender models at all, I'm sure the first thing you are thinking is "WHY is she writing a review/obituary on a 20 YEAR OLD MACHINE?"
I'm not entirely crazy... yes, this model is OLD, but I've heard of machines that have lasted as long as thirty years with daily usage! Furthermore, there is a thriving trade in old Vita-Mix blenders, parts and accessories on eBay. It's possible to find barely used or even like new machines with all stickers intact! Given the high price of a brand new model, many folks DO search for these older models! You can still buy replacement parts for the 4000, including Action Domes and seals and in fact, Vita-Mix will still repair the Maxi-4000 motor bases for $110. So I hope that shoppers for used equipment find this information useful.
Besides... I was fond of my Vita-Mix 4000, it had served me long and well. Respect is due. I am the kind of person who buys quality, takes care of it and has her stuff last for many years.
With the death of my 4000 coming, I knew I'd like to upgrade to the new 5200 model. Fortunately, my wonderful husband said I could for my birthday! Needless to say, he is now reaping the food rewards! Vita-Mix offers a $75 credit trade-in program on some models including the 4000 and they don't have to be working!
Continue reading 'R.I.P. Vita-Mix Maxi-4000'
May 6th, 2008 by Cynthia
Only a very little bit. My muscles were still QUITE sore from Saturday's workout, so I'm surely retaining water. Which means that I'll probably see a nicer scale number in a day or two. (And given I started writing this yesterday... today I saw a new low of 221.2!)
Posting a gain bugged me a LOT when I started this blog. Back then, it just seemed like such a public failure. I've gotten over that feeling lately. It's feedback... and on any given single day, not necessarily correct feedback! The month to month trend is more significant to me. Keeping good habits is the important thing. Progress is about more than just numbers!
Progress is sometimes that "head held high" feeling I get after my exercise. Where you can take on the world with one hand tied behind your back. So, did I mind my little gain? Not really for once. It's one number on one day. I just kept thinking about being stronger and fitter. Hubby says I am building a new foundation. I think he's right!
I seem to be in my "happy place" lately... not worried, making my slow progress on various fronts, and not being tempted much at the grocery store. Came home today with a nice looking pineapple and BEETS of all things! I've never cooked a beet before, but I'm in the mood to try.
I had a fair few 10% meals. That's about the beyond tired feeling in the evenings, where I just grab a reduced fat string cheese stick, or some almonds, or a TBSP of peanut butter and have that as a meal with no veggies and no real lean protein source. It's not out of control eating, or unhealthy eating, it's just not compliant with the habits I try to follow. Something to continue working on.
Fasting cardio can't be every day. I wish, but my feet aren't liking it. So I'm going to add it in as I can. I need to be more conscious about icing my feet down in the evenings.
Now that spring weather is FINALLY starting to appear... I need to get out and do some yard work. I'm going to try and keep up exercise, but given my feet can only take so much, I may have to sacrifice a little traditional exercise for the sake of the yard. Looking at what is out there in the nature of trimming and pruning and digging and weeding... I'm not too worried that I won't get a workout!
