Weight Loss Wednesday: Enter the "Asylum"..

Remember how Shaun T. is my new BFF? Well, just in case you forgot:

I was so inspired by my meeting with Shaun T., that I decided to do the 30 day Insanity: Asylum plan (in addition to running). If this doesn't get me in shape, I'm going to seek medical attention.

So, technically, I'm starting the program June 27. I'm going to do all 30 days (I may need to rearrange a few workouts because of the running schedule, and of course things like LIFE), and I'm going to document EVERY DAY. Yes, with the workout program, there is a challenge: Take before pictures and measurements, document EVERY DAY, and send it in when finished, and you get a FREE T-Shirt. I'm all about a free t-shirt.


I'm really excited. Just watching this again makes me want to start right now.

Come on, Shaun, I'm ready!

Weight Loss Wednesday: How many calories?

I love broccoli so much, I'm going to post this picture twice.

I had another great week of weight loss. I lost another 2 pounds (woohoo), so it seems I'm finally making progress. I love looking at my weight chart on Livestrong.com:

Well, now you know I'm listening to Itunes while I look at my weight history.

After I gave birth I weighed in at 160. Then I was stuck at 152 FOREVER. But now, you can see it steadily going down, which I love.

So this week went pretty well:

Wednesday: P90X Back and Biceps, 2.5 mile run.
Thursday: Turbofire Fire 55EZ
Friday: P90X Legs and Back, ran 25 minutes.
Saturday: Ab Ripper X, then took my son to his first race. So cute!

My little champion :-)

Sunday: Turbo Jam, Cardio Party 3.
Monday: Run 3 miles on the treadmill, 30 minutes. Hills and sprints. About half of Ab Ripper X.
Tuesday: Baron Baptiste Unlocking Athletic Power Yoga. Yum.

Someone asked me recently, "How many calories should I consume if I'm trying to lose weight?"

Well, it's both complicated and really easy.

The simple answer: Consume less calories than you expend.

The complicated answer: How do you know all that?

Here we go:

Step 1: Determine how daily calorie expenditure

Basically, you need to know your Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR. Click here for a BMR Calculator.

The BMR calculator takes into account your height, weight, age and sex to determine how many calories you burn just staying alive. Like, if you did nothing but lay in a coma all day, it's the calories that give your body energy for your heart to pump, nails and hair to grow, just the basic life functions.

According to the calculator, my BMR is 1430.

Now, most of us probably do more than lay around all day, so we'll probably need to adjust our calories.

Use this (after you've found your BMR) to see what the calorie requirement would be for you to stay at your current weight.

So, according to my activity level, I would need 2216 calories a day to maintain my weight.

Step 2: Determine your daily calorie deficit.

It takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound (like *really* lose it, not just water fluctuation). Most experts recommend a weekly loss of 2 pounds. So, if you want to lose 2 pounds a week, you need a weekly calorie deficit of 7000.

That means each day you need to burn an average of 1000 more calories than you consume.

Going back to my example, if I am steady at 2216, then to lose weight at a rate of about 2 pounds a week, I need to net 1216 calories a day. Now, I can get there by reducing my caloric intake, or by working out, but preferably by both.

So I could consume 1500 calories, and run 3 miles, and reach my daily goal.

Does this all make sense?

Calorie quality:

It's important to consider the quality of your calories. Have you heard of the Twinkie study?

Basically, 150 calories of broccoli is a lot more food than 150 calories of potato chips....

Yum. Doesn't it just look yummier than yucky old potato chips?

So, I'll get into the quality of your food on another day (because I do believe it makes a difference). This is jus a starting point.

Questions? Comments? Disagree? Let me hear it....

Have a great Wednesday!

Weight Loss Wednesday: I like cheat meals...

Well, I don't think you can still say I'm doing a Whole30, because Friday night I decided to have a cheat meal. Pizza. Ice Cream. And, you know what?

Saturday morning I felt like crap. I felt hungover. Yuck.

Kind of like this... (found here).

One of my new mantras is: "Eating crap is punishment enough."

Most of the time, I've found eating this way to be really easy. Friday night, I was tired, it was Friday, I could barely function, and I just refused to cook. So I caved in on the pizza. (The ice cream was extra). After almost a week of no bread, no dairy, no crap.. it was rough.

So, I've decided, it's okay to have one meal a week when I give in to the crap I'm craving, but after a while (and several more mornings like Saturday morning), I'll probably stop craving them.

I'm proud of myself this week, though, because when I weighed I had LOST FIVE POUNDS! Let me say that again: LOST! FIVE! POUNDS! This takes me to 149- finally under the 150 mark (and it wasn't dehydration!) It's got to be the new way of eating....

It's a Christmas miracle...

I feel like I finally have traction when it comes to losing that last 10 pounds. 

Another awesome thing: Monday, I ran 3 miles on the track. I ran them in 28:34! Normally, I'm thrilled to make a 10 minute mile... this put me at something like 9:25...

I made a goofy video about it...

To summarize:

- I cheated just once, and I think it's psychologically beneficial (even if it's painful)
- I finally broke the weight loss plateau
- I ran fast
- I don't care if I look like a dork talking into my phone in public.

Really quick, before I let you go (and I'm so impressed if you are *still* here at this point...), here's what my week looked like:

Wednesday: Ran 25 minutes on the treadmill. Barely.
Thursday: P90X Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Friday: Ran 25 minutes on the track
Saturday: Turbofire Stretch 40(Skipped P90X Legs and Back because of more hip flexor/back pain)
Sunday: Turbofire 55 EZ
Monday: P90X Chest Shoulders Triceps and Ab Ripper X
Tuesday: Turbofire 45 EZ

Have you reached some fitness/weight loss goals this week? Share in the comments..

Weight Loss Wednesday: "You think *this* is hard? You should try..."

One of the main reasons I love the show Glee is Sue Sylvester. 

From here

Her quips are classic. Here are some examples:


"You think this is hard? I have hepatitis. That's hard"
"You think this is hard? Try waterboarding. That's hard!"
"You think this is hard? Try filling your own cavity, that's hard!"
“You think this was hard? Try auditioning for Baywatch and being told they’re going in another direction. That was hard.”


You get the idea.


I've taken this a little further with my fitness activities. A friend and I made it through a particularly hilly 5K by making up more of these.

On the Whole30 page, under "Tough Love", what they said reminded me of Sue:


"It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime." - Whole30 Website here.


So, with that in mind, I've started the (modified) Whole30 challenge. Early. As in, "not on June 1st".




Well, the more I researched, the more the "forbidden" foods (milk, rice, black beans) that I normally consume started to seem less appealing. Saturday I decided to just go ahead and try it. I did have my Shakeology (the only exception I'm making during this "challenge") and did pretty well (except for maybe overindulging in some Sunbutter. OMG. That stuff is A-MAY-ZING...), but after dinner, I chose to eat some Chocolate Moose Tracks Ice Cream with my family. It was wonderful. I loved it. But, afterwards, I felt kind of sick.

So Sunday I went all in.

It's weird. I've been empowered. I'm not really hungry. My husband brought home pie (to go with the ice cream), and I was really not interested.

Maybe it's the accountability. Maybe it's the sunbutter. Whatever it is, it's working.

As for the workouts, I did pretty well. It was the P90X Recovery week... but I must confess, I didn't do a single P90X workout. I'm okay with that (Tony and I were on a break). Here's what last week looked like:

Monday: Ran on the treadmill. Crazy hill/speed intervals so I wouldn't die of boredom.
Tuesday: Ran a little over 2 miles on the track. I think I was sore from the treadmill.
Wednesday: Rest.
Thursday: Ran 2 miles in 80 degree weather. It was so hard, I contemplating quitting running for the Summer.
Friday: Turbofire Stretch 40 (A nice yoga-ish workout).
Saturday: Bob Harper Yoga for the Warrior (was supposed to run, but my low back felt tweaky)
Sunday: I kept saying I was going to run, but it just kept getting hotter outside, so I put it off until the next day.

Eh. So I didn't do Core Synergistics. I felt like I needed "recovery", and I felt like (later in the week) that early week hill/speed workout may have been a little too much.

Between the eating and the fitness, I feel a little bit like I'm getting this down...

Stop by and visit on Facebook- we can chat and motivate each other (and make up Sue Sylvester-style quotes).

Weight Loss Wednesday: How do you eat?

Well, this was my week to get my eating under control, and I have to say I did pretty well. I kept my calories below 1900 every day (which was my goal), and I noticed a few trigger points:

* At night, when making dinner/cleaning up dinner/taking care of and juggling children- this is when I tend to shovel food in my mouth mindlessly. I did my best to be aware of it and avoid it...

* Measuring: I've been pouring chocolate chips into a bowl and eating them as a snack, telling myself it was one tablespoon. Um, once I actually got a tablespoon and measured it, I realized I have been eating a LOT of chocolate. So, for the jumbo semi-sweet chocolate chips that I like, 1 TBS is 15 pieces. I have been counting them out. 15 pieces = 80 calories.

Shakeology "Ice Cream" (yes I measured those chocolate chips)

* I haven't been drinking nearly enough water. On Monday last week, I made a real effort to drink 10 BIG glasses of water, and I noticed a difference. I felt better. I was "clearer". I peed a lot, but I did notice a difference. So, this is a very important discovery.

* The things that are easier to make are not as healthy. The things that are healthier take more time. Dang it. But, it does help to prepare foods in advance, like I did with this salad and chicken:

Yep, I eat my salad with a spoon. I can't be great at planning ALL the time..

My workouts went pretty well. I adjusted a little bit from the original plan, but kept it consistent:

Monday: P90X Ab Ripper X, Chest and Back; Run 2 miles

Tuesday: Accidental rest day (overslept)

Wednesday: P90X Ab Ripper X, Shoulders and Arms; Run 2 miles

Thursday: Turbofire Hiit 20 and Hiit 15

Friday: Run 2.25 miles

Saturday: P90X Ab Ripper X, Legs and Back

Sunday: Yoga (Tony Horton Fountain of Youth) (to make up for missing yoga earlier in the week)

I've also been experiencing some serious information overload regarding diet. Vegan, Raw, Paleo... everything seems to have a benefit. So, I think that's what I'm going to be talking about next week...

Thoughts?

Weight Loss Wednesday: The Smoking Doctor

(Yes, I did intentionally make that sound like an episode of Doctor Who..)

In 90s, I was a big fan of the show E.R. I was a fan in the early years, but after Anthony Edwards left, it lost a lot of its magic for me.

I remember a scene with Dr. Greene (Edwards' character) where he was smoking. I remember thinking, "How terrible. How could a doctor- someone who is so devoted to health- smoke? Gross."

Well, I feel a little bit like the smoking doctor. I weighed at the gym Monday, and I had gained 2 pounds in one week. This was a week where I did all the workouts I was supposed to. I knew it had to be my eating.

I love to workout. I could workout for hours a day. I have in the past. Before I had kids, I could spend up to 5 hours between my own workout and teaching class. That's how I made the money to pay for my wedding: Teaching 2-3 classes a day, and then working out on my own. I looked pretty good at my wedding. Of course, I was 29, and one might argue my metabolism was higher..

[I don't have any wedding pictures online or I would put one here. That's pretty sad.]


But, I've always had problems with eating.

I crave healthy foods. I just don't always eat the right amount. (And I don't always stick to the healthy foods, as well). I am starting to realize a lot of it is emotional eating.

My nutrition/diet/overeating- whatever you want to call it- has held me back for years. When I was 30, and Turbokick was still only in gyms, I auditioned to be a presenter. My notes said I was a great instructor, but that my physique didn't "show a commitment to fitness".

I trained for and completed a half marathon, but I've been pretty much stuck at the same weight for the past 6 months. I am not going to blame my metabolism (although I think in my 20s I could have eaten like this and lost weight... but since that doesn't apply anymore, it really doesn't matter). I'm not going to blame breastfeeding, or hormones, or "I just had a baby 8 months ago!"... I'm going to take responsibility.

I. Need. To. Eat. Better.

Now, the part I'm most ashamed of is that I know exactly what to do. I have helped tons of people get themselves to their desirable weight. But, it only takes a moment of weakness to shovel a bunch of food in your mouth.

So, here's where I am:
1. I admit that I eat when I'm stressed out or upset.
2. I know that it's happening when it's happening.
3. I always find an excuse why it's okay to keep eating. ("I've already blown it, I might as well finish the bag..")

From here, I've decided to make a public declaration: I will eat better. I will report back every Wednesday. I will finally "look like" a person who works out as much as I do!

Here's what I commit to doing:
1. Drink my Shakeology daily (It really does help me with the cravings. I let myself run out last month, but no more! Ordered some extra for May!)
2. Log everything I eat in Livestrong.com.
3. Post my weekly intake on Wednesdays, no matter what I eat!

You all are my witnesses. Are you going to hold me to it? Do you want to do it with me?