So I’ve gone back and forth and whether I should even talk about this but I thought that I would be honest about the highs and low of this challenge. It would be great if this blog was always cheerful, funny and entertaining…. but I also want it to be honest.
Week three of this six week challenge has been my hardest yet, physically but especially emotionally. I’ve actually done a lot better on my eating habits. I’m more aware of what I am eating and have been a lot more active this week. I'm excited to say that I went to the gym everyday this week. Sounds like everything is going great, right? Well, I got really emotionally at my last class the other day because I felt so weak. (I HATE that I do these kinds of things) It just really sucks sometimes working out with people that are already fit when you are not. Yeah.. I knew that this was going to be hard from the start, knew that I just had to do my best and not give up blah, blah, blah….… but it still sucks.
My instructor keeps on telling me NOT to compare myself with the others…. but I still notice. I notice that the others have to wait for me to get done with an exercise because it takes me twice as long to do things. I notice that the others can do things like pushups and planks without stopping and I have to stop, fall to my knees and try my best to catch my breath. I hate that my instructor notices when I'm running too slow or slowing down so I can catch my breath. I do not mind being pushed to do well but I don’t want to feel like I’m disappointing anyone. I'm not trying to be down on myself or anything like that. It just gets hard sometimes.
I hate that I am so weak when it comes to fitness, I’m at the gym several times a week and have been for the past 2 years. The first year I dropped weight like crazy, the second year I have not been able to lose anything. Just gained and lost the same 10 pounds over and over again. It just doesn’t seem like I’m getting anywhere. I think that I am starting to get a complex over this. It is normal to be on a year long plateau?
Maybe it is because I was never athletic in my youth and should have developed those skills when my body was developing? (I’m just making that part up but it sounds good to me.) I’ve heard that losing weight is 90% diet, 10% exercise. Don’t know if that is right, but I’m really tracking my eating this week and hoping for results. Anyways, sorry for the downer blog. I'm ok and everything, just had a bad day and get those strange thoughts sometimes. (I think that most girls know what I am talking about) Why do we do this to ourselves?? I’ll try to make it up to you on the next blog. Maybe I’ll share some crazy story from high school or something. Those are always fun.
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Armband
So this armband thing is pretty cool. (Please see earlier blog if you don’t know what I am talking about) I’ve been plugging it into my computer a couple times during the day just to see what my activity level looks like. It’s pretty interesting to see how your day has so many ups and downs. It gives me a graph of my day and lets me how many calories I am burning per minute. Here is the really cool part: on my first night with the armband on, it told me that as I was sleeping I was burning 1.3 calories per minute. On my second night with the band I had gone to boot camp that evening and that night I burned an average of 1.7 calories per minute. So because I exercised I was able to burn more calories in my sleep. WHOOT! I’ve heard that happens as you exercise and speed up your metabolism but it’s so cool to actually see proof that it is working. I’ll post a picture of what my day looked like.
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
armband
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Working out with Matt Damon
Decided to make a turkey last night and it came out pretty good. I thought that it would be a great idea to have some healthy meat in the house. (and lots of it!) The problem is I am afraid of making turkeys. The first time I made one was the first thanksgiving I was married. We had the in-laws over for a dinner and my mother-in-law decided to bring a friend. Apparently the turkey wasn’t thawed out very well (this I can blame on the husband) I cooked that turkey well over the time on the directions but couldn’t get the thermometer to pop up. It was so embarrassing since everyone was already to eat and I was still waiting for the stupid thermometer to pop. Finally it popped but it didn’t look done. We cut the turkey and cooked the meat in the microwave… just in case. I was so worried that everyone was going to get sick and it was going to be all my fault. It came out so dry and nasty, I felt so bad. I didn’t make a turkey again for a few years.
The second turkey I made actually came out pretty good except for one small thing. Apparently you have to look in two places inside the turkey to take out the “extras“. I took the neck out of the cavity of the turkey and noticed that there were not any giblets packed in there. I checked and checked…. they were not there. I just thought that the bird didn’t come with the bag of giblets. Maybe they forgot to put them in the turkey or this brand doesn’t provide them?? I had no idea, just knew they were not in the cavity so I thought I was ok. Of course after I cooked the turkey and cut into it, I realized that there was a big-old bag of giblets hidden in the neck of the turkey (I didn’t think to check there) So now I know to check both ends. I really have to work on my cooking skills.
After dinner I went to the gym. Wanted to do some cardio and practice this running thing without passing out. The good thing about my gym is you can watch movies while you workout in the cardio area. I jogged/walked on the treadmill while watching a Matt Damon movie. (one of the Bourne movies, don‘t know which one, they all seem to be the same) Ahhh… this is the way to work out. I should write a letter to the gym and ask if they can only play movies with hot guys in them. I'll have to make up a list. This would motivate me to spend more time in the cardio area. I should be able to hit my goal in shorter amount of time if I had a motivation like that to get to the gym.
BTW- weight in on week one was -3 pounds, not bad since I didn’t do that great over the weekend. Whoot!!!
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
The second turkey I made actually came out pretty good except for one small thing. Apparently you have to look in two places inside the turkey to take out the “extras“. I took the neck out of the cavity of the turkey and noticed that there were not any giblets packed in there. I checked and checked…. they were not there. I just thought that the bird didn’t come with the bag of giblets. Maybe they forgot to put them in the turkey or this brand doesn’t provide them?? I had no idea, just knew they were not in the cavity so I thought I was ok. Of course after I cooked the turkey and cut into it, I realized that there was a big-old bag of giblets hidden in the neck of the turkey (I didn’t think to check there) So now I know to check both ends. I really have to work on my cooking skills.
After dinner I went to the gym. Wanted to do some cardio and practice this running thing without passing out. The good thing about my gym is you can watch movies while you workout in the cardio area. I jogged/walked on the treadmill while watching a Matt Damon movie. (one of the Bourne movies, don‘t know which one, they all seem to be the same) Ahhh… this is the way to work out. I should write a letter to the gym and ask if they can only play movies with hot guys in them. I'll have to make up a list. This would motivate me to spend more time in the cardio area. I should be able to hit my goal in shorter amount of time if I had a motivation like that to get to the gym.
BTW- weight in on week one was -3 pounds, not bad since I didn’t do that great over the weekend. Whoot!!!
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
falling and getting up again
So fell of the wagon over the weekend. Didn’t go to the gym at all, my eating was OK but I could have done better. We went out of town and it threw off my groove a bit. My husband took off a few days from work so we spent a lot of time together and unfortunately it didn’t involve going to the gym. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.
I bought a calorie counter thing last night (Body Media/ FIT) I‘ve always wanted one. It’s an armband that you wear 24/7 and it shows the amount of calories you burn during the day and in your sleep. It also shows the amount of steps you have taken, hours you have slept, and is programmed to your personal fitness goals. You input your food intake to a software program and you can see if you are burning more calories then you are taking in. It’s really cool and I already love it. I’ll let you know how this works out for me during the next couple of weeks. So if you see me walking around with a armband monitor just know that it’s a fitness thing and one of those bracelets the cops use to keep an eye on the trouble makers.
I went to the gym today and took a body combat class (kind of like a kickboxing class, just different) It’s probably one of my least favorite classes at the gym. It’s fast paced and I have no clue what to do most of the time. Seems like when I’m kicking the rest of the class is punching… I get confused so easily there, it’s hard to keep up. Also there is a lot of jumping and bouncing around. That is never fun when you are “blessed” girl. But I did burn a bunch of calories according to my armband, so that is a good thing. Whoot!
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
I bought a calorie counter thing last night (Body Media/ FIT) I‘ve always wanted one. It’s an armband that you wear 24/7 and it shows the amount of calories you burn during the day and in your sleep. It also shows the amount of steps you have taken, hours you have slept, and is programmed to your personal fitness goals. You input your food intake to a software program and you can see if you are burning more calories then you are taking in. It’s really cool and I already love it. I’ll let you know how this works out for me during the next couple of weeks. So if you see me walking around with a armband monitor just know that it’s a fitness thing and one of those bracelets the cops use to keep an eye on the trouble makers.
I went to the gym today and took a body combat class (kind of like a kickboxing class, just different) It’s probably one of my least favorite classes at the gym. It’s fast paced and I have no clue what to do most of the time. Seems like when I’m kicking the rest of the class is punching… I get confused so easily there, it’s hard to keep up. Also there is a lot of jumping and bouncing around. That is never fun when you are “blessed” girl. But I did burn a bunch of calories according to my armband, so that is a good thing. Whoot!
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Running and ice cream
Ice cream……….. I LOVE ice cream. I think ice cream is my favorite thing. I think about it a lot, is that strange? Who sits there and thinks about ice cream? I decided to stock my fridge with yogurt, but it’s not the same. I miss ice cream. The exercise part of this challenge is hard, but not as hard as trying to eat right during the day. Something else I need to work on I guess. I eat when I’m stressed or upset. Always have. I also eat when I am happy or want to celebrate something. When I want to do something fun it usually involves food somehow; a picnic, lunch with a friend, dinner with my husband, drinks with the girlfriends. I also eat when I’m bored. (as a stay at home mom this happens a lot.) So whether I’m happy, sad or just hanging out I seem to be eating, which is all the time.
I went running last night. (what I call running anyways, you might call it jogging, or maybe a fast walk but it‘s as fast as I go right now) I jogged/ran for 22 minutes without stopping. I didn’t start up the coughing thing that I was doing at the gym the other night which is a good thing. I hate feeling like I can’t breathe. I was excited that I made it as far as I did, but when I got home I just wanted to pass out on the couch and I did.
Today was Jacob’s last day of kindergarten. I’m so happy for him, but not looking forward to this summer at all. I’m going to miss my daily hang out with the other moms on the playground. We usually let the kids play while we sit there and talk. I’m going to miss that, I know the kids are going to miss school too. It seems like when I have a schedule, I do better on my eating and going to the gym. But when I’m at home with nothing planned out, I get all lazy and don’t want to do anything. The summer heat doesn’t help either. I usually try to stay indoors during the summer and only go places in the evenings or early morning so I don’t get fried by the sun. I think this is why I signed up for boot camp. This will give me a reason to get to the gym and help to not going crazy this summer.
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
I went running last night. (what I call running anyways, you might call it jogging, or maybe a fast walk but it‘s as fast as I go right now) I jogged/ran for 22 minutes without stopping. I didn’t start up the coughing thing that I was doing at the gym the other night which is a good thing. I hate feeling like I can’t breathe. I was excited that I made it as far as I did, but when I got home I just wanted to pass out on the couch and I did.
Today was Jacob’s last day of kindergarten. I’m so happy for him, but not looking forward to this summer at all. I’m going to miss my daily hang out with the other moms on the playground. We usually let the kids play while we sit there and talk. I’m going to miss that, I know the kids are going to miss school too. It seems like when I have a schedule, I do better on my eating and going to the gym. But when I’m at home with nothing planned out, I get all lazy and don’t want to do anything. The summer heat doesn’t help either. I usually try to stay indoors during the summer and only go places in the evenings or early morning so I don’t get fried by the sun. I think this is why I signed up for boot camp. This will give me a reason to get to the gym and help to not going crazy this summer.
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you are right“- Henry Ford
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Day one: Can’t… breathe….
Today was my first day at boot camp!! There are 7 people in my class. We started off with weight, measurements, and a fitness test. (Eck!) I remember doing fitness tests in P.E. back when I was in school and it was so embarrassing. I couldn’t do anything close to what the other girls could do. I’ve never been an athletic girl so testing my fitness skills was never fun. I started getting flashbacks of being “that kid” in Jr high. I hate that feeling.
Tonight my instructor sat there with a stop watch and timed us on sit-ups, triceps dips, push-ups and of course how long it takes us to run a mile….. I came in last while running the mile. However, did surprising well on sit-ups. This is amazing to me because there was a time, not too long ago, that I could hardly do one. And here is the best part- We were outside doing this the whole time. Doing sit-ups and push-ups in the gym parking lot is not fun but the running was the hardest part for me. I ran the whole time… a very slow run….. but atleast I didn’t stop and walk. For the next 15 minutes after that I kept on coughing and now my throat hurts. Guess I have to work on that.
Hopefully I’ll get used to this. I’m glad that I’m doing this class and grateful for the chance to do this challenge. Hoping for a stronger and healthier me.
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you right“- Henry Ford
Tonight my instructor sat there with a stop watch and timed us on sit-ups, triceps dips, push-ups and of course how long it takes us to run a mile….. I came in last while running the mile. However, did surprising well on sit-ups. This is amazing to me because there was a time, not too long ago, that I could hardly do one. And here is the best part- We were outside doing this the whole time. Doing sit-ups and push-ups in the gym parking lot is not fun but the running was the hardest part for me. I ran the whole time… a very slow run….. but atleast I didn’t stop and walk. For the next 15 minutes after that I kept on coughing and now my throat hurts. Guess I have to work on that.
Hopefully I’ll get used to this. I’m glad that I’m doing this class and grateful for the chance to do this challenge. Hoping for a stronger and healthier me.
“If you think you can or think you can’t then you right“- Henry Ford
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