Workout progress/injuries

So far, since February, I've gotten from 210 to 185 - a total of 25 pounds gone. Good job me! 

The challenge now is keeping the momentum going, especially since:

• the last two months have actually seen only a 1-pound loss, which suggests that even despite my extensive time on the elliptical I'm having a hard time keeping the momentum going;

• my recent injury from a car accident, combined with the trainer's increasing intensity, have made it hard to get into the gym as often as I'd like.

So, now, apparently, I have to Mix Up my workouts. The suggestion from the trainer is Incline Walking and Running. Right now running just isn't going to work, since I'm still recovering from the headaches and hip stuff - but I managed 20 minutes of pretty intense Incline Walking at the gym on Sunday along with another 20 minutes on the elliptical, and it was definitely doable. Tomorrow, I go back for more Incline Walking/Elliptical training, and then next week I start running again. In the meantime, I also have to start fitting yoga in - fixing up the yoga room helped, but the motivation's been tough to get going.

Here's to reaching 180!

Today's workout: recovering from injury

Today: 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 45ish minutes of a really hard strength workout invented by my evil trainer. Also did the same strength workout on Sunday, with much less success than I did today. 

Friday, I got rear-ended in my friend Leah's Jeep coming back from picking up a new bed. Although I totally thought I was fine, as it turns out I have some weird thing with my neck that's causing a crazy headache that starts in the middle of my eyes and goes up over my head, down the right side and into my right shoulder. Not so fun.

Nevertheless, I was at the gym this morning, and on Sunday, working it out. Did take Monday and Tuesday off, and felt guilty the whole time. Really hoping I don't regret this.

Running day 2: man, that hurt

Today's run started with 30 minutes on the elliptical (damn them for playing a James McAvoy movie at the gym) followed by another 23 minutes of 60-second walk/run intervals. First 10-15 minutes were fine; by minute 22 (the last run) my sides had started buckling up. 

Next time, I'll likely do 15 on the elliptical, or potentially start off with walking again (I'm scheduling another run for Sunday). Can't say I'm disappointed with my progress, but it does look like this running thing will take a while to get into fully, and I don't want to stall my weight loss by moving into an activity that I have to take slowly.

Meanwhile, I did some quick measurement comparison at the gym. 

Back in 9/07 (when I quit the gym for a while):

weight: 208

tricep: 13.5

chest: 42.5

waist: 38

abs: 42

hips: 43.75

thigh: 27.5

calf: 16.5

as of 7/25/08:

weight: 186 (-22lbs)

tricep: 13 (-.5 in)

chest: 40.5 (-2 in)

waist: 35 (-3 in)

abs: 39.5 (-2.5 in)

hips: 42 (-1.75 in)

thigh: 25.5 (-2 in)

calf: 16 (-.5 in)

It would be great if these numbers were a bit lower, but I'll take it. Also, this really is pretty impressive considering that technically, I've only been losing weight since February of this year, and I started at 210 in February.

The only thing I'm worried about now is plateauing - I want to keep the weight loss going. I'll figure it out somehow.

Today's workout

45 minutes on the elliptical, followed by about 20 minutes of intense stretching. I really needed the stretching; my hips especially have been mad as hell at me for the last couple of weeks.

I'm very glad that I didn't feel as sick/nasty this morning as I did yesterday, but yesterday's case of the nasties was an interesting experience. I just was tired everywhere in my body, and couldn't focus worth a darn. Looking at a few days of eating records, I'm realizing that I'm not feeding myself nearly enough during the day, which is resulting both in feeling really nasty/useless all day and gorging myself on whatever's available and convenient in the evenings. Today was the first day of planning out what to eat, and I think I'm doing all right so far. My cereal and blueberries for breakfast, a couple of fresh rolls and a small iced coffee for 1st lunch (at 11am), and brown rice with steamed spinach, olives, cashews and a bit of Bragg's Liquid Aminos for 2nd lunch (at 3, when I become STARVING). I feel much better today.

Either tonight or tomorrow, I go for my second running session. I'm thinking about five PM I'll think about it.

Today's workout/progress

Today: 15 minutes of elliptical followed by 30 minutes of strength training and 15 minutes of stretching.

Normally, I flank my strength workouts with 15-minute jaunts on the elliptical, but last night's run has my legs and hips a bit tighter than normal, and I started feeling gentle pulls on my thighs as I did the first part of my strength workouts (front, side and back squats with a 4-kg medicine ball), so I felt it was probably best to rest and stretch after the workout.

All in all, though, it felt good - and my mood is much better now than it has been in the last couple of days. This, of course, indicates that I should work out more often, which is Fine by Me.

In terms of progress, I also weighed myself this afternoon - and I'm down to 186, from 189 last week. This is mostly water weight, I'm imagining, but still - that means that 185 is around the corner, which in turn means I'll be down 25 pounds total since the beginning of the year. Not too shabby!

Couch Potato to 5K: Day 1

Last night was the start of my Couch Potato to 5k training program. I'm not a couch potato at this point by any means, but let me tell you - running's a whole different ballgame. There's another version (which I believe is the official version) here, but I'm doing the program I found on Marathon Training Schedule. It's a bit more doable, I find.

Day 1:

5 minutes brisk walk to start
25 minutes alternating running and walking (1-minute intervals)
10 minutes walking home from Shaw's (laden with vinegar because I'm making mustard and I forgot to get white wine vinegar)

Feeling pretty okay - the last 5-6 minutes of intervals were tough, but I got through them all right. Running for 60 seconds at a time is definitely doable, although 90 seconds would have been a bit too much. Also, it's important to bring water, and to run just around sunset or early in the morning; by the end of 20 minutes of intervals I was insanely thirsty and starting to get a bit weak.

Next week: bring intervals up to 30 minutes at a time, add one run to make 2 total sessions. See if I can bring intervals to 90 seconds-2 minutes at a time on second run.

One major stressor at the moment: I seem to have come down with a Sugar Issue the past couple of weeks. The caramels recently sent to me by a potential client, thankfully, are almost gone, but I can't have more than two of them without going into a sugar coma, and I also ate about a pint of Reese's Miniatures in three days last week. Have to get it under control STAT - it's so hard to get anything done with sugar in my system, and I don't want to derail my progress.

And now, I'm off to the gym for strength training and elliptical before I go see Mamma Mia.

It's about time I got to the gym again!

So, last week was a bit of a bust gym-wise. It was emotionally draining on a number of fronts (which I won't elaborate on), and frankly, I was just too TIRED - to the point where, when I visited my trainer on Tuesday, it knocked me out for the rest of the evening.

However, today I was back in the gym, and I did a full 30 minutes of upper-body work and crunches before doing about 40 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow, I have a trainer's appointment at 9am, which I will follow with another 30-40 minutes on the elliptical.

On the eating thing, I'm still working out a system - being so close to the move means no "real" cooking for me, so I got a bunch of prepared stuff at Whole Foods that I'm sustaining myself with for the week. First order of business once I'm in the new place: organize the Kitchen and the Office. Highest Priority.

For now, though, I read Harry Potter.

Morning Notices

It is a profound testiment to the effectiveness of my almost-daily workouts that, after two days of relative laziness and rampant overeating (hamburgers - I ate HAMBURGERS! AND pizza! What is it about 's house that brings about this profound laziness within me? ah well), my weight hasn't increased. It hasn't really DECREASED either, but I wasn't really expecting it to - it's been a week since I last weighed myself, and I've been adding some serious strength training to my workouts.

What I have noticed, though, is that the mound of flab that has been my stomach over the past several months has been calming down and moving on from me, and my clothes are fitting a bit better (although there's still some work to be done in this regard). Also, there's this glow of contentment and a smile that hasn't really been able to leave my face since starting the workouts, and this pleases me greatly. Plus - I'll say it - I look HOT while I'm working out. At least I did today. Not so much in the yoga classes, but I'm not worried about that. I'll still go, and I'll probably start adding more restorative and hip-opening/shoulder-opening stuff at home as the weeks pass.

I decided to splurge on 10 1/2-hour personal training sessions as a gift to myself. This is probably the last such gift for a while, as I want to start actually SAVING some money, and lately I've been far to spendy. But I don't judge.

Another quick notice: it's GORGEOUS lately. Today's walk to the gym was a delight - still some moisture on the ground, and it hadn't gotten over-hot yet. Today's shower will be good.

On weekends and workouts

So, after nobly intending to head to Healthworks on the last two weekends, I have come to a temporary conclusion that it's just not going to work - I don't want to make time for the gym on Saturdays or Sundays.

This, however, doesn't mean that I don't want to work out. In fact, I spent most of yesterday walking around downtown Boston with my boyfriend; we went to Chinatown for dim sum followed by seeing Ratatouille at Park Street, and then walked from there through Beacon Hill to Nick's place on MIT campus - estimated time about an hour and a half of walkng. Today, I wandered down to Harvard Square to pick up some necessities (okay, so maybe they weren't NECESSITIES) and had lunch at Oxford Spa on Oxford Street in Cambridge. Estimated time: an hour and a half of walking. Not half bad, I must say. I'm probably going to fit in a fair bit of yoga as well, but I'm not sure what type, as I also am doing some work and packing today.

So, given everything, I think I'm okay with not going to HW on weekends - as long as I know that I'm exercising, and I'm getting there most days during the week, life is still quite good.

Week at a glance: w/e 6/29/07

This week was pretty good, although I told myself it wasn't. There has been some physical activity every day, although I didn't really do the gym on Thursday, other than my meeting with the trainer and a wee bit of leg nautilus (which I still feel). However, here is the data:

Monday: 30 minutes elliptical
Tuesday: 45 minutes elliptical
Wednesday: 30 minutes elliptical, 60 minutes yoga
Thursday: 90 minutes (roughly) walking around Somerville, 15 minutes nautilus
Friday: 90 minutes power yoga

And now, a note about Power Yoga. I hate it. Despise it. In all the ways that people despise things. It doesn't feel like yoga - it feels like some weird bastard child of yoga and pilates, and it's a way for athletes to trick themselves into thinking they're doing yoga, when really they're doing this weird transcendental aerobics thing that, no matter how many times you chant "om," just. isn't. yoga. As a result, I won't be going to THAT class again.

I have, however, fallen in love with the Wednesday and Thursday evening yoga classes at Healthworks, and plan on making them weekly events. I might, however, shift my Thursday schedule to include belly dance from 7-8 and restorative yoga from 8-9. The same teacher does it, so I think I'll like it just as much.

Next week, I try the Kundalini class. Tomorrow, Slow Flow yoga. Eventually I'm going to try some Pilates and maybe even hip hop, but for now I'm just happy that I've been motivated to do it every day.

Well, I'm fat.

So the verdict is in - I'm fat. Although I have to say that I guessed pretty well about my current status - I've lost some weight in the last week or two, and the scale told me just about what I expected to hear. And don't worry - I'm not stressed out/angry about it. Honestly, I'm not even really worried about it - because I know it's going to change.

So, to the stats:
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 205 lbs

Body Mass Index: 30.3 (JUST over the obese line)
Body Fat Percentage: 34.9%

Measurements (I'm remembering most of these from the top of my head, so they might be off a bit)
Waist: 43 in
Bust: 44 in
Underbust: 37 in
Hip: I want to say 42?
Thigh: 27.5
Calf: I think 16.5?
Tricep: I think 13.5.

I'll have to double-check the numbers when I get back to the gym today for yoga (didn't get a workout today; just the preliminary stuff), but that's about what she wrote.

What's fascinating about this experience was how calm and - frankly - not upset I was when I heard the numbers. Sure, they're higher than I like, and I still get a twinge of "what the hell" when I look in a mirror (especially when I'm working out), but right now, I just know that it's a starting point, and that all of these numbers are going to change.

So, that said, the goals are:
a) get down to a comfortable size 8;
b) have more energy and focus throughout the day (which is something I'm already achieving)
c) stop getting winded when I reach the top of the stairs in the gym (i.e. three flights of stairs)
d) strengthen my core so that I can do more powerful yoga practices.

I'll re-check all the numbers once a month, and check in with myself periodically to see how I'm feeling, how things are fitting, etc... and every time I lose a size (or achieve a pose I haven't been able to before), I'll celebrate. With what, I haven't determined yet.

I have to admit - this is pretty exciting!

okay, yes, well - it HAS been a long time!

So, it's been a while since I've updated all the occasional readers out there as to the stuff going on in this area of my life, and I thought I'd break the habit of ignoring this humble blog, especially since now things are actually happening.

This month has been amazing on multiple fronts. For one thing, I have been getting tons of work lately, which has been exhilerating but a bit scary. Through my talks with la lovely therapist and with my amazing lifestyle/business collaborator, Brenda Stanton, I looked within and realized, through waves of concern and panic over whether I can actually be productive with all this work on my plate, that all of the various times that I've been truly productive and happy in my life, I've worked out every day.

So, I made a promise to myself. If one of my new clients came through (one that came in quite randomly about a week and a half ago, and thus was thoroughly extra income), I would join Healthworks in Cambridge and start working out every day.

And, I got the client. So now I'm a Healthworks member. It's been a week and a half, but I've exercised more in the last week and a half than I was able to do in the last month. So far, the changes have been amazing already - although I haven't gotten the eating thing completely handled yet, I've definitely been eating better than I was before, I've been sleeping better, relaxing, and amazingly productive. And - this is important - I CAN BREATHE AGAIN! Whenever I get to a certain weight (and I've been at this weight for over a year) I have horrible breathing problems, especially when I'm exerting myself. But today, I was able to get all the way up three flights of stairs without getting TOO winded - still a bit, but hey. It's progress.

I'll probably post more as the week unfolds, but thought I'd share this for the moment.

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar! (quietly, yes, but still)

This morning I finally took myself up on my commitment to go to o2 Yoga on Tuesday mornings, and even after three days of no yoga and WAY more meat than I should ever be eating, I have to say I'm a lot stronger than I think I am. I was able to get through a pretty vinyasa-heavy class (for the non-yoga folks out there, it's this sequence of postures where you touch your toes, jump back to a push-up position, do a push up, arch your back up and then bring your butt up so your body's in an upside-down V shape. This happens about every 5 minutes as you do the practice.) without killing myself, although I was doing it A LOT more slowly towards the end. Still, it was definitely Good For Me.

What I like about going to class as opposed to my normal home practice (especially when the class is at o2) is that it's inspiring - most of the students at o2 are people, like me, who do yoga as their primary spiritual/physical practice, and all of them have really beautiful bodies - a body which, despite having quite a bit of extra padding still, I'm starting to see in myself.

I have so much more to write about in terms of various life-changing moments, but I have to go be productive now. I'm so pleased!

Changes

One of the things you notice when you've been working out a lot (at least I notice it) is that your whole body starts to change; the fat is still there to an extent, but everything is tighter, more athletic. I've been doing yoga on a pretty regular basis now for about a month now, and I'm starting to notice a huge difference in my overall shape, especially my stomach. I've still got plenty to pinch, mind, but I swear I can see a six-pack under the flab that has yet to go away. on top of that, my arms are much less jiggly.

It's nice to take notice of things like that once in a while. It gets too easy to focus on the numbers on the scale and refuse to notice the small victories that life is handing you.

After two weeks of daily yoga

I'm noticing that I don't eat nearly as much as I used to (although yesterday, exhausted from the lack of sleep that accompanied New Year's Eve at my mom's house, was a definite Off Day). I'm also noticing that I generally have more energy, despite the fact that I desperately need to crash hard and early tonight. But most of all, I'm noticing not only that I'm stronger, but that the uncomfortable tightness that accompanied certain items of clothing just recently has lessened significantly, even though it's still on the tight side.

What I'm saying here is that I'm pretty damn psyched and I want to keep this up.

I'm also saying that I managed to meet my goal of doing yoga every day during my vacation (with the exception of the day I spent walking to the store and cleaning the layer of white dust from renovations that was covering my apartment when I got home, which broke me for a day), which means I get to give myself a reward. So sometime this week I'm going to get myself a snazzy new yoga outfit, probably from Lulu Lemon, but I'm open to suggestion.

Vacation Day 3: Progress Made, but Slowly

So, I'm on day three of the big Florida trip, and thus far I've done yoga every day and evening, and I even got in a 1-hour private class with my boyfriend Nick's mother (who it turns out is a quite accomplished yogini herself) along with my two daily practices. The eating is still not quite where it should be (I'm feeling insanely bloated today from all the food I've been eating and the overwhelming lack of fiber), but I'm practicing compassion and forgiveness towards myself for it, and working towards enforcing smaller portions with myself, which proves challenging with Nick's family; his father loves to cook as much as I do, and every time he does there's a metric ton of really tasty food to contend with. If I can just get him not to do appetizers all the time in addition to three courses, I'd be okay.

Overall, though, I'm pleased. I'm a bit behind the ball on yoga today (I couldn't get to sleep last night, so I'm off-kilter today), but I'm going to do it now. Ta!

Ups and Downs on Vacation

So here I am in sunny Florida, and while this is, in fact, a vacation, I'm still finding it hard to actually step away from work. Darn the fact that I can still get an Internet connection! The good news is that I can check my e-mail and put out any major fires if they happen; I can also respond to the lovely comments people made on my last newsletter (which you can sign up for on the zen kitchen's website - it's got news from my design studio, a really cool recipe and some links to recent entries on the zen kitchen blog). I also answered a phone call this morning from Kelle Sparta, a consultant who works with the real estate industry, who wants to interview me for her podcast. So all good things, but still, it's work. Must improve that.

Thus far I've been very good with exercise; I decided to start the exercise program from scratch and see if I can commit to a morning yoga routine and an evening yoga routine (more to relax than anything else) every day, and then after a few weeks I can expand on that. So far, so good... despite the fact that I've had people around most of the day, I've managed to make time for my yoga practices.

Eating, on the other hand, has been tough. My boyfriend's family tends to have a LOT of food during holiday meals, and I'm realizing that it's important for me to start seriously rationing myself, especially when it comes to dinners here, which always start with an appetizer I really shouldn't eat as much of as I do. Ah well - a challenge for tomorrow.

Mindful eating over the holidays: a childish dream?

My goodness, it's hard to stay focused on eating well over the holidays! This weekend was especially tough; I went to a lovely party hosted by a couple of friends where I was treated to a seemingly neverending buffet of hot chocolate, pound cake and 2 trays of chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven (let me tell you—if there ever was a weakness, it is that). Today between waking up late from the late night at my friend's party to running down to Providence to spend time with family before I leave for my Florida vacation, I ended up eating a whole pile of stuff I wouldn't consider eating otherwise, including McDonald's and TasteeCakes (WHY did I pick those up?) Overall, it's been a challenge the last couple of weeks.

So it's time to step up a bit with my original fitness plan. A while back, I had made a deal with myself; if I exercised every day (by exercise, I mean 45 minutes of physical activity a day, which can be training on the elliptical, vinyasa yoga, pilates or walking) every week, on Sunday night I would give myself $5 in a special fund which would be used to purchase some luxury item or another. It was originally going to be DVDs, but I'm beginning to think I'm going to start investing in some really nice yoga clothes—stuff I'd feel proud wearing if I have to run out and get something at the store before I do yoga. So this week, if I'm really good and I work out every day, I'm going to give myself $20. Week after, $15, week after that, $10 and back down to the original $5 per week. Hopefully in time I'll get back up to my goal again, and hopefully once I'm back in the swing of daily yoga, I can cut this sweet habit I've been going insane with.

Thanksgiving: A Challenging Week

So, by the Monday before Thanksgiving, I was completely burned out on work. One project in particular had gotten me to the point where I didn't want to think about being near a computer, let alone getting more work done for my clients or for the zen kitchen. The good thing was that that Wednesday afternoon, we headed up to my mother's house in Maine, to spend four days hanging out with Mom, my best friend Rachael and her kids, our friend Sin and my boyfriend Nick. I had four days with NO INTERNET ACCESS WHATSOEVER. And it was beautiful.

It was, however, a bit challenging on the diet and exercise front. I actually ate some of my mother's turkey (oh my GOD it was good), and everyone at the house spent the entire time chipping away at the ungodly amount of food that was presented to us - sweet potatoes with marshmallows, walnuts and coconut, a 20-lb. turkey with stuffing, escarole soup (which I made with the turkey stock I made from the turkey bones) and some of mom's famous applesauce and cranberry sauce. I don't think there was a moment in four days when I actually felt hungry. To make matters worse, there was no room anywhere in the house where I could exercise, which meant no yoga, and no exercise other than a bit of a hike with the kids and Nick on Friday.

Since I got back on Sunday night, my eating has returned to almost normal, thank goodness - aside from a bit of ice cream here and there, I've been doing well. But I haven't been able to get back into the yoga habit, or do any other form of exercise with any consistency.

It's interesting to note how such a little setback can throw everything off course.

A Productive Weekend

Today, in the interest of getting ahead of things and avoiding the inevitable guilt that ensues when I spend time during the week on marketing my studio (don't worry - I'm trying to get over it), I spent the better part of the day making much needed updates to the site , preparing some files for an upcoming call for entries, and getting my monthly e-mail newsletter ready to go out on Tuesday.

The day was positive on several levels; for one, I was up and out of the house to meet a friend for breakfast at 9:30 (a triumph for Sunday - I'm usually not up until somewhere around noon!), after which I went to Advance Auto Parts to top off my car's various fluids, dropped off some plastic shopping bags at the local Shaw's for recycling, and picked up a few things I needed at the store. By noon, I was back in the studio and getting to work. I even managed to get in a 40 minute walk, 40 minutes of yoga, and a quick dinner at Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square.

What I'm learning from all this is two things: a) I really do get a lot more done when I wake up early (imagine what would have happened if I had gotten up at 6 - I would have been done even sooner!) and b) I'm much more productive overall if I have at least a few hours a day where I'm not interrupted.

So, starting tomorrow, I wake up at 6, start my day with yoga, breakfast and a shower, and I don't check my e-mail or answer the phone until 11am.