Okay. Caught up on rest (I even fell asleep this evening watching the news and its anything but boring). Ms Judy is feeling better (flu, not H1N1). I'll start tomorrow with Power 90. I'll run after school tomorrow. So I should be back in the grove. I can tell my exercise is off, because my appetite is way on! What a valuable lesson: exercise plenty, eat less. I'm also looking forward to what I do after this hiatus from my exercise routines while I was taking care of sick folks - first Dad, then the lovely and gracious Ms Judy.
Been a busy day so I'm off to bed so I can get up with a semblance of rest in the morning and start a really great day and slide into an outstanding weekend.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Long Trip Home
I returned from a long trip to my parents’ house to help take care of my father who had had knee replacement surgery. The combined trips added up to over 24 hours on the road. And some of that was some really late hour driving.
I was glad I could be there for my folks, but what a number I did on myself. My parents can have sweets around the house and just ignore them. If I know there's candy around, I catch myself going back again and again. It's like I can't leave it alone. Additionally I don't cook anything like my mother cooks. When I'm preparing meals the nutrition index is way up and the unwanteds (highly processed food, breads, and fried foods) are way down. It can be exactly the opposite there.
I went in without a plan and I gave in. But what I learned is the importance of going on trips with a well developed plan. That won't make nutrition perfect, but it will certainly keep me from being a total victim of really bad nutrition.
You see, I notice that it isn't just going to my parents' house that's a problem. It’s anytime I'm on the road. My bad nutrition started while I was driving to my parents' house, not when I walked in the door.
Before I go on another trip, I'll take some time to work on controlling nutrition/eating while on the road. I need to have a plan, a routine that I can turn to when I'm out of my own environment. The importance of planning - that can't be overemphasized enough when I'm preparing for a trip or circumstances require me to be out of my own element. I know how weak I can be around food I don't need. I also know how strong I can be in the same situations. I just need to plan to stay strong when I'm out on the road.
That planning is just as important at work. We're coming up on holidays. Today, the PTSO brought in all kinds of goodies for the teachers to eat. Lots of brownies are on the venue. I luv me some brownies. Thanksgiving is just a little further off and then comes Christmas. All these holidays are saturated with food traditions. The need to plan on how to get through these days is really important. I've already had one year where I lost ground to bad nutrition because I gave in to the food storm that came during the holidays.
So, a primary task for the next few days is to spend some time coming up with contingency plans and to develop some strategies for dealing with food issues while traveling or celebrating the holidays.
I was glad I could be there for my folks, but what a number I did on myself. My parents can have sweets around the house and just ignore them. If I know there's candy around, I catch myself going back again and again. It's like I can't leave it alone. Additionally I don't cook anything like my mother cooks. When I'm preparing meals the nutrition index is way up and the unwanteds (highly processed food, breads, and fried foods) are way down. It can be exactly the opposite there.
I went in without a plan and I gave in. But what I learned is the importance of going on trips with a well developed plan. That won't make nutrition perfect, but it will certainly keep me from being a total victim of really bad nutrition.
You see, I notice that it isn't just going to my parents' house that's a problem. It’s anytime I'm on the road. My bad nutrition started while I was driving to my parents' house, not when I walked in the door.
Before I go on another trip, I'll take some time to work on controlling nutrition/eating while on the road. I need to have a plan, a routine that I can turn to when I'm out of my own environment. The importance of planning - that can't be overemphasized enough when I'm preparing for a trip or circumstances require me to be out of my own element. I know how weak I can be around food I don't need. I also know how strong I can be in the same situations. I just need to plan to stay strong when I'm out on the road.
That planning is just as important at work. We're coming up on holidays. Today, the PTSO brought in all kinds of goodies for the teachers to eat. Lots of brownies are on the venue. I luv me some brownies. Thanksgiving is just a little further off and then comes Christmas. All these holidays are saturated with food traditions. The need to plan on how to get through these days is really important. I've already had one year where I lost ground to bad nutrition because I gave in to the food storm that came during the holidays.
So, a primary task for the next few days is to spend some time coming up with contingency plans and to develop some strategies for dealing with food issues while traveling or celebrating the holidays.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Things That Go "Bump"
My weight has been holding at 184 since Sunday, but I do expect a drop in the next few days. Looking at my nutrition (which hasn’t been perfectly clean – darn the Krispy Kremes, darn the Krsipy Kremes! – but it hasn’t been much) there has to be a "let go" point. My weight going into the weekend was 182. I certainly haven’t eaten 7,000 superfluous calories since then. So for some reason there is a bump up that either will be gone soon or has some other explanation. I don’t think I u-turned back to Plateauville.
What could be causing this stubborn bounce? A primary cause might be the amount of salt I've eaten with the Mexican soup we've had the past three days and a resulting increase in fluid retention. It could also be the weight of the soup. It’s clean, but it’s heavy. No processed ingredients in it, just canned vegetables.
Another possibility is that here has been a gain in muscle mass. Could that happen so quickly? My muscles were possibly ready to grow after all the conditioning I had done. When I started pushing heavier weight, muscles responded immediately. I certainly can feel more definition between my pecs in the center of my chest.
Another possibility would be my body reacting to the loss in weight last week and purposely holding on to some fluids. This is a lot like the “too much salt” reason, but I’ve seen it before. I have some weight loss, nothing changes in nutrition or exercise, but the weight drop just suddenly stops for a few days. Then there is a sudden drop and the gradual weight loss resumes.
The real issue here is that it’s time to get down into the 170 range and stay there. I’m facing some challenges to that this weekend as I prepare to go to my parents’ house to be with my dad following his surgery. I’ve gotten to the age that I have fluid retention/swelling when I travel for long stretches of time. This is a twelve hour trip both ways. I won’t be surprised if I lose all definition in my feet – no more veins sticking out or tendons showing when I flex my foot. Also, Mom’s food is just plain toxic to me. She is the world’s greatest cook (no, really) and I’m a food-aholic. Why my parents aren’t human blimps I’ll never be able to figure out. If I spend just a few days there I start gaining pounds and pounds. And I’m about to spend a few days there. I will be challenged to practice some Spartan discipline while I’m there. The travel time will have a detrimental effect no matter. Here’s to striving for some positive results.
What could be causing this stubborn bounce? A primary cause might be the amount of salt I've eaten with the Mexican soup we've had the past three days and a resulting increase in fluid retention. It could also be the weight of the soup. It’s clean, but it’s heavy. No processed ingredients in it, just canned vegetables.
Another possibility is that here has been a gain in muscle mass. Could that happen so quickly? My muscles were possibly ready to grow after all the conditioning I had done. When I started pushing heavier weight, muscles responded immediately. I certainly can feel more definition between my pecs in the center of my chest.
Another possibility would be my body reacting to the loss in weight last week and purposely holding on to some fluids. This is a lot like the “too much salt” reason, but I’ve seen it before. I have some weight loss, nothing changes in nutrition or exercise, but the weight drop just suddenly stops for a few days. Then there is a sudden drop and the gradual weight loss resumes.
The real issue here is that it’s time to get down into the 170 range and stay there. I’m facing some challenges to that this weekend as I prepare to go to my parents’ house to be with my dad following his surgery. I’ve gotten to the age that I have fluid retention/swelling when I travel for long stretches of time. This is a twelve hour trip both ways. I won’t be surprised if I lose all definition in my feet – no more veins sticking out or tendons showing when I flex my foot. Also, Mom’s food is just plain toxic to me. She is the world’s greatest cook (no, really) and I’m a food-aholic. Why my parents aren’t human blimps I’ll never be able to figure out. If I spend just a few days there I start gaining pounds and pounds. And I’m about to spend a few days there. I will be challenged to practice some Spartan discipline while I’m there. The travel time will have a detrimental effect no matter. Here’s to striving for some positive results.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Just Being Accountable 10/17/09
I didn't get my HIITs in until this evening. I had already had supper before I went to the fitness center. The session went well. I reached the first 100-calorie burn before 10 minutes. I reached the second 100 calories burn by 16.5 minutes. I didn't reach 3 miles until 31.5 minutes, but, after all, I was running after supper. So I reached my early targets earlier and my later targets a little later. Still, a great set of sprints. I hit several 9's, a couple of 10's, 10.5 and one brave attempt at 11. Can't wait for Power 90 in the morning. P90X should be here in just a couple of days.
Progress Log
I wish I knew why I waited so long to set up a progress log for my workouts. I remember when I first started this journey toward better health and began by regularly going to the fitness center. I carried a small binder with me. I had the different exercises broken down on separate pages and included a table showing date, weight and reps for each one. It was easy to track my progress and to tell when I needed to push for additional weight on each exercise. It worked well. I didn't have to remember and I didn't subjectively go by what I felt like doing. I had a record and knew what to do to make progress.
In just the few days that I've been doing this with the Power 90 sculpt sessions, I've already been able to push myself beyond what I was doing. And it is a much more intense workout. I find myself gasping for air at the end of sets and pushing to make my reps. The end result will be definite gains in strength.
Keep a log of your progress. It will keep you on track, moving ahead with your goals as you seek to build the muscle needed to burn calories and fill out physique.
Today I will have to work to squeeze in the HIITs at Peak. I have an important meeting immediately after school at an office in town. I'll need to change there before going to the center, and all that gets to be a bit complicated. But I'll do it. I'm facing problems enough with consistency this week with the trip to my parents for Daddy's knee replacement surgery. But I'll do it because I'm so close to reaching the long term goals I set.
In just the few days that I've been doing this with the Power 90 sculpt sessions, I've already been able to push myself beyond what I was doing. And it is a much more intense workout. I find myself gasping for air at the end of sets and pushing to make my reps. The end result will be definite gains in strength.
Keep a log of your progress. It will keep you on track, moving ahead with your goals as you seek to build the muscle needed to burn calories and fill out physique.
Today I will have to work to squeeze in the HIITs at Peak. I have an important meeting immediately after school at an office in town. I'll need to change there before going to the center, and all that gets to be a bit complicated. But I'll do it. I'm facing problems enough with consistency this week with the trip to my parents for Daddy's knee replacement surgery. But I'll do it because I'm so close to reaching the long term goals I set.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
On Course
Finished with Power 90 this morning. Why did I keep putting off making that tracking log to go with the workouts? Today, instead of going by memory, I was able to look at the written record of what I had done previously and make progressive adjustments.
I've never used a tracking sheet before and had seen progress when I had done Power 90 rounds in the past. I had been indoctrinated by my own bad habits of the past and my satisfaction with what was probably much less than optimal results. I look forward to reporting some significant strength gains as I finish up this round before going to P90X.
Weight was 182 again today. That's great, because I expected a bump back up. My weight had suddenly dropped down to that level and looked like it was a fluctuation. I do plan to get in a run today. If it turns out that I don't I will try a Power 90 Sweat session. I haven't been doing the cardio aspect of Power 90 at all. I've only focused on the sculpt. Living in an upstairs apartment makes me a bit conscious of noise I'm making on the floor. So I've avoided the jumping around of Power 90 Sweat. But daytime noise should not be such an issue and I guess I should go down, introduce myself and let them know what I'm doing and that I will be careful about it. Just wanting to be a good (healthy) neighbor.
I've never used a tracking sheet before and had seen progress when I had done Power 90 rounds in the past. I had been indoctrinated by my own bad habits of the past and my satisfaction with what was probably much less than optimal results. I look forward to reporting some significant strength gains as I finish up this round before going to P90X.
Weight was 182 again today. That's great, because I expected a bump back up. My weight had suddenly dropped down to that level and looked like it was a fluctuation. I do plan to get in a run today. If it turns out that I don't I will try a Power 90 Sweat session. I haven't been doing the cardio aspect of Power 90 at all. I've only focused on the sculpt. Living in an upstairs apartment makes me a bit conscious of noise I'm making on the floor. So I've avoided the jumping around of Power 90 Sweat. But daytime noise should not be such an issue and I guess I should go down, introduce myself and let them know what I'm doing and that I will be careful about it. Just wanting to be a good (healthy) neighbor.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Finishing the Day
Good set of HIITs at the fitness center. I went up to several 9 MPHs, 9.5 MPHs, even 10 MPHs. I felt great afterward. I reached 100 calories burned before 10 minutes, 200 calories at 16.5 minutes, 300 calories at 24.5. I reached 3 miles at 3 minutes, 5 seconds. I did more sprints until I broke 400 calories burned. There was a 5 minute warmup at the beginning and a 5 minute cool down at the end.
Later in the evening I made Mexican soup. Some of the best I've ever made. No processed contents. High protein beans with corn, peppers, brown rice, and grilled chicken. Time to wrap this day up and get some rest.
Saturday Surprise
Yesterday's weight was 184 and today's was 182. That weigh in came after my workout and a shower. I didn't expect to see anything else this week. This one might bounce back up before the weekend is out.
Basic eating has been clean. I ate a brownie some of the students had cooked, but just one. It couldn't do that much damage, and by the weight loss, it doesn't appear to have done any at all.
I finished up a worksheet to use with my workouts so that I can keep a record of my progress while I'm dong the DVD workouts. I"ll do it a few days before I come up with a baseline.
I'm planning to go to be with my parents during an upcoming surgery. This will mean a few days on the road and away from home. Keeping up with my daily routines will be a challenge, but I'm committing to doing them.
I've been really slow about getting busy today. I've worked on several 'puter projects and now I'm about to go to the gym and do HIITs. Then off to work for a couple of hours.
Vince Delmonte of No Nonsense Muscle Building (http://www.vincedelmontefitness.com/) has the info in one of his recent emails that 1 lb of muscle burns 50 calories a day. Add 10 lbs of muscle and that's an additional 500 calories to work with every day. I've done great on the nutrition end. It has become part of my lifestyle. I may climb down off the wagon from time to time, but I realize this is not just a temporary diet. I've seen what happens when I stop watcing nutrition and give in to eating without thinking: my weight goes up incredibly fast.
I'll be starting P90X soon. I'm not as progressed as I had hoped to be with body strenght, but its time to get going with X. I expect to see some good muscle mass buildup from using X.
Well, time to get up and finish this day.
Basic eating has been clean. I ate a brownie some of the students had cooked, but just one. It couldn't do that much damage, and by the weight loss, it doesn't appear to have done any at all.
I finished up a worksheet to use with my workouts so that I can keep a record of my progress while I'm dong the DVD workouts. I"ll do it a few days before I come up with a baseline.
I'm planning to go to be with my parents during an upcoming surgery. This will mean a few days on the road and away from home. Keeping up with my daily routines will be a challenge, but I'm committing to doing them.
I've been really slow about getting busy today. I've worked on several 'puter projects and now I'm about to go to the gym and do HIITs. Then off to work for a couple of hours.
Vince Delmonte of No Nonsense Muscle Building (http://www.vincedelmontefitness.com/) has the info in one of his recent emails that 1 lb of muscle burns 50 calories a day. Add 10 lbs of muscle and that's an additional 500 calories to work with every day. I've done great on the nutrition end. It has become part of my lifestyle. I may climb down off the wagon from time to time, but I realize this is not just a temporary diet. I've seen what happens when I stop watcing nutrition and give in to eating without thinking: my weight goes up incredibly fast.
I'll be starting P90X soon. I'm not as progressed as I had hoped to be with body strenght, but its time to get going with X. I expect to see some good muscle mass buildup from using X.
Well, time to get up and finish this day.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Some Progress
Finally dropped down to 185. That's two days ahead of the goal. Now I can seal the deal between now and Saturday morning. Two more days at this weight or lower and I should have eliminated temporary fluctuations up or down.
Good run yesterday. I've definitely cranked running up a notch. I'm getting close to where I was when I stopped last fall.
I didn't push hard with the weights in Power 90 this AM. I got the routine in, but I'm pushing hard about every 2 days. Great progress overall and good job keeping with this plan.
Gotta get more sleep.
Good run yesterday. I've definitely cranked running up a notch. I'm getting close to where I was when I stopped last fall.
I didn't push hard with the weights in Power 90 this AM. I got the routine in, but I'm pushing hard about every 2 days. Great progress overall and good job keeping with this plan.
Gotta get more sleep.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Is This Plateauland Already?
The past few days nutrition has been great, resistance training has been great and HIITs have been great. But my weight won't budge off of 187. Plateau already? The drop will come and it will come soon. My goal is still to be at 185 by Saturday.
Just the few days of getting back into Power 90 has caused some of my muscles to bounce back. Along with some noticeable added strength, I can already tell that the cleft between my pecs is deeper (pecs getting bigger).
I had a great session with my HIITs yesterday. My goal was to reach 100 calories before 10 minutes (counting the 5 minute warm up walk), 200 calories before 15 minutes and 300 calories before 20 minutes. I also set goals to reach 3 miles before 30 minutes and to continue the sprints until I hit over 400 calories. I hit every goal, sometimes with only a second or two to spare, but made it none the less.
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Just the few days of getting back into Power 90 has caused some of my muscles to bounce back. Along with some noticeable added strength, I can already tell that the cleft between my pecs is deeper (pecs getting bigger).
I had a great session with my HIITs yesterday. My goal was to reach 100 calories before 10 minutes (counting the 5 minute warm up walk), 200 calories before 15 minutes and 300 calories before 20 minutes. I also set goals to reach 3 miles before 30 minutes and to continue the sprints until I hit over 400 calories. I hit every goal, sometimes with only a second or two to spare, but made it none the less.
This was my final reading at the end of my cool down walk. I had to push into the 9 mph range several times and did it well. Good day yesterday. Now, if only I could find the exit from Plateauland.
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