A week in the snow

Today was my first trip back to the gym since Monday due to all of the snow.  I used to dread going to the gym and I now was so anxious to get back down there!  Yeah Gold's Gym!  Pilar & Chuck braved the roads today and invited me to join them.  I pushed hard and made good use of the time.  I rode the Bent Spoke trail on the Expresso bike and beat my previous record by 5 minutes!  Progress, yeah!  Afterwards I focused on upper body strengthening and ended by walking up 65 flights of stairs.  Definitely tired!  :-)

Today I had been feeling a little disappointed and discouraged that I have hit 2 weeks of the Challenge and wasn't noticing a significant change.  Thankfully I decided to bring out the measuring tape and body fat machine and discovered my waist is 3 inches smaller, my hips are 1 inch smaller and my thighs are also an inch smaller.  I have decreased from 32% body fat to 29.5% and I have lost 9 lbs so far.   No longer discouraged!

Yesterday I went for another walk in the snow.  This time I decided to push it harder.  I trudged 6 miles roundtrip to QFC and picked up some more produce.  By the end, my knees were really bothering me.  I was grateful that they had recovered by this morning.  Looks like my recovery time has improved as well.  Now I hope to eventually avoid the knee pain all together. 

My food plan has been much easier than expected.  I love eating fruits and vegetables and so that has been a simple addition to every meal.  The protein component has been easier now that I can add the protein powder when it looks like I will be too low.  Water has still been an issue.  I am finding it challenging to drink a minimum of 80 ounces of water each day.

Today I ordered an Omron pedometer to encourage me to take more steps throughout the day.

One week down...11 weeks to go :-)

This has been an "active" week.  I have been to the gym every day this week.  My cardio has been varied each day such as: elliptical, treadmill, cycling, and stair climber on alternating days.  3 days of strength training (Monday, Wednesday & Friday) has made me very sore but I am making progress.  Today I even tried yoga for the first time in a few years.

Dietary changes.  It has been an interesting challenge trying to eat only whole foods and nothing processed this week.  I definitely have been spending more time thinking about meal preparation.  The protein powder has been helping to increase my protein intake.  I love fruits and veggies but tend to be low on protein consumption.   I have also been trying to increase my water intake to at least 80 ounces per day.  I have been using the loseit.com website to journal all of my food, water & exercise.

Importance of nutrition

Today was my first training time with my trainer, Maxine since the start of the challenge.  I had her look over my food journal from the last few days.  She has made one major change and a few minor: whole, real food only, changing to whole milk instead of 1%, adding protein powder, and increasing my water consumption to 80 ounces a day.  We will have more changes to make, but this is the start.

This picture reminds me that my goals are achievable.  This picture shows me with thinner legs, a smaller butt, smaller arms and an actual waist.  Amazingly enough this picture was taken only 4 years ago before I gained 30 lbs.  I'm well on my way to returning to my healthier self.

Measurements & Reality Check

This morning I went through the difficult process of facing a camera, measuring tape, the scale and the fat tester.  Grr...  I have a little further to go with my goals than anticipated but I'm willing and ready.  

Weight: 162 lbs
Fat : 32.3%
waist: 35 inches
thighs: 28 inches
hips: 42 inches
Monday I will start working with my trainer, Maxine again.  I have started to track my food and will be figuring out a nutritional plan with Maxine.

Breakfast:  Kirkland meal replacement drink, Tillamook cheese
Lunch: 12 inch Subway turkey sandwich
Snack: Baby carrots
Dinner: Taco salad
Water consumed: 64 ounces

Exercise: 45 min. walking, 20 min. stretching & 60 sit-ups
I am dealing with a cold, so my workout was rather light today.

Decision made

Sunday I had been frustrated by my knee pain while running but expected it to feel better with rest.  Unfortunately it became worse and worse as the evening progressed.  By morning I was hardly able to walk.  My husband bought a knee brace for me which helped, but today is Wednesday and I am still dealing with pain.  I have to admit that I debated on whether now is the right time to do the Challenge.  Decision made...yes!  I have an appointment next week with an orthopedic doctor to see what we can do.  Now I need to focus on what changes I can make to still be effective with a bum knee.  Tonight I will try swimming.  My goals are too important to keep waiting.  No more excuses!  :-)

I am looking forward to the introductory meeting tonight.  This will be my first Gold's Gym Challenge.

Learning process

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  So far, the year is starting off well.

I am certainly learning a lot through this process.  My initial few days involved severe shin and knee pain.  Since then, I have been shown how to stretch more effectively and now I don't get shin pain when I run.  I'm still trying to find the answer for the knee, but I'm planning to try a neoprene brace next.  Today we ran outdoors.  We jogged about 1.5 miles and walked about the same.  Slowly but surely my endurance is improving.  I have been warned that I need to fuel my body before a workout and refuel my body after a workout.  Unfortunately I forgot to eat before hand today, but I had a protein shake immediately afterwards.  Obviously I need to retrain my mind to think about those things ahead of time.

Tomorrow will be my first Gold's Gym Bootcamp class.  This week they are offering one free bootcamp class to anyone who hasn't tried it before.  My workout partner and I are looking forward to seeing what it is like.

I find that I need distractions when I am working out.  I love the tvs on the cardio equipment except I'm not always into the shows.  Today we took my husband's old iphone and loaded it with many hours of high impact music to help me keep my energy high and keep me motivated while working out.  It certainly made a difference while we were running today.

Here's my game plan for winning the Challenge

For me, this isn't a challenge to lose weight, but to redesign my body.  I have already lost 12 lbs but I really need to lose fat by increasing my metabolism through cardio and nutrition along with increasing my muscle mass through weight training. 

My initial weekly game plan: 1 hour w/ my personal trainer each week, jogging 4 days per week (increasing distance & time based on a 35 week plan), BodyPump & CXWORX classes, and follow a strict diet designed by my trainer.  I have a wonderful workout partner and she and I will keep each other motivated during this challenge.  I am surrounding myself with supportive family members and friends.  Most important: I am ready to commit to the hard work!  Having sessions with my trainer will help to keep my body from hitting as many plateaus by constantly changing the exercises.   I call this my initial game plan because I will work closely with my trainer to tweek it as necessary to accomplish my goals.

Current weight: 159.4 lbs  Current fat weight (31% of total): 49.41 lbs 
Goal weight: 148 lbs   Goal fat weight (20%): 29.6 lbs
Final goal: Redistribute my weight by losing 19.81 lbs of fat but gaining 8.01 lbs of muscle resulting in a total weight loss of 11.4 lbs.  I am looking forward to well defined arms, leaner thighs and finding my waist again.  :-)