Shameless Bragging (You've Been Warned!)

So I think I've had an epiphany. I think I actually enjoy physical activity. Its amazing to me. I used to say exercise was bad for my health, because my thighs would rub together and set my shorts on fire. But I've done some serious physical activity, and a fire extinguisher was not needed a single time.

Please allow me a moment to brag, because I am so dang proud of myself.

On Saturday my dear Biggest Loser friend Stacey and I decided to go for a bike ride on Douglas Trail, which starts near Stacey's house. It wasn't bad and I was even able to walk the next day. Imagine my surprise when we calculated that we did 12 miles, plus a killer hill!

Next day I did 20 minutes on the treadmill to work out the kinks in my legs, and ran for three minutes of it, which amazes me because its been SO long since I've ran.

Yesterday I was inspired by the Best of Spark People email about your pet being a good exercise partner, so Max (picture below) and I went out for a walk. Now he's not used to being an exercise partner so I was alternating between dragging him and being dragged, but we did a serious four mile walk. And I will never ever trust my weather-obsessed husband for the forecast, because he said oh it will be nice honey! Nice translated into getting drenched and hailed on two miles from home. But we slogged through, and made it home soaking wet and covered in mud. But Max slept like a log last night!


Today was a 3.5 mile bike ride with my husband to Great Harvest for fresh bread, and a stop at the Good Food store for the fake egg salad (tofu) to go on it! It was fun to do that with Marmot, I think we're going to make that a tradition. The biggest high of the entire time was my husband being winded and I wasn't. He's always been in good shape, but the desk job is catching up with him. I was so proud of myself!

The weirdest thing is that after all this, I'm looking forward to doing more. I'm psyched about doing the four mile walk with Max again tomorrow, he has a new Gentle Leader collar and I think he could be the perfect exercise buddy!

So yeah, I apologize for the bragging but this has been an amazing week. I have not dropped a pound, but I'm still psyched!

Run Fatboy Run

Have you seen this movie? I'm not really a fan of Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead totally creeped me out) but it was really good. I could really identify with poor Dennis building his running habit...and the movie was just plain funny.

I am incredibly sore today after my strength routine yesterday, full body head-to-toe damn it hurts. Thank god for ibuprofen. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical today, and I was pretty proud. I threw a towel over the monitor so I wasn't so focused on the minutes, and watched half the Season 6 finale of Biggest Loser. It was on low settings, but last week I did 10 minutes and my lungs started burning, and that didn't happen until 25 minutes. :-)

Food has not been so good today- old habits reared their heads, and I totally went for the chai latte and the cake donuts. I'm not going to beat myself up about it though. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day with my handsome husband and I'm excited about doing some meal planning. A normal M-F schedule is a wonderful thing!

Next post is giveaway! :-)

Does the Shred Refer to the Effect on your Lungs??

30 Day Shred just kicked my ass. I didn't kick ass (I can't get my feet to actually hit my ass, yet) but Jillian did. I'm slightly intimidated that I could only barely get through the cardio. Tomorrow I will probably do one of my Firm videos (longer, but I've never breathed fire with the Firm, or swore in a workout as much as I did tonight) and then do 30 Day Shred on Saturday. I also did 30 minutes on the treadmill this morning. I think I'm going to sleep well tonight!

I Like Being Sore (Well, Getting There...)

This week has been about collaboration. I'm in a huge project at work that has half a dozen different departments all inputting into some monumental changes. A pilot has been going this week, and its been awesome to see every department coming together with their expertise and input, all with the end goal of providing phenomenal patient care. Its also fricking exhausting!

The last two nights I've hit the treadmill pretty hard (an hour each night) and last night it was pretty late. I'm not sure if that's why I've been dragging all day or if its just the drain of having my mind working overtime with the pilot, but I can barely keep my eyes open.

But I have a new thought in the back of my mind. I was sore this morning. Not just sore, but like staggered out of bed partially bent over because apparently I have muscles in my back kind of sore. I was bemoaning this to my favorite co-worker Judy, and she said something quite profound- I can't remember her exact words, but the premise was "Sore is good. Learn to love sore, because it means you've accomplished something." First thought is, no ma'am. Sore is not good, my biceps hurt from brushing my teeth! But through the day as my arms ached and my legs were stiff, it actually started to make me smile when I felt it. Why? Because I seriously kicked ass on the treadmill last night. An hour?? Three weeks ago it was a struggle to do 30 minutes! I can tell the difference, I can feel the changes in my body. And I think I kind of even like being sore. :-)

Gym Time!

I have it all set up, I'll be meeting Bridget at the gym at 4:00 to set up a strength training program. I'm aiming for 3 days a week, and doing cardio on my own. We'll see what she says. I'm excited!

I will admit that I was disappointed that the there was only one class after 3:30pm, and it was an intermediate yoga class. The other gym is downtown and quite busy (because its new and has a pool) but I might have to venture down there for classes. I was looking at the Ease into Cycling class, the Cardio Mix and the Strictly Strength. My goal is to have tried at least three different classes by Valentine's Day!

Workouts: Refreshed

Anyone else obsessed with the refresh button? I love that button. I use it at on the blogs (any new comments?) at work for queue's that we work, etc etc. Its so versatile. Sometimes it shows no new cases to work on. New comments to my blog. An update to someone elses blog. Usually its something good.

I'm also using it in a mental sense, a refresh of my journey. It makes me think of taking a deep breath- in through your nose, filling your lungs, and out through your mouth.

I've seen myself take some very tiny little steps away from the path I need to be on this week. I didn't work out on Friday, for no reason that I can think of now and didn't quite stick to my calories yesterday, just plain because I wanted to eat more. Small little steps that I recognize as inevitably leading back to being fat and unhappy. I'm still thrilled with the progress I've made and committed to sticking with it, which I think has made me overly leery of any steps leading elsewhere.

That brings me to today, Sunday- the day of rest. I'm also thinking of it as my day of renew, remind, refresh. Its my weigh-in day, and I'm not overly thrilled with my weight, although it is one pound less than last week. But a reflection of my eating shows that I wasn't quite as close to my calorie goals as I could have been, making conscious choices to eat more. My workout has become a routine, which is a bummer. I've added in hand weights, but still- meh. Nothing new or exciting.

So, in the spirit of refresh, I'm refreshing my workout situation. I'm ok with my food intake right now- I need to stick to my calories, continue to work on eating the protein, no huge changes. But the workout is in for a overhaul.

I have a confession. We live across the street from a gym. Seriously. And while maintaining a membership of $36 a month (subsidized through work) I have been to the gym twice in the two years that I've lived in this house. Pathetic, I know. But as part of this refresh for the week, I'm making an appointment with a trainer to set up a strength training plan. I'm happy with the cardio, doing my treadmill or DVD workouts at home, but I'm concern about weight loss without building muscle and toning. God forbid I have horrific bat wings. I've started carrying 3lb or 5lb hand weights on the treadmill, but I need more than that.

My sweet husband also helped me setup the Girly Room. We have two extra bedrooms and this is the one that has the guest bed, two dressers and two tiny closets that I have used as a giant closet for as long as I've lived here, and has been dubbed the Girly Room. The bed has been relocated, the treadmill has been moved in, along with my Transfirmer, stability ball, weights and workout DVD's. I've arranged it so that I have enough room to do an entire workout DVD (without rearranging the living room). No TV up there, but no problem- I'll be using my widescreen laptop on the dresser playing the DVD. The entire room is set up so that all I have to do is walk in and start. I'm excited!

Part of the refresh this week has been from some awesome people. Marlys is a friend from work, and she has been inspiring to me this week. She's reminded me that I can go out of my comfort zone to make this happen (like the gym), which was just the right push to take a second look at the gym I walk by every day. She also made me realize some places where I have the time to do this (before work, which I've never considered). The other was Byron and his wife Sarah, who re-opened my eyes to the myriad offerings of the gym and what it could help me accomplish. All three are awesome people, with the right advice at the perfect time. Thank you!

Workout goals for this week:
*Meet with trainer and set up 2-3x weekly strength training program.
*Put together a gym bag, with necessities for leaving directly from work going to the gym.
*Setting a new minimum of 40 minutes of on the treadmill (up from 30) or the 30 minute Supercharged Sculpting workout DVD.

Miscellaneous for the week:
*I'm going to invest in two pairs of workout pants, as the ones I have are from 40lbs ago and not fit to be seen in public.
*I want to buy Jillian's 30 Day Shred DVD, to change things up a bit.
*I'm going to find out what other services the gym offers (there are tons) and pick two that I want to take advantage of. I'm hoping to find a nutritionist, or maybe a class I'd like to take.
*I'm going to post some more numbers (10% mark, 1/2 way to goal mark, etc) on my blog, and also post my rewards. I'm so close to meeting my first one!

I hope you all have had a fabulous weekend, and here's to an awesome week ahead! :-)

The Right Combination

I'm working my last night shift before going into the supervisor position in two weeks, and I'm remembering why rotating shifts are miserable. But I have gum! I was munching on the cheez-its in my desk drawer, and kept putting the box away, pulling it out again. Reached into my purse for something and found gum! My savior. My mouth is now occupied (and minty fresh) so the cheez-its can remained undisturbed in my drawer. I took the day off from working out because I was achy when I woke up this morning. Bleh. I forgot my water jug when I left the house for work last night, and my body was screaming for water today- I'm working on my second jug for the day without even trying, and will likely have a third in before I leave in the morning. It's amazing to me that my body so quickly became accustomed to the water again, and how I felt when I didn't have it!

Mother Nature has arrived today, which might explain why the scale still hasn't budged. Tomorrow is WI day for BLBE2 and I was really hoping to log a good loss for the first week! However, I feel like I'm some kind of a safecracker looking for just the right combination to this weight loss safe- I've never factored in AP's in previous losses, and I'm wondering if I need to because I'm staying just about right on with my points and daily workouts, with no difference in the scale. This next week I'm going to eat my AP's and see what happens!

This has been an interesting 24 hours. I blame it on the night shifts (it's soo quiet!) that I've had more time to think about what I'm doing and what part my mind is playing in this journey. My blogging buddies called me out on what I posted earlier, about considering myself unattractive in my goodbye photos. I never thought about what I was saying about myself! I've been thinking about it today as I've seen the comments, and realizing that I do consider myself unattractive, as a baseline. I tried to think back to when I actually thought I was attractive, and let's just say its been a few years. Even I'm thinking, wow. I've always been a connoisseur of sarcastic and dry humor, zero bullshit, tell it like it is. But I've never realized how much I direct that at myself.

Something new to add to my daily to-do list. Stop the negative humor towards myself in its tracks. I didn't realize how much of a part it played in my life, even in off-handed comments. Positive reinforcement has been a goal of mine this final time through the WL journey, but I'm realizing I missed a crucial part of that, getting rid of the negative too.

Thanks to everyone who commented on that- you all are the best!

Habits

Yes, it is 5am and I am still up. I'm using this prepping for night shift to my advantage and I'm seriously proud of myself. I have just hauled my sweaty and (no doubt) fragrant self off the treadmill after an awesome workout tonight, twice as long in time but I upped the interval aspect of it. I slowed the speed down (2.0 instead of 2.5) but I did several times the incline.

Normally I do:
5 minutes at 10.0
5 minutes at 7.5
5 minutes at 5.0
5 minutes at 2.5

But today I did:
5 minutes 10.0 x3
5 minutes at 7.5 x2
5 minutes at 5.0 x2
5 minutes at 2.5 x2

Why the sudden burst of workout frenzy? Couple things.

One- I am seriously inspired by watching Season 6 of Biggest Loser. I've got the episodes on my iPhone, and even watched one while on the treadmill (phenomenal way to not even realize the minutes are flying by!) and these people are amazing. Each person has something that reminds me of myself, and there are little phrases that come to mind at certain points- especially from the trainers. How badly do I want this?? Oh I want this.

Two- I wrote a rant about a family member today. It was cathartic, to get it all off my chest and out there. I've pulled that post now because I believe its served its purpose. I'm on my journey. This is about me. Moving on.

Three- I totally ate too much at dinner. Dinner roll the size of a grapefruit (with butter), half a bowl of caesar salad, pasta and seafood in a white wine sauce, and a glass of wine. *sigh* My only saving grace is that my eating schedule is soo screwed up that the only other thing I ate today was a Slim-Fast shake for lunch. Haven't run that through the WW Points Tracker yet, but I'm cringing at the thought.

But I'm still proud of my workout, I was actually looking forward to my husband going to bed and having some Me Time on the treadmill. That is so not normal, I do Me Time on the couch, but I wanted to do it on the treadmill. Who am I, and what have they done with the real Rebecca??

This journey is starting out really well, but I do worry about momentum. I'm usually good for about two weeks and it starts to peeter out. But I also know that it usually takes about 21 days to create a habit. I can carry on through the 21 days to make these new changes my lifestyle- my habits.

And oh yeah- Go Team Lynn!! :-)