The Dreaded PLATEAU!!!!! (And How to Get Over It)

This is My Shape!! Oy!

First, sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted. New Project at work so I’m putting  in 12-15 hour Days right now. BUT I promise I’ve been doing okay and not letting all of the work stress and overwhelming cravings for all things sugary, cake-y, crunch-y, salt-y, take me down (at least not completely).

I’ve managed to keep it quelled with following healthier substitutions:

Sugary = Fruit. Fruit has sugar too but it’s not from an added refined product; just what nature gives…

Cake-y= Angel Food sponge cake cup filled with strawberries and light whip cream. Not the greatest but not the big fat slice of Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake I really want which is now sold at WalMart and Sam’s!

Crunchy= Popcorn – Natural, snack size bag of Orville RedBachers OR my latest craze, Gardetto’s Snack Mix. 140 CAL for ½ Cup vs 160 CAL for 15 measly potato chips!

Salty= I sprinkle Mrs Dash on my baby carrots snack (which I dip in 1 wedge of Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Cheese) and it takes care of the salt taste I crave without the increased blood pressure or swollen ankles!

Now, really quickly, here’s the Updates:

I hit a Plateau in May. I did not lose or gain anything for about 3.5 weeks! From March 15^th -my 2 Month progress report- to April 15^th, I went from 11.5 pds lost to 15.5 pds lost. Then from April 15^th to May 15^th, I was stuck at the 16 pd weight loss! Talk about frustrating as that’s Way off from my 5pd per Month goal!  I didn’t go on a “Oh forget it Binge” as I would have in past though.

So last week I finally took a hard look at what’s been going on; from my work situation to a true review of what I’ve been eating. It was then I realized that I’d picked up on my ‘grazing and nibbling habit’. I was still eating well, still doing Yoga, still walking (up to 4mi, 4-5 times per week now), still adding veggies to meal plans so I was doing okay in the BIG picture. But ah, it was the “little” picture that I was losing control over.

Turns out, I’d gotten a little sloppy with portion size monitoring.  I was nibbling more like a Cup of Gardetto’s vs the ½ cup serving I aimed for. I was eating more fruit than necessary. I found a store that sells the Giant Chewy Sweetarts which are so hard to find, so obviously it was my duty to buy some!  :p And I was also doing more frying of food because I had visitors who like fried foods and I didn’t want to eat separate meal from what I made for guests.

Added stress from day Job and from my Coaching initiatives meant less sleep (going to bed around 12 vs 10:30) which is never good for weight loss, further hindered me.  Check out this article for a better explanation than any I could give:

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/lack-of-sleep-weight-gain

Finally, I thought it best to re-analyze my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and sure enough, from last time I did it (6 pds ago) to now, I needed to reduce Calories by roughly 50 per day or needed to add few more minutes of exercise. I don’t count every calorie but I am mindful not to give my body more than it needs so having general idea of “Base” calorie needs helps me keep in perspective.

(
http://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html
)

None of these alone would cause a weight gain and it wasn’t a gain at all. But cumulatively, they did stall my loss. Recognizing these things has helped me adjust as needed and get back on track.

So with this renewed effort, this week, I’m already back to losing!! From last Friday, I’m down almost half pound! I’ve since learned, the “food creep” is a common thing and if we are not vigilant throughout our Health Improvement processes, it can sneak up on us. Had I not examined what’s been going on, I could have easily said “I just can’t lose weight” or “I am doing everything perfectly yet I’m stuck so this must be my intended weight”. In fact, if I’d let my exercise slide as I did my food, surely I would have started to regain weight. Now I know I’ll plan to review my BMR every 5pds to adjust down to what my body needs.

I have already purchased a “snack bowl” that is ONLY ½ cup serving capacity. If I eat ice cream, snack mix or anything that’s not too great in bigger quantities, I’ll be eating it out of that container so I can’t eat more than that (without refilling it which just feels greedy so I wouldn’t do that, lol).

I think these steps plus just being on top of things, will keep me on track forthgoing. I have some “catching up” to do but I’m not going to stress it and risk stalling out my Metabolism; I’ll just keep going and by August 15th, I know I’ll be much healthier than I was on January 15th!

I promise to try not to let so much time pass between postings! In fact, my next one will be all about my Rocky Butt Blues (aka Cellulite) and my Resting Heart Rate—some exciting stuff going on there. Til Then!

Don’t Fall Over Like a Newborn Calf!

 5 Getting Healthy No-No’s!

Howdy all! So I’ve been on this Health Kick for a while now and between the Gym, the Beach and the Parks, I’ve seen some pretty traumatic efforts and uhm, other stuff that I really just don’t want to see ever again. I’ve also heard and witnessed some very strange weight loss behaviors that fall under Self-Sabotage 101. I have listed the 5 worse offenses in hopes that we all learn there really are just some things that shouldn’t be done, no matter what!   Let’s get started:

1.  Don’t wear Spandex. To be specific: Don’t wear Ill-fitting, crawling up your backside, brightly colored or patterned Spandex shorts.  No more needs to be said about this.

Better Idea: Where comfortable clothes that fit. You don’t have to the latest Nike gear and gadgets but you should be wearing something comfortable, breathable, non-restricting. How long can one sustain a workout with a chafing pant leg crammed up the Woo-hah?

2.  Don’t Gorge now, Pay Later:  In other words, you opt to eat 3 Donuts for breakfast because you’re going to Walk it off later.  So let’s see; the BASIC glazed do-nut has 200 Calories. A 155 pd person would have to walk 2 hours at a brisk 3.5 mph pace to walk off most of those 3 donuts. Are ya really going to do that??  Is it not more likely that after a 30 minute stroll, you’ll proudly call it a day, vowing to eat lighter the next day to ‘finish working it off’? And the day ends with 450 calories of sugar and flour clinging to your side saddles.

Better Idea: Earn your treats by working off their impact before you eat it.  If you want to eat your normal meals + 600 calories worth of donuts AND still lose weight, you’ll need to burn off at least 850 calories first to keep a deficit of at least 250

3.  “Just start somewhere” is a great idea; one I’ve probably touted myself. BUT “start with caution” is a better adage.  To have your first go at an advanced Spin class without having even been on any type of bike in 25 years, isn’t the best idea. IF you make it through it, making it OFF the bike with more grace than a newborn calf is next to impossible.  One wobble from clocking yourself unconscious on someone’s bike pedal…

Better idea:  Start on stationary bike for a few runs for at least a week before going headfirst into a Madam Spins class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  “Teamwork! Let’s Do it together!” Partnering with someone else to make working out more enjoyable is a good idea until your partner runs out of steam.  I’ve seen it over and again—invite someone, who’s doing nothing, to come walk, ride bikes, etc and they say “Oh I would but I’ve planned to walk with Julie this afternoon”.  Okay. Afternoon comes and Julie’s cat is sick and she cancels to go to Vet. While logical for you to say “well I’ll go ahead”, what mostly will happen is now it’s very easy for you to say “well, guess we’ll reschedule”.

Better idea: Have an Accountability partner; someone who can help you stay on track, giving you the push you need and eradicating your excuses when you find a reason to slack off.  Partner when you can but always have a back-up plan and go it alone if you have to.

5.  Buying clothes two sizes two small as “motivation” to work out. I’ve seen this advice in magazines and it sounds nice, but in reality, it’s a waste of money. I know you already have something that’s too small in your closet; if that worked, you’d bring out the favorite thing you’ve tucked away 10 pds ago and use that as your “go go juice”.

Better idea: Save shopping sprees until you’re within 15 pds of your goal weight.  As your old clothes get too big, if you love the piece and it’s quality, have it tailored to your new size. Reinvent your former “small” clothes by adding new accessories, wearing different way, etc to keep yourself from getting to antsy and run out to blow your money.

Remember, this is a Lifestyle change you’re trying to implement. You want to avoid anything that’s going to cause you to give up. Keep going, stay focused and you’ll get there! Stand at the finish line with me!

Wine and Cheesecake – A Girls Best Friend & Worst Enemy

Hiya!

My sincere apologies for the delay in posting and updating my 3 Month Progress Report.  I knew April would be a challenge as due to either My job or my Husbands, I’ve been in Hotels more than I’ve been in my bed this Month. Throw in a 4 day weekend reunion and I barely know what day it is!

I did want to pop in though to say a few things:

1. I’ve had more wine in the past 10 days than I’ve had in past 10 years combined! Lol I did limit myself to 2 glasses (er, most of the time at least) so the calories didn’t wrack up too bad over alcohol alone.  I tell you what, my coworkers are a lot of fun after hours! Oy!

2. I managed to work out early in the mornings on most of the days my friends were in town. I even squeezed in a Yoga session.

3. When I had “bad meal” -either because I was stuck in a conference room and had to eat what was ordered in Or because my West coast and North East friends are all Foodies and wanted to eat “real Southern Food”, I only ate half of the meal.

4. My body Truly does not like rich fatty meals anymore. I just had dinner and it was my healthiest meal in over a week – delicious roasted chicken breast with quartered red potatoes in Grecian seasoning with a crisp green field salad and my body perked up big time!  Eating should give you Energy and I had adjusted to that because my body apparently missed it.  I’m not at all sluggish now–feel sated and alert.

5. I did indulge in more dessert than usual. :/

Now for the Progress: As of April 15th, I was off goal slightly- Total Pounds Lost = 14.8!!! Whoo Hoo!!! I wanted it to be 15 but .2 could be a full bladder so I’m not stressing it! Lol Now I don’t know what the scale says at the moment– for rest of Month my hope is just not to GAIN even if I don’t lose. I’m in a Hotel yet again tonight and next week, I’ll have a few more days in yet another.  But that one will have a Gym so I can at least work out in mornings there.  I’ll be glad when I get home! Losing weight is possible and challenges like these do come up when you’re ‘Out of routines’ but it IS harder. I make no excuses and know there were times I could have made better choices but days and days of shunning provided food and social outings is tough work. :p

Til next time!

What’s My Motivation? A Repost from 2011!

Ya know what’s pretty cool? When you find something you wrote in the past that can certainly help you now.  Today I found a Note I’d put in FB back on March 8th 2011 about my motivation to workout!  I was not really grounded in my decision back then as I am now (3 month results coming on April 15th) but to see this now is really a boost.  I was on a maybe 2 Month spree at this point and my 6ft tall European Gazelle Girlfriend talked me into doing a 5K with her in April. It was a trail run-muddy, rugged wooded, hilly trail but I did it. And I twisted my ankle and hobbled the last mile. I was out of  commission just long enough to lose the habit I was still building. I ultimately did get back to running and we ran another 5K on July 15th of 2011 and I did one more in Oct 2011 & I did okay. But I didn’t keep up the working out I was doing before because my mind said “well you’re running a little so that’s enough” (wrong!) and then I stopped running too. I was not really trying to lose weight then so I was slogging along at a pretty heavy weight. Finding this Note is pretty neat because even though now I feel like for most part, being active is a Habit, it’s still nice to have more reminders.

The “Why I Work Out” FaceBook Post from March 2011

Consider this self-motivation when I need it. Feel free to use it if you need it.

Why I Work Out:

1. Sundresses. I have my eye on a perfect little colorful sundress to wear this Summer. Toned arms & shoulders required.  (The April 2013 version is that Monokini, set to debut in August on my 38th Birthday).

2. My Butt. I sit on it 50+ hours per week working. 16 17 years of that will certainly do a number if it’s not counterbalanced somehow. Squats. Stairsteppers. Lunges. Pilates. Cycling. All because I Must lift butt.  (April 2013: Remove stairstepper and Add Yoga to this list– a big part of my sticking to it because I actually love yoga & hated the stairstepper).

3. Tina Turner. It was just couple years ago that at least once a summer I’d hear from random strangers: “You have Tina Turner legs”. I wanna ‘em back. (April 2013: They’rree baaaccckk!)

Sum up Reasons 1-3 as Vanity.

4. I feel weak. I hate not being able to do 35 push ups anymore. I feel defenseless. I couldn’t fight off a criminal or run fast enough, far enough to get away.  Hate that feeling. Must be in at least “Escapable” shape in this crazy world.  (April 2013: I stand a chance for a few minutes at least. I can do 29 push ups before I poop out now).

5. Mental well-being.  I have a strong mind. I should have a strong body. (April 2013: Stands the same).

6. Accountability & Authenticity. How can I spend my life coaching others to their best self, if I’m not my best self? (April 2013: Still stands to be a reason).

Main Reason above all: To live a long life having fun with my old man! We want to climb stuff, hike stuff, row to stuff, squeeze through stuff, crawl over stuff. We do NOT want to spend the majority of our golden years visiting Doctors and taking meds & wasting away in some crummy old folks house, due to lifelong neglect of our Bodies. So when I feel like hitting snooze at 6a, I’ll think of this ….& I’ll hit the floor instead. This is why I work out. (April 2013: I hit snooze more like 5:30a these days).

There you have it. I feel pumped up right now and determined. What’s your Motivation when you need it?

Warning: Gloating to Follow!

In a rare moment of complete lack of humility, I proudly pat myself on the back.

I’m facing a challenge this week–the kind that would jump my train off the track in previous “Get Healthy Plans”.

I have to be in a Hotel down in GA this week. Came down last night and here until Saturday.  I did not get to select the Hotel; company did. No biggie, right? I’ve managed to adapt in hotels by using their gym, putting my own lunch and snacks in the fridge, etc.

Well guess what? This dagnabit (<–southern term) hotel does not have a Gym! Imagine that–a Holiday Inn on an Island withOUT a Gym? Furthermore, they don’t have a Fridge or Microwave in their rooms–only the King Executive Suite, not this regular old King I’m in. Wow! I didn’t even think any hotel didn’t have this anymore so I was shocked to get here at 10p last night to learn this.

I moaned and groaned with indignant disdain at such a horrid inconvenience. I mean Full Prima Donna mode, I’m telling you. The old man was at a loss for words. lol. I mean “My God how will I do this without my convenient failproof routines?? I’m going to put fat back on this week, waaaahhh!!!  I can’t go to dinner with my brother-in-law & his family because I can’t eat at all! Waaah!! Oh screw it. Guess I will just try to cut some calories, be extra extra careful eating. Waaaahhh!!”

At some point, the inner project manager in me stood up and slapped me upside the head. “Hey Stupid, this is life. You’re changing your lifestyle. This is just one of those things. Sh*t happens. The world doesn’t cater to you. Stop making excuses. Adapt. Fix it!”  Man…my Project Managing Id seems to be of military background and does nothing to comfort the vain & prideful Leo birthright within me. Pffft. Anyway,  logic (and my refuse to be beaten ego) did at last prevail so I unfurled, took a deep breath. Let’s take action: First, what are my options?

A call to front desk and I learned that they have complimentary access to the local Health club “across the street”. Uhm, it’s half a mile up the road and across the street. “-Shut up lazy Lioness!” says Project Mgr Id. Okay so not as convenient as walking down the hall but okay, it’s an option.

A little investigation revealed a short walk down the hall is a Microwave in their pantry. I can heat up my Healthy Choice Steamers. No refrigerator needed. Not ideal but doable. (I’m not big on convenience foods -too many non-food chemicals, sodium and preservatives but in a pinch like a hotel stay, it’s a better option than local fast foods).

Old man said we can get a cooler for keeping my yogurt and carrots. I don’t want to lug around a cooler so I will eat yogurt from the breakfast area in mornings and eat a banana. I can eat baby carrots at room temperature.

Alright. Problems solved. Life goes on. I’m patting myself on the back because I didn’t give up as I easily could have and in the past would have. If I let that happen, who knows if or when I’d get back on track. But instead…  I remembered that I’m not doing anything with an ENDING. Being healthy is my life regardless of the circumstances.  Life gets inconvenient sometimes but it doesn’t mean throw all effort to the wind. What’s funny is adapting to change and making alternate plans after issues arise, is what I do all day within my job role. Why in the world did I panic when it came to doing the same thing for my health? For a moment, my brain really shut down and I could see no options. That’s plain nuts. Lol

Anyway, I went to that health club this morning and worked it out on the Elliptical with a bunch of geriatrics and all was well.  I had my yogurt. –Not the kind I prefer but yogurt nonetheless.  Then I figured since I do Yoga online watching my PC screen, no reason I couldn’t do a cardio workout that way. Don’t need my DVDs. Turns out there are plenty of free options for cardio workouts. I even have some on my podcasts on phone that I remembered so even without a gym, this can still work!  And I did note that sidewalks are all around this hotel so if weather permits, I can take a walk among the pretty palm trees and lush island greenery during my lunch hour.

Yes. I can do this! You can do this!

Channeling Jessica Rabbit: “I’m Not Bad. I’m Just Drawn This Way”

Unexpected Tidbits…

1. Slogging along on the Arc Machine last week & noticed that I felt kind of “zippy”. I felt like I was moving faster than normal even though my settings were more resistant. Something was different…easier…not as hot. Hmmm. Aha!! Suddenly it hit me that I could not feel my upper inner thighs a slappin’ anymore! They weren’t swooshing-swishing each time my legs moved! I was so excited that I almost tumbled off the machine and dropped trou right there on the spot to confirm. Progress!! This was the reverse of my last Fat Roll episode. I was driving & my seat back was uncomfortable. I thought my shirt or bra or something had jumbled up behind me. I reached around to straighten it out & lo and damn behold, it was just my own upper-back fat roll!!! I was mortified. My fat was literally rolling!! **shudders** Maybe -just maybe- feeling that extra air between my legs now is just the thing to reverse that traumatic moment!
2. Yoga makes my – (warning, dirty talk follows) uhm, stubborn bowel much more relaxed.  For a person with digestive issues including constipation, this is a big deal. I guess all that bending and downward dogging loosens things up! I’m almost ready to ditch the extra probiotics! Who knew…?
3. And keeping with the dirty trend, yoga’ing is seemingly firing up some kind of inner libido.  My imagination is getting much more vivid lately. It could be the emerging muscles, lasting tightness & new flexibility, which gives a boost of confidence. Or maybe it’s the additional energy I have now or heck, even the mental positive vibe we get when we’re doing something to improve our lives! Either or all, works for me! I am starting to feel a bit Jessica Rabbit’ish—slinky and cool, kittenish and teasing. I like it! (And so does the old man!)  ”You don’t know how hard it is being a woman looking the way I do.”   No Jessica, I don’t know but maybe one day soon, I will.

I feel ya Jessica!

Rampin’ it Up

Okay so we know that many popular Weight Loss plans start out with an extreme change upfront in order to get people to lose fast weight which is supposed to convince them the plan is working while inspiring them to stick to it. These prequels to the “real plan” are called “jump starts” and boy does it sound exciting to be able to lose “up to 12 pds in 3 days!” (I wish you could see the smirk on my face right now). Obviously, I think it’s a recipe for failure.  The fast weight loss is water and some muscle, but not fat.  Plus, it’s due to drastic changes such as liquid meals or extreme calorie cuts–changes that can’t or won’t be maintained so the weight loss will return or stagnate which will result in frustration and dropping of the plan.  But what do those promoters care; they have your money by then! There is lots of evidence of this being more than just my sarcastic opinion.  Do you ever see the 1 yr or even 6 month Follow Ups for these people?  Frustrating to watch people get their hopes up only to have them dashed when they realize they can’t live on celery alone… This is why I’m starting slow and building an active Healthy Lifestyle.  Yes, it starts slow but it’ realistic. It accounts for factors in for my real life, my own challenges and tendencies but all the while it grows each Month.  Each month I build upon my plan and will do so until I get to a “natural” place of maintenance and health.

Here’s a Breakdown of my Ramp Up so far…

Month 1:   The goal was to just get moving; start setting the habit of being conscious and real about the state of my health. I did 20-25 min of cardio if I had to go to gym OR a minimum of 1.5 mi walk.  I didn’t really have a set number of times per week -the point was to simply get started, to move more, be more active in general.  I’d say it was average 4 days per week.  I didn’t cut out much from my food choices but I was vigilant about portion sizes, measuring and moderation of snacks. I learned a LOT about nutrition, sodium and the perils of eating out. I did some basic calorie counting of my most common foods so I could understand how much I was eating but it’s not natural to count calories, measure food or whatnot.  I’m not doing that for rest of my life so I didn’t want to depend on it. I did it enough to know what I was putting in my mouth but it’s not something that should happen all the time.

Month 2:  Minimum walk was upped to 2 miles, minimum cardio 30 minutes.  I added beginner yoga towards end of 2nd month and sped up the time of my walk to get it around 16 minutes per mile.  By Mth 2, I could easily eyeball proper portions.  Sweet snacks were often swapped out for fruit.  I started to cook a lot more at home, trying new recipes. It’s amazing what you can do with recipe help. Lol I added water to my day–I didn’t drink a lot of water before. I made sure to eat vegetables daily and still do.  I noticed lower stress levels. My job is deadline oriented so the stress can add up and by 11a, I was chewing through pencils like a beaver chews trees. But working out in morning seems to keep stress at bay longer so I don’t chew pencils until maybe 2p.

Month 3:  I’ve fully incorporated Yoga and I’m riding my bike now.   A whole day of bad eating makes me feel sick now so I’m cutting out cheat day and turning into cheat meal on Sundays.   A typical good-weather day looks like: 30-45min Cardio in a.m before work.  (I do work avg 50 hrs per week but I work from home so I don’t have to travel (unless I’m going the 1.8mi to gym). After work is Yoga upstairs. I make a bit of a deal out of it-door closed, candle lit, do not disturb sign. (Easier for me because we have no small kids at home). Hubby and I then go to park for our 2 miles. After walk, we hop on bikes for at least 5 miles. We couldn’t do this before DST b/c it’d be dark by time we finished our walk.  Reading it seems like a lot but it’s really not.  The cardio is only thing that feels like exercise. The Yoga, Biking & Walking feel like fun and relaxing. Pretty much 6 days per week, I’m “exercising” and I don’t even dread it.

Month 4: (April 15th-May 14th)  This will officially begin my Couch to 5K plan. I’ve ran 5k’s before but I want to do it under 30 minutes for a change. Lol I’m going to surprise my 5K running friend (who’s a 6ft tall European Gazelle) by at least not giving her time to be fully dressed and eating orange wedges while waiting on me to cross the finish line. :p I also plan to take a Spinning class and a bonafide teacher lead Yoga class at the gym.  By this month, I hope to have conquered the wobbles so that I won’t knock anyone over.  I hope making good food choices is more natural to me by this time.  I will really focus on taming my cake, pie, cookie tooth this month.

Each Month has had some kind of Challenge. January was a birthday party with cake and fried stuff.  February was Valentines Day celebrations. March was some business travel (4 days in a hotel -which had a gym thankfully). But April, I will have the Month 4 challenge of a Week-long conference, 3 hours from home, in which my coworkers and I will be jammed into a conference room all day, ordering in lunch, eating out dinner, sitting in front of corporate goodies. I will have to be careful!  What’s more, there’s a 4 day weekend before this conference in which a reunion with about 10 friends from all over country. They will be visiting here (Charleston SC) and one of them -my gourmet cook friend- is bunking with me.  They have all demanded to be fed traditional southern fare so the organizer has plans for some really good eating. Uh oh. We shall see how this plays out!

For now, this is how it goes.  Wish me luck!

Progress Report: Month 2

Quick Update (sharing PC for the moment so haven’t posted as much but I do want to say this):
To Date, I have lost 11.5 pds (8 weeks, 3 days)!  That equals one size.  And check this out —->

 

 

 

 

 

Take two of the 5pds of blob and a 1pd blob of fat and that has fallen off of my body!! Isn’t that amazing? I mean go pick up a 10pd dumb bell–that much weight was hanging onto my stomach, sides, face, fingers and thighs… Another 23.5 of them are still hanging on but they are coming off too.  

Know what else? I think I’m giving up my Cheat Day for a Cheat Meal instead. A Cheat day no longer feels enjoyable to me. I feel like this after I eat too much nowadays!!

Me after a bad Cheat Day!

It’s not a good feeling!  I thought it was fine to “have at it” on Sundays since I don’t really deprive myself anyway; I simply eat cleaner and smaller portions.  But now that I’m really paying attention to what I’m eating (thanks to the discipline and practice Yoga is teaching me about mindful eating), I now can feel what my body likes –and what it does not like.  And let me tell you, it does not like eating too much!  I’m much more sensitive to my “satisfied vs full” level now so cheat days are simply too indulgent for my body now.  Sluggishness, digestive issues, uncomfortable feeling in upper chest area–ugh!  Not worth it.  I’ll go with one cheat meal instead of a whole day.

I am loving this whole getting healthy journey!  And oh, friend of mine who stuck to being my Guinea Pig, lost 5pds in her first 2 weeks! This Common Sense weight loss thing is going pretty well.

5 Ways to Survive the Gym

As you may know (if you follow), I really hate gyms and when it’s my main option for working out, I have to drag myself in there.  I much prefer outdoor activities than the Gym so I avoid them unless the Weather or bad Allergy day leaves me with that option.  To make the time go by faster, I employ a few strategies to get through it with as little boredom as possible.  Maybe my ideas will be useful to you when you feel like it’s just too boring.

1. If I’m doing a quick session (20 minutes), I people watch. I suppose because this is a Coastal city, people are a little more attentive to their figure so the gym stays relatively busy. The New Year’s folks are long gone but the diehards are there. I’ve figured out the dynamics of the gym: It’s about 50/50 Men and Women but lot more middle aged men and young women than young men or middle aged women. Of those, there’s the Taut & Twine crowd. Those are the women under 25 who seem to want to keep the prepubescent body of a 12-yr old.  They fly so fast on equipment that their ponytails swing full 360 in a sychronized motion!  Then there’s the Boob-n-Botox crew: Middle-aged women who have filled, reduced, etched & treadmilled away every hint of womanly curve or softness.  I know it’s wrong but I want to go next door and buy them a burger.  There’s a small number of Meatheads who would probably leak steroid juice before blood if they ever popped one of those bulging veins. But the majority of them are normal folks who just want to stay active. I like being in the normal range.
2. Watch Movies:  I download an action movie on my Kindle before I leave the house. (Gym doesn’t have Wi-fi and by downloading, I don’t need it to watch video).  I watch it over 2 days while I’m on the elliptical. I can burn up a 45 minute session in no time. I don’t think about watching the time. (I have learned that it MUST be an action-packed movie. Romances or comedies and such slow me down and can’t keep my attention in the gym for some reason).
3. If I really, really don’t want to be there, I play mind games. I will give myself 15 minutes. I say “Only a dweeb couldn’t make it 15 minutes”. Then if I can make it through 15, I’ll add another 5 for 20 minutes total.  Then I figure what’s another 5 so I’ll add another 5 for my “minimum” of 25 total cardio minutes. That’s enough to burn up nearly 300 calories. Then I let myself off the hook and get out of there.
4. I read. My Kindle is full of unread or half-read books so I do get to catch up on my reading sometimes.  I’ll listen to books on my Iphone as well.  I love Greek Mythology but they stories are so long, I rarely have time to (re)read them.  But I have time to listen at the Gym.  My mind is engaged while my body is moving so the time goes by and I learn something or enjoy a good classic story. Double whammy.
5. I think about what I get to eat. The more calories I burn, the more food I can eat! (Healthy food mind you).  If I give it an extra 10 minutes, I’ve earned 3 Girl Scout cookies.  I keep a few treats in mind so when I get a hankering, I feel at peace indulging in it because I know I deserve it.

If you are a Gym regular but find yourself skipping a few too many trips, maybe somewhere in this list you’ll find something that works for you. Keep those plateaus at bay. Keep the routines from making you dread working out. Keep at it until it’s your Lifestyle.  Til next time!

5 Things I’ve Learned About Yoga

2 Weeks Into Yoga and this is what I’ve learned

Cobra Pose

1. It’s not Easy! In fact, I break more of a sweat bending and stretching for 30 minutes of Yoga than I do on the Elliptical. I began this Yoga journey with a vague bohemian idea of Yoga being all ohming and breathing and gentle bending. But uhm-NO. Now I know ohming is for Meditation. Breathing is tough when someone is trying to make your head and ass occupy the same space at same time.  And there’s nothing gentle about a back-bending Cobra position! (I hear the advanced yogi’s giggling at that statement since cobra is really rather easy but not to me-feels like sternum is breaking!
2. I’m finding muscles that I didn’t know existed. I shake, twist, tremble, falter, fumble and reach yet somehow make it through each session.  I think this is how a baby must feel when first learning to walk!  It’s getting easier and I’m getting into a “flow” with moving from one position to another while breathing properly but it ain’t pretty—not by a long shot!
3. I’m starting to look forward to it after work as a great way to decompress.  I have the basics under my belt and will take a full class in my gym next Month vs the DVD’s I’m using now.  Right now I fear I’d fall over onto some poor pretzel-twisted soul & send the whole class tumbling like so many domino’s…
4. After each session, I feel like I’m wearing an internal girdle.  I feel “tighter” and less jiggly.  When I was a kid, my  great aunt used to make Halloween treats for us as children. She’d wrap black licorice string around jumbo marshmallows to shape them. Then she’d adorn them with little faces made of other candies & turn them into rats, witches, crows, etc. I feel like one of those marshmallows as if my fluff has been wrapped in twine. It’s a good feeling believe it or not! Let’s hope I don’t turn into a crow.
5. I love the End of Yoga. Not because it’s over but because for the last 5 minutes I get to lie on my back, perfectly still and just breathe. There’s NEVER a time when I’m allowed to completely stop in my life. It feels awesome!  I had no idea this is what Yoga could do for a body and this is just the beginning! The more I read about it, the more psyched I get to add this into my lifelong routine for better health.