To Sweat or Not to Sweat?

Check it out, a blazer!

Is it Friday already?  That reminds me of something I read recently - "The bad news is, time flies.  The good news is, you're the pilot."  I'm in charge of my own destiny...where is it I want to go?  I don't have an answer for you, but I'm working on one for myself.  I've accomplished one of my biggest life goals - to get in shape.  Now that I've found created (and maintain) success on that front, it's on to other things as well.  No time like the present to take that next step.

So yesterday was supposed to be a gym day.  By the time the afternoon rolled around I was feeling SO tired.  I mean tired.  I could've taken a nap at my desk.  My body felt sore and I was still coughing.  Nothing horrible but it didn't exactly sound good either.  So I was thinking about taking a pass on the gym.  I know, I rarely do that, which is partly why I thought I should.  That said, I'd eaten a whole roll of Thin Mints and we had plans to go out to Indian Food for dinner.  I knew it would be good to balance all those calories with a little sweat.

So I called out to my FB peeps (join us!) for their advice, thinking they'd tell me to rest.  Noooo...the initial comments all told me to go.  Some even said, GO!  But the good thing was they reminded me I could do a light workout.  Sometimes I forget about that option, get into my old black and white thinking - go to the gym or skip it.  When really there's a third option, go to the gym but take it easy.  So that's what I did.   Although I admit, my take it easy could have been easier.  Some people did tell me to skip it, btw.

I did 25 minutes on the upright bike, level 6 (instead of my normal 8) and then I did chest/triceps/core.  Despite taking an AccelGel I was dragging through my whole workout and felt like I'd made a mistake, that I should've skipped the gym altogether.  Oh, but I did a set of dumbbell chest presses again with 30 pound dumbbells.  I asked a kid at the gym to spot me but turned out I didn't need help.  I left the gym feeling a bit beat up but I didn't regret going, at least I gave it a try.

Eventually Miguel and I got out of the house and to dinner.  I love Indian food, so comfort foody and full of flavor. We had vegetable samosas, naan, tikka masala and shrimp in a curry sauce.  Oh, and I had a beer (and shared a second one with Miguel) but was too full for desert.  At this point I was very glad I'd gone to the gym.  Anyway, we did a little shopping after dinner, Miguel needed a few things for his trip and I bought a dark chocolate bar with almonds, of which I almost ate the whole thing (I finished it off today).  We came home and watched an episode of Game of Thrones and I went to bed exhausted.

Today I started feeling tired again in the afternoon with body aches and general malaise.  I came home early from work and went straight to bed.  I've got the busiest week you can imagine, PLUS Miguel will be out of town, so I can't afford to be sick.  I don't know if I slept but I know I was in bed for a few hours and the rest/nap, plus some ibuprofen, made me feel much better.   So I changed into my gym clothes with plan to walk and do weights, since it's the cardio that really takes it out of me.  

Just sharing a little Athleta body envy.  Those arms, those abs!

I started with a 1 mile walk on the treadmill, varying the incline from 1-4%, mostly at about 4mph.  Took me roughly 15 minutes to walk the mile and then I started into back/biceps/core.  I had a small victory in being able to do 4 pullups for my first set, 3 for my second set.  Might be time to add a third set.  Even if I can only do 1 I'll be that much closer to my mini-goal of 3 sets of five.  Pullups are no joke.  And these are neutral grip so I get a lot of help from my biceps.  The other thing I did was increase my weight on decline crunches from 15 to 20 pounds (only on the first set).  Again, no joke.

I left the gym feeling really good.  So glad I snapped out of whatever was ailing me and moved my body some.  My eating has been fair to, well, fair.  Still munching more than I need to in the evening but nothing insane.  Oh, and my weight this week was just fine, 138.8 pounds - and 25% body fat!  I'd like to see 25% a few more times before I call that goal met.  Ok, that's all I got.  It's almost 10:30 and I'd like to get a full night sleep so I'm off to bed.

Handle Me With Care

Today was yesterday redux.  I made healthy choices all day and then got munchie in the evening.  But such is life for me these days, I know when I'm ready to stop, I will.  And if I see the scale consistently going up and I'm not ready, I'll stop anyway.  I'll just go back to what's worked in the past - no junk food, or anything that resembles junk food, in the house.  If it's not here, I can't munch on it.

My cough flared up today but it wasn't bad enough to skip the gym.  I went after work and it was still nice enough to run outside.  I've been doing all of my gym runs on the treadmill lately.  Not sure why, in the past I would avoid the treadmill like the plague.  So I told myself I was overdue for an outside run and that, in fact, it's easier to do a leisurely, run-by-feel run outside than on a treadmill.  Outside my pace can change incrementally a million times based on how I feel, that's just not doable on a treadmill.  So I hit the road with a plan to run for 25 minutes.  I've been doing 3 miles but because of the cough situation I decided to run for time.

The run started out rough, I was coughing a bit and everything felt difficult.  I turned off my music so I could hear myself breathing and after 4 - 5 blocks I fell into a comfortable rhythm.  I started to remember some of the stuff I've been reading in Born to Run about form.  I focused on just gliding over the ground, no big steps, no bouncing, just a smooth, easy glide, almost like I'm drifting forward.  In the last few minutes of the run I had this odd sensation of wind being at my back, as if I was getting the slightest push from behind.  It was odd in that I couldn't explain it, but the feeling wasn't odd, it was wonderful.  I still remember it as I'm sitting here on the couch, just this little push forward.  I hope I can make it happen again.

After a cool-down walk I headed back into the gym for strength training, legs/shoulders/core.  I like to get jump squats out of the way first because they are such a challenge.  I hyped myself up with my music and then started leaping in the air.  I've been doing them for a while so nowadays I try and jump as high as I can.  Talk about a challenge.  My legs start burning, my heart's racing.  So for my third set I decided to do regular squats with 12 pound dumbbells - they felt so easy!  Too easy even, so I ended up doing a third set of jump squats just to be sure I wasn't slacking.  Wink.

Another from my beach shoot.

When I was done I switched to my Cooldown playlist and started stretching.  I can't tell you how much I get out of this part of my workout.  Years ago (as in, when I was in my 20's) I used to like taking classes (remember Jazzercise?) and I always loved the cooldown at the end, with the relaxing music and the stretching.  So I replicate that at the end of my own workouts and it's a tiny bit of heaven.

I get a bit lost in the music and revel in the feeling that everything I am is just what I should be, that I am perfectly good, perfectly enough.  I breathe in all that's right in my world and breathe out all that I don't need.  I don't consciously think that but I know that's what I'm doing  Just being in the moment, letting my stresses go for a while, and savoring that post-workout satisfaction that comes from knowing I just spent some time taking care of myself - it's so good.  It's my thank you (and my you're welcome) to myself.

And don't underestimate the music.  I have a variety of soft, soothing songs that immediately take me away.  Even if I only have 3 minutes to stretch and cool down, I take it.  If you're not doing this at the end of your exercise I suggest you give it a try.  It's a soft bit of self care after the tough love that was my workout.  And speaking of self care...I'm off to bed.  Night one and all.

Weekend Wrap-up and Monday Munchies

The visit with my brother was fun, especially for my heart.  I hope we get to spend more time together in the coming years.  I loved watching him interact with the kids.  They're already asking when he's going to visit again.  And of course I enjoyed talking shop as far as exercise and eating goes.  Truthfully, I could not maintain his type of diet.  Or maybe I should say I choose not to.  Super clean eating 99% of the time is probably 19% too often for me. 

On Saturday we went for a hike around Lake Lagunitas.  The weather was pristine and the kids were full of energy.  I'd packed lunch for the kids and picked up Chipotle for the adults for a picnic along the way. 

 

There was talk of going to see a movie Saturday night but in the end we rented one and stayed in, which was just fine by me.  Sunday morning Robert made us shakes and a healthy egg white scramble for breakfast before hitting the road for home.  He left me the Garden of Life Raw powders to start incorporating them into my routine.  Oh, and a blender cup to make them in.  Here's a picture of the shake ingredients and the finished product. 

Powder, almond milk, fruit, yogurt and oats.

The yummy final product.

I was on the fence about my planned 5-mile run.  I'd been coughing kind of a lot the last couple of days and my body felt strangely sore.  Oh and my right hip has been hurting.  Anyway, Miguel had an entire afternoon of stuff planned in preparation for his trip so he gave me the old, "if you want to run you should go now or I might not get back in time for you to run later."  That's about all I need to hear.  I decided to run one loop around my 'hood, which is roughly 2.5 miles and see how I felt.  If I felt good enough, I could do the loop again.

And, most important, I am continuing my 12k training plan of leisurely running.  No pace goals, just run at whatever pace feels good.  You might guess, if you know me, that I ran the whole 5 miles.  But only because I felt good enough.  Around mile 4 I was ready to be done but by that point I was too close to take a shortcut.  Here are my splits, full Garmin stats here.

Look at that weather!  A gorgeous day for a run.  I ran in shorts and a technical t-shirt and couldn't have been more comfortable.  I was so glad I got my butt moving and went on that run.  And my cough is barely noticeable today so maybe the run helped.

Speaking of today, I hit the gym after work.  I wore my Athleta tank top for the second time.  Still feel a bit under-clothed with my shoulders and arms exposed.  One of the gym guys commented, "Your muscles are really starting to show, I can see some real definition."  They've been there for a while now but the tank top is why he's noticing.  I think I need to do some new pics that show my muscles, the last time I did them I was 148, roughly 10 pounds heavier than I am now.  Ohhh, now I'm really curious if I'll notice a difference.

Anyway, I started my workout with 25 minutes on the upright bike, level 8.  I think this is the first time in quite a while that I did my normal workout.  The bike definitely made me work (you better work, work it girl...sorry, couldn't resist) but left me with enough energy for strength training, back/biceps/core.  I managed 3.5 and 3 pullups in two sets.  I think I need a mini-goal of two sets of 5 to give me something to aim for since my three sets of 8 goal seems a bit far off.  I wrapped up with some stretching before heading home.

My food choices were pretty good all weekend and today.  The wheels didn't exactly fall off tonight but I was very conscious of a desire to eat, eat, eat.  I made a big salad to start, hoping that would quell the desire some.  I've really been enjoying Annie's Naturals Gingerly Vinaigrette Lite dressing lately.  Very flavorful.  

Unfortunately the salad didn't seem to help much with my mental appetite.  I ate three pieces of pizza (thin crust with chicken and veggies), though I was probably satisfied after two (and could have eaten four), followed by a lot of random snacking.  I wouldn't call this a binge or anything but it was clearly more food than I needed.   I don't know, I'm not going to think about it too much.  I'm too tired. 

Which is maybe why I overate in the first place.  Either that or I was looking for some comfort.  A hot bath would've probably felt better in the end.  I think I forgot to mention that TTOTM started on Friday evening.  Explains a few things anyway.  Ok, it's nearing 10pm and my eyes are feeling heavy.  Off to bed. 

p.s.  Thanks to all my FB peeps for the workout song recommendations!  I'm looking forward to checking them out. 

Brotherly Love

This will be a quick post, or at least my version of a quick post. Please to forgive any sloppy writing. My brother is in town visiting for the weekend and he's on his way over soon so I need to be snappy. The last few days have been busy. On Thursday I went to the gym after work. I had legs/shoulders/core for strength training followed by a spin class. I was careful to take it easy in spin so I didn't hurt my legs again and end up hobbling around all week. I think I did a good job. There were a few times when they were sprinting and I didn't, or they turned up the resistance and I didn't. In a group setting like that it's hard not to go along with the energy of the group but I had a fresh memory of what fried legs feel like so that was plenty of motivation to take it easy.

Friday I worked a half-day because of my brother Robert's visit. I haven't seen him in several years and even then it was a brief visit. This time he's staying for the weekend and my heart was filled with anticipation and excitement. The course of our childhood is a bit complex so he and I missed out on a lot but some of my fondest memories are of he and I playing together as kids. So a funny thing - he's a health and fitness nut! Go figure. He goes to the gym five times a week and eats clean. I mean clean.  Makes me look like an artificial, preservative, processed food junkie compared to him.

Anyway, he arrived around 1:30 and one of the things he wanted to do was go to the gym together.  But first we had to get lunch.  Lucky for me he likes Chipotle so that's where we went for lunch.  I had a salad bowl with black beans, veggies, chicken, salsa, corn and guacamole.  I skip the dressing.

Chipotle Salad Bowl

It was good, as always.  Robert couldn't believe how much I've changed since he saw me in 2009.  He must have told me 10 times, "you're SO tiny!".  After lunch he wanted to go to Vitamin World to pick up some of his protein shake stuff.  He shook his head that I'm not drinking protein shakes before or after my workouts, "You're not maximizing your workout."  Ha!  I loved listening to him.  These are the powders he got.

Raw Meal

One is a protein shake and the other is a meal replacement.  More on this in a bit.

So after that and a quick visit to the house, we hit the gym.  My poster is still up so I got to show that off before heading in to work our muscles.  He doesn't usually do much (or any) cardio because he's so focused on muscle gain.  But he agreed to run a quick mile with me on the treadmill.  I have a chest cough (darnit!) so I was happy to keep my run on the shorter side.  I ran at 6.4mph with one 2-minute 7.4 interval.  Then we went to the weights.

He's crazy strong.  I mean crazy strong.  He lifted 120 pound dumbbells (in each hand!) for chest press.  Me, I did 30 pound dumbbells, which I needed him to spot.  But he really inspired me to start lifting heavier weights.  And we did a thing where I was on the decline bench and he  tossed me the medicine ball with each decline.  He couldn't believe I could do that with a 10lb medicine ball.  He was very encouraging and I enjoyed the challenge of working out with him.

We wrapped up with some stretching, despite him saying, "I don't believe in stretching."  I got to tell him, "you're not maximizing your workout."  Hee hee.  I told him he's neglecting flexibility and balance as part of his overall fitness and suggested he do some of his standing exercises on the bosu, like bicep curls.  I don't know that I sold him on that though.  But he did stretch with me and then we headed to the grocery store.  He had some of his super-healthy meals he wanted to make for us. 

We eventually made it home but missed dinner with the kids.  He started by making us some shakes.  He used one scoop of each powder and added a small activia yogurt, bananas, strawberries, oats and a mix of almond milk and water.  I was starving and the shake was super good.  I could have had the whole pitcher myself.  But I kept it to a couple glasses while he got to cooking our dinner - an egg white scramble with deli turkey breast and veggies (cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, spinach).  He doesn't ever add salt to his food, instead he uses Mrs Dash for flavor.  I made sauteed zucchini to go along with that.  Talk about a healthy meal!

Egg white scramble

Sauteed zucchini

After dinner we got to spend some time playing with the kids and hanging out.

Not sure what's on the agenda for today, maybe a hike, maybe some sightseeing.  We're being flexible.  He's going to make us shakes for breakfast, I'll have to take some pics of that for my next post. 

I had a plan to run 5 miles tomorrow (Sunday), a leisurely training run for the Emerald 12k coming up next month.  If I run 5 miles tomorrow and add a mile each Sunday, I'll be ready for the 8 miles.  I'm sure I'll be ready for the 8 miles either way but some training would be nice even with taking a leisurely approach to this race.  Anyway, the point is that my cough is making me hesitant about running tomorrow.  We'll have to see how things develop.  Ugh, I am not getting sick.  Not. getting. sick.

Ok, gotta run.  Hope you're having a great weekend!

Letting Go to Hang On

I was in a good mood today.  It's funny how sometimes you need to let go in order to hang on.  I'm really working on being gentle with myself around the eating, and recognizing that it's not all a lack of willpower (read: weak Michelle) that's going on here.  Maintenance sure has its own learning process.  I can see how, if I'd just dropped out of WW and never had this blog, I would eventually regain the weight.  It's so easy to get complacent, to slowly move into a place of ignorant satisfaction.  Of course that's not the only way someone can end up re-gaining lost weight, but I suspect it's the most common.

My good mood is due in part to my better food choices these past couple of days.  Things haven't been what I'd call ideal, but they are a big improvement over what I was doing.  Tonight at dinner I wanted a second piece of french bread.  I was already full, I'd made a white bean and chicken stew in the slow cooker and it was very filling (and healthy!).  So I talked myself through the bread urge and didn't eat it.  Each little good choice adds up.  My confidence is coming back, and most importantly, I feel so much better eating this way.

Yesterday morning I got on the scale and it was up to 140.6, or something like that.  The gain was good, it gave me some real feedback as to what I'd been doing.  And I didn't like it, which is motivating.  So I'm doing something about it.  I wish it was easy again, but making the best choices for oneself does not always mean making the easy choice.  Boy do I know that one.  Reminds me of that phrase, "Don't give up what you want most for what you want now."

So on to a little exercise review.  Yesterday (Tuesday) I went to the gym and ran for 3 miles.  I increased my speed to 6.4mph with 7.4mph intervals.  Normally I do 5 intervals at 2 minutes each during my three mile run - at minutes 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25.  But I'm trying to ease up a bit on my body this week so I only did 3 intervals - at minutes 5, 15 and 25.  I'll do these three intervals for a maybe a couple weeks and then add in the rest eventually.

After the run I did back/biceps/core.  I felt good as I went through my routine.  The gym really is my happy place.  I went home to make dinner, teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies. I've been a bit obsessed with zucchini lately.  I cut it up in 1/2 inch chunks, heat olive oil on high heat and then add the zucchini with some diced garlic and onion and salt/pepper.  I stir it around initially but then leave it so the sides get a nice searing.  It cooks up quick and is so tasty!  Quick, healthy and tasty - what more could you ask?

So today (Wednesday) was my day home with the kids.  I managed to get away for a few hours for a little side project I'm doing.  I'm writing profiles of local fitness-oriented businesses for my local online newspaper.  The upside for me is that I get to try out a variety of businesses and then share my experience.  I'm interspersing the business profiles with interviews of fit people, focusing on how they got/stay fit, how they deal with challenges, etc.  Hopefully the stories will motivate people to get in shape or try something new or otherwise have some positive impact.  It's not a paid gig, which is nice because if it were I'd feel all this pressure, which I don't need.

I interviewed the manager of The Dailey Method as my first business profile.  I'll post the link on my FB page once the article is up.  Originally I thought I'd cross-post them here too and may still do that.  I took pictures to go along with the article, which also scratches my shutterbug itch.  That one posted above with the Don't Give Up phrase was one of the pictures.  Obviously I didn't take the ones of myself but I'll include a couple of those too.  Is it strange that I'm the only one smiling? 

Seems I should be rolled back a bit farther?

 

The bottom picture is evidence of why I need a tummy tuck.  I don't think anyone would question me if they look at that picture.  Those rolls won't go away any other way.  Ugh.  Wanting a tummy tuck is better than looking at that picture and thinking I need to lose weight, right?  And my arms...nope, I won't say anything.  Nada.  Zip. 

After The Dailey Method I ran some errands and ended up at a shoe store.  I found some New Balance Minimus shoes on clearance.  I don't intend to run in them, they are zero drop with almost no cushioning and I'm not ready for that yet, but I'm planning to walk around in them to build up strength in my feet and get used to the feeling.  Plus, they're really cute.  I should take a picture while wearing them to give you a better idea.  They are a tiny step above slippers.

After the errands/shopping I came home and worked in the yard for a while.  The weed situation is now completely under control in the back yard but I still need to finish up the front yard.  We're getting ready for spring as well as Marek's birthday party in March.

Speaking of March, it's going to start off crazy.  Miguel is going out of the country for a week and it's got to be one of the busiest weeks I'll have all year.  The timing is horrible but he had this opportunity to go with a friend and we had no choice on the timing.  I've got several mothers club events plus some volunteering.  Oh, and Marek's 4th birthday party the day after Miguel gets home, meaning I'll be doing all the prep work for the party.  Not entirely, my mom has agreed to play co-parent during much of the week so I don't lose my marbles and end up sobbing in a corner during the candle blowing ceremony.  BTW, can you believe Marek is turning four?  I can't.  Good lord I've had this blog for a long time.  He wasn't even a twinkle in my eye when I started.

Which reminds me, my WW anniversary, 2/15, just passed.  I started this journey 6 years ago.  My blog will be 6 years old in about a month because I started blogging about 1.5 months after I started WW.  Smartest move ever.  Not sure I'd even be here if it weren't for all the introspection that the writing helps pull out and refine.  Maybe I should celebrate with a cake?  Mmmm, cake.  On that happy note, I'm wrapping up for the night.