Run, Forrest, RUN!

So, the Half Marathon is 12 days away!! Melody and I have kicked our training into overdrive, and I am so happy with what we have accomplished in a short amount of time. Yesterday, we ran 10 miles total, and Friday we will have our last long run before the race (hopefully 12 miles at least). Both of us have put P90x on the back burner until after the race, and I was hesitant to do that at first. However, I realized that in order to train properly for the race, I could not let P90x get in the way. I'm happy that I at least got a solid taste of the program, so I will know just what to expect in March, April and May! :~P

I have been reading Master Your Metabolism, and taking notes on some great advice. I realize that Jillian is a little severe in the book, but if I can make a lot of little steps in the right direction, the impact on my body will definitely show; I think. Once I get finished, I am thinking about posting the most helpful tips and my goals on here. I am an average person, and I think that after maintaining a healthy lifestyle for over 2 years that I can pick out the more realistic parts of her program for other people.

New Year, New Start

Ahhh! Hello 2010! :)

So, I definitely gained some holiday weight at the end of 2009. So, after a few crazy nights to start the year, I have decided to make some changes...
I have started doing P90x with Melody (and I think Joey is jumping on board too!). She is doing the Classic version, and I am starting with the Lean version. I have very little upper body strength (which is a big part of it), and I wanted to get a complete understanding of the system in the first go-around, and then have something fresh to start on next time. I should finish in the first week of April, and that would give me enough time to possible do the May Rocketchix and then start back up in June with the Classic version of P90x. I'm tired of just being comfortable. I proved to myself that I can keep the weight off, and now I want to improve.
I am also cutting out alcohol - especially during P90x. I know there will be some small exceptions here or there (I had already bought some Rose Regale for Valentine's Day), but no more of this random glass of wine during the week or crazy partying on the weekends. I cannot imagine how many empty calories I have put into my body with alcohol. The last time I drank heavily, I spent the entire next day feeling like shit. All that for a few hours of acting crazy? I act crazy when I don't drink. Done. :)
I am including Michael more in my health journey. His body has started to change with his job at the bank. He sits a majority of his day and works on a computer. I gave him a bike for Christmas, and we are planning to ride together at least twice a week as soon as the temp gets above freezing! lol He is very excited, and I hope that I can use his enthusiasm when mine starts to get low.

Basically, I want to do my best to look at each day as a challenge on it's own. I did that when I first started to lose weight and it worked wonders! Those days add up quick. I want to get away from the mindset that I can have a cheat here or there because I "earned it". I've picked up some new tips and recipes, and everything feels fresh and renewed again. This first week of P90x has flown by, and I can't wait to see my body on day 90! :)

Steps backwards...

I've had a rough week or so now as far as my diet is concerned. Honestly, I could have planned better and made better choices. Most of it has been from work - drug reps bringing lunch, or I forget mine and have to find something on the fly, etc. etc... I had decided to get back on track this week, and have done really well at work from breakfast to lunch...but now, it's when I get home there's a problem. lol Monday I cooked spaghetti, and that wasn't horrible, but I could've cooked something healthier to get myself going again. Then yesterday, I had to turn my rental car in and go pick mine up from the shop. I coordinated with Michael, and when he picked me up, he announced that he was taking me to Texas de Brazil. It was a nice treat (REALLY nice), but not so nice for my diet. I definitely did well for what was available. I had some romaine lettuce with a fresh dressing (really just looked like fresh pico) and steamed asparagus before the meat started to come around. I also had about 1/2 a cup of this AMAZING lobster bisque!!! It was the best soup I have EVER tasted! Then with the meats, I had all steaks, and only the lean parts - nothing wrapped in bacon or anything like that. However, Michael did want some dessert, so I had a few bites of his bananas foster cake. Delish, but definitely a treat I won't be having again soon! lol

I wanted to blame my bad week on PMS, but I have come to far to just toss the blame. I need to make conscious decisions with my diet. It's very easy to get back into bad habits and think, "Oh, this one thing won't hurt." But, it's those one times that turn into many times, and before you know it, you're up 15lbs. I WILL NOT DO THAT!

I pulled out tuna steaks to thaw for tonight, and I'll have some fresh veggies to steam. I will stay on track! :)

Fruit

I love fruit. I love to smell it, buy it, prepare it... The fruit stand is one of my favorite places. However, I have a problem. I love it eat it, but feel guilty when I do. How much sense does that make?! I know in my mind that it's because of the carbs and high sugar content (even though they're natural). Melody gave me this book that details out all of the benefits of different foods, including fruit. I've been pouring over the fruit section trying to break my phobia. I even had it on me to research with while I was at the fruit stand this past weekend to make sure that every fruit I picked up had enough benefits to make it worth the carb count! And, I have made a conscious effort to eat fruit every day this week. I've been having a gala apple in the morning with my normal high-protein breakfast. With lunch I have a small, fresh fruit salad, which consists of pineapple, mango and kiwi. After my workouts, I've had either a gala apple or a nectarine with my Isopure. I have done my best not to think about it. But, when I go to track and see the high carbs, I freak out.

The crazy thing is, my weight hasn't fluctuated at all this week - which I would have taken as a bad sign and blamed the fruit. I actually went down .2 lbs. I guess that isn't much, but every little bit counts since I don't have much more that I want to lose. I have had not one sign to say that I need to cut back on my fruit, but I'm still weird about it. Ugh... I guess I'm just special! lol

Funny and Interesting...

So, I was doing a little cleaning yesterday in the junk room, and came across a couple of books and guides that I had picked up for weight loss years ago. One of them was the "Slim in 6" program. I flipped through the 6 day express for jump-starting your diet and decided to try it out this week. This morning I was going through it a little more while eating breakfast and came across my "Before Stats" from when I bought the program in 2004. Around 5 years ago (documented 8/9/04), here were my stats:

Weight: 127 lbs
Chest: 35"
Waist: 28"
Hips: 40"
Mid-Thighs: 20" (each)
Upper Arm (flexed, peak of bicep): 11" (each)

Today, my measurements are (after lunch AND bloated since I'm about to start my period)..
Weight: 128 lbs
Chest: 35"
Waist: 26"
Hips: 39"
Mid-Thighs: 18.5" (each)
Upper Arm (flexed, peak of bicep): 10" (each)

I guess this is my affirmation that the scale is not always the best indicator of your success. While my weight is pretty much the exact same as it was 5 years ago, I am in much better shape and am definitely smaller than I was. However, because of my muscle gain, my weight isn't lower. I've been getting very frustrated with the scale, but this just proves that I need to have more patience and just continue working as I have been.

I think that aiming for high protein has been a nice kick for my diet, too. I can't maintain that, especially over the weekends, so it's nowhere near a long-term thing. But, trying to keep it through the week with my carby days being over the weekend, keeps my metabolism guessing; I think. Tomorrow is the 1st, and will make about 2 weeks I've been trying to do this. I plan to take some progress pics this weekend. Hopefully, I won't be disappointed! :)

Some days are harder than others...

I've been doing my best to maintain high protein, low fat and low carb. It's not always perfect, but I think I've gotten the hang of it. My lowest in the last week and a half was 126.4lbs. I am back up around 127-128, but I think some of that is the sodium from the soup & crackers Wednesday (I was sick), and so I've been trying to drink lots of water. I'm also going to start my period after this weekend, so that's probably not helping. :P

One thing, though, I can definitely see a difference in my body, even though the weight has pretty much stayed the same. So yay for that. I really wish the scale would go down though. lol

I plan on taking some progress pictures soon. I thought about this weekend, but I'm about to start. Maybe next weekend. It's just one of those weeks....blah.

One awesome thing - I received a notice in the mail from GNC. They're going to be doing "Buy 1 Get 1 50% off" for the first 10 days of September. PLUS, I will still get to use my 20% member card on top of that. I'm definitely going to stock up on my protein and vitamins! :)

Routines & Proteins; Breakfast & Sleep

This blog is kind of a 2-parter..

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since the Tri, and I've been trying to figure out where to go now. Do I want to go back to the old Spin/Body Pump routine? Do I want to restart NROLFW? How about doing more Tri training for the next race (whenever that will be)? Honestly, I dabbled in all three areas. I've done a few Spin/Body Pump sessions together, started riding my bike 12-15 miles with a 2-3 mile jog afterwards, swam laps a couple of times...I just haven't felt a spark with any of them. I did the first workout in Stage 2 last night. My shoulders are super sore today (yay!). I guess I'm just still not sure what to focus on. I know it's good to keep your body guessing, so I really could just do it all...But, I like to have a routine. It helps keep me focused. I do know that I want to finish Stage 2 now that I've started. It's only 8 workouts, so those will be done in like 2 weeks. I need something to go with it though. It's easier to do something at the gym if I'm already there, instead of trying to come and bike, for example. But, at the same time, I don't want to lose out of any Tri training. I don't know when the next race will be, but I don't want to find one and then have lost precious training time. This first one I did gave me the tools I needed to get myself in competition mode. For Rocketchix, I just wanted to finish. Now, I want to place and win. :)

In addition to re-thinking my workout, I've been looking at my diet more. I've gotten perfect at maintaining. At this point, I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight because I've gotten so good at portion control and knowing what will make me full (on top of just staying active). I don't need or crave as many calories during the day as I used to. However, I want to shed those last few pounds of fat. I don't know a lot of technical stuff for diet and exercise, but I know what has worked for me. So, I'm trying to keep my protein percentage at 40-50% during the week, and around 30-40% on the weekends. That's a high count for my weekends, especially with the family time on Sundays that is ALWAYS filled with yummy "soul food". :) I doubt I will make it even most of the time, but I want to consciously aim for it.

So, I've played around with higher protein for the last couple of weeks, but this week I started cracking down on it. I didn't feel well on Monday (not as high as I wanted for protein, but kept my calories low), so I started hardcore yesterday (Tuesday). I ended my day with 58% protein, 22% carbs and 20% fat. Perfect! I could have eaten more carbs, but I have found that the stricter I keep myself at the beginning, the easier it is for me down the road. So far today, I am 58% protein, 7% carbs and 35% fat. The fat is mostly from the 2 eggs this morning, and will level out as the day goes on. I have noticed a definite increase in cravings though. I'm also trying to cut down on my sodium, and now salt is all I crave! In the recent past, I would give in a little because I could afford to. However, I'm trying to cut now, so I need to get back to fighting even the smallest craving. I really want to have a solid handle on this higher protein diet by September 1st. I want it to be second nature with little to no cravings by then.

On to breakfast and sleep... On Livestrong, I took a dare to get more sleep. My sleep patterns are very erratic, and I know that having a more steady, solid sleep pattern will help with my diet and exercise efforts. Michael and I agreed to start getting to bed by 11pm everynight, but it has been far from perfect. I guess we are having a hard time getting into that habit. We're just not sleepy by then, but I think that if we make ourselves get in bed by that time, we will eventually get used to it. It's just a pain right now. :( Our vacation time didn't help like we thought it would. We ended up running the roads everyday and staying out late every night - not what we expected. At-home vacation may not have been the best idea. Next time, we'll definitely be somewhere far away so that we won't be bothered! lol

I am also doing my best to get breakfast in me within an hour of waking. I am not a morning person, so I'm usually in a rush to get to work as soon as I wake up. This falls in with the sleep part because if I get to bed at a decent hour, then I will wake up more refreshed (and possibly earlier) than I do now. I have, however, made an effort to cook and eat breakfast before leaving the house this week (I've gotten damn good and making my egg & fat free cheese omelet while getting dressed!). My problem is that it's made me late for work a couple of days. I've also found that taking more time to get up, get ready, eat breakfast and play with Koopa makes my day noticably better. So, I am doing my damnedest to get better at the whole sleep and breakfast thing. :)

I guess that's it for now. We'll see where I'm at in a week or so! :P