Back down

I weighed in this morning on my scales - during HCC, they ran pretty close to the scales at the gym.  The only difference being that the gym showed a 10th of a pound and mine doesn't... but I weighed in yesterday at the gym and had maintained my weight - but it was after another grueling workout when I'd drank another 32 oz of water!

I'm going to an iPad seminar today and will be away all day and won't be able to get into the gym in time to weigh.... the scales here say I'm down a pound! I'm going to take it, because honestly, I need it! And starting next week I'll have to transition to the home scales anyway, so now's a good time, right?

Tomorrow the new team is doing the Custom's house downtown but I don't know if I can do that - not supposed to come down the stairs because of my knee... which is why I loved Tyler's Bee Street Garage stints (never thought I'd say that) because we went down in the elevator before starting anew... I may go anyway though - I'm on the fence.  Next week I will only be able to go to Monday's workout because of a senior trip that I'm heading up (God help me) to Disney/Universal.

I'll keep you posted :)

Bumming Hard... New Plan of Action Starting NOW!

SO - I probably should have waited until tomorrow to weigh-in because I drank 24 oz of water during our killer workout this morning! But no, I weighed in after working out and have gained 4 pounds :(  It's amazing how quickly it comes back on! I didn't weigh-in last week, which had to be one of my downfalls - because if I had gained week last week, I would have worked harder this past week.  BUMMER.

So I need a new plan of action. I haven't been writing my foods down - which is unfortunate because I have a fancy new food journal.... oh, and because when I don't journal, it shows.  So here are my steps to getting back on track:
1) journal EVERYTHING I eat - regardless of the whether it's "good" or "bad"
2) make a game plan each week of my daily intake, so I know what I have left over for emergency calories
3) workout EVERY day (I may have been slacking on that one)
4) in addition to the regular workout, go back to doing my 30 minute interval 5/7 days (haven't been doing this at all...)
5) no more cheats!

I worked out with my group training program this morning and it was the kind of workout where afterwards you are drenched with sweat... followed by bouts of thinking I was going to throw up (Tyler says this means it's a good workout).  I was with "other" Julia, and Judy - reminded me of being with all the Julia's in our family :) It was great - they are in better shape than I am, so I pushed myself to keep up with them.  I ate 1/2 a banana before working out and 1/2 an orange after working out... (vs. some other choices I've recently made).  I'm still slightly about the 10 pound mark and I am NOT going to let this bring me down! I am going to keep plugging hard and I refuse to let this completely derail me!!

And on the off-chance that that was water weight + whatever other weight, I hope to lose it all next week... :)

Not able to do the challenge :(

Well, I missed last week's weigh-in... but I just read over the rules and though I can miss 1 weigh-in, you HAVE to weigh-in during the first weigh-in and the last weigh-in... unfortunately for me, the last weigh-in is during the week I will be taking the seniors to Disney for the week... so I can't win the $75 gym bucks! :(  But I will keep updating you all with the weekly weigh-ins! And then I will either start weighing in at home or maybe still use the scales at the gym if they are still available!

Goals Accomplished!! Ready to set NEW ones!!

Goals for 1st couple of months = doing an extra 30 minutes of cardio outside of team workouts 3X/week AND pushing it harder in team workouts :)

Rewards = 1) new pair of running shoes ------> CHECK!! Bought Newton's about 6 weeks ago and have been using them for every work out... LOVE THEM
2) Hair cut at Lava Salon ------> CHECK!! Well, will be checked off later this morning! I was waiting until I could tell a difference in the weight loss - but I can't - not in my face... but everyone else can and so I've decided to reward myself anyway - regardless of what my mind is telling me!

As soon as gmail/blgger dashboard starts cooperating, I will change the next goals/rewards:

Goals for next 3 months (so through end of June):
1) lose 2 lbs per week for a total of (26 pounds) (My body proves to be unreliable in the poundage lost - I can work my heart out and only lose 1.4 pounds... so I will be happy with healthy weight loss over the next 13 weeks - and if it's 13 pounds, that's fine  so 13 - 26 pounds is the new-ish goal)

2) Train for and run (no walking!) a 5K - my next 5K is June 22nd - so this is a doable goal!! (Which is the point, right?)  Originally my 2-6 month goal was to train for and run a 10K, but I'm not there yet and that's okay! I ran a "color run" on March 23rd and was able to run ~ 1.5 miles without stopping... so training for this is going to be great!

Rewards for next 3 months:
1) Get a heart-rate monitor! The beauty of this is that it will help me with my 2nd goal! I'm all about monitoring and pacing myself out there to get the most of my runs!!

2) Get a massage!! There was some talk that blood thinners = no good for massages... Doc says that though I may look colorful with bruises, that it's fine for me to get them! So bring it!! And I may need it after running a 5K all the way through!

Great way to start the day/week!

So I started my 6AM workout group this morning with Kelsey! It's a great group of 10 people who are ready to work out and to work out HARD! Kelsey sent out an email to everyone but it didn't reach everyone (I'm one of those people) that we were to start at 5:45AM - so when I got there at 6, the rest of the group had a run 1 mile!  Don't know if I have that to expect for Wednesday or not!  The gym is doing renovations on the "upstairs" locker rooms - so everyone in the gym is using the downstairs locker rooms = A LOT more people taking showers when done with their workout... so the 5:45 time is  hopefully going to offset that - thanks Kelsey! (And once you're up for a 6AM workout, really, what's the difference of 15 minutes going to make!?)

There's something wrong with my gmail/blogger account - so I can't update on the side bar my weekly or total weight loss - So I may change it up sometime soon - but last week I lost 0.2 for a total of 14 pounds...

This week is spring break! Still working out everyday!!

This week's plan:
Monday - 6AM-6:45 workout + I may run later today if the rain clears up!
Tuesday - Evening water aerobics class with Marty (!!)
Wednesday - 5:45 AM workout + interval training on elliptical afterwards? Why not, right?
Thursday - something fun I haven't tried yet
Friday - 5:45 AM workout + interval training
Saturday - no workout? will be working the bridge run - maybe squats and lunges when we're standing around...
Sunday - morning workout after SL/SP :)

Normally, I would email my plan for the week out to my HCC team, but since that has disbanded, y'all get to see what I'm doing daily and if you want to join me for anything, let me know!! The more the merrier!! :)

On my own :)

So on Monday and Wednesday (this morning), I did a 6AM spin class - 6-6:45 in order to get to work on time :) And yesterday I did a surprisingly HARD water aerobics class with Marty - who's class kicked some serious butt! I mean REALLY - lots of swimming sprints, jumping jacks, squats, etc.  I kicked so hard in the swimming sprints that when I stood up I couldn't full stand! What a workout!! It feels really weird to sweat as much as I did in the water!

I weighed in this morning at the gym and I only lost 0.2 pounds - but it was better than I expected because I enjoyed Friday & Saturday's good times not on the diet :)
So now I'm at an even 14 pounds!! And after this week's crazy workouts and good food journaling, I have great hopes for next week!

Last weigh in for HCC program!

I weighed in in my bathing suit last night (I may do all future weigh-ins in my b.suit...) and lost 1.8 pounds for a total of 13.8 pounds! That's about 1.3 pounds per week for 10 weeks! Very healthy, if I do say so myself... :)

I'm going to continue with the "Life after HCC" program where you can weigh-in at the gym on Wed or Thurs every week for 4 weeks.  If you maintain your weight or lose at the end of the 4 weeks, then you get $75 of 'gym' bucks to use towards training groups or classes at the gym! There's also a winner for the one who loses the most during that time :)

New goal? To lose weight in the next 4 weeks and earn my gym bucks!!
New goal #2? To work out 6 out of 7 days/week until the end of May. (Why only 6? Because I have a tendency to get down on myself when I don't make a goal and I'm trying to be realistic for my life.  Why only May? Because I want to make new goals at the end of May - and I'm sure that working out that much will stay a goal for a long time - but I need to make due dates for my goals so that I can reward myself and then make another goal!)

Speaking of which... I'm due a haircut at Lava Salon, but I think instead, I'm going to buy a heart rate monitor and stick Lava Salon onto the next big goal (so end of May, I will get a haircut). :)

I think you underestimate my sneakiness... :)

So for the weigh-in tonight (weigh-in is at 5ish), I decided to wear the least amount of fabric as possible... I decided to wear my bathing suit with my workout clothes over it - but for the weigh-in, I'm stripping down to the bathing suit! Every little bit helps, right??

SO I just changed into my bathing suit and I can tell I lost weight!! There is a BIG difference! The last time I wore my bathing suit was for one of the first workouts for the HCC - so about 10 weeks ago!! I feel so good in the bathing suit! I still could look better - but I feel good. Yay!! So, while I was trying to be sneaky with the weigh-in particulars, I actually ended up in giving myself a pre-weigh in boost!!

Ups and Downs

UP: So the week started off awesomely! The workout with Tyler on Monday was grueling - but I felt so great afterwards.  We did a double whammy of a workout - the 10 lbs vests + the Bee Street Garage! It was another workout, where 1/2 way through I thought I was going to lose my lunch! Tyler says this means I'm getting a great workout... hmmm....

So we went up the 8 flights of stairs - I really pushed myself and got my best time ever (2 minutes), which is pretty incredible considering the 10 lbs vests... then we did lunges, side shuffles, and running up and down an incline in the garage.  Then another 8 flights of stairs - this time around, my time was 2:15 minutes.  Then at the top, after a brief core exercise, we did another 8 flights! I didn't do as well this time around - I was closer to 3, but I also was having trouble with this one coming so close to the 2nd time around.  For the sake of comparison, I usually average around 4 minutes without the vests... I've decided recently that I need to push myself farther and harder... so overall, pleased with times from all 3 rounds!!

DOWN: Tuesday I got pink eye and was sent home from school and couldn't do the workout on Tuesday night! I was SO bummed!! Not only because this is the last week of workouts with our team, but also because Tuesday was to be the last fitness test, and I was all geared up to race through my times and finish with a bang! But you can't make the fitness test up, so I was out of luck :(  Wednesday I had to stay home from school and was a little on the sluggish side... amazing how missing that workout on Tuesday night affected me on Wed! I was productive with school work, but not with working out...

UP: Wednesday night we did a Cooper River Bridge Run workout! We did a stations workout first near the parking lot. The stations were: abs workout/pull knees up to chest while hanging from a bar (harder than it sounds!), pull-ups while sitting on ground and pulling up to a bar (again, harder than sounds!!), squats with a 20-lbs kettle bell, 1:30 minute plank, dips, and situps (all stations were for 1:30 minutes).   Then we jogged up to the bridge and going up from the Mt. P side, it was running from lamp post to lamp post, then doing walking lunges to the next lamp post, then running, then lunging, etc.  Then after doing that for 3 sets, we ran the rest of the way up the bridge. There is a reason I like running on FLAT ground!! My calves were BURNING!! But I kept running - I stopped to power walk twice, but only until I realized I was losing my lead, and then I ran again :)  I always run faster if I choose someone I want to beat on my team - yesterday I chose 2 people, so I had to push it!  And I saw two friends - Brad & Adam - running on the bridge and that gave me a little yay moment followed by a surge of energy to run harder!

UP&DOWN: Tonight is the last HCC meeting and weigh-in :( but I'm also happy to be free of some of the people on my team.  I will continue to weigh-in weekly after this week and there's a prize for the biggest loser post HCC - I will be pushing for that one :)

I already have a group training program in place and will start doing workouts with a new team of people on MWF at 6AM - quite the switch from evening workouts, but I prefer it! It will help me regulate my food/snacks in the evening better. The training group is with Kelsey (my new fave spin instructor) and I'm excited for life after HCC.  I will be joining the gym at MUSC - if I join before 4/4, I will get 1 month free.  The gym membership is steep ($60/month), but this gym is worth it - I'm not intimidated to go by myself, and after having a team that is not quite the ones for coming to workouts, I'm glad I can go and not have to depend on someone else... I tend to get intimidated at other gyms and put off going - so I might as well pay for the best and have my support system at the gym in place for my life after HCC! I have a lot more to lose and a long journey ahead of me - but I'm excited about what it will bring!!

I will get on tomorrow and let you know what tonight's weigh-in brings :)
Thanks for the continued support - from 'following' my blog and keeping up with me! I really appreciate it!! I will be continuing to blog as the journey continues! :)

Early Thursday Weigh-In

I weighed in this morning at 9:15 and lost 1.5 pounds for a total of 12 pounds!!  LOVE IT!!!  I'm going to be in conferences for the rest of the day with parents and won't get off until 6PM (hence the early weigh-in) and won't get to the meeting until late... but YAY for that little triumph!!

On the clotting side of things, I will be sitting all day, so I have on my compression socks... I have successfully changed to a new blood thinner - Xarelto - and the new prognosis is that I will be on the blood thinner until September.  So no cycling until September :(  But I've been told that I won't have to be on it forever, so I will take the brief extension over a life time!!

Back to work for me!! And I will work on getting those pix up on the blog so all can see them!!  (I will have to try later, though, I have to get a lot of work done before conferences start in 1.5 hours!)

More Pics from Monday's KILLER workout!! :)

Here's me in that MASSIVE tire I talked about in the post:



This is Ali in the 40 lbs back pack and 10 lbs vest (the camo vests we're all wearing = the 10 lbs vests):



This is our mentor Cindy (BEST MENTOR EVER) - showing y'all how to do the body bar!



And this is me acting crazy! :)

Amazing Workout!

Last night's workout was AMAZING!! Before the workout, I did 40 minutes on the elliptical and got a great workout there first...

Then we went to the roof! It was really nice outside yesterday, so that alone was great... then we donned the camo vests that weigh 10 pounds apiece!! We wore the vests for the ENTIRE workout!!
Then we did stations:
1 - Move a MASSIVE tire (largest tire I've ever seen!!) the length of 1 tennis court and back... doesn't sound long, but it took FOREVER!! We were picking it up and flipping it over, making sure to user our legs - not our back!!
2 - Move a smaller tire (normal size) with a rope around it down 2 tennis courts and back. The rope had a place for you to put around your hips and you dragged the tire down and back.
3 - Use a body bar (different weights - this one was 20 lbs (?) and we did squats and then arm presses
4 - Plank hold and push-ups
5 - Tyler helped us put on a backpack that had 40 lbs in it... carrying the backpack (and the vest!!) (= 50 lbs together!!) we went down to the basement via stairs, came back up the stairs (3 flights down, 3 flights up) and then did side lunges down and back for the length of 1 tennis court

The 5th station = the "timer" - we kept going at the station you were on until the backpack person finished what they had to do, then we switched out!

After that, as a group, and still in the vests, we did walking lunges down and back for 1 tennis court and then suicides for 2 minutes on 1 tennis court.  Then we did superman/banana rolls and bridges :)

Lastly, we tried the 'circle' sit - but since there were only 5 of us - we did it a little differently... Tyler was the base, I was next, and so on... see below! We did it to build team work :)  Then I suggested trust falls and we did those (the small ones, not the big ones). Go team!!

                             

I will post some more pix later... but in order from back to front:
Tyler (trainer)
Me :)
Jane
Cindy (Mentor)
Ali
Annette

And Lynda, Elice, Kristen, & Mary couldn't come tonight.

Not there yet...

Yay :)

Tonight = another success!! And really that success is over the course of this past week! I lost 0.8 pounds! It's not as much as I would have liked, but it's also fine by me! Better to be losing than gaining!   The following tips are from last week's speaker - I just found them today :)  Sometime before next Friday, I will publish the tidbits and info that we learned tonight!

The owner of Try Sports talked to us last week... he started off with a great quote:
              
               "We don't stop exercising because we grow old, we grow old because we
                  stop exercising."

This man suggested 4 Key Ingredients to a long healthy lifestyle:
 1) Knowledge - We have a poor understanding of health so we need to increase our knowledge
 2) Exercise - work your way up to 6-7 hours/week of exercise and do muscle training twice per week
 3) Nutrition - Good nutrition on top of exercise will turbo charge your health benefits
 4) The X Factor - Be committed, be involved, have a cause, and have a mission - you are on a new lifestyle mission

The saying he's come up with: "You don't have to be fit and healthy to start, but you have to start to be fit & healthy."

Then Judith got up and did her thing (talked nutrition and health).  I found out how much fat I should aim for in my diet... I should aim for less than 40 grams of fat/day.... the formula:

   your calorie intake (mine is 1300) X .30 = 390 kcal from fat... then divide that answer by 9 kcal

0.30 = 30% (you want 30% of your diet to come from fat)
kcal = kilocalorie
9 kcal = 1 gram of fat

Judith guided us to the ACSM Guidelines on protein for more info on that

Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for intense muscular efforts and should be the cornerstone of an athlete's diet, regardless of the sport they play.

Eat fish!! Fish are a healthy source of protein because it provides al 9 essential amino acids and is low in saturated fat.  Some fish, including salmon and tuna also provide omega-3's

If your family has a history of high cholesterol or heart disease, cut the egg yolks out of your diet - it's not worth it!!

Back on the Train AGAIN! :)

SO weigh-in on Thursday night was fruitful! I lost 2 pounds! For a total of 9.7 pounds! (Thank goodness!! I was patiently waiting for the fruits of my labor, but my patience was waning..)

In about 40 minutes, I'm going to do the Saturday morning spin class with the instructor Kelsey and later today I'd like to run a mile in my 'hood.  If anyone wants to join me or have me run with them in their 'hood, give me a shout! Remember, I'm a SLOW runner - slow and steady wins the race, right? Well, none of the 5K's I've run, but the overall race :)

I hope y'all have a glorious Saturday and weekend!

Food Goals

As you may or may not know, I keep track of my calories (aim for 1200-1500/day), fiber (aim for 30g fiber/day), and my protein (aim for 65-70g/day - no more than 30g/meal!) and now I've been told to keep track of fat grams - though I'm unsure how many to have a day.  Some have told me 40 and some have said 55 - I'm going to ask about that tonight.

Any amount of fiber, protein, or fat over your goal for the day = fat stored!

8 SUPER-FOODS - EAT EVERYDAY!!

1) 1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup cooked: kale, spinach, bok choy, or romaine

2) 1 cup/day: greek yogurt, soy yogurt, or kefir

3) Think RED: 8 cherry tomatoes, 1 cup tomato juice, or red water melon, pink grapefruit, papaya, or guava

4) Think ORANGE/YELLOW: 1/2 cup/day of: carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash, yellow bell pepper, or mango

5) 1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup frozen or dried/day: blueberries, acai berries, purple grapes, prunes, raisins, strawberries

6) 1/2 cup/day: black beans, black-eyed peas, lentils, pinto beans, kidney beans, or fava beans

7) 1 oz or 7 nuts/day: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, or hazelnuts

8) 1/2 cup/day: WHOLE GRAINS - oats, quinoa, flaxseed, wild rice, etc.

The super organizer in me writes down my foods for the day - keeps track of calories/fiber/protein in each food, meal, and day AND goes back and highlights my super foods - hopefully counting up to 8 each day :)

My quads are on FIRE (sung to the tune of "This girl is on fire")

I know, it's been awhile since I've blogged! My days continue to be crazy! When not at school, I'm working out or sleeping! And this semester, a class was added to one of my planning periods, so no free time for me!

Workouts this week have been INTENSE! Which is great, because I somehow missed the fact that the program is over March 21st!  The last HCC meeting and weigh-in is Thursday, 3/21 - but we have a membership at with the Wellness Center for 2 weeks after that... Don't worry, I will continue blogging my progress!!

Monday workout with Tyler: Ran around track and did 1 flight of stairs at each of the "corners" of the track, then core exercises in between each lap.  Tyler focused a lot on arms, which I had requested awhile ago - so that was good - and HARD!

Tuesday workout with Tyler: Ran 2 laps warm-up on the roof track, then did the rest of the workout on the roof... Ran suicides on the tennis courts, did laps of lunges (again, my quads are on FIRE), ran with those bands I told you about in previous blog (big thick band - 1 runs in front with band around hips and second person holds onto band to hold you back).  We raced with these and I pushed myself hard because I don't like being last! I feel like I've been last a lot in these mini competitions, and it's killing me!! We did step ups onto a picnic bench - 1 for each side - and then a push-up in between.  We did a lot of push-ups and squats. And then at the end of the workout, we took one of those racket ball courts and played dodge ball! If you got hit by a ball, you do 3 squats; if you get hit by a frisbee, you do 3 push-ups; if you hit someone above the neck or if you hit Tyler in his lap, you do 3 squats; if you throw it and it's caught, you do either the 3 squats or the 3 pushups, depending on what you threw! I LOVE this workout!! Maybe I should join a dodge ball team...

Wednesday workout with Larsyn/Cindy: Bee Street Garage (the name used to scare me... but I don't mind it as much anymore).  We climbed the 8 flight of stairs, then at the top we did 20 push-ups, 20 squats, and 20 lunges (10 per leg).  Then we rode the elevator down and started the whole process over again.  Then at the end of the workout, we lunged 1/2 the length of the parking lot, did suicides, and ran laps around the perimeter of the parking lot... MY QUADS ARE ON FIRE!!!

Normally on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do lunges and squats with my Biology class 1/2 way through the class - I may need to switch that out for something else - because my quads, hamstrings, and calves are KILLING ME this morning!!

Weigh-in is tonight and since I promised you the great info from last week's meeting and haven't put it up yet, I'm going to do that sometime today, too!

I have no expectations for weigh-in.  I've worked hard this week and eaten well - as I did last week - so we will see!  I'm going to do my 'last chance workout' on the elliptical from 5-5:40 before the weigh-in. :)

Last night's weigh in!

I just wrote a bunch about last night and then something happened, I got kicked off and nothing saved... SO this is going to be shorter because I want to go to bed (much later than I'd normally be up!!)

I didn't gain this week but unfortunately I didn't lose! I was really upset last week, but after a long talk with my trainer, I got over it.  The thing is - I feel amazing! I am not tired all the time, I'm energized for workouts, my food is fueling me, and I just feel awesome.  I'm not craving sweets anymore - and even if I am, I'm remembering those goals I set and I don't want to lose what (little) ground I've made by eating anything sweet or fatty.

I'm hitting it hard at the team workouts, but I didn't do as many of my 30 minute cardios outside of workouts, so I need to work on that!

Besides that, I'm giving it my all - so time to amp it up even more and maybe next week will be my week - but if not, at least I know I'm doing what I need to do!! And people lose weight differently! I'm even going to (clearly) lose weight differently than I did last time I did HCC and that's OK!! I'm actually okay with it!

I'm going to go before I get kicked off again and have to start over AGAIN...

Coming up this week (so that I don't have to write it ALL out AGAIN): Time with my PT this afternoon and what shocking things I found out about my back(!), great info learned about foods on Thursday night :), Team workout and team news.

One more thing! I just registered for my first "Color Me Rad" 5K race! Come do it with me!! You can join my team :)  Let me know if you want to do it and I will give you the team info so you can register with us!! :)

http://www.colormerad.com/about.html

A day in the life of...

Some of you have asked what kinds of things I eat every day and my eating schedule and more about my workout schedule... This is my work-week schedule... on the weekends it looks the same but I normally eat out on Friday or Saturday (but eat out = a save healthy option at a restaurant)

Breakfast at 6:45/7 AM - one of 2 things (I switch it out so I don't get bored with one thing):
 - Ezekiel Bread, toasted with 1/2 cup of mixed greens on top and 1 fried egg on top of that (over medium)
- Ezekiel Bread, toasted with 1/2 TBS of creamy almond butter, and 1/2 cup chopped strawberries on top

I try really hard to drink a glass of water with breakfast because I have a hard time getting in my 8 cups of water/day.

AM Snack at 10:20 AM (dictated by school schedule): 1 cup of plain fat-free yogurt with 1/2 cup of strawberries and 2 squares of 70% dark chocolate broken in tiny pieces & sometimes 1.5 TBS crushed walnuts

Lunch at 12:30 PM: 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa and some form of mixed cooked veggies and black beans (this week = sauteed grape tomatoes, onion, garlic in evoo + roasted butternut squash and black beans and quinoa) - I also switch out brown rice or barley for the quinoa sometimes

PM Snack at 3:30 PM - this one changes a lot - but I do some protein/veggie mix or protein/fruit mix - it depends on my fruit intake for the day (if I've had fruit for bfast and AM snack, I have veggies instead in PM) - 1 of the following:
- Carrot sticks and almond butter (sounds weird, but is tasty)
- 1/2 apple and almond butter
- Celery sticks and almond butter
- 1/2 banana and almond butter
- Tuna salad - made with yogurt, celery, and mustard (the yogurt = plain fat free)
     (I'm not big on tuna salad and can't eat it for a meal because I don't really eat that much, but as a
      snack, I'm okay with it)

Dinner after workout (M-Th = 7:45 & F = 6:45)
2 cups of mixed greens, with some kind of salady-like veggies, evoo and S&P, and a protein - either 4 oz of chicken or salmon

For the most part, I try and get my grains in by lunch and don't eat grains after lunch and for dinner I try to eat proteins and veggies and zero grains.

We also can't have more than 2 servings of fruit per day... there are other things we need to have and not have, but I think that's enough for today :)

Cravings!

A friend (and my mentor, Cyndi) emailed this to me and it looks like a great way to beat those cravings! I will let you know if it works for me :)  I think the trick is to have some of things on hand so that when I crave _______, I have the alternative in front of me or with me so that I don't cave!

I went to spinning this morning and then I have the team workout at 6:15 tonight.  I may even go on a run before lunch - you never know!!

Some of 

Week 5 Weigh In

I kept forgetting to check back in and tell you how I did! I lost 0.4 pounds! I could have lost more - I think I need to focus more on my food journal.  After thinking about last week's gain and this week's tiny loss, I realized what both weeks had in common - I have been slacking on my food journaling and my food prep for the week.  For the last HCC, we primarily kept a food journal and then used online resources for checking calorie, protein and fiber amounts.  This time around we do everything online - which is good in some respects, but I've stopped using my daily journal.  The daily journal really helped me plan for the day and even if I don't stick to what I've logged in to have for dinner, I knew I had 3- or 400 calories left and it was with me at all times.  I don't get online as much as the rest of the world.  I'm one of very few friends who doesn't have a smart phone - and it doesn't bother me, but it has made me realize that when my team mates are logging in immediately after eating and I'm not, that I'm at a bit of a disadvantage... how to correct that? Go back to daily food journals.  We have to email our food journals at the end of each week to the nutritionist and to our trainer - but I think I'm forgetting what I'm eating - especially when I don't write it down everyday.  Apparently some study somewhere (because those are the ones I should trust?) said that of the people who try to lose weight, there is an 80% greater chance of losing weight when you journal.  So - along with other goals that I have, the most important this coming week is to journal what I've eaten and keep track of my fiber, protein and calories.  I'm still aiming for 1300 calories/day, 30g fiber per day and no more than 30g protein per meal (more of each of these = fat at the end of the day).  Though technically we are allowed a 1200-1500 calorie range, 1300 is my goal.

So "punishment" for not reaching my goal this week: 1, 1-minute wall-sit and 1, 2-minute wall-sit.  Friday night I did the 2-minute wall sit (I actually did 2 minutes and 20 seconds).  So I just have the 1 minute wall sit to go!

Total weight loss in 5 weeks = 8.4
I decided this was unacceptable - so I'm changing what I do a little!  I did 3 workouts on Friday and obviously overdid... I'm going to try and do a class at the gym 3 days a week outside of our workouts, and as always, we have the 30 minutes of interval cardio workouts to do - but if I'm doing an hour class at the gym, I'm forgoing the 30 minutes extra that day (due to the fact that I couldn't push myself as much as I would've liked to on Friday's evening workout).

Valentine's Day HELL

Valentine's Day at a school? Filled with valentine doughnuts, valentine candy, and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!!

Yay for my valentine's day greek yogurt with strawberries and dark chocolate! :)

I'm nervous for tonight because I was so great this week! I was low in calories Tuesday but I've been grinding it out with these workouts!!

Last night was the mid-test... I improved my half mile by 40 seconds, I did 75 situps in a minute (versus the 60 at the pretest) - I actually improved on everything: time for plank holds, wall-sits (I improved by a whole minute!!), and number of push-ups!

I did 6 laps yesterday - so I only have 20 left for today before I weigh-in... I've always been a procrastinator - we'll see what happens!!

Extra 30 minutes of cardio Daily!

So, you know how one of my goals was to do 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week outside of group workouts?  (It's my first month's goal).  Consider it accomplished!

All of the team is now required to do 30 minutes of cardio DAILY outside of group workouts.  Tyler & Larsyn gave us an interval workout to do and Jane made a copy for all of us and laminated it so that our sweaty hands wouldn't ruin it.  It stays in my gym bag :)

The interval workout was designed for the treadmill - but I altered it for the elliptical... I try different alterations depending on which elliptical machine I'm on - there are 5 or 6 different kinds of elliptical machines at this gym!

Interval Workout for the Treadmill
Interval 1 - 10 minute Speed Interval:
Set incline at 1
Then set speed at 3.5 and do this for 1 minute
Then set speed at 4.5-5 and do this for 1 minute
Alternate between 3.5 and 4.5 for 10 minutes

Interval 2 - 10 minute Hill Interval:
Set speed at 3.5 for 1 minute at incline 1 (warm-up)
Increase incline by 3 every minute for 5 minutes
Decrease incline by 3 every  minute for remaining 5 minutes
i.e.  minute 2 = incline 4
      minute 3 = incline 7
      minute 4 = incline 10
     minute 5 = incline 13
      minute 6 = incline 10
      minute 7 = incline 7
      minute 8 = incline 4
      minute 9 = incline 3
      minute 10 = incline 1

Interval 3 - 10 Minute Endurance Run (this one is the hardest)
Set speed between 4 & 5 (find a pace you can maintain for 10 minutes in this range)
At minute 3, increase incline to 3 for 1 minute then decrease back to 1
At minute 6, increase incline to 6 for 1 minute then decrease back to 1
At minute 9, increase incline to 3 for 1 minute then decrease back to 1
Cool down for minute 10

50 Laps, Seriously??? What did I do???

I am SO glad that I ran the 5K on Saturday - if for no other reason than it counted for 19 of the 50 laps I took on this week as punishment for not doing my goal!  So, I have 31 laps left! Well, not quite - I did 5 laps on Monday night - so now I have 26 laps left than I'm apparently going to do all on Wednesday...

I wasn't going to exercise with the team tonight because I was going to help out a friend - but that ended up not happening.  My original thought: I have an out because the team knows I'm going to be helping that friend.  My next thought: I don't want to sit at the house when I could benefit from a workout with Tyler!! We are a little under 1/2 way through the program! I paid for this!! So I came home, ate a small snack and headed to the gym!!  But I didn't eat a lot today - lots of stuff to get done at school - so I didn't stay past the workout to work on laps - I headed home to eat dinner! (And I had salmon and 3 cups of mixed salad greens with a vinaigrette :) )

So, tomorrow... 26 laps... OR Wednesday AND Thursday - but I'm going to try and do them all Wednesday because I don't want to leave them until Thursday and have something happen! I can't get to the gym until 5 on Thursday, so I was planning on doing 30 minutes of cardio before the weigh-in.

Last night at Tyler's workout, we stayed on the treadmills the whole time (except I did the elliptical) - the team did a steady incline of 15 for 50 minutes (I did zero incline because of my back and did 15 resistance) and then we each had 10 minutes of weights with Tyler.  It doesn't sound like much, but it was a hard and great workout! I had my 10 minutes first, so the remaining 50 minutes was pounding it out on the elliptical.  During those 10 minutes, I really pushed myself... I don't remember any of the names of the machines - but I did more pounds on those machines than I think I've ever done - hard, but worth it!!  

Before the workout, I did the 30 minute cardio workout on the elliptical and then did my 5 laps on the track and then back down for the hour-long class! It was great!! So I was working out for 1 hour and 45 minutes!! :) GREAT Monday workout!! :)

Go Red for Women 5K!

For starters, my knee hasn't been hurting the past 2 days! So that's a relief!!

Also, today, not too shabby! Started off running/jogging for the beginning part of the race, walked the middle, and ran at the end... would love to share how long that actually was, but I have no idea and ultimately I finished the race, so yay for me!! :)

I'm super sore - and exhausted, but I had a great time with Ali, Jane, & Elice from my team and my mentors Cynthia and Ed :)

AND I saw one of my team members from the first HCC I did and she (Leslie) looks GREAT!!! She has kept at it and said she has lost about 75 pounds!! AMAZING!!

Great day! And I just got back from a trip to FB to see Team Horton - the whole big family and it was great!! And I only mention this because I did a REALLY good job not giving into temptation - I didn't have any cupcakes (for Bennett's birthday) and I didn't have any vanilla wafers or anything else sweet - I had one glass of white wine and some oysters and fried shimp - but nothing else! Feeling good about that... And decided in the future that I should drink La Croix at parties because that would help too.  I was fine having the glass of wine - but water is better! :)  Special Shout out to the Horton/Simpson/Bost Clan - great to see everyone and all the little babies!! Love you all and look forward to lake time this summer :)

Thursday's Weigh-In

Well, I'm regretting (a little) my goal of 4 pounds and running a lap for every 0.10 of a pound not lost... I gained 1 pound! So I have 50 laps to run!! (which is a little over 8 miles!!) But I'm going to run 3 miles tomorrow for the 5K and then divide the rest between Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's workouts.  Ali (who also had a goal of 4 pounds) lost 3 pounds, so she will be running 10 laps.  And she felt bad for pressuring me into my 4 pound goal, so she's offered to run with me M, T, & W.

Obviously, a gain is NOT what I wanted to have happen, but I have some ideas of why this week didn't work out.  For starters, I didn't do a good job of planning my dinners this week.  The rest of the day everything was planned, but not dinners.  And I'm not sure my water drinking was up to par either.  I think I've only been getting around 6 glasses of water a day in instead of 8. I also tried experimenting with new breakfasts and snacks and I don't think I got it all right. PLUS I don't think I got enough protein in or fiber.  (I've had a lot of time to think about this.)

I'm not too discouraged, though and I plan to keep "fighting" and working my rear end off!! AND it's still 8 pounds in 4 weeks, which is 2 pounds a week! SO my goal this coming week is 2 pounds and if I don't get it, my "punishment" is 2 sets of 2 minute wall-sits. (I HATE those.)

Here's my parting quote that I got from the HCC newsletter:

Never Give Up!!!

Last night was hard because I hurt my left knee and I get so worried about my knees.  I'm always trying to protect them and was sad I had to modify some exercises for that! Also, with the blood thinners, I can't take ANY anti-inflamatories!! :(   But it was still a hard workout and I still pushed myself!!

I did the best I could at doing "RICE" last night - I rested, Iced, and Elevated (no compressing..) and I took a painkiller.  My knee ached this morning, but nothing big, so maybe okay? I'll ice it again at lunch.

But I'm NOT giving up!!  I will still work my rear end off and try my hardest!!

Tyler is a BEAST!!

I actually think Tyler's the greatest! And his workouts are amazing! By the time this is all over - I will be a PRO at: stairs, indian runs, sprinting, plank holds, push-up holds, and squats! That's what we did last night! Indian run a lap, do some stairs, and then do one of the above for 90 seconds, then repeat.  Holy cow.  And in the next 40 minutes, we'll be doing it again! Workout tonight is at 6:30!  I was upset last night because I didn't feel well and couldn't push myself very hard - so tonight, no dinner prior to workout.

Oh, and for the record, I was convinced to do the 5K this weekend - Go Red for Women :)  So, I will be running/jogging/walking that!! Good times with the team!!

Goal for this week - I think I'm crazy!!

So even though I have both long-term goals (over 6 months) and short-term goals (2-6 months and 1 month), Ali thought it would be cool to have a goal this week with an immediate plan of what happens when we don't reach that goal.  I was a little hesitant at first, but was peer-pressured into this goal!! Not that this particular peer pressuring is bad - in fact Tyler thought it was doable.

Ali and I both decided to aim for losing 4 pounds this week.  If we don't lose it, for every 10th of a pound that we don't lose, we will run 1 lap at the gym.  So if I only lose 2 pounds, I will run 20 laps.. hence the title of this saying I'M CRAZY.  Tyler thought a reasonable goal was 3 pounds, but that I can definitely do 4 pounds if I don't stray at all and if I work my rear end off.  Well, I'm not supposed to stray (eating-wise) anyway and I am already working really hard... and one of my goals this month is to push it harder in my team workouts... so, why not?

Do I think 4 pounds was realistic? NO.  BUT what is there to lose? If I don't lose the 4 pounds, I get to run laps - I won't run all of the laps at once - but add them to my daily workouts.  And my long term goals include running 5Ks, 8Ks, and 10Ks - so the extra running isn't going to hurt me, it's going to help me.  So that's why I let myself get peer pressured into it.  If I didn't feel good about it, then I wouldn't have done it. (Seriously, when I have actually been peer pressured into anything...)

Weekends are always the hardest!

I don't know about you, but when the weekends come around, I feel truly free and can relax!  But with HCC, I can't totally relax and remembering that is difficult!  Friday night after workout, I went to Black Bean Company with Ed, one of the mentors.  I just found out recently (probably the last to find out) that our two mentors are dating each other - Ed is AWESOME - so I'm not surprised at all that he's dating the other awesome mentor, Cyndi.  Ed is hilarious, but you wouldn't know it right away because he's quiet.  He reminds me of my cousin Ben and my brother-in-law Evan, which right there explains his awesomeness.  Also, during the Friday night workout, when doing the indian runs were so difficult, he fell back and ran with me and encouraged me! I didn't stop to walk once! The Friday night "happy hour" and work out was hard - but I felt GREAT at the end!! In fact, Tyler had us play dodge ball at the end - always fun (!!) - and if you hit someone above the shoulders, you had to stop and do 3 squats, if you got hit, you had to stop and do the same 3 squats, and again, if when you threw the ball at someone and they caught it, 3 more squats.  So a lot of squatting and laughing and throwing and hitting - GREAT end to the Friday Happy Hour! :)

Saturday, I got up and met Cyndi, Mary, & Jane at Spinning at 9:30 and worked HARD in that class!! But I really liked taking spinning with Kelsey (the instructor) and I felt great afterwards.  The biggest problem I have with weekends is working out with the same intensity as M-F workouts - but Saturday's spinning class fixed that. And the second biggest thing is eating on schedule.  M-F eating schedule is set by and large by my school schedule, but the weekends = a lot of free time and I don't always stick to the schedule as well.

One great thing this weekend, I don't want to mess up what I've lost so far by eating something I shouldn't and I can't say that for the past 3 weekends, so something clicked! I'm not even tempted! Sure, I wanted something sweet on Saturday, but I didn't want chocolate chip cookies or milk chocolate or sweets - I craved strawberries.  I went to the grocery store hungry and was FINE.  How great is that?? I wouldn't suggest going to the grocery store hungry and it's not something I would normally do, but I feel great about what I've done and I don't want to mess it up with something as silly as Reeses cups.  Yay!!

Super Bowl Pointers... Don't Just SIT there - Get up and MOVE!!

WOOHOOO!!!

I lost 3.5 this past week for a total of 9.3!!!!  Everyone on our team lost weight in varying degrees from 5 pounds to 1 pound! Our team is still ranked on the bottom but everyone's spirits are up thanks to our losses this week!!

I will post more later today about the fun facts (or gruesome) that we learned last night but I wanted to get the above out ASAP!! :)

I'm working out today with the team at 5:15 PM  and am looking forward to the weekend!! :)  Let me know if any of you want to walk the Ravenel bridge or the Stono River bridge on Saturday!

Thanks for everyone's support!!

I love my Mentors!!

Cyndi is such an AWESOME mentor!! I will talk more about her later and about why she is awesome but she rocks my face off...

We met with Larsyn today to first talk about goals and then to work out. Sadly Ali wasn't there because she's in the Bahamas and Elice wasn't there because she has a stomach virus :(  But only Jane, Mary, Kristen, and I showed up and I was sad that for such an important team workout when we talk about goals that 2 of our other team members didn't come (we have 8 members on our team).  Cyndi (the awesome mentor) was there, too. :)

But it was a great meeting - we discussed barriers to our goals and how to meet our goals - Larsyn agreed that mine are realistic and that I'm on the right track! We learned more about each other and how to help each other - it was wonderful! Some of my barriers are that if it's not a team work out, I am less likely to push myself as hard - I really need someone else there to work out with me or I won't do the best I can do in pushing myself.  (Kind of already knew that, but was helpful to write it out.) Another barrier is that the weekends are great breaks from work for me but I need to remember to get my cardio in and I'm having trouble making myself go to the gym on Saturdays.

After talking about barriers, goals, and rewards, we did "Larsyn's Top Ten":
10 Burpees
9 Squats
8 Lunges (on each side - so really 16 total)
7 Inchworms with push-ups
6
5 Suicides
4 flights of stairs
3 laps around the track doing indian runs
2 minute wall sits
1 minute push-up holds

I sadly can't remember what 6 is... Oh, well.
We only did 1/2 of a lap of an indian run and then ran the rest by ourselves - I was having trouble - breathing in cooler air and being very aware of my lungs.. I jogged an entire lap then started walking - I only walked maybe 10 yards, when Cyndi came and jogged next to me and explained the importance of continuing to jog, even if it's really slow because it's harder to start jogging after walking than it is to start jogging faster after jogging slowly.  Cyndi stayed with me for the next 2 laps and we jogged - she matched my pace and I did 3 laps! 1/2 a mile! (And don't tell anyone - but I think I could've kept going!)  She was so encouraging and helpful in helping me pace myself and breathe correctly! I am so appreciative of her being with me during that part of last night's program!!
 
At the beginning of each team workout, Cyndi and I do a wall-sit together - she always beats me, but maybe I will beat her Friday... Cyndi sadly pulls for the 49er's but it gives us something to trash talk about, anyway. :)

Weigh-in is tonight - and I'm most worried about the fact that Friday I only got 750 calories because I was sleeping all day - and the same with Saturday, but I got in 950 calories. Sunday was a bit more regular - but because of my cough, I didn't work out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday! So I'm worried about that - but my eating was on track for the most part and I've finally been drinking enough water! So we will see :)

My Goals - Getting Specific! :)

So, Barbara asked me what my goals are - I don't know if you checked out the worksheet on my last post, but it's a great worksheet that you can work through and figure out your barriers to working out and your goals.  I filled it out... so here are my goals and rewards:

GOALS: MONTH 1
Goal #1 = 30 minutes of cardio (hard - sweat inducing) 3 times a week - outside of team workouts
Goal #2 = Push myself harder in team workouts - jog instead of walking - I know I can do it!!

REWARDS: MONTH 1
1. Mani/Pedi
2. Hair cut

GOALS: MONTHS 2-6
Goal #1 = Lose 2 pounds/week for a total of 30 pounds in 15 weeks
Goal #2 = Train for and do 10K Bridge run/walk (not my fave run because of all the people - but my team is doing it and I support them!)

REWARDS: MONTHS 2-6
1. new mid-way wardrobe
2. massage :)

LONG-TERM GOALS (6+ MONTHS)
Goal #1 = Do a 5K or 8K every other month for a year
Goal #2 = Lose a total of 54 pounds (use starting HCC weight as a starting point)

REWARDS: LONG-TERM GOALS
1. Century Ride with Laura, John, & Tara (when I can keep up with at least Tara & Laura)
2. Life is better! I can do what I love to do already and keep up with everyone and push myself harder!!

Goals

We talked a little about goals at the workout last night - Tyler told us to be thinking about goals because Larsyn would be discussing it with us in more detail on Wednesday night.  Last night was difficult because I didn't feel well - or at least I'm not at 100% yet - more around 75-80%.  We ran laps (which was easier for me to do than walking, strangely enough), stairs (Tyler is hell bent on doing stairs everytime!), and all together while the one person was walking and doing stairs, we held positions versus doing reps - wall sits, planks, push-up holds, squats, lunges... = burn, baby, burn!!

I don't think I wrote this last week - but last week (Monday) was the first time I'd done 10 push-ups (un-modified!) in a row without stopping! And then after that on both Tuesday and Wednesday, I couldn't stop under 10 - I knew I could do it, so I just made myself go to 10 each time.  On Tuesday, we did 10 push-ups, and then a lap on the track and 4 sets of stairways interspersed on that lap, and then 10 push-ups again... I did this for a mile = 6 laps around the track and therefore 60 push-ups!!  WOW!!  Go me :)

Larsyn emailed us this link to look at and fill in and bring in on Wednesday - I've taken a look at it and it's pretty sweet - so I thought I'd share it with you :)

http://www.girlsgonesporty.com/sites/default/files/in-article-images/worksheet-1.pdf

It's all about setting goals and making those goals!

Information from Last Thursday's meeting

The guest speakers were a chef, whose name I don't remember (oops) and his partner, Jim Martin, who is the owner of a CSA called "Compost in my Shoe." They talked about what comes in the CSA box and the chef talked about how to fix it.  Apparently, mustard is really great for a vinaigrette because it keeps the oil and vinegar together and keeps it from separating! They were energetic and shared A LOT of great information! Jim even let us try sugar snap pea tendrils and they were awesome and sweet! (Vegetable candy is what he called it). They are going to partner with MUSC HCC and set-up a share for us (we have to still pay, of course) that we can pick up at our meetings on Thursday nights! How awesome is that!!?? I will feel like I'm cheating on Ambrose Farms... but if they can make me a better deal, it would make more sense to switch... And I would still be supporting local!! :)

The website for compost in my shoe is: http://compostinmyshoe.com/

Other facts from the meeting via Judith the Dr. Nutritionist:
- Cholesterol is only in animals with a liver
- You should only have 2300 mg of Sodium per day - but once over 55, only 1500 mg!
- There are 2 servings per 1 can of soup (I knew that... BUT:) the "healty request" can is the same soup but with more servings per can!! They = 2.5 servings per can - so you're supposed to just eat less of it! Tricky, Tricky!!
- Potassium lowers your blood pressure
- You burn 7 calories for every 1 gram of fiber you eat and that goes into your toilet
- The only place you (or really I) should get our sugar from is fructose (fruit) and lactose (milk/dairy)
- Don't use Stevia or Truvia!! They haven't gotten the green light from the Mayo clinic yet!
- NO AGAVE - the same process is used to get the syrup from the agave/tequila plant as is used to get HFCS from corn!!
- I need to aim for 30 grams of protein/meal; 3-4 oz of meat = 30 grams; going over 30 grams per meal = FAT!
- Belly Fat = visceral fat = heart disease, heart attack, and diabetes
- Dark chocolate is awesome! Just watch portions and don't drink with milk!! Milk blocks the good stuff!!

Our team was in last place this past week :(  We ALL need to get back on the wagon!!

Sorry! MIA!!

I've clearly been M.I.A. for awhile - sorry! I got sick last week and blogging my workouts was the least of my concerns! I woke up with a sore throat on Wednesday morning and should have taken it easy in the workout department, but wanted to make up for weekend mistakes in the food log.  I did Taebo with Ali from 5-6  and then team workout with Larsyn (one of the trainers :) ) from 6:30-7:30 - WHEW!!

Then I was coughing on Thursday :(  but the Dr. wouldn't see me because I wasn't sick yet (seriously?). Then I weighed-in at the meeting on Thursday last week and lost 1.3 pounds!! So total over 2 weeks is 5.8 - not too shabby!!

I called the Doctor on Friday and lo and behold, I'm sick.  So I'm now on antibiotics and steroids for a sinus and chest infection.  Yay for Mom and Dad who brought me groceries, flowers (tulips), and treats (strawberries and kale!) (that's Mom) and a humidifier and mucinex (that's Dad)!!! Love them and am glad they were ready to drop things off since I was taking (and am still taking but not during the day) the meds that you don't 'operate machinery' while taking.

Unfortunately, you gain weight if you don't make your 1200 calories/day and Friday & Saturday, I slept all day in an effort to feel better and only averaged around 950 calories/day - ugh.  Sunday, I did better and last night I even had salmon and roasted kale chips for dinner (thanks, Mom for the Kale!!).

Some of you have asked what kinds of things I eat... here's food schedule for this week (it stays the same day-by-day each week, but then I change it weekly so I won't get too bored :) :
Breakfast @ 6:45AM = chobani plain fat free yogurt with 1/2 cup of strawberries, 1/8 cup of chopped walnuts, and 1/3 serving of dark chocolate shavings and bits
Snack @ 10:15AM = hard boiled egg white
Lunch @ 12:30 = 1/2 cup quinoa; 4 oz of grilled maple mustard chicken; 2 cups of mixed salad greens and 1/2 cup of grape tomatoes with home-made dressing (EVOO, white balsamic vinegar and mustard)
Snack at 3:30 = 1 cup of celery sticks & 1 TBS of sabra artichoke and spinach hummus
Snack at 5:15 - prior to workout: 1/2 an orange (or 1/2 a banana or apple)
Workout 6:15-7:15
Dinner at 7:45 = 1 cup of lentil kale soup

Technically, you are then supposed to go to bed 3 hours after you eat, but my exhausted body can't do that... so sometimes, the end of the day looks like this:
Snack at 3:30 - see above
Dinner at 5 = see above
Workout = see above
Come home, shower, and collapse in bed

One more post for today... GOOD FOOD!!!

Last night one of the mentors, who is also a sponsor, made salad and soup for everyone in these cute little single-servings cups... The soup was lentil soup and it was great - but the salad was even better, and I think it had to be the dressing! I have said no to creamy dressings for so long - but this one was made with yogurt and good spices and was delish!!

Her name is Wendy Wenzel Gleim and she is a chef who participated in a past HCC and she works for the Wickliffe House and they are a sponsor of one of the teams!  She has a blog, "Clean, Green, & Bold" and she puts her recipes up on this blog.  I'm following her blog now and you should check it out:

http://cleangreenandbold.com/

HCC Before pix

I wasn't sure if I wanted to put a before picture... but I guess in order to do this, I should be "all-in" and I'm not telling you my weight, so this is all you get :)  And then I get to show you my after pix :)

HCC - 2nd Meeting Info :)

I forgot to share with you the cool stuff I learned last night at the meeting!


The above was actually in the newsletter - but I liked it a lot. So I'm putting it here to remind me to MOTIVATE!! :)

We learned more about mitochondria - and Janis used the same pix I did when I taught my class last week about mitochondria! Love me some mitochondria!!  Mitochondria account for up to 60% of the volume in muscle cells and 40% of the heart cells!! More mitochondria lessens the risk of insulin resistance. And during workouts, mitochondria are efficient at burning fat!! They also do a lot more, but Janis was talking too fast for me to get it all down - and I can always research that later!

Judith Herrin (Head Nutritionist) broke down the food label for us - serving size is the most important! Other tips:
- if you don't hit at least 1200 calories per day, YOU'RE GOING TO GAIN WEIGHT!! (ack!)
- Unsaturated fat = evoo and good healthy oils and Vitamins A, D, E, & K are fat soluble vitamins - so you need evoo to break those down so your body can absorb them!
- Unsaturated fat = total fat (on nutrition label) minus saturated fat and trans fat
- Partially hydrogenated _____ oil = Trans fat!! So if it says it's trans fat free and it has the partially hydrogenated stuff, it's being clever (and lying!!)
- If a food item never goes bad, don't eat it because it contains trans fat (and who wants to eat something that will never go bad...??)
- Less than 0.5g of fat = "fat free" and that could be trans fat!!
- PAM = BAD... it's 'fat free' and it's trans fat... and 1 serving is 1/4 second of spraying time... WHO ACTUALLY SPRAYS for only 1/4 second???
- You don't want to have more than 3 grams of saturated fat a day - this is what effects your cholesterol! If you are staying less than 3 grams of saturated fat/day, then you are keeping your cholesterol under control!
- But some fats are GREAT!! Like your unsaturated fats!! 30% of your calories should come from fat and more calories should come from fat than from protein!!
- Don't pay attention to Daily % on the nutrition label - it's based on a 2,000 calorie diet!!
- There are 3500 calories in 1 gram of fat

Weight loss for entire HCC last night was 393 pounds!!
Our team (Mt. Pleasant Dermatology) was 7th place out of 11 teams! Not too shabby!! But we need to kick it in gear and get 1st place!!

First HCC Weigh-In!! :)

So, I was actually expecting the worst - as you may have been able to tell from the end of my last post - but I am impressed with my first weigh-in.

I lost 4.5 pounds! When they told me last night I lost 5 pounds, I was ecstatic!! But then I did the math this morning and realized they didn't do the math right... but 4.5 is still pretty awesome!!

If I am remembering correctly, the combined weight lost on our team was: 30 pounds - and Kristen is still sick so she didn't come to weigh-in - but everyone who came lost!

I didn't work out yesterday - I went straight from work, to doctor's appointment to HCC meeting - I should've gotten up early on Thursday to work out before work.

So that that doesn't happen again, I got up at 5:15 this morning and did the 6AM spinning class with Katie B. (who is crazy).  She's great and you get a great and impressive workout, but she is crazy - she does crazy stuff on the bike that I just can't do and I'm okay with that.  If I can't do something, I just add resistance and spin it out until she moves onto something doable (for me).  I'm sure I will improve - it's been 2 years since I've done spinning!

Nothing much else today besides school work and working at Theatre 99 tonight for Comedy Festival. If I can manage it, I'm going to do spinning again tomorrow morning - it will all depend on how late I'm working for T99.  If no spinning, I will do the Aqua Action with my team! (And I may do both - you just never know!)

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!

Weight Management Tips

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I of course needed to share this with all of my cheerleaders! :) Our whole team is doing it :)

Best Team EVER

I have a WONDERFUL team filled with people who cheer me on (and I, them) and we have fun getting our butts kicked!!

We had our fitness test - we will have it again 1/2 way through the program and again at the end of the program... We first did 3 laps on the track - which is 1/2 a mile.  We could run it, jog it, walk it, or some combination of the 3.  I ran the first lap, walked the second lap with Elice and then togther we decided to run the last 1/2 of the last lap.  We pushed each other on and it was really great!!

Then we did planks - timed for as long as we could do them - it turns out that I have a lot of room for improvement in this! I didn't stay up in a plank very long at all!! But it hurt... Then push-ups - as many as you can do in a minute.  I was only able to do 22 in a minute, however, I did them the normal way - not the modified way with your knees down - the trainer said you had to do it the same way for this test, the mid-test and the last test and that doing it the 'real' way would help me improve more or be healthier for me or something like that.  Elice said she'd do the 'real' way since I was because that's our thing.  Love her!  And Ally was my partner counting my push-ups and she was great about encouraging when I stopped and pushing me to do 2 more in the last 2 seconds - love her, too!!

Then we did sit-ups and I rocked out with 60 in a minute - 1 per second - and I was feeling great about this, until Ally did more than 60 and Elice did 92 - GO ELICE AND ALLY!! I am still proud of mine, though :)  Then we did wall sits - and we did them for as long as we could do them...I wish we had done this right after we ran with our quads still warmed up. I did a wall-sit for 17 seconds - but as I told the trainer - this just leaves plenty of room for improvement.

We had 3 minutes left after the test, so we did an indian run for a lap around the track - one of my faves from my soccer days :)  But harder than it was 10 years ago.  For everyone who doesn't know what these are: you run in a single file line and the person at the front of the line sets the pace and the person in the back of the line sprints to the front and then becomes the new leader.  I don't pace myself well - I'm good at sprinting and then walking because of my lack of pacing skills.  I was the first sprinter and was feeling great until I was back to the pace of leading the run.  The best thing about our group doing the indian run? We all cheered each other on and it was wonderful!! I felt like a rockstar and I thank my team for that! At the end of the run, I was hurting and breathing really hard - and Mary was so great about coming over and telling me I did wonderfully and asking if I was okay! As did Jane and Larsyn! I'm telling you - I LOVE my team!! Annette was a real rockstar last night - she had been out sick for 2 days and came anyway and for being sick, she did SO well in the test, the runs, etc. Go Annette!! Lynda worked hard with our mentor Cyndi and unfortunately, Kristen was sick.   Stay away sickness and get these ladies better soon!!

Tonight is the weigh-in.  Since I don't have internet at my house right now, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to get the news!  No matter what the news is, I'm proud of myself making it through the workouts, drinking the water (which is strangely difficult for me this time around) and making better food choices - which hasn't been the case every day this week, but has been the case the majority of the days this week! I even ate my oatmeal without honey this morning :)

Second Team Workout with Tyler

Last night we worked our quads AGAIN - along with some other stuff... I am praying that Larsyn isn't going to have us doing quad stuff tonight, or walking is going to be more of a challenge! (And I will sleep downstairs if we do more stair stuff tonight!!)

We did a circuit - station 1 = stairs (aaaaaa) - we were on the second floor of the Wellness Center and during this station, we went downstairs to the basement and then walked up the stairs; station 2 - backward lunges; station 3 - I don't know how to describe these... side lunges - but they looked and felt more like slalom skiing...; station 4 - push-ups; station 5 - plank (aaaaaa); station 6 - bridge (my fave!) = when you lay down on your back, with your feet close to your rear end and you lift your rear end off the floor and hold it until that station is done... harder than it seems, but I like it, too; station 7 - used a band and the bar on the railing to do squats interspersed with arm thingys (don't know how to explain this either); station 8 - squats against the wall, with an exercise ball between you and the wall.

We were at each station for as long as it took the person doing the stairs to leave, do the stairs, and come back again - I lucked out and had push-ups when one of the mentors was doing the stairs and the time went by pretty quickly!!

So, we did one round of a circuit, then we went half-way around the track, 1/4 of the way doing side lunges on 1 side and then 1/4 of the way doing side lunges on the other side, then water break, then round 2 of circuit.  Then I thought we'd just stretch out and be good to go, because that all took 45 minutes... No dice.

Next we went downstairs to the cardio room and we each got on a treadmill and started at incline 5, we chose the speed, and for 10 minutes we increased to the next level of incline for each minute until we were at 15 (I swear I thought I was going to fall backwards!!) Then we put it back on 1 incline for 1 minute.  Finally, we stretched.

We weren't supposed to hold onto the rails for the inclines - but I did when we got to the higher inclines because I was so sure I was going to fall or collapse - this was much harder than you'd think!! And for the first time, it hurt to breathe - but I wasn't as panicky as I probably should've been and I didn't have my inhaler with me (I know, bad, bad, bad...).  But I told Tyler I would tell him if it was really bad, so I guess I was fine :)

We were DRENCHED in sweat afterwards - so that's my new caveat - REALLY sore the next day = great workout... and drenched in sweat after workout = great workout!!

Monday - First Team Workout!

SO - our first team work out was a KILLER.  Tyler said it would be simple but not easy... huh.  It was simple, but I think it's safe to say that EVERYONE was hurting afterwards!! We walked over to the Bee Street garage, which apparently has 8 flights of stairs.  The goal of the activity was endurance not speed... so how long can you continually climb up 8 flights of stairs? How many times can you do it? And since walking back down stairs is jolting on your joints, especially your knees, we rode the elevator down and climbed up the stairs once more... over and over.

Tyler said that in 20 minutes, we should be able to climb 3 rounds of 8 flights! (24 flights of stairs!!)  When I had completed 3, he said we had 15 more minutes to go... when I completed 4, he said we had 15 more minutes to go... So I'm not entirely sure how long we went - approximately 30 minutes?  And I did 6 rounds! Last night I climbed 48 flights of stairs.  Whew!! My quads & glutes are SORE - but that's the point, right?

I have a flight of stairs in my house - and when I got home last night AND this morning, I made sure I had everything I needed before going up (or down) stairs so that more than one trip wasn't needed!! Sore, sore, sore, and more sore - but again, as I said in a previous post, I've decided that if you're not sore after a workout, it's not the best workout you could've done!

We have another team work out with Tyler tonight and on Wednesday = team workout with Larsyn (other trainer).

Other fun things? Sunday and Monday were all about preparing for the week with food so that I no longer make poor choices! Sunday I made a big batch of steel cut oats and divided it into 6 servings for Monday-Saturday.  I also made a large batch of quinoa and divided into 5 servings for lunches and I have some left over to add to my yogurt or other needs... I wonder how long quinoa lasts?  I've been making lunch for work the night before - and lunches this week = some combination of quinoa, roasted root veggies (sweet potato, yellow beet and turnip), salmon or smoked turkey (NOT deli meat), and salads... YUM.

Snacks this week = 1/2 banana with 1 tbs of almond butter or 1 hard boiled egg (or egg white if I've already had a whole egg that day) or 1 piece of ezekiel bread toast with plain yogurt and an egg white and S&P and dill (kind of like an egg salad on top of toasted bread).  For those of you who don't know, ezekiel bread = sprouted whole grain and is one of the best choices for bread out there for those trying to be healthy!!

I'll report in tomorrow after the workout tonight - I am hoping for an arm workout since my legs hate me :)

Sunday Funday!

I participated in the HCC group workout (meaning it's open to anyone currently doing HCC), so there were a lot of people there!! It was an instructional-type workout - where you learn the correct form for doing lunges (and did several on each side), squats (I seem to have trouble doing these the right way and it hurts my knees... I learned you are supposed to have your weight on your heels and you feel like you are going to topple over backwards).  We also did side lunges, planks, side planks, and lots of arm weight stuff... Also, we did my least favorite, push ups.  We didn't do sit ups which I love... so I did some yesterday afternoon when I got home ;)

The instructor was this super-fit trainer, Alicia, who has arms that I want and she led us while other trainers walked around and made sure our form was up to par and that we weren't hurting our knees, back, etc.  We were to raise our hand every time we had a question or wanted to make sure we were doing it correctly or if something hurt - I, of course, had my hand raised the whole session.  They ended up stationing a trainer next to me... I wasn't a bit ashamed though (1 - I have zero shame, 2 - how else do you learn?)... I wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly then while someone could tell me versus later when no one is around - or (horrors) when I'm in a normal class where they don't stop every 2 minutes to show us how to do something!!

I was unfortunately not sore from Saturday's water aerobics class - I tend to rate effectiveness of workouts by how sore I am the next day... no soreness? not a reliable class for hard work out.  Maybe that's not fair, but that's how I judge it.  So this Saturday, when all of my team wants to do the water aerobics class, I'm going to go to a spinning class first or go to an hour of cardio on the elliptical before joining them.

{Today? (Monday) SUPER SORE from Sunday - so I feel good about that :)}

HCC - Saturday

I slept in today until 8:30!! No migraine!!! (Thank the good Lord because that was a 3-day stint of migraines!)

I ate 1/2 an apple and almond butter for breakfast and went and worked out with water aerobics and some of my team.  As it turns out, 1/2 an apple and almond butter are great as a snack, but not as breakfast or fuel before a big workout!  I was hungry early on...

Water aerobics... sounds easy? NOT.  It was difficult - maybe because of my low lung capacity, maybe because I'm out of shape, maybe because I wasn't ready - or some combo of the 3, but it worked me out hard and I loved it :)

Sign of a great work out: when you lift your hands/arms to suds up your hair with shampoo and your arms are quivering in protest... of course I used the heaviest dumb bells in the class... and I pushed it extra hard to make up for missing yesterday.  But I feel GREAT.

Why does everyone work out all the time? Because it gives you a great high-on-life feeling :)

Lunch = home-made chili soup type thing with no salt added and it was tasty... and I went to the grocery store to stock up on bananas, almond butter, eggs, and plain low fat greek yogurt :)  Good to go for week!

HCC - Friday (day after meeting)

Well, this day didn't go as planned... I started off with a strange breakfast, but to be quite honest - I didn't go to the store Thursday eve because we got done so late and I wanted to go to bed!  SO, though strange, it isn't the worst meal ever - just not one you'd normally have for breakfast... I had grape tomatoes with 4 tbs of humus.  Protein? yes. Fiber? yes. Strange? hell yes.  Will I do it again? no.  It wasn't enough - I was still hungry afterwards - I diligently drank my water to keep from feeling hungry, but no dice... then for snack, I had blackbean and corn salsa with chips (again, not what I would normally have, but am trying to finish off foods before I eat others)... and it wasn't my  normal snack of "fruit snacks" (fake fruit chewy things... tasty, but probably no fruit)... Lunch was spicy shrimp BROWN RICE sushi from HT and snack was a whole apple with almond butter - not too shabby... but then I went home from work with a migraine and I can't remember what was eaten or not, but I def fell off the wagon... I need to stock up on emergency foods for sick situations when I don't want to make anything wholesome...But not a horrible day. I didn't exercise :(  but I slept my migraine off and felt better today!

More notes/thoughts shared from Thursday's meeting:
Janis gave us these fun facts of what will happen in our body after being on this program...
- In 6 weeks, the amount of mitochondria in our cells will double... More mitochondria in our cells will make our bodies more efficient at burning fat, will fine-tune energy metabolism, and reduce age-related health issues! (and being the biology teacher, this was super interesting to me!!)
- More nitric oxide will be released by the endothelial cells... endothelial cells make up the lining of the arterial cells
And Janis always includes great quotes in her presentations:

"Walk by faith, not sight."

"Forget your past successes and forget your past failures - live for today!"

Our Team workouts (with our trainers) = M, Tues, & Wed evenings at 6:30PM
On Saturdays, as many as possible will be at the water aerobics at 10
On Sundays, the whole team will join the other teams for workouts at 2:30
All other days, we are on our own - but can work out with other team mates if we wish, or mentors... BUT WE MUST WORK OUT EVERYDAY!!

First HCC Meeting - Thursday, January 10th

So the HCC (Healthy Charleston Challenge) has started!!  I just met my team (Thursday eve) and am getting to know them and I'm looking forward to working out with this great bunch of people! Our team is sponsored by Mt. Pleasant Dermatology and our Trainers are Tyler and Larsyn.  We have some great mentors, too (people who have been through the HCC program): Cindy & Edward :)  I haven't met Edward, yet, but Cindy was very positive and very helpful.  We also have a dietetic intern - Hannah - we bonded, she's great :)

One of the big differences between HCC last time and HCC this time is that we are required to log in our calories, etc. on www.myfitnesspal.com - I was nervous about this - I haven't had the best luck with these sites in the past, but this one is VERY user-friendly! We all fill out our food logs and email them to Hannah on Tuesday... who will hopefully not ream me out when she sees my downfalls today... but it's harder to get started on this than you think!!

Tips they gave us on Thursday night:
- Aim for 1200-1500 calories/day
- Only drink water
- Eat every 3 hours (or so)
- Drink at least 6 glasses of water/day
- Aim for food with less than 5 ingredients and if there is an ingredient you can't pronounce, don't eat it!
- No diet foods
- Should eat 3 meals a day and 2 snacks
- MUST EAT BREAKFAST
- Do not eat food out of a container (instead: open container, divide food into individual servings, and throw away big food container)
- Do not drink any beverage with calories except for milk
- No honey, no agave syrup
- Eat a high fiber, high protein breakfast everyday
- Fiber goals = 30+ / day, with majority coming from veggies
- Carbs = Whole grain sources only - no sugar, no flour
- Eat 2 servings of fruit/day and 1/2 cup = 1 serving (1/2 banana = 1 serving!!)
- Exercise for a minimum of 30 mins/day for 7 days/week
- Don't get discouraged!!
- EXERCISE!!
- Be strong mentally and physically each day!

Janis (Director of HCC and my hero) told us we should picture her face every morning when we woke up and it will help us stay on track (she acts like she's scary, but I don't think so... though I wouldn't want to make her mad, so I will stay on track!!)

I was (and am still) a little worried about my chocolate 'attacks,' but this is what they shared on that:
- The first 3 days without your food vice is really hard, expect headaches and not feeling well
- 12 days without food vice? Still cravings but keep going
- 21 days without food vice? You have changed your taste buds (!!) and will no longer have intense cravings

They told us A LOT more, but I'm going to break it into smaller blogs... though since I'm doing it all at once right now, it will still seem like a lot!

Back to Normal? (Who wants normal???) And moving on with HCC, round 2!!

Hello all! It has been awhile, but that's because things are GREAT!! I'm not on coumadin anymore, which means no more struggling with INR and no more cutting out my favorite veggies... I give myself shots daily in my tummy, but I've gotten really good at it - not as many bruises this time around :)

I may even be taking a new drug soon that is a pill that you don't have to check INR levels with and there's no chance of bleeding out when injured... good things all around!!

I got into the HCC - Healthy Charleston Challenge - my second go of it :)  I started last night and am going to continue to use this blog to share my journey... for a number of reasons: 1) I had a blog last time I did it and it helped me tremendously, 2) how i do in HCC directly affects the lung/pulmonary situation, and 3) I really don't want to use the old blog I did for the last one because it's a new attempt with new teams and new people - except for Catherine O'Sullivan - my cheerleader this round - who is a trainer and was a trainer the last time I went through - LOVE her!!

So from here on out, the blog will focus on what I learn in HCC and my progress :) Stay tuned for fun information!! And thanks for being my support system - I love you all!!