Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Monday Weigh-In. A day late!

It's Monday, so you know what that means: Weigh-In Day!

My current weight is (da dada daaaa): 187 lbs

For those of you following, that is a 7 lb weight loss, but there has been no change from last Monday to this Monday. No additional loss, but (thankfully) no gain back, either.

I am chalking this up to a few factors.

First, I was on almost two week's worth of steroid medication, starting with a shot the day I went to the doctor, followed by steroid pills, and two inhalers that both contained steroids. Steroid medication can make a person retain water and it increases appetite.

Second, though I tried to eat as well as I could during these courses of medicine, I did have a few instances where I ate things I shouldn't (a whopper junior from Burger King one day, and a fried chicken tender salad with full fat honey lime dressing from Cheddar's another day).

And, lastly, I was on the "no physical exertion" restriction for two weeks. Over the weekend, I finally got the energy to do some serious cleaning at home and much to my happiness, I was able to breath clearly the whole time. So, I'm thinking I may be over The Great Lung Sickness of 2012.

My goal for this month was to lose 10 lbs. I have 9 days left of this month, and 3 lbs to hit that mark. I feel like I can make it, if I really stick to it and push myself. But, I'm not going to beat myself up over it if I don't hit it, because all things considered this month, I've done well.

I was supposed to start the 30 Day Shred this morning, but we had a night full of thunderstorms and tornado warnings, and I couldn't sleep. I had set the alarm for 5 am, so I could get up, Shred, make a smoothie, take a shower and get ready for work, but at 3:45 when JP came to bed, I was still wide awake. So those plans were nixed, at least for this morning.

The new plan was to hit the gym after work for 30 minutes of cardio and about 30 minutes of weight training, then, after picking up L and getting her settled at home, pop in Shred for a last little vigorous work out before bed. It didn't work out like I'd planned, but at least I got SOME time in the gym.

I was going to take specific before and after pics for the 30 days I am doing Shred (so, today and then again on Feb 22), but I decided to scrap that plan because I am also going to be doing other cardio/strength training at the gym. I didn't want anyone to think whatever results I get in the next 30 days were due to Shred alone, and be misrepresenting the product. I have seen before and after pics from Shred, and if I can have those results alone, I'll be ecstatic. I am just amping it up a little more by doing other stuff with it. So when you see a difference, keep in mind that is is not solely a result of Shred, but a combination of Shred, interval training on the treadmill, and circuit weight training (as well as eating as lean as possible- low carb, high protein, lots of veggies and fruits). Plus, I'll be taking an updated pic on Feb 1, which will be 9 days into Shred, and then again on March 1, which will be just after I've completed Shred, so I'll have some result type pics anyway.

Upcoming plans:
1. I am hoping to start the Couch to 5K training program on Feb 1. I am really excited about this because I have never been a runner. Seriously. Never. I have always said that the only time I would run is if something big, scary, or zombified was chasing me. I love to hike and do walking trails, I've just never been really into running. I have decided that I want to start doing races. JP has done one and wants to do more. We have this awesome running stroller that L is still small enough for and she LOVES to go fast, so I know she'd be stoked if we ran her around in a race. I'm not giving myself a time frame to get "race ready", though the program has a set time frame, but I'd like to run some kind of race in the spring. Plus, JP has promised me some cute running clothes (and I have been pinning some on Pinterest for ideas!) if I can succeed. Cute running clothes will look even more awesome on a fitter body, too so I'm going to wait to take him up on this offer until I'm closer to my goal weight/shape.

2. Supposedly, one of the benefits of Shred is increased stamina. I plan on doing the level 1 30 day cycle, and (provided Jillian Michaels hasn't killed me by then) then move on to level 2 and so on. I am hoping to do all three levels in a 90 day time frame (though I've heard it's taken many months for users to get there). I am going to continue to do those in the mornings before work. I will have at least 3 days each week that I can't make it to the gym for different reasons, so on those days, I'll do Shred in the morning and then one of the other two DVDs I have later as my "actual" work out. I'm pumped about this. I know they're going to be HARD but I am just so ready to turn my body into the body I want. SO ready.

3. When it gets warmer, I want to do some more outside. I'd like to go to the Don Fox park with L and walk (or without Lily and run). I think I'll do much better actually running outdoors (because I still get nervous on the treadmill for some reason).

4. At some point, to switch things up, I'd like to start swimming at the Jimmy Floyd Center. I don't want to do it regularly but I would like to occassionally. Swimming burns tons of calories and is easier on your joints and muscles, so I think I may save this for "rest days". L also loves swimming so it would be a fun activity for JP and I to take her and play in the water in the indoor pool with her. Even leisurely swimming burns a lot of calories.

5. For Valentine's Day, I've asked for a really nice heart rate monitor. JP has one that syncs with the equipment at our gym. It accurately reports heart rate and calories burned. I would like to have one of these for myself so I can not only wear it at the gym during weight training to track my calories, but so I can wear it at home during Shred and the other DVD workouts, and during any outside activity I might log. I feel like MyFitnessPal is really good at figuring calories burned for a lot of what I do (cleaning, playing with Lily, regular treadmill walking, etc)-- but then other things, like interval training on the treadmill, Shred, Insanity, Zumba, etc--is not listed. I have to estimate what I have actually done and try to categorize it. Sometimes, to get the calorie count on the gym machine to match MFP, I have to "over log" my activity- a 30 minute interval train on the treadmill might be 400 calories but only 1.5 miles, but to make it right on MFP, I have to log it as a 3.5 mile run at 7.0 (which I am not actually doing). So I feel like I'm lying to the people who are following me!! Right now I'm putting Shred in as high impact aerobics, but it's not totally that. It's a combination of cardio, strength and core. It doesn't really fit into any of the MFP categories. So, I'm excited to get my heart rate monitor so I can figure out exactly what I'm burning in a day.

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