12/31/11 vs. 12/31/12

I've been thinking today about the difference between what I did on New Year's Eve last year, and what I did on New Year's Eve this year.

• 12/31/11 - Woke up early, drove out to Ashburn to run my first 5K ever with my younger brother.
• 12/31/12 - Forgot to set my alarm clock and ended up being almost an hour late for barely a half day at work.

Interesting contrast.  I think I'm going to plan now to run a 5K on New Year's Eve 2013.  It makes the day so much more fun.

I did run this afternoon, just for fun.  No race involved.  That was the first time I've run outside since April.  I think today was the coldest day that I've ever run outside.  But it also proved that my winter running gear works pretty well.

HDL - An Update

A little over a year ago, I wrote this post about HDL cholesterol levels.  My HDL had never been over 40.  I had always thought that my HDL would stay low.  Today I got the results of the lipid panel that was taken on Friday. (I still have the bruise on my arm from the blood test.)  Total Cholesterol: 169 (not too bad); LDL Cholesterol:  97 (still not too bad, for the bad cholesterol number); HDL:  69 (really awesome number for good cholesterol). 

The only change that has happened is the type of weight training I've been doing.  I've been lifting heavier weights, and focusing on powerlifting (squat, deadlift, bench press).  I did some research on this earlier today through an abstract at NIH:  "Weight training regimens are generally thought not to improve cardiovascular function or lipid parameters. To evaluate this further, we studied 25 men before and after supervised weight training three times each week for eight weeks. Mean plasma HDL-cholesterol level increased significantly with training, from 38.8 to 44.1 mg/dl, while calculated LDL-cholesterol decreased from 132 to 121 mg/dl."  I think this study applies to women as well.

One other thing that is different from last year to this year is that I do eat oatmeal more often for breakfast, but not every day or anything.  I think it's mostly the weight training.

One Of The Best Things...

...about being a certified personal trainer is that when I join a new gym, the general manager doesn't try to sell me personal training sessions.  They give me the fitness director's business card instead.

This will be fun.

Graduation

I graduated from the National Personal Training Institute on Saturday with a 4.0!  I really enjoyed the class.  I learned so much about exercise, anatomy, nutrition, and how to be a personal trainer in the class that I feel I have a really good foundation to be a great personal trainer. 

I'm looking forward to starting out as a personal trainer. 

One Final Down, One To Go

I took my first final today, and I did really well.  I got a 99.  I spent the better part of the last day and a half studying.  My next final is on Saturday, so I'll probably be studying during every spare minute between now and then.

There is one thing I should probably do this week besides study.  My class is over (except for the finals) so I no longer have a gym membership since my membership was through the school for the 6 months of my personal trainer certification course.  I better get myself signed up somewhere.

Have great workouts this week.

40 Days...

...until my last final at the National Personal Training Institute.  That time will go by really fast.  I have found learning more about anatomy and physiology really fascinating.  It has also been really fun to train people from my class at the gym.  I've gained a greater appreciation for goals.  Nutrition has always been one of my interests, and I'm really glad that I know more about the basic building blocks of nutrition, especially as it pertains to training at the gym.

Here are some other things I learned:

• All your strength gains happen during recovery. 
• It's important to get enough sleep.
• If you aren't getting enough sleep, it is really easy to stray from your healthy nutrition plan.
• Have a goal for training at the gym.  Long term goals are good, daily and weekly goals help you get there.

Yesterday was a great day at the gym.  Martina and I are personal trainers for each other on Saturdays.  We decided to workout together on Saturday so that we could see what our 1 Rep Max was for Deadlift.  We were both trying to deadlift 185 pounds and both of us got 185.  185 is what women have to be able to lift in order to make Team for strength.  (Your name and deadlift weight, or rowing time, or what have you, goes on the wall in the back of the room along with the names of everybody else that also made Team.)   I tried for 195, but that didn't happen.  That bar loaded to 195 was just not going to get more than a few inches off the ground.  I've never seen a bar that I was trying to lift bend like that before.

I learned yesterday that there is a real focus and clarity that comes with lifting really heavy weights.  I've always liked what Baron Baptiste (founder of the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute)  said about weightlifting:

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I went to one of my old haunts, Gold's Gym, in Venice Beach.  That particular gym is like the world mecca of bodybuilding.  Arnold trained there, as have countless others.  When I told a friend where I'd gone, she laughed and said, "I love it....the big yogi pumps iron?"

"It's all yoga," I told her.  "On or off the mat, it's yoga."

Even if I'm in the creme de la creme of the weightlifting world, I'm still putting all I have learned in my practice into action.  I'm using my ujjayi breathing for stamina and presence, my abdominal lock for core stabilization, a focused gaze for calm determination, the Master Principles of Alignment for healthy form.  Yes, I'm lifting weights, but beyond that I stay aware of my edge, practice maintaining equanimity, and use my intuition to know when less is more and when to push further.

So yesterday, I found my "edge" as Baron Baptiste would say.  I look at my experience yesterday in Deadlift as one of the really great accomplishments that I achieved in my class.  It's an exercise that I wasn't very familiar with prior to the start of the class, but it became one of my favorites early on in the class. 

Now I'm just trying to think of what else I want to accomplish before my class is over.  Maybe I'll try for 195 again closer to the end of class.

Have a great week.  I'll get much better at blogging again in about 40 days.  I'll try to post a little more frequently until then.

     

Diet Dr. Pepper

After drinking 20 ounces of Diet Dr. Pepper, I am still thirsty.  I'll be drinking water the rest of the day since I'll be strength training tonight.

Milestones

I reached a milestone weight today:  160.0!  I've been wanting to weigh 160 for a very long time.  My goal weight is 158.2, so I am nearly there.

My First Practical

I had my first practical exam in my class today.  We were given a list of 8 exercises, then our instructor would choose one from the list for each of us to teach him.  I went last in the group and he asked me to teach him how to do a barbell squat.  Barbell squats are not my favorite exercise, but I'm getting better at them.  Barbell squats are my instructor's favorite exercise (he can squat at least 440 pounds), but I was able to focus on how I would teach the exercise to a beginner.

I taught him how to do the movement without the bar first.  He intentionally made a mistake, rounding his back which is very bad in a squat.  Then he made another common mistake which was taking the bar off the rack too high on his neck (the bar should be on the traps or upper shoulders), which I corrected immediately.

I got 100 on the practical.  Wahoo!   

End Of a Short Hiatus From Workouts

I took a short hiatus from my usual 5 workouts a week while I was out of class and off work and my trainer was on vacation.  I accomplished the things that I planned:  got my haircut and used my gift certificate for a free massage.  I also accomplished a few things that were completely unplanned such as my spur of the moment trip to the mountains when I lost power during a thunderstorm, and clearing out my fridge and freezer after everything went bad due to the power outage during the thunderstorm.

One thing I didn't accomplish:  going to the farmers market on Saturday morning.  Didn't see much point since the power was out and the area wasn't in great shape.  Better luck next time.

I went back to work today, and tomorrow morning I will go back to the gym.  I rarely have time any more to just workout on my own, so it will be fun.  Side planks and compound rows will be part of the workout tomorrow.  I've been thinking about side planks since Sunday which was day 3 of my no workouts week. 

Starting next week, I'll be back to a more normal workout schedule.  I'll have workouts Monday through Wednesday, workout on my own Friday morning, and workout on Saturday.

It's July which means my classes are half way over.  :)

Hello, Internet

It has been a while since I posted anything.  My schedule is just a little on the crazy side.  Last week I had workouts Monday through Saturday.  It has been nice to have today off.  And I don't remember the last time I was so excited to be off work and school at the same time.  I'm taking a few days off work for the 4th of July, and I also don't have school those days.  2 things I'm going to do during my time off:  get a haircut and use my gift card for a free massage.

In other news, I had a project for school where we had to analyze our food intake for three days.  My nutrition has been lacking any kind of structure lately, so I was not surprised to see that I was getting too many calories.  But I was surprised to see that my intake of carbs, fats, and proteins was kind of all over the place.  The only thing that was consistent was that the carbs were too high and the proteins were too low.  Maybe that's what happens when I don't get a chance to make my hard-boiled eggs at the beginning of the week?  Will need to ponder that further.

So today I prepared my lunches for the week, and now I'm going to go pack my dinner to take to school tomorrow.  Getting the nutrition back on track.

Deadlifts and Callouses

Deadlifts are a regular part of my workout routine when I go to the gym with my class.  They are my favorite of the 4 Power Lifts (Power Lifts:  Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Squats).  On Saturday I was deadlifting 110 lbs., at about 8 reps, and I'll probably be able to go up in weight tomorrow. 

The deadlifts have left some crazy callouses on my hands.  Check it out:

Both of my hands have callouses across the palm of various sizes and degrees of callousiness.  Those callouses aren't going to go anywhere.  I've had them for over a year.  They give me a sense of accomplishment.

2 Challenges, and Rainy Days

Of course it started pouring down rain at 4:50 p.m. on Friday afternoon in Washington, DC.  Then by the time I got off the metro on northern VA, the rain was even worse.  The roads are starting to flood, so I think I'll be staying in tonight, getting some studying done for school, and getting some household things done.  Which is probably a good thing.

My comfort food of choice this evening is Sweet Potato Rounds from the Engine 2 Diet, except I cut mine into strips.  And I'll think of something else to have with the sweet potatoes.  The sweet potatoes are in the oven right now, and they're really good with BBQ sauce.

I came across 2 challenges for the month of June.  One is a Salad-A-Day Challenge, and the other is The June Yoga Challenge.  I thought about the Salad-A-Day Challenge and decided that would be more effort than I wanted to put into grocery shopping even though I think it's a good idea.  Maybe I'll try that challenge some time when I'm not in school.  I think I will participate in the yoga challenge.  I've already planned which days I'll be in the yoga studio this month, and I'll add a few yoga sessions at home so I'm practicing yoga a few days a week.

Good luck with your fitness and nutrition goals this month.  I'm hoping to get to my goal weight by the end of this month.  I have exactly 5 pounds to lose.  I know...I had 2.8 pounds to lose, and now I have 5 pounds to lose.  Some weeks are like that.

Exercise and Recovery

One of the cool things that I have learned in my personal training course is that the gains that we make from our efforts at the gym are made during recovery.  When we are at the gym, we wear down our muscles, and our recovery time helps the muscles come back stronger.

My instructor frequently says that the two most important meals of the day are breakfast and post-workout.  The post-workout meal or snack is important because the body needs protein and carbs shortly after a workout to help restore the muscles and provide energy. 

Keep that in mind after your next workout.  Eat something, even if it's just a hard-boiled egg.

Shoulder

My right shoulder doesn't feel great.  Presumably because I have been forgetting to stretch out my arms after my workouts.  My pectoral muscles have gotten tight on the right side which is causing the problem.  I've been advised to foam roll.  I'll tell you now it is not a fun spot to foam roll.

I'll be remembering to stretch my arms from now on.

Finding Normal

All of my schedules have been thrown off by school.  I now have a school schedule, my workout schedule is completely different, my work schedule has changed since I started school, and my sleep pattern is not early to bed and early to rise any more.  It's more late to bed (some nights), and early to rise (every day).

My running is suffering, I can't hold plank as long, and I just don't have time for yoga classes any more.  :(  I gained a few pounds, and I'm back to losing weight again.  :) 

In an effort to find a normal routine, I made a new workout schedule.  My workouts at school are not as as intense as what I've been used to for the last year.  And I've mentioned how much I like working out in the morning here and here.  So I've added some yoga in the morning, and at least one more workout at the gym per week in the morning.

Here's the new schedule:

 

Sunday: Rest day, maybe walk outside in the afternoon

Monday:  20-30 min. of yoga in the AM, School class at Gym 8:30-10:30

Tuesday:  Workout with my trainer 6:00 a.m.

Wednesday:  20-30 min. of yoga in the AM, School class at Gym 8:30-10:30

Thursday:  30 min. run and other activities at the gym

Friday:  20-30 min. of yoga in the AM

Saturday:  20-30 min. of yoga in the AM, School at Gym 3-6

 

I've been testing out this program since last Friday, and I tell you now, yoga or other workouts in the morning are pretty awesome.  Wakes me up and gets me on my way for the day.  

Workout in Dress Pants

In what I'm sure was a spectacular moment of brilliance this morning, I set out my workout pants, but forgot to put them in my gym bag.  I guess it's a good thing that I was wearing black dress pants today.  I ended up working out in the dress pants that I wore to work today.  I'm glad they are a size too big.  The only part that was really strange was not having an elastic waistband to rely on during my workout.

I will remember to pack them first next time.

Metro and Test Schedules

So today I had my first test in school.  The test started at 5:30 p.m.  I left work at 4:00 like I usually do on my school days.  When I got to the metro, I was waiting for the train to arrive, then realized that I had been able to see the headlights of the train for 3 minutes.  Very unusual.  Then the announcement came that the train I could see and really needed to arrive so I could get to my test, was experiencing mechanical difficulties.  That's one of the worst announcements that you can hear on the metro during rush hour.  Not the worst, but it's up there.

Since I had no time to lose, I decided to take a cab.  $30 later, I made it to my car, and to my class right on time.  My instructor even delayed the test for a few minutes to let people arrive that were stuck in traffic.

I got a 95 on the test!  Wahoo.  And now I know that what I need to study for my test on Saturday is exercise movements.  Those were the only questions that I missed.

I Made Team in Rowing

I made Team in Rowing this evening.  When our class is at the gym, we can test for Team by meeting a specific criteria.  I've been rowing for about a year now, and I thought that I had a great chance at making Team by rowing 500 meters in 2:05 or less.  My time for rowing 500 meters this evening was 2:01.  Wahoo!

2.8 Pounds

I keep random things of varying significance on my wall at work next to my desk.  There are conference call line numbers, lobbying reporting rules, horoscopes, pictures of my 5-month-old nephew, a goal and quotes.  On January 6, 2011, during the first few weeks of starting out with my weight loss, I wrote my horoscope for the day on a yellow sticky note and put it on the wall:  "Getting close to the finish line is not the same as crossing the finish line."  I don't know if that has ever felt more true than this week.  A few months ago, I wrote my goal weight on another sticky note and stuck it to the sticky note with my horoscope.  Right now  I am 2.8 pounds away from my goal weight, and while I've always known that I was going to get there, it now feels like it is really going to happen.

Let's take a look at my stats:

December 18, 2010 - started out at 238.2

June 30, 2011 - First weigh in below 200, at 199.2

Weigh in on 4/26/2012:  161.0

238.2 - 161.0 = 77.2 pounds total weight loss

Weight loss goal:  158.2

161.0 - 158.2 = 2.8 pounds away from my goal weight

 

At school yesterday, we learned about Personal Training Program Design.  We had to start out with setting our goals and creating a workout program to get there.  I'll be using my own program for the next 3 weeks at school.  I've already seen from the first day how things don't always go according to plan.  The dumbbells that I wanted to use for an exercise were either nowhere to be found, or being used by somebody else.  Then there was an exercise that I wanted to learn, but couldn't find my instructor.  There will always be some changing of the plan while on the go.

My goals for the next 3 weeks:  

• Hold plank for 2 minutes and 30 seconds
• Do 10 military pushups (chest touching a board 2 inches off the ground)
• Lose 2.8 pounds

Working out is so much easier when you have a focused goal.

Luminous

I love working out in the morning. Today is the first day that I have made it to the gym on my own in the morning since I started my personal trainer certification course. This morning when I was driving to the gym, it was very foggy from the rain yesterday. When I left the gym after a good workout, the sun was trying to break through and the light trying to break through the clouds was pink. And it reminded me of Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, where he writes, "At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear."

Here's a song from the Beatles for your morning.

Dumbells

Yesterday was a turning point in the gym portion of my classes. Our instructor showed us exercises with the dumbells. This was really great because I've used dumbells, I like dumbells, and hadn't used weight machines very much previously which is what we were using exclusively before last night, so I'm finally feeling like I'm getting a good workout. I'm learning things that are useful. And there's so much that can be done with dumbells.

Taxes and Other Thoughts

If there is one thing that I never look forward to, it is working on my taxes. I just really can't stand putting all the info together, even if TurboTax is doing most of the work. I just get really annoyed. They're mostly done.

Anyway, the other thing I have been thinking about is my personal workouts. I realized today that I have not missed a workout, I'm still getting 5-6 workouts a week, but I haven't worked out on my own at a gym since March 31. I've been working out with my trainer or my school, or at the yoga studio. Nothing on my own. I would have worked out this morning, but I overslept. I need to set some goals and start working on them again.

I'm hoping to get into more of a normal routine next week with my workouts and school, etc. This week I'm getting taxes and state car inspections out of the way.

Caballo Blanco

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is a story about Caballo Blanco and a race that he put together in Mexico. It's a story that had inspired many people, myself included. I was sad to find out today that Caballo Blanco was found dead in a national park in New Mexico. He went out on a 12-mile run and never made it back.

I was just going to go for a walk today, but I ran instead. Well, for most of the time I ran. Thanks, Caballo.

Red Bell Peppers

Red Bell Peppers are a key ingredient in the Turkey Sloppy Joe recipe that I make. I was putting the mix together tonight and I ate a slice of the Red Bell Pepper. It was like a taste explosion. I was going to put 2 red bell peppers in the Turkey Sloppy Joe recipe that I was making, but then I really thought that not eating half of one of them myself would really be wasteful because they tasted so good. So I put 1.5 Red Bell Peppers in the mix and ate the last half plain, no dressing.

I think it's kind of amazing when you would rather eat vegetables plain instead of adding them to something else and covering up their natural flavor.

Mental Blocks

I have a mental block on the amount of time that I can hold plank. When I get to a minute and 30 seconds, there is a click in my brain and I convince myself that I can't hold on any longer. Even though I totally can. I got 2 minutes and 4 seconds a week ago. Haven't come close to it since. I'll have to figure out what was going on in my head that day and get back there, because it must have been a great mental state.

I've come to realize that holding plank is all about the mental state. I was thinking about why I let go of plank too early and realized that I do many things that are much more physically demanding than holding plank. I have no reason for not being able to hold plank for 2 minutes all the time.

So tonight I tried something to see if I could break the timer in my brain that seems to be set on 1 minute and 30 seconds. Between my second and third plank of the night, I did an exercise that my trainer calls inchworms. Inchworms used to be my most feared exercise. I even added a negative anchor right before I did the exercise that would guarantee its failure. Negative anchor: I shook out my hands by my sides - an act of complete nervousness. As soon as I recognized it and got rid of it, inchworms were fine. And that's a good thing because inchworms are the basis of so many exercises. Anyway...I went back to something that used to be difficult (inchworms), then decided to try holding plank again. The plank after I did an inchworm exercise was the best one of the whole night. (My third plank is rarely the best one. It's usually the worst.) The last plank of the night was 1 minute 40 seconds.

Breaking my mental blocks - one plank at a time.

Are You a Runner?

So tonight I went to the Apple Store because I wanted a new set of earphones for my iPod (misplaced my other earphones somewhere a few months ago, so I'll probably find them tomorrow). I chose some earphones that I thought would work well for running or walking or elliptical. The sales clerk looked at my earphones and said, "Are you a runner?" And I said, "Yes." The sales clerk went on to say that the earphones I chose were the favorite earphones of his running coach. But what I thought was interesting about the conversation was that it was the first time that anybody ever asked me if I was a runner.

The whole point of going to the Apple Store was because I wanted to have something to listen to on my run tonight at the gym, since I don't really like to run at night. I prefer running in the morning. Since I had already stated that I was a runner earlier in the evening, I figured I would commit to running for my evening workout. My Couch to 5K (C25K) running plan said I should run 25 minutes today.

About 10 minutes into my run, I started thinking that I was feeling pretty strong, and pondered running for 30 minutes, the end goal of the C25K program. That would be skipping about 3 weeks of the program. At 20 minutes, I decided to see if I could get 30 minutes. When 25 minutes passed, I decided I could definitely get 30. And when I got to 30 minutes, I did a few seconds of running like Rocky at the top of the stairs at the Philadelphia Art Gallery.

This is just to say take THAT C25K! Yeah.

Goal - Plank

“People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals – that is, goals that do not inspire them.” -Anthony Robbins

On March 1, I set a goal to hold plank for 2 minutes. I thought it would probably take me a whole month to accomplish. I reached my goal on Friday morning, just 9 days later. I held plank for 2 minutes and 4 seconds. I love reaching my fitness goals. My goals inspire me to reach further. I like the sense of accomplishment when they are completed.

I still have several other goals to accomplish this month, but with an early achievement, I am well on my way.

Pineapple

I was a little surprised this morning when I read the label of my Del Monte Pineapple Tidbits: "Naturally Fat free and Gluten free." It wouldn't have occurred to me that this needed to be on the label.

Weigh in this week was just about the same as last week.

Quote

“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best."— Theodore Rubin

Stomach Bug

Well, if there's anything good about having a stomach bug for a few days, it's the weigh in for that week. I lost 4 pounds this week, so I have exactly 9 pounds to go to reach my goal weight. The goal is actually in sight. I'm hoping to get to my goal weight by the time my personal trainer certification course starts on April 2.

Here are a few goals that want to complete by April that I think will help me get to my goal weight:

1. Hold plank for 2 minutes.
2. Finish my running program...since I didn't finish it before I ran a 5K. Oops.
3. 12 pull-ups using the 70 lb. offset on the weight machine. (Currently at 6 with the 70 lb. offset. I started out last summer using the 150 lb. offset.)
4. Hot yoga on Saturdays (minimum)

I'm planning to get myself to the gym tonight since I haven't been to the gym since previously mentioned stomach bug attacked me right after my Tuesday morning workout.

Mountain Pose - Continued

I went to a different doctor today for a second opinion on my blood pressure medications since I was having low blood pressure moments in during mountain pose in my yoga class. And I think she'll be my new doctor. The doctor understood my fitness level and the type of exercise that I do. She reduced my blood pressure medication to a quarter of what I had been taking (from 20 mg of Benicar down to 5 mg of Benicar), so that's a good thing.

In other updates, my calf muscles are much better. I have been using a foam roller for the last few days since I discovered on Friday night that there was knot after knot in my calf muscles.

Must go now since I have a training session at the gym tomorrow morning. Hope you have good workouts this week.

My Calf Muscles...

...are in pain this week. Well, since Tuesday. Don't know why. Can't really think of anything that I did that would cause it.

My planned "recovery walk" yesterday was a total fail. I ended up walking at a higher incline on the treadmill than I've ever walked before. So maybe that's why my calf muscles still hurt. Maybe. Don't know. But yay for the increased incline.

Mountain Pose

After having a low blood pressure moment while we were in Mountain Pose at yoga last week, I kind of shied away from going back for a little while. So then today I went to yoga and I was fine the whole time. Great yoga class. It's amazing how a good day at yoga can increase the confidence.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

We All Fall Down

So today I was at my 6:00 AM training session at the gym and in a brilliant moment of coordination, fell on my left arm. No big deal, don't even think it really left a mark. First time I ever fell during a workout. I was doing push-ups with one hand on the ground and one hand on a medicine ball. With each push-up, you switch the medicine ball to the other hand. My left hand just didn't quite make it to the right spot on the medicine ball and it rolled right out from under my hand as I was going lower into the push-up. And that was the second push-up out of 3 sets of 12. Finished all of the push-ups.

Have a great long weekend and make sure to take some time for being active, whether it's outside, at the gym, in the yoga studio...

Kind of Awesome

Good news! Downward trend in weight loss is beginning again. My weigh in today was down 2.4 from last week. I've lost 65.6 pounds total, and 14.4 pounds to go until I get to my goal weight. Yay!

Funny thing...I was gaining weight on the plant-based diet. So this week I added eggs and lean meats back into my regular diet and I'm losing weight again. My calorie intake was lower this week, but not by much because I went over my calorie limit a few times, just almost to what it was last week. I was eating between 1400 and 1600 calories on the days that I went over, so nothing major.

And here's some really awesome news...

When I started out on this weight loss journey in December 2010, I was wearing size 22W clothes. Tonight I went to Old Navy just to see if jeans would fit in the next size down from my current size 14 jeans - and they FIT! I bought size 12 jeans! 12! I don't think I've ever owned anything in a size 12. If I did, it was for a very short time. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think so. Wahoo for size 12!!

Saturday - Day of Interesting Tasks

The majority of the florescent lights in my kitchen burned out this week.

Here is how the kitchen looked in stages:



First, I took down all the panels and discovered there were 4 lights out and not just 2.



Then I went to Home Depot and bought the right replacement lights. I couldn't really figure out how to put them back in, then I was watching a video from the Prescribing Yoga website, and had an epiphany about how to get the lights to work. And it worked.



Now the lights are working in the kitchen and all the panels are cleaned and put back in place. So not as easy as it looks to stand on a chair and put the panels back in place.

Glad I accomplished something today. Going to yoga later.

New Calorie Count

Since my weigh in yesterday didn't produce the results I had expected, my trainer and I sat down this morning and looked at what my calorie intake should be. I had been eating 1600 calories. Now my new calorie count is 1400 calories. 1400 calories! I've been mentally reevaluating everything I eat during the day and thinking of what to eat to get the most out of everything I eat. But I think I have a good menu in mind for the coming week, so we'll see how it goes.

On a lighter note, I was using the chin-up and dips machine this morning. I was standing on the step on the right side while my trainer was changing the weight on the machine. Then when I was getting back onto the bench that you kneel on to do chin-ups, I hit my head (not very hard) on the bar that my right hand was holding for the chin-ups. I just laughed. Funny way to start the morning.

2/2 Weigh In

Some weigh ins are better than others. Today was an other. I didn't gain much, just .2 pounds, very small amount. It's only frustrating because I did so well this week - had good workouts, only went over on my calories twice, and not by much.

Better luck next week.

For the bad idea file

Bad idea: Eating a brownie sundae the night before a weigh in. At least it was a brownie sundae that was shared among three people.

Joy cometh in the morning

My best workouts are in the morning. On Saturday morning, I was running on the treadmill for the first time since I got back from Utah. I started running and I was filled with joy and love for life. I feel that way with most of my workouts - especially running, weight training, and yoga. Oh wait...that's all my workouts. If I didn't like my workouts so much, I probably would have quit my workouts at the gym a long time ago.

I spent this evening in my kitchen making spaghetti with kale, zucchini, and mushrooms, and listening to classical music. Tomorrow morning, the spaghetti will be going in my lunch bag. More joy in the morning from being able to take healthy food with me to work.

Here is the one of the songs I listened to this evening:



Wishing you a wonderful morning.

1111

This morning I was rowing for 5 minutes for my warm-up. 1111 is the number of meters that I rowed. Just thought that was interesting.

Spinach Salad and Pizza

If there's one food I won't give up, it's pizza. Pizza with mushrooms, to be more specific. I've been eating pizza throughout my weight loss journey and don't see any point in giving up pizza for the last 16 pounds to go to my goal. Of course, now I make my own pizza and make it as healthy as possible. Tonight it was mushrooms, pineapple, grape tomatoes, and spinach. The pineapple and tomatoes together were too sweet. Now I know for next time.



All day today I was craving salad. That means I must be doing something wrong nutritionally, so I went with my instincts and bought a few things for a salad to go with the pomegranate seeds I had in the fridge. The only thing I know to do with pomegranate seeds is put them in a salad. This salad was pretty good. Spinach, pomegranate seeds, avocado, and raspberry vinaigrette.

Any ideas for pomegranate seeds?

Back from Utah

I was in Utah last week on a whirlwind of a trip. Now I'm back home and getting back to the gym and getting back to yoga and getting back to some healthier food. I went to yoga this evening, and the workout kicked my butt. I think I'll remember to drink more water during the day any time I go to hot yoga in the evening.

Evening Workouts

It's January 10, so the gym is still full of people at 8 PM. That number will drop as it gets closer to the end of the month.

I decided to do some running on a treadmill that I usually just use for walking. So I ran for a few minutes and then went back to walking.

There are treadmills I use for walking and there are treadmills I use for running. I'll keep that in mind for all future workouts.

Heated Vinyasa Flow Yoga

I went to a heated vinyasa flow yoga class today. I really liked the class and I think I'll go again. The poses and movements in this yoga class are similar to the poses and movements that I learned at the class at the gym, but I like the setting better.

I wasn't sure I would like the 90 degree heat, but I did. It actually felt good since it's January (even though today is really warm outside). Dripping buckets of sweat by the end.

1/5 Weigh In

I lost 2.8 pounds this week. Back on the downward trend for weight loss.

It's Cold Outside

Remember Saturday when it was warm outside? Yeah...me, too.

Here's some pictures from the 5K on Saturday.



Before the 5K...



...and at the start of the 5K.

Happy New Year! If you are like me, your goals are probably still in the formulation process. Good luck with whatever you set out to do this year!

Ringing in Hope

My brother, Mark, and I ran the Ringing in Hope 5K on New Year's Eve morning. It was a great way to end the year. We started out running at the Brambleton Town Center, then the route went through a nearby neighborhood. The course was a certified flat and scenic race course. I don't know about scenic, but there were some trees along one side of the first road.

There were a whole ton of people in line to start the run - kinda slow goin' for the first little road. Then it picked up as we got to the first main road that gave some space to spread out. We ran nearly the whole first mile, then we ran some and walked some. Kept on passing the same girl in the green t-shirt with the Happy New Year green star headband. We commented on the size of the houses, how old the winner of the race would be, our running shoes, workouts in general, what our next race should be, whether or not I am more coordinated now than I used to be (definitely more coordinated).

About 3/4 of the way through I got a side stitch that went away after walking for a minute. Other than that, felt fine through the race. Side stitches = breathing wrong. I think that's one thing I'll need to pay more attention to when I run outside. I've definitely got my breathing pattern right for treadmill running, but not so much for outdoor running.

So when we got back to the Brambleton Town Center, we decided to do a slow run to the end, then run fast for the final stretch. Right as we started the final stretch, I saw the girl in green and decided I wanted to pass her one last time. We passed her a safe distance before the finish line.

I checked our published times for the race online and Mark and I had the exact same times. Started and finished the race exactly together with a Gun Time of 40:02, and a Net time of 38:31. Our pace was 12:24. I'm glad I've set a baseline now for my running. Who ever would have thought that the first thing that would be officially published with my name on it would be my race time in a 5K?

Running this 5K was a great way to end the year. For me it was a way to celebrate being able to run a 5K and being healthy.


That's my race number. I figured it deserved a place on my refrigerator. There aren't many better reminders for good health and fitness.


One more thing...Remember this dress? It's officially too big.