Thursday, December 29, 2011

Rest and Recovery

Please excuse the randomness of my thoughts today. Stick with me...I do get somewhere at the end.

During the typical week, it is very easy for me to schedule a "rest" day from exercise. I look at my calendar, choose the busiest day, and call that my "rest" day. I use the word rest lightly- I am a wife, a mom of 2 children and work full time. Rest is a relative term.

Tomorrow, I am doing a killer workout (SOOO EXCITED!!!!!) with a group of friends from my gym. I'm looking froward to a great Saturday workout and on Sunday I run. That's what I do on Sundays; I run. That leaves today (Thursday) to be my rest day for the week. The weather has been pretty crummy around here and when I woke up this morning it was actually perfect running weather.

I want to run today. I know that rest days are important. I am sore this morning and want to be in top condition for my workout tomorrow. I googled "Are rest days important for exercise" and got back 19,300,000 results in .19 seconds.

I've started looking at training plans for my 1/2 marathon (I'm starting to hate the 1/2 part of that..... It sure doesn't feel like 1/2 of anything!). All of the training plans call for 5 days of running and/or cross training and 2 days of recovery. 2 days?!?! I work out 6 days a week. 2 days!??!? Am I unusual for working out 6 days a week. Isn't that normal for people that are into healthy living?

The same behaviors that caused me to get up to 356 pounds, have also caused me to lose 165 pounds.

excessiveness (eating til I wanted to puke), addiction (candy bars in the checkout isle), and routine (night time ice cream)

excessiveness (restricting calories- sometimes too restrictive), addiction (It's Sunday; I run on Sundays), and routine (oatmeal and a banana for breakfast)

This post isn't really ending where it started. I'm going to "rest" today. I'm getting a hair cut, going out to lunch with a friend, and driving around to look at Christmas light tonight. I might go for a walk, but it won't be rigorous and I won't even strap on my heart rate monitor. Rest doesn't have to mean total lack of activity.

~Kari

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Needing motivation?

Quick post....wanted to share this video. (Thanks Brad for passing it on to me...) It makes some great points about the importance of exercise and the amount of time really needed to make a difference in your own health. I love the idea of finding three 10 minute chunks of time to exercise on those days that seem too full to fit in 30 minutes of exercise!


~Kari

Thursday, December 22, 2011

2011 Accomplishments

Kelly encouraged everyone to take time to reflect on what they have accomplished this year before setting new goals for 2012. My plan was to start off this post with amazing stats about all of the weight that I had lost and inches that are banished forever. Things don't always go as planned.... Hubby measured me today and when I compared them to last years measurements they are...exactly the same. That's not entirely true, my stomach and arm measurements are quite a bit lower, but that's because of the surgery. Hmmmm... Let's look at my weight... 200.2 in December 2010, 194 in December 2011. Not much change there either. OK, so my body hasn't changed in terms of numbers, but there are many things that have changed that I can be proud of.

1. Since March (when I got my Nike sensor), I've run 104 times for a total of 309.37 miles, 68 hours and burned 40,000 calories!

2. In February, I was published in my school districts newsletter. I was able to share with many the journey that led me to my current weight. It was scary and exciting to put myself out there is such a way.

3. Since October 2nd (as far back at my HR monitor goes), I've exercised 68 out of 82 days, 53.4 hours, and burned 32,422 calories. (My runs, since October, from #1 are included in these totals).

4. In March, I was approved for health insurance at an amazing rate.

5. In May, I had surgery to remove the excess skin that I had created through years and years of not caring for my body. It was a big step for me to have this surgery because I knew that it was only something that I was willing to do if I knew for sure that I would never regain my weight.

6. In July, I rode a horse for the first time ever!

7. In September, I ran my second 5k. I shaved 9 minutes off of my previous years times.

8. There are several exercises that I can do now that I couldn't do a year ago: running 2 miles without stopping, tricep dips on the bench, criss-cross jumping jacks. I no longer see an exercise as impossible, but rather something that I can't do...yet!

9. I got off track for for a while and gained a little weight. I knew what I had to do, started recording my food again, and regained control.

10. I didn't plan on maintenance this year. I planned on losing another 20 pounds. I am proud to report that I have maintained a weight loss of 165 pounds for an entire year!

What about you? What have you accomplished this year? Celebrate your success before you worry about what you still need to achieve.

~Kari

Sunday, December 18, 2011

What tomorrow brings

I've been using My Fitness Pal for the past two weeks. I have been recording 5-6 days a week. I use to weigh in on Wednesdays, but since I started using My Fitness Pal on Monday, I decided to make my weigh in day on Monday. I may change that day, but feel like Monday's are really reflective of where I'm at since my eating tends to be a bit more scattered on the weekends. If I wanted to just always post my lowest weight, then I'd weigh myself on Thursday. :)

I had a great weekend, but it was full of food. We had Christmas with the in-laws last night and today I was just plain starving! Carrot sticks didn't seem to get the job done. Maybe my metabolism is just on fire and that is what is making me so hungry. A girl can hope!

Here's the thing- I don't know what tomorrow's weight will bring. I do know that since I have gone back to recording, that I feel SO much better. My energy level is up, my clothes fit again, and I am happy with the choices that I am making. There's my non-scale victory- I recognize that even if the scale doesn't move tomorrow, or if it even goes the wrong direction, that I feel good. What makes you feel good?

~Kari

Thursday, December 15, 2011

My butt is on fire!

I ventured out tonight and took a new class at the gym. It's called Fusion Barre. Ever heard of it? Here's a Youtube video that shows the different components of the class. The video is pretty long and you can skip through parts, but it does give a good overview of what the class was like. I wish that I had worn my heart rate monitor. I really didn't expect to raise my HR or break a sweat, but I was a hot mess by the end.

Not knowing what to really expect from the class, I went in early to talk to the instructor. I asked her if big girls can take the class. She laughed and looked at me like she didn't see the big girl that I was talking about. :) Most of the women in the class had dancer type bodies....petite, thin, tight. We grabbed light hand weights (3 pounds) and got started. The first 20-25 minutes was spent warming up. We did some lower body work- squats, lunges, curtsies coupled with upper body weights. The weight work was slow and controlled. I was feeling it in my arms pretty early into the workout.

After the "warm up", we moved over to the "bar". There isn't really a bar. We just held on to the window cell. From here we did A LOT of glute and hamstring exercises. We spent close to 15 minutes in and out of plie squats, tippy toes, and donkey kicks. It was brutal! I was sweating and shaking. I loved every minute of it!

For the last 15 minutes we moved to the floor. On the floor we did some work in bridge pose...flex your glutes...raise your hips...flex your glutes again... you get the drift. After bridge pose we did ab work and finally a little bit of stretching. Ooohhhh my butt hurts!

Running tomorrow afternoon should be interesting....

~Kari

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

My New Favorite Class....

is sponsored by me. :) I've done it twice now and I may be in love! Here's what I do:
- Run around the outside of my gym for 1.25 miles for 13 minutes (Walk the first 1/4 mile as a warm-up)
- Stairs at Level 7 for 15 minutes (On the stairs I alternate between arms extended and arms down every other minute to work on some isometric strength...hoping to add some light weights to this in the near future)
- Elliptical at Level 13 for 15 minutes
- Walk at a 4.0 on the treadmill for 5 minutes
- Cool-down Walk at 3.5 on the treadmill for 5 minutes
- Stretch

Burn 785 calories in one hour... Don't believe me??? Take a look:
~Kari

Monday, December 12, 2011

If every day were like today...

On My Fitness Pal you click on a button after you've entered your food for the day. After recording your food for the day you get a screen that looks like this:
Since I started recording again last week, I have seen this screen and it always says between 184 and 186 for my 5 weeks from now message. I don't believe My Fitness Pal. I weighed myself today and was at 195.2. That is a 5 pound loss from my 200+ pound scare last Monday. I have not been below 192 in months and months and months. I struggle to think that my body will let me go below 190. Also, no day is like today. Every day is different. I've been happy with my eating this past week. The weekend wasn't nearly as pretty as the week, but I did OK. Recording helps. I know that. I feel better when I record. I stay on track when I record. So...I may not ever be 184, but I do feel better and in control when I'm honest with myself about what and how much I am eating.

I wonder...what if My Fitness Pal knows something that I don't know....
~Kari

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Sticking to it...

After a rough start to my week, I am happy to report that things are going well. I started tracking my food again on Monday. I've always used Spark People (which I LOVE!), but a few of my friends use My Fitness Pal. I decided to check it out. Both of the sites are really similar, but I do have to admit that the interface for My Fitness Pal is a bit easier to use. One thing I don't like about it is that it gives you a calorie "goal", but it's a concrete number instead of a range. I've learned enough through Spark People to now my range. I much prefer living in a range. :) One thing that I love is that I can check on my friends and see what they are eating and I can support them better as they work towards their goals.

As far as exercise goes, this week has been a tricky one. I have had 2 late nights at work with one more late night to go. I usually take one day off from exercise each week. I took one late night as my "off" day. The other two late nights mean that I need to get up at 5 AM to get in a workout before work. I HATE waking up so early, but feel so good being done before my family has woken up.

My workout tonight was great! Kelly is an amazing instructor and never lets me slack. I love that about her. There was another friend in class tonight who pushed me each time I thought about giving up. Using my trust heart rate monitor, I know that I burned 630 calories. Not too shabby for a 55 minute workout.

In some sick sort of way, I am super excited to be recording again. I like to record. I like to know exactly how much I am eating. I like measuring my food. It like a super fun challenge. Can anyone suggest a good doctor? :)

~Kari

Sunday, December 4, 2011

200.1

I don't want to write this post. I want to write about how well I've been doing during the holidays. I want to encourage you with my success. I want to brag about all the weight I've lost while most people are gaining weight.

I weighed myself this morning. 200.1. 200?!?!?! How can I be back in the 200's. Ugh! I never thought that I'd be back here again. I'm sad, frustrated, and embarassed. People watch me.

I know why I've gained weight. My last few posts have been about weight gain. Tracking my food, an extra long run, and plenty of fluid today will put me under 200 tomorrow, but that's not really the point. The point is that I have fallen off the healthy eating bandwagon. Workouts have been consistent and my calorie burn has been in the 3000 cal./week range. It's the eating. I've gotten lazy about my portion control and pre-planning snacks and meals.

Ugh! I don't want to go back to where I was. I know it's only 8 pounds. A few weeks ago it was only 3 pounds. In 6 months it could be *only* 60 pounds. This has to stop. 

Back to nutrition basics~recording, measuring, accountability. I'll keep you posted!

~Kari

About Me

My photo
On June 19, 2009 I started my weight loss journey. It has become quite the journey! As of today (2-1-11) I have lost 162 pounds and have gained a whole new life. This blog is a continuation of my journey. I hope to inspire and encourage others through my process.