Weekly Update

So here I am at America's largest ski resort not skiing but attending a medical conference on fibrosis. I have no idea how much I weigh. I did weigh myself the other day on a scale but I had all of my workout gear on and it was later in the day and I have been known to drink a lot of water causing a differential of 5lbs per day from AM to PM. Not only did I bring all nice fancy clothes to look smart but also a new workout outfit for each day! In my spare time you can find me working out at one of the gyms at the mountain, not snowboarding like I should be. The eating has been super challenging. Not being able to have 5 small meals has caused me to have to eat 3 larger meals with a lot less protein than I would like. Our breakfast and dinner is catered so I try to fill up on as much fruit as possible but a table of pastries are a bit hard to pass up. I pick a tiny pastry and then am upset when my breakfast ends up being 500-600 calories! You would think I would learn? My lunches are "dressing on the side and no tortilla chips, easy on the cheese, no fried onions and can you grill some chicken breast and put it on top" and I have to pile all of the components on the plate trying to see how many calories I am going to consume. At least I am eating alone because I am pretty sure no one would like to eat with me while I am pulling out my phone adding in all the components of my salad.  Normally I would say screw the meat and enjoy the bountiful pastries and cheesecake/dessert tables to get in my calories but I have been good by continuing to get protein at each meal. Sadly without the protein shake I am hovering around 25%. Normally if I were back and home and I would choose to have a pastry/muffin/mini eggs I would not go over my allotted calories and you quickly learn that sugar is the worse pre-gym meal ever. Doing kickboxing after eating banana bread was one of the worst ideas I have ever hard....maybe the jelly beans were worse. To those out there counting calories and avoiding all of the foods you love it might be easy to do until the end of the challenge but hard to do it for the rest of your life so instead I have the things I want and crave in moderation and then normally end up paying for it by not being able to eat some healthy piece of fish that would be more filling. When you are looking at it for the long haul you really have to see food not as enjoyment but fuel for your body. It is sad but I really look forward to eating my oatmeal every morning as if it were chocolate cake. Something I miss being out here ;(


I wanted to assess how I was doing with the challenge so far:


Lose 10lbs....well I don't know how much I weigh and as long as I haven't gained any weight when I come back I am pretty happy and my 1lb to lose plateau


Symmetrical leg muscles is a toughly and might not be one that I can really achieve in a month. I am happy to report that I was only able to single leg press 5lbs with my bad leg and now can press 90lbs just with my bad leg. Hurray improvement! My calf muscle is very sad looking but not being allowed to do calf raises or anything that can make it grow bigger is frustrating. 


I fit into my new jeans and love them! 


I was able to hit 30% protein one day haha and I did so by consuming two protein shakes. Hmm consume two protein shakes or have some mini eggs or this cookie or something equally delicious. It is always a tough decision and one that when I get back I will have to stick to, boo! It really has helped my muscle recovery. 


The weight workouts have been surprisingly easy to stick to with the help of Steve. It is only a 30-45minute after work and one that I have ample amount of time to do. I love how my back is being shaped and I can't wait until I shed more fat so they look better! Although I did one weight workout while here and it was difficult because they only really have dumbells and I can't do all of the exercises that I want to so it might be hard to reach that goal while I am out here. 


I am toning up and losing muscle (re:legs) I have a lot more weight to lose before I would ever be called skinny so I don't really need to worry about this goal. Also the additional protein will help with this. 


Yoga is such a hard goal for me. I just have no motivation to go. I would much rather go on the elliptical than go to yoga. Once I get back though I really need to work hard on this!


Workouts Completed in March: 65...well I was sick but not too bad of a number


With the exception of a cheat day I pretty much eat around 1500 calories. I have been a bit relaxed where Steve said it was ok for our challenge to eat an extra 5% but now that can add up so I am going to eat under 1500 for the remainder. 


I am glad to hear that the challenge has had a positive effect on everyone. It really hasn't made a difference for me because I have been a gym nut for almost 6 years. I do get upset when I can't workout and it really does effect my sleeping and mood. It is nice getting to hear about everyone's challenges and successes and it is nice to reaffirm my believes in fitness. 


My greatest accomplishment from this challenge will be if people notice that I lost the weight. I have heard from multiple people how good some of you look and I hope that I can also follow suit. 


Well I should be at the gym but I just came from the gym and the altitude, dry air, little sleep and getting over being sick has just left me so tired and blah. I can't wait to be back home to my oatmeal...oh and Steve...and my squat rack. 

Sunday Update....posted on a Monday!

Current weight: the same as last week

This is pretty good news (or at least I am convincing myself that it is). I had Tina and Pete over for the week before and this week and if you have ever had company over (especially company that enjoys to have a drink) it is very hard to keep on diet. I only cheated one day and it wasn't that bad of a cheat (one day when T&P were here). The other thing that is such a diet buster is the illness. I wish I were one of those people who actually loses weight while ill. No not me. Carbohydrates seem to be the only thing that can cure my illness. Thursday actually turned out to be my cheat day why? Well because my throat was so sore and I made the mistake of purchasing a pint of gelato, to savour throughout my sickness of course, and what turned into one cup counted into my calories totaling 1500 for the day turned in consuming the whole pint. How does this occur. Oh my throat hurts to much and gelato is the only thing that will make it better....maybe I'll just have one more 1/2 cup...then another and then well it is too little to keep here in the pint all by itself it must join it's friends in my belly. Thus my whole delicious pint was consumed and then I was sad because my throat hurt again. Also I hate being sick because my workouts suffer. I didn't really have the energy to workout that much but did manage some cardio. Weight workouts are so tough to do when you are ill especially because they consume so much energy. 

Here are my stats for the week:

Sunday : Shoulder workout and 45 minute cardio 1572 Calories - 

Monday: sickness begins.... 45 min elip + 65 min elip and another 64 min elip and arms workout 1553 calories

Tuesday: 40 min elip + 65 min elip 1565 calories

Wednesday: 60 min elip 1560 min 55 calories

Thursday: 60 min elip + 60 min elip 2034 calories of delicious cookies and cream gelato!

Friday: 60 min elip, 60 min elip, 24 min elip (I ran out of my book and went home) 1461 calories

Saturday:60 min elip, 60 min elip, leg workout and 20 min stairs 1524 calories

Sunday: 60 min elip, 30 min elip, chest workout, 40 min elip 1483 calories

Should I mention that Steve was gone and I was left all alone and the most exciting part of my day was going to the gym? I actually wanted to be there longer but I am sure people thought I was pretty weird. 

Also motivation to do Yoga is soo hard. I really need to work on this soon. Additionally I managed to single leg press 90lbs! Hurray! This is a much improvement over the 5lbs I was able to do in January! I am working towards symmetry, 

Off to pick up my husband from the airport! 

These are a few of my favourite things

So I have been meaning to post this ever since I started to help share the things that I love and help me to achieve my fitness goals.

1. My fitness Pal (I believe Emily is using this too).

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

It is a very useful tool to help track all of your calories along with how much cardio you are currently doing. One of the reasons why I have been so sucessful is because I am not allowed to eat anything unless I record it first. This is how you are able to really think about the calories you are about to consume and if they are worth it. You can use the website or the handy iphone app.

 

2. Spotify

 

One of my main motivators at the gym. This is one of the best things ever invented. Basically it is a music app that you can create playlists and seach any song you want instantly! It has a huge catalogue of songs for you to pick from but it does have a nominal montly subscription fee. I love it because if I am craving a certian song then I can look it up and instantly hear it. Plus nothing gets me motivated more then a good beat.

 

3. My Iphone!

 

How could I live without you. You allow me to track my calories and play my music. Combined with a great arm band I am ready to go at any time.

 

4. Foam Roller

 

A new piece of equipment recently introduced to me. It has really helped in my recovery post-work out and improved my over all flexibility. Basically you roll out all your muscles and it is very beneficial pre and post workout. It helps by reducing any facscia build up in your muscles preventing those painful trigger points (if you have ever experienced a deep tissue massage). It feels like the nots are just rolling away. They are very inexpensive and are very beneficial. You should try one and incorporate it daily. I have seen a huge increase in my flexibility and post workout muscle soreness.

 

5. Protein Powder, Allmax Isoflex

 

A necessary evil. I have spent many hours tasting many different types of protein and I have found a very good protein isolate. There are many things to look at when you pick out a protein powder because they are not all created equal. A whey protein isolate is great post-workout because it ensures fast delivery to your muscles to replace the energy that was just spent on your workout. Remember muscles are built outside of the gym and for muscles to build they need protein. My favourite brand is Allmax Isoflex because it has the most protein (27g per scoop) with minimal carbs (1g) no fat (0g) and no aspartame (which is hard to find in many low calorie protein products. It also tastes the best out of all the ones I have tried and doesn;t have as high of a sodium content as many of the shakes do. This beautiful mixture all comes in at 110 calories per scoop! It is also is made of a high qualty grade protein which is very important. What I hate about comercially avaliable shakes are that they often have so many carbs in the shake to make it taste good that it is around 300+ calories or it has not enough protein to be worth it. Now in a pinch, I have had the muscle milk light chocolate shake but honestly there is too much sugar not enough protein and too many calories to keep it in my routine.

 

6, My playbook

 

This has been an unending source of joy while at the gym and a great motivator. I have loaded on some of my favourite shows and then I will not allow myself to watch that program outside of the gym. Recently I was watching seasons 1, 2 and 3 of true blood on it and I would be itching all day to go to the gym to find out that was goign to happen next. I found myself so upset to leave the eliptical and would often do an extra hour because the show was getting really good! I have tried reading books before on the eliptical and it was not worth it because it is so hard to workout hard and fast while reading but my playbook and it's incredibly large font has fixed that! Now I am currently reading an amazing page turner and I find myself looking forward to my cardio sessions! It is slowly becoming one of the best parts of my day and one that I really look forward to!

 

7. Anything Lululemon....a great workout outfit

 

Now I will explain here why I think it is important for everyone to own some nice workout clothes. If you are working out in the privacy of your own home then you should wear whatever you like but if you are out in the gym do you really want to be wearing raggy clothes that you would never be caught dead going to the grocery store in? Since I spent about 15+ hours a week at the gym I think that at least 15% of my money should be spent on workout clothes. They make me feel truely great. I love how lululemon (or any nice workout clothes) really accentuate your assests and you just feel like a million bucks wearing them at the gym. This confidence translates into your workout and you jsut feel like a powerful person while working out. It is also great motivation when you see other people checking you out  and you know your hard work is paying off. Plus I know when I run into co-workers I want to look presentable. You don't have to spend much but as long as it makes you feel good when you wear it, I think everyone needs to have that motivational piece of clothing that makes them feel great while working out.

 

8. Water Water everywhere

 

This should really be #1 but I am not really writing them in order of importance but in the order that they come to me. Water is the single most important piece to your workout more than the eating and working out itself. Water has the ability to change your weight down 5lbs or up 5lbs and it really depends on how much you drink. Now I know there are other factors at heart here but if you aren't drinking enough water your body is not metabolizing your food properly and it will hold on to excess water weight. If you have reached a plateau or went up in weight, drink water. Might sound counter intuitive but if your body knows it is getting a constant stream of water it will be less likely to hold onto water for later use. I normally drink around 4L a day and my body will retain massive water the next day if I dont drink enough.  Also remember that for your body to sense that you are thirsty you need to have had a 1-2% drop in body weight. So pee clear and drink up my friends, it will not only help you get faster, stronger, weight less but also it will help you feel more full at a meal.

 

9. Amylu Chicken Sausages and Carmalized Onion Chicken Burgers

 

I eat these chicken burgers for lunch EVERYDAY. They are a wonderful protein source at 150 cal, 7.5g fat, 2g carb and 22g of protein and are organic. They are great because they take 1 minute to heat and contain no nitrates that are found in a lot of processed meats. The chicken sausages are 70 calories for 3 sausages and make a great addition to any breakfast. I buy these in bulk at costco.

 

10. Irish Oats

 

 After 5 years of continually eating oatmeal for breakfast 98% of the time this is still my favourite meal. I now bought the slow cookingtakes 45 minutes to cook these stupid thing oats but it is worth it. I love them so much with a tsp of brownsugar and some rasins that were cooked in the oats and some cinnamon. They really keep me full and are truely delicious. I use to eat oatmeal for dinner before moving to california I loved it that much.

The anti-workout

On Monday my left adenoid felt very store and when I had to swallow, daggers. Yesterday it migrated to the right...daggers and it felt like I could breathe fire. My insides were so hot but no fever. I managed a workout yesterday morning but that was all. Too sick and last day of company. This morning I slept a tonne to try and get better but now it has manifested into a full on sickness. Still no fever so I am going to attempt to workout this morning, go into work later (I was going to stay at home but I have to give an interview today, bleh). If I can work I can workout! We will see about the lunchtime and/or pm workout I might not have the strength. Sad thing is that when I get sick I never lose weight, I often gain it because I allow myself to eat more soup and Popsicles or gelato.  What did I do yesterday? Bought a pint of gelato because I knew I was going to be sick. Normally when I am home alone this is my time to shine. I have so many fun things planned and now I will be spending it sick and in bed. Booooooo.

Finally an update...

So I have been super busy working out that I have had no time to blog....haha
Last week I was up +4lbs but I was not worried because I do know of my own personal estrogen/progesterone weight gain correlation which I have been meaning to graph for sometime now.

This week I went down the 4lbs and was just shy of my goal by 0.6lbs! Hurray for me! Also what is with this everyone weighing themselves on Monday? Was there some collective agreement or people like Monday for some reason? I personally like Sunday as the start of my new week and I have more time to do my measurements and such so that is normally the day I do on with the exception of this week where I did all of it on Saturday because I had more time since Tina and Pete are visiting.

Funny story. Last week I decided to buy some jeans. Motivational jeans. I thought for sure I was going to be down in my new size due to the diaper like sag in my current jeans. Apparently not, I might have just stretched my current jeans and should have went up a size. Great so now I need to go down two sizes, ha! I would like to say that on Saturday I tried on my jeans post-bloat and they fit with minimal pudge! Hurray! They all look super good and I am glad I fit comfortably into them and now they are going into the wash for some shrinkage and then off to the tailor! One goal accomplished! About time. I was very concerned last week.

Here was my workout for the week:
Monday: The time change killed me so I got in an hour of cardio/elip and my shoulder workout 1528cal
Tuesday: I had 730am PT so I missed my am cardio/elip so I got in one hour and had to pick up Tina and Pete from the airport so I missed my weight workout in the pm. 1456 cal
Wednesday: 2 hours elip (AM and lunch)  followed by chest workout 1579cal
Thursday: AM and lunch elip 2 hours, leg workout 1558 cal
Friday: 2 hours of cardio no weight workout, rest 1572 cal
Saturday: my only day to go over calories within reason (we went to Napa for this amazing brunch, it was hard) I did 1 hour on the elip and back workout 2952 cal (I agreed I would drink and we had a three course brunch!) ahha maybe I can say it is apart of my carb cycling program
Sunday: 1 hour cardio and shoulder 1572 cal

I am struggling with the protein. I get around 25% of my daily calories so I think it means I have to add in a second protein shake into my life. Bah. I have to still go to yoga. I keep meaning to on Friday mornings but Steve gets in late on Thursdays and it is so hard to get up early. Also I attempted to go on Sat and Sun but they are both 90 minute classes and we had to leave at 10 to wine taste so I didn't have time.

Lots of more work to do....I really do want to lose another 10lbs so I will just keep at it. I have to do another post soon about my favourite things. Tina and Pete are leaving on Wednesday pm so I should have lots of free time to post this weekend.

Goal Summary

An update on the Challenge Details!

End Date: May 25th

Financial Consequence: $250

Goals:

Krista
Starting Weight: 133lbs
Goal Weight: 125lbs
(Lose 8lbs)

Batgirl
Starting Weight: 136.9lbs
Goal Weight: 130lbs
(Lose 6.9lbs)

Melba

Emily
Lose 16lbs

Breanna
Run 5 km in under 35 min.
Lose 5 lbs of baby weight.
Do 5 sets of 5 pushups in under 5 minutes.

Michelle
Lose 10lbs in total....so 2 more to go.
Get symmetrical leg muscles.
Drop a dress size and pant size!
Eat more protein, like 30% of my daily total.
Do weight workout 5x a week, at a minimum 3x.
Tone up and not get skinny fat!
Yoga or Pilates once a week
Complete 150 workouts by the end!
Eat 1500 calories a day

About time........

So for weeks now I have struggled with what weight loss fitness goals I could think up for myself and I think I have compiled a good list. It is not that I am unmotivated but history has shown in the past that I have dropped in body fat percentage and went up in weight. I actually was about 12lbs heavier than I was now at my top physical shape and a lot lower in body fat and wore about the same size but I had nicely toned body.

So my weight loss challenge actually started in December with Steve and we use financial compensation to fuel the workouts. Basically you don't get any spending money unless you 1) track your calories, 2) workout both cardio and weights and 3) are under calories and get the correct ratio of carbs/protein/fat. Since starting I am down 8lbs! Or shall I say I was down 8lbs until I did the leg workout of death and combined with my lovely friend progesterone it will be only 6lbs until my muscles recover (I am sure I'll blog about water retention with muscle recovery later).

Alright onto my goals...
1) Lose 10lbs in total....so 2 more to go.
2) Get symmetrical leg muscles. I am down about 2" in my quad from my injury so this one is a toughy since I can only one leg press 20lbs compared to 90lbs.
3) Drop a dress size and pant size! Now why would I want to do this since it would mean having to go out and shop for all new clothes....is it weird to re-buy the same jeans in a different size?
4) Eat more protein, like 30% of my daily total.
5) Do weight workout 5x a week, at a minimum 3x.
6) Tone up and not get skinny fat! This would require to get skinny to get skinny fat but protein + weights will make this not happen.
7) Yoga or Pilates once a week
8) Complete 150 workouts by the end!
9) Eat 1500 calories a day

How am I going to achieve these goals? Well I am already doing cardio 2x a day. Crazy I know, I should be thinner but my body is very very efficient and I am injured. My cardio choices include elliptical and bike and I just don't burn the calories that I use to, it happens, and normally I would do some running, kickboxing, group fitness class, jump rope but all of these are currently forbidden. So I start my day at 6am in the gym and take a mid-day lunch break also at the gym. Where I lack is my after work muscle workout which is probably the most important but I am seriously lacking in motivation to do weights. Haven't I worked out enough?

My hardest challenge is definitely consuming more protein. Even with drinking a protein shake I am hovering around 20-25% of my 1500 calorie diet eating plan. It is just so hard! I have been eating the 1500 calorie a day for months now but I have room to clean it up. I mean would you rather drink a chalky protein shake or have 23 Mike and Ikes or even some fruit? Anything is better than protein. Plus eating more protein means eliminating out delicious carbs and really there aren't that many to begin with (except for lots of fruit). Alas, I have noticed that in my weight loss thus far I have lost a lot of muscle. When you increase your cardio your body burns energy and some comes from muscle. I have lost muscle which is not what I want. To keep it you need to do resistance training and eat protein. Bah!

Michelle's fitness plan:
Monday-Friday 6am 60min cardio (Fri will be Yoga days)
Monday-Friday lunch time 60 minute cardio unless there is some pressing lunch meeting
Saturday and Sunday, minimum 60 minute cardio

Weekly weight workout: (all completed in sets of 4 with 8-12 reps)

Chest: Incline chest press, dumbbell chest press, dumbbell pec fly and 30 push ups to start
Back: Assisted Chin up, Seated Row, T-bar row, Lat raises
Legs: Weighed squats, straight leg deadlifts, dumbbell forward lunge, leg press
Arms: EZ bar bicep curls, tricep dips, dumbell bicep curls, tricep pull downs with rope
Shoulders: dumbbell military press, lateral raises and rear delts

I'll change around my rotation after about 6 weeks.

Well I am sure I have written enough for one day and all of this blogging has given me the motivation to do a chest workout tonight! I am very excited to see everyone once the challenge is done because when you are gone for a long time people notice if you have put on weight or lost it!