Accountability

Happy

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

“Because I’m Happy….” – Read on to find out why?

May 2012 was a turning point in my journey – I’d finally  had enough with trying to figure out why I just couldn’t lose any weight (and in fact I was continuing to gain) – I was eating right and working out.  Nothing was working. I was at the end of my rope and along came a suggestion from one of my trainers to see a nutritionist.

I’ve made steady progress over the 2 years – about 2 lbs ever 6 weeks – I kept at it even though I’m an impatient person.  I knew I was doing this to get healthy, feel better about myself and lets be honest look better on the outside.

Since December 2013 – I’ve been struggling with making real progress – so much so that I gained (and went over my magic number – the one I didn’t want to see again).  I was frustrated with the process and with myself.  Rewind to 6 weeks ago – I knew I had gotten down below that magic number and I was frustrated.

The conversation with John, my nutritionist went something like this – “John, I love seeing you every 6 weeks but this losing only 2 lbs every 6 weeks is killing me – we need to do something different.”

We spent time talking about accountability – stressing that I say I’m doing all the right things but something wasn’t clicking (I wasn’t being completely accountable).  We talked about how many meals I eat per day (3) and at what times.  We focused on when I eat breakfast.  Normally it is late morning but there are some mornings I’m just famished.  We honed in on that – discussed using a food journal – that doesn’t work for me – so we agreed if I woke up famished – I needed to send John a text with what I ate the night before to see what was causing my sugar to drop.  We also discussed – do I really need 3 meals a day?   At this point, I was willing to experiment to see what would work.  Now please note, I am under the care of a Doctor of Nutrition (what works / doesn’t work for me – may not work for you) (and I probably woudn’t have tried this without his suggestion).  With this decision to go with 2 meals a day was to see how I feel and MAKE sure I wasn’t depriving myself (one of the things John has always stressed – I need to enjoy my food and what I’m eating and deprivation isn’t part of the formula).  Over the past 6 weeks I’ve experimented with the food I’m eating and the timing of what I was eating.  Here is what I discovered:

  1. Workout days I need 3 meals a day plus my pre workout protein shake (4 ozs water, 4 ozs of almond mike and 1 serving of organic whey protein powder)
  2. On non-workout days  I only need 2 meals a day- Breakfast around 10 – 11 am and Dinner around 6 – 7 pm.  There are some days I need a snack.  The recommendation was for me to have a hard boiled egg.  My go to snack has been hummus and rice chips – the crunch helps with satisfaction.
  3. On weekends I seem to have / need 3 meals per day (although this past weekend I only had 2 meals per day – but I ate out both days – relatively large meals too)
  4. Drinking over 64 ozs per day – trying to get to 80 ozs per day
  5. Workouts that worked over the last 6 weeks weren’t the typical HardBody (intense circuit training) workouts I was doing – but more along the lines of spin (and this has been sporadic), TRX, Yoga, Strictly Strength (more weights than cardio) and walking (having my fitbit with a 10K step goal has been an added incentive)

So what did I learn over this last 6 weeks?  I’m listening to my body and eating when I’m hungry.  And in reality – everyone is different.  Some people may need 6 small meals, 3 meals / 2 snacks, etc – I think you get the picture.

For the past 2 years – I’ve learned a lot about myself – what makes me tick – if I don’t work out or get some sort of activity in (walking counts) – I truly miss it.  I can tell you prior to that I knew I had to workout but it wasn’t part of who I am.  I may have mis-steps and not do what I want to do on a weekly basis but I always come back to getting some sort of exercise.  It helps me manage my stress and just makes me HAPPY (may not be while doing it but in the end I’m in a good mood after)!  As far as what I’m eating – I’m eating when I’m hungry (most times – there are times when I stress eat) -but those times are less and less.

We are finally up to today and I’m on CLOUD 9 and HAPPY!  I’m officially down 7 lbs from my last appointment – the most I’ve ever had at one of my appointments!  I knew going into the appointment how much I was down – it was great seeing it on the ‘OFFICIAL’ scale – something about making it more real (and I think John was a little shocked at how muh I had lost since it has been such a struggle for me).  And even better I’m down 31 lbs in 2 years!  For me this is not a Sprint but a Marathon as these are life long changes I’m making – ‘Slow and Steady Wins the Race’!

Thought I’d share a little before and after photos too – you can always see the changes first in the face!

BEFORE - May 2012

BEFORE – May 2012

 

AFTER - April 2014

AFTER – April 2014

So what am I doing or changing in the next 6 weeks – not a thing – going to keep doing what is working (and continue to learn about myself and adjust as needed)!  Have a HAPPY DAY!!

Sense of Purpose

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

This past week during our spring transformation instead of posting our week 4 goal – we were asked what is our purpose (The ask of us is in bold from our BodyProject Fitness Spring Transformation).

When things get tough…when you want to give up…when you don’t feel like waking up or just want to go home after a long day instead of taking time to exercise…when you feel too tired to prepare for the next day…WHAT WILL KEEP YOU GOING?

  • Is it your kids?
  • Your husband? A loved one who inspires you?
  • Feeling like the most amazing version of yourself?
  • Is it happiness? A sense of accomplishment?

Of course, as I was thinking of what to write – this song popped into my head…so I had to find it on youtube – enjoy!  Anyone else remember this or did I just clearly show my age?

Back to the question and my answer (and I’ve expanded it):

What a great way to change it up on us in week 4.  I started this journey (quite a few years ago) as a way to get in shape and lose weight.  And then my body revolted and I gained weight.  And quite frankly everything went wrong.  Maybe – just maybe it was supposed to happen this way as I had to deal with the very controlling muscle that sits on my shoulders.  There were many moments of frustration but I kept coming back.  

In May 2012, I started seeing a nutritionist – which turned out to be my X factor in the weight management area.  I still have a ways to go – but I’m heading in the right direction.  We just made some adjustments this passed week and I’m seeing some positive results already (and I really needed that as I’ve been struggling since December and was losing my patience :-))/

I finally had my ‘aha’ moment in the fall – finally finding that balance between eating and my workouts (that I actually missed my workouts when I didn’t go).  This has always been about me and I find that if I don’t make it to BP – it not only impacts me but it impacts everyone around me.  A perfect example, I’d had an extremely stressful week at work awhile back – I’d missed 3 days of workouts to boot – and finally on Thursday morning I decided to take an early lunch and get in a yoga class.  It was the best decision I had made all week – I was back in balance!

I’ve become an advocate for my friends and co-workers that it is OK to take care of ourselves (get rid of the guilt) – if we do that – the rest kind of takes care of itself – becoming the best version of me (that continues to evolve through this journey)!

When you least expect it.

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

The spring 6 week transformation started last week. We were asked to set our week 1 goals. I kept my simple and achievable (with a bit of a stretch). Drink 60 – 80 ozs of water a day and 3 sessions. The week started off great. I had my 3 workouts in by Wednesday – I was looking forward to my two other planned workouts to have a super first week.

Well you know how the saying goes – ‘the best laid plans’!  Early Thursday morning, my plans went to hell and a hand basket.  Woke up with what would turn into the worst stomach virus I’ve had since salmonella poisoning!  I won’ bore you with the gory details – I hope none of you have to deal with it this year (or ever for that matter).

I felt pretty good day – best day since last week (still not 100%).  I decided it was ok to have some coffee this morning.  I hadn’t had any since the few sips I had on Saturday morning.  My coffee is accompanied by light cream.  I was really looking forward to it, but it didn’t taste that great.  I drank one cup – I normally drink up to 4 (and sometimes have one in the afternoon).  In addition, yesterday and today I indulged in some comfort food – Cozy Shack’s Rice Pudding.  It is bland enough but tastes good (I was sick of rice, chicken broth and saltines).  I think I ‘ODed’ on it today though!  It is the first time I’ve noticed how dairy has a negative effect on how I feel.  It was eye opening.  I had gone 21 days without it when I did the Clean program, but I think because I had more than normal today – I really noticed the difference even though I had only been off of it for 4 days.

I had already planned on experimenting with going Dairy Free during the 6 week transformation based on a post from a fellow transformation member, but this really sealed the deal.  I’ve already ordered my chef service food for next week – dairy free.  And I’m going to gradually eliminate the remainder of the week.

I’m really curious to see how I feel over the next week and a half as well as how I will feel when I gradually add the dairy back.  It will be an interesting decision point for me – so it is interesting what you discover when you least expect it.  I’ll keep you posted.

Challenge Results

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

I’m sure you’ve been waiting by your computer for my Step Challenge Results (using my FitBit Flex) – HA! 🙂

I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to come out.  I knew I had some opportunities to get some good steps in while traveling for work in NYC (although it did rain so I did cab it to and from the train station – normally I would’ve walked).  I was also doing some personal travel – so I knew I would have good days on my airport day (my return trip was after my challenge).  However, I wasn’t sure about the weekend – I was staying in a hotel but I didn’t know the schedule as I was in town for a baptism.

My goal was to average 8,190 steps per day and end the week with a running total of 57,330 – achieving this was a 30% increase in my prior week.

From Sunday to Saturday – I was able to get 72,421 – I blew out my 7 day total by 15K steps and increased my activity by 64%!!  Here is a view of my numbers a couple of different ways:

  • Total Steps:  72,241
  • Average:  10,345 (almost 4K steps above my prior average)
  • Highest Day:  11,734 (NYC)
  • Lowest Day:  7,037 (work from home day)
  • Average (when I drop the High / Low numbers):  10,730

I loved my results – very happy with them.  However, I definitely had some anomalies – extra steps due to work events, travel and access to cardio machines.  I don’t have a cardio machine in my house anymore.  My current 7 day total is lower than the 44K.  The cold weather has been a factor and so has my current work schedule – just haven’t been able to step away from my desk.  I’m really glad I did this comparison when I was traveling.  It showed me I can do it and it reinforces I need to schedule breaks during my work day to step away from the desk and move around.  Hopefully, we’ll have a little bit of a warm-up so I can go back to doing my 1:1s with my team by walking.

Have a great weekend!

Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

How many times have you used the Ctrl+Atl+Delete to Restart your computer?  I can say I’ve done it more times than I care to count (plus Task Manager to unlock the multiple windows I normally have opened) – I’m pro!

This Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart is a bit different.  This is about me and my journey.  I haven’t posted much lately on my weight loss.  Quite frankly there hasn’t been much to report.  So why am I writing about Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart today…read on…

I had an appointment with my nutritionist at the beginning of December.  This appointment was an early morning appointment so I could have my metabolism test done.  The good news my metabolism is still firing on lots of cylinders! 🙂  The not so good news is I had lots of CO2 in my body – so what does that mean? – I’m not burning my fuel efficiently – mainly the carbs (I’ve mentioned before I’m carb sensitive). Oh and I was up a pound.  The one warning I took away from that appointment was if I’m not careful – I will gain weight back – starting a bad trend (I’ve kept that comment in the back of my mind for the past 6 wks).  I wasn’t as disappointed in the 1 pound up as I was scared of the potential impact of the CO2 messing up all of my progress.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and my stress level was quite high with some deliverables at work right before going on vacation – which meant workouts suffered and my eating probably wasn’t at my best (it wasn’t awful either).  Although I enjoyed my Christmas break with my family – I ended getting a bacterial infection which messed up my progress even more.  The positive is – I didn’t go super carb crazy (based on feedback today) – I made some good choices.  And this whole time you know I was checking the scale – and it was all over the board no matter what I did.

So the end of last week – I was up over my December appointment – I was not happy.  I tried to really focus on eating the right things this weekend, while still going out and enjoying time with friends (if you can’t do that – what is the point of going out!) and getting some exercise in (a nice walk Friday night, yoga on Sat and Spin on Sunday) – mission accomplished!  Or so I thought…

I got on the scale yesterday morning – not where I wanted to be – at this point I would’ve been happy with flat to December – and trust me I wasn’t there.  So of course, I start trying to rationalize in my head – I have a lot going on at work this week – maybe I will move my appointment tomorrow to a couple weeks out.  I know I’ll get a reminder call and I’ll have an opportunity to move it to see if I can get this under control.  Then the next thought was – what if I don’t get it under control and I’m up even more – that would just completely de-motivate me.  I got absorbed in a project and put it out of my mind.  So I get my reminder call – and it isn’t my nutritionists assistant who calls to remind me – it was him!  Now I couldn’t re-schedule – because I knew I would get grief :-).  So my flip / sarcastic response was “If this job doesn’t kill me today – I’ll be there tomorrow”.  We had a good laugh and I hung up.

So I was optimistic this morning when I got up – yesterday was a good day – ate the right foods, drank lots of water, no snacking and even got about a 30 minute walk in last night before I finished my project.  I always jump on my scale the morning of my appointment to see how close my scale is to the ‘official’ scale – plus I know I check because I want to know what I’m getting into at my appointment.  Surprise – Surprise – no movement!  It was an 8:00 am appointment so no turning back now.

I’m glad I went today – it was a good appointment – we really talked through my struggles in December / early January.  Discussed that being sick and the holidays do really mess things up.  And the food choices I made while sick (I swear I was living on soft boiled eggs and English muffins) were not that awful (think lots of pasta – which I didn’t have any).  We talked about getting me back on track – doing the things I know I need to do – focus on the protein, vegetables / salad and hydration (and the structure I need).  Limit my carb intake.  And really watch how full I get and when are my triggers – and what I’m doing to address it (drink coffee and if I’m still hungry – what am I selecting to eat).  We also talked about how this appointment really helped and how I almost cancelled – and that his phone call probably made it so I didn’t cancel.  I had the option not to get on the scale – I chose to get on the scale.  As I knew – I was up 2 lbs from the beginning of December.  However, I wanted to be accountable to myself and my progress whether it was what I wanted to see or not.  I’m not going to beat myself up over this – another example where it isn’t all about the numbers (but most of you know I still believe that deep down).  🙂

So today was my Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart – instead of restarting a computer – I’m re-starting my focus – which right now it is all about giving my body the right type of fuel that I need to be more efficient.  

Thanks for reading – Post #140!  

Back in the Saddle

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Today was a great day! It was my first time back on a spin bike since before Christmas and I loved it!

I got sick right before Christmas and it had me down and out for awhile (and then I had some Saturday conflicts – Saturday is my normal spin day).

I got a nice surprise over Christmas – an Amazon gift card – one of my purchases (that I just ordered last week) a pair of tri-spin shoes (and no I don’t have any plans to do a triathlon – my spin instructor suggested tri-shoes since they are lighter).  I had my SPD cleats put on yesterday at a local bike shop.

Aren't they pretty?! :-)

Aren’t they pretty?! 🙂

So the class I did today wasn’t at my normal studio.  It was a benefit ride for Gearing Up (we raised $13K – WOW!).  It was a 90 minute ride.  I was more than a touch nervous.  The longest ride I’d ever done was 60 minutes and I hadn’t been on a bike in over a month (and my cardio workouts have been minimal – with the exception of last weekend when I was in Tampa).

Our ride was an endurance ride of the ‘Lake Placid Iron Man route’  The descriptions of the route were fabulous!  It was like we were there.  🙂  After we finished our first loop – I could feel my adrenaline pounding – it was AWESOME!  What a RUSH!  Time to start saving for that road bike!

PS:  Just hope I can walk tomorrow!! 🙂

Decluttering 2014

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I’ve been off for the past week with hopes of doing some major house cleaning (and maybe even decluttering) since I wasn’t hosting Christmas this year. Well – the best laid plans. I ended up with a nasty head cold / bug (no fever luckily) all week – I didn’t do much except sleep, Christmas gatherings and look around on Pinterest.

I received an email from Pinterest highlighting the best of 2013.  One of the highlighted items was Inspiration to Live with Less – Best Becoming Minimalists Posts 2013.  I scanned through it but the post that caught my attention was 10 Decluttering Principles to Help Anyone Clear the Clutter.  Her tips seem easy enough.  And I know I’ve accumulated many things over the years.  I was never able to declutter when I moved from Dallas back to the east coast – I tried when I moved to my condo but I haven’t done a major declutter in a long time.  I do make donations but I also seem to feel ok letting more stuff in since I donate – that needs to be on of the things to stop and it is on the list.  I think the two that I really like are declutter one thing at a time and declutter the easy stuff.

Once I went through the blog post, I actually went to Colleen’s blog:  365 Less Things.  Lots of great posts and ideas to really made me think about how much stuff I really do have and haven’t touched in years.  I know there will be some items with sentimental value that I may never let go but if I declutter some of the other things – maybe I can actually enjoy some of those sentimental items which are packed away still.

I think one of the things that keeps me from decluttering is I really hate throwing things out that still work.  I used to sell things on ebay, but I honestly don’t really have the time to sell things on eBay anymore.  Most recently, I’ve been using Good Donor – you register online and they have scheduled pick up dates in your area – they pick up at your door and leave you a receipt for donations.  Another local group I like to use is Homefront.  You have to drop off, but it is for a very good cause and the items stay local.

A recommendation from Colleen’s blog is Free Cycle – all items are free – you can search for your town or county.  You can post if you have OFFERS (items to get rid of), WANT (if you are looking for something) and TAKEN (if someone has accepted your OFFERS).  I found a freecycle group for my county and I posted a few things today:  VHS Tapes (4 different categories) and a 4 Head VCR.  Since I’m new to the group, my posts have to be approved and they haven’t shown up yet.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  Anything that you have used in the past that have worked?

So my goal for 2014 is to really focus on decluttering – 1 item each day.  Anyone else interested in joining me?

Keeping myself on track…

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

I love this time of year because I get to spend extra time with my family and extended family (and friends), the great decorations (I love seeing all the light displays), extra treats and of course listening to Christmas music. This time of year is also a challenge for me to keep myself as a priority!  Anyone else have this challenge?  I have lots of errands (I host Christmas day with my family – I love it – but I want everything to be perfect so I go into overdrive :-)) and work/personal commitments this time of year.

Something I’ve realized over the last couple of weeks is that if my work or personal schedule get in the way of my planned workouts – I don’t have a back-up plan.

I have all the right tools to have a back-up plan – I just received this 5×7 workout – who doesn’t have 5 minutes a day?  And the weather is still quite warm in NJ (I think today it might hit 60+) so I’m able to have my 1:1s with my team while I walk (I had one yesterday and we were both walking talking via our cellphones – I was told – this is such a great idea – I love that I’m not only helping myself but helping my team too!).

My personal goals for the Christmas season:

  1. Drink 80 ozs of water per day (I have a handy pitcher that I fill up either before I got to bed or when I get up first thing in the AM).  Note to self – add 1 hydration tab per one large glass (I get dehydrated pretty quickly when I workout)
  2. Get 7.5 – 8 hours of sleep per night (super important)
  3. Plan my day to incorporate the 5×7 workout and walking into my day (target = 10K steps per day).
  4. Get my 3 weekly workouts each week (Hardbody, Yoga, Spin or TRX)
  5. Add more salads to my meals (I’m good about getting veggies into lunch / dinner – I’m not as good as adding salad to the mix)
  6. Take my vitamins
  7. Have FUN – enjoy the extra time with family and friends this Christmas season! 🙂

What are you doing to make yourself a priority?

Inspired, Motivated, Proud & Tears

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Friday night was an amazing accomplishment for me personally – I WON the 6 week Fall 2013 Transformation (to transform is to change (something) completely and usually in a good way) as a Body Project Fitness HardBody!  So what does that mean?  I got this awesome golden dumbbell, certificate, beautiful flowers and a year of workouts!  How awesome is that?  Pretty Awesome – but it is so much more – I don’t even know if I can do it justice in this blog (and my apologies if I seem to ramble – it is just so hard to get all of my thoughts together).

photo 1

This truly has been a journey for me.  I don’t know how many transformations I’ve participated in – little did I know then – I was just ‘participating’ – maybe even going through the motions sometimes.  I’ve worked out with many of the prior winners – and I was always in awe of hearing their stories – so inspirational.  I often wondered if I would ever get it?  And there was a part of me that thought I never would – it just wasn’t in my DNA.

In my last post, I talked about how I was MISSING my workouts – not skipping my workouts.  Little did I know that that was truly my AHA moment – and I almost missed it.

I went in on Friday morning for my measurements – I don’t recall the numbers but the biggest drop was in my hips with an overall decline in bodyfat – note – I didn’t lose any weight in 6 weeks (and there have been moments in the month where I’ve gained weight – amazes me how it fluctuates) (and you all know I’m a numbers person).  My trainer and coach asked me a question – how is this transformation different? – she always asks me these simple questions that catch me like a deer in headlights.   So we talked about how I was trying to find ways not to miss workouts when in the passed I found ways to miss workouts.  We talked about how my work travel exercise was different – I walked as much as possible (it helped I had my Jawbone working again).  She asked me what was a different – I know it is all about how I think about things – and the large muscle between my ears is so very powerful.  I think we forget or don’t realize just how powerful it can be.  I’ll be honest I walked out of there thinking I didn’t quite know the answer.   I thought about the question all day – it wasn’t until I got in the car that it hit me – missing the workouts also turns into that working out (whether it is going to BP, a spin class or getting out and walking) has become a part of my life – I don’t view it as a chore anymore or something I HAVE TO DO – it is something I WANT TO DO!  It has become a part of my LIFE.

Now this may not seem to be a big deal for you – it is for me – during the big reveal it became clear that everyone else noticed the change in me – probably even before I did.  One of the things that was mentioned that was totally me – I would come and go at BP – I joked later – We were on a break (reference to Friends 🙂 ).  There was also a reference to how much I focus on the numbers – they are still very important to me – but not the only thing – it is about how I feel too (and I’m feeling pretty good right now).

For those of you who know me personally – of course I shed some tears (I think I kept it together though) when the announcement was being read – I knew it was me when the comment came up about I would come and go (or something like that).  I had an opportunity to say a few words to everyone after my award – and I believe I touched on some of those items in this blog.  I’m so very proud of my accomplishment!  I’m still in shock that women came up to me after the award and told me – “I’m an inspiration” to them.

I’m so very lucky to be surrounded by strong and inspirational women – they’ve always been my biggest cheerleaders.  I moved to this part of NJ in 2005 – I didn’t know a single person in the area.  It would be very hard for me to leave this area not only because I love the proximity to the Jersey Shore, NYC and Philly – but also because I don’t know if I could survive with out BP and my BP girls – they are an amazing group of women!

I’m motivated as I continue this journey…

Pep Talks

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I found myself in the car driving to see my nutritionist this morning giving myself a pep talk. If you recall from my post on 8/10 – my goal for this appointment was .7 down.

The past 6 weeks have been a little challenging – limited work outs, an unusual amount of dessert eating (too many trips to a local cupcakery) and football season started.  As I’ve mentioned before I weigh myself every day (in the AM) to help keep myself accountable and I can tell you the last 6 weeks I wasn’t seeing much movement.  I started seeing some movement about a week or so ago (and in the right direction).  Now I reported last weekend that I was down but there was a part of me that was worried either my scale was off (it has happened before) or for some bizarre reason I had regressed in a week.

So back to the Pep Talk I gave myself on the ride over – “no matter what happens, keep a positive attitude”.  “You’ve come a long way.  If you gained weight – don’t get discouraged – you have all the right tools to get back on track”.  “If you lost weight – you are doing a great job – keep it up.” Of course, the latter conversation is a much easier one to have!

After my Pep Talk, I was ready – I went in with a great attitude (and checked out of the stress from the week to focus on me).  It was a really great appointment not just because of the results – which don’t worry, I’ll tell you.  But it was more about the discussion.  As you’ve noticed, I’m a numbers person, but I was given a little different perspective today.  While numbers are important – they aren’t the only thing – feeling better, looking better (hair, skin, etc), how you clothes fit, making sure you are living your life and not missing out are part of this journey.  I probably need to remind myself that every once in awhile (although I’ll always be a numbers person) – it was still important to hear.  And I don’t feel like I’m missing out on things – which is a good thing!

I’m please to announce I busted through that .7 lbs and dropped 2 lbs for a total of 25 lbs down since May 2012!  And even better – I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen this number in 3 years (and I’ve gone down a jean size – double bonus)!  I feel great and I’m so happy.  My journey is far from over, but I’m confident I’m going to continue to see success and have a feeling my five minute drive every 6 weeks will have a pep talk involved (even if I falter – I know I will be OK).

Have a great night!