Journey

Change…What does it do for us?

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

According to Webster’s Dictionary there are quite a few definitions for CHANGE.  As a verb it means to become different, to make (someone or something) different or to become something else.  As a trasitive verb it means to make different is some particular / alter or this is my fav – to make radically different (as in transform).  

I have two pieces of paper that have been hanging on my desk for years – I think I received them both while living and working in Dallas, TX.  The first The Inter Change Cycle wheel of 6 stages – I use it quite a bit.  It really helps put things in perspective whether I’m going through change at work or in my personal life.  Moving from Discomfort to Discovery are usually the toughest stages and where you have the biggest risk to ‘relapse’ into earlier stages.

The other one I use is The 7 Levels of Change (at home) – mine is slightly different than the one on the website.  I love level 4 – Do Away With Things – stop negative ‘self-talk’!  So important – I’ve talked about it before – that muscle between our ears is so very powerful – it is sometimes counterproductive.  Don’t let it stand in your way.

So why am I writing about CHANGE?  There is change all around me right now – from work life – taking on a new role, my existing team changing (I’ve been with this team for 5+ years) to continuing my transformation journey (Spring Transformation started last week).  I’m excited about the change at work, but I’m also sad (feeling of loss) about my team changing – they make my life super easy – they are all so great!  I love working with them (and I probably don’t tell them enough!).  We’ve really become a team even though none of us work in the same office.  I’m quite proud of them all.

You can let change rule your life or you can embrace it.  I chose to embrace it.  It reminds me of a saying a friend of mine posted a few years ago – and it really says a lot to me as I’ve been making this journey…

“When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge”

~ Tuli Kupferberg

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

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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!! 🙂

Weekly Challenge

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I haven’t posted too much lately on my transformation as I was sick prior to Christmas and it took me over 2 weeks to start feeling better. I haven’t been to my HardBody workouts or SPIN classes since before Christmas.  I’ve had gone to a few yoga and yogalates classes and some walks.

My brother got a FitBit Force over Christmas and he gave me his FitBit Flex (with the caveat that if the Force dies on him – I have to give the Flex back).  I’ve been wanting to try the FitBit (I have an UP band by Jawbone) to see if I want to upgrade my band (I plan on doing a side by side comparison shortly).

I started using the used FitBit on January 1, 2014.  I have good days and bad days.  I don’t belong to a typical gym and I don’t have any real equipment in my house (although I have gotten some steps on my BOSU and I do have a manual stepper) – so to get lots of steps I’ve had to brave the cold weather.  Earlier this week, I didn’t really get a lot of steps in – unless you count some of the pacing back and forth and going up and down my actual steps.  🙂

One of the things I like about the FitBit (besides the fact that is bluetooth enabled) is that it gives you a 7 day running total.  My 7 day total is just under 44K or 6.3K average per day.  My daily goal is 10K steps.   My challenge this week is to increase my activity by 30% per day or to 8,190 steps per day.  My weekly challenge goal is 57,330 steps or better by next Sunday.  I’ll check in Wednesday night on my progress.

My Adventures in FreeCycle

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As I mentioned in my Declutter 2014 post, my goal this year is to really declutter my house. I’ve accumulated so many things and never had a chance in either of my big moves to get rid of things.

Over the past year, I’ve been donating quite a few things via Good Donor. I love it – they pick up and leave you a tax deductible receipt.

So my new favorite is FreeCycle.  It encourages recycling via reusing – all items must be FREE.  I love this concept as I really hate throwing items away because I no longer use them and they are still in good working order.  And I’ll be honest some of the items I’ve recycled aren’t necessarily items that I want to deal with selling via eBay or at a Consignment store (note:  I do have some items I’ll be using eBay and Consignment Stores in the area – I’ll share my experiences in later post).

I belong to the Mercer County FreeCycle Yahoo group.  I’ll be honest with you, I was a little apprehensive to list items on a site and then have people come and pick them up at my house.  However, it is super easy – I leave the items at my front door and people pick them up.  Anything you want to Recycle you post as OFFER.  Once you get a response you post PPU (pending pick-up) and once it is picked up you post TAKEN.  If you are looking for something in particular you post WANTED.  I’ve been completely impressed with how quickly some of the items get responses or how many responses I actually get.

Here is what I’ve FreeCycled already:

  • OFFER:  4 Head VCR and VHS tapes – 4 interested; first email in less than 10 minutes
  • OFFER:  3 Unopened bags of Halloween candy – 5 interested; first email – 4 minutes after posting.
  • WANT:  Table Lamp and Clip on Light.
  • OFFER:  50 Misc (non dry cleaner hangers) – 1 interested; less than an hour
  • OFFER:  4 Ceramic Tile and Stone Grout Finish – 3 interested; less than 10 minutes on first inquiry.
  • OFFER:  35 Historical Romance Books (and yes I like to read trashy novels on vacation!  🙂 ). – 1 interested; 4 minutes from posting and picked up within an hour of posting – WOW!!

So I’ve gotten rid of quite a few things in a short period of time and I’m not cluttering another room as I stockpile waiting for the larger good donor pickup.  I will still use Good Donor – I have a pick-up already scheduled for February (and remember with Good Donor you get a receipt – so tax deductible).

What I’ve learned – delcuttering can be very overwhelming (I haven’t even made a dent at my house – I have a long way to go) but also liberating – I get pumped once I post something to see how long it takes for a response.  I know I’m odd!  But is also encourages me to continue to focus on this decluttering journey! 🙂

Decluttering 2014

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

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…