Journey | Keeping up with Kate

30 Day #SHIFT Update

Posted on October 18, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

On 9/18, I added a page (see my daily results too) regarding a 30 SHIFT challenge for myself. It included the following goals per day:

Water, Coffee or Tea only – no Diet Pepsi or Diet Dr. Pepper
No bread at breakfast
Limit AM coffee to 2 cups
No dessert
Exercise 4xs/week or more

So how did I do? Per my calculations – 90% – not too bad. I only caved once in the 30 days on my daily 4 goals – and it was dessert last Saturday while tailgating. Was I annoyed with myself when I did it – yes – did I regret the sugary, pecan pie little shortbread pieces – NO WAY! They were super delicious. Do I wish I scored a 100% – sure – but we aren’t perfect. We learn the most by stumbling and picking ourselves back up.

The toughest week was the last week (and if I recall – I think when I did the CLEAN program it was the toughest too). I wonder why that is? Is it because you see the light at the end of the tunnel? And know we give ourselves permission to have all the off limit items tomorrow. I wonder how I will recact tomorrow morning – will I have more than 2 cups a coffee?, a breakfast sandwich?, will I cave and open one of those Diet Pepsis in my fridge? I know I’m having dessert tomorrow – picking up cupcakes for my brother’s bdayd – and I’m having one of them! 🙂

So what did I learn? I really think (for me) depriving myself isn’t they way to go (or maybe it isn’t 4 things at once – maybe another experiment for the future). I think my SHIFT is really focusing on the good things I eat and do and enjoying lifes little events that pop up. And my mantra is ‘Slow and Steady WINS the Race’ and another good one – ‘It’s a Marathon – not a Sprint’ (goes well too when you tailgate all day too :-))

PS: The other thing for me – limiting or deprving – didn’t move the scale – the positive – it didn’t go up either. 🙂

Pep Talks

Posted on September 27, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

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!

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

Posted on September 22, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I have a degree in Marketing, however, I’ve spent most of my career dealing with numbers. I have some Marketing functions on my team and I remind my team all the time – no matter how great your concept is in the end – the numbers rule.

My personal journey is no different – some people have noticed my weight loss, some haven’t, they’ve noticed a glow in my complexion or something is different they just can’t put their finger on it. It is a great feeling! (and THANK YOU!)

Yesterday morning I had my pre 6 week Fall Transformation measurements and Body Metrix (this uses a sonogram type tool to measure you body fat – a lot more accurate than the device you hold in your hands).

The last time I had my measurements and Body Metrix done was early June. To say I wasn’t happy with the results is an understatement – it was such a let down. I had finally started feeling better post Lyme disease and I was doing all the right things – Hard Body workout, getting enough sleep, drinking my water and eating right. Most of my numbers went up except my weight.

Unbeknownst to me, a blessing in disguise happened – right before the end of June my knee started really bothering me and my hip was twinging a bit. I stopped my Hard Body workouts before vacation and while on vacation I joined the gym where I went 3xs the first week and 4 xs the second week to yoga and pilates classes only. When I came back from vacation – I was keeping a similar routine. I found out my hip issue was my SI band and I only just started back my Hard Body workouts last week for 1 day and back this week for 2 days (with keeping the impact modified).

Since my last Body Metrix, I’ve dropped 9 lbs, reduced my body fat by .7%, BMI dropped 1.7, lost 4.3 inches and reduced my risks of heart disease, stroke and diabetes by 1.6 points (with the drop in diabetes being the biggest drop). 🙂

It was a great day yesterday! Looking forward to the next chapter of my journey as the 6 week Fall Transformation starts tomorrow.

30 Day Shift Adjustment

Posted on September 19, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

If you read yesterday’s post you read that I’ve been re-energized after reading The Shift by #ToryJohnson. And btw I heard today it is #1 on the Best Seller’s List.

One of thing I noticed that helped Tory on her journey was writing her goals down. Now this is nothing new, but what I liked that she did was – write it on an index card. So that is just what I did yesterday – a little more later as to what I have on it.

For more than a year I’ve been focusing on the following:

Eat 3 meals per day – this is a well balanced meal with protein, carb and veggies. No more than 30 carbs per meal – and enough protein to get me to the next meal. And we’ve adjusted the carbs down to ~25 per meal (and no bread with breakfast) (and I bet most days I’m much lower than that per meal)
No fruit – I’m carb sensitive
Drink 60 – 80 ozs of water per day. I’ve added some hydration tabs as my last two blood tests have shown that I’m dehydrated – I sweat a lot when I work out.
Limit desserts and sweets in general
Exercise 3 xs per week
Enjoy my food – so I don’t eat stuff I don’t like!

As I mentioned earlier, I decided yesterday to create a 30 day plan starting to see if tweaking the above would show any changes to my weight loss (it has kind of slowed down over the last 5 weeks). One of the things Tory did was go cold turkey not having things. I’ve always been fairly flexible as I don’t want to feel like I’m missing out on things. However, I’m curious for one can I do the following and two does being so strict make a difference? Time will tell.

Water, Coffee or Tea only – no Diet Pepsi and no Diet Dr. Pepper. I really don’t drink a lot of soda but I can tell you the next month I will be tempted with some work and personal travel.
No bread at breakfast – I know this is in the above; however, I’ve been known to make exceptions – especially when I’m finished with my 6 week nutritionist appointment – I use it as a reward and know better than to use food as a reward! 🙂
Limit my AM coffee routine to 2 cups per morning – and if I want a 3rd cup it needs to be black. I enjoy light cream in my coffee.
No dessert
Exercise 4xs per week or more!

30 Day Shift Adjustment Plan

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Shift

Posted on September 18, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Last night I finished reading The Shift by Tory Johnson. I loved reading about Tory’s journey. I’ve been a big fan of Tory since her first segment on GMA. I think it is great how she has helped women get back in the workforce or restart her career.

I really felt a personal connection with Tory while reading the book. As I started reading it I found that the confident woman I enjoyed watching on TV had insecurites just like me. She has struggle with her weight for a very long time – I’m fortunate that mine has only been the last 10 years or so.

Without realizing it I started my own Shift in April 2012 when I finally had it with my weight – I made the first step – I made the nutrionist appointment! Now I haven’t had the quickest drop in weight that Tory saw (and I won’t tell you how much she dropped – you have to read the book – it is part of the journey). But I have dropped enought that when I had my 1 year anniversary going to the nutritionist – it was very emotional. If I had taken that step – would I have been even heavier or the samy unhappy weight? I’m so glad I don’t know that answer!

I found some similarities in Tory’s journey and my own – accountability – getting on that scale every morning, no fruit and a favorite statement (if you’ve read my blog before you’ve seen it before or my mantra) – ‘slow and steady wins the race’!

After reading The Shift, I’m re-energized! And the timing is perfect – the 6 week Fall Transformations starts on 9/23! The Shift is all about getting inside your own head – ready to commit to the best version of you (credit – Lindsay Vastola)!

UP = Insightful

Posted on August 15, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I’ve been wearing my UP band on my wrist now for about a week. I LOVE it!

I’m monitoring my sleep and my steps (and you can add workouts). I tried logging my food for a day and I just didn’t feel like monitoring more – maybe I’ll look into it at a later date. You can connect with friends who are using the UP band. There are settings so you can include only your steps (which is what I’m doing ). I don’t think my co-workers need to know my sleep patterns! 🙂

You monitor you activity by plugging the band in the earbud spot of your iPhone (or for you Android) – so it isn’t bluetooth enabled. You can see pretty quickly how you are doing. The charge on the band lasts about 10 days – a little less when you plug in more than twice a day (I know from experience)! You can see how your are doing against your daily goals. And you can add in your workouts too. One of the things I love is you can set an idle reminder when you haven’t moved for awhile – mine is set to vibrate every 30 minutes I don’t move from 8 am – 6 pm. I get quite a few reminders – even during yoga – not a lot of steps.

Sleep

You can set your personal goal of how much sleep you want (you are provided the ideal amount of time based on your age, height and weight). I believe mine was 7 1/2 hours – I set this as my goal.

I’m doing pretty well on my sleep – last night was one of my least amount of sleep and I’m feeling it this morning. I think what is great about this app is that is shows you your light sleep and deep sleep.

Here is a view of the best night of deep sleep (where you restore your mind and body)

Reach 94% of my sleep goal. Nice amount of deep sleep!

Walking

You can set your personal goal for steps. The recommended is 10,000 steps and the average person does about 5,000. I’ve hit 10,000 steps or more only twice – yesterday I just made it over 10,000 and on Sunday I hit 15,000 steps (6.93 miles). Sunday is definately an anomaly-it was our PSU Annual Freshman Sendoff – so it was a super busy day.

My work day consists of computer work and conference calls. Major wake-up call that even though I try to move around during conference calls – it just isn’t enough. I need to supplement my daily conference call walks with other activity. The last two days I’ve been able to get 45 – 60 minutes of walking in so that has helped. Going to also experiment with 10 minute walks during the day as well.

Typcial Workday steps – too much computer time not enough walking time.

Yesterday with a 50 minute or so walk

Annual Freshman Sendoff on Sunday – Wahoo – almost 7 miles.

Daily Insights

Today my daily insights included some of the following:

You’ve walked a total of 53,347 steps-covering 23.1 miles with an average of 7,621 steps per day.
A regular bedtime means regular sleep. When you hit the pillow at teh same time every night, you’re supporting your body’s natural rhythms and helping battle daytime fatigue.

Thank you KGK for encouraging me to try this out!

My new magic number – 0.7

Posted on August 10, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Back on May 6th, I posted my post called 20 – it was a milestone for me – but I think I was a bit premature – guess I had the original number in my head a bit higher. Anyway if you will recall from that post – my next number in my head that I wanted to hit was 6 – well now it is 0.7. What is the meaning of that number? I’ll tell you at the end.

This past Thursday was a busy appointment day – Nutritionist and Sports Medicine Doctor for an injury (turns out it is my IT band – lots of stretches and I go back in 2 weeks).

I went to see my nutritionist to see what progress I had made since the end of June (and prior to vacation). I’m a bit neurotic and weigh myself everyday (I know I shouldn’t – but it does keep me a little bit more accountable as my body seems to be super sensitive to foods and causing me to fluctuate) but the last time I was in my scale was off by 2 or 3 pounds so I wasn’t sure what to expect. On top of that I was on vacation for 2 weeks – where I did exercise – yoga and pilates at least 3 days a week but I also ate foods I wanted (including Blueberry pie and cobbler) and of course adult beverages – all within reason though (I actually didn’t gain weight on vacation – I checked!). It has been a bit more challenging since I’ve been back with work travel and other appointments – so it has been more like 2 times per week I’m getting to yoga primarily. Pilates just hasn’t been convenient – oh and I had a bit of work travel mixed in. If you notice – no Hardbody workouts – and this has been due to a nagging injury that started before vacation my knee and moved to my thigh while on vacation (see above – IT Band). So what happened at the appointment? I lost 3 pounds!!!! And here is the interesting thing – I completely changed up what I was doing exercise wise. I was speaking to my trainer about it yesterday and she reminded me that she reminds us all the time it is good to change things up as our muscles get used to the same routine. (I’m hoping this helps a blogger friend of mine who is thinking of changing her routine after her half marathon training ) 🙂

So what is the meaning of the 0.7 – that is how much I need to lose to get to that magic number in my head! It is one of the many milestones I have in my head before I reach my final goal! Stay tuned for updates – I won’t post on this until September when I go back for my nutritionist appointment – makes it more official!

Happy Saturday!!

Just got my UP

Posted on August 8, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Just got my UP by Jawbone in the mail today. I’m so excited!! I can get an employee discount and the black medium has been on backorder forever. I was able to order a grey medium (close enough to go with everything) on Saturday – Wahoo!

What is the UP? It is gadget you wear on your wrist and it tracks your steps and sleep. You put in your vitals – sex, age, height and weight – and it monitors your steps and sleep. You can also add food and water intake. Over time it provides insight about you day to day activities.

I’ve already set my goal of 10,000 steps per day (a big challenge for me), 7.5 hours of sleep (I can’t wait to compare this to my sleep cycle app) per night and the notice every 30 minutes I’m not moving to get up and move around.

I’ll keep you posted. I’m off to bed so I can get my 7.5 hours of sleep in the first night! 🙂

Yoga – More than body, mind & soul…

Posted on July 27, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Last night, I went out with the girls to New Brunswick – the home of the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (note their bars don’t even compare to State College 🙂 ).

My adult beverage of choice is Stoli Orange Vodka and Club Soda (because of the low sugar content and you can make one last forever!) – and I also drink lots of water when I’m out. We had dinner and made one more stop. It was actually pretty cool bar – and I felt like a beer (and water of course). I’ve been staying away from beer due to the sugar in it. And of course I picked a brew that was a sweet wheat beer. It was delicious – sort of like a dessert.

Low and behold this morning, I have a screaming headache. I really didn’t want to take anything for it – was hoping a cold compress would help – it didn’t. I then tried coffee – no help either. Saturday is a Yoga day for me and I had pretty much decided I wasn’t going to go. But finally some common sense hit me and I decided to go to YOGA. Best decision all day! It helped energize me and get rid of the annoying beer – sugar headache! No more sweet, wheat beers for me! 🙂

FIG – Vodka, Sauce, Salad, App…

Posted on June 11, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

So what made you click on this post today? Was it the thought of Fig Vodka, a Sauce, Salad or an App?

I really enjoy figs – my Dad has some really great recipes – one is an appetizer with a balsamic reduction – note to self – get recipe. I have FIG(s) on the brain today.

A friend shared with me a new vodka – it is Figenza Vodka – I’m looking forward to trying the Fig Mojito – 3 ozs of Fig Vodka, 2 ozs of Club Soda, muddled mint and lime (this is their June cocktail). I could also try the Sunkiss – 3 ozs of Fig Vodka, 1 oz of Club Soda and muddled oranges (this is their July cocktail) – this is definately on the list for vacation. I’ll let you know what I think of it.

In December, I hosted Christmas and due to the size of my house (and the age of my oven), we normally celebrate ‘Easter’ at Christmas – which means Ham. I get an awesome Spiral Cut Ham from Kansas City Steaks. I decided this year to try a different sauce. At first I was going to make a fig sauce but found on Pinterest a sauce I could purchase that was just a good. It was Stonewall Kitchen’s Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce – it was a hit. I think it would great on a nice pork loin or chicken too – I have one bottle left and I see this as a grilling option real soon.

Since I don’t have my Dad’s recipe for the appetizers – thought I would try this recipe – Roasted Balsami Fig Salad – Blue Cheese. Looks easy and delicious.

So now for the true reason for this post – the FIG Wellness App – available on iOS and Android. I had a work/life balance lunch and learn for my team with my trainer, Lindsay Vastola. The feedback from my team was fabulous. And the interesting thing was a lot of the feedback was that they had the work/life balance, but didn’t have the life/life balance. I wanted to figure out a way to reinforce what we learned, but I also wanted to help my team have overall balance. I’m a true believer that a well balance employee – is a productive employee. I rolled out a little voluntary incentive for my team – 21 Day Challenge (pre-vacation for my team) – the objective of the incentive – set a goal, track results and share your findings. The incentive is all about participation – each week they participate the get a ‘ticket’ for a drawing and if they particpate all 3 weeks – they get another ‘ticket’. There will be two winners of some fabulous prizes. I wanted to find something to help us track results, keep each other accountable and I wanted us to be mobile.

It was easy to search for some wellness apps – I found FIG to have the best ratings. We started yesterday – I like it so far – you can create goals and activities. Some of the activity categories are related to eating, exercise, refresh (sleep, relaxation), connect (family, friendship, community), feel (awareness, gratitude) and go further (faith, longevity). I thought this was perfect because it wasn’t just focusing on eating and exercise – it focuses on the entire being. You can invite participants to be your ‘friends’ so you can see how everyone is doing – lend a ‘cheer’, ‘assist’ or ‘rally’ your friends with words of encouragement. You can track your items very quickly. My week 1 goals are drink 10 glasses of water per day and do my Hard Body workouts 3xs per week. I made my water goal yesterday and got a nice YELLOW Star!! The only thing I don’t like is that everyone has to invite each other vs. a one time invite from me. I think I can get over that. So far so good and I think I will use this post our 21 Day Challenge.

I’m off to drink a glass of water!