ning | Keeping up with Kate

Happy 100!

Posted on September 26, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Happy 100th Birthday Mom-Mom! I can’t believe it has been 11 years since you joined Pop-Pop.

I have so many fond memories growing up from our trips to LBI, spending a week with you during summer vacation, to all the wonderful Barbie clothes you made for me, to eating Thomas’ English muffins with your homemade strawberry jam watching the birds feed at the window (to this day I know what a Tufted Titmouse looks like), knowing there was always Breyer’s ice cream in the freezer (although not very good anymore), our Thanksgiving traditions (I’m still pretty much in charge of setting the table, the relish dish and cranberry sauce) and so many others.

The memories didn’t stop in childhood, they continued as an adult. I always enjoyed our rides up to my parents house at Christmas (listening to the Christmas carols) when I was living in NJ, VA and even Dallas (and of course the pizza before the drive), Ash Wednesday McDonald’s Fish Sandwich run, sorting the homemade Christmas ornaments (with your watchful eye making sure I was splitting them up fairly – my tree has my beautiful ornaments on it every year) and so many others.

My beautiful Christmas tree with many of my Mom-Mom’s (and Pop-Pop’s) ornaments

I have little reminders throughout my house so you are always nearby wheather it is things you made, some of your knick knacks and of course my favorite – the diamond earrings Pop- Pop gave you – one of my most cherished items because I know how much you loved them – I love them as well.

I think of you often whether I see or hear something that reminds me of you or something you would say or do. It makes me smile.

My Sweet 16 with my Mom-Mom – we must be related with that head tilt.

Happy Birthday and I hope you are enjoying a nice cold one with Pop-Pop! 🙂

Stress – I posted it the first time without the Title – Ugh!

Posted on September 25, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Things are super busy at work (but who isn’t these days) – my stress level is building (so much so I’ve had moments of being overwhelmed – for the most part I think that has passed). I’ve actually been able to really keep my stress level in check for awhile so I’m having a hard time dealing with it right now. And you can see it in my face – ugh – mini break-out – I’m too old for break-outs!

I knew going into this week it was going to be crazy so I did look at my schedule on Sunday and schedule out my workouts (plus I knew some timing of some of the deliverables were in my favor – getting my Monday night workout in helped). And today was the toughest day so far and I knew I needed my HardBody. I was so happy I was able to get my Hurricane and Finisher Workout in this evening. It was a great workout and my stress is down a little bit (and I was able to forget about things for 45 mins).

The Hurricane Workout was 3 exercises (1 cardio / 2 strength) – you do each exercise 3 times (based on the # of reps) and there are 3 stations. Once you are finished there is a Finisher workout which was 4 exercises that you do 10, 9, 8,…etc reps until 1. I’m so pleased that I actually completed my Finisher Workout – it hasn’t happened in a long time for me if ever – I really don’t recall.

Back to work. Have a great night!

Fall Transformation

Posted on September 23, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Today was the first day of the 6 week fall transformation! I started my prep for the week yesterday – drank 70 ozs of water, 8 hours of sleep, completed my shopping for the week and got myself a new pair of sneakers!

Aren’t they pretty? 🙂

I’m really picky about my sneakers – I bought a pair before vacation (and I’m kicking myself I didn’t return them). They are Brooks and they just don’t fit me right – and they weren’t cheap – I think I’ve worn them maybe 5 times -argh! I am happy now- I’m back in a pair of Asics – so reminds me of college and they do seem to fit me the best. And no special inserts from the running stores – just plain old simple Dr. Scholl’s Active Support inserts for my high arches – go figure!

We had a great workout tonight and I’m please to say my feet – in particular my arches weren’t bothering me – WAHOO!! Fingers crossed it continues.

Stay tuned for more updates during the Fall Transformation – I’d like to say I’ll post something everyday – I just don’t think that will be reality – but I’ll give it a shot. Until next time – have a great evening!

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.

Healthy Tailgating

Posted on September 20, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

If you don’t know already, I’m a proud PSU Alum! I have season football tickets and I just love fall in State College.

I’m going to 5 home games and 2 away games this year. I have 3 games under my belt for the fall (2 home and 1 away). Last fall I did quite good monitoring what I was eating and my adult beverages (no beer) (stuck with mixed drinks – Bloody Mary’s etc) (you drink less as you sip more).

This year I decided to attempt at adding some healthy options to my tailgates. On most game days it is breakfast and linner (or lupper) on the grill. The first home game I made breakfast – which is usually an egg sandwich with meat and cheese. This year I made my egg with some spinach added to it. It was delicious. When I’m back up for a game in October – I’ll add more veggies as I won’t be having a breakfast sandwich (see my #SHIFT posts) – so it will have to be an omelet. I’m bummed I didn’t take a picture of my yummy sandwich from the other week.

Onto Linner (Lupper) – I tried at the first home game to try Jack Daniel’s pulled pork sandwiches to mix it up a bit – too sweet – off the menu. So last week when I was up with my Mom we had hamburgers and hot dogs – normal tailgate fare. However, before we left NJ we stopped at a local Italian Deli for some yummy, healthy salads – cucumber, tomato and fresh mozzarella and a grilled veggie salad. Delicious and a hit! They will definately be added for future games.

Cheesburger with fresh salads. Nice grill marks on the bun too!

Hot Dog option with salads

Any suggestions for other healthy options?

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)!

Get Your ROAR ON!

Posted on August 30, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I can’t believe this weekend is Labor Day weekend. It feels like just yesterday we were just celebrating Memorial Day. I love summer and I’m kind of bummed I didn’t make to to the shore more than on my vacation. So as a say goodbye to summer this weekend – I get to say HELLO to fall – sort of – as Penn State has their first football game this weekend!

And the bonus is I’m not going to be too far from home since they are playing Syracuse at MetLife Stadium (aka The Meadowlands) in NJ – where it is a home game for Syracuse – but it will really be a home game for Penn State. So maybe I can sneak down to the beach on Sunday – hmmm – need to do that (sorry I digressed).

Back to football – I think the fall like weather a week or so ago has me finally ready for some football – it will be a very low key tailgate (I’ll do another post over the weekend with all of my new tailgate toys)! All of the essentials are ready to go – Adult Beverages and Cupcakes – what else does a girl need? 🙂 Oh don’t worry there will be other totally non nutrious items on the menu. Good thing I’ll be walking around a lot – I’ll be interested to see how many steps I get in tomorrow. Sorry I’ve digressed again.

I’m really looking forward to see what Bill O’Brien and this Penn State Football team will do this year. They’ve worked hard and kept their focus. Just as the team last year – they will have all of the support they need from their Penn State family! Here is a glimpse of what Coach O’Brien shared with the team about the our history and the Penn State family:

Tomorrow will be a great day – I’ll get to see some friends I see a lot, ones I haven’t seen in awhile and may even run into people I haven’t seen in forever – you never know who you will run into. I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ll have my ROAR On and my BANK Button!

Bank Button – PSU vs. Syracuse – 2013

And I am SO Glad I’m a NITTANY LION!

ROAR LOUD ~ ROAR PROUD!!

WE ARE…PENN STATE!!

I’m back…

Posted on August 29, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

As you’ve noticed, I get writer’s block quite a bit.

I think I mentioned previously that I’ve been dealing with a knee and IT band injury since the end of June. So not HardBody workouts since then. I’ve been concentrating on yoga and pilates. I was able to make many workouts while on my 2 week vacation; however, post vacation I’ve been making it about 2 times per week due to my schedule.

I have re-introduced walking thanks to the UP by Jawbone – gotta keep up with my teammates with the number of steps I’m doing!

The exercises I’ve been doing for my IT band have really helped – so much so I don’t need to go back to the doc unless I have a problem. He still wants me to focus more on my upper body and core during workouts.

Last night was my first time back to a Hard Body workout since June. I’ll be honest I was a little nervous. I wasn’t sure if I would have limitations and I really didn’t want to re-injure anything, because I really missed these workouts (lots of sweat – as the saying goes ‘fat crying’!). I have to say I felt great – it was like riding a bike. I modified some exercises and I got a good sweat in. I noticed I was able to do some exercises much better than before – I give all the props to yoga and pilates.

Fall is super busy for me personally and with work so now I have to figure out how to get all of the things I enjoy – HardBody, Walking (keeping those steps up is so important), Yoga and Pilates in my schedule weekly (and being consistent) since weekends are out for the next few weeks. I’m sure I’ll figure it out! 🙂

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!