A Deeper Look at Living Healthy

Here is a great video to watch as you are probably getting ready to launch into a diet and exercise routine for the New Year.

I am INSANE!

Well, since starting this blog back in June, I am down a few pounds. But, that doesn't mean to say that it hasn't been an up and down challenge. While I haven't reached the goals I wanted to reach, I have eaten more healthily these past 5 and a half months. Wow, just think if I had been faithful those full 5 months how much more awesome this post would be.

I am 3lbs lighter than I was at this time last month, and I only want things to continue in that direction. My short term goal, lose at least 6lbs by Christmas. That would bring me back to (even a little lighter than) the weight I was when I went to Mexico in March 2011 (that was the lightest I have been since 11th grade).

While eating healthy has always been my biggest struggle, I am finding that even bigger than that, my biggest struggle is consistency. I can work out hard for a week or two, but consistency is difficult. I mean, just look at the post dates of this blog.

So, while continuing my endeavors to eat healthy (which have been successful about 60% of the team... usually it is about 2 or 3 weeks eating real good and then 1 week of complete failure), I am challenging myself in the exercise world too. I am doing Insanity, a 60 day workout challenge. So, by mid February, I should be in pure beast mode :) Every 2 weeks there is a fitness test involved, and so I will be posting my results here with the hopes that you all will be encouraged by my progress. And if all goes well, hopefully this will inspire you to start a new exercise regimen that will show you results too!

I just finished fit test 1... and well I can tell I will be sore tomorrow. But anyways, here are my results (pathetic and pitiful as they may be). This are all different exercises in the fit test...

switch kicks: 56
power jacks: 40
power knees: 80
power jumps: 23
globe jumps: 6
suicide jumps: 7
push-up jumps: 3
low plank obliques: 36

Integrity

in·teg·ri·ty (noun) \in-ˈte-grə-tē\ : firm adherence to a code

I was in a staff meeting at work not too long ago, when one of my bosses made a comment about integrity in respect to doing what you say you are going to do on the job. Immediately, I was convicted about my personal life. I realized that although I don't usually have an issue completing the tasks I tell others that I am going to do, I regularly don't do what I tell myself I am going to do. And it hit me, that is a lack of integrity. It is a lack of integrity every time I start the day saying I am going to eat healthy and then shovel in 3 peanut butter cookies by lunch. I was essentially repeatedly lying to myself. 

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. (Proverbs 12:22) 

My struggle to adhere to the eating / exercise regiment that I placed for myself were causing me to lose my integrity and become an abomination before the Lord. And I don't mean to speak in extremes, as I understand the Lord's grace, but He was highlighting this weakness in my life. Day after day, I was not doing what I said I was going to do.

And so, I set out to think of some ways to help me be a woman of integrity and bring delight to the Lord in this area of personal discipline. And, I am finding success. While I am only 4 days in, I am very pleased with the outcome. Not only have I stuck to my guns, but I have lost 5.4lbs in 4 days! Don't worry, I'll share my secret. This has two parts.

The first: I am limiting my food to what would be allowed on a typical Daniel fast (veggies, fruits, grains from seeds), and also allowing lean meats. I must admit, I do allow light salad dressings as well, as well as a few other low calorie sauces to add flavor.

The second: While this may sound extreme and ridiculous, it is working for me. I am using one day per week to plan and prepare my meals. This past Sunday I went shopping and then sat down to figure out what I wanted to make (probably a little backwards, but I already had a somewhat idea). Then I sat down with my Perfect Diet Tracker app on my Mac to figure out the caloric intake of everything. And so I made myself a daily meal plan that is about 1250 calories. My goal is to stay in the 1200-1500 range, as that is healthy for me. I decided to go with simplicity and made myself the same meal for each day. So I portioned everything out and put them into Ziploc bags, one for each day of the week. To help me keep on track, I already have all my food prepared for each day, and I know exactly what I am allowed to eat. I am only allowed to eat what is in the baggie (with a few exceptions below). I even prepared for snacking and included that in my plan. And then if one day I am extra hungry, I allow fruits and veggies to be my "cheat food". Meaning, I can eat extra grapes or a banana, and I will still be under 1500 calories and still eating food that is on my list. I have also allowed myself to substitute a salad for one of my main meals

It has been working GREAT! I feel that I have plenty of food throughout the day, it tastes good, and I am losing weight. What could be better?

If you're interested, here is what I have been eating:

16oz of Bolthouse Farms Strawberry Banana Smoothie - 240 calories

1 banana - 112 calories

36 almonds - 255 calories

1 cup rice and beans meal (brown rice, black beans, chili beans, diced tomatoes) - 241 calories

1/2 cup pistachios - 170 calories

1 cup rice and chicken meal (chicken breast, veggies, brown rice, and I like to add Chipotle peppers for flavoring) - 144 calories

1 cup homemade sugar free applesauce (this is absolutely amazing, and all natural, just apples, lemon juice, water and cinnamon) - 90 calories

Iron Girl Triathlon

I did it. I completed a triathlon. My goal was to do it in under 2 hours, pushing myself the entire time and not walking at all during the last leg-the run. And I did it! There is no feeling quite like the overwhelming sense of emotion that floods over you as you cross the finish line completing a goal that you have set aside months to train for. It is quite euphoric. So much so that I am already thinking about doing a little bit longer triathlon next year. But first, let me recount some of my adventures yesterday.

My alarm sounded at 4am. After a quick shower and a bagel breakfast, I packed my things and was headed off with my great friend and tri buddy, Jessica. We arrived at the race site around 5:40 to set up our transition area. The transition area is where you make the switch from swim to bike (T1) and then bike to run (T2). All the experienced triathletes carry everything they need for the transition area in a bucket, so then once everything they need is set up, they can flip the bucket over and use it as a stool when putting their sneakers on. I, of course, am not an experienced triathlete, but Jessie was made privy to this genius idea in her tri training group, and so with our buckets in tote we set up our transition area. 

Me at my transition area all set up.

Then, the waiting game began. And I don't just mean the wait for the bathrooms. We were out of the transition area by 6:30am, but since we were both in the last wave of athletes, we didn't start until 7:40am. In an effort to not completely stress ourselves out as we waited for our wave, we took a seat on a park bench and began to chat about life as we nourished ourselves with bananas and caffeine loaded energy drinks. Then it was time. We headed over to the starting line. Each wave of girls walks into the water and awaits the countdown to begin. So being in the front of the pack in the water is a huge advantage as it gives you a few second head start because you start farther out. Using my Black Friday line maneuvering skills, I was managed to find myself at the front of the pack.

Since this was in Oneida Lake,  I could touch bottom for some of the swim. I used this to my advantage as I pushed off the bottom for some extra propulsion. While it did help my time and not to tire as much, I did slice my feet up on whatever was at the bottom of that lake. As I was swimming, it seemed like this leg of the race would never end. I later found out that it was a 800m swim instead of the 600m swim that was advertised and that I had trained for.  This resulted in my swim time (00:16:11) being about 4 minutes more than I had planned. This meant that if I was going to beat my 2 hour self-set goal, that I needed to push it extra hard on the bike.

I was in and out of T1 in 00:04:43 and off on my bike. About 10 seconds out of the transition area on my bike, my shoe lace got caught on my bike and became untied. Luckily, this didn't cause me to fall. While gliding along, hoping not to lose too much speed, I lifted my foot up to tuck my shoelace into my shoe. Doing this I hit my water bottle causing it to flip, shooting Gatorade onto the pavement. Luckily it didn't fall out and I was able to reach down and resecure it. And so with my now 3/4 full water bottle in place and my shoe untied but secure, I began to peddle away. Then, about 5 minutes out, a bee decided to pick me out of the 1047 other lady racers and sting me on the arm! I chose to focus on the race and not the pain in my arm as I stared at my bike clock.

During the bike, there were two other girls in my age group riding about the same pace as me. We would take turns passing each other. Somewhere along the way, Amanda (one of those girls) and I paced ahead of the other. As we rode we made jokes to each other and made a mutual agreement to keep pushing each other as we passed the other. Heading into T2 I was ahead of Amanda. I finished the bike in 01:03: 58 - 12 minutes faster than my test ride! I hopped off my bike (accidentally bumping into another girl... oops) and headed to my transition area. I racked my bike, tied my shoe that had been untied the entire bike ride, and in 00:01:37 I was off on the run. 

Running along a curvy road by the lake was difficult as I had no idea where the turn around was. Around every curve I thought, "It is around the next one", but it wasn't their either. Again on the run course, Amanda caught up to me and we played the passing game again. At about mile 2 we began to run together with another lady on the course pushing ourselves to break the 2 hour goal.  Then as we hit the water stand about .5 miles from the finish line, I started to pick up my pace and the other two remained behind. I sprinted through the tunnel of cheering friends and family of racers to finish the run in 00:30:40. As I crossed the finish line my time was 1:57:09. I did it.

After the Race:

After hanging out with Jessica and celebrating our victory, I headed for the drive home from Syracuse. About 15 minutes from home, as I pulled up to a stop sign, my car stalled out. After a few tries I was able to get it restarted and kept heading home. The engine then died while driving. After a few more short drives, it died again and I was stuck about 5 minutes from home. So, after waiting for a tow for 40 minutes while completely exhausted, I arrived home an hour later than I should have.

... At least I didn't smell any worse than the tow truck guy. :-D

Good Systems + Hardworking/Motivated People = Success

Well, my new systems are working wonders. Here is what I have been using this past week.

1. I set up my gcal (google calendar) with things I want to do each day. Then I have it email me a "reminder". So 6 days a week I get an email into my gmail inbox reminding me to do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. This is an awesome 20 minute workout that I have been doing the last 2 weeks. I like it because I can fit it in almost anywhere. Then 5 days a week I get an email reminding me to train for my triathlon (which is in 10 days AHHH!). I keep these emails sitting in my inbox unread until I complete the task and then I delete them. So since I am constantly on my computer and checking my email, it is a constant reminder to get off my rear and go workout like I should. And the OCD in me hates having those unread emails in my inbox so it is motivation to go do it so I can check it off and delete that email. If I am having a lazy day, I won't work out but will keep the email in there. That way on my what should be off day, when I wouldn't normally get an email, I still have one staring me in the face, so I make it up. It has been working great so far! And then at the end of the week, if I have tons of unread gcal reminders, I know I didn't do a good job and reach my goals. I have started using this system for other areas in my life as well, not just fitness, and it is proving quite successful.

2. This week I started another new thing. On my days off, I make myself healthy meals that I can store and eat the rest of the week. So today as I headed out the door for work, I grabbed my Glad container of my brown rice chicken breast concoction. This is great as it really helps with portion control too. Each little container is 189 calories (which was so easily calculated using my Mac app - see below). So combine that with an apple, and you have your self a less than 300 calorie lunch. While this is still in the first few days, I am liking the portion control assistance.

3. I set my cell phone calendar to give me a reminder every day at 8pm to brush and floss. While this doesn't always happen at 8pm, I am flossing, which is a step up from my previous hygiene efforts. And it has helped with the late night snacking.

4. I am tracking my calorie intake and burn with the "Perfect Diet Tracker" Mac app (also available for Windows). It is super simple and is helping me eat healthier. While I have definitely still had my M&M overload days, It is helping me keep a more accurate understanding of what I put into my body.

5. I have specifically asked a few people to help me. I have friends that I can text when I have a craving and they will help talk me out of it. They will also text me or email me occasionally asking how I have been doing. This accountability helps a lot. Thanks Matt and Jess :-D

I am realizing, with the right systems, I am a whole lot more successful. Everything else we do in life fits into a system. Just think about all the systems at your job. Good systems combined with hardworking/motivated people equals success. If you are reading this, you are motivated. So now, it is just time to put the systems in place to get you to success!

My New System

So, things have been going fairly well the last few days. I have said "no" to brownies and ice cream on two occasions, and in general have been making healthy choices. While there is still the occasional slip up, I have been doing pretty good. I have also been good about exercising this week, despite my back pain.
I find that my breakfast is good. Lunch is also good, as I usually stay at work, so as long as I pack a healthy snack, I'm good. Where I find I am weak is in the later evenings. Generally I will eat a healthy dinner, but then after that I keep snacking. And well it is just down hill from there. For example, today after 9:30pm I ate (confession of failure): a banana, a handful of MMs, and a slice of pizza. mmm EPIC FAIL. So I just added 700 calories to what would have been a successful day. Not even my evening workout could balance this out.
So, I am staring a new system. I have set my phone up to send me a reminder each day at 8pm to brush my teeth. My goal then will be, after 8pm I will not eat, because my teeth are all clean and ready to go. This will hopefully help fix my night eating habit. Sleeping earlier will also help with this.
I have also decided to start counting my calories again. I was doing this for awhile using the BodyBugg, but my subscription has since run out and I haven't renewed it. So today I got an app for Raul (my Macbook Pro) that will help me track my exercise and calorie intake. I hope this will help keep me on track, as calories can quickly add up.
How about you... do you have any helpful tips to keep you on track?

EPIC FAIL... let's try this again

OK team. So I have failed horribly in two aspects: 1. I have not been posting and 2. I have not been eating healthily. I guess that is a little of an overstatement. I have not been eating bad, but have been breaking my rules on a regular basis and the scale is my proof. On a positive note, I have built drinking lots of water into my daily routine and have been exercising regularly. I was able to go to Syracuse and do a test ride of the 18 mile bike portion of the triathlon I will be doing in 29 days. And as my ankle (which was sprained) has been healing, I have started my run training again which was desperately needed. But, I am not content to work out and eat poorly. I want to live healthily. So here I am confessing my failure and starting afresh. I can only imagine that over the holiday weekend things weren't easy for you either. So let's start fresh together. Today is a new day!

Day 7 SUCCESS and DAY 8 FAIL

Well, I must admit that today was a fail... It could have been worse, but thanks to my mom and sister-in-law tackling me to get a cookie out of my hand, it was only a baby step backwards. But, the best part is, tomorrow is a new day!

How was your first week?

Mine was good. I felt less tired, even when not sleeping well, and just felt better during the week. I am excited to see what this week holds. I am hoping to up my game a little.

Day 6 SUCCESS

Reading the book "The 12 Week Triathlete" as a training tool for the sprint triathlon that I will be doing in August, it stated that you should always train in a myriad of weather situations so that you are prepared for anything on race day. Well, yesterday, I unintentionally did just that. On a bike ride, about 4 miles from my house, I got caught in a torrential downpour. Stuck in the middle of fields, I continued to ride dripping wet, with my sneakers becoming heavier and heavier with each peddle, the 4 miles home. But hey, now I know I will be prepared to bike in the rain on race day. :-D

DAYS 4 and 5 SUCCESS

So I didn't post yesterday, but it was a success. While it is only 6:52pm, today has been and will be a success as well :-D
Way to go to my friend Vic for posting on her blog her goals!

Day 3 SUCCESS

Today was probably my best day as far as eating, but I did not get out for exercise today. But that is OK, because my goal is only 5-6 days a week. How did you do?

Day 2 SUCCESS

Day 2 was also a success. With a little hesitation I was able to say no to free donuts at church and carrot cake. Thanks to everyone who were there for moral support as my mouth watered. The evening ended with another (and a little faster) almost 8 mile bike ride (this time actually riding up the hill I walked yesterday) and followed it with a 1/2 mile run.
You see, in perhaps a lapse of better judgement in the winter I signed up for a sprint triathlon to be done this August with a great friend of mine. I will be swimming 600m (.25 miles), biking 30km (18 miles), and running 5km (3 miles). So, I need to practice running after biking, because as it turns out, you kind of waddle run after having a bike seat between your legs for awhile.
How did you all do today? Did you stay strong in the face of Father's Day eating out and desserts?

Day 1 SUCCESS

Well team, Day 1 was a success. Despite the wedding reception I attended, I was able to stick to my diet. I even got in an almost 8 mile bike ride too :) How did you do?

My Eating Goals

Alright, so here it is. These are my goals for healthy eating. Set what you think are good goals for you and post them and I will try to help keep you accountable.

No Sweets (no candy, baked goods, sugary items, soda or other sugary juices)
Minimal Carbs (I will not eat breads, but rather brown rice as my source of carbohydrates)
Fruits and Veggies (YES)
Meats (I plan to eat meats, but primarily eating chicken breast and white albacore tuna. For those of you who like it, fish is a good option here too.)
Minimal Dairy (I plan to use skim milk only and for the time being no cheese... Cheese is an all or nothing thing for me, so for the time being I need to cut it out until I get my eating under control)

For those of you who know me, if you ever see me eating things that are not on this list, you have my full permission to rip it out of my mouth. In fact, PLEASE do not let me keep eating it!

The First Step...

So here is the premise of this blog. I want to live healthy.

But, I have realized that on my own, without accountability, and cookies staring me in the face, I fail. So, I decided to take a step outside of my comfort zone and make myself vulnerable to the cyberworld. I do this with the hopes that you will keep me accountable. I will be posting my goals (eating habits, exercise, etc) and my daily progress. So when I eat my veggies and complete my workout regimine, you will know. And when I stuff my face with pizza and M&Ms, you will also know. Will you help keep me accountable?

I would love for you to join me and set your own goals and then we can keep each other accountable. Whether you know me in person or not, let's make good use of the hours we spend online and use it to help each other live healthily. So, will you join me?