A Day Spiral....

A day spiral can happen at anytime, for me it usually happens when I am stressed out! What is a day spiral ? Well a day spiral is when you start off with a missed work out or a "cheat meal" and you let your entire day spiral out of control. I usually am thinking that I have already missed a work out or ate too much so, I throw in the towel for the day.  Luckily for me I learned early in this journey that it is never too late to change.  If you miss a workout, get one in later. Eat to much at a  meal,  throw in an extra workout or just deal with it. 

Everyday will have it's challenges , the common denominator in each day is you. You can make the decisions that will determine if you take a step back or forward. Don't let a day spiral  turn into a week of bad decisions. I received a e-mail from a reader asking me how I stay on track. The reality is that there is no magic answer. I am learning as I go and some days I fall back into bad habits.

The difference between the old me and the new me is that I have the tools  that I need to  be successful. I am constantly reading and learning about health and fitness. I surround my self with people who are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. My lifestyle is now very active so, I am constantly on the move. So how do I stay on track? I guess it is because I am living a differently, I have changed my life. So this is just how I live now, being sedentary and eating fast food is a rare occasion  in my current life.  I have made this habit , it is now a part of how I live my life. 

Tales from the treadmill

I have changed my workout routine since the semester began. My office hours are early afternoon so I head to the campus gym at about 8:00am  and I can usually get in a  great workout before I head to my office.  So I have been running indoors consistently for about 3 weeks and I have noticed a few things about the treadmill. I usually wear my ipod and heart monitor while I am running.

I have noticed that, my gadgets usually are off from the treadmills read outs. So I started doing some research.  I found that the calorie estimate on the treadmill is based on the average  exerciser, it has nothing to do with you. So if an average person burns 200 calories running a mile, then that is what it will say.  you in fact may be burning more of less.  So don't base your workout on that caloric burn, your best bet is to use your own heart rate monitor. That way you will have an accurate read out of how much energy you are expelling.

When it comes to distance the treadmill cannot determine your stride.  I happen to be 5'3 and my monitor calculates me running father on the readout than , the treadmill does by a quarter mile.  I have also found a new machine to torture myself, it is called Jacob's ladder.  Click the video below to see a short video about it.

I honestly feel like a clumsy on this machine and I have not stayed on it longer than 15 minutes.  I am working on improving my stamina on it though. For now it is a new challenge that I am embracing. 

Scale withdrawl

So I might have  a bit of scale withdraw, I actually tried to piece together my old one.  then I caught myself and had to laugh. I am glad that I decided not to purchase a new one though. I do feel a bit more encouraged that I am not reflecting on the scale every day.

Sugar withdrawl

I often get caught in a sugar trap, I have a few weeks where I tend to eat  a bit more sweat treats than  necessary. As I looked through my food journal, I realized that I have had a bit of a junk food fest the last couple of weeks. I guess that is the honesty of a food journal because you really get to see what you are putting in your body.

Anyway, I decide to go on a bit of a detox and get my self back on track. I realized that I was putting in about 150 sugary calories about 4 days a week.  It does  not seem like a lot but that  2400 calories a  month. Which can easily convert to a pound if you add in any other splurges.  In addition to that, also noticed that I was making those splurges at night. So I was hungry and fueling my self with an unfulfilling snack.

Sugar is addictive and it has always been a weakness for me. So  I know that I have to be careful because I can easily fall back in to old habits. My detox is not one where I am attempting to rid my system so much of toxin. I am actually just reinforcing good habit by eating clean and reducing my processed sugar intake. So I still consume  natural sugars from fruits and vegetables.

Mixing up my workouts have been fun, I am planning to write up a workout plan for myself.  That way I have a month of workouts prepared. In addition to that I am planning a photo shoot for my anniversary. Its time for some new family photos, the pictures we have in our home don't resemble the new me.

I am headed out for a workout, have you gotten off the couch today?

Change is good

I am a big fan of changing up you routine but I have become less and less a fan of paying for it. I have purchased and completed several different 90/60 day workout programs along my journey. I have had gym memberships and  I have and will never give up my subscription to Oxygen magazine.  As many of you know , it gets expensive and after adding up the $1320.00 a year I was paying for a  family gym membership, I was not pleased. Not to mention the $936.00 I shelled out in 2 years  for Weight Watchers.

All of this came into perspective as my family and I were making a 1000 mile move across the country. I made some specific  choices,  we chose a warmer climate.  I also picked an apartment complex with a fitness center and decided to utilize that fully. I work at a university with a state of the art gym, free for faculty, so I am sucking it up. I will work out and take classes with students if I have to.

In addition, my husband and I have started planning our daily workouts. We write them out and have a clear idea of what we are working on daily. He is and  has been a refreshing addition to my workouts this summer. We are working out in the evening at the park with the kids.  That way, we can do it as a family and the kids can go play when they get bored. I am truly tired of DVDs and paying that  hefty gym bill but I wont sacrifice my fitness. I still write down everything I eat and all my workouts but now I do it in a journal.

I will say that, this change has  reinvigorated my workouts.I am actually feeling muscle soreness again and I am  excited to plan each day. I feel like I am growing in my journey and moving to making this a lifestyle. I  will be taking the money I would have spent on the gym and saving it each month. I will place that in an account that will add to our next summer vacation as a surprise for my family.

Now I am headed to pull out my Oxygen magazine collection to look for some new recipes. What are you doing to keep yourself in the game?

Running without sidewalks

My new  neighborhood  has only a few sidewalks. I am seriously having  sidewalk withdrawal!! I am a simple runner, prefer to get up and walk out my door and run. Driving to a location seems like a waste of time and money  to me.

It has put a lot of things in to perspective for me, I have to find a neighborhood in my new community that has a consistent amount of sidewalks. When we were searching for a place in Tennessee that was not my main priority but now that I on on the hunt for a house to call my own it is high on the priority list.

I have to apologize for being M.I.A. I was not aware of how much this move would affect my family. I had to take some time to really get my children settled and to bring some balance back to my home. It has also allowed me to bring some new goals into my fitness journey.

I am no longer on the Weight Loss quest but I am really trying to tone and firm up my body. My major areas of concern are my butt and thighs.   I am aware that you cannot spot train but I will be focusing on those muscles more consistently. Seriously, I have had to give up that picture that I thought I would become. I am learning to accepted who I am.

 Many of us have the idea that after you lose weight, you will look like one of the fitness models on a magazine cover.  I was one of them, but we are all made differently and it just does not work like that.   The reality is losing the weight is half the battle, in order to get that look. You have to maintain your weight , healthy eating habits and keep training to achieve muscle definition.  I am not giving up my quest for what I want , I am just loving myself in the process.

So I  have found some great classes in my area, I am hitting the track at the local university and having fun mixing up my fitness quest. Above all I am no longer on the couch. I am proud to say it has been 2 years since I rolled off it. LOL!!!

My scale is broken!!!!

Yup, my scale is broken and I have been traveling,working ,packing,mothering and all those thing that have kept me from my weekly meeting. So for the first time in 22months I have no Idea how much I weigh.  It did make me realize that I just might be a "Scale B****".   I have for that past 22 months known how much I weighted down to the ounce, like a new born baby. Yeah I have taken scale breaks but nothing significant enough to brag about.

I am thinking it might be time for me to retire form the scale for a significant time. Since I am obviously obsessed with her. I am thinking of a slow tapering of weigh ins.I will maintain my weekly weigh in status until I confirm my lifetime status. I think I have a least 4 more weeks of maintenance. Then I will taper to a once a month weigh in. Since my home(girl) scale is broken,I will actually have to leave my house to weigh in!!  No more morning peaks before meetings and no more midweek estimations.

I am having a memorial service for my lovely dear friend,who  regardless of how much I cursed at, jumped on or screamed at remained faithful. That was until my 2 year had his way with her last week, I can only imagine the horrific pain my poor scale must have been in . As he dropped her ,over and over again from the side of the couch and proceeded to scoot over her with his bike.

Seriously though, I am walking away from the scale for a while to concentrate on being consistent in my regimen. So that I wont let every pound make or ruin my day. Change is a scary thing and this will definitely be  change for me. I am also buying myself a full body mirror, but I will update you on that in my next post.