Sidelined

I've been sidelined from running for the past month. Which kinda bums me out because I'm not going to reach my goal of 48o miles for the year. Oh well, I still have my health so that is a good thing.

Earlier this month, over the course of a day, my left ankle began to swell, and I couldn't walk on it by the end of the day. It was quite painful! The swelling went down overnight, but was still there 2 days later. I got it checked out and it turns out my Achilles tendon was inflammed. I was given meds and told to take it easy. The only cardio I could do was the bike and elliptical after a few weeks.

Well, with the injury and a lot of travel I haven't really been in the gym this month. This was the first week (and last week of the month) that I made a concerted effort to getting back to it. I'm doing weights, the bike, and I even did the elliptical. My plan is to add walking back in at the start of May. That may be delayed by the rain that is predicted through the middle of next week.

All in all, I'm ready to get back to my regular workout routine!

How's everyone?

Been a lil' quiet 'round these parts.

February is generally the time when folks start to peter out with health related goals.

I know I wasn't too successful with earning my 40 miles of running/walking this month, but I haven't given up. The weather here in the south was brutally cold (for us southerners), and there wasn't much outdoor exercise done by this southern girl. Needless to say I'm way off of my goal for the month. I've only completed 13 miles so for this month.

The weather should be fairly well this week, so I am to at least make it to 20 miles by the last day of the month. This past week, I did a personal 5K on back-to-back nights and yesterday I did a 10K. One think I've continued to do, no matter the weather, is going to the gym. Each day that I can, I do my best to go the gym prior to work. So all is not lost.

Sooooo...what's happening with all of you?

40 and fit?

Well, I'm "back on the wagon" and trying to get serious about getting into healthier shape. I turn 40 later this year and I don't want to start my 40s being overweight (or obese). I've managed to creep back up to the weight I was when I gave birth to my daughter over 10 years ago- but this time it's just me!! Yikes. I've been exercising pretty regularly since last summer when I got my stationary bike (with flaking out a bit late in the year when I had some nasty cold for about a month). Unfortunately, the biking led to no weight loss at all. I finally accepted that I would have to monitor my eating to lose weight. So last week, I started WW again. I am not registered with them this time, but am using the points system I used in 2007 to lose a bunch of weight (you can find the formulas online and I never used the community aspects of the program anyway). I am getting up early to exercise every morning (taking one day off per week) and so far think I've lost about 4 or 5 pounds (I don't officially weigh in until tomorrow morning). I know it will continue if I stick with it and the exercise only helps and makes me feel great. I'll plan to post over here every once in a while about my progress and I appreciate that others are doing the same! I should lose a minimum of 30 pounds and it would be even better if I could lose 40 (that would get me to my grad school, pre-baby weight). I've got just over 7 months until my 40th birthday, so I think I can be in pretty good shape by then. Here I go!

Walking is SO Underrated

To me the most underrated form of exercise is walking. Though, it has to be the easiest. We get so many benefits just from taking a quick stroll around the block, through the parking lot, or up a flight of stairs. It is so unfortunate that many don't see walking as exercise.

One of the things I'm doing this year is more walking. I use Nike+ iPod to document my walks/runs. Last year I walked/ran a total of 239.17 miles. Here's my chart:



My goal this year is to double my total. I want to get in at least 480 miles for 2010. Now you may think that is pretty aggressive and a high number to attain, but it is not if you break it down (which, of course I've done). Here's how I see it:

• 480 miles equates to 40 miles per month, 10 miles per week, or 1.2 miles per day. Now, I know that I can't walk every day of the year, for various reasons, but when it is broken down as such, it is doable.
• I set a goal to complete 40 miles in 4 weeks on Nike+ during the month of January. As of yesterday, I'm 8 miles away from those 40 miles. Have I walked/ran each day? Not at all. I mean, we had a really extreme cold spell for about a week! So nothing happened on those days, but I'm almost there.
  
• When I looked at my chart for 2009, I noticed a dip during the summer months. Though I love the heat, it does get really hot and a person is drenched after a mile or two. To combat that dip, I've signed up for several 5Ks and 10Ks over the next few months. Since I'm training for those, my mileage should increase somewhat so that dip will not hurt me later on in the year.
• I also wear a pedometer just about every day. I aim to get in 10,000 steps each day, but I don't always make it. I park at the far end of any parking structure, I take the stairs, I purposely go the long way when doing a task at work, etc. I force myself to move.move.move.
• Public accountability is important. I post the number of steps I take at the end of each day on Facebook. Some days it is well over 10K, and others it may be less than 3,000. It varies, but I post it no matter what (and generally w/o comment). When I don't wear the pedometer (due to a dress that I really don't have anywhere to hook it to), I state that.
  
• I also have my Nike+ account broadcasting to Facebook and Twitter.

Overall, I think I can accomplish my goal. I just have to stay focused and keep at it.

New plan for the summer

I am participating in Relay for Life in a couple of weeks, but I also want to get back into a regular exercise program. It's summer, I am not teaching, I should have plenty of time- it's just finding the motivation that can be tricky. How do we fall OUT of the pattern of regular exercise? When I am doing it, I can't even imagine NOT doing it. When I have not been exercising, it's hard to imagine how I will get back into it. A few weeks ago, I had a false start- I was going to start walking on the treadmill at least three times a week. I did it once, went for a walk in the park another day with my daughter, helped a friend paint one day, cleaned house another. I let these other activities substitute for walking. They surely burned some calories, but allowed me to skip the habit part of exercising. 

This week, I am starting a new plan. I have a REALLY old book that my stepdad used in the 1980s and gave to me when I had gotten into running during grad school (looks like it's still in print, too!) The author has 10 week schedules for a range of different exercises, and I am going to do the walking program (there is also a treadmill program, but it includes running and I want to stick with walking for now). You gradually build up speed and endurance over the weeks- the walking program starts with just two miles in 36 minutes (3 times a week) and gets up to three miles in 44 minutes (4 times a week). I am hoping that having a specific plan and goals will help keep me going. I have a trip coming up in a few weeks, so I may "pause" my plan (stay at week 4 for a few weeks) until I get back, but I REALLY want to try and stick with this.

How are all of you doing this summer? Is summer a good time or bad time for your exercise routine? How do you get back on track if you've gotten out of the habit? 

December's concerted effort

I indicated that I was going to make a concerted effort during the month of December to go to the gym everyday that I went to work. Midway through the month I updated you all to say that I'd made it 8 of 11 days. Well, the December has come and gone and here's the final update: 15 out of 21 days I made it the gym. Not perfect, but pretty good. On each of those 15 days I did 40 minutes of cardio. My main goal for increasing my cardio output was to combat the endless eating that goes along with the holiday, and I succeeded. No extra pounds put on during the holiday. Hooray!

A concerted effort

During the month of December I am making a concerted effort do cardio every day that I go to work. No excuses. This is the time of the year, for me, when it is difficult to stay motivated to workout. Additionally, this is the time of year when food & libations are plentiful. There are always parties to attend, food in the breakroom, someone giving you candy, etc.

I am determined to not be detrimental to my body this holiday season. Therefore, I have a goal of boosting my cardio output during this holdiay season. 40 minutes of cardio at least 5 days a week. Thus far, I'm successful. I made it to they gym this morning and I completed 20 minutes on the recumbunt bike and 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. I also did 3 sets of abdominal exercises.

Trying to get back on track

After a very stressful spring, and making lots of excuses for poor eating, I am trying to get back into healthy living.  Next Monday, I am going back on Weight Watchers (online). I lost 20 pounds on WW early last year and have gained back about 10 pounds (probably half of that in the last month!) I was tempted to start earlier, but knew that the end of the semester is never a time when it's easy to eat well. I was going to start this week, but there were more parties early in the week, so I decided to just wait until next week, because I like to start on a Monday. 

I did start exercising again this week, though. I've been walking on the treadmill, watching movies. I walked 3 miles on Monday, 2 miles on Wednesday, and will do at least 2 miles this afternoon. I'm not teaching this summer and my research obligations have pretty flexible timing, so I have no excuse to skip exercise. For the rest of this month, I plan to exercise at least three times a week, and get back into watching my diet starting next Monday. I would like to lose 20-30 pounds, but I first want to focus on being healthy. If we decide to try for another baby later this year, I should be in good health- even if we don't, I should still be in good shape! 

Feeling Fine

Despite migraines, a mild RA flare, and the flu, I was able to keep up with workout routine. I am working out three days a week, doing cardio and weight training. I think it helps that Husband goes with me to the gym. It's funny how when one of us doesn't want to go, the other is willing to give a little kick in the butt. It's not easy though. The weather in my part of the world is pretty crappy until about June. It's hard to get off the couch and get moving. I have to do a lot of positive self talk, bargaining and even threatening to get myself going. In the end, I am usually happy that I did it.

The scale has not moved very much, but my clothes are loose. I mentioned on my blog that I am back to a size 12. My goal from now until May is to get into a 10.

Right now, I am doing steady state, intervals and pyramids on the treadmill. I like changing it up becuase i tend to get bored easily. I am currently doing about 35 minutes, so I should start increasing my time. Also, I am increasing the speed. I have also added circuit training with weights. I want my arms to look good for sleeveless season.

Eating has not been much of a problem. I am in the process of returning to being a vegetarian, so I am really careful with my food choices. I want to make sure that I am getting the necessary protein and iron. Husband bought me this book which has been very helpful in the transition. There are also some great recipes too. It helps that I have found some recipes that can be made with or without meat, since Husband is all about eating meat. I will be posting a few vegitarian recipes that can easily be converted into meat-based meals.

I am feeling great. Hope you are too.

Update

The Good
Since I started working out again on January 14th, I've officially lost 11 lbs! Yay!

The Bad
Thanks to a nasty cold that just will not go away, my workout schedule has been completely off for the last two weeks. I have five workout sessions per week built into my schedule and was able to stick with it for almost two weeks, but once I got sick, I was only able to exercise once the first week and twice last week (and they were all fairly light sessions). Due to the interruption, I still don't have a steady routine and it's starting to get more difficult to convince myself not to find something else to do with that time.

Back in the game

Back in 2006 I wrote about my fitness struggles – the 60 pounds on and off (in various quantities) over the last six years. Well, it’s now 2008 and I’m still in the same situation, despite my resolution to make major lifestyle changes that would prevent the on and off weight gain (which is hard on my body). This is the year it stops.

When I sat down to write out my theme/goals for the year, I took a long look at how I wanted to treat myself and what I needed to do in order to be happy. I realized that in order to get there, I first have to make some lifestyle changes that don’t center around physical health – mainly, I have to stop being such a friggin’ perfectionist. I am an excellent dieter. I can focus and lose weight very quickly; however, I’m no so great at maintaining anything (eating or exercising) over the long haul. Usually what happens is that whenever I reach whatever particular goal, I give up the routine and go back to eating the way I was/not exercising much within a few months. Once I see gains, I completely give up. I have to let go of that extreme attitude (one setback does not equal a complete failure) if I’m truly going to make lifestyle changes. I turned 30 last October – I really don’t want to spend my thirties dealing with the same 60 lbs that plagued me during the latter half of my twenties.

My fitness goal for the year is to lose 50 lbs, which averages out to a little over 4 lbs per month. I would like to lose 10 more than that, but I don’t want to be unrealistic. Looking at what I’ve done in the past, I definitely think losing 4ish lbs a month is doable if I stay consistent. I’m already off to a good start – I have a decent teaching schedule this term that allows me to schedule a five day a week workout routine. I started the routine last week, along with my new classes; I purposely started at the same time so that I could establish my time perimeters from the very beginning. As I mentioned before, as long as I’m exercising regularly, I will eat well (because I can’t dissociate how much time I’ll have to spend exercising in order to burn off whatever random bad food I eat). Really, the key for me is making regular exercise a part of my life no matter what schedule changes happen.

I’m off to a great start – I worked out five times last week, ate well, and didn’t have any caffeine.* Since the beginning of the month, I’ve already lost five pounds and I’ve slept through the night every night for the past week! Yay!

To keep myself accountable, I plan to check in here at least two or three times a month with updates (or setbacks – hopefully, these posts will be few). If you don’t hear from me every month, please email me at comebacknikki [at] gmail.com and threaten to kick my butt (seriously, please do!).

Here’s to healthy and happy 2008! :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
*I’m cutting off caffeine for the time being because I’ve been having major sleeping problems since September (my four month bout with bronchitis started it all). From September to December, I literally was only sleeping between 2-4 hours a night. Needless to say, I was living on caffeine.

Checking in on the January Challenge!

Hi Everyone! I don't think I've posted over here in a while, and it's mostly because I became such a huge lazy slacker at the end of 2007! The January Challenge has inspired me, however, and I've been working on my expanded goal of exercising three times a week (for at least 30 minutes). I've been keeping it up for about two weeks now, so I'm feeling pretty good. My eating has NOT been good, however, and I'm thinking I'll go back on WW in the next week or so (I lost 20 pounds last Spring, but have gained back about 7-8 pounds- most of it over Xmas). You can read my original introduction post, from 18 months ago, and the situation is pretty similar now (other than planning to go back on WW).

I can't wait to see what the February Challenge will be! Good luck, everyone!

A Little Background and an Update

I thought I would give you a little background on why I decided to do this.

Those of you who have followed this blog or my blog know that my goal for 2006 was to lose weight for my 20th high school reunion later that year. This was a huge challenge becuase over the years, I have put on the pounds due to laziness and ass-horizonaltology. I also wanted to get fit becuase it would help in managing my RA. I was tired of the steroid treatments that caused me to gain weight. Also, I knew that regular exercise would keep the flares to a minimum.

So, I began a slow process of reincorporating fitness into my life. At that time in '06, my fitness level was very low. I had no energy. Working out was painful. I decided to start by working out one day a week for 30 minutes. At first, I thought I was going to die of pain. But, the slow progression allowed my body to adjust. Also, I could schedule working out to fit my hectic schedule.

Over the next few months, I began to add to my workouts. One workout became two days a week, two days a week became three. I increased the duration and intensity. I even added strength and flexibility. I was feeling great. At reunion time that November, I lost 20 pounds and dropped two sizes.

It was not always easy. There were many days when I just did not want to work out. I would have preferred a root canal over working out. But, what helped were my "girls", friends from work with whom I worked out. We supported each other and pushed each other. There were times one of use would have to drag the other to the gym. We kept each other sane. I would reward myself with non-food rewards to celebrate small milestones, like when I could walk two miles in 30 minutes, or when I reached my goal of working out two days a week.

Sadly, I lost my job at the end of '06 and fell into a huge depression. I spent the majority of '07 getting myself back emotionally and mentally. I also had some illnesses, injuries and mishaps that made working out less of a priority. Now, that I am in a better place, I am ready to get back in shape. Sadly, I regained the 20 pounds, but it's OK becuase I know that I can lose it again, and then some. When my clothes started getting a little tight, I knew I had to get back in gear.

I wanted to re-lose the weight that I gained, plus get toned. That's when I had a thought. Why not get others to join in? It makes it more do-able when you have others to support you. Many of use have the same goals, but need that extra support to make them reality. I thought about a challenge, not like a "Lets see who can lose the most, but a let's work together to make fitness part of our lives. I bounced the idea of a challenge to some folks and well, you know the rest.

Now for my challenge update...

Yesterday, I did 35 minutes on my treadmill at home. Just a steady state, no intervals or anything. It felt pretty good. The only bad thing is that my Ipod died recently, so I had to dig out some CD's to listen to while working out! I will be shopping for a new one this weekend.

So that's my story. What's yours????

Back to the gym

I'm slowly making my way back to the gym in the AM. Last week I made it there on Tuesday and Thursday. This week my goal is to make it there on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Next week, I hope to make it there Monday thru Thursday. My workout is consisting totally of weights as I become acquainted with machines at the gym. Eventually I will add cardio into my workouts. I need to figure out how much time it takes me to do the weights, cardio, shower, change, and get to work. I'll get there.

One thing I was worried about with this move back home was the abundance of good food. Food that I was raised eating that can really cause some weight gain. Well, I've been doing good and maintaining my weight even with minimal workouts. I'm not going to be complacent though. I know that those pounds could easily creep up on me and I don't want that too happen.

I kept one pair of pants from 60 pounds ago. I have those pants to remind me of where I came from and where I don't want to go back too. I will continue to monitor my eating and workout so that I go there again.

Still pushing

So it has been a few weeks since I was in the space and I'm still at it. Well, at it after a week hiatus. My gym was closed last week and I decided to take a break also. Plus, I went out of town for a few days beforehand. I don't think I am in less healthy because I took a week off from working out. I just needed a break from getting up before day in the AM. I continued to monitor my food intake and mainly ate when I was hungry and portioned my food accordingly.

I did, however, miss working out. I missed the adrenaline rush I get from a good workout and the energy it gives me over the course of the day. Therefore, I'm back at it. Yesterday I did my workout DVD, The Biggest Loser, and today I was back in the gym. I did chest and biceps. Tonight I will do the DVD again. I'm back to doing two-a-day workouts.

I'm hoping to see a difference in my middle section with this routine. I'm sure I will, as I've seen a little bit already.

Not going back

I went on a mini-purging binge in my closet today. I've realized over the past few weeks that there were clothes in there that I hadn't worn at all this summer. I have a policy that if I don't wear the item that season it needs has to go. Well, I was in the mood to do a mini-cleaning today and I did so.

After I pulled out 4-5 shirts that have gone unworn this summer I realized why I was wearing those particular shirts. They were size XXL and XL for the most part. Well, I'm no longer in need of that size. Not that I can't wear those shirts, but I just didn't. I have put on one or two of them over the summer and I quickly switch it out for a more fitting (as in, form fitting) shirt. Due to my weight loss, I kind of swim around in those shirts. I'm not to fond of that. Therefore, anything that was sized XXL or XL had to go. Overall, I packed up 17 shirts.

I also rid myself of 3 skirts and 5 pants that were sized 16.

Some may say, aren't you moving a bit fast with that? What if you gain the weight back? Well, that is not option. I've been holding steady over the past 6 months in a 12 or a 14 depending on the cut of the clothes. I'm firmly in a size large for shirts and sometimes a medium (depending on the cut).

I'm not going back and I see no reason to hold onto those clothes. I've packed them and will donate them to goodwill tomorrow.

Good riddance to those larger sizes.
Cross-posted on my blog.

Working it out!

Though I have accomplished my goal of completing a 10K, I am not done. I continue to press on with my workouts and eating healthy. Over the last few weeks I've made a conscious effort to up my water intake and get in 5 servings of fruits & veggies each day. I just about always do good on the H2O bit, but the fruits & veggies fall short some days.

I'm scheduled to run in another 10K at the end of October. In the mean time, I'm back in the gym M-Th doing a variety of workouts over the course of the week: stairmaster, treadmill, running, weight training, recumbent bike, etc. I'll get back into full training mode for th 10K at the end of August.

The great outdoors

Our treadmill has been out of commission for that last two weeks in need of a new walking belt. We a have a really nice treadmill, but it is getting old (almost 8 years). I really appreciate having it, because I can walk in any weather (unless there is a power outage), it's in the basement, so it's nice and cool in the summer, I can watch movies while I walk, and I don't have to leave the house. Since I couldn't take an indefinite hiatus from exercise, I had to go back to walking outside. The advantage of this is that I walk fast and longer outside (I have to hold on to the treadmill so I don't fall off and I never walk as fast with my arms stationary). The last week was OK for this, because I started going really early (6am) and it was still in the 50s then. However, we keep having August-like weather, so it was on the warm side and really muggy this morning. I am keeping it up, but wonder how long it will take before our new belt arrives! I miss my air-conditioned exercising that could be done later than 6:00!

In other news, I am back to losing to weight since I have been sticking to my WW plan more strictly than I was. I am now down 20.5 pounds since January. I had hoped to lose more by now, but that 'break' put things on hold for a while. I don't have anything else too exciting to report. I hope everyone is having a good & healthy summer!

Checking in...

Well, I have been quite absent from this blog lately, so I thought I should check in. I took a bit of a hiatus from WW during all of my travel last month. Last week, I went back to keeping track of my "points" and everything again. The good news is that I still lost 1/2 pound during the diet break and have not gained any weight back. I'm sure it will take a couple weeks of sticking to the plan again before I lose any more weight. I am currently 18.5 pounds down from where I started in January. I would like to lose another 25 pounds, which would get me to a BMI below 24 (I'm still at 28 now). I don't use BMI as my sole indicator for weight loss- my goal puts me at a weight I haven't seen since before I started my PhD and low enough that it wouldn't be a crisis if I gained a few pounds occasionally. I know it will take a while, but I am hoping to make some good progress this summer. It's been difficult getting back into it since the break, but I feel like I am getting into the swing of it again this week. In a way, my success is part of the problem- I can wear clothes that never fit me last summer (no more plus sizes and I had to buy new smaller underwear!), so the motivation to eat less isn't as strong- even though I have a LONG way to go. I'm walking on the treadmill 3 or 4 times a week, too (I didn't exercise as much when I traveled either). I'll keep you posted! Congrats to RageyOne for all of the running- that's awesome!