Well, well, well.

Guess what! I lost another pound, so this sleeping thing and less working out is really working for me. Yay that marks my 20lb loss since April, that is pretty pathetic if you think about it, less than 3lbs a month, but on the other hand I can run and do push-ups like never before, so I guess it is ok.

I found out (I may have mentioned before) my work pays over $700 a year to me to take fitness classes at the on-site university pavilion (which has every thing you can imagine and then some). I have been taking classes on my lunch at work, but when I am busy it is tight so I have already started to pick after work classes out for after Christmas. I am going to quit boot camp though, they promised it would be indoors by now and I did push-ups in the wet snow at just sub-freezing temperatures the other day because they still haven't secured an indoor location NOT COOL people. I guess it wouldn't be so bad except when you sweat and then cool down and get hypothermia!!! Well I still DID it!! :-) Plus with my new plan I am working out only once per day instead of two to three times and losing weight and not feeling exhausted everyday so it is a good routine to keep steady I think.

Anyway Jan/Feb boot camp will be sub-zero (and I mean that in degrees F) and there is no way I am working out outside then.

I am sorry I haven't been posting I am in my last week of doing two jobs in the time of one, not even sure any more what exactly my new job is, or which way is up ... so fried. Hope to return to some kind of normal mental state by the end of next week if I am lucky. I'll catch up on everyone's blogs this weekend!

Huh....

Ok, I am almost afraid to post this in case I jinx myself here, but I wasn't going to weigh myself for a month while trying my doctor's new script of more rest, less working out... then I had a gathering with some other girls last night and in all the fun and excitement someone got the idea to weigh ourselves (we are all trying to lose) and I did it too. The result: I am down to 209.5 lbs. This is the lowest weight I have been in 18-months and exactly 5 lbs down since my last post on the 25th of September and that in spite of the fact we enjoyed a five course decadent meal with salty salad and soup, beef Wellington partnered with a mountain of mashed potatoes, oh and of course desert as well. (I weighed myself again this morning the day after the feast just to see and the result was consistant.) I want to be elated, I want to scream "YES!" but I feel reserved, hesitant, and unbelieving. I decided I am not going to celebrate until the end of the month and then ONLY if this continues. Yeah I feel very jaded and untrusting of this result considering my recent troubles and also on Monday I got my measurements taken by my personal trainer and they were all either the same as September 14th, or UP 0.5 inches!!! I was so upset about that, hence my resistance to celebrate.

Oh and on a side note, last Monday, September 28th I was riding my bike home from work and the wind was so strong a gust literally BLEW me off the raised bike trail, into a ditch, breaking my metal bike pedal and wrecking my knee. I took last week and this week so far off spinning, I did my toning classes twice a week and my boot camp (minus any running, jumping, or other high impact knee hurting activities), but also skipped my step aerobics and haven't been riding to work anymore (still need to fix my bike and it is below freezing every morning when I leave anyway now so I don't mind that part so much!). So let me get this straight, I injure myself and cut my workout hours literally in half... and in 12 days I lose 5 lbs?!! *twitch twitch*

Ok ok I will try to be grateful and not focus on the WTF aspect of this revelation, but please let this slump of months be over, I desperately want to have found the missing keystone to my weight loss success.

Oh really?? We need to make this HARDER?

Heather: Thanks, it is nice to have someone to commiserate with, and your empathy actually gives me hope because you have come a long way. And also you are right in that I should celebrate my health, which I know has improved because I am in the best cardiovascular health I can remember being in since I was a teen, but ... *sigh*

Cammy: Let me start by saying you are one smart woman, I read your comment and it got me thinking:
1. Ok yeah I do rest at least one day a week from all exercise, check, just my normal chores and stuff.
2. I get my thyroid checked every year, check, and it is normal (it runs in the family that is why I get it checked).
3. As to your first note - overtraining, I know it can lead to injury, but I never thought working out "too much" could inhibit weight loss, but I got to wondering... so I called my Sports Medicine Doctor and talked to him on the phone this morning, he has been treating my bike induced shoulder injury.

Here is the official Sports Medicine opinion on overtraining and weight loss from my doctor for all those interested: My doctor was kind enough to give me a phone consult on the subject and after giving him a rundown of my activity and what I have been doing and how I have been changing my routine since I started working out regularly this spring and he was firstly shocked I was able to go from nothing to what I am doing now in the amount of time I have without getting burnt out, but also he told me that overtraining can be as detrimental to weight loss as starving yourself! I was like WHAT?? (Needless to say I am still a bit skeptical.) He told me that even though I am obviously greatly increasing my fitness, that if I don’t “actively rest” enough each night and then once or twice a week, with my current routine my body might not be able to recover properly between workouts. He said this can actually cause physiological stress to my body that makes it respond in a similar way as it would to reducing calories too drastically. He told me that if I keep increasing too much too quickly, instead of just gradually increasing my fitness and allowing my body enough time to rest and adapt, then it will think it is in a stressful survival situation and hold on to its stores more than if I were allowing it to adjust properly. So he told me to cut my workout hours a bit, sleep more nightly, rest AT LEAST one day a week, and reduce the intensity every other day of my current workouts and check back in a month to see if I have had any progress. This also might be why when I was doing less, however consistently last year, I lost more inches on my belly in less than 1/4 of the time... food for thought there, I don't know how accurate it is, but I guess it can't hurt to try his advice for a month and see if it helps since what I am doing isn't.

Anyway, who woulda thunk you can work out too much to lose weight?! Could losing weight POSSIBLY become any more complicated and challenging?! Forgive me a long drawn out scream of frustration:
AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Down in the dumps...

Well, I think I have just about HAD it with my weight. I am back up 4-lbs for the last two and a half weeks. It won’t budge again, that is up two pounds from my “plateau” weight. I have tired everything with my diet, I have tried eating less, I have tried eating more. I just don’t know what to do and I am so frustrated. I have only lost 14-lbs as of today from my highest weight that works out to be about 2.5-lbs a MONTH, or just over half a pound a week. That is just horrid. Especially considering I haven’t essentially had a net loss since the beginning of July so in 12-weeks I have not lost any weight. I just want to cry. You know it isn’t like I am down to that stubborn last 10-pounds, I am still in the “obese” range of my BMI chart, I have plenty to lose I have to lose about 14-lbs just to get into the “overweight” range, let alone the almost 50-lbs I need to lose to get into my “healthy” weight range. What is wrong with me?

I read about people who are losing just by walking, I walked for a month, barely lost, but did, then I started riding my bike a few miles a day, lost a tiny bit more, then I started boot camps three times a week, lost a couple more pounds... gradually add ing more and more workouts I have now decided over the last three weeks to “switch it up” and shock my body so I am currently:
1 - riding my bike a few miles daily to about 2.5 hours a week
2 - spinning twice a week for 1-hour each class
3 - weight lifting twice a week for 1-hour each class
4 - taking a 1-hour aerobics class per week
5 - boot camps twice per week for 1-hour
6 - 1-hour training session with my personal trainer per week
That works out to be over 10-hours per week of intense physical training, and I got nothing to show for it. Not a damn ounce lost, I instead GAINED back some weight. W T F?! I am so upset. Who do I have to KILL to lose weight?! I am working SO hard at getting in shape. And yes I have noted changes in my physique, but I don’t want to be “obese” anymore, I wasn’t before so I know it isn’t just my frame or whatever, and unless I start body building professionally, there is only so much damned muscle I can pack on.

I am just so disappointed. What am I doing wrong? I have had professional evaluations of my diet, I keep changing my workouts to keep my body guessing, and I keep increasing the intensity of my workouts, why can’t I lose weight? I am even trying hard to make sure I sleep enough because I heard that can be a big inhibiter. Does anyone have any experience with such a long problem despite hard work? I mean just by watching her diet my sister lost every week and got to her goal in a year, she hates sweating and refuses to work out, but I am stuck no matter how much I work out and had barely lost anything in 5.5-months. Even just two years ago I was able to make more progress in three weeks than I made now in three months at a fraction of the effort (at first I attributed this to just having done aerobics and no toning, so I was thinking this time it is just that I am really gaining muscle, but this is getting ridiculous.) Sorry for the never ending rant, I am just beyond frustrated.

This week I am eating:
Breakfast – Protein shake with skim milk

Snack – 1 instant packet of oatmeal + 1 piece of fruit

Lunch – Four slices of grilled eggplant rolled up with fat free cream cheese (packed with herbs and sun dried tomatoes + a handful of Kashi whole grain crackers

Snack – Fat free yogurt + 1 piece of fruit

Dinner – Homemade chicken, corn, tomato and veggitable soup

Desert – Protein shake with skim milk

Total Calories: 1,550
Total Grams Fat: 40
Total Grams Carbs: 200
Total Grams Protein: 105
Total Grams Fiber: 30

Crazy insane, or insane crazy?

I am very bad, I haven’t posted in so long, I just had some of the worst couple weeks at work since I started there. A lot of mean politics and clicks (I found out that even if someone doesn’t really have anything against you directly in our office, they will treat you according to who you associate with and who they have a beef against). A major fall-out with one of the doctors I work for based on my refusing to be his scapegoat when he made a big mistake, oh and I got a new job! Same place, same department but upstairs both physically and metaphorically. I am so excited, I won’t start there for a few weeks yet as my soon to be new boss is on holiday, but I had an interview and got the position anyway.

Yesterday I FINALLY got ALL the mountains of paperwork, inspections, and fees taken care of for getting my car imported and registered! I now am the proud owner of a Canadian license plate!

Also I just want to take a moment to thank Cammy first off for the bright idea of packing my lunches for the weekend as I do for work and especially for the wonderful Pearl of Wisdom she sent me. I have it displayed in my office and a lot of women who work with me ask about it and I keep directing them to the website for more information, I think so far it has been a great conversation opener for getting the word out.

Fitness wise, I was doing pretty great until this week, Friday during my workout in the evening I started to feel a little nauseous and then I felt ok on Saturday and then really had an upset stomach on Sunday, then on Monday I was fine until I worked out and that sent me into feeling very sick. Tuesday I went to work, but left quite soon as I was totally nauseated and then I was ok by the afternoon. I thought I would be able to go to work today, but last night I got really sick again and couldn’t sleep almost all night, so I called in this morning even though I started to feel better again I was 1-totally exhausted from the night and needed rest, 2-I am worried it will just get bad again any second and finally 3-I am concerned if it is some sort of stomach flu I don’t want to spread it around at work, that is what sick days are for right? I feel a little guilty when ever I call in sick (even if this is only the second time this year), but my logical side knows this is for the best and hopefully if I don’t regress again in the next 16 hours or so, I will be able to get back at it tomorrow.

So except for the last several days it was pretty well, I was so proud of myself on Sunday, I went to dinner with some folks from Seattle and we went to a really good steak house and I just had a small serving of meat and a side of fresh mushrooms, no butter, no mashed potatoes, no nothing else. I am usually a super sucker for eating out, I almost never do it, so then I think it is so rare I can just go crazy and I always allow myself to, but not Sunday! It might sound small but it was a major moment for me.

On a last note I ended up buying a new mattress. My previous one is only about 5years old, but it was too firm and I am having so much trouble sleeping. I slept a few nights on the spare bed which was the same line, but a softer model and it was so much better. So I will try it out for a couple of weeks before I am sure it is the solution to my sleeping problems. :-)

Another "blah" day.

I have worked out really hard this week. I started with my personal trainer on Monday, she is hard core, my upper body is sore in every place and from every angle! Although I am a little frustrated - I am so tired, but have been having a really hard time sleeping. I just can’t seem to get comfortable and my injured shoulder has been acting up a bit. I have tired to take care on the workouts (done pretty well considering I was doing boot camps for a month after my injury without provoking it), but now it is going through this stiffening up stage regardless of the stretching my physical therapist has prescribed me.

Otherwise I am just feeling a little lost, workouts and diet are pretty much on plan, although I really need to rein in my weekends. I am so good when I pack my lunch for the week and then bam, I get stuck without a plan on the weekend and I just munch and munch and munch. I try to keep unhealthy snacks out of my house for this reason, but all the healthy snacks in the world are just worthless if you eat them with no sense at all of moderation. Then it just comes down to calories are calories!

My diet this week is oatmeal and skim milk for breakfast, fruit/V8/yogurt for snacks; 2.5cups mixed raw veggies (broc, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes), 1-cup berries, and 100calories worth of aip-popped plain popcorn for lunch; whole wheat pasta and homemade turkey sasuage, bell pepper, onion, mushroom, garlic, and olive red pasta sauce for supper.

I am pretty sure I am feeling a little in a slump because I am so tired, but I just wish things would go faster. I feel like I just keep increasing and increasing my workouts and yet other people who were just in the boot camp with me and doing nothing else saw better results in a shorter amount of time even if they were already much smaller than me!! Grrrr! I have to keep telling myself that I only really starting kicking myself into high and I mean HIGH gear on the 22nd of June (just over 8-weeks now), and I know that it took me a lot longer than 8-weeks to put this weight on, but the part of me that is impatient and upset is not consoled with logic! What is a girl to do?

I was advised that a time released protein shake before bed can help with muscle ache, recovery, and development, although I doubt any of us girls are trying to body-build, do any of you have any comments on this (i.e. brand recommendations) or perhaps YOUR trainers (if you have one)? Stay strong ladies.

New Toy

Yay for blog buds who are just terrific and supportive, you gals rock!

Also yay to my new toy! I am so in love with it, it is silly, a little obsessive, way more expensive than I would have ever spent on myself, but it is sooo cool! I programmed in my physical stats and based on that, my heart rate, my pace, the incline (yay for GPS), and so on it tells me right at the end of my workout how many calories I burnt. For instance between my first two workouts today I have already burnt over 600-calories and hope to just top my 800-calories with my bike ride home. Most of my lunch workouts keep me in a high HR zone (80-90% of my max) and my rides usually are in the 70-80% range for fat burn, also my boot camp is about half and half. So I am rocking it out. I have to admit KNOWING just how hard I have been working and being able to really examine and SEE that everyday has been a huge motivator: I feel so proud because I am not sitting there thinking, well probably it wasn’t long enough, probably I didn’t work out hard enough to be as many caloris as I calculated, now I just know it! :-)

I did my jog, stairs, power-walk today and it was great, a tad chilly and stormy, but so worth it. I also forgot a sweater when I came to work today and froze my little bum off on the ride in and then at the start and end of my lunch workout.

I have done fairly well today for food; I ran out of my beloved bananas and need to pick some up at the store tonight. I am going camping and canoeing tomorrow through Saturday so I need to pick up some stuff to roast on the fire. We are star gazing and I am so excited. Anyway I ate a small serving of oatmeal with a glass of skim milk for breakfast, beans and barely soup (home made) for lunch, a V8 (sad substitute for my banana!) and I have yogurt for a snack and borsh for supper. Last night I had some fresh baked whole wheat bread. Not the best supper but it was so good and I was craving hot bread so badly I just gave in.

This weekend is diet overhaul time. I just have been studying hard on the weeknights and haven’t had time yet but I know an update can help ensure I really DO blast through that damned plateau. Thanks for the cheering. I will let you know how the lovely camping goes.