Motivational Monday

Weekly Weigh-In: Week Four

Today’s weigh was a big, fat disappointment! I’m not sure if these weekly weigh-ins are more detrimental than helpful. We’ll see….

I just watched a very inspirational video by Mindy’s Fitness Blogthat really touched me. She talked about setting New Year’s resolutions and how it is more important to set monthly goals. HELLO! I’m doing great in this area!

I started taking a nutrition course this week. I also started Spin classes a few weeks ago. I know all about S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting yet I still allow that number on the scale to discourage me. So, as January is coming to an end and it’s quite apparent I will not be where I would like to be on the scale, I’m still off to a very good start with my goals.

I will continue focusing on my daily, weekly, and monthly goals and my yearly goal to be at a healthy weight will take care of itself.

Motivational Monday

Week Three: Weekly Weigh-In

No weight loss this week. I’m not surprise because I did not go to the gym at all this week. I was so busy with work I couldn’t get it together. I am grateful that I didn’t gain. My food plan has been very good. I usually do really well when I take the time to do my food prep. Yesterday I made broccoli salad and turkey chili. Right now I have salmon patties in the oven and I’m going to sauté some green beans in olive oil and garlic.

I’m supposed to be running in the MLK Day 5K tomorrow. I did not train at all! All I have done is complain that it’s too cold to run. I hate running on the treadmill. I also have to cancel my plans to participate in the Color Run because it’s the same weekend I plan to surprise my best friend for her 50th birthday.
I need to find another 5K soon and get my butt in gear!

Motivational Monday

Week Two: Weekly Weigh-In

I lost one pound! There's a huge part of me that is disappointed. There's another part of me that has seen those pics of a pound of fat and is very pleased that stuff is gone from my body! I'm continuing with my plan to add more fruits and veggies to eat meals. I am also working on my daily water intake. Some days are harder than others. My body is getting used to it and the constant trips to the bathroom! I need to do a better job of drinking first thing in the morning instead of trying to get it all in at the end of the day. I'm making progress. Spin class was fun! I'm looking forward to class next Thursday. My meal planning wasn't so great. I ran out of food by Friday. As a result, I ended up eating not one, not two, but three energy/protein bars on Saturday. I guess it's better than fast food but I do see the opportunity. I should have purchased fruit instead of bars. However, I was concerned about getting some protein.

Nonscale Victories

Since I have been so frustrated with the scale, I saw a post on Facebook about celebrating nonscale victories (NSVs). It dawn on me that I do not do this enough. So here are my recent NSVs: 1. Finally completed my goal of being able to run a mile nonstop 2. Joined a gym 3. Started strength training three times a week 4. A friend gave me a pair of jeans that were too big for her and there are almost too big for me! 5. Completed a spin class 6. Learned how to swim 7. Planked over 1 minute 8. Ran (with the exception of the hills) a 5K 9. Complete a set of 100 squats I'm looking forward to added to the list this year!

The Good, The Bad, The Encouraging

I just returned from my doctor's appointment. I like my new doctor. I think Dr. G did a great job in choosing her to take over her patients. She has the same approach about prescribing as little medication as possible. Well, according to her scale, I've gained five pounds since my visit three months ago. The encouraging news is that she thinks it may be due to the results of my thyroid test. My TSH is 4.21. I think that's the highest it's been. Anyhow, she wants it to be around 2.0. So, she's going to work on tweaking the dosage on my Synthroid. This gives me encouraging hope that my efforts have not been in vain. I truly believe I've been giving it my all during my workouts. Hopefully, getting my thyroid regulated will help kick my metabolism in gear. The bad news is that my A1c went it. Last visit it was 6.0. The visit it was 6.1. It's not that big of a deal but my goal is to get it under 6.0. My plan of action is to make sure I'm getting enough protein and work on paying more attention to my carb intake. The good news is that she's cutting my cholestoerol meds in half! My total cholesterol is still 100. My HDL is 65 and my LDL is 19. So I have some work to do. I already set a goal to add more green veggies to my food plan. I think this will help lower my A1c. There's not that much I can do about my thyroid besides take my medication. I will continue to monitor my fat intake and eat my oatmeal for breakfast.

Motivational Monday

Week One - Weekly Wrap Up

I just weigh myself and I didn't lose a thing! I am in such a quandry about this weighing in. I purchased a Fitbook to help me keep track of my workouts while at the gym. I also use My Fitness Pal as my food diary. I share my food diary with my OA sponsor each evening. Because I attend OA, I do my best not to focus so much on my weight and focus on working my food and exercise plan. The thought is that if I'm working my programs as planned the weight will take care of itself.

I like that there's an weekly wrap up in Fitbook. I don't know if I'll be doing a weekly wrap up here each week but I can see my opportunities already:

The Good:

1. I made it to the gym 3x this week as planned.
2. I did not give in to my cravings for potato chips.
3. I successfully implemented my "eating out" action plan.
4. I followed my eating plan.

The Not-So-Good

1. I did not complete the cardio part of my Saturday workout.
2. I did not reach my daily water intake goal each day.

Ways to improve

1. I need to start drinking water first thing in the morning. I tend to sip on two cups of water until midmorning before even thinking about water. The best way for me to meet my daily goal is to make sure I drink 16 oz. first thing in the morning BEFORE drinking my coffee. Because I love my coffee, I have more incentive to drink water. It's already a given that I will be drinking water at the gym so this strategy will help me meet my goal.

2. I'm not too worried about not doing cardio on Saturday. I wasn't feeling so well so I give myself credit for showing up.

3. According to My Fitness Pal, I should be burning at least 400 calories each workout session. This is a HUGE opportunity for me. I don't always wear my HRM to the gym (perhaps that should be a goal) and when I do I usually burn around 350 calories. I really need my HRM to keep an accurate record of how many calories I'm burning.

It's Time to Take a Spin

When I joined LA fitness in November, I chose this specific gym because the classes are included in the membership fee and it’s one of the few gyms around here that has an indoor pool. One of my intentions in January is to begin taking spin and aquafit classes. In preparation, I did a cardio workout in the spin room to get used to riding on a spin bike. I was surprised by how different was from riding a regular stationary bike. It took me a few tries but I think I finally adjusted the bike to “comfortable” set up. I viewed a few YouTube videos last night and I think I may need to raise the handles a bit. Overall, it was a pretty hard workout. I’m pretty sore today but not so sore that I cannot walk. I’m going to do a few more workouts on my own. While I’m feeling nervous and a bit self-conscious about taking a group class, I am excited that I am in enough shape to even consider taking a 45-min cardio class.