Sunday, June 12, 2011

sorry...can you repeat the question??

Still here and kickin'...more than half way through this challenge. Have to say that I have a few things that I can be proud of and have been doing well. First, water...I have been getting my daily water intake, half my body weight in ounces. Second, exercise...Last week I got my 10 miles plus daily Turbo workouts. This week we did a lot of walking in Boston and got Turbo workouts in and two Bootcamp sessions, so check on the exercise.
So how about food??...I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?? How...about...food?? I dont think I understand the question...
Ok, ok so food has not been great. Two days in Boston at the beginning of the week set things off...supportive eating in Boston, isnt that an oximoron?? Well it kind of opened up the flood gates. And if you have read my past posts I have said that exercise without supportive eating is a waste of time. It pretty much went out the window this week but I plan on being right back to it this coming week. So keep on truckin'!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

A pat on the back

I have to start by saying that I am actually....wait for it....wait for it...PROUD of myself for this week! I very rarely say anything like that or feel that way about myself. Its much easier and more comfortable to give praise rather than receive it. I have to admit it feels pretty good:)
So I set a couple of goals for myself this week and I reached both of them!
First I set a goal of jogging/walking 10 miles this week. Monday I got 4 miles in because I went for a 2 mile jog than a 2 mile walk with my kids. Tuesday-Friday after school myself and a couple of lovely and supportive colleagues got together and did a TurboFire DVD then went out and jogged the CornField Mile. I did some laps around the track before and after to meet the 10 mile goal but I did it! By Friday we were feeling really good, not just physically but mentally. We were just super appy that we got in 5 straight days of exercise.
My second goal was to drink the required amount of water every day...for those who are not sure what that might be, its half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 200lbs, you drink 100 ounces of water per day. It was a challenge...actually take that back...it really wasnt bad because I had one bottle that was about 32 ounces and I knew how many I had to fill and drink. It was easy to keep track of. And I got in every ounce if not more, especially on those 2 scorching days mid week.
Eating was pretty good. The closest to 90% compliance I have been in awhile.
There are about 6 weeks left in this 90 day challenge and I want to be in a good position to do warp speed in another week or so. If I cant do 90% compliance then warp speed (100%) will be impossible. So my goals this week are going to be very similar.
We are going to Boston with our 5th graders Monday and Tuesday so I will stick to 90% compliance as much as I can. Exercise goals will be the same. 10 miles-we do alot of walking when we are there so I have no doubt I will get 2 miles per day in. And water will be the same as long as I use my same strategy of using my one bottle and keeping track with that.
Have a great week!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Almost half way???

Holy $%^#...we are almost half way through this challenge! This is the start of week 6. I'd like to be able to say that time flies when your having fun but its more like time flies when you procrastinate! I have been thinking a lot about this challenge lately and how it seems I have not been taking it seriously or that I am not as focused as I was originally and not anywhere near as focused as I was when I was doing the Mooser competition. My friend Lisa, who is doing the challenge with me has been in the same boat. We dont seem to have any will power...where the hell does it go?? vacation? And every bad choice has a justification...where the hell did that come from? REALLY?? I feel like my body wants to keep going and improving but my head needs a kick in the ass (is that possible?)...my attitude and motivation have regressed into old thoughts and habits. SSSOOOOO, what is it gonna take to get through the next half of this challenge??! I wish I freakin' knew...Because right now I feel like I have nothing to show for the last 5 weeks.
I was looking at my goals I had when I started this challenge...they were not very detailed but they were solid goals and I dont know that I can achieve them given the slacking off I have been doing recently. So, heres what I am going to do...Lisa inspired me to re-evaluate things and add some things to my goals. I am thinking that my goals have only been for the end results and I need something a bit more immediate, so I am going to set weekly goals and then keep the ones for the end but maybe add to them.
Week 6:
*Off week for bootcamp so I need some alternatives. I am setting a goal of running 10 miles between now and Saturday. I have been runnig off and on...dont care for it a whole lot but Ben recently posted a blog about getting through a plateau (very good post @ benwarstler.com) and adding more straight cardio was one strategy.
*I think that food wise...again my weakness...I need to be better than 90% compliant because knowing about those cheats messes with ym head. So I get one cheat this week and the rest is supportive. I think I will take some snack and meal ideas from warp speed. I will also use fitday.com to track food.
*WATER: I have got to drink more water so I will be drinking half my body weight in ounces...dont convert your weight to ounces and then take half...yeah I did that at first and was like "uuhhh my eyeballs would be floatin"
*Another strategy from Ben's post was to work out at a different time of day. I will try to get up earlier and do something but I already get up at 515. But it would mean that I could get 2 workouts in a day, before school and after.
I think that these goals are reasonable and attainable and will make a difference if I can stick to them. Its not coming up with the goals, its actually following through with them that I need to work on.
OK...this is Jule signing off...live long and prosper...yup I just Star Treked you:)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

week 5

The last couple of weeks have seemed to drag but now that I'm into week 5, I am like "Whoah! Already??" I'm still plugging along. I am still feelinglike for some reason I am not taking this as serioulsy as I thought I would...I dont know if its because its 90 days and I am one of those people who think "oh I still have 80 days, I'll do better tomorrow" And its gonna bite me in the ass.
The lovely scale is once again doing its yo-yo thing and I'm sure its due to my food intake. Even though I am following 90% compliance, its still really hard. That little devil part to my conscience is still winning alot of the time. Why cant I realize that I am NOT one of those people who can eat whatever I want?! I'm also a justifier...yeah you know what I'm talking about. "I worked out so I can eat this" Yeah if you want to undo all the hard work you just did. See I can talk the talk but I need to seriously practice walking the walk.
I am going to try...no no wait let me rephrase that. I AM GOING TO start using Fitday.com again to help track my food. It's a free online food/exercise journal. Once you put the food in, it calculates your % of protein, calories, fat, etc for the day and displays them in charts and such. I know that I do much better when I am tracking my food intake. I need to face the fact that I cant just wing it.
On a more positive note (as I feel like the last couple of posts have been me bashing myself) I did the retest for the bootcamp challenge and was pretty happy with my results.

Pullups-I couldnt do one, even assisted at the beginning and I still couldnt. They look so easy when others do them but its really not. And its not about your arm strength at all really. Its your abs, back, shoulders and arms all working together. I'll keep working on them:)
Pushups- I did 10 on my toes to start and I wanted 15 on my retest but got 14. Nothing to sneeze at considering that it took me awhile to even be able to do 1 on my toes.
Burpees- My least favorite exercise...I had 27 in 2 minutes to start and I wanted 40 for my retest. I got 37. I was going at a really good pace for the first minute but after that my legs felt like someone had filled them with lead and I could hardly move them. If I could have kept my pace, I would have smoked my number BUT I am still proud that I improved. I really need to start giving myself credit for things. I dont do that enough.
Have a great hump day!!! And yes I mean mid-week geez get your minds out of the gutter:)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

sabotage

Self sabotage to be more specific. Hopefully I spelled that correctly:) When I think of sabotage I think of someone deliberately $%@#ing things up for themselves or for someone else. For me, I have no one to blame but myself.
Let me explain...I have been "stuck" at a plateau for seriously about a year. Since I finished the Mooser competition I have not lost a pound more. I think my body has still changed and toned but scale-wise...nada, zip, zilch. I have gained about 10 lbs back and have been yo-yoing with the other 5 but a plateau in every sense of the word. And when i think about why I have only one person that I can hold responsible...ME. I fell like I have been doing a pretty good job with exercise. On a scale of one 1 to 10, probably a 7 or so. It's WAY more than I used to...so what's the problem then you ask? FOOD!! That's what. Again, compared to what I was eating a couple of years ago, I eat much better. And I am trying to eat 90% supportive...easier said than done. I have found that I dont seem to have that little voice that shouls tell me to put the bad stuff back or walk away. Actually, I take that back...I do have that voice but it's only a whisper that happens like once as I am thinking about eating a cookie or two. It's not a strong voice at all and is easly overpowered by the much louder voice that is justifying eating the cookie. I feel like one of those cartoons where the angel pops up on one shoulder and the devil on the other and their arguing back and forth about what I should do...only the angel hardly ever wins.
Why is this so important??? Because I worked my ass off when I exercise...I give it my all. I also try my hardest to get 5-6 days of exercise in a week. I feel like I have been successful with that. But its all for nothing if I cant get the food thing down. I am great during the day at work but it all goes out the wondow once I am home. Supper I am usually pretty good but its the time from after supper til bed...I'm talking like an hour or so!! But its a big deal if you're shoveling in crap right before bed when your body is recovering. 80% of your weight loss success comes from nutrition and eating properly. You can lose weight just by eating supportively. I personally wouldnt recommend it because you need to build muscle by exercising and that muscle will help burn more fat and keep it off. But again, its all for nothing if you're not eating supportively.
So, I need to work on getting that whisper much louder or helping the angel win way more often. I KNOW that is why I have been stuck. I am good for about a week and things start to peter out. I need to work on my follow through...MAN ain't that the truth! That applies to so many parts of my life right now!
Game on!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Yup...still here

So its been a few days but I have been working hard...just been busy. Its hard to find even 10 minutes to post. This wraps up week 3...feels like it has been longer. I exercised Sunday through Thursday...took Friday off and did Bootcamp this morning.
When I walked into Bootcamp I almost walked right back out...15:15 Tabata was on the board. Now for those of you who are not sure what that is, allow me to explain. The 15:15 stands for 15 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest...alternating between 2 exercises for...50 yes I said 50 rounds. And what were the 2 exercises you ask?? Well it wouldn't be Tabata without burpees, lateral jump burpees to be exact. The other was Goblet kneel to stand...this wonderful exercise is where you hold a weight right under your chin and kneel down then stand back up as quickly as possible. I'll give you a minute to think about those two exercises...rotating between them in a 15:15 format for 50 rounds........................................................................................................got it?
Yeah, I was not exactly happy to see that when I walked in. Mary was teaching and knew from the look on my face that I was not happy. She was very supportive though. Which brings me to my main subject of this blog...support.
This workout is one I dislike because it is VERY hard for me and like most people, we dislike things we cant do or suck at. Well this is one of those things for me. Burpees I can handle but the kneel to stands are something I constantly struggle with. I'm not sure if its my knees or what but I have a very hard time with them and I so envy those who can do them easily.
As I was doing these in class this morning I must have had my disgust and frustration all over my face because Mary picked up on it...she told me to have positive thoughts while I was working out and that bad thoughts can affect your workout.
I took it to heart and started thinking more positively and low and behold, the workout started going better. And it also helped that everyone in class was encouraging each other because 15:15 is such a tough workout. We were all struggling towards the end but shouted out to one another and it was just an awesome sense of support and community. It made all the difference in the world and I feel blessed to have such wonderful people to workout with.
Supoort, support, support...dont have it??? GET IT!!!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Day 15...I think

It feels like much longer...and I am finding it hard to keep track of the days so I wanted to just throw out a quick one tonight. First, those of you who follow me on facebook know that I am down 5 lbs!! Granted, it was weight that I had regained and most of it was probably water weight BUT i'll take it!
So overall I am doing well with nutrition...I need to work on my water intake though. I am not drinking enough. I did learn however NOT to drink 2 full glasses before leaving for school which is a 40 minute ride!! No accidents but damn close!! I had to stop at Cumberlands and use theirs...probably should have just used a bush! ;)
I have also been working on my challenge exercises: pull ups, push ups and burpees. The pull ups are killing me...my goal is one by the end but they are so hard!
Pushups I try to do one more each time
Burpees-again I try to keep beating my time so I am confident I will improve at the end of this challenge but how much I'm not sure...regardless I will do my best.