Tag: weight watchers

You have to start somewhere…

Posted on Posted in Fitness and DietTagged

Since I’m trying to kick my own ass into getting into shape, I thought I’d hold myself to blogging my exercise this week. My promise to myself is to try each 10 minute workout on the 5 disks of the WeightWatchers PointsPlus Fitness Series with Jennifer Cohen.

Yesterday I did the Cardio Basic, which unfortunately did a number on my knee. I am planning on asking my doc for a PT prescription so I don’t make it any worse. I decided to do the Upper Body Boot Camp 10 minute beginner workout to give my knee a break.

So far, this video series is challenging, but not overwhelming. Yesterday’s 10 minutes left me with just a little bit of muscle soreness, but not enough to deter me from doing it again today. This, I think, is key. The program is a slow ramp-up process. I mean, seriously, after being sedentary for so long (thanks, pregnancy and injury!), who is going to be able to do a full-on 60 minute work out, even if it is “just yoga.” Yoga, even if it doesn’t hurt when you do it, if you just started, can make it hard to move the next day.

The reason I haven’t been going out on walks for exercise, or doing a 10 or 20 minute video, is because I figured it wasn’t worth it. I might as well be sitting down, watching TV. Perhaps just 10 minutes, even if it is only 10 minutes, is what I need to get back to my goal of being in better shape.

Then there’s the, “well, I plan on thinking about the next kid in a year, by the time I lose weight and get in shape, I’ll be pregnant again!” But then there’s the opportunity to make sure my next pregnancy is even more healthy than before. Also, I’ve become more concerned about health and longevity now I have the little guy in my life. I really want to cut down my sugar and refined carb intake (which is hard in Girl Scout Cookie season.)

But anyway, day 2, 10 minutes done, and maybe a walk later. You have to start somewhere… (and I started my training for a half-marathon at 10 minutes of running, so, there ya go.)

Dragging (myself out)

Posted on Posted in Fitness and Diet, MotherhoodTagged , ,

Motherhood is hard. I did not have any idea what I was getting myself into. Mind you, I have no regrets, as that my son is pure awesome. I am, however, tired and finding my equilibrium.

The kiddo and I had a fall at about 6 wks, and that was quite a blow to my body and my mind. Within the next few weeks, my world shrunk. To say the least, I’ve made a lot of excuses as to why I can’t do whatever it is I need to do, including exercise.

I re-committed to WeightWatchers a few weeks ago – and when I say commit, I mean, go to meetings. I’ve been having trouble getting back into exercising for a few reasons, some being physical. Since my fall, my right knee (injured in high school, thanks color guard/marching band!) has been really painful, and my left hip (which went wonky during my pregnancy) is still wonky. And finally, I’m just not the superwoman I was. Mind you, I had a kickass birth, but I couldn’t run a half marathon right now.

I purchased the WeightWatchers PointsPlus Fitness Series with Jennifer Cohen 5 DVD set. It comes with (on each disk) a 10 minute beginner, 15 minute express and 30 minute full workout, and a plan to get started. This week, I’m doing 5 days of 10 minutes. I’m writing this because I just finished my first 10 minutes, which included a warmup and cooldown. I’m hoping that this may be a start of getting back on track.

We’ll see how it goes!

Drinking Game? Maybe not…

Posted on Posted in Food and DrinkTagged , , ,

I’ve been slowly not-adjusting to the new Weight Watchers. It’s still the same basic system, where you count points (PointsPlus) and it’s deducted from your daily/weekly allotment, but it’s all calculated differently. Most of the real-foods I eat haven’t changed in cost (proteins and fats mostly the same, whole grains just a little more), and fruits and a good number of vegetables are free! This, plus I get more to deduct from per day. What’s the killer, though, is that now my 12 oz beer costs twice as much as eating a banana! A glass of wine? Three times! And the banana is now free! It’s almost like they want me to stop drinking and just eat healthy!

So last night an out of town friend told me of a drinking game that she and her friend were planning on playing. It included large quantities of alcohol and – gasp – cheap, tasteless, light beer was the only way to survive the game.

I realized then something that my Weight Watchers leader, Phil, has said that he made the choice years ago in favor of food over alcohol. Last night, I realized I’ve made the same choice. No matter how much I like to feel tipsy, if I’m not drinking something that tastes good, that I enjoy, I’ll save those calories for something I *will* enjoy – something that looks like the glass cupcake necklace I have around my neck.

Plus side – I find that I can easily cure a sugar hangover with a brisk run!

Back and Neck

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A week ago, I did something not-so-great to my back while running. I think that it was a combo of issues, being my posture, my running in conventional shoes after a few months of running in minimalist shoes, and poor choice in cross-body day bags. Saturday, I did a 66 minute run, and on my hills coming back, I tried to keep my body to keep my head up and my posture vertical as I ran. That ended up with me waking up Sunday morning with a stiff neck, but my mid back feeling much better.

The good news was that my doctor told me last week that I didn’t have to stop running. This was good. It’s very much a part of my life, even when I don’t want to do it, it’s something I just feel better doing. I’m finally getting back into a groove where it’s not as painful to do my runs (in the moment) and stretching myself feels good. I just need to work on my posture, and I need to work on strengthening my core muscles (and doing more yoga).

And, just to put in some numbers, I did my slow run for 66 minutes, and went 5.56 mi. That’s a pace of 11:52. Not bad, for me!

In other news, I’m almost 4 lbs away from the upper end of the BMI for “normal.” While I know that’s not a judge of fitness, it means that in roughly 9 lbs,if I lose only fat, I will be down to about 20-24% body fat. This is awesome!

Rest Week and Nutrition

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Today’s plan is to go out for an easy, short jog in preparation of Sunday’s race. Last night, I roped another friend into joining me for the LIVESTRONG Challenge, and I’m excited to be coming near to this event that I’ve been training for. I have a $125 challenge on the line, so if I break 30 min for 5K, LIVESTRONG gets another $125. Pretty fantastic!

I’ve been playing a lot with Calorie Count the past couple days. They just released their iPhone app, and I’m loving the app. Their UI for the app beats the site, but I’m willing to forgive a lot of my little issues with the site for what the overall functions are. Tracking online and via smartphone isn’t new to me, as that I’ve been doing it for the past 2.5 years through Weight Watchers, but I’m getting to a point where my weightloss is slowing, and I’m feeling a need to get a true lay of the land. I’ve made huge leaps and bounds in changing my lifestyle, now I need to work on my nutrition.

What Calorie Count is allowing me to do is help me track my ratios of carbs, proteins and fats in my day and even week+, as well as key nutrients like iron, potassium, vit c, vit a, etc. What I’ve learned from tracking the past week is that I’m not getting enough protein, and am getting too much carbs and fats. I think that I often replace proteins with fats (due to the fact that I try to keep my meat and soy consumption low for ethical/medical reasons). I can’t help but wonder how this is impacting my training. I’m also not getting much iron in my day to day, which is something I hope to remedy first through leafy greans, and second by a vitamin supplement.

All this being said, the outcome calorically is also pretty stunning. To lose weight, I should be averaging about 1200 calories per day, but what I’m actually doing is 1500 calories per day. It’s a 200 calorie deficit per day from what I need to just maintain my weight, which is good, but means that might weight loss is at a snails pace.

This next week I’m going to strive for balance in my diet – something that Weight Watchers, unfortunately, doesn’t help you really track. Which is OK, considering that their big plus is the ease of their system, and that they DO encourage eating lean meats, whole foods, etc – but they leave you a bit in the dark on how to get all your nutrients in, and if you’re actually doing so.

I guess, with dieting, the one truth is the math. It doesn’t matter what system you use – all grapefruit, all frozen, prepared dinners, 2/3 meals out of milkshakes, etc. The heart of all of it is that if you put in less energy than you use, you will lose weight (barring medical/pharmaceutical interference.) You might not lose weight where you want it (lose muscle, lose all from your breasts and not your hips/thighs, etc,) but you will lose it. And in my case, no matter how much I lose, my naked body will NEVER look like a supermodels.

This is what I’m working on in my rest week. Now to get moving towards that short run I was talking about.

(BTW – still achey from Sunday’s run! Wow!)