Changing It Up

While I was at work today I started thinking about my diet.  It hasn't been the greatest since my meltdown.  Surprisingly, the scale has remained virtually the same.  But I still need to get back on track and get some control.  I start every day with the best of intentions, but somehow and some way I get off track.  I'm not completely off track like back when I started over a year ago, I've just lost a little bit of focus.  I want to the exercise and diet to go hand and hand again and somehow get out of this six month plateau.

It was my idea to decide to replace two meal (breakfast and lunch) with a Fast Fuel shake.  I ran it past Sarah and she liked the idea.  I'm not sure how long I'm going to do this.  I've thought 30 days, I've thought until I lose 20 pounds.  We shall see.  And I may take it down to just one shake a day along the way.  I'm using this as a way to get on track.

I stopped at the LifeCafe before Pilates and bought my Fast Fuel (chocolate).  I'm starting tomorrow!

D.Tox - Day 14

DAY 14....FINALLY!!!!! 

I thought this day would never come.  I am beyond happy.

I started my day by going to Trader Joe's and loading up on things I couldn't eat for the last two weeks.  I have so many meals planned.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to go crazy, I'm just re-introducing the things I missed.  I will still watch my carb and sugar intake.  I can't wait to have a spoonful of sherbet.

I got my hair done this morning.  My hair grows like a weed, but my hair is super short and looks like crap if I wait too long in between cuts.  It definitely felt like a treat.

I came home and cooked myself a NY strip steak for lunch.  It was a little too well done for my taste, but it was still good and I ate the whole thing.  

I pretty much bummed around all afternoon basking in the holiday weekend laziness.

At 4, I went to the LifeSpa and got a 90 minute massage.  I can't think of a better way to end D.Tox.  It was so nice. My left leg was giving me some issues with numbness.  This is a residual issue due to nerve damage I suffered 15 years ago when I herniated some discs in my back.  Massage really helps the issue.  It really wasn't much of an issue until I started working out last year.  Before that it was just an occasional occurrence. 

I went to the Life Cafe and got one of the D.Tox smoothies.  Even they can't make the D.Tox smoothies taste great.  Sadness.

I came home and I was fiending for either sushi or pizza, both no-nos on D.Tox.  Luckily a wave of exhaustion hit me and I took a nap and woke up at 9:30.  

I woke up and watched TV until 11 and I went to bed.  One hour left to go.  I couldn't wait to fall asleep and wake up the next morning and eat an omelet.  Seriously, I am so strategic about what I'm eating Day 1 Post-D.Tox.

Well, that's it.  I'll do a D.Tox summary post to wrap up all of my feelings and experiences.

Just Keep Swimming

Well, it seemed like I didn't do much, but the 10,000 steps a day Fitbit challenge definitely kept me moving.  While I didn't go to Lifetime a lot this week, I did get my 10,000 steps in every day.

I worked out with Sarah this week on Monday and Wednesday.  I have two posts about the workouts here and here.

Sunday, I went to Martina's Vinyasa Flow class.  Linda, my Pilates classmate, was in class and we were next to each other in this class.  I like Linda, she's a cool broad.

Speaking of Pilates, Tuesday was my class.  We did half the class as a jumpboard class!  It was a killer!  This was Linda and Maureen's first time doing jumpboard and they loved it.  I think they were a little hesitant/nervous, but they did great.  It definitely felt a lot harder than when I did it solo.  I've also been thinking about possibly adding a second day of Pilates for the summer months.  I'll hopefully make my decision after Cassie's wedding in less than a month!

Thursday and Friday were says off from the actual gym, but I got my steps in.  I went home to visit my mom on Thursday afternoon and stayed until noon on Friday.

Saturday I was awake and almost went to the 645 Spinning, but I decided not to.  My legs were still a little sore from my Wednesday training session on Friday and even though they felt fine on Saturday morning, I thought it was best to not go.

I was quite happy to see that the Life Cafe restocked my Generation UCan Cran-Raspberry.  I grabbed some before I ran the risk of it selling out again.

I took Rickita's Ashtonga Vinyasa class.  This very well may be the last Saturday Ashtonga class since the schedule is changing next week with the opening of the new yoga studio.  I'm kind of bumming.  That's my FAVORITE yoga class at Lifetime.

Class today was great.  Not very full, but I'm guessing it's because of the Easter holiday.

So that was my workout week.  I just keep plugging along on this journey.  Things have slowed/stalled but I just keep swimming.

Health Score - April 2014

Today was my second Health Score of 2014.  My first one was on January 20th and I scored an 84.  Today my score went way down....back to a 68.  The main issues were my blood pressure (139/92) and glucose level (106).   I haven't been the best about taking my medications or my supplements in the last two months.  I would say my biggest source of disappoint is the fact that I clearly still need my medication.  I was hoping that my days of having to take prescribed medications were almost over.

There was some great news though.  My cholesterol continues to get better.  My TC (Total Cholesterol) /HDL ratio went from 3.09:1 to 2.83:1.   My Triglycerides went from 87 to 82.   My Triglycerides/HDL ratio went from 1.58:1 to 1.37:1.

My aerobic capacity went from 33.7 to 32.9.  My flexibility went from 16.5 to 19!   My lean body mass went from 149.48 to 150.65, which means I'm not losing lean body mass (aka that's a great thing).

My weight went up 8.8 pounds, but my body fat percent only increased by 0.1%.

So even though my overall score went down, there was still plenty of good news.

And this was my first Health Score done by Sarah.  My first two were done by Jillian and the others were done by Julie.

Sarah and I still think that doing D.tox is a good idea, so that is still on my agenda in the next few weeks.  I also want to do another Health Score after I do D.tox.

Training 2014 - Week 11

I finally came out of my funk on Saturday.  I got my hair cut and I hung out with friends.  I still let myself have a cheat day on Saturday (along with Thursday and Friday), but I knew that I was going to get back on track on Sunday.

Sunday I met with Sarah for our first session of the week.  She totally beat the crap out of me.  We did an all-body workout but it was very squat/lunge heavy.   I am so glad I grabbed something to eat in the Life Cafe before the workout and drank my Generation U Can.  Holy crap!  I couldn't wait to crawl home and drink my protein shake.  I thank my lucky stars that I got a close parking space!  That'll teach me to get down on myself and feel like quitting.

Wednesday ended up being another total body day.  We did the leg stuff work and the upper body at the end.  That definitely felt weird.  Lots of squats and lunges today, too.  We did TRX reverse lunges which I actually like doing.  I LOVE doing the squat machine, too.

After my session today, I met with Leesa to discuss my routine including diet and try and figure out how I can get out of this plateau.  I'll write more about it in my weekly workout thread that will be coming up on Saturday or Sunday.

I have to say I am feeling way better than I was this time last week.  I'm glad that's all over and I've moved on from all the negative things.

In Other Workout News.....

This past week was a slow work week with it being mid-winter break time here.  Next week will also be slow, but luckily I have a ton of transcripts to work on to continue to make money.  So, with all of this working from home I have taken advantage of taking classes and working out like crazy.   

Last Sunday was a rest day because I was doing my Stress and Resilience test and couldn't do any strenuous exercise.  I did clear it with Julie that I could do the Slow Burn Yoga class that day and get some steps on the treadmill for my Fitbit challenge.

Monday, I trained with Sarah and then came back and did a Spinning class at noon.

Tuesday, I took a Spinning class in the morning and then came back for my evening Pilates class.  I have to say I totally rocked Pilates on Tuesday.  My short spinal series is vastly improving.  I am really getting my butt in the air.

Wednesday was leg day with Sarah and that was quite enough for the day.

Thursday was a much needed rest day.  (And I worked, so that is enough reason to rest.)

Friday, I took Tammy's Vinyasa Flow, went to the Cafe to get something to eat and then took the noon Spinning class.

Saturday, I took the 645 am Spinning class and then my favorite yoga class, Ashtanga Vinyasa. 

I've been sleeping a ton even though I have been sleeping on the couch since the Olympics started.  I love just watching all the winter sports.  Sarah told me last week that she read somewhere that people who train as hard as we do should actually get 9-10 hours of sleep.  I'm not complaining about that.