Stress and Resilience Test (Retest)

I sat down with Julie today at Lifetime and got the results from my latest Stress and Resilience test.  My morning and afternoon cortisol levels were fine/normal.  (That's great news since my initial S&R last year had my morning levels way high.)  My dinner and evening cortisol levels were low.  My DHEA levels have actually decreased, which is not necessarily good news.

Julie suggested that rather than take more DHEA as I did after the last exam, I should take a Vitamin D supplement and also change the times I take my Metformin.  Rather than take it with my vitamins, I could take them separately.

She also wants me to continue with the yoga and Pilates since those exercises keep me in my lower heart rate zones.  When I take my Spinning classes, I should concentrate on staying on Zones 1, 2, and 3.  If I do go into Zones 4 and 5, I should only be there for 30 seconds.

The optimum time for me to work out is in the morning since that's when my cortisol levels are best.

I should really aim for at least 8 hours of sleep or more!  Yay!!!! She didn't have to tell me twice.  I LOVE to sleep.

Training 2014 - Week 9

This week is Recovery Week.  This is also a week where I am working with Sarah in the evenings.  It seems so weird.  I haven't worked out with Sarah in the evenings in FOREVER!!!

Monday was upper body day.  We did some super-setting again.  The cardio was the prowler AGAIN!!! The weight was lower since it is recovery week (70 pounds + the prowler weight).

Wednesday was leg day.  I gave Sarah her birthday present of 2 pounds of PB2 (powdered peanut butter).  We're a couple of workout dorks who get excited about stuff like that.

My legs were pretty pooped considering I had a busy work week and wasn't working out as crazy as I had been.  Geez, I'm glad it wasn't a regular week!!!

Part of the reason we were taking it easy this week is because I am getting my Stress and Resilience results on Saturday.  Sarah is going to see what the results say and modify our workouts accordingly.   I'm so excited to get my results.  I'll do a blog post about it this weekend.  Stay tuned........

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.  

90 Day Challenge Starts This Weekend!!

This weekend was one crazy weekend at Lifetime Fitness.   It was the starting weekend for the 90 Day Challenge!!!!  I did my initial weigh in with Sarah.  Starting weight: 228.4.  I'm still working my way back down to the 50 pound mark, but as I've said previously, my body fat percentage is down.

I purchased a Stress and Resilience Test, which I plan on doing next weekend.   I'm super excited to retake this test.  I can't wait for the results and this time Julie will do the results instead of a conference call with corporate.

The other things I purchased were supplements.  I mainly just purchased supplements that I was out of or running low on.  The only new supplement I purchased was the Whey Isolate (Chocolate) by Thorne.  Lifetime just started got this brand of Whey recently and there's been a lot of buzz and excitement.  Sarah suggested I use this over the regular Lifetime brand because I have really increased my activity and it will be more beneficial for me.   I also think it will be more cost-effective for me since I get a smoothie in the cafe every day and it costs me $7.

I got home and made my first two smoothies (one for work tomorrow) and I LOVED it!!!!  I added L-Glutamine, PB2, Dynamic Greens, Olive Oil, a banana, and coconut milk.  Totally yummy!

D.tox

After I got settled into my Pilates class and finally got over my first few workouts with Sarah, I decided to do the Lifetime D.tox.  I'll be honest and say that I wasn't really excited to do it.  Two weeks of cutting out caffeine and many other things I loved.  I really didn't understand why I would pay $200 to do such a thing.

I braced myself for the worst and took the first two days of the d.tox off from work.  I wasn't sure just how weak or irritable I would be.  Other than having crazy hot flashes the first day, I actually enjoyed having an energy boost!

I went on the grocery tour that Lifetime offered.  Jillian took us around the Better Health Market in Novi.  It was pretty informative.  I do like Better Health Market, but I'm partial to Trader Joe's since it's just a mile away and a little less uptight.

I made some of the recipes on Lifetime's D.tox webpage and they were okay.  I altered some of my favorite recipes like Carne Asada tacos in collard green leafs instead of tortillas.

At the beginning of Week 2, my smoothie maker died while making my afternoon shake.  It was a pretty sad looking smoothie maker, but it still bummed me out.  Fortunately, I went to Target and  picked up a Ninja XL660 blender.  It's pretty pimp for a blender.  See......

I survived D.tox!  I lost 8 pounds!  I had Jillian do a before and after D.tox Health Score.  The only thing that stunk was that my blood sugar went up by 4!  Completely shocking and quite disappointing to me because Type II diabetes runs in my family and I was classified as pre-diabetic.  Jillian suggested that I take the Stress and Resilience test to see what exactly was going on.

I took the test and got my results about two weeks later.  It was really great!  I plan on retaking in the new year. I was put on several supplements to help me out and I noticed a vast improvement in my weight loss.  If any of my readers are Lifetime members, I strongly suggest the Stress and Resilience test.

I also suggest doing the D.tox.  I plan on redoing the D.tox sometime in the new year, as well.  Maybe after my birthday,