Still kickin it

Hola Blogstars! Oh, I'm a bad blogger, so I am. Only know that I am here in spirit, even when not in print. I am mere weeks into my new work gig and have found it has required some very long work days just to settle in and get up to speed. It has meant adjusting my goals and expectations somewhat. Achievable goals and moderation are huge for me. So I decided to shoot for 2 early mornings during the workweek to either do some strength training at home (e.g. 30 Day Shred) or hit the gym for sprints or some other quick and intense cardio. (I guess I could take the run outside, too, but I have not tried that yet.) Then do activity on both weekend days. Ideally a long run and a long hike and/or yoga.

It's quite likely this isn't enough for weight loss - at least not at current food intake levels. (I haven't been tracking my food, either. Another thing I hope to reincorporate - soon!) But it is my way of carving out what I'm willing to do without going into "now I'm off this plan" mode. No all or nothing thinking here! So I will continue to weigh in weekly. And if I see the trend moving upward, I'll know I need to reevaluate. Hopefully I'll soon be more established in a work routine so I'll know where the give is. I don't like admitting I don't have all the answers, but I'm happy I'm hanging in there and willing to work it out with time.

I will also maintain this blog - just not as often. I'll shoot for once a week. I've already given myself a calendar reminder to go off weekly so I can't forget to weigh in like I did a couple weeks ago.

Just did a 4-miler in the Park. It was crap rain in the a.m. and then the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful, sunny, breezy Saturday afternoon. Time for a shower and a smoothie. Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are!

I am aware!

I remembered to weigh in today. Up half a lb. since I started working, though I completely forgot last week's weigh-in, so who knows? I ended the month of April down. And that's why I post those scary little numbers only at the end of the month. Whatever else may be going on in my life, at least I get a sense of overall trend in those monthly stats.

Is there a blogger award for typing entire posts with your thumbs?? I have been remiss in all things weight loss: tracking food, measuring, working out, and blogging. Yep, that just about covers all the things I rely on in my "journey". Hence I find myself knocking this out on my blackberry on the subway.

Positives: since I didn't really cut out any foods or drinks from my "program" (everything in air quotes when you're blogging pre-coffee), I don't feel I went outta control "off" plan despite not tracking and measuring. That helps. Also I did wake up and go for a run yesterday. Since I could only spare 30 minutes, I incorporated sprints. My goal is to wake early on 2 weekdays to workout and then get 2 sessions of activity in on the weekend. Or honestly, even one weekend session if I'm really exhausted come Sunday. Not ideal, I know ("ideal"!) but I want to be realistic and aim for something achievable and sustainable.

Sadly my bodybugg has been on the fritz and has thus not been a part of my life this past week. Luckily my friend (who gave me a bugg when she purchased one for herself) will allow me to borrow hers to help me diagnose what is ailing mine (not sure if it's the arm device or the display watch, which has a fresh new battery btw). But I would like to incorporate that into my plan - even if the bugg may be more obvious under work clothes, potentially inviting commentary or questions. I got by in the past with it's a pedometer.

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Workin for a livin

Oh man, I am so behind on my blogs! I imagine by the time I go through and get caught up on everyone's news, you'll all be at your goal weights and running marathons.


I didn't even weigh in today because I forgot it was Tuesday!


I did wake up early and do some 30 Day Shred on my first day of work, just to establish for myself that it could be done. And should be! Today I slept in, so exhausted was I from the first day. But I aim to get up early tomorrow and do...something. (I'm thinking a run might be in order.)


On the food front, it's been ok, but not great. BF has turned himself into Betty Draper and has been packing up some fairly healthy and absolutely delicious homemade fair in many tiny bowls. Probably too much portion-wise, but not obscenely so. The office itself is stacked with all sorts of (free!) sodas, snacks, bars, and juices. Including some fine euro chocolate. I have not had anything but the yummy coffee so far. (Uh, yeah, I realize it's only been 2 days.)


Food and exercise tracking has fallen temporarily by the wayside as bodybugg is on the fritz and I haven't had time to troubleshoot. But I'm aware of the precarious situation I'm in - not yet in trouble, but drifting from the game plan a bit. I will continue to evaluate. Hopefully the weekend allows me to re-establish the routine a bit!

Facts of Life

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life...

Natalie was always my favorite. I was pleased to read in her adult, post-Facts life she has declined to appear in so-called "celebreality" shows, such as Celebrity Fit Club.

Anyway. Life is what happens when we are making other plans. My April was breezing along wonderfully. I was cutting out Rest days from my routine, instead opting for lighter intensity days. Incorporating more strength training courtesy of the Exercise on Demand channel. Motivating myself to get to my favorite yoga class weekly. And mixing up my running routine with new routes in the Park, as well as completing the weekly long run from the One Hour Runner program. (Yesterday I did the 38-minute nonstop run at 5.2 mph.)

And the weekly weigh-ins continue to reflect new lows. Huzzah! Until...

I got a job! Woo hoo! Months of searching, interviewing, trying to compose thoughtful thank you notes and keep myself in clean interview suits. I'm thoroughly overjoyed with the company and the position....yet, change is scary, too. When will I run? What will I eat? I've worked for years before this (comparatively) brief period of unemployment and obviously had routines to make sure I got workouts in, lunches to eat, etc. so clearly I can reestablish those routines in the new gig.

But routines take time to develop. And I know initially my focus will be on navigating the company, adjusting to early days again, readjusting to corporate dress (as opposed to all yoga pants all the time). So I'm not going to go into denial mode (calorie? what is this calorie you speak of? running schedule? como?), yet I can't really maintain the focus a 0-hour workweek allowed, either. I'm aiming for a Pause button or temporary maintenance.

In the weeks ahead, I will create a new exercise agenda, plan work-friendly lunches, etc. But for now, I will shoot for some pre-work, shorter runs or fitness videos and rely on some healthy, convenient staples for eating (like the Starbucks yogurt I love, Luna bars, fruit, sandwiches on whole grain bread) until I discover what's on offer near the office, what the office kitchen offers in terms of chilling and heating capabilities, etc.

Change is good!

Spring extremes

It is officially Spring and it is extremely pretty out there. It also got extremely hot out there. In my naiveté, I went running for a good 3.5 miles or so in the 86-degree heatwave the other day. My sweet spot is definitely 40-60F (with no wind, hills, or humidity por favor!) Today it is extremely cold again, so it's getting difficult to know what to wear.

Funny slip: in the paragraph above I wrote "funning" for "running." Is it possible I'm enjoying myself out there? I don't think so. Well, I'll admit I always enjoy the post-run endorphin rush and love that sense of accomplishment, but lately I have noticed more moments of enjoyment (or less moments of "how much longer do I have to do this?", "how far to the next functioning water fountain?") during the run.

I'm still incorporating the at-home component (mostly Shred or whatever looks interesting on the Exercise On Demand channel on cable), though not as much this week. I've been job interviewing quite a bit lately (angst!) so like the weather, my mood and motivation have seen extreme highs and lows as well. Overall, I'm trying to sustain some equilibrium and keep up with my exercise regime and food tracking as best I can. This week, I'm operating at about a 7.5, I think.

Getting Stronger

I sort of eliminated Rest days. Maybe it's a function of wearing the bodybugg, but I find a body at rest tends to stay at rest. And eat cookies. Yet if I commit to doing an at-home workout ("it's only 20 minutes!") I'll strap on the bodybugg and get some positive reinforcement in terms of calories burned, steps taken, and minutes of physical activity. And that spurs me on to head out for a long walk or do something else to get to 10,000 steps, 2400 calories, and at least an hour of physical activity. And not eat cookies.

So it's not that I don't mix it up for my body, like I rarely run on consecutive days, but I'm no longer taking a day of Sloth. It's more like intense workout days and less intense (or active rest) days. Today, for instance, I'm meeting a friend for a run, then we're headed to a yoga class.

A note to Ishmael: I was going to post a more elaborate view of my bodybugg contraption, but had all sorts of trouble trying to get the screenshots I wanted to show. So in typical FitFunk fashion, I abandoned the whole effort. And had a cookie. (Just kidding there.) For me, the bodybugg keeps me accountable, appeals to my geeky/analytical side (32% of my calories came from protein yesterday, fascinating!), and motivates me to move, as indicated above.

When I first got it (as a gift, it is pricey, I probably would have gotten one myself eventually, but it was an awesome gift!), I felt a little overwhelmed with all the screens and set up and was therefore a little overzealous. There's a screen where you set your shorter-term goals, say, 10 pounds in X weeks, and you just move this little cursor to how many pounds you'd like to lose per week and the dates and calorie deficit required. It all looks so easy when it's numbers on a pull-down menu...sure, let's aim for 2 pounds per week...burn 2900 calories per day and take in 1900 calories per day, that's a deficit of 1000 calories per day, or 7000 per week and voila! 2 pounds.

Yeah. Except. I have had days where I burn 2900 or even more calories in a day, but it's so not sustainable for me to achieve every day. After much trial and error (mostly error) I had to go back to the control panel and lower my expectations to one pound per week. So now I aim for a 500 calorie deficit per day. I like how my little 'bugg beeps it's little messages of "Activity Target Met!" (one hour), "Step Count Met!" (10,000), and usually bringing up the rear, "Calorie Burn Target Met!" (2400).

Something I've been refocusing on lately is actually meeting that 2400 calorie burn target daily versus on most days. It's a reasonable target. That's why I ended up doing The Shred on 3 days this week. I did my 30-minute run for One Hour Runner at the gym due to rain, but was happy to do the whole thing at 5.2 mph. I also took the run outside once the sun reappeared and did 5 miles in Central Park (though that was on a 4 min run / 1 min walk that allows me to get some faster - higher calorie burn - segments in), and I'll get yoga in as well. Woot! Woot!

Unfortunately I also had about a vat of wine last night (that was fun to plug into the bodybugg) Trying to seriously rehydrate/caffeinate before this run. 10,000 steps forward, 10,001 steps back? Oh the struggle is eternal I tells ya! These are the moments when I have to console myself with the knowledge that I'm learning what maintenance will require of me.

Slowly Does It

This little pup weighs 2 pounds. And, bonus, he kind of looks how I feel today.

I was slightly disappointed that I only lost about 2 lbs over the course of March, especially as I had seen slightly lower numbers last week in my (secret, not really, but not posted) weekly weigh-ins.


And my second thought was, I AM SO SICK OF THIS RAIN. I did the Shred at home again, but I want to/need to get out and run. And I'm a fair weather runner. Yes, the gym is a block away, but I had sort of (prematurely it seems) liberated myself from the treadmill shackles once Spring temps hit. Additionally the rain is sucking out my will to live, let alone m o v e.

I gotta get outta my own head! It's great to be more safely in the 180's. (As opposed to when I briefly saw a 189.9999 pop up a while back and, again, prematurely called myself Back in the [1]80's.) Lately I've also been cruising the BMI/BMR/misc. weight charts trying to come up with a goal weight to plug into my sidebar. Having been overweight since uh... people started weighing me, I guess, it's hard to pick a number. I suppose it's better to pick a range and see what happens when I get there. I will be giving this more thought and post further.

Since I did not commit to a d-plan or eliminating any individual food or food group, I know my weight loss is going to be slower. What I did commit to is weighing myself weekly (even if I eat take out Chinese the night before or it's that time of the month or had 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's for dinner, etc etc.) The point is it's a snapshot in time that may, as much as I dread it, go UP on occasion and I have to learn to deal with it as a data point in a series, not a summary judgment.

I also committed to exercise. And while it's great to incorporate the Shred and to finally get myself some zen on the yoga mat, last week my running (or even long walks) sort of fell off.

Exercise program, goal weight reflections, food tracking...that's what I'll be working on in the week ahead.