Have you ever heard of the tabata method of working out? Wikipedia explains it like this:
A popular regimen based on a 1996 study[2] uses 20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise (at an intensity of about 170% of VO2max) followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated continuously for 4 minutes (8 cycles).
It is a high-intensity interval training. You have to work your hardest on an exercise, you get very little rest, and then you go again. You keep track of your total "score", and the next time, you try to beat it. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. In one of the videos I watched, they said this type of exercise is not meant for beginners. Even if you are in fairly good shape, it's a good idea not to overdo it on this type of training. It may not feel like it at the time, but it is a killer workout, even with something basic like crunches. That being said, I spend about 15-20 minutes doing tabata training, with different exercises. Some examples are crunches, planks with arm raises, squats, and leg lifts. It is insanely intense. I am out of breath every time I do it. My heart is racing. I do these types of training every second night. I've done it twice. Tonight is my night off. I was supposed to go walking today, but I was out visiting a friend for most of the afternoon, and didn't feel like moving in the evening.
I haven't lost anything in a while. I've slowly been going up in weight. I have been eating healthy (yesterday not included), and I have been managing my portions well. I have been keeping my water intake high. I am trying to tell myself that I am gaining muscle, and soon I will the numbers on the scale go down, but it is hard not to get discouraged when the numbers go up instead of just staying the same.
I wonder if my calorie intake is too low. I have a hard time eating more than three meals a day. Today I had a shake for breakfast, around 10:30am. I don't think I ate again until around 3, I had some leftover pizza (about half a slice). Then I had dinner at about 7pm, leftover spaghetti in alfredo sauce, with shredded cheddar cheese. And then two cookies and a few bites of ice cream for dessert. I am pretty sure that even with the unhealthy foods, I still didn't take in the amount of calories I should be consuming in a day. I am really going to have to work on that. After all, diet is a large contributor to weight loss.
I have plans tomorrow morning, so I am hoping that being awake and out and about early will help with my energy level, get me out and get some walking done. I will try and stay off the scale until Monday, and hopefully I will have bought a new scale by then. I am also thinking of taking my measurements again on Monday, to see if anything has changed.
I think my exercise regime is getting better, but my meal plans are getting worse. I need to figure out how to balance the two, I need to be strict with myself. I can do this. It's approximately 13-14 months until my wedding. That should be enough time to lose the 50-70lbs I want to lose.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
It Burns!
Okay, gonna make this quick because it's after midnight already, and I swore I'd start going to bed early. I keep forgetting to sit down in the morning to work out my meal plan. I need to try and remember to set aside time each day to do that. That being said, even without one, I've been doing pretty good. Especially with all the fresh food in the house. Here's today's meal plan:
Breakfast:
9am - 1 cup oatmeal, made with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins
Midmorning snack:
I didn't have one today, I went to church! (more about that later)
Lunch:
1:30pm - salad with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and mushrooms
basil parmesan salad dressing
Afternoon snack:
I don't recall having one actually
Dinner:
6:30pm - leftover squash
mixed veggies
pork loin chop
Evening snack:
11:45pm - banana with 1 tbsp peanut butter
(this was my post-workout snack)
I am positive I didn't eat enough today. I know I need to make sure I'm getting those between-meals snacks in. I will work on that, as part of my keeping to a meal plan. I think I should keep a little notebook with me at all times. Write down my plans for that day, and also what I actually eat. I think that might help keep me on track.
I forgot to weigh in again today, so I guess my new weigh in will be Mondays. Fingers crossed I remember! As for the church comment... Well, I didn't grow up going to church. I wanted to as a kid, but my parents never took me. I don't know if it was laziness or lack of interest or what. I was always curious about church. I felt like I believed in God, and I wanted to know more, but I didn't really have the means. Fast forward to 2003, when my first child was born. I wanted her baptised. I looked in the phone book for churches in my area, and called the first one that called out to me. I asked questions, and found out that at this specific church, they do not do child baptisms. They believe the individual should make their own decision on whether to be baptised. What they do practice, however, is child dedication. This is more of a promise of the parents, to raise their child in the faith, in the eyes of the Lord. The pastor suggested I come to a service to see if they were a good fit. I loved it there. It is all very casual. They have a slogan. Something along the lines of "faded jeans and broken lives welcome". They even do a coffee break about halfway through the service. Great, great church. And so, after becoming a regular attender, I had my first child dedicated on her first birthday. It was wonderous. He came to my house and did the ceremony during her birthday party. Amazing, amazing job. With my second child, she was adopted, so hers wasn't done on her first birthday. I believe hers was done shortly after she turned 2, a few months after the adoption was final. My youngest daughter.... she hasn't had one. When I became pregnant with her, almost 3 years ago, I became very sick. I had pretty intense morning (all day) sickness, and couldn't get out of bed most days. I stopped going to church so I could rest. Even after she was born though, I didn't start going again. There always seemed to be an excuse. The fiance was working, or the kids didn't want to go, or the baby's schedule didn't allow for it. It's atrocious that I missed out on church for this long. I had gotten pretty involved, becoming a member of the children's ministry by helping in the nursery, I was going to the mom's group every week, with two babies in tow, one carseat in each hand. And then slowly I became less and less involved. And after spending so much time away, I started feeling like I didn't belong anymore. I still consider that place "my church", I just don't attend. Well, until today. I took the leap. I mentioned to the kids, and they actually got excited. I was eager to attempt to put my youngest into the childcare room to see how she would handle it. As it turns out, school aged kids get to sit in on the service in the summer, because there's no program for them until the fall. So instead, they were allowed to stay with their sister in the 2s room. Things went great in church. It felt wonderful to worship again. I even stood up to pray, during a special prayer. And then I was called to the nursery. My youngest had fallen and bumped her head, and no amount of consoling or distracting was working. Even with her sisters there, she wouldn't calm down. I stayed with her for a while, encouraged her to play, even sat while she had a snack. Every time I tried to sneak out, she'd catch me, tears welled up in her eyes. So we all went back to the service together. I sat against the back wall with my kids. They colored and stayed mostly quiet while I tried to pay attention to the rest of the service. (I don't remember what it was about so I guess they had my attention more than he did, sadly). What this means for me, though, is that I feel like I am improving in all aspects of my life. I am eating better, healthier, I am exercising, I am focusing my energy on family, and I am strengthening my faith. I want my pastor to marry us when we finally set a date. But that's not the only reason I'm going. I truly feel touched by God. I feel so much love at church. I even got to speak to the pastor's wife, who welcomed me back with open arms. I needed that. I believe that my going back to church will actually help me stay on track with my diet and exercise. I'm not sure how it's all linked, but I feel that it is.
So on top of that, I did a great workout tonight. I probably didn't push myself as hard as two nights ago, but I tried something new, and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. I used my Better Belly Yoga DVD. Yoga is all about breathing. I think I am naturally a fast breather. Also, I almost constantly have a stuffed nose due to allergies. They say to breathe through your nose, but I just can't do that all the time. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the exercises. There were 3 10-minutes series on there, I only got as far as halfway through the second one, and then I found a bonus workout, and did that one too. Then I went ahead and did some of my own exercises, crunches, plank, can't even remember what else now. But I was downstairs for an hour, so it must have been a good workout. Tomorrow we're heading down to the park that I want to get married at. I am hoping to get a bunch of walking in. I may even take a walk while the youngest is napping in the afternoon.
Even though my mornings are pretty slow going, I feel like I'm getting more and more energy. The fact that I'm able to do these workouts after being up with my kids all day, instead of just going to bed, it fills me with pride. I am hopeful that I will see the numbers on the scale tip lower, but even if they don't, I will not stop.
Oh, and speaking of pride. I was craving a can of Coke all day, and I stayed away from it. Yay will power!
Breakfast:
9am - 1 cup oatmeal, made with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins
Midmorning snack:
I didn't have one today, I went to church! (more about that later)
Lunch:
1:30pm - salad with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and mushrooms
basil parmesan salad dressing
Afternoon snack:
I don't recall having one actually
Dinner:
6:30pm - leftover squash
mixed veggies
pork loin chop
Evening snack:
11:45pm - banana with 1 tbsp peanut butter
(this was my post-workout snack)
I am positive I didn't eat enough today. I know I need to make sure I'm getting those between-meals snacks in. I will work on that, as part of my keeping to a meal plan. I think I should keep a little notebook with me at all times. Write down my plans for that day, and also what I actually eat. I think that might help keep me on track.
I forgot to weigh in again today, so I guess my new weigh in will be Mondays. Fingers crossed I remember! As for the church comment... Well, I didn't grow up going to church. I wanted to as a kid, but my parents never took me. I don't know if it was laziness or lack of interest or what. I was always curious about church. I felt like I believed in God, and I wanted to know more, but I didn't really have the means. Fast forward to 2003, when my first child was born. I wanted her baptised. I looked in the phone book for churches in my area, and called the first one that called out to me. I asked questions, and found out that at this specific church, they do not do child baptisms. They believe the individual should make their own decision on whether to be baptised. What they do practice, however, is child dedication. This is more of a promise of the parents, to raise their child in the faith, in the eyes of the Lord. The pastor suggested I come to a service to see if they were a good fit. I loved it there. It is all very casual. They have a slogan. Something along the lines of "faded jeans and broken lives welcome". They even do a coffee break about halfway through the service. Great, great church. And so, after becoming a regular attender, I had my first child dedicated on her first birthday. It was wonderous. He came to my house and did the ceremony during her birthday party. Amazing, amazing job. With my second child, she was adopted, so hers wasn't done on her first birthday. I believe hers was done shortly after she turned 2, a few months after the adoption was final. My youngest daughter.... she hasn't had one. When I became pregnant with her, almost 3 years ago, I became very sick. I had pretty intense morning (all day) sickness, and couldn't get out of bed most days. I stopped going to church so I could rest. Even after she was born though, I didn't start going again. There always seemed to be an excuse. The fiance was working, or the kids didn't want to go, or the baby's schedule didn't allow for it. It's atrocious that I missed out on church for this long. I had gotten pretty involved, becoming a member of the children's ministry by helping in the nursery, I was going to the mom's group every week, with two babies in tow, one carseat in each hand. And then slowly I became less and less involved. And after spending so much time away, I started feeling like I didn't belong anymore. I still consider that place "my church", I just don't attend. Well, until today. I took the leap. I mentioned to the kids, and they actually got excited. I was eager to attempt to put my youngest into the childcare room to see how she would handle it. As it turns out, school aged kids get to sit in on the service in the summer, because there's no program for them until the fall. So instead, they were allowed to stay with their sister in the 2s room. Things went great in church. It felt wonderful to worship again. I even stood up to pray, during a special prayer. And then I was called to the nursery. My youngest had fallen and bumped her head, and no amount of consoling or distracting was working. Even with her sisters there, she wouldn't calm down. I stayed with her for a while, encouraged her to play, even sat while she had a snack. Every time I tried to sneak out, she'd catch me, tears welled up in her eyes. So we all went back to the service together. I sat against the back wall with my kids. They colored and stayed mostly quiet while I tried to pay attention to the rest of the service. (I don't remember what it was about so I guess they had my attention more than he did, sadly). What this means for me, though, is that I feel like I am improving in all aspects of my life. I am eating better, healthier, I am exercising, I am focusing my energy on family, and I am strengthening my faith. I want my pastor to marry us when we finally set a date. But that's not the only reason I'm going. I truly feel touched by God. I feel so much love at church. I even got to speak to the pastor's wife, who welcomed me back with open arms. I needed that. I believe that my going back to church will actually help me stay on track with my diet and exercise. I'm not sure how it's all linked, but I feel that it is.
So on top of that, I did a great workout tonight. I probably didn't push myself as hard as two nights ago, but I tried something new, and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. I used my Better Belly Yoga DVD. Yoga is all about breathing. I think I am naturally a fast breather. Also, I almost constantly have a stuffed nose due to allergies. They say to breathe through your nose, but I just can't do that all the time. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the exercises. There were 3 10-minutes series on there, I only got as far as halfway through the second one, and then I found a bonus workout, and did that one too. Then I went ahead and did some of my own exercises, crunches, plank, can't even remember what else now. But I was downstairs for an hour, so it must have been a good workout. Tomorrow we're heading down to the park that I want to get married at. I am hoping to get a bunch of walking in. I may even take a walk while the youngest is napping in the afternoon.
Even though my mornings are pretty slow going, I feel like I'm getting more and more energy. The fact that I'm able to do these workouts after being up with my kids all day, instead of just going to bed, it fills me with pride. I am hopeful that I will see the numbers on the scale tip lower, but even if they don't, I will not stop.
Oh, and speaking of pride. I was craving a can of Coke all day, and I stayed away from it. Yay will power!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
It's a Brand New Day Folks!
I weighed in this morning, and according to my scale, I have gained. But, I ate breakfast before I weighed myself, and even though it was a liquid breakfast, I choose to believe that's why my weight is off. I am not discouraged by this. I believe that I will gain muscle before I lose more weight. I'm okay with that. I also did my measurements last night. They are astounding.
Measurements:
Chest: 45 inches
Waist: 44 inches
Hips: 52 inches
Butt: 50.5 inches
Thigh: 29 inches
Calf: 16 inches
Arm: 16 inches
Those are some huge numbers there! In two weeks, I will do my measurements again, because I know it's not all about the weight, but where you lose your inches too. I don't know what I'll do if I don't see results.
I realized today that there's actually been three workouts this week. So almost every second day already. The first one was in my living room, and was only about 20 minutes long. But then we moved the kids from the basement up to the main floor, so all three are sharing one bedroom now (yes we have a tiny house), and my basement is pretty much a rec room now, except no real furniture. It's carpeted and I have colorful anti-fatigue mats down there, so I exercise on those.
I found my exercise video while cleaning out my TV unit. It's called Better Belly Yoga. I'm going to do that workout tonight. I think it says it has 3 10-minute workouts, so I will probably do all three, and then possibly repeat, or just do some of my own stuff afterward.
My meal plan for the day is as follows:
Breakfast
8am - slim fast shake with 1 tsp of peanut butter
Midmorning snack
10:30am - one banana
Lunch
1:30pm - slim fast shake
Afternoon snack
3:30pm - 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp honey
2 tsp raisins
2 tsp almonds
Supper
6:30pm - baked chicken breast
Amazing Butternut Squash
mixed veggies
Evening snack
8:00pm - 1/2 cup grapes
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
Measurements:
Chest: 45 inches
Waist: 44 inches
Hips: 52 inches
Butt: 50.5 inches
Thigh: 29 inches
Calf: 16 inches
Arm: 16 inches
Those are some huge numbers there! In two weeks, I will do my measurements again, because I know it's not all about the weight, but where you lose your inches too. I don't know what I'll do if I don't see results.
I realized today that there's actually been three workouts this week. So almost every second day already. The first one was in my living room, and was only about 20 minutes long. But then we moved the kids from the basement up to the main floor, so all three are sharing one bedroom now (yes we have a tiny house), and my basement is pretty much a rec room now, except no real furniture. It's carpeted and I have colorful anti-fatigue mats down there, so I exercise on those.
I found my exercise video while cleaning out my TV unit. It's called Better Belly Yoga. I'm going to do that workout tonight. I think it says it has 3 10-minute workouts, so I will probably do all three, and then possibly repeat, or just do some of my own stuff afterward.
My meal plan for the day is as follows:
Breakfast
8am - slim fast shake with 1 tsp of peanut butter
Midmorning snack
10:30am - one banana
Lunch
1:30pm - slim fast shake
Afternoon snack
3:30pm - 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp honey
2 tsp raisins
2 tsp almonds
Supper
6:30pm - baked chicken breast
Amazing Butternut Squash
mixed veggies
Evening snack
8:00pm - 1/2 cup grapes
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
I May Not Be Posting, But I'm Still Working
The last week has been hard. I have been doing really well on my food intake. A few little treats here and there, but no overdoing it. I'm trying to cut down on my carb intake. The biggest problem of the last week though, was that we didn't have a lot of food in the house, and what we did have was not exactly healthy. Mostly a lot of convenience foods. I wish I could be one of those do-it-all moms who makes her own bread, pasta, jams, etc. I just don't do that stuff. I'm sure I have the time, I just don't have the motivation. I know it would be healthier than store bought. But I just can't force myself to do it. What I'm doing now is hard enough.
I haven't started going to the gym yet. I have, however, started working out at home. Two workouts now, the second one was tonight. I don't know names of everything I do, but I did write down all the exercises I did tonight, with the exception of my warm up and cool down. I bought a workout DVD. It's So You Think You Can Dance - Get Fit. Turns out, I can't dance. I have no rhythm. I have no coordination. I could not keep up. I lost myself in the warm up phase, and when it got into the first workout (hip hop), I quit. I think I need to lose some pounds before I can really get into that one. Too much of my junk gets in the way, and even "simple" things like jumping jacks are hard. The good news, I worked out for about an hour tonight. It hurt. I was sweaty. I cooled down outside, walking 10 laps around part of my front yard. Then I treated myself to a post-workout snack of two cookies (healthier ones, I swear) and a carrot.
More good news is that we went grocery shopping today. Aside from a few convenience foods we bought for the kids, and a couple of frozen dinners, pretty much everything was geared toward weight loss. I bought lemons to slice and put in my water. I bought a 4kg box of chicken breasts. I bought tons of fresh fruits and veggies, and one large bag of frozen vegetables. I am really excited about continuing on this journey. I just wish I could remember to write up my daily meal plans in the mornings! Fingers crossed tomorrow will be that day.
I took my measurements today, and took some before pictures. Tomorrow I will do a new weigh in, and I will try to stick to only weighing in once a week. And now, I need to chug a litre of water, and crash.
I haven't started going to the gym yet. I have, however, started working out at home. Two workouts now, the second one was tonight. I don't know names of everything I do, but I did write down all the exercises I did tonight, with the exception of my warm up and cool down. I bought a workout DVD. It's So You Think You Can Dance - Get Fit. Turns out, I can't dance. I have no rhythm. I have no coordination. I could not keep up. I lost myself in the warm up phase, and when it got into the first workout (hip hop), I quit. I think I need to lose some pounds before I can really get into that one. Too much of my junk gets in the way, and even "simple" things like jumping jacks are hard. The good news, I worked out for about an hour tonight. It hurt. I was sweaty. I cooled down outside, walking 10 laps around part of my front yard. Then I treated myself to a post-workout snack of two cookies (healthier ones, I swear) and a carrot.
More good news is that we went grocery shopping today. Aside from a few convenience foods we bought for the kids, and a couple of frozen dinners, pretty much everything was geared toward weight loss. I bought lemons to slice and put in my water. I bought a 4kg box of chicken breasts. I bought tons of fresh fruits and veggies, and one large bag of frozen vegetables. I am really excited about continuing on this journey. I just wish I could remember to write up my daily meal plans in the mornings! Fingers crossed tomorrow will be that day.
I took my measurements today, and took some before pictures. Tomorrow I will do a new weigh in, and I will try to stick to only weighing in once a week. And now, I need to chug a litre of water, and crash.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Crap, it happened again. But no more!
The last two weeks have been a bit rocky. We've been so busy, sent the big kids to camp for a week and had a semi relaxing time, even though I missed them like crazy. Then we took a trip to Kenora for a day, and had a blast out there. And the most important news. Yesterday the "hubby", which I use to refer to my baby daddy, but we aren't actually married, he PROPOSED yesterday! That's right folks. I am an engaged woman now! So, this brought into effect the wedding planner in me. I can see my wedding in my mind's eye. And in my mind's eye, I am not this horribly fat, gross thing. I don't mind being a bit on the bigger side. I don't imagine I'll ever be *petite*. I believe I am one of those "big boned" gals that just can't ever become a size 0. But I definitely need to lose at least 50lbs before my wedding next year. So starting today, I'm a new me. I use my engagement ring as motivation. I've been eating healthy today, or at least healthier than what I've been eating the last couple of weeks. I've even been exercising for a good portion of the day. I did a bunch of abs, thighs and butt exercises for about 20 minutes while my youngest was napping. I danced while making supper. I inflated my exercise ball, and bounced during my meal. I've increased my water intake, drinking almost 2 litres in the last three hours. I will have one more snack in about half an hour. I hope to send the kids to bed in about an hour. Tomorrow I'm going walking with my close friend at the park that I'm hoping to get married at. I'm also hoping to go to the gym while my youngest naps, and do some free weights for a bit, or maybe even do some swimming. I am going to keep this up, because I refuse to be a fat bride. I'm going to take pictures and do measurements tonight after the kids are in bed. My plan is to exercise at least one hour every day. It doesn't have to be all at the same time, but at least one cumulative hour daily. Even on days when I give myself junk to eat, I won't stop exercising. Something simple like bouncing on the ball, as long as it's enough to raise my heartrate some, will be enough for me.
Hopefully, I will remember to keep updating my blog with my daily progress. Tomorrow I will post my weight and measurements.
Hopefully, I will remember to keep updating my blog with my daily progress. Tomorrow I will post my weight and measurements.
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