Frustration

It just seems like it's one step forward, two steps backward.  I was into a rhythm of exercise and sleep and BAM, the time changes and the holidays begin.  Well, I'm back on the wagon, had a kettle bell workout yesterday and put the leftover desserts into the freezer.

One day at a time!

Little ol' Me

On Monday I weighed myself and I'm 2 pounds lighter than when I married!   I feel pretty good.  I'm much stronger and have been controlling desserts and other cravable food intake.

Rebooting the Program

I haven't been getting the results I want.  I am doing a little trimming, but nothing like what I need to accomplish.  Luckily, Halloween didn't get me off track.  My husband took all the candy to school with him.  It also helps that I learned that most chocolate is produced with child slavery.  This made me lose my appetite for it pretty fast.

Portion control is the name of the game.  I'm especially watching carbohydrate intake.  Eliminating them is a bad idea.  Carbohydrate is important for the immune system and other metabolic function.  The important thing is to keep it to 30-50% of calories.

I heard on NPR that natural sunlight is necessary for normal eye development in children.  Without it, the eye keeps growing and becomes oblong, making the person near-sighted.  nearsightedness has traditionally been pretty rare, but it's becoming very common.  In places where children are almost perpetually in buildings (like school) such as Shanghi, China, the nearsightedness rate is 90%!

So, with all my podcast and NPR listening, this is what I've learned this week.

1. Most commercially produced chocolate is made with child slavery (where the cocoa is harvested).
2. Keep carbs lower to help control appetite.  (Ben Greenfield fitness podcast)
3. Getting out to rake and collect wood, go on bike rides, etc. will help my 2-year-old's vision develop well.   (NPR news)
4. Eating lots of mini-meals doesn't give my body the opportunity to metabolize body fat.  I'm best off with 3 moderate meals per day.  (Jillian Michaels podcast)
5. I need to challenge myself at the gym, past what I'd normally think is possible.  (Jillian Michaels podcast)

Fit for Duty

Lord, thank you for this part of the Pentagon budget.  I knew that there must be something worth paying for.  Here it is!

"Fit for Duty" is a series of workout videos ranging from a few minutes to an hour in length.  These cardio ones are about 25 minutes long and they will kick your ass!  I learned about this series whilst searching itunes' most popular health and fitness podcasts.  I'm so psyched!  Some days I want to get up early but don't want to add the commuting distance to the gym into my morning schedule.  Then there are snowy days, storms, or Sunday mornings too cold to go for a power walk.  (I'm changing regular walks to a faster-paced power-walk)

Try one!  Go ahead, you paid for this!  Do it!

Juicing is fun

I've been having some juice every day to help aide my weight loss efforts.  The juice has a low glycemic load because it's mostly vegetable juice.  I use just enough apple juice to cut the bitterness of the veggies.  I juiced some kale the day I bought it and froze it in ice cube trays so I can add it to other blends.  Today I made a tomato-apple-lime combo that was awesome!  The lime makes it really zippy.  My 2-year-old loves it too.  We've had her on plain milk and water so her taste in juice is unformed.

I came across this Ted Talk and I thought I'd share it with you.

H.I.T. High Intensity Training

Get Fit Guy

I was listening to Get Fit Guy's podcast this morning and was inspired.  Doing interval training with high intensity bursts followed by lower or more moderate activity burns way more calories than regular exercise.  (The episode called "10 reasons why you are not losing weight")  It was 5:45am and nobody, not even the sun was up.  I decided to go for it.

There was a light pole a little way down the road.

I realized a while back that I had not
actually run anywhere or at any
intensity for YEARS.  I decided to run
flat-out from that pole until the next one.

I did it!  

Then I did it again a little while later!  I added sets of 10 squats every 10 houses or so.  All in all it felt really really good.  I had that beautiful sweaty and cleaned-from-the-inside feeling that is so wonderful about exercise.  It was a really nice experience.  Pair that with the fact that I didn't want to get up this morning to do the walk and I'm pretty proud of myself.  

There was unpleasant flapping of flesh on flesh, but I didn't let it get to me.  All in all, I didn't run for very long or very far, but it was a start.  I'm looking forward to doing it again!

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

A revised food pyramid is food for thought.  This thought-provoking documentary is very inspiring.  One must be careful, however.  If you have too much fruit as part of your mix in these juices, you can induce diabetes.  This is NOT a fruit fast, it is a vegetable juice fast.