New Insight

I am an "avid tweeter," as my bio states. I tweet A LOT with my fellow NKOTB fan friends and we discuss everything and anything, and not always related to NKOTB. Among those friends, I have developed a following of sorts with my daily food and exercise tweets. Lots of people started telling me that I inspire them with my informative tweets and that they look forward to reading them. So I decided, why not create a twitter account JUST about my weight loss journey, and hopefully my friends on my NKOTB account will follow me on that new one? So, I did it. @myinnerstrength was born. I have about 100 followers, and 90% of them are my friends from my @donniedollgirl account. The rest are *dieticians*, *trainers*, and *fellow healthy living-weight loss enthusiasts*!! I tapped into a fountain of endless knowledge when I started following as many fitness accounts as I could find! While this journey towards wellness within is just beginning, I know that I am NOT an expert, and I am learning as I go. I truly realize, I have always loved teaching and instructing people. I don't want to let anyone down and I like being accountable to people other than myself. Having this outlet makes me feel a greater responsibility about what I am doing, and how I am doing it. With that said, I always accept advice and information from others. I am open to learn as much as I possibly can, and share what I know.

On another note, this past Sunday, I decided to go on a bike ride in the Albuquerque bosque. I rode an EPIC 20 miles in 1:45!!!! A personal best for me. My last best mileage was 13 miles in 1:30 (on a trail that has many hills). Completing 20 miles (on a straight away) was incredibly exhilarating. My next goal is 24 miles.

Change Does the Body Good

I have been a member of my gym for over a year now. It is the type of place that borders on resort type amenities. We have the racquetball privileges, for when my hubby feels like playing, there's of course the pool, and all the usual gym equipment. I have begun to realize, what my money is actually going towards every month ($97, mind you!), is the "healthy happy hour" every week, the "family day" BBQs, the luaus, the big screen TV in the weight room, the shampoo/conditioner and folded towels in the locker room, and the "let's all get together and watch a movie at the pool," evenings. Um. A whole lot of crap I have never taken part in. And a waste of money. As much as I am wishing to train for a triathlon, I know I WILL not swim in the fall or winter. My muscles do not respond well being submerged in icy cold water, surrounded by cold air. The only reason I have been keeping our membership at the current gym is because of my supposed desire to have the use of a pool at my disposal.

Last week, hubby informed me he saw a sign for Planet Fitness: "$10 down, $10 a month." Sounds too good to be true, right? NOPE!! I went inside the brand new location (right down the street from our house), and was happily surprised by the beautiful new equipment, the relaxed, low-key environment, and the "NO JUDGEMENT ZONE," signs everywhere. First thing I noticed was the FIFTY treadmills in the facility!! Wow. I was greeted by down to earth employees, who didn't act like their only job is to play the "numbers game," - aka, quota, like I experienced at my old gym, and at the physical therapist's a few years ago. Planet Fitness has several different machines I have never used before, and there's a personal trainer who is available to help ANYONE who asks. My old gym had trainers who would ONLY speak to or help their OWN clients. PF also is against the "meat market" and the "lunks" at other gyms. They are all about you fitting in and feeling comfortable with your workout.

Since last Friday, I started a new routine at a new gym, and I feel great. I am now doing mixed HIIT, with flat surface running, uphill sprinting, as well as uphill walking (15% incline) up to 2 miles, for 30 minutes, and an hour of weight lifting in one session. I LOVE the new (to me) machines for obliques, abs, and glutes. I am proud to say I have been doing assisted pull ups and using proper technique (keeping my back straight) during the row exercise. I mention this because I saw a guy using improper technique and who was probably gonna throw his back out at any moment. I wanted to say something, but I hesitate to sound like a goody two shoes. I minded my own business and continued to remember the old saying about weight lifting: "quality not quantity," and made sure to keep proper form, and fully extend my arms or legs in the exercise, and get all of what I can out of it.

Today was my day to have ONE cheat, moreover, metabolism re boost meal. I ate at Bob's Burgers, and had a Dairy Queen Blizzard afterwards. As much as I thought I was looking forward to it, I felt AWFUL after eating it. Not mentally, as in guilt, but physically. My body reacts to "bad food" so differently now, and it just doesn't have the same appeal once I actually do eat it. Think about it like this: I only had ONE meal off of my "regular" food list this week, and I couldn't wait to get back to my pure, wholesome food. I know, though, eating off my diet once a week is as important as sticking to it the rest of the week, and changing up my exercise regimen often. I have learned that as easy as it is to get comfortable with the same routine or foods, it's just as important to "shock the system," with a meal that's totally off the diet, or with exercise that's completely different from what I've been doing. Especially with as long as I have been doing this; I have to deviate from the "norm" about every month.

Here's to looking forward to more great PF experiences and continued improvement in my health and fitness!!

Don't Cheat your Body

"DON'T CHEAT YOUR BODY!" was something the Drill Sergeants loved to scream at me. I especially loved how DS Diaz-de-Leon ordered me to immediately go into the push up position whenever she stepped foot in the room, or into our formation. This was, of course, for my own good. I found it difficult to comprehend what I now know about health and fitness, as I was going through Drill Sergeant forced and induced agony and pain, and in the beginning, I was OUT OF SHAPE. At the time, I was struggling. But by not ALWAYS giving it my all, I was cheating my body. By "just wanting it to end," by not embracing the exercise for what it was, and by not pushing myself over the threshold, I was punishing my body. In the midst of it all, I couldn't see the difference. However, it is very easy to want to do the bare minumum when you have Drill Sergeants constantly on your case, you are practically dying of heat stroke, and you are beyond exhausted. As time went on, and I built up stamina, strength, and skills, I began to understand; if you don't push yourself, you never improve. If you don't do more than you did the last time, you don't make progress. If you don't test yourself mentally, you will never learn discipline.

Have you ever had a (temporary) slacker attitude during your workout and give it less than your all? While lifting weights, have you ever decided to skip the last set because you are bored, tired, hot, "not feeling it?"? How about when you are running and you decide to walk the rest of the way because you "just don't wanna?"? I'll admit I have had episodes like these. In those times of weakness, I remember what my Drill Sergeants used to say, and I quickly change my attitude. My most recent "don't cheat your body" moment came today when I had already ridden 10 miles and thought, "I'm going to take the shortcut home." I tried to justify it because I HAD already ridden 10 miles. For a split second, I thought "I'm done." But I only had a 1/8 of a mile left to go to finish the trail before I would turn around anyway for the home stretch. The "I'm hot, tired, hungry, and sore" part of me wanted to quit. Luckily THAT part of me isn't the dominant part!! I remembered, "DON'T CHEAT YOUR BODY, CHAVEZ!" and I pushed on. I beat my all time record and rode 12.82 miles in 1:25, and burned 702 calories.

Caloric Intake- Need to Step it UP

I recently came across the caloric intake formula used by the Insanity program. My friend Yvette sent it to me, and I did the algebra to figure out what I should be consuming. I HAD been working out 6x a week, up until last week, since my year long gym contract ended, and money's been tight with the new house, I haven't renewed it. I have been doing 10 mile bike rides instead, though; I am building up my cardio stamina on the bike in preparation for the triathlon next year. I am going to renew my gym membership in September so I can continue to swim and lift weights, and ride my bike at home.

Calorie Formula
Energy required to maintain your current weight:
655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in yrs)=
Basal Energy Expenditure
Now multiply that # by 1.55 for 3-5 days of exercise or 1.77 for 6-7 days a week
Finally, deduct 500 calories a day for weight loss

Here's the formula with my numbers plugged in:
655 + (4.35 x153) + (4.7 x 64) - (4.7 x 32) = 1470.95 Basal Energy Expenditure (the amount of calories I need to sustain life and current weight, without factoring in exercise)

1470 x 1.77= 2603.5815 - 500 = 2103 (The amount of calories I need to sustain life and lose weight at the current rate I am exercising)

What??? This is news to me. I have been eating between 1400-1600 calories. This definitely explains why I have plateaued. I have been losing inches, gaining muscle, and getting smaller in physical size, but the weight on the scale definitely has been stagnant. My body thinks I am starving. It is not going to allow me to lose any more weight unless I feed it more!

The increase of calories doesn't mean I get to "eat whatever I want," or down a bunch of junk food. The concept is simple: increase the amount of complex carbohydrates and wholesome foods I already do eat: sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, whole grain breads, pasta, rice, and oats.

I finally bought steel cut oats and quinoa from the health food store last week. They are both protein-filled hot grain cereals and are delicious. I will NEVER again be able to eat rolled oats, or "instant oatmeal" again. It's unbelievable the difference whole grains make when you get used to them. I have been being extremely conscious of including and increasing the complex carbs in my meals, and have been doing well, except for these last few days. I seem to get out of my routine on Fridays when I am off work, and on the weekends, where I either don't eat enough, or I eat too many simple carbs or high sugar foods. When I do that, I notice immediate water weight gain. However, I have kept the 50 lbs off for over a year now. Monday - Thursday I do very well because I am at work, I pack my lunch, and I make a point to eat every 2 hours. Here's a sample of what I have been eating:

8 am: Steel cut oats and strawberries & blueberries w/Truvia
10 am: Oikos Greek yogurt and raspberries w/Truvia
12 pm: a plum or 1/2 c cherries
1 pm: spring greens, carrots, snow peas, broccoli slaw salad w/tuna, sunflower seeds and ranch dressing. Sweet potato w/olive oil based butter, Truvia and cinnamon.
3 pm: 24 raw almonds, whole wheat toast w/almond or sun butter
5 pm: work out and protein shake w/almond milk
7 pm Dinner: varies chicken, fish, 97% lean ground beef w/cauliflower, asparagus or brussels sprouts, & 1/2 c brown rice

Notably, this weekend, (during the meals I didn't fall off the wagon), I have been eating 4 or 5 egg white omelettes w/cheese, bell pepper, onion and turkey bacon, w/ a bowl of steel cut oats w/strawberries and blueberries, and Oikos greek yogurt for breakfast, tuna w/hardboiled egg on whole wheat and flax bread for lunch w/ a side of carrots and cherries, and steak w/sweet potato for dinner.

Today, I am going to the baseball game and will likely eat a hot dog. Tomorrow is my niece's 1st birthday, and I will probably eat some cake. But it's ok. I am not a yo-yo dieter. I changed my LIFE and habits. It's ok to indulge a little from time to time.

On a side note: the blood work results from my physical came in on Friday. All tests came back NORMAL. This is a blessing. In May '08 when I had my physical, I was borderline high blood pressure, borderline high cholestrol, and pre-diabetic!! In '09, all my results came back normal, as well, due to 20 lb weight loss at the time.