This Isn't Easy

Switching up your lifestyle is never easy.  Making those changes last is even harder.  My trouble I tend to encounter is that I try to jump in to lots of changes instead of moving gradually, which adds stress to my life. 

I’ve been making many diet, workout, and schedule changes.  The program I’m using, Nerd Fitness, actually warns against this.  They recommend the gradual approach so you can get used to it before you move on.  My downfall was thinking, “Well I already work out.  I already try to watch what I eat.  I’m already trying to get to bed on time.  I can handle some minor tweaking to all of that.” 

DIET

The recommended nutrition plan on the website is the Paleo Diet.  I’ve always considered this another fad diet.  I never saw anything wrong with brown rice or whole wheat bread.  But, they said give it a try for 30 days and see how you feel.  I’m willing to try something new so I’m giving it a shot.

My standard breakfast and lunch were not “Paleo approved.”  I usually ate strawberries, Greek yogurt, and protein packed wheat cereal for breakfast.  Now, the yogurt and cereal are out.  I’ve been trying to replace this meal with eggs in the morning.  This means I have to leave time to cook.  It worked okay for a few days until we ran out of eggs.  I’m still adjusting to it.  I’m hoping I can try some of the recipes I’ve seen for scrambled eggs in muffin cups to prepare ahead of time.  BP (Before Paleo) I made turkey sandwiches for lunch.  The bread is out, but I can still use deli meat if it doesn’t have added nitrates.  I’ve been making salads for lunch with olive oil and vinegar dressings.  My boyfriend and I are also trying to adjust our dinner recipes to leave leftovers for the next day.

The biggest problem I’m having with the diet plan is that I’m cutting out dairy, bread, pasta, etc. without replacing it with the fruit, meat, and fat that I need.  A few times this last week, I came home feeling completely worn out.  My energy levels dropped.  I’m buying more fruit to add to my meals.  I still need to get creative with vegetables.

WORKOUT

My workout already included full body weightlifting.  I used to jog for 5 minutes or a half mile to warm up.  Now the warm up includes jumping jacks, arm circles, squats, and leg swings.  It definitely limbers up different parts of my body than just jogging.  I still have to look at my little cheat sheet for the warm up but I like it more and more.

I’ve chosen the barbell workout.  This includes a lot of lifts that are brand new to me.  I’m using a squat rack instead of a leg press machine.  I’ve done my first deadlift with just the bar.  I’m excited to try all of these lifts I’ve heard about but haven’t learned before.

With the changed routine and a different warm up and cool down, my first workouts have lasted around an hour and twenty minutes.  I was hoping for the workouts to be shorter than my former routine.  I’m sure they will go faster once I’m used to them.

SLEEP

I would guess that I get more sleep than the average American, but I do not get the recommended 8 hours.  Good nights in the past were 7 and a half hours of sleep.  Poor nights closer to 6 hours.  I know this is an area in which I need to improve.  I’ve changed the time I start getting ready for bed.  I also have to pay more attention to the clock when I’m reading.  Sometimes I would go to bed early only to read past my bed time.  So far I’ve been making good strides with this.  I’ve managed to get 8 hours on week nights which was impossible before.  I get up at the alarm at a later time so I don’t snooze.  I try to get things ready for the day the night before.  Then I don’t have to spend as much time in the morning doing it.

It’s been easier to go to bed because I’m getting tired at night.  When it approaches 9:30pm I start to feel drowsy.  This is new to me.  I used to feel pretty awake until it was way past my bed time.

SO HOW’S IT GOING?

It’s been a couple of weeks.  With all of these changes I’ve implemented at once, I’ve been a ball of stress at times.  I come home tired from either the workout or a lack of the right foods since I’m still trying to adjust to the diet.  Sometimes I stress out when I run out of the approved food.  I’m sure I haven’t been pleasant company for my boyfriend.  It only worries him to see me stressed out.

Stressful nights have occurred in 2 of the nights out of the past 2 weeks.  In general, I am feeling more accomplished.  I am feeling more energized with more sleep at night.  I’m trying to learn from the times I don’t feel great.  I’m still going to try to maintain my diet, workouts, and new schedule.

First Workout

I completed my first Barbell workout through Nerd Fitness.  I tried the second warm up.  I didn't like this one as much as the first one they offer.  This one required 2 minutes of jumping rope or jumping jacks.  F that noise!  I can do a few jumping jacks but 2 minutes is beyond me.

The first level of Barbell workouts includes a Workout A and a Workout B.  You can do these on the same day or on alternating days.  I chose to do both yesterday.

I did 5 sets of 5 reps of Bench Press with 20 lbs on the bar.
5 sets of 5 reps of Barbell squats.  There is no squat rack at the gym I use so I traded between using a Smith Machine and a 6 lbs exercise bar.
3 sets of 10 reps of Pushups.  I was able to get a few real ones in the beginning before switching to knee pushups
3 sets of :30 planks.  I was able to do these fairly well since I normally do 2 sets of :35.

Then I did 3 sets of 5 reps of Deadlifts.  This was my first time doing this exercise so I practiced with a light bar.  2 sets of 6lbs. 1 of 30 lbs
5 sets of 5 reps of Push Press.  I didn't know what this was before.  It's basically a shoulder press with a barbell instead of dumbbells.  Sets were: 6 lbs, 12 lbs, 30 lbs, 30 lbs, 30 lbs
3 sets of 16 reps of Barbell lunges.  I used the 6lbs bar for 2 sets then a 12 lbs bar for the last.
Pullups.  I can't do a straight pullup.  I used a stool and sort of did one.  Then I kind of did two.  Then I did one.  This is something I want to improve for sure.
3 sets of 10 reps of Reverse crunches.  I knew these as leg lifts.  I normally put my hands under my butt when I do these but this time I had them out to my side like they suggest.  That definitely made it harder!

There are a few optional choices after the workout.  Since I didn't get my lunchtime walk in, I did shuttle runs (sprinting between two points 20 feet apart).

Overall I'd say the workout went well.  It took much longer than my usual workout with the warm up and cool down.  I figured it would since this is the first time I did many of these workouts.

Today I am definitely sore all over.  My back of my neck hurts where I must have rested the bar against my neck instead of my shoulder muscles.  That is something to look out for.  I feel sore throughout my chest, back, and backs of my legs.  I'm excited to do it again on Friday!

Before pictures and measurements

The first step is to see where I started.  I've posted my before pictures.  This first one is from a trip to New York City in July 2009.  This is only five months into my new job.  This is a good idea of what I looked like at my heaviest.

These next pictures are from September 2015.  These are my current before pictures.  As you can see I've made a lot of progress on my own since 2009.  But I have gained back quite a bit of weight from my recent lowest weight.  I'm hoping my after pictures will be another dramatic shift.

My current starting measurements are as follows:

Neck:   14"

Chest:   38" or 39" depending on where I measure

Biceps: both 12 1/4"

Waist:  32 1/2"

Hips:    40 3/4"

Butt:    44"

Thighs: both 26"

Calf:    both 15"

And so it begins...

Good day!

What is this blog? The short answer is that this blog is here for me to track my journey to my fitness and nutrition goals. I hope to make it enjoyable for others as well if any happen to stumble upon it. (Or I thrust it upon them. Hi!)  For a longer explanation of my background, buckle in and keep reading!

My awareness of my weight and need for better nutrition began in 2009. I started my first desk job right out of grad school. This change also included a move back home to Colorado from Paris, where my school was. (My adventures there can be found in my other blog here, Born A Woman But Been Abroad A Year). My daily schedule changed drastically. In grad school I had fairly open hours with class a few hours a week, ate what I wanted, walked everywhere, and lived on the 4^th floor of an apartment building that didn’t have an elevator. (Lugging groceries up those stairs entailed one tough work out!) My new schedule included sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week, living in a two story house and working on the first floor, eating what my family was eating, and driving everywhere. This schedule change sapped my energy. My routine quickly became: wake up, drive to work, work 8 hours, drive home, collapse on the couch, watch TV, go to bed. 

Not surprisingly, this resulted in massive weight gain. I had started at a size 12 or so. I didn’t pay attention to sizes before. I just wore what fit. I skipped to a size 16 without even a glance at size 14. Just flew right by that sucker. I happened to have doctor appointments one week apart. In that ONE WEEK I gained ten pounds. My overall weight gain was around thirty pounds. At my heaviest I hovered under 200 pounds close to 190 pounds. I was a skinny string bean kid and average thin through school. It was quite a shock when I started dating a guy around the same time and in response to something I said he replied, “That’s why I like big girls!” I didn’t identify myself as a “big girl.” I’d always been tall for my age and gender at 5’9”. But now I was being called a big girl. It was a punch to the gut since in my head I was still that thin girl from high school. (And in case you’re wondering, that guy didn’t last).

Gaining weight as fast as I did was not normal even considering the lifestyle change. A later blood test at the doctor’s office revealed that my thyroid had quit on me (that lazy jerk). Without my thyroid pumping out its hormones, this added to weight gain, slower metabolism, and feeling tired all the time no matter how much I slept. I could sleep nine hours and feel like I didn’t get any sleep the next day. This is obvious in retrospect; however I was completely unaware at the time. I simply thought I needed to catch up on sleep. When I tried to go to the gym to work out, I saw no results and only felt more exhausted every time.

The doctor got me set up with medication to help regulate my hypothyroidism.  Lucky for me, they were like magic pills.  I got more energy. With this added energy, I was more active and able to go to the gym.  I began lifting weights in addition to my Zumba classes at the recreation center.  My brother, a 6’4” beefy former football player, helped me get started on some good weight routines and a good eating plan.  Some of the pounds seemed to melt off over the following months. I slept well and felt more awake at work. The pills helped fix some of the problem. Through working out and becoming more aware of my diet, I managed to cut my weight back down to 170 pounds.  I also moved into an apartment that was walking distance from work. I tried to style my life around how I lived in France. I still couldn’t walk to the grocery store, but I was at least getting much more movement in my daily routine. I was able to walk to the nearby recreation center as well.

So where am I today?  I moved out of the apartment next to my work and into a house with my boyfriend (a much healthier relationship than the last one).  I am driving to work again but still walking on my lunch hour.  I gained back about thirteen pounds.  It’s not an impossible amount to lose, but I definitely want to do something different now to curb that gain.  The only thing I want to be gaining is muscle.

I recently joined Nerd Fitness to help kick start my fitness and nutrition.  A lot of the information I will be posting will be related to the steps and goals set out there.

So without further blather, I present to you my Super Sale Blog!