finding the right excercise for you

I arrived at the gym 45 minutes before it started, so I could get 30 minutes in on the elliptical – nothing overly strenuous, just enough to get some blood pumping cardio in for the day. I had a great time at it last week and was really looking forward to starting off my Saturday with it again this week.

But they changed it.

Fuckers.

I’m talking about a low-impact aerobic class which involves a weight lifting component at my gym. (Note: you can show up at any class at my gym, it is included in the fee.) I have never felt more uncoordinated in the whole of my existence than I did this morning. Like, I could do it last week. I was all excited about how it was working my volleyball muscles. But my gym changes the choreography of the classes every 3 months  or so and it was completely different today. I stuck around for a solid 45 minutes of the hour-long class, but then he started adding steps and arm flailing and I had no idea what the deuce was going and certainly wasn’t getting any health benefit from standing there looking confused.

And so I left.

And it was good.

Actually, at first I felt really shitty about it.

Then, I realized step-like classes really aren’t for me. I don’t like them. I have no eye-foot coordination,  particularly when you ask me to do something with my arms at the same time.

I do, however, love yoga, running and the weight lifting class I have been attending. Why fuck with a good thing? Why go to the gym only to feel completely useless and defeated? I have found the right exercise for me and it does not include step classes. I write this not to dissuade you, reader, but instead to encourage you to try different things out to see what does and does not work for you.

p.

pudge and prejudice

From the moment I saw the Core plan I knew it wasn’t for me. After all, you should only have starches, grains or cereals ONCE a day on Core. WW: do you have any idea how much I love pasta? I usually have cereal for breakfast – which leaves me screwed for the rest of the day. FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, even, in the event I were to stay on Core (like a tool) forever and ever. And don’t even get me started on bread. Apparently, it isn’t even a Core food. What the deuce is that about? WW: Do you know what is delicious? Pizza. Do you know what is a fairly important part of pizza? Bread. Screw you WW and your anti-bread fascism.

The general need for a change helped me decide to brave what would surely be the exceptionally terrible experience of enduring Core for an entire week of hell, hunger and disappointing food choices.

That was two weeks ago. (As noted,) I lost track of what I was eating come weekend-time my first week of Core, but still managed to lose 2.5lbs. So I gave Core another go as I had no idea how much I liked it (as I hadn’t given it a whole-hearted try). I am happy to report I am down 4.5lbs since my last weigh-in. My prejudice toward Core was completely unfounded in any reality. I found I stuck to the Good Health Guidelines more than when I was on Flex (and found that it was easier and necessary to do so), I was satisfied hunger-wise and I came up with a really good stuffed roasted pepper recipe (which I will share eventually). I went through all of my 35 flex points. I enjoyed my friend’s birthday party Saturday, had a few glasses of red wine AND a slice of chocolate cake. I made pizza one day – I made it from scratch, cooked it on a whole wheat pita and topped it with Core foods – only spent like 2 points. I had a scone for breakfast one day, and it was glorious. I had pasta with pesto twice (using flex points for the pesto which was a mouth-wateringly delicious gift from a co-worker). Core isn’t as limiting as I had assumed in all my unfounded anti-Core prejudice. (Also, I think I enjoy and appreciate treats more now than before I joined WW.) I am committing to Core again this week and am going for a grocery shop later today.

In other news: I have officially added weight lifting to my work out repertoire. Took me a bit to get here because I was embarrassed about not really knowing how to do it. I was also pretty prejudiced about using weights at the gym – specifically, about the dirty looks fit people would surely throw toward pudgey and weight-lifting-knowledge-less me for attempting to better myself. There is a 20-minute all-the-core-muscle-groups step-by-step weight lifting thing set up in my gym that is super easy and not at all intimidating. I tried this with a friend a few days after I went to a weight lifting class (which stole my weight lifting cherry). Now that I have a better idea how it works I am going to go Friday to do it by myself. I heard a rumour that weight lifting can boost your metabolism. This, eating Core, keeping focused on my goals by meal planning, partying hard, enjoying foods I love and averaging 6 or 7 activity points a day helped me with one of my larger losses.

Unrelated note: Mr. Darcy is dreamy to the max.

kick start your metabolism

The following was taken from: http://www.goodlifefitness.ca/articles/

Metabolism is the number of the calories your body needs just to keep itself going. As you age your metabolic rate slows due to decline in activity levels and loss of muscle.

Boost your body’s ability to burn calories by kick starting your body into high gear by:
1. Lifting weights 2-3 times per week
2. Eating regularly
3. Adding protein to every meal

on getting into my pants

Dear Reader,

Holy shit. I just fit into pants that I haven’t been able to wear since my third year of university. And shirts.

All that shit which has been lying about in my drawers on the off chance it would fit again can now be worn.

I find myself smiling a lot.

Yours in varyingly constant vigilance,

p.

and on the 7th day she had rest…and went to the gym, grocery shopping, made a chili and roasted stuffed red peppers

A bit better than my last 7th day.

You should see my fridge. It’s all orderly and shit. I have two days of lunches packed, each equipped with: chicken and a roasted red pepper stuffed with potatoes, black beans and corn. I’ll probably put it on a bed of baby romaine and alfalfa spouts to up my veggie intake. Maybe toss some fresh salsa on top too. If it’s any good I will post the recipe (it’s a food experiment). I also made a chili (I used ground turkey instead of beef this time) and froze some of it in single-sized portions so I have a meals at the ready for when I don’t feel like cooking.

stuff I eat for breakfast when I’m on Core

I am always looking for meal ideas and like to share them as well. The following is a list of stuff I eat for breakfast when I’m on Core. I have been frequenting #1 and #6 the most often.

1. Cheerios + fruit (usually blueberries or banana) *on days when I have Cheerios for breakfast I am stuck not having rice, potatoes, pasta etc. for lunch or dinner
2. (2) Scrambled eggs with red pepper and onion
3. (2) Scrambled eggs with avocado and tomato, squirted with a lime
4. (1) poached egg with (cooked) mushrooms and onion on the side (and sometimes also a grilled tomato)
5. Cheese and onion omelet
6. Yogurt + blueberries
7. Cottage Cheese + some sort of fruit

What do you eat for breakfast?

almost getting into mens’ pants

I am down in the waistline so I decided to treat myself to a pair of new jeans (as hot as having saggy crotch jeans is…) yesterday afternoon. My friend told me to look for Silver jeans; there are only two stores in my city that sell them, so I went to the closest one. I get there and the store is way, way cooler than I am: There is like cool people music and a weird (read: cool, young and hip) layout.

I am flabbergasted by the amount of jeans they sell.

I go to the sale rack and start picking out random sizes cause I have no idea what size I am anymore. I am doing good – I have an arm full of a variety of jeans.

This too-cool-for-school blonde guy with the collar of his coat flipped up (just in case you weren’t sure he was cooler than you) keeps looking at me funny.

Pfft.

I walk over to a wall full of jeans and stare at it like a lost puppy for a couple of minutes; then, not 1 – but 2 sales staff come over to me.

Blondie keeps eyeing me.

“Need some help.” (note: not a question)

“Yeah, I am looking for Silver jeans…”

“They are right here [note: they were directly in front of me]. Umm…. did you get those jeans from the sale rack right there.”

“Yes…”

“Yeah, those are men’s jeans. DON’T WORRY. Lot’s of customers do that – happens all the time.”

“Oh.”

I piled them on jeanssalesperson#2 and let #1 pick out the right (women’s) jeans for me.

what the deuce…?

The thing about losing track of what you ate and did for the majority of a week is you have no idea what the deuce you are doing right (or wrong). I am down 2.5 lbs from last weigh in. Sweet! But why – and how? Was it the meal planning ahead of time for the few of days I kept track of stuff? Was it checking in more often with my hunger signals? Was it the pointsboosting? It definitely wasn’t the cake or cookies…When did the shit I actually exercise? What the hell did I do last week?

I have no idea.

I am 6.1lbs away from 10% loss; I hadn’t really had that goal in mind much lately until I realized that I am getting closeish to it. This week I am re-commiting to Core and am going to try to actually write down what I am doing so that in the event I have a successful week I can replicate what I did for more success. I am using the area designated for the flex plan in my QuickTrak system to meal plan for Core and I have also moved my activity calendar to these pages.

Speaking of activity – I FINALLY went to BodyPump (a weight lifting class at my gym) yesterday. Some co-workers peer pressured me into going. As suspected, I was indeed embarassingly bad at it, but people saw my lost puppy face and gave me pointers along the way.

I feel stiff and really awesome.

like boots or hearts

It is weigh-in eve and I am DREADING stepping onto the scale tomorrow morning. Friends’ priorities usurped my own from Friday till about Tuesday morning, and I otherwise experimented with Core. Loss, gain, maintenance – it’s all on the table for tomorrow morning. I feel like I should know what’s coming but maybe I don’t know my body as well as I thought I did (yet). We’re still in the dating phase of our relationship. For the first couple of months I gave it the good food it needed and it would happily react accordingly with consistent loss. The honeymoon stage of our weight loss is CLEARLY over. We seemed to stagnate last week, mainly due to satisfaction-related miscommunication issues and some adultery on my part. But unlike men, I can’t break up with my body and start afresh with someone new after two months or so. If I dump weight watchers, I’ll just be dumpy. You have to work through the hard times for positive lasting relationships. (Or so I’ve read.) So me and my body have to face reality…

*Ahem*

Dear Body,

I have been adulterating on weekends; I know I shouldn’t, but

* s i g h *

it happens nonetheless. Come Saturday morning I stop tracking. Friday gym visits sometimes turn to Friday pub visits, and Saturday gym visits become BBC’s Pride and Prejudice marathons with friends – and my ex, chocolate Cake, enters the picture from time to time. I thought I could handle Cake, but we have this really intense all or nothing relationship. The whole plan usually falls apart Saturday morning when I find myself free from my weekday work routine; the plan mishappenly comes back together when – oh shit! – I have weigh-in tomorrow.

I have been learning about anchoring through the Internets this week, and maybe finding an anchor, talisman or touchstone will help me remain committed to this relationship – because I really want it to work. Forserious. Other people noted they used a bracelet, an actual rock or an exceptionally creepy voodoo doll for their anchors. I don’t have any anchoring stuff – no powerful objects imbidden with meaning to carry about with me. CONFOUND IT. What shall I do? Must an anchor be an actual, physical thing? I think I shall anchor my Saturdays by starting the morning out with some music, a little diddy you might know by The Hip. Hopefully, this will remind me to whip out my Quick Track Guide and drag my ass to the gym.

See when it starts to fall apart
It really falls apart
Like boots or hearts oh when they starts – it really falls apart.

Anchors Away!

Yours in (varyingly) constant vigilance,

p

stuff I eat sometimes

Okay, so I am in a bad mood. Feels like a rut. Smells like teen spirit.

Could be karma – I took the garbage to the shoot after writing that first sentence just now and it exploded some gross smells and liquids in my face before making its way down to the basement. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Either way I am about as up for blogging as I am for running a half marathon. So, today I will leave you with a list of stuff I eat sometimes. I find getting ideas for food to be exceptionally helpful, especially if it is realistically easy to cook stuff. So here goes.

Broccoli Slaw + Teriyaki Beef + Sesame dressing

This is stupid-delicious and takes 8 seconds to make. You can buy Broccoli Slaw (pre-cut broccoli, carrots, and lettuce) at the grocery store. Toss on some Teriyaki beef and seasme dressing and BAM you have a Core lunch (+2 points for dressing). Careful which dressing you choose, I saw a fancy President’s Choice one that was like 11g of fat for 2 tablespoons. What the fuck is that?

Chili

Mmm chili. My dad is a fireman so I learned to make a mean chili early on in life. It isn’t really that difficult and mainly involves opening cans and is Core to the max.

- half lb lean ground beef browned, drained, then cooked in Old El Paso chili mix

- 2 cans black beans (drain and rinse)

- 1 can kidney beans (drain and rinse)

- 1 can low sodium diced tomatoes (dump whole can in)

- 1 onion cooked in cracked chili peppers

- 1 red pepper + 1 green pepper cooked in cracked chili peppers (sometimes I cheat and use frozen veggies – fajita mix)

- 1 thing of President’s Chioce Arrabbiata “Italian Magic Sauce” (I use this as the base)

Combine in giant pot and let simmer till it is thick or runny as you like it. If you like things less spicey than I do omit cooking things in cracked chili peppers.

Warning1: This makes a lot of food.

Warning2: Cooking onion in cracked chili peppers hurts if you get it in your eyes.

Chicken + Potatoes in the Crockpot

Mango Salad

Cottage Cheese + Salsa

This sounds and looks gross but is fucking delicious if you are weird. Try putting it on top of a salad with avocado, tomato and onion (and lettuce) if you are ready for awesomeness to ensue.

Pita Pizza

Sometimes I make a pizza on a whole wheat pita. Hawaiian, veggie, whateva! Millions less points than take out. And your house/apartment smells nice when you are done. (I cooked 1 at 350 for like 15 minutes, I think.)

So those are some cooking ideas for now more to come in the near future. I am going to avoid the garbage shoot for the rest of the day (the bastard).