Working out and breathing...

Tobe destroyed me again today.  He destroyed me with cardio! He put me on the treadmill and started me out walking at an incline of 10 and had me hold a 12 pound ball.  I had to hold it on one side then after a minute, he had me move the ball to the other side for a minute.  I also then had to hold it above my head for a minute.  We did this for about 10 minutes, where he kept upping the speed on me. Ick!!! He told me that I really needed to up my cardio because of my breathing.  When I told him that I didn't like breathing like that, he said it was because, I don't like getting out of my comfort zone.  This is VERY true, I don't! I like my comfort zone, and I never like to go outside of that on anything that I do.

Then when we were done with the ball, he brought the incline down to 2% and had me running sprints for a minute each time.  Each sprint, he would up the speed.  I started out with a speed of 3.8, which is a complete jog for me because I'm so short! By the time the last sprint came around, I was at a 5.7! Yeah, that was a FULL blown run for me!  During the whole time, Tobe had to remind me to concentrate on my breathing.  I guess, even when I was a competitive swimmer, I never really learned how to breath properly while working out.  I tend to hold my breath or take really fast breaths, which practically put me in an asthmatic state! Not to mention, all those years of smoking surely hasn't helped.  I can tell a huge difference, but I'm sure my lungs still have not repaired themselves yet.  With all that damage I did to my lungs from smoking, I guess I will never truly be able to breath like I did before I started smoking at the age of 16.

However, after we were done, Tobe told me that he was very proud of how well I pushed myself, and that I'm a lot stronger than I think I am. He said that I should be very proud of how well I did, and to remember, that I did push myself out of my comfort zone.  That I certainly did do!!


What I learned from this... concentrate on my breathing and keep pushing myself past my comfort zone.

Today's freaking BRUTAL Workout....

I promised to blog about my brutal workout today, so here it goes.  The reason, I am blogging about it is because there is just too much to explain on Facebook.  First off, Tobe has been upping the intensity of my workouts, thus the reason it was brutal and destroyed me!  He had warned me yesterday that it would be brutal!  However, at the time I was doing my workout, I really really wanted to start singing the new Cee Lo Green song to him!! Trust me, that song fit perfectly!!  Now, I need to talk to Braxton and have him really start switching things up!  Because even though today's workout destroyed me, I really LIKED it.

First, he had me do squat popup type exercise.  What you do is, hold a bench press bar (weighs 40 pounds) in your hands, stand with legs shoulder width apart, pull bar up while going into a squat, then start coming up with the bar underneath you so that when you come all the way up, the bar is above your head, then lower bar down and start over.  This lasted for 45 seconds.  Repeat this for 4 sets.  On the last set, Tobe added an additional 10 pounds to the bar!

Second, he handed me 10 pounds weights for each hand.  Then he had me go into a deep squat, place the weights on the floor, you still are holding on to them, take your legs and pop back into a plank position.  Then pop back into the squat position and popping back up while pulling your arms up like your pumping air into a tire with a manual standing air pump.  Go back into a squat position, and repeat the pop back into a plank and into a squat, but this time when your coming up, lift arms into a lat. raise position.  This reminded me of some P90X stuff that I saw on one of their commercials! Let me tell you, this was NOT easy at all!! Tobe had me to repeat this 8 times for a set and do a total of 4 sets!  This one was a KILLER!!

Third, he had me take the bench press bar, put it up against the wall, hold the bar at the top, interlocking your hands.  While staying standing with feet shoulder length apart, pull bar down to one side, you MUST keep your arms straight and do not twist your body (your body will want to twist as your pulling the bar down towards your side.  Now, circle the bar to the other side. Keep going for 45 secs.  Repeat for 4 sets.

Finally, he had me do what he calls power squats.  Squat all the way down, grasp the bench press bar and bring the bar up as your coming out of your squat to standing position.  Your arms just stay straight, and the bar is still at waist level when you come up.  Keep going for 45 seconds and repeat for 4 sets!

Let me tell you, I was SO exhausted by the time I was done, I could not do cardio!! This was a FULL body workout!  It was a very BRUTAL workout and Tobe really did destroyed me today!  I felt GREAT after it was over though!  All I could keep thinking was, this is CRAZY because I would not have even been able to do the second exercise even 3 months ago, let alone a year ago!

Health Quiz... Let's see how you do!

1. All foods labeled "Trans-Fat Free" or "no Trans-Fat" are good, with regards to heart health?
True False
2. Fish doesn't need to be consumed more than once a month?
True False
3. Eating mono and polyunsaturated fats helps you lose weight more than eating saturated fats?
True False
4. It is better to spread out your calories throughout the day than to skip a meal to save calories?
True False
5. One sure way to lessen the risk of heart disease is adding physical activity?
True False
6. 30 minutes of exercise every day can reduce the risk of heart disease?
True False
7. Adults need 150 minutes of exercise, while children need just 60 minutes daily?
True False
8. Barriers to exercise are typically a lack of time and fun?
True False
9. People that exercise alone have higher levels of adherence than those that workout with someone?
True False
10. It's harder to lose weight when you get more people involved in a healthy lifestyle plan?
True False

"When completed don't be shy.... Leave a comment with your score! I, at least, want to know your score, if you don't want it public, let me know in the comment and I will not publish it!"

Struggles....

Well, today's post is about struggles and what helps to get through them.  This week, I have found myself struggling with my food choices. I'm not sure what is going on and that is frustrating!  I'm finding myself doing very well during the day, but after I get home from work, I'm not doing so well.  When I should be eating what I had planned for dinner, I'm not.  This is for sure getting me off track and it shows on the scale! I'm not gaining weight, but instead of my average of 2 pounds a week, it has been more like 1/2 a pound a week for the last 2 weeks.  This has me getting very frustrated and angry.  I guess maybe it is because before this week, I had lost 6 pounds in a week, but that was only because I was not eating all that much that week.  So, it could be that because I lost that much in one week, my body is now trying to adjust to that.  I don't know if that is reason or not, but I'm not happy about this at all!

However, there is NO excuse for getting off track with my food choices this week.  The only thing that I can do is start over today!  Food addiction, is just like a drug or alcohol addiction.  I do consider myself a food addict and I'm in recovery!  I have to take it one day at a time just like a drug or alcohol addict does.  Because of weeks like this, it makes you feel like you have relapsed and spiraled out of control again.

My best advise for these struggles, is to pull out the support system! This is what I'm going to have to do, to be able to get through the rest of this week!  Believe me, having a HUGE support system helps!  If you don't have a support system, the chances of success will decrease significantly. I have had to pull out the support system more than once!  I even had an emotional melt down in-front of  my previous trainer months back.  Which that was embarrassing, because I don't like to show weakness, and in my eyes, the melt down was a complete sign of weakness.   

Just get moving....

Today's blog is about exercise.  You have to get your body moving again! Start out by doing simple things to get you out of that chair and moving again.  You can do it!

Start slow, walk about 15 minutes a day.  It doesn't matter how far you get the first time, all that matters is your moving!  Do basic calisthenics exercises such as side bends, bend over to touch your toes, and invest in some resistance bands so you can do some real basic physical therapy type of exercises.  These are simple things, but they will get your blood flowing and, trust me, you will sweat!  As you go along, increase your walking, and add weight.  For adding weight, I'm not saying you have to go out and buy 40 pound weights.  Just adding a large bottled water, soup cans, and any other household product will work for additional weight. For example, take two soup cans (one in each hand) and while sitting or standing, do military press movements, lifting the soup cans up and down over your head keeping your arms at a 90 degree angle, and do bicep curls with the soup cans as well. See, simple and no money spent on expensive weights.

This is how I had to start out again.. Believe me, you will start to feel better after a couple of weeks.  You will also start to feel stronger too!  When I first started with my trainer, I could barely get through some of the exercises he wanted me to do.. it was hard and did I want to give up?? Of course I did, but I realized that if I wanted to become healthy again, I just had to suck it up and do it.  Now, I can do pretty much anything my trainers ask of me.  Believe me, even after getting in better shape, being stronger, and being healthier,  I still get sore and exhausted after a workout!  So my friends, the muscle soreness and exhaustion, never ends! Sorry to disappoint you here! :-)

Just get moving! You will start to feel better in no time and you will want to increase your activity level.  Trust me, I am now increasing my activity level all the time.  And now, here it is a little over a year later, and I'm starting to train for a 1/2 Marathon in November!

If I, and the people on the Biggest Loser can do it! So can you!

Do you like Mexican Food?? Try these Healthy Enchiladas....

3 Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:

Onions - Raw, 1 cup, chopped

Kraft - 2% Milk 4 Cheese Mexican Blend Finely Shredded, 1 cup

Old El Paso - Green Chilies, Chopped, 1 container

Mission - Yellow Corn Tortillas, (24 tortillas ea.)

Old El Paso - Enchilada Sauce Medium, 2 cup

Old El Paso - Enchilada Sauce - Mild, 2 cup

Bush's Best - Navy Beans, 1 Can

Bush's Best - Dark Red Kidney Beans, 1 Can

Bush's Best - Pinto Beans, 1 Can

Instructions:

Rinse Beans

Place Enchilada Sauce on stove to warm

Put Beans, Green chilies, and about 1/2 glass of water (water amount is dependent on how thick you want the bean mixture)

Add Garlic, Cumin and Chili powder to your liking

Blend ingredients until your desired smoothness level

In baking pan: roll tortillas with bean mixture and onions, top with enchilada sauce and cheese

If you want to add more onion on top, go ahead.

Bake in oven for about 30 minutes on 375.

These are filling, high in fiber and low in fat.

Serving Size =  2 Enchiladas

Calories: 223

Carbs:    40g

Fat:        3g

Fiber:    10g

If you do try them, let me know what you think... If you have any healthy recipes that you like, please feel free to share!

Simple ways to start eating healthy....

Over the last year, I have learned some simple ways to shed the pounds.  One of the simplest things you can do is to start eating low fat high fiber foods.  For low fat, I'm specifically talking about saturated fat.  You should not consume more than 6% of your caloric intake in saturated fats.  Saturated fat is very unhealthy for you.  Another simple change is to switch your white pasta for whole wheat pasta.  Whole wheat or whole grain is much healthier because it it is higher in fiber, and not processed with enriched flour.  Also, trade in your white bread for whole wheat or whole grain bread.  If you are not much of a water drinker, like I was, start by adding at least two glasses of water a day.  Water keeps your body hydrated.  I found that after about 3 months of increasing my water intake, I was hardly drinking pop anymore.  When I do buy pop, I now only buy the 7.5 Oz cans instead of the 20 Oz bottles like I used to.  The 7.5 Oz cans come in a pack of 9, which today lasts me for about a month and a half because I hardly want soda anymore.  If you don't like the taste of plain water, buy Crystal Light on the Go packets.  But only use one of those a day because they still contain sugar.


These are just a few things that I have picked up along the way.  The hardest part for me right now, is that I find myself still eating processed food like Lean Cuisines, because it is easier than cooking for one.  It is just SO dang hard to cook just for one!  When I go to the grocery store, I now only buy enough food to last me the week.  This is because I don't eat things fast enough, especially fruits and veggies.  So, only having enough for the week, it forces me to eat them because that is all I have in the house to eat. Secondly, it helps keep the un-healthy food out of my house!


If you have any ideas on what helps you shed the pounds feel free to share!

The start of my weight-loss Journey that began in December of 2009.

To start off this blog, I will start off with where my story began and how I got heavy.  When I was in High School, I was a competitive swimmer on both the High School team and the Rawlins Swim Team (RRST).  It makes me sad to think that I went from someone who was very active (all though still about 30-40 pounds over weight) to someone that just became very lazy.  Yes, I said it, LAZY.  I hadn't worked out or anything for almost 16 years.  My diet basically consisted of junk, over sized portions, fast food, and pop.  I drank pop like it was water and rarely drank actual water.  Before I knew it, I was a 100+ pounds over weight. I didn't think about what I was eating or how it was affecting my life and health.  I just kept going through life as I had been with NO cares in the world at all.  I had gained most of my weight in a 2 year period because of working nights, working full time, and going to college full time.  I got only about 4 hours asleep per day and did nothing but eat to keep myself awake.  Before I knew it, I had gained 70 pounds.  It wasn't until December of 2009 that I realized I HAD to do something.  I could not stand in my kitchen to do dishes for more than 5 minutes without my back just killing me!  I was also planning a trip to Greece and Italy, and knew that I could not do all that walking or be able to climb to the top of the Acropolis in Athens.  So, I started making simple changes.  I just cut back on the portions, stopped the fast food, and drank more water.  However, I was still eating junk food, like potato chips.  Then, I realized that changing my eating was not going to cut it.  By March 2010, I had hired a personal trainer.  By my trip to Europe, I was at least in good enough shape to do all that walking and climb to the top of the Acropolis.

In August of 2009, I was finally able to watch the Biggest Loser.  It was while watching my first season of the show, that I really got inspired to start getting healthy.  Well, so far this is my Journey.  It has taken me a year to lose 60 pounds with my trainer, but I feel SO much better.  I still want and need to lose about 60-70 more pounds.  I am now addicted to working out again, and I count calories like an obsession!  I'll get there and I have no doubt about it!

Before Picture - December 2009

So far to date:  60 Pounds Later on March, 5, 2011