Finally Getting Fit

Yawning and probably flirting heavily with the thought, “Maybe I could just skip today…” Having successfully gotten yourself out of bed, now it’s time to get dressed even though the bed seems to be calling your name… You are finally outside or at the gym, and now it’s tempting to just do a short workout instead of a regular one… Time to get exercising…

It’s often quite hard in itself to get yourself exercising, let alone sticking to a routine. Because of this, an injury might be a relief to you mentally, but it can be devastating to you workout routine. Any injury sees you with the possibility of not getting back into exercising after you have healed.

The best way to keep yourself from giving in to giving up is to stay as active as you can even when you are injured. Doing that is easier said than done…

Here are a few ways you can exercise even if you have injured a part of your body:

*Do stretches. Stretching is a great form of exercise that often feels so, so good.

*Concentrate on what you can move. If you have injured your upper body, do exercises with your lower body, and vice versa.

*Try new small exercises. There are foot and hand exercises, neck exercises, ankle exercises… Start doing some investigating to see just how much you can do.

*Remember that everything counts. From tapping your toes to tightening and then loosening your muscles repeatedly, every little bit can help – even if you are keeping up the mental aspects of exercising regularly.

I have been thinking a lot lately about why I am losing weight and why I want to continue to try to do so. Back when I first started seriously getting into dieting, I had a while to go before my wedding. I already had the dress and it was too big, so I would need it to get fitted anyway. Of course I wanted to lose weight for the wedding.

Here are a few tips and tricks in case you’re looking to do the same thing from someone who did it.

*Start early. It is always better to work in the healthy habits as soon as possible. That also makes it easier if you have a ‘bad’ day to recover afterward.

*Get your whole wedding party in on it. You shouldn’t make it a requirement for everyone in the wedding to lose weight, but it can be great to have that support from anyone who wants to participate.

*Plan ahead. For your pre-wedding parties, plan ahead and request healthier food and snacks.

*Always remember the dress/tux. If you’re going to be losing a significant amount of weight, be sure to have an appointment not long before the wedding to get the dress fitted.

*Most importantly: Don’t let it spoil the day. If you haven’t lost as much as you would have liked, it’s okay! It’s your day and no one is going to be thinking about your weight.

I know this is a little different from my usual posting, but I hope some people find it useful.

I decided that I am going to kick this plateau where it counts and get back into things. Well, not so much get back into things as try something new. I’ve added a large amount of weight training into my routine and man, was I sore yesterday. This morning was no treat either, but I got through the whole routine again and I feel great about that.

When I lived back in the States, I did a few physical labor jobs. I can tell you from what I’ve felt this week, there is nothing like a desk job to make you forget how good it feels to go out and get something physical done. Be it mowing the lawn, gardening…any sort of hard physical labor. It’s as if your brain releases the hormone ‘satisfaction’ along with everything else.

Before I have always been a bit nervous about doing weights. It seemed to me that the moment I started doing a weights routine, I stopped losing weight. I know there is the whole ‘you’re building muscle’ thing, but the weight stayed the same for weeks.

This weekend I was thinking about the plateau I’m in and thinking about the gym. Then it occurred to me – there would be no possible harm in starting weights up now because I’m already in a plateau.

Yes, I know. I’m a genius like that sometimes.

I will probably have to stop going to the gym sometime in the next few months because we could really use the money otherwise. (Sad face.) So I figure even if the weight training stalls my weight loss a bit longer, that’s okay because I’ll be building muscles in ways I won’t be able to do once I’m out of the gym.

How about you? Do you use weights?

Could a combination of exercise and a hormone keep you from gaining weight? A recent study seems to show it’s possible.

For a long time, the hormone leptin was thought to be the answer for helping people to fight fat. I remember hearing it on the news. But all that died off when they realized people were resistant to it. Imagine their surprise, then, when they found the key to unlocking leptin is none other than exercise!

According to the study, overweight mice on a high fat diet got the leptin to work by combining the hormone along with some time on the exercise wheel. It was that combination that got the leptin going.

I bet personal trainers everywhere are rejoicing.

Well, it’s good to see that they aren’t giving up on leptin just yet. If you aren’t familiar with what that is, leptin is a hormone that has effects on body weight, metabolism and even reproductive function. So it’s no wonder scientists have been poking and prodding it to figure out how to better use it for our benefit.

I’m not jumping up and down just yet because it will be years before we see anything our doctors are able to give us, but it does give me some hope. Just earlier this morning I was telling someone that it’s a bit more difficult for people with insulin resistance to lose weight. Having extra help is always welcome.

What do you think? Should we be cheerleading for science or should we keep our noses down with traditional proper diet and exercise?

I have been going to the gym for coming up on a year now. While my weight has not changed dramatically by any means, I have toned up a bit. I am a bit stronger and some areas – only some – are not quite as flabby as they used to be.

Even what other weight loss bloggers so ‘lovingly’ call their chicken wings has toned up a bit on me. (Thank goodness for that!)

With this toning up, my stomach area has noticed some benefits. I am still pretty flabby there, but it has firmed up a bit an even shrunk a little. Unfortunately, that sort of toning hasn’t extended across my entire stomach area.

I now have a ‘problem area’: my abdomen.

Unlike my stomach, my abdomen fat stretches across nearly my entire front side. It doesn’t look good and it doesn’t feel good at all. With my upper stomach slowly but surely coming right, I’m noticing my abdomen more and more – and hoping that other people aren’t.

My pants may be getting a bit loose around my waist, but my abdomen certainly isn’t. It makes for an odd shaped body and front, one I am growing a bit self-conscious of. As I search around for some yoga and other exercises to help me deal with this, I can’t help but wonder…

Do you have a problem area? What makes it a problem for you? What do you do about it?

Share your story. I’m off to find some abdomen exercises…

When I started this journey a year ago, I wrote this on my 100 Pounds to Go blog:

I’m Spunk, and I’m 100 pounds (about 45 kilos) from my ideal weight. I got married May 5th, 2007.The honeymoon is over.

If you’d like to join me on my quest for health, please feel free. People like to know they aren’t alone when they take on challenges.

When I wrote that, I was ready and rearing to go, not worried about anything going wrong or stumbling on my path. All I knew was that I wanted to get healthy in a hurry.

While the hurry part hasn’t really happened, a year on I am in no doubt that I am many times healthier. I feel better than ever, have more energy than ever, and I even go to a local gym on a regular basis.

I can definitely tell you I didn’t see that happening a year ago.

All in all, I may not be down in the pounds like I would like, but I’m still very happy with my progress mentally and emotionally so far. I’m in a much better place.

How about you?

Okay, so these are a little late. But better late than never, right? It’s time for me to refocus for the month and talk about my goals…

Food – Honestly? I think I’m doing pretty good with this. I haven’t eaten bread in over a month now, no pasta either (I’ve found a noodle substitute – made out of beans!), and I have only had sweets a couple times. I like phase one of the South Beach Diet and I’m only making a few adjustments so I’m technically in Phase Two.

Even so, I feel much better than I was feeling. I miss my sushi, but I can still eat sashimi, which makes me very happy.

Water – I seem to have *SUCH* a hard time with keeping up on my water. I’m not sure what it is. I was doing fine with it for a while, but after that it’s been a constant trouble. I need to really get on this and get back into it.

Exercise – I’m going to try something a little new starting next week because I want to change up my routine a bit. I’m hoping that it will help me get re-excited about exercising again as well as switching things up to encourage more weight loss.

Mentality – I’m getting much better with this, but I do need to stop beating myself up so much. It’s a bad habit I’m slowly getting rid of, but I really need to ditch it for good.

What are your goals for May? Are you having trouble with anything? Is there anything you’re feeling proud of? Leave a comment in the comments section and start up a weight loss conversation.

After a weekend of rest (due to illness and stress), I headed back to the gym this week feeling a bit unsure as to how my body would take to getting back into exercise after the break. I did light exercises yesterday and decided to test myself today on the tread climber. (If you don’t know what that is, it’s the love child of a treadmill and a stair climber.)

The results I had are something I’m proud enough to consider a non-scale victories – the victories we should all talk about more often.

Usually when I get on the tread climber, it’s a workout that tires me out more than every other cardio machine except the no-impact runner (why can’t I think of the name of it?). Usually I stop once every ten minutes to catch my breath, and I’m always practically glistening with sweat.

I worked at it for a while and got to the point where I would only have to take a breath every fifteen minutes, but that was really pushing it.

Today I got on the tread climber hoping that I wouldn’t be too bad of a time after the break.
It turns out I got on the tread climber and didn’t have to get off until I was done (thirty minutes). I was sweating, but it certainly wasn’t torture or forcing myself too hard.

Yay for non-scale victories!

What kinds of non-scale victories have you had? Is there a pair of pants you can now fit into? A battle with a craving that you have overcome?

Please share your experiences in the comments section.

Don’t think you have the time or the energy for exercise? Intimidated by starting out with a full exercise regime?

Then why not introduce your body slowly into exercising?

It’s no secret that starting with a harsh, cold turkey diet and a full, complicated exercise regime will have you hitting the chocolate chip cookies again faster than a bad day at work. Sure, there are stories of people who ‘just did it’, but most of us can’t – and shouldn’t expect ourselves to – get into something so severe so suddenly.

So if a full gym membership and personal trainer is a bit intimidating (and/or not affordable), start with the little things.

Like stretching.

You might not think about it as exercise, but stretching can be great beginners exercise (and something you should be doing no matter what level of fitness you are at). Exercise, in essence, is using your muscles. And so is stretching!

To gently introduce yourself to daily movement and making the daily exercise habit, try taking out time each day just for stretching. It doesn’t have to be for a long time when you’re starting out. Focus on getting yourself into the habit.

After you’ve been doing it for a while, you can begin adding things on like a stretch then a walk that gradually increases in time.

See? Exercise doesn’t have to be that bad.

Always remember, if something doesn’t feel right to you or starts to cause pain, ease yourself out of the position the same way you eased yourself into it. Don’t push because that will just lead to injury.

To read more about stretching, check this out.

This is dedicated to everyone who ever attempted to get into a regular workout routine.

Dear Diary,

For my birthday this year, my daughter (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.

My daughter seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY:
Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me.

She is something of a Greek goddess - with blond hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!! Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring! Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week-!!

TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door.

Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda’s rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT-!!

It’s a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn’t try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot. Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members.

Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster. Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life.

She said some other crap too.

THURSDAY :
Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn’t help being a half an hour late, it took me that long to tie my shoes.

Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. She sent another skinny bitch to find me.

Then, as punishment, she put me on the rowing machine — which I sank.

FRIDAY :
I hate that bitch Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny,little cheerleader.

If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don’t have any triceps! And if you don’t want dents in the floor, don’t hand me the barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn’t it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY :
Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.

SUNDAY :
I’m having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my daughter (the little slut) will choose a gift for me that is fun — like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

Of all the areas on the body people want to tone up, you hear about people wanting to shape up their stomach area the most. It never fails. And why not when we’re in The Age of the Beer Gut?

I am the same, by the way. I would happily not eat for a month if it meant I could lose my belly bulge.

As you will probably begin to realize as time passes on this site, I’m someone who likes to try new (and old) things. I’m not someone who obeys the dietitian at all costs and shudders at considering herbal remedies and alternative therapies.

Thus when I found Chinese Holistic Health Exercises, I was quite interested.

This site not only gives you ab exercises, but it lists deep breathing exercises and massages to help your abdomen. (Massages. Drool.)

They also have a discussion forum where you can relax and have a bit of a chat while learning about other people’s experiences with these exercises.

Do I know if it works? No.

What I do know is that they emphasize checking with your health professional before trying any of it. While it may just cover legalities, it’s also a sign to me that they don’t believe they are gods among dieters and they don’t think their exercises are a cure all.

If you explore this site and find you’re interested in giving it a go, let me know. I’m happy to be any of my readers’ exercise partner.

Have a happy and healthy Friday and weekend, all. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do sober and remember the scale beckons on Monday.

Okay, I tried this and it definitely takes more than ten minutes, but it’s still a great workout. In about twenty minutes, I can feel my muscles all over my body. This workout gets you to work on multiple areas in short spurts so you have more of a rounded out experience.

I can already tell I’ll be able to do this for few weeks before I have to increase the amount/reps/time to get the same benefits. I think I’ve just used muscles that haven’t been used like that in a long time.

This is a great workout if you’re like me and get bored easily. You tend to do each one for just a minute or two, so you’re moving and switching to the next exercise pretty quickly.

The awesome thing about this is if you truly only have ten minutes, you can pick and choose, or you can do fewer reps to save on time. (Or just go faster, but you could end up injuring yourself that way.

So, courtesy of Team Sugar, my chosen workout today (the stuff in parentheses are my comments):

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