Monday, October 31, 2011

Day 24 of 5am & SPoH: Day 2 - More Water

It is getting more difficult to drag myself out of bed when it is so cold, but after a month of getting up at 5am, I know how good it feels after I have done my workout for the day.  If you are doing this with me, you know that getting up on a cold morning and working out that your body warms up after the activity and you are ready to go for the day.  Today I did a workout with Denise Austin's Bootcamp.  I have heard of Denise Austin, but this is the first time that I have ever done a workout with her.  I liked this workout because she got my heart rate up in a quick amount of time and the movements were fast too keep it fairly consistent.  Great workout!



SPoH: Day 2- The effects of having a lack of water is today's topic.  In my last blog a few things were mentioned.  Today though Colbert went into more details.  Because water is such a high percentage of our bodies, there are certain parts of our bodies that begin to deteriorate or fail to do their job if we are not hydrating our body enough.  Some of the problems that he addressed were joint pains, high blood pressure, digestive problems, and asthma.  So many people look for other remedies or medications to treat the symptoms, but they are not treating the actual problem.  According to Colbert, it is because our bodies are dehydrated.  If you have popping joints or high acidity in your stomach, he says it is because your are not giving your body the proper amounts of water.  So, again, the challenge is to boost your intake of water.  Make this a goal.  Remember on Saturday, I mentioned that you should drink half your weight in ounces.  So challenge yourself for 6 weeks to do that.  If you want to go even farther, drink only water anytime you have something to drink because we know that other drinks can have adverse effects.  That will be my goal.


Saturday, October 29, 2011

Saturday Workout & SPoH: Day 1 - Water

Today, I pulled out the Kinect game The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout.  I really like this workout game because I can see if I am doing the exercises right.  However, because we have a rather small living space, it is difficult to get any credit for doing exercises on the floor.  I realized today that I think I need to increase my intensity level on that game.  I did a "light" workout and while I was sweating a little at the end, I really don't feel like I worked as hard as I could have.  If you ever get a chance to try the game, it is well worth it in my opinion. :)



SPoH: Day 1 - Water! We have all heard that we must drink water.  Unfortunately, in our culture we have so many other options that are more tasty that we will often pass up the opportunity to drink water and make another choice instead.  What many people don't know though is that those other drinks often contain sugars or dehydrates of some kind.  So not only are we not taking in enough water, we are actually depleting ourselves of water.  God designed our bodies to thrive on water.  According to what I read in the book, our bodies are made up of 70% water! And to think of how little we drink of it.  So sad.  Colbert recommends that we drink 2-3 Quarts of water per day.  That is equivalent to 64-96 ounces or 4-6 tall glasses that we usually drink from today.  I read somewhere if you really want to get specific for your own bodies needs, you should divide your weight in half and drink that number in ounces every day.  So if you weigh 180lbs, you should drink 90 ounces of water a day.  Colbert also found that when people drank more water many of their ailments began to go away such as joint pains, headaches, heartburn, and even depression.  I know from my own experience that I feel much more energetic when I am drinking more water each day.  The book also said that if you wait to drink water when you are thirsty then you are probably already dehydrated.

I will admit that as of recent, I have not been drinking as much water as I should.  I have not been drinking as much of the other stuff, which is good, but I know I can do better.  The challenge to start with is to drink more water! I recommend having a water purifier and using your own bottles from home.  You could buy the water bottles, but with the amount of water you would have to drink, you may be drinking 4 or 5 bottles a day.  That's one and a half 24 bottle cases a week, basically.  I have a Nalgene bottle that I like to drink from.  It holds 32 ounces of water which is nice so I don't have to fill it up a lot during the day.  There are many options out there though.  If you decide to go with a stainless steel bottle, make sure you do your research.  Some stainless steel bottles have been known to rust in a short period of time.  They do have plastic bottles now that are BPA free.  Water may not taste good to you, but you may find that over time your taste buds will adjust to the dullness of the taste and you will find yourself craving it. I know some people who can't bear the taste of water will add a lemon, orange or other fruits to add to the flavor.  I've also read some people will add a mint leaf.  Many of the flavor packets you can find these days are actually dehydrates, so be careful.  Any other thoughts, suggestions, or comments, or responses to the reading?  I'd like to hear them.


Friday, October 28, 2011

Day 23 of 5am - Stretching

Today, I did a 10 Minute Solutions video with the Stability Ball which included 10 minutes of Lower Body, 10 minutes of Cardio, and 10 minutes of Stretching.  While the idea of doing 10 minute workouts is nice, what I have heard and read is that to really get the burn you want, it is better to do 30 minutes to an hour.  Otherwise your heart rate is not high enough for a long enough period of time to really get that burn.  Maybe once you reach a time where you are just maintaining it might work, I don't know, but for weight loss it is not optimal.  Anyhow, with these videos I link 3 workouts together to get at least 30 minutes.



Ok, so stretching. I could say that it is important, but I'm starting to realize that everything I am telling you is important. Stretching helps with the elasticity of your muscles.  What you need to know about stretching is that it is not a good idea to stretch your muscles without first working them a little.  In the video I watched this morning, the trainer reminded her audience that the muscles need to be warm before you stretch, otherwise you  can wind up injuring yourself.  Maybe this is why I hurt my ribs so many years ago because I was stretching tightened muscles without first warming them up!  Anyways, so as you are doing your workouts, make sure that you are engaging your muscles first before you start stretching them.  Stretching is good to do a little before your major workout of cardio or strength exercises, but I believe it is most important to stretch after your major workout so that you are lengthening those muscles out and also helping you to feel less sore in the long run.

As I mentioned yesterday, I've had some back problems, but today, I feel sooooo much better.  I think it is because of the exercise (and the fact that I had a lot of protein for lunch and dinner).  So I am happy I made the decision to start working out again yesterday.

Oh yes, as I mentioned also in one of my updates on facebook, I will be reading "Seven Pillars of Health" by Don Colbert if anyone would like to join me.  I will probably be including some things that I learn from that in my blogs for the next several weeks.  Can't wait to read it and share with others as well as hear what others are learning from it as they read with me. Hope you all have a great Friday!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Day 22 of 5am - I'm back!


This week has been a rough week.  Last week I had migraines at the end of the week.  This week I threw out my back over the weekend and have been doing what I can to allow it to heal.  I’m not completely healed, but as I mentioned in a previous blog, when you allow your muscles to get weak in your back, you tend to have more back pain.  So I am doing what I can to get back into the routine. 

I did a different workout video today hoping that it would not cause any further pain or injury.  Today I did a workout with Kathy Smith.  It was a strength workout, but as I mentioned before, the trend today seems to be that you add more cardio into your strength so that you are burning the calories and fat while strengthening your muscles.  I definitely felt the workout today.  I took it easy on some of the exercises that could potentially injure my back.  Good workout today.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Saturday Workout and Day 21 of 5am

Saturday I did the BL Last Chance Workout again and today I did BL Cardio Max.  The workouts are definitely getting easier and pushups are not as difficult as when i started.  I can tell that I am getting stronger and I'm starting to notice changes in the way I look.  I don't really have much to add today.  I missed the last two days because my body needed it, but I plan to workout the next three so I at least get 4 days in this week. Praying that my body will cooperate the rest of the week. :)

Day 20 of 5am - Celebrate!

Today I did strength workout.  I took it a little easier today.  Tuesday I overdid it and I believe I may have caused too much injury.  I went back to 20 min workout for today.  I'm feeling good.  Today I am celebrating because I have done 20 days of 5am workouts.  Woohoo!  Now I'm shooting for another 20 days. :)  Goal setting is something that we should all be doing.  That can be worked into your motivation.  Also, it is good to have long term and short term goals.  My goals have been in the past to lose 1-2 lbs per week (short term) and long term 50 lbs in 6 months.  Sound reasonable?  If you don't make it.  Reevaluate and try again.  Don't give up.  If you are not making your short term, try making some changes to what you are doing so that you can succeed.  Oh, and don't forget to write them down!  It makes it hard to make your goals if you don't know what they are. :)

Day 19 of 5am

Today I did Cardio.  I've been noticing that my shins are starting to hurt.  I think it may be time for me to work on finding other exercises that are not as stressful on my legs.  For now, I will just work harder at moving my arms to get my heart rate up and less jumping.  If anyone has any ideas for cardio that are less strenuous on the legs, please send them my way.  I know biking and swimming, but if you have any other ideas, let me know. :)

Day 18 of 5am - Breakfast is Important

Another day of really pushing it through the workout.  Maybe I'm coming down with something, who knows.  Anyways, I wanted to talk about breakfast today.  Sooooo important.  Some statistics say that around or more than 50% of Americans skip breakfast.  Not hard to believe.  In this fast paced society, who has time right?  Well, I have started doing something that I wanted to share with everyone.  Last year, I was really struggling with the thought of getting up early enough just to make sure I eat breakfast.  Not just any breakfast, a HEALTHY breakfast.  Sure, cereal is quick and easy, but there are so many more healthy foods that we miss out on when we eat cereal every day.  They also say breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day, right?  I have yet to figure that all out, but I will give you a clue of what I do.  I focus on having one to two servings of grain.  Good grains are loaded with fiber and help keep things moving if you know what I mean.  The other category I focus on is protein.  And last but not least, a "super food" fruit.  The fruit I usually have in the morning.  As I mentioned in another entry, I'll have either a grapefruit, juice, or a smoothie and sometimes I'll treat myself to something else if I find a good sale and haven't had it for awhile.  The Smoothie contains a serving of pineapple juice, a serving of vanilla yogurt, and a serving of Mixed berries found in the frozen section in your grocery store.  I use my Magic Bullet to blend it all together and it's ready in a minute tops!  For my grain, here is where I do most of my preparation.  You could look for a variety of different things that are Whole Grain or Multi Grain in the store, or you could simply make it at home.  This weekend, I made raisin bread, oat bran muffins, and pancakes with bananas and nuts.  The pancakes I usually leave out to cool like you do after baking cookies and then wrap up in wax paper and put it in a freezer bag and freeze them.  It’s like buying the eggo pancakes or waffles, only homemade!  Less processed and much healthier.  When you have it all ready, all you have to do is pop it in the microwave in the morning for about a minute to minute and a half and wah lah, pancakes for breakfast.   I do the same with the muffins.  There are other grains that I will have such as certain hot or cold cereals, english muffins, or Ezekiel Bread.  For your source of protein, you could have yogurt, milk, cheese, turkey bacon, eggs, or nuts.  Yogurt contains probiotics, in other words bacteria that is actually good for you and is killed anytime you take antibiotics as a medication.  So when you have to take antibiotics, be sure to load up on your yogurt afterwards to build it back up.  It is key for helping your digestive track.  Milk does a body good. J Turkey bacon is just so much healthier then pork or beef.  I guess you could say Turkey is a “super food” as long as you don’t eat toooooo much of it. I just heat this up in the microwave.  Doesn’t take long. J  If you are worried about the cholesterol in eggs, recent studies I have read say that it does not have a great effect on your cholesterol level.  If you are still concerned about it, maybe just take the yoke out and eat the egg whites.  The yoke is the part that contains the cholesterol.   Eggs can also be heated in the microwave.  They have containers specifically designed for cooking them.  I found mine at Walmart by the microwaves.  It’s like a little bowl just big enough for one egg and a top that hinges over it.  One minute is all it needs.  So eat your breakfast and don’t worry about spending too much time making it.  You could have it ready in 5 minutes or less.  Have a cup of tea or coffee with it and make sure you have another glass of water to counteract the dehydrating factors in them.

Columbus Day Workout - What is your Motivation?

This morning I did not do a 5am because I did not have to be at work early in the morning, so I did a later workout.  Today I did Cardio.  I have about 3 weeks left with these DVDs and I want to get the most out of them.  I wanted to talk about motivation today because I was about 10 minutes through my workout when I really felt like stopping.  I was thinking of all my old excuses of "I'm too tired for this" "I'd rather be doing something else"  "This is too complicated for me" so on and so forth.  I realized what I was doing and I stopped myself.  I made a commitment to do this and I should stick too it especially when I have the time to do it.  I replaced my thoughts with "I'm doing this to get healthy" and "I want to be more fit for one day when I might have a baby and later on when I have kids" and "I know that I have more energy to do other things when I am on task with my exercising."  It's important to find your motivation.  No one else can find it for you.  Stop making excuses.  Find your excuses and counteract them with things that motivate you just like I mentioned.  I pushed myself through what needed to be done.  I don't always feel that way when I work out, but when I do, I just have to remind myself of why I am doing those things.  Hope you all have a wonderful day off, that is if you have today off.
Me after my workout today. Look at that sweat! I'm so glad I pushed through because I certainly got a workout today.

Saturday Workout - Results Time!

So I did Last Chance Workout again today.  Still kicking my behind.  Anyways, it has now been 4 weeks since I have started 5am in the morning.  While I have missed a couple here and there, I have not given up.  I hope to continue.  My results this morning showed that I have lost 5 lbs since my last "weigh-in" and 7.25 inches!!!  The most inches I have ever lost in a month.    The only record I have coming close to that is 6.75 inches in the history of my working out.  I'd say 5am is working for me.  Thank you all for your encouragement.  As time goes on, things may get tougher, so your continued encouragement is greatly appreciated.  I'll try to continue to think of things to share with you that have helped me in my weight loss.  I've had a lot of people at work asking what changes I have made to lose the weight and be healthy.  I thought others might like to know as well.  If anyone else has tidbits of knowledge to share or have questions that I could research, I'd be glad to hear them.

Day 17 of 5am - Triceps

Took a leap of faith and tried the hour long segment of Bob Harper's Inside Out Pure Strength.  Ok, so I only made it through 50 minutes because if I went any longer, I would not have time to get ready for work.  My arms are still shaking from the workout.  Anyways, so there was a couple of exercises that I don't remember ever doing before.  Tricep Press and Skull Crushers.  I've been through weight training, of course it was back in oh, I think 98 or so, but I don't remember us performing these exercises.  If you are looking for exercises to help tighten your upper arms, these can really help. Here are a couple of videos to show the exercises I am talking about. http://www.ehow.com/video_4982068_tricep-press-exercises.html http://www.ehow.com/video_2360052_skull-crusher-dumbbell-arm-exercise.html  For me, I have a difficult time doing the tricep exercise over my head.  I think it may be called a tricep raise or something.  Where you are standing putting the dumbells behind your head with your elbows pointing straight up and your upper arms next to your ears.  You then raise your hands up above your head to exercise your tricep and move it back down.  That completes the rep.  I really struggle with this one.  The positioning of it is very uncomfortable.  If you feel the same way, you can try the other exercises I just posted.  More exercises that are helpful for that troubled area is a tricep kickback or extension and of course pushups!  I am getting better at them believe it or not.  Still doing them the girly way, but I'm not struggling to get down deep as much.  One of these days I'll move up to doing regular pushups.  Thanks for all of your encouragement.  If you are reading this, can you "like" my message so I know?

Day 15 & 16 of 5am

Ok, so I'm a little behind on my notes, but I'm still getting up at 5am.  Monday I missed because I was overloaded with sinus allergy issues.  Tuesday I did Cardio.  Wednesday, I slept in because I was up late Tuesday celebrating Matt's birthday (Love you Matt!).  Thursday, today, I decided to do a Cardio workout again.  Feeling great today.  Still battling sinus allergies, but they are not as severe, and I am finding that working out sometimes helps to fight the allergies.  Isn't that awesome?  So if you can, try to push yourself through a workout even when you may have some sinus allergies that you are dealing with.  You might have to go at a lower intensity because breathing might be harder, but you may find yourself feeling much better.  Especially having the warm/hot shower immediately following your workout.  Don't give up!  You will start to love exercising before you know it!  I just can't wait to get up at 5am now to workout.  It is a fantastic start to my day.

Saturday Morning Workout - Last Chance Workout!

Ok, so I have been doing the Cardio Max workout recently and alternating it with Bob Harper's Inside Out Method Pure Strength.  Today, to give myself something a little different, I decided to check out the Biggest Losers Last Chance Workout DVD.  I did the cardio segment of the video since I did strength yesterday and it kicked my rear end!  When your hair is wet and water is dripping off your nose and you even feel a little shaky still at the end of it, you know you got a good workout.  I just want to say that if you have been working out, but it would be nice to have a routine for a few weeks, this would be a good DVD to have.  It breaks it down for you Monday - Saturday at 3 different levels that are done over a course of six weeks. Starting with 30-35 minute workouts and ending in the last segment with 55 minute workouts each day.  I checked mine out at the library.  If anyone is like me, you like variety.  You do ok with doing the same workout for awhile, but then you just have that itch for a change.  Something different then what you were doing before.  Keep your workouts fresh!  You will find that you are more motivated to workout when you know that you are going to try a different workout from time to time.  If you can make your own routine, do it!  I've done it before so I can watch a show that I like while I'm working out ie biggest loser.  If you have a lot of fat to lose, keep in mind that you got to build up that muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so it may not look like you are losing anything on the scale.  You will start to notice in your clothes though and in the mirror.  If you don't see the lbs moving on the scale, use a tape measure for awhile and watch your inches instead.  Don't get discouraged by the scale not going down.  Just make sure that your HR is getting up during your workouts and you will start to see those changes.  If the workout you are doing is getting too easy, it's time to make a change.  Challenge yourself to work harder.

Day 14 of 5am - The Importance of Exercise

Today was strength exercise.  Can I just say how frustrating it is to still be doing a beginner workout?  This last week on the biggest loser, Dr. H was talking to Bonnie about her gastric bypass surgery and how it actually hurt her instead of helping her.  Instead of exercising and eating right, most people will turn to diet or surgeries such as gastric bypass thinking that they don't have to exercise.  This has created a great frustration for me as I am learning that losing weight by diet alone is sooooooo unhealthy.  I made a major mistake in my earlier college years by dieting without exercise. Lets just say that I am paying for it now.  What we train our bodies to do during our diet does not only get rid of the fat but also get rid of the muscle.  Muscle is so important for our bodies to function.  As you may have read earlier this week in one of my other journals, weak muscles in the back can cause back pain.  I can only imagine what other pains or inabilities it may cause.



Another important function of our muscles is metabolism.  Our bodies burn less fat when we have less muscle.  When we have more muscle, the more fat we can burn at one time.  Our bodies will do more work for us when we have muscle.  This is not to say that the only exercising we should do is strength training.  Cardio gets your heart rate up, essentially your heart muscles, so it is important to do that as well.  We burn fat that way as well.



Another good reason for exercise is your skin.  There has been many who have had surgery because they had skin hanging after losing weight.  Skin is actually attached to muscle from what I have read and as you build it up the more firm it will become as you shed the fat from your body.  To help that you can also use exfoliating body washes and such.



So if you are contemplating dieting but don't have the time for exercise, make the time!!!  To keep your body in balance, you need it if you are not getting it through other means i.e. work or chores around the house etc.  My experiences have shown me that I also have more energy when I make it a priority to work out regularly.  Once you start, you may struggle at first, but soon enough you will find yourself with a lot more energy.  Don't believe in those diets that tell you that you can lose weight without exercise.  You may lose it, but you must think what is going to best for your body in the long run.  Don't go for the quick temporary fix that is going to greatly effect your long term health.  Go for lasting results!


Day 13 of 5am - Back on the Horse

Migraine was all better today.  I did not waist any time getting back into my schedule.  Woke up at 5am and did cardio today.  I did not think of anything that I could share with everyone other than if you are sick or unable to do what you need to do to get your exercise one day, don't let it bring you down!  Get back on the horse as soon as you are able to.  If you need to take it easy for awhile, allow your body that time to adjust, but don't give up.  Take things one step at a time.  Missing one day was not hard for me, but I knew my body needed it.  I did not let my one day ruin my routine though.  I got back to it as soon as I was able to.  I encourage everyone else to do the same.  If you have made an appointment to workout at a certain time and miss it once or a few times, don't let it stop you from keeping your other appointments.  That's all I have for today.


Day 12 of 5am

So today I did strength training.  I'm not quite ready to work up to a higher level.  I think that is going to take some time.  About 4 years ago, I was having a lot of back pain, primarily in my lower back.  I had lost a good amount of weight just before heading to NIU for a semester only to gain it all back while I was there.  At NIU the only exercise I ever did was walking to and from class.  The rest of the time I was primarily sitting.  After that semester, I started having some back pain.  I thought that it meant I needed to rest my back.  What I discovered was that the reason that my back was experiencing so much pain was for two reasons: my muscles supporting my back were too weak and too much sugar, believe it or not.  If you are experiencing back pains, I would highly recommend starting small but doing exercises to help strengthen your back and dial back on the sugars, including those lovely high carb foods that we all love. :)  There are many websites to check out.  Here's a couple I recommend: http://www.bigbackpain.com/back_exercises.html and http://www.backpainhelp101.com/sugar-could-make-back-pain-worse/.  I hope this information helps someone.  I find that when I am exercising and I reduce my intake of sugar when my back hurts, the pain does subside.  If you are still having issues though, it might be good to consult a doctor.

      

Day 11 of 5am

Today was Cardio.  I decided to do the 2nd session today.  I was really dragging, but I figured I have to start somewhere.  While I was working out today, I was thinking that I should share some things that I have learned.  I'm hoping that some of the things that I have learned might help someone else in their goal to be healthy.  Anyways, the one thing I was thinking about today is acid reflux.  I know, gross topic right?  But since I tend to have this issue and I know many in our country have this problem as well, I thought I would talk about it.  I find that I sometimes have more issues with acid reflux effecting my workouts in the morning more than if I workout then the evening.  See http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5132416_acid-reflux-worse-morning.html to grasp an understanding of why this is.  What I have learned is when you are having problems during your workout, you can modify some of the exercises.  And if you can't, just substituting an exercise where your torso is facing upright would suffice.  The importance of a workout is to keep moving.  I personally like to have a piece of fruit before I workout.  I have heard that a piece of fruit helps you to have the stamina you need to get through the workout.  Recent studies also have said that fruit is best to be eatin' a half hour before or after any other foods.  Fruit naturally floats to the top and because of the high acid content it can be hard on your stomach.  Because it floats to the top, it is the last thing to be digested when you eat it with other foods.  Perhaps this may be one reason why dessert was usually fruit way back when.  Check out the list on http://www.thefruitpages.com/acidsweet.shtml to see what fruits are lower in acid that you can eat in the morning before you workout.  Immediately after a workout I have another fiber in the form of grains and protien in the form of dairy, an egg, or turkey bacon.  I hope this information is helpful.  If you have any questions or comments I'd like to hear them. :)