January 2006, Weight Loss Journal
Updated on July 28, 2007
1 Jan 2006
Weight: 200 (starting weight)
BMI: 36.6
Today is the day. I've spent exactly 1 year analyzing the psychology of my obesity, getting motivated, figuring out why I have bad eating habits, why I'm so sedentary, why I never get out to do anything. I've got my answers, and now it's time to start changing my life.
Today is the day that I become athletic.
Today is the day that I become my own nutritionist.
Today is the day I turn off the television, crank up some music, and start dancing around the house instead of being a couch potato and a computer geek 24/7.
This isn't a new year resolution. It's a new life resolution.
9 Jan 2006
Weight: 198 lbs. (lost 2 lbs.)
BMI: 36.2
I've spent the last week just getting off the couch and away from the desk. I'm making it a point to turn off the television and start listening to energetic music. I've been spending more time cleaning the house, so it's definitely looking extra sparkly. I'm also getting rid of the clutter (something I do every new year) but this year I'm just doing it with a bit more enthusiasm and trying to stand and move around more rather than sitting. I'm burning calories scrubbing and junking. It's just a little change, but I've lost 2 lbs., so every little bit helps.
16 Jan 2006
Weight: 197 (lost 3 lbs.)
BMI: 36
I've spent this last week doing yoga for weight loss from the Yoga Zone Ultimate Collection, in addition to extra cleaning around the house. It seemed to knock off a pound. That's motivation enough for me.
Most yoga is relaxing for me. I'm always doing it to relax and increase my flexibility. I've done weight loss yoga programs before, but they didn't do much for me. This program I'm impressed with. I was really building body heat, and I was quickly seeing improvements in my strength. It felt great. No bouncing fat is always a nice plus to yoga. Even my husband joined in. Each session is only 20 minutes, so maybe I'll eventually start doing the two sessions together for a 40 minute workout.
19 Jan 2006
I did Pilates for Dummies today. I had no idea that I could even use some of those muscles. It looks so easy (and sometimes silly), but it's actually much more difficult than I expected. I have a feeling my abs and outer thighs are going to be hurting tomorrow.
21 Jan 2006
I realized that my inability to run could be dangerous. Let's say one of my children was suddenly kidnapped. The kidnapper comes up to my family in the grocery store and just grabs one of my kids while I'm distracted (it happens). I could try to run after them, but my body would quickly tire out. No matter how much I wanted to catch them, my body just wouldn't be able to keep up. My kid could be gone forever, just because I was out of shape. That's just one scenario, and it isn't a common scenario, but there are others, like needing to run to an injured child, needing to run away from a dangerous situation (9/11 comes to mind), and various other situations that require haste (not all dangerous but important). I need to strengthen my heart and lungs, for my health as well as the health of my family.
Normally, I want to do things that burn fat and build muscle, but I avoid anything that makes me breath hard. I have asthma, and anything that makes me breath hard brings on an asthma attack, so I have avoided things like jogging, jumping, etc. my entire life. Once I got FAT I stopped doing anything that involved bouncing because it hurt and I hate jiggling. Today I decided to embrace the jiggling and shock my lungs.
I haven't jogged since I was 21 years old (long ago), but as I watched my neighbor (who is quite older than I) going out for his daily run, I realized that everybody has to start somewhere, and I'm starting now. I walked to the end of the street and began to jog downhill (for me it's easier than uphill or on level ground). It felt great to be moving at more than just a strolling pace. I felt strong and energetic. I suddenly felt athletic. It was an instant boost of confidence. It only lasted two blocks (and we're talking about the blocks in my neighborhood, which aren't big at all). I suddenly felt my legs burning with that lactic acid burn and the gasping for breath began. I know my body enough to know when to stop. I quickly dropped back into a fast walking pace. I just kept walking at a strong pace until I could breath without my lungs hurting. Everything else I can live with, but I hate it when my lungs hurt. It took about 15 minutes to recover from a 1-2 minute jog. The last bit of my walking was back up the hill to my house, so I got a bit of muscle building walking in there in addition to the cardio.
I ended up back at my front door, walked inside, sat down on the couch, and started having an asthma attack. I skipped the post-workout stretching because the asthma distracted me. A good rest and a cup of strong, caffeine-rich tea eventually took the asthma attack away after 1 1/2 hours. I don't care if had taken 3 hours, I'm still glad I did it.
When my lungs felt relaxed again, I noticed that I had an amazing boost of energy. I was leaping across the room to do things I normally waddled to (like chasing after my kids and cleaning up the house). I did everything I normally did, but I did it quickly, and it felt good. I really felt like I just wanted to dance around and get stuff done. Apparently, my body liked the jog and brisk walk, so I'm convinced I should do it again.
Just to make sure I don't talk myself out of it, I'm going to do it in the morning. I'm going to wear my workout clothes to bed, so all I have to do is roll out of bed, spend a few minutes trying to wake up, take a hit off my asthma inhaler, and go. We'll see how that works out. I'm anything but a morning person.
22 Jan 2006
I did it! I actually got out of bed (wearing my workout clothes), had some juice, got the kids breakfast, kissed my husband, and went out for my walk/jog.
I read some articles about jogging and asthma, and I discovered that in cold weather, if your lungs hurt while you jog, you should wear a scarf around your neck, nose, and mouth. It warms the air and increases moisture to prevent your lungs from drying out and hurting. Today I tried it. I also drank a cup of strong green tea (caffeine-rich) to help reduce any asthmatic reactions (honestly, I normally drink tea in the morning, so I would have done that anyhow), and I was sure to bring my inhaler with me.
During my warm-up I thought about how jogging two blocks yesterday kicked my ass, so today I took a step back. I decided to jog just one block then walk one block. By the time I recovered during my walking block, I felt like jogging again. I kept repeating the pattern: walk a block, jog a block, walk a block, jog. It worked. I ended up jogging 4 blocks and walking 4 blocks before I decided I was tired enough to head home. I have to walk uphill to get to my house, so it was an added strength training workout for my legs.
During the entire time, I just kept thinking, "Wow, I'm actually doing this." I was actually happy to be jogging (quite a contrast from every other attempt to jog in my life). I actually felt myself smiling (on the inside, the outside was too busy breathing). I kept telling myself, "I deserve this. I deserve to be trim and healthy and fit. I deserve to look like an athlete instead of a couch potato."
The scarf over my nose and mouth worked perfectly to keep my lungs from hurting. There were a couple of times I took it off, and, sure enough, my lungs would start to hurt. The pain would go away within a minute after putting the scarf back on.
I never developed an asthma attack. Not a cough. Not a wheeze. Not a gasp. I didn't even need my inhaler. I attribute that to the combination of the tea before the jog, the scarf to increase moisture and warmth in the air that entered my lungs, and switching from jogging to walking just before I started to feel exhausted to avoid pushing myself too hard.
Since I wasn't worried about trying to breathe after I got home, I was able to stretch, and that felt amazingly good. I've always like stretching, but I have never stretched after a jog. In PE we always stretched before running, not after. It was honestly some of the best stretching I've ever done. My muscles were incredibly flexible, and it was a nice contrast to all the work those muscles had just done.
The actual walking/jogging only took 15 minutes. That's it. 15 minutes out of my morning. I normally would spend those 15 minutes trying to muster up the energy to start doing stuff on my to-do list or just trying to wake up while I watched television or checked my email, and normally those 15 minutes grow into about 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 120 minutes, etc. Today, I spent 15 minutes jogging and walking, and when I was done, I didn't need to wake up or muster up motivation. I felt ready to go, charged up, and energized. I got more things done in an hour than I normally do all morning. And to think, all this time I complained about how I didn't have time to exercise, but now that I'm exercising, I have more time than ever.
23 Jan 2006
Weight: 195 (lost 5 lbs.)
BMI: 35.7
This last week has been inspiring.
The walking/jogging, yoga, and dancing around the house have made a remarkable difference in my energy. I want to get up and do things rather than sit. I'm still sitting quite a bit because I work on the computer so much, but I'm taking many more breaks, so I can get up and move around.
My appetite is changing as well, and I think the exercise is responsible. It's becoming more regulated. I can definitely tell when I need to eat when I'm hungry instead of emotional urges to eat.
Another thing that has influenced my diet is talking about my food. I try to make an effort to tell my husband what I am eating, what I'm not eating, and what I'm feeling when I feel like I want to eat even when I'm not hungry. When my husband isn't around, I talk to myself (and no, it doesn't make me crazy to speak out loud to myself). This makes me more aware of my eating habits and reminds my husband that I really don't want to be tempted with food treats.
I cleaned out my home of any foods that were far too tempting to keep on hand, and that has helped me resist binging on the bad stuff. Every day at noon, I've been eating soup for lunch, which helps me get more vegetables and protein without the fat and sugar, but I'm usually hungry again around 3pm. Since I'm aware that I'm going to be hungry around 3pm every day, I'm able to plan an afternoon snack into my day before I start binging. Family dinners have become much smaller. I used to cook enough to feed every person and have plenty for leftovers. Unfortunately, the leftovers usually turned into second helpings, so I've reduced our portions and eliminated the leftovers. If we're still hungry an hour after dinner, I'll make something else healthy. I'm usually hungry at night between 9pm and midnight. I only allow myself fruit during those hours and a small bowl of whole grain cereal if the fruit isn't enough. I don't feel deprived, and I haven't even had any cravings.
Lost 2 more pounds!
24 Jan 2006
I discovered that my body just isn't ready for jogging every day. I've got to work up to it. My plantar fasciitis wasn't happy about it, and my shins started hurting. My husband used to do quite a bit of jogging (required by the USMC), and he suggested that I walk a day, jog a day, walk a day, jog a day. I took his advice.
Today I just walked. It still felt good, and I got a good workout going up and down hills. My energy is still lifted, and I'm ready for more. I just hope my legs and feet feel better by tomorrow.
26 Jan 2006
I saw my doctor today and got the go-ahead to kick up my exercise into the next level. For me, this means setting a weekly workout schedule.
Day |
Cardio | Mid Body | Upper Body | Lower Body | Flexibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon |
Jogging
/ Walking (15+ min. in AM) Dancing House Cleaning |
Bench Press Pushups Chest Flies Shoulder Press Front Raises Lateral Raises Upright Rows Bent Over Reverse Flies Bent Over Rows Bicep Curls Pullovers Triceps Kickbacks Triceps Extensions Wrist Curls Reverse Wrist Curls |
Yoga (20 min. in PM) |
||
| Tue |
Walking (20+ min. in AM) Dancing House Cleaning Exercise Video |
Hip Raises Side Leg Lifts Thigh Squeeze Squats Forward Lunge Side Lunge Leg Extensions Leg Curls Calf Raises |
Yoga (20 min. in PM) |
||
| Wed |
Walking (15+ min. in AM) Dancing House Cleaning Exercise Video |
Crunches Side Crunches Pulling in Abs Twisting Crunches Hip Lifts Leg Raises Back Extensions Back Leg Raises |
Yoga (20 min. in PM) |
||
| Thu |
Jogging
/ Walking (15 + min. in AM) Dancing House Cleaning |
Bench Press Pushups Chest Flies Shoulder Press Front Raises Lateral Raises Upright Rows Bent Over Reverse Flies Bent Over Rows Bicep Curls Pullovers Triceps Kickbacks Triceps Extensions Wrist Curls Reverse Wrist Curls |
Yoga (20 min. in PM) |
||
| Fri |
Walking (20+ min. in AM) Dancing Exercise Video |
Hip Raises Side Leg Lifts Thigh Squeeze Squats Forward Lunge Side Lunge Leg Extensions Leg Curls Calf Raises |
Yoga (20 min. in PM) |
||
| Sat |
Jogging/Walking (15+ min. in AM) Playground w/ Kids Outdoor Sports |
Crunches Side Crunches Pulling in Abs Twisting Crunches Hip Lifts Leg Raises Back Extensions Back Leg Raises |
Yoga (20 min. in PM) |
||
| Sun |
Walking (20+ min. in AM) Outdoor Sports |
Yoga (20 min. in PM) |
I've also been informed that I need to drink more water, so I'm cutting back on the tea and having water instead.
30 Jan 2006
Weight: 194 (lost 6 lbs.)
BMI: 35.5
Another pound! That makes a loss of 6 pounds in 1 month. If I keep this up, I'll be at my goal weight of 130 around this time next year. Normally I would think "Oh God, a whole year," but I'm quickly learning how time flies, and I've spent so many years gaining weight and doing nothing about it that a single year losing that weight doesn't seem like such a big deal.
Getting on that scale and seeing those numbers drop is an excellent way to get motivated in the morning. Since I've been drinking so much water lately, I assumed that the scale would actually go up with the added water weight, but it went down! That brought a huge smile to my face.
I've been actually craving water more than anything else lately since I started drinking more water. Isn't it amazing how when you give your body what it needs and cut out the junk your body learns to want the good stuff instead of the junk.
I had previously been doing my strength training sporadically. Now that I have a schedule, I look forward to making progress. I started my upper body session using only 5 lb. weights. I had been using weak resistance bands and my own body weight, so it's nice to get out the dumbbells and dust them off. My kids exercised along side me with their 1 lb. weights. I'm charting my progress on charts, and it's nice to see how far I've come in such a short time. I know muscle is so important to weight loss. The more muscle you have, the more fat your body burns even when you're just sitting around, so I'm trying to build up a bit more. Plus, it will be nice to have some muscle to show off when the thick layer of fat is gone.
My jogging is improving slowly. Every time I jog, I remind myself about how when I first started, I could barely jog for 10 seconds. Now I walk for two minutes, jog for a minute, walk for two minutes, jog for a minute, walk for two minutes. I'm going to keep doing this pattern until I can do cycles (walk for 2, jog for 1, walk for 2) for a full 15 minutes. That would be a total of 5 minutes of jogging. Once I can do that, I'm going to try to increase my continuous jogging time, so that I'll eventually be walking for two minutes, jogging for two minutes,.... My ultimate goal is to be able to jog for 10 minutes straight, but that's a long way off, so I'm not even thinking about it right now.
I'm really looking forward to my morning jog/walks. The whole time I'm doing it, I'm just so proud of myself. I don't care if people see a fat women bobbling down the street. I'm making progress, and maybe they'll notice that too when they see me gracefully running along when I'm fit and trim. When it's over with, I have so much energy. I used to need caffeine to wake me up in the morning, but now I don't need any at all, and I'm more alert now than I ever was with caffeine.
I've been stretching a lot lately. I first began to intensify my stretching my legs and feet because of my plantar fasciitis. Since then, I've noticed that I'm much less stiff than I used to be (and with arch supports in my shoes the plantar faciitis has improved too). It won't be long before I can do the splits. Even when I kick during the occasional kickboxing video, I notice that I can kick much higher than I used to.
I've been watching All Star Workouts on Fit TV. There's a different group of people and different routines every day, so it doesn't get boring. I record the ones I want (God Bless Tivo), and do the workouts when I want. I also watch Urban Fitness and Fit Nation for inspiration. I'm loving that channel.
...by Feed