Trying to Become Active Again

Hi everyone!

I don't necessarily consider myself as starting over right now.  I guess when it comes to blogging, I am definitely coming back after a long absence.

PERSONAL CATCH UP STUFF:
I am still in NYC, and still working on a PhD.  My first year in the program was tough, but I got through it and I am still here.  I have really enjoyed the city in the spring/summer.  I honestly was not too pleased during the winter.  Really cold temps are not for me.  I survived my first blizzard.  Well, I think it was a blizzard.  It set records for snowfall in Manhattan.  I still think snow is really pretty, but only when it's fresh lol!  After people get out and walk in it, it looks disgusting lol!

These are the only pics I have left from the blizzard.

As I have already said, the city this time of year is amazing!!!  I have spent a lot of time just walking around and exploring.  I have fallen in love with Hudson River Park and the beach/boardwalk at Coney Island.  I leave when Coney Island begins to get crowded later in the day though.  Everything this summer seems to be going perfectly.

Coney Island Beach

WEIGHT LOSS AND HEALTH:

About two months ago I had fibroid surgery.  I completely underestimated recovery time.  It was awful, but 8 week later, I am so happy I did it.  I also saw an endocrinologist right before the surgery, and my glucose levels were technically normal, but at the highest number for what is considered normal.  So, she told me to cut the sugar and drop some weight, which is what I have been doing.  I am currently sitting at 229.  So, I've lost 31 lbs since my high of 260 last Jan.  The lowest weight I can remember seeing on the scale in the last decade was 223, so I am excited about being close to that again and surpassing it.

During the past two weeks, I have really been working hard at working out and eating at home.  For exercise I am hitting the gym, and planning to start C25K again.  My body has gotten used to walking around the city, so my everyday walking is no longer enough for me to see results.  In the gym I normally use the Life Fitness Flex Strider, which I enjoy more than the normal elliptical machine for some reason.  Depending on the day, I am on it for 30-60 min.  I have not started C25K yet, but hopefully, I will be blogging about it soon.

I am still figuring out my strength training routine.  I love weights, but I still feel intimidated using free weights, so I have not been squatting or deadlifting, which is what I really want to do, but can't work up the nerve to just go grab a rack with all of the guys around.  I'll work on that.

GOALS:

Short Term: I would really like to see 225 by my birthday, but my birthday is less than a week away, so that probably is not going to happen.  So, I am readjusting to simply losing weight by my birthday.

End of the Year: Before I go home for Christmas break I want to be in Onederland.  That means I need to lose about 30 lbs in just under 6 months.  I know this is a completely reasonable and doable goal.  I just have to stay committed, active, and disciplined.  It would be a wonderful Christmas gift to myself.

In general, I am in a good place right now and extremely happy.  Exercise is a great mood booster, so even on days when I feel like doing nothing, I remember how I feel after working out and I go anyway.  Here's a sweaty workout picture from yesterday.  I must admit that I get a sense of pride from knowing I pushed myself physically, and still survived lol!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Prince - Baby I'm A Star

Let's Try This Again

So, obviously I have been doing terrible when it comes to this blog and weight loss.  The good news is that I have actually lost some weight, but not very much.  I am down to 238.  I have gone between 239 and 234 for the past month.  I was at 260 this time last year, so that is definitely progress.  I have not been in the 230s since 2012.  I was consistently in the high 240s most of the spring and summer.  I attribute my current weight loss to all the walking I have been doing in NYC recently.

Let me step back a moment.  I moved to NYC in August to begin working on a PhD.  Coming from Alabama, I was used to driving everywhere.  NYC is the complete opposite.  I left my car in Alabama, and if it's within 1.5 miles, I normally try to walk it.  I am sure that will change as the temperature begins to drop though.  For most other trips I just use the subway (or "train" as New Yorkers say).  Sometimes I am walking around 5 miles a day just going back and forth for daily activities.  Most days I probably average 3 miles though.  So, my weight loss has really been out of necessity and not because I have really been trying.  I have honestly been eating everything, because there are just so many options and everyone, I mean EVERYONE delivers!  This weekend I decided to batch cook a lot of things to curb eating out so much.  So far I have made it two days without eating out.  I am craving Thai food and/or tacos though lol!

My best friend also bought T25 for me, so I am going to try that out.  She honestly bought it a few weeks ago.  I lasted a good 5 days before I was off track.  I will be going home for the holidays in a few weeks, so I am challenging myself to stick with T25 at least until then.  We will see what happens.  I am also planning to hit my university's gym to weight train.  I miss the weights.  When I was at Innovate Fitness, I completed a two month training program and when it was over I had a 1 rep squat max of 215 and a 5 rep deadlift max of 210.  I am sure that has fallen off quite a lot by now.  I might see if I can get back with them for a month while I a back home for the holidays.

Me, Day 1 of T25 this morning, looking a hot mess lol!

I've lost a few pounds while up here and I would like to lose a few more before I go back home.  I would like for people to be able to notice a difference, even if just a small one.  Anyway, I hope to do a better job of keeping up with this blog and hopefully this time next year I will be in much better shape.  Have a great day!

So glad Missy's back!  Definitely going to work out to this!

Missy Elliott - WTF (Where They From)

Catching Up

I have not posted in awhile, but I am still going pretty strong.  I was sick towards the end of last week and the beginning of this week, but I am better now.  I am getting ready for graduation.  I will have a 2nd Master's in about two weeks, but I have a lot of writing I need to do before then.  Plus, I have my comprehensive exams next week.  My exercise still pretty much consists of Crossfit and jogging.

Food is alright, but definitely not perfect.  I am trying to make good choices, but I have not logged my food in close to a week.  I eat a lot of chicken, fruit, and oatmeal.  Salsa chicken is my go to.  It's just chicken breasts in a crock pot with salsa.  It's so easy that I do multiple chicken breasts like this almost every week.  I use fruit to replace candy.  My breakfast is normally turkey sausage and oatmeal.  I need to do better with vegetables and maybe eating fruit that has less sugar (like pears).

Let me just say I am such a slow jogger.  I know it really should not matter, but yesterday I was teamed with a partner and we had to jog together.  I was teamed with a super fit guy, and I could tell it was difficult for him to jog so slowly.  To his credit, he was nothing but supportive and never complained.  It was a little amusing to me because I was trying my hardest and so out of breath, but he was chatting it up lol!  He was really sweet, but I felt like I was holding him back.  He honestly did not seem bothered at all.  I think I just have to learn to be comfortable with what I can do and be happy for my own progress.  I am working on that.

Here's a couple of images from my gym...

You cannot see me very well, but I am in the red shirt towards the open door in the back.  We were in a circle for warm up.  We all chose an exercise and how many to do.  I chose 10 squats.  Warm up is different everyday.

Below is a video of my class pushing sleds on Wednesday.  You can catch a glimpse of me in the corner of the video on the Airdyne.  The Airdyne is a bike that is terrible lol!  It has built in resistance and the resistance gets stronger the faster you pedal.  We had to do sprints on the Airdyne and it wore me out.  On the plus side, it burned a ton of calories really quickly.

Nothing like some sleds for breakfast!!
Posted by Innovate Fitness on Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Just Feeling Good

I have no idea why, but I woke up feeling pretty awesome today.  Someone called and woke me up early, I am sore, my scale isn't really moving much, I have reading to do for class, BUT I feel great and motivated.  Isn't it odd how that works sometimes?

I went for a walk/jog this morning.  I almost did not go, because it is so cloudy and supposed to rain.  I went and was very happy that I did.  I am starting to get back into it.  Years ago I loved it, so getting back to that place would be nice.  This time I am doing it without an official program (like C25K).  I am just going out there and doing what I can, while pushing myself to do just a little more every week.  In a sense that is basically what C25K is, I am just doing it without keeping track of official times.  It takes some of the pressure off of me.  I am also learning to enjoy jogging and working out in general without headphones.  My super old (1st or 2nd generation) ipod shuffle died and I have not replaced it.  Now I am not sure if I will.  The shade produced by clouds and the breeze right before it rains was wonderful.  It was just a nice morning.

Yesterday I had another instructional class at my gym.  We did some deadlifts and squats.  The thing that really wore me out was my introduction to the rowing machine.  After getting comfortable with the machine and making sure we were using it properly, our coach made us do a 2000 meter row.  He just said do what you can, but do your best.  We are going to use it later to see how much better we have gotten.  I completed my row in 9 min 11 sec.  Of course, the coach was cheering everyone on and pleased with what we did.  I looked it up online though, and 9 minutes does not appear to be very good lol!  To be honest, it really doesn't matter to me.  I am my only competition right!  It gives me a goal to beat next time.  For someone out of shape, I know that I gave it my all and I am looking forward to smashing that time when we test again in the future.

This morning I was standing in front of the mirror and I don't know if my body is changing or if I only think it is changing because I feel so much better about myself.  I know it sounds crazy, but I am really not sure which it is lol!  I think confidence and pride in yourself does show, so maybe that is it.  I am really excited about the changes I am making for myself.  It is hard...really hard some days, but I am enjoying it.  While working out I wonder what have I gotten myself into, but afterwards I feel like a rockstar!  For me that feeling is worth it!

Don't you just love Soul Train?!?!  The video quality is awful, but in honor of his birthday.....

Marvin Gaye - Got to Give It Up

Just Another Day

As I was leaving Publix today I realized how often I go to the grocery store now.  The reason is that when I am eating healthier and eating more naturally occurring foods, then I have to keep going back because items spoil and I cannot bulk buy them.  I know this is really common sense, but it is something I never really thought about before.

Today I jumped on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes.  Then I did some upper body weights (lat pulldown, strict press, chest press, tricep pushdowns, shoulder press, bicep curls, and modified pushups.  I did 3 sets of 12 with various weights.  Afterwards, I went for a walk/jog for about 25 minutes.

I had more Crossfit/functional fitness training last night.  It was really great.  Three other women are in the class with me and they are really nice.  I arrived as a regular class was ending and they were also really nice to me.  I think I just assume that super fit people would judge me, but they were not like that at all.  They were awesome and full of support, and they don't even know me.  I think I am really going to enjoy this aspect of group fitness.

As you can see, I really did not have much to talk about today.  I just wanted to get on here and log my journey in some way.

I recently heard this song and I really like it!  I am all about dancing to burn calories, so this song really hit the spot!  Enjoy!

Walk the Moon - Shut Up and Dance

Back at it...Again

So, I have been consistently working out off and off since mid-January.  Does that even make sense...to CONSISTENTLY work out OFF and ON????  Anyway, I have made some progress...mostly with inches lost.  I have not lost a ton of weight.  I am rediscovering my love for weights.  My hate of cardio is definitely still there.  Being out of breathe is awful and cardio does that for me.

I joined a Crossfit affiliate.  I don't think they refer to themselves as Crossfit.  The term they use is functional fitness, but it seems like the same thing to me.  They have a two week instructional course, which I am in now.  I had my first day yesterday.  We covered squats, deadlifts, and a straight press.  My hamstrings are sore, so I guess I did the deadlifts right.  I was so nervous, being that I am so heavy and out of shape, but everyone was really nice and supportive.  I was able to do everything yesterday without modifications.  They do have modifications for just about everything though, which is a good thing.  They don't expect me to do the same thing as or perform like their elite athletes.  I was just looking for a way to keep me motivated to come to the gym and a way to really incorporate weights outside of some of the machines.  The thing about not relying heavily on machines (I still plan to use some) is that I need to have correct form.  The classes at my gym are small, so I will always have a coach there watching my form, so I feel more comfortable doing things like squats and deadlifts.  An injury is not something that I want.  Anyway, to sum up, I had a good experience yesterday and I am looking forward to my new journey.

I have started jogging again.  I am not doing C25k or any other program.  I am just going out there and running until my body says stop then I walk for awhile and then run again.  So, in some ways it is very similar to interval training programs.  I just do not have a set interval.  Maybe I will go back to a program as I progress and get more comfortable with jogging.  Right now though, having no set interval allows me to enjoy it more.

I have 101 days until my birthday, so I have decided to challenge myself to 100 days of better health.  For me this means that I will eat well or workout everyday for 100 days.  I was considering just saying exercise for 100 days, but I honestly do not think I would do it.  I think adding in the "or eating well" gives me a little more room for success.  I am really happy where I am now.  This time it feels like I am doing something I can keep up with and I don't feel like I am pressuring myself.

I am loving this song right now!

Pitbull, Ne-Yo - Time of Our Lives

6 Week Update and Measurements

First, what's going on with Blogger?  The blogs I follow are here some days, and others they completely disappear.  It's soooo frustrating.  Anyway, I've trying to drop weight for 6 weeks now.  Here are my results...

I'm not ready to post comparison pics yet, but I do have them.  Basically, I lost 12.6 lbs and over an inch from the largest part of my stomach.  I'm really happy about that.  Here's a look at how I motivate myself to do things like workout and eat right...

I USE STICKERS!!!!!

You can see that I wasn't doing ANYTHING, before 6 weeks ago.  Seriously, I love stickers!  Some days the thought of getting a sticker would stop me from making poor food choices.  I have stickers for cardio (a heart), eating well (fruit), jogging (flower), strength training (silver star), and meeting goals (smiley face).  I'm thinking about changing out the star for strength training, because I can't see it as well as I can the others.  Here's a summary of my month:

Goals: I did not work on any goals, and pretty much forgot about them, so no goals met.

Jogging: I didn't jog any either.  I went walking quite a bit, but never actually jogged.

Strength Training: 6 days of real strength training.  I do challenges with my mom and sister, so just about everyday I did squats or push-ups, but I only give myself a sticker if I do a series of exercises.

Eating Well: 14 days.  Eating well is really a struggle for me.

Cardio: 18 days.  This was zumba, walking, or the elliptical...mostly zumba though.

Those numbers show me how I wasn't extremely dedicated over the last 6 weeks, but I definitely put in more effort than I had previously.  I know I could have had better results if I had taken things more seriously, but I am pleased with the progress that I did make.  You have to start somewhere, and the fact that I am blogging results after 6 weeks is progress for me.

For the next 6 weeks I would really like to work on eating better and strength training.  I actually love lifting weights (waaayyyy more than cardio), but I get intimidated in the weight room.  Therefore, I avoid it.  I'm just going to have to get over that.  I started today...

Leg Press (135 lbs each side)

Sundays are leg days for me.  So, here's my workout for today.  I did 3 sets of 12 for each strength training exercise...

Elliptical- 20 minutes

Leg Press- 270 lbs

Squat Machine- 105 lbs

Squat Jumps- body weight

Leg Extension- 40 lbs

Leg Curl- 50 lbs

Walking Lunges- body weight

Calf Raises- body weight

Walk/Jog- 1 mile in 14 minutes

I felt great afterwards.  My legs probably will not feel so great tomorrow lol!  The most difficult thing I did was probably the squat machine.  There were quite a few super fit guys in the weight room this morning, so I am proud of myself for going in there and getting things done.  Go Me!!!!

I have posted this several times, but it's my favorite song to workout to.  Have a great Sunday ladies and gents!

Janet Jackson- Make Me