Friday, December 31, 2010

Days 4 & 5: Oh, No! Pepsi!

I drank a Pepsi on Day 4. I also ate the evil lasagna that Ryan and I made. I get to blame Angela for this one, on the day of her visit. So, given a relative lack of activity and an abundance of horribly good food, Day 4 was a total Health Overhaul bust. But given the fact that I hadn't seen Angela in almost two years, I'll be okay with one completely failed day!

Now it's Day 5. Brandon works tonight and tomorrow. Melody's out at Monica's. Mom wants me to play Bingo, and poor Ryan will be all by himself. Ryan's queue of crappy movies still beckons. *cringe* So many hours of crappy movies in the last week!! And it's New Year's Eve. If I'm gonna drink Pepsi, tonight's my last night to do so. I may need it to get through all the things to do.

I'm fighting hard to make time for at least my weight training today. I'll probably do one or two sets of both upper AND lower body to make up for yesterday. Lucky me! Saturdays are aerobics-only, so tomorrow will be good for letting my muscles heal up. And Sunday is only for stretching/resting. That one should be easy to keep!

GOAL: WEIGHT TRAINING, BOTH ROUTINES

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Day 3: Getting the Lead Out

Today, I realized two things: 1) Slipping into the diet before January (my original pre-blog plan) will be difficult with all the people shoving holiday celebration food in front of me, and 2) I haven't had a Pepsi in about a week. This means that I have happily accomplished one thing-- cessation of caffeine consumption-- and failed at another-- jumpstarting my diet. As the latter has only placed me behind by a couple days, I won't hold it against myself this time. But kicking the Pepsi habit was more of a fluke. Snow and ice have kept me holed up here for a week without my fix!

I did, however, complete one full set of anaerobics today. Yesterday, I had forgotten in my previous goal that the set for Day 2 would be Lower Body, and that routine is twice as long as the Upper Body, so I only finished one set. Today, I doubled my Upper Body workout to two sets. As a result, I lazed about with sore pecs and shoulders, watched crappy movies with a friend, and didn't do much aerobics.

I know we women have pecs, but I would tentatively call pecs the least utilized muscles in a woman's body. We're not hardwired for butterfly presses, apparently. Just going by the soreness, though.

GOAL: JUMPSTART DIET, JANUARY 1st... 2 sets of Lower Body Anaerobics on Day 4 (when I get up, not now!)

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Day 2: Cereal and Milk

Goodbye, cereal! I didn't crave you until today, and today shall be the last time I eat cereal. The evil sugar... I've decided I don't like you anymore!

Well, I ate cereal and milk for breakfast, but I'll burn it off in exercise this evening. I'm dropping by Kroger to stock up on protein and other good for me things.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Day 1: Starting Slow

I finished today's exercise routine, but I'm a long way from my daily time goal. I'll have to start slow or risk injury, according to the mantra of every doctor in existence. I did one set of my upper body strength training routine and a paltry few minutes of shadow boxing without breaking anything. Just to get the blood pumping. (If you saw my small apartment, you would know how much of an accomplishment that was!) It has become clear that I will have to work up to several sets of strength training to get anywhere near an hour of that. And aerobics will take the most pouty trudging to make into habit. But I did it, with fresh "jelly arms and fingers" trying to make typing happen at this moment.

Meals today will consist of leftover turkey. And maybe some leftover carb-rich food so I don't have the "waste not, want not" mentality. But all the bad-for-me crap will be gone or pretend-spoiled by tonight so I can jump on track tomorrow.

EXERCISE TIME: 20 minutes, anaerobics (1 set)/aerobics combined
EXERCISE GOAL: 1 hour each, anaerobics/aerobics combined
TIMEFRAME TO GOAL: Slow buildup to End of January

TOMORROW'S GOAL: 2 SETS ANAEROBIC, 15 MINUTES AEROBIC!

A New Start... And Scary Stats!

Welcome! Today is the day I, a woman of great shyness and girth, subject myself to letting the world (all three or four of you) know my weight. I'll spare my readers of most other measurements. However, I will list my plans for losing the pounds and let you know if and when I make progress.

STATS:
Current Weight: (Gulp!) 291 lb.
Height: 6'
Shoe Size: 11W (Yep. Big girl!)
Age: 29
Build: Large Frame, Builds Muscle Easily
Weight Accumulation: All Over and Localized (abdomen, thighs, upper arms)

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS:
Goal 1: 260 by 3-17-11, Goal 2: 230 by 6-17-11, Goal 3: 200 by 9-17-11

DIET:
Meat, Fish, Eggs, Non-starchy veggies, Broth-based soups, Tea, No bread/sugar!

TRAINING:
Day 1: Upper Body Anaerobics (Weight Training) + 1 hour Aerobics (I have a list...)
Day 2: Lower Body Anaerobics (Weight Training, including Abs) + 1 hour Aerobics
Day 3: Repeat Day 1
Day 4: Repeat Day 2
Day 5: Repeat Day 1
Day 6: Aerobics Only!
Day 7: Stretching Only!

NOTES: I believe in extensive goals. Let's see if I can keep them! In defense of an Atkins (high-protein) style diet, I will say that I have done it before and I never felt better. The weight came off quite easily. And I gained it all back when I chose to eat garbage. Like any life-style change, eating this way requires commitment. I will get bored because I'm doing such a pared down version of a diet, everyone doesn't have to diet this way! Simplicity of my diet-- lean meat, eggs, non-starchy veggies-- is how I keep track of myself. Also, an Atkins dieter DOES NOT GET HUNGRY!!! At least not until all the weight is gone.

Also, I'm not magically "making time" for these lofty goals. I'm an unemployed art teacher right now, so I'm not pretending to do all this in addition to my "busy" life. I'm also uninterested in incorporating the "poor me" syndrome. I hope to look at this process objectively, as a chronicle of what works and what doesn't. I don't mean to sound degrading to myself because I'm working on having a positive self-image. But I will be straightforward.

When February hits and I'm (hopefully!) back in a job, or some shadow of a job, I want to have all the good habits in place to maintain them. And also pay the bills! My dream of becoming a published author, artist and business-owner are all still on the table and closer to fruition each day, and I'm still working toward those goals as well. I, however, must have several irons in the fire to challenge myself to accomplish all the goals. So here I go, tossing in another goal.

Welcome to my Health Overhaul!!!