Spring 5% Challenge Commitment

Monday, March 12, 2012

This 8-week Spring challenge starts on March 17th. The challenge is to drop 5% weight.

Here is my COMMITTMENT to me and my Beautiful Butterfly team:

Weight Loss Target:
• 8.3 pounds (I will hit my goal weight with this loss! )

Target Calories:
• Eat between 1260 - 1610 calories per day
• Burn 2720 calories per week

Fitness Target:
• Move 2 hours a day!
• 700-840 minutes a week (if no injuries or unexpected events)

Weekly Fitness Plan:
• 30 minute circuit training / 3x week
• Yoga / 3x week
• Elliptical / 5x week
• Treadmill / 5x week
• Walking my buddy (soft coated wheaten terrier) daily
• Spring time gardening (getting down and dirty)

How will I support my team:
• I will weigh in and record it on Saturday
• I will record my daily exercise and food intake using SP
• I will check in with my team daily
• I will leave comments on the discussion board
• I will read and comment on blogs as I have time
• I will blog about this challenge
• I will try to motivate others
• I will do my personal best

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My favorite fitness equipment

Thursday, March 08, 2012

My favorite exercise equipment is called the "owner leash". It's awesome. You just hold onto one end and attach the other to a furry animal. The key is to go outside and follow your furry friend around. Oh, the places it will take you. I've visited other furry friends, favorite rocks, little kids, and sometimes I say hello to cars passing by.

The great thing about this leash is that it can be used in the snow, rain, wind, and even on a beautiful sunny day. It's very popular in my neighborhood. I see a lot of owners getting walked.

It's an amazing piece of fitness equipment. Sometimes I can get led for hours but there are times I need a water and potty break.

Thank you my buddy for helping me get fit!

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Foam torture roller of death

Friday, March 02, 2012

After two weeks of knee discomfort in both knees, I saw my personal trainer and he said my IT bands were way too tight. He showed me how to stretch out my IT bands using a foam roller.

All I have to say is:

OMG…
Holy Smokes…
Oh man!....
Yikes…
(fill in the blank).....
I want my mommie!!!.....

I have a couple of spots that bring me to tears.

What is an IT band? The iliotibial band is a strong, thick band of fibrous tissue that runs along the outside of the leg. The IT band starts at the hip and runs along the outer thigh and attaches on the outside edge of the shin bone (tibia) just below the knee joint. The band works with the quadriceps (thigh muscles) to provide stability to the outside of the knee joint during movement.

Now what causes those pesky tight IT bands? According to my research this is a common problem with runners and cyclists. Well, I not a runner but I did add stationary biking to my gym workout a month ago. I think I’m going to hold off on biking for away until I can get my puppies under control.

Right after my torture session my knees were feeling almost back to normal, however the next couple of days my legs were inflamed and sore. I'm glad I had a full tube of Arnica gel in my house. If you have never heard of Arnica gel/ointment, look it up. I love this stuff for muscle soreness and bruising.

Myofascial IT Band Release Demonstration:

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercis
es.asp?exercise=491

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I survived one week without SUGAR!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Over a week ago I listened to a snippet of a radio broadcast from a doctor saying that sugar should be classified as a drug. He feels that sugar has contributed to the obesity epidemic. Years ago during the low-fat craze when fat was removed from food, the food industry replace fat with sugar.

So I thought this was very interesting and since I was feeling horrible after a 4 day sugar binge around Valentines days, I was curious to see how I would feel to go without sugar for a week. I focused on eliminating caloric and non-caloric sugar.

I was really more interested to find out if I had the willpower to do this. Luckily my daughter did this challenge with me, so I had support.

Going in I knew I would have to eliminate the following:
• Starbuck's skinny vanilla lattes
• Skinny cow ice cream sandwiches
• Fiber 1 brownies
• Most frozen meals
• Granola bars
• Coke Zero
• Bran buds cereal (favorite yogurt parfait topping)

My biggest challenge was reading the food label carefully for added sugar. Here are some of my surprises during the week:

• Whole wheat English muffin (6th ingredient – sugar)
• Pike Place fish rub seasoning (1st ingredient – brown sugar)
• Low-fat chocolate milk (my post-workout drink)
• All bread in my house (bummer…)
• Salad toppings mix

I didn't realize when I started that not only was I going sugar-free, but also gluten free and low-sodium.

How I felt:
• Energized
• Less achy (I had terrible body aches after 4 day sugar binge)
• Clear headed

I lost 3.2 lbs!!!!!! This is huge for me since I'm on the tail end of my weigh loss journey. I average 5 pounds a month and to lose over 3 pounds in one week is incredible.

The following are some of my meals for the week:

Breakfast: Egg white omelet (spinach, mushrooms, onions) with skim milk
Lunch: Green smoothie (Fage 0 plan yogurt, spinach, apple, pineapple, grapes)
Lunch: Fage fruit parfait (puffed rice instead of my bran buds)
Dinner: Salmon and couscous/or steamed veggies
Dinner: Large salad (w/ lima beans, kidney beans, cucumbers, onions, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).
Snack: Banana with almond butter
Snack: Handful of walnuts
Snack: Rice crackers

To be honest I didn't feel deprived. I think my smoothie and fruit parfait satisfied my sweet tooth. I actually stayed at the lower end of my calorie range.

I will continue reading labels for added sugar and make better choices. I will add back in my bread and my post workout chocolate milk. I can't give those up.

You should give it a try…I dare you!

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What a great surprise today

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Last week was a rough week. My dog and I were having some issues. My dog has a pinched nerve in his neck and I’ve been having knee problems. So we didn't do our normal daily outdoor walking. I also cut back on my gym workouts last week. To add to that, I took a break and gave up on tracking my food. I still tried to eat a good healthy breakfast and lunch but lost it around dinner time.

So today I got the courage up to get on the scales. I jumped on the scale and lost .4 pounds. I actually made it out of 170-ville today. I'll take it. I thought I would gain 5 pounds.

I'm back to tracking today and heading to my chiropractor next week to get my knee looked at.

BTW – My furry buddy is doing much better. I went out and bought him a harness so I can protect his neck. We need our walks!

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