Saturday, September 19, 2009

Body Combat

195.5

And today I tried Body Combat.

Here is a fun review (bad spelling and grammar aside) I read before I actually attended a class myself.

I enjoyed Body Pump immensely and was looking forward to another class that I could add to my list.

But I've got to say that I did not enjoy it at all. I am not a fan.

It seemed like it would be fun, but I started and I realized that I don't enjoy punching, kicking and jumping. I really like Turbo Jam, so it seemed like it would be close enough. Martial arts inspired workout, boxing-inspired workout. They do share many of the same elements.

But it's weird, I like punching the air and doing jabs in combination with moves that are kind of dance-based. I don't actually like hitting and kicking a bag or pillar. I don't enjoy making contact. It's jarring. And I'm really not an aggressive person. I don't like fighting and hitting. I never have.

And there were lots of squats.

And jumping.

Did I say there was jumping?

Too much jumping. The girls were not happy. My bra was not giving me the support I needed for all of that jumping. It was just not fun at all. I was going to stick it out for the hour, but I decided ten minutes in that it just wasn't worth the discomfort and overall dislike.

I left the classroom and finished out the hour on the treadmill. I could observe the rest of the class from the cardio room and there was nothing they did during the rest of the session that even remotely looked like anything I would have enjoyed. I actually would have rejoined the class in progress if there were segments that appealed to me.

Nope. Nada.

So, I don't consider myself a quitter. I tried it once and it's just not for me. It won't grow on me. It's just not my fitness flavor. There are enough other options that I don't even have to force myself to do something that I hate.

I plan to do Body Pump again tomorrow though.

Trying this Again....

195.5

Sigh...

This weight loss journey has been a struggle. One of the hardest challenges I have ever faced in my life.

Really.

For so many reasons, and none of them positive.

I don't even know where to begin to tell the story or if I even want to.

No. I am not undecided. I most definitely do not want to tell the tale, but I am starting over again.

I can hardly believe I started this blog two years ago and that I was so disgusted and fed up with the extra weight then, when it was what? 40 extra lbs? 145 lbs. total? I don't know. I have to look it up.

In any case, I topped out this week at 195.

Yep.

Fifty. Pounds. Later.

I'm 4'11. My Dad is 5'11. We weigh... the same... thing.

I didn't even blog about the day I went into the specialty bra shop (oh, yeah, we're in all new territory now - the girls got waa-aay outta control months ago!) and the fitting consultant informed me that I needed a 'K' cup. I knew the 'DDD' wasn't cutting it anymore and I was a-feared I would be in something ridiculous like an 'F' or a 'G'.

Nope. Bypassed them and H, I, and J.

Big breasts run in my family and I was a 'D' and then a 'DD' long before I had a weight problem. It was okay when I still had a 25 inch waist.

I couldn't believe it.

I really don't even want to know what my measurements are now. Not any of them.

I just want to look and feel like myself again. And be able to shop in the petite section and be able to reach for the S and the XS and not the 1X and XXL and actually wonder if they will fit and not be too small. It is a terrible blow to my self-esteem.

Every. Single. Time.

I refuse to get used to this and accept it as my new normal, so I have been really miserable and felt terribly unattractive for the better part of 3 years now, extremely so in the last 18 months.

As bad as I felt before when I was 40 - 50 lbs overweight, I think it is safe to say that I am now officially obese with 85 lbs to lose.

Like I said, we won't even focus on how I got here. I am determined not to look behind, but only to look forward and focus on what I am going to do to rectify this unfortunate situation.

Yesterday I joined a gym and tomorrow I start a new eating plan.

And there is nothing new about either of those things.

I had a gym membership when I began to get fat. In fact, my two year membership was just up in March of this year. Why didn't that work for me? I don't even feel like trying to analyze it.

And the new eating plan?

I've tried fasts and cleanses and Weight Watchers and NutriSystem and Medifast and my own little hobbled-together jack-leg hybrids of diets incorporating shakes and cereals and oatmeal and flax seed and various supplements and teas and frozen entrees by Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine....

Sigh...

Why didn't those work? Any of them?

....So many reasons, and again, this round of blogs is not going to be about the self-analysis. I'm saving that for my personal handwritten, off-line journal.

So what am I going to post here?

I hope to post my record of success. At the very least I want to record my activity and progress.

Like today. What did I do today?

I went to the gym.

Twice.

I went for a 9 o'clock Body Pump class, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was my very first session. There are all kinds of claims on the Internet about how many calories you burn in an hour. I've read everything from 250 to 600. I'm going for the low-to-moderate 300.

Hey! It's 300 more than I burned yesterday!

I absolutely love group fitness and that's why I re-joined a gym.

I have thirty-five fitness dvds if I have one. Winsor Pilates, Yoga Booty Ballet, Turbo Jam, Zumba, etc. And I've done them all. More than once too! More than 5 or 10 times, but there's something about knowing there's a class and scheduling time to show up to work out with a group and a live instructor that really can't be beat. Somehow I need that structure.

I would love to have a personal trainer, but that is not currently in the budget, so group fitness is the next best thing to keep me consistently motivated.

I ran errands (after I came home to shower and rest) and then I went back around 7:30 p.m. and did an hour on the treadmill.

I started out at a moderate 2.8 mph, so as not to overdo it, but I chose a random incline program and was able to keep my heart rate up between 145 and 165, which according to the diagram on the treadmill was the in optimal 75% to 85% I needed to acheive sustained fat-burn.

I covered a total of 2.91 miles including warm-up and cool down and if I can believe the digital readout, I burned 325 calories.

So I possibly burned as much as 625 additional calories today. I wasn't as vigilant about my nutrition as I should have been, but you had better believe that I do not intend to bust my hump at the gym 5 days a week only to undermine my efforts with poor eating habits.

Stay tuned.

Oh, yeah. I'll get around to posting about my hair at some point before the month is over. The 29th is 2.5 years locked! 30 months.

I am never more grateful for Sisterlocks than times when I get caught in a downpour and can go about my business unconcerned, or when I have had a really hard workout and I'm sweating from my scalp - both of which happened today.

All I had to do was come home, wash it in the shower and keep getting up!

Sisterlocks are the best.

Every time I long for my loose nappy hair (which I had been doing more and more of late) I remember the convenience and freedom I now have that cannot be acheived (for me) with any other hairstyle.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Cheryl Burke's Healthy-Life Confessions - Healthy Living - Health.com

Cheryl Burke's Healthy-Life Confessions - Healthy Living - Health.com™ Shared via AddThis

Y'all know that I am always trying something new - with mixed results and limited follow-through. While I have not embraced this flaw (for I do believe it is a flaw - the lack of consistent follow-through, not the willingness to try new things.) I have rather come to accept this as a fact about myself. It is something I am trying to work on, work around, and overcome - with varied success at different points in my life.

I was always aware of it through introspection and private journaling, but never moreso than when I started this blog (and several others) and my business. I drop the ball on a lot of things.

It has nothing to do with my interest level or general ability to commit. I am just easily distracted and swept up in the excitement and promise of new adventures. I have noticed that I am constantly adopting and abandoning new causes and projects.

I am not habitually unreliable as a friend or business person. I honor my appointments for lunch or meetings, dinner dates, contracts and pricing, deadlines, etc. But the more intangible things like hobbies and travel - dance classes, vacation plans, language lessons, exercise regimens - frequently get lost by the wayside.

But hope springs eternal and it doesn't stop me from trying new things.

I recently read the above article on Cheryl Burke and reposted it here because I have several things in common with her. First and foremost my love of dance. I have loved to dance all my life.

I don't claim to have special talent or skill. I could never have been a professional or a teacher. I know I am not that good and I have no delusions of grandeur - but I do have lots and lots of heart!

I enjoy myself immensely on the dance floor and I am good enough not to be an embarrassment to my girlfriends or dance partner.

The second thing I have in common with her is MonaVie.

I was recently introduced to the nutritional drink by one of my real estate contacts. She suggested I try it for 90 days and see if it changes my life.

She had an amazing testimonial, so I agreed. I'll try to keep you posted, but I know that the regular followers of my blog probably have pretty low expectations. I will probably 1) Not follow the regimen for a full 90 days or 2) Not post about it.

But, again, hope springs eternal. I will try and we shall see.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Walk It Out

I'm very excited. I have begun my first week of training for the marathon. I am not sure what goal I will be able to reach. When I was younger and healthier, I could always whip my body into good shape in a matter of 4 - 5 weeks. As I have gotten older and experienced some considerable health challenges, I have realized that I can no longer take that ability for granted.

I would love, love, love to run the full marathon. But I don't want to set my sights that high and find myself discouraged to the point of giving up, so I am going into this with the intention of completing the half marathon as a walker - which will still be a considerable achievement for me.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Phil and Amy

Did I mention that I'm a huge fan of The Biggest Loser?

I think I did, but I have hundreds of drafts that never made it to post....still gotta do something about that, but not today.

Anyhow, I have always enjoyed the show, since the beginning and before I was fat myself. While I am not a huge fan of reality tv like 'Real Chance of Love', I have always enjoyed makeover shows of all types. There's something amazing about before and afters, whether it's a home renovation, a fashion consultation, or extreme weight loss.

I especially enjoyed the recent season of TBL because Phil and Amy are from Greenville. (Although, truth be told, I spent a lot of my time rooting for Michelle and Renee.)

Phil and Amy spearheaded a 90 Day Fitness Challenge complete with regular weigh-ins and a daily newsletter. It was a sidebar in this newsletter that inspired me to join TNT.

A funny thing has happened as I approach my 2 year anniversary. I am much less concerned about my locks on a daily basis. I was never really inclined to take pictures. Y'all know this... but I made myself do it earlier on to track changes and growth. And am glad I did it.

However with the start of my business and the fact that I have to keep starting over with my weight loss goals (for various reasons) I have decided that I will post more regularly to this blog in the coming months until I reach my goal.

I want to weigh 110 lbs by May 31 when I participate in the marathon.

Can I do it? Sure.

Will I do it? We'll see.

I intend to participate in the marathon, regardless. Unless injury or illness prevents me.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Racing to Save Lives

Many of you know that I lost my sister Michelle to a blood cancer in May of 2005. I learned about Team in Training through Phil and Amy P. of Biggest Loser fame. (They live here in Greenville.)

I have a plan to get fit by summer and think this is an excellent way to make sure I stick with it!

I'm training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

You may do so by following the link to My Fundraising Page.I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress.

Thanks for your support!

Natasha Little