If you know me well, then you already know most of what I'm posting about here... But I've decided that I'd like to share more in depth information about exactly how I'm going about my 'healthierness plan' so that people can see that it's not as hard as they might think it is...
The short back-story is that I think I've pretty much always been more of a non-active, sort of 'plump' person. Yeah I work summer camp every year and all, but I've never been 'athletic', and have ALWAYS hated running, so when I gained 50 pounds after moving to Chico, I didn't know what to do about it. I blame my office job and going back to college for the sudden weight gain, but didn't really decide to do anything about it until just last semester.
My friend MeShell is getting married this coming September and we had a dress trying on gathering in January, which I attended, but the shop didn't have a single dress in my size. It had already occurred to me that my weight was getting out of control, but I was dressing myself well so I hadn't done anything about it. After that day of watching the other girls try on dresses and smiling sadly, I really decided to buckle down and see what I could do.
I started tracking my foods on an ipod touch app called MyNetDiary around the beginning of December. I put in my current weight and my goal weight and it helped me figure out how many calories I should eat each day, plus it took into account my activity level and could calculate also based on how much I would like to lose each week. It also limited me to 2 pounds a week of loss since that is the healthy way of doing weight loss. I actually really appreciate the limitation, because if not I might have expected it to go faster and then would have lost weight in a more unhealthy way and perhaps gainned it back even faster...
January 3rd I started going to the gym in the morning before work. I worked 3 hours a day Monday through Friday as an Instructional Assistant for the school district working with children with disabilities. The shift I worked was 8:15-11:15 am, which made finding time to go to the gym tricky. Of course anyone who knows me also knows that I was also working as a tutor for Chico State, babysitting for two different families each week, and taking 4 classes... Oh, and working as an office assistant three hours a week for a professor... I was a busy girl this semester.
In any case, I started going to the gym and walking on the treadmill doing my POWERWALKING like I learned at Las Positas in my powerwalking class. I would walk for 30 minutes to an hour but it was boring and I could only buy so many movies on itunes to occupy my mind while I walked. I got my sister to join me sometimes and we would talk while walking (she would run sometimes), but still. At some point I started trying out the elliptical machine for 30 minutes after 30 minutes of walking and I liked that, but again, it was kind of boring.
After a while, I noticed the spin class (stationary bikes in a group class with lots of cool music) and gave it a try. The first day killed me, but I actually blame the bike not being set up correctly. The cool thing was that I tried one teacher and then tried a different teacher. The second teacher was much harder than the other, and I decided she was too hard for me to take her class. But a few weeks in of going to the first teacher's class, I decided she was actually too easy by then, so I switched. The great thing about spin class was that the teacher decided what exactly we did, and I did what I could to keep up. In the end, it just meant I was going as hard as I could for as long as I could. I couldn't 'sprint' as long as some of the other students, but I would do what I could, and as long as my heart rate was up, it was working.
And then recently I took up running. No, seriously, I took up running. I couldn't believe it either, that I was even considering it. But I got switched to working with kindergarteners with disabilities and they could run away from me because I just couldn't run, so I needed to be able to catch them if necessary. [NOTE: I invested in running shoes. I wouldn't have been able to do the following without them.] At first I was lucky if I could run a quarter of a mile without stopping. My longest run at first was a mile with quarter mile spurts and walking in between... I extended the lengths of running and shortened the breaks, and eventually worked up to two miles on the track at the Wrec Center (the university gym). Around that time, I started doing some running around my neighborhood as well, and definitely started paying more attention to my times. Recently I got a belt to put my ipod in, got a digital watch to keep my time, and attended a trail run through the local Fleet Feet and can't wait to use my new trail shoes at camp! (don't tell the campers that one of their cooks is going to be RUNNING AT CAMP!!! (major rule breaking here!)) I'm up to five miles running at a time and I start with the first mile straight and then walk about a block after every half mile to make sure I don't get hurt.
As for supplements, I'm not taking any big ones. My friend Karey recommended a protein shake mix that is literally just the powder mixed in water (drink at least 8 oz of water right after too!). I take a half scoop of it before my thirty minutes (minimum) of cardio work out, and another half scoop after. I don't take any of the premade shake mixes that are sold in stores, since two actual personal trainers from the Wrec Center told me that those have a lot of extras that up the calories and flavor, but do less than the powder stuff that I have... I also recently started adding some pediatric electrolyte liquid to my water after a run to help re-hydrate myself. Karey pointed out that with all the running I'm doing, chances are I'm not drinking enough water and I don't want to hurt myself. I know it's technically for kids, but when I mix it with water and add some low-calorie flavored drink, it is better for me (by a lot) than gatorade (or other similar drinks) so it works.
So the results... I am going to be honest here about this. I think people need to know that it wasn't as much effort as you'd think... Yes, it takes determination, but it is doable. And the main key is to not push yourself over what abilities you have. You can't stay on the healthierness plan if you are hurt or whatever. And I certainly didn't want to give up due to an injury.
Yeah the results then. Yeah I'm not actually stalling. Because I'm super stoked! I started probably around 220, but was closer to 215 by the time I started weighing myself regularly and consistently. I weigh myself every morning and even though that's not recommended, it helps me personally to see where I'm at and I like getting the regular knowledge that what I've done helped or hindered... I did have to learn en route that sometimes weight gain isn't a negative thing. Sometimes it's muscle. And even if I do have a 'bad' or 'cheat' day, I just need to get back on track the next day, and not stress myself out about it.
Love the blog Deborah! It really is inspirational to hear about your transformation and I can't wait to see the new size 12 you! I have to admit there have been a couple times when it has been your FB postings that have pushed me out the door to my own 3 mile run!
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