Whew! Sunday's finally here. For a week that was supposed to be for relaxing and recharging before starting the new job, it's been pretty busy.
On the injury rehab front, I've decided to go to the gym six days a week and alternate the shoulder rehab exercise program with the back/glute program Rog gave me. This forces me to do foam rolling and mobility every day. This worked out well this week; however on Saturday I did a group core class which put me over the top as far as my back is concerned. I was hoping it would be more like the class I took a couple of months ago...slower and focused on good form with lots of modifications. Unfortunately, it was one of those "cardio-style" classes with fast pounding music and choreographed ab routines where the instructor does 3-4 slow reps to demonstrate and then does the rest to the tempo of the music. Totally not good for my back. That, along with my shoulder program and all the walking I did for grocery shopping, was way too much and my back was sore by the evening.
Today is for cooking and laundry but mostly relaxing. All my equipment for the new job arrived on Friday so Chris and I spent some time yesterday getting it set up in my upstairs office. I've got some space logistics to figure out but once I have everything right where I need it, it will be awesome because I have all my exercise equipment in there. I plan on using the Air-Dyne much more often since I'll have it right there to jump on during the day. Which I need to do since I don't have the opportunity to walk as much during my work day as I did at NorthShore. I'm still formulating the plan to make sure I do it.
That's about it. I'll be back in the gym early tomorrow morning and figuring out the timing of my new morning routine.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Mama Got a Brand New Pair of Shoes
Sorry for not posting for a couple of days. I'm sort of in a transition haze between my old routine to the new one (still in formation) for the new job that I'll start on Monday. Top that off with the sugar detox, switching to a new food plan and a new workout due to the PT and low back problems and I'm still kind of a mess. But getting better every day. So I try to be patient with myself knowing that's a lot of change to deal with all at once.
I bought a new pair of running shoes on Tuesday. I knew the ones I had were not doing their job anymore and the bad back really confirmed that. I went and got a new pair of New Balance which is my preferred brand along with an insert for extra cushioning. Boy, does it make a difference. The back is still a bit ouchy in the morning but I can stand to cook and clean and walk the dog without too much problem if I'm wearing the shoes.
I had another PT session today and have been bumped up to doing the I,T,Y,W exercise on a ball instead of flat on my stomach. And I'm to do all exercises for 2 sets of 15. I did talk to her about doing them every day and she agreed that is too much and to back off to every other day. I think I'll be doing these for quite a while because I can tell how weak the muscles are, especially on the left where the injury is. However, I'm seriously thinking of going to the gym 5-6 days a week anyway because I tend not to do the foam rolling and mobility if I'm at home. That alone is worth a trip to the gym.
The sugar detox is continuing. I'm on day 6 today. It's really been up and down as far as my mood and how I feel overall. Day 3 was miserable because I felt so depleted and cranky. Day 4 was good but on Day 5 I had trouble sleeping. I've been doing the new food plan Whole30 about 90% to the letter. I finished reading It Starts With Food so I know the tweaks I need to make to be completing following the plan 100%. I even talked to Chris about not going out to eat for the month of August (to eliminate the possibility of eating something that's not on the plan) and he agreed to that, which is a good sign for success. I'm glad I'm doing this detox now and getting that part of the transition out of the way.
To conclude on a happy note...some food porn for you bacon lovers out there. Enjoy.
Bacon-Wrapped Smoky Chicken Thighs!!!
I bought a new pair of running shoes on Tuesday. I knew the ones I had were not doing their job anymore and the bad back really confirmed that. I went and got a new pair of New Balance which is my preferred brand along with an insert for extra cushioning. Boy, does it make a difference. The back is still a bit ouchy in the morning but I can stand to cook and clean and walk the dog without too much problem if I'm wearing the shoes.
I had another PT session today and have been bumped up to doing the I,T,Y,W exercise on a ball instead of flat on my stomach. And I'm to do all exercises for 2 sets of 15. I did talk to her about doing them every day and she agreed that is too much and to back off to every other day. I think I'll be doing these for quite a while because I can tell how weak the muscles are, especially on the left where the injury is. However, I'm seriously thinking of going to the gym 5-6 days a week anyway because I tend not to do the foam rolling and mobility if I'm at home. That alone is worth a trip to the gym.
The sugar detox is continuing. I'm on day 6 today. It's really been up and down as far as my mood and how I feel overall. Day 3 was miserable because I felt so depleted and cranky. Day 4 was good but on Day 5 I had trouble sleeping. I've been doing the new food plan Whole30 about 90% to the letter. I finished reading It Starts With Food so I know the tweaks I need to make to be completing following the plan 100%. I even talked to Chris about not going out to eat for the month of August (to eliminate the possibility of eating something that's not on the plan) and he agreed to that, which is a good sign for success. I'm glad I'm doing this detox now and getting that part of the transition out of the way.
To conclude on a happy note...some food porn for you bacon lovers out there. Enjoy.
Bacon-Wrapped Smoky Chicken Thighs!!!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Good Riddance
Today is day three of my sugar detox. I have to say I've never been happier to get this stuff out of my life. Usually I'm all baby wah wah about giving up sweets but I'm so intent on changing my lifestyle this time around that I'm happy to see them go.
My new obsession is veggies, or more specifically how to get more of these little devils onto my plate. Last night I made a favorite, sauteed green beans and cherry tomatoes. I had a heaping pile of those with my lamb chops and mashed sweet potatoes. I must say that sweet potatoes have become an all-time favorite. I've even got the hubby eating them without complaint.
This morning it was sliced sweet onion and mushroom sauteed in coconut oil with a couple of beaten eggs to make an omelet. Add half a grapefruit and some coffee and it's a yummy meal.
I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym. My back just doesn't want to stop with the morning hurt so I'm learning to deal with it while I focus on rehab and strengthening my weakness. The big lifts will have to wait for a while. The physical therapist gave me two new exercises to do along with the rotator cuff and scapular strengthening exercises. Both are for the serratus.
This is the first one. She has me doing it lying length-wise on a foam roller with a 3# weight in my hand.
Serratus Exercise #1
The second is similar to a pullover (I couldn't find a video of exactly what this looks like). Still lying on the foam roller with the 3# weight in hand, I bring the arm up from my side over the head in an arc until I feel pain or pulling in the shoulder and then bring it back down again. One set of 20 on both exercises.
I need major work on the glutes and hips since that seems to be main areas affected (or affecting) my back problem. Rog is going to give me a couple of routines I can use for at least a couple of weeks to get things back into balance. Between the PT and Rog's workouts I've got plenty of work cut out for me!
My new obsession is veggies, or more specifically how to get more of these little devils onto my plate. Last night I made a favorite, sauteed green beans and cherry tomatoes. I had a heaping pile of those with my lamb chops and mashed sweet potatoes. I must say that sweet potatoes have become an all-time favorite. I've even got the hubby eating them without complaint.
This morning it was sliced sweet onion and mushroom sauteed in coconut oil with a couple of beaten eggs to make an omelet. Add half a grapefruit and some coffee and it's a yummy meal.
I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym. My back just doesn't want to stop with the morning hurt so I'm learning to deal with it while I focus on rehab and strengthening my weakness. The big lifts will have to wait for a while. The physical therapist gave me two new exercises to do along with the rotator cuff and scapular strengthening exercises. Both are for the serratus.
This is the first one. She has me doing it lying length-wise on a foam roller with a 3# weight in my hand.
Serratus Exercise #1
The second is similar to a pullover (I couldn't find a video of exactly what this looks like). Still lying on the foam roller with the 3# weight in hand, I bring the arm up from my side over the head in an arc until I feel pain or pulling in the shoulder and then bring it back down again. One set of 20 on both exercises.
I need major work on the glutes and hips since that seems to be main areas affected (or affecting) my back problem. Rog is going to give me a couple of routines I can use for at least a couple of weeks to get things back into balance. Between the PT and Rog's workouts I've got plenty of work cut out for me!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Endings and Beginnings
Two more days until the new era begins. It's been really sad saying goodbye to so many people. But it's been gratifying to hear that these people will really miss me. I've spent most of the last year like a turtle inside her shell just trying to deal with the BS going on in my work life that I lost sight of all the good I've done and all the positive vibes I've spread during my time there.
Part of starting the new era, I think, will be a new focus on my fitness program. I went to physical therapy on Tuesday to have the initial assessment done of my torn rotator cuff. Long story short, the weakness is in the muscles in the upper back and around the scapula and also in the rotator muscles (duh) particularly the one that brings the arm up parallel to the side. I had no strength at all when the therapist pushed down on my outstretched arm. It was scary. She also commented on the stiffness in the extension of my thoracic spine.
I was prescribed a series of exercises to do every day:
1. External and internal rotation with a band. I think this is pretty standard for shoulder strengthening.
2. Something the PT called "full can" which was to anchor the band with my foot and then, with my thumb pointing up and my arm at a 45 degree angle from my body, raise the arm up to parallel. This will strengthen that supraspinatus muscle.
3. Another pretty standard set of exercises for the upper back. On my stomach, raise the arms in an I, T, Y, W position. I'm starting with just bodyweight although she told me to use 2 lb weights. Once I'm comfortable with just bodyweight, I'll start using weights.
One set of 20 reps for each exercise every day.
I'm still working on the sore low back. I'm having a lot (a lot!) of discomfort in the hips. It's not pain really, just more of a heaviness. I'm focusing on using a lacrosse ball to target painful areas over the sacrum and then stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes for extended (2 min) periods of time every day. I'm also working on painful areas around the bottom of the scapula near the armpit of the left arm. I assume this is related to the torn rotator but it has gotten a lot more painful since I stopped working out.
So basically I'm a mess. I've been swimming in such a toxic stew at work for so long and I think my body has been holding in so much anger and tension just to get by. Now it needs to work itself out so I can feel normal again. I want to get back to strength training but I think for now I need just to work on lots and lots of rehab for as long as it takes. Fortunately with the new job I'll have time to do that at home. I have next week off and I've decided to spend that time focusing on lots of detox techniques (which I'll talk about in future posts), spending time alone in my favorite nature spots and working on getting my mental status healthy again.
Part of starting the new era, I think, will be a new focus on my fitness program. I went to physical therapy on Tuesday to have the initial assessment done of my torn rotator cuff. Long story short, the weakness is in the muscles in the upper back and around the scapula and also in the rotator muscles (duh) particularly the one that brings the arm up parallel to the side. I had no strength at all when the therapist pushed down on my outstretched arm. It was scary. She also commented on the stiffness in the extension of my thoracic spine.
I was prescribed a series of exercises to do every day:
1. External and internal rotation with a band. I think this is pretty standard for shoulder strengthening.
2. Something the PT called "full can" which was to anchor the band with my foot and then, with my thumb pointing up and my arm at a 45 degree angle from my body, raise the arm up to parallel. This will strengthen that supraspinatus muscle.
3. Another pretty standard set of exercises for the upper back. On my stomach, raise the arms in an I, T, Y, W position. I'm starting with just bodyweight although she told me to use 2 lb weights. Once I'm comfortable with just bodyweight, I'll start using weights.
One set of 20 reps for each exercise every day.
I'm still working on the sore low back. I'm having a lot (a lot!) of discomfort in the hips. It's not pain really, just more of a heaviness. I'm focusing on using a lacrosse ball to target painful areas over the sacrum and then stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes for extended (2 min) periods of time every day. I'm also working on painful areas around the bottom of the scapula near the armpit of the left arm. I assume this is related to the torn rotator but it has gotten a lot more painful since I stopped working out.
So basically I'm a mess. I've been swimming in such a toxic stew at work for so long and I think my body has been holding in so much anger and tension just to get by. Now it needs to work itself out so I can feel normal again. I want to get back to strength training but I think for now I need just to work on lots and lots of rehab for as long as it takes. Fortunately with the new job I'll have time to do that at home. I have next week off and I've decided to spend that time focusing on lots of detox techniques (which I'll talk about in future posts), spending time alone in my favorite nature spots and working on getting my mental status healthy again.
Monday, July 16, 2012
The Farewell Tour
The long goodbye, which started two weeks ago, is coming to its end this week. I met with my boss for the first time since I gave notice. He's going the kumbaya route, all happy for me and subtly implying that it's better for me since I can't handle the stress of my job. Whatevs, dude. Believe what you will. There's going to be a long round of being taken out to lunch, after work "drinks" and taking my team out for a farewell dinner. My food has been so-so. I'm experimenting right now with going with just coffee with a few tablespoons of coconut milk first thing in the morning and delaying the first meal until 9 am. That went pretty well this morning. My first meal was protein and fat (egg salad) and coffee with coconut milk and protein powder. That held me pretty well until lunch where I had homemade chili, half an avocado and 1/4 c. mixed nuts and raisens. That held me until around 3:30 and then the afternoon hungries hit. I gave into pretzels and oreo cookies...so I've got some work to do figuring out what lunch will hold me until dinner. Dinner is going to be chicken breast, mashed sweet potato and salad.
The back is slowly getting better. I'm back to doing foam rolling along with gentle mobility. I added some stretching this evening for the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes. I'll work on all of this twice a day until I feel totally back to normal. I still have pain in the morning after getting up but it was not as bad this morning and walking the dog was tolerable. Yesterday I got on the exercise bike yesterday for 20 minutes for some easy pedaling and that went well with no pain. I probably will do that every day until I can start walking again without pain.
Physical therapy on the shoulder starts tomorrow...soooo details to follow!
The back is slowly getting better. I'm back to doing foam rolling along with gentle mobility. I added some stretching this evening for the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes. I'll work on all of this twice a day until I feel totally back to normal. I still have pain in the morning after getting up but it was not as bad this morning and walking the dog was tolerable. Yesterday I got on the exercise bike yesterday for 20 minutes for some easy pedaling and that went well with no pain. I probably will do that every day until I can start walking again without pain.
Physical therapy on the shoulder starts tomorrow...soooo details to follow!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The Back Saga Continues
My bad back is slowly getting better. I was able to do without the muscle relaxant during the day yesterday. The thing that seems to bother my back the most is doing a lot of walking. After about 5 minutes, the muscles over the sacrum at the top of the glutes get so tight and painful. Fortunately, the pain goes away once I sit and allow them to relax.
I started going some very gentle mobility and stretching last night. Cat-to-neutral, pelvic tilt, pulling knees into the chest. Things like that just to start loosening the muscles. Did them again this morning right after getting out of bed. I've got grocery shopping to do today so I'll see how things go as far as walking around. I fear this is going to be a slow recovery.
I started going some very gentle mobility and stretching last night. Cat-to-neutral, pelvic tilt, pulling knees into the chest. Things like that just to start loosening the muscles. Did them again this morning right after getting out of bed. I've got grocery shopping to do today so I'll see how things go as far as walking around. I fear this is going to be a slow recovery.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
When It Rains It Pours
I hope this is happening because I'm going through such an intense transition phase in my life.
Happening #1: I messed up my back doing deadlifts yesterday. I did the exact same workout I did last week and what felt pretty good last week totally messed up my lower back yesterday. Today I'm walking like an old lady and being EXTREMELY careful about what I do and how I move lest my back muscles seize up. Not fun and not fair!! I'll be sleeping on a heating pad tonight to hopefully relax the muscles. No workout tomorrow.
Happening #2: The diet saga. Doing this total 180 on my eating has proven challenging. Sunday I had a pot roast in the crockpot all day but had it turned to warm rather than low. So by dinner time that sucker was nowhere near done. Chris and I looked at each other, I said pizza, he said ok and so sausage pizza it was. However, it occurred to me that if I had a backup meal always waiting in the wings I wouldn't have this struggle in the same circumstances in future. After talking it over with Chris we agreed that eggs would be a good Plan B meal that I could always have on hand in an emergency. So out of adversity comes good.
On Monday I discovered just how quickly I get hungry after eating. Like super hungry 60-90 minutes after eating. This is the consequences of being a sugar burner. Once I started paying attention, it was so apparent what I've been fighting every day and how much of a struggle it's been to get from one meal to the next. So my goal for now is to learn to eat enough fats at each meal to go 6 hours between meals and eat only 3 meals a day. I'll still take snacks (emphasizing protein, healthy fats and veggies) in case I do get ravenous in between meals but my goal is to eventually eliminate the snacks because my body will be tuned to dipping into the fat stores instead of yelling at me to eat.
One of these days this adventure will become fun. I can hardly wait.
Happening #1: I messed up my back doing deadlifts yesterday. I did the exact same workout I did last week and what felt pretty good last week totally messed up my lower back yesterday. Today I'm walking like an old lady and being EXTREMELY careful about what I do and how I move lest my back muscles seize up. Not fun and not fair!! I'll be sleeping on a heating pad tonight to hopefully relax the muscles. No workout tomorrow.
Happening #2: The diet saga. Doing this total 180 on my eating has proven challenging. Sunday I had a pot roast in the crockpot all day but had it turned to warm rather than low. So by dinner time that sucker was nowhere near done. Chris and I looked at each other, I said pizza, he said ok and so sausage pizza it was. However, it occurred to me that if I had a backup meal always waiting in the wings I wouldn't have this struggle in the same circumstances in future. After talking it over with Chris we agreed that eggs would be a good Plan B meal that I could always have on hand in an emergency. So out of adversity comes good.
On Monday I discovered just how quickly I get hungry after eating. Like super hungry 60-90 minutes after eating. This is the consequences of being a sugar burner. Once I started paying attention, it was so apparent what I've been fighting every day and how much of a struggle it's been to get from one meal to the next. So my goal for now is to learn to eat enough fats at each meal to go 6 hours between meals and eat only 3 meals a day. I'll still take snacks (emphasizing protein, healthy fats and veggies) in case I do get ravenous in between meals but my goal is to eventually eliminate the snacks because my body will be tuned to dipping into the fat stores instead of yelling at me to eat.
One of these days this adventure will become fun. I can hardly wait.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Catching a Break
Damn, it's been hot around here. Over 100 degree hot for the past week. I like the heat better than the cold, but this has been damn near unbearable even early in the morning. Which is when I get out for my longer walks on non-gym days. I haven't hit my 10K steps mark at all this week because of the heat but thankfully we are catching a break today and hopefully for a while. It's back down in the 70's so I'll be out at the dog park with Cappy today.
I realized after I posted yesterday that I had not reported on my Friday workout. I missed the Wednesday workout because we had guests stay overnight and it being 4th of July and all. Here's Friday's workout and then I'll get to the discussion of the shoulder issues.
BB romanian deadlift 75# x 3 x 8
Single leg leg press 20# x 3 x 10
Single leg hip thrust BW x 3 x 8
5 min cardio finisher: 4 rounds
KB swing 12 kg x 10
BW squat 5 reps (using a bar for support to stay back on my heels and use my glutes to get back up - doing this during the mobility warmup as well)
DB tight rotation 10# x 10
When I do the BW squats that way I can get to parallel and it doesn't hurt my knee at all. I'm going to try this and see if it helps me get some strength in the "getting out of the hole" portion of the squat which seems to be my main area of weakness in the movement.
Ok, shoulder report...the MRI showed a partial tear in the supraspinatus tendon with some tendonitis which sounds like, from what I've researched, the most common rotator cuff tear. The doctor (actually one of his fellows) called me and said that I don't need immediate surgery (which I already figured) but could talk to the doctor about getting it if I'm still having pain after the round of PT he prescribed. They would do it arthroscopically which is good, clean out the area and staple the tendon to the bone if necessary. I have PT scheduled over 4 weeks starting the week of July 16 so I'll see what the therapist has in store and then talk to Rog about his opinion.
So more details about the food. This week I'm focusing on eliminating all sweets, including the honey which I've been using as a sweetener for baked goods and mashed sweet potatoes. The only sweetener I'll hang onto for now is the stevia. That will be the last to go. I'm also going to pay much closer attention to my hunger levels, focusing on how long it takes to start feeling hunger after meals, how intense the hunger is and whether it goes away on its own or with drinking water. I need to start paying more attention to my body and not the clock to determine when I should be eating. Clock eating is diet mentality and I can't live that way if I want to ever incorporate fasting into my nutrition strategy.
I realized after I posted yesterday that I had not reported on my Friday workout. I missed the Wednesday workout because we had guests stay overnight and it being 4th of July and all. Here's Friday's workout and then I'll get to the discussion of the shoulder issues.
BB romanian deadlift 75# x 3 x 8
Single leg leg press 20# x 3 x 10
Single leg hip thrust BW x 3 x 8
5 min cardio finisher: 4 rounds
KB swing 12 kg x 10
BW squat 5 reps (using a bar for support to stay back on my heels and use my glutes to get back up - doing this during the mobility warmup as well)
DB tight rotation 10# x 10
When I do the BW squats that way I can get to parallel and it doesn't hurt my knee at all. I'm going to try this and see if it helps me get some strength in the "getting out of the hole" portion of the squat which seems to be my main area of weakness in the movement.
Ok, shoulder report...the MRI showed a partial tear in the supraspinatus tendon with some tendonitis which sounds like, from what I've researched, the most common rotator cuff tear. The doctor (actually one of his fellows) called me and said that I don't need immediate surgery (which I already figured) but could talk to the doctor about getting it if I'm still having pain after the round of PT he prescribed. They would do it arthroscopically which is good, clean out the area and staple the tendon to the bone if necessary. I have PT scheduled over 4 weeks starting the week of July 16 so I'll see what the therapist has in store and then talk to Rog about his opinion.
So more details about the food. This week I'm focusing on eliminating all sweets, including the honey which I've been using as a sweetener for baked goods and mashed sweet potatoes. The only sweetener I'll hang onto for now is the stevia. That will be the last to go. I'm also going to pay much closer attention to my hunger levels, focusing on how long it takes to start feeling hunger after meals, how intense the hunger is and whether it goes away on its own or with drinking water. I need to start paying more attention to my body and not the clock to determine when I should be eating. Clock eating is diet mentality and I can't live that way if I want to ever incorporate fasting into my nutrition strategy.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
I Never Met a Carb I Didn't Like
You may have noticed I haven't posted for a while (and haven't posted my July 1 progress pics. But that's another story.)
I had a great 4th of July. Great. Family, friends and food. That's what I wanted and that's what I got. I'm in the process of disengaging from my current place of employment and preparing for my new life. As part of that, giving notice and telling my staff was both exciting and sad. And I'm swinging back and forth between the two emotions during this transition.
So what does that have to do with carbs you ask? Well, as some know all too well, I'm a habitual lifelong overeater, specifically of sweets and other not-so-healthy carbs. Although I don't eat those foods like I once did (half gallon of ice cream, whole pan of brownies anyone?) I still gravitate towards those foods in good times and bad. I fight that battle on a daily basis and mostly win, but it's a battle nonetheless.
I gave in to my cravings over the holiday and have been struggling with coming back to the calorie tracking...no, let's be honest about it...dieting that I've trying to do since like forever. I have to get brutally honest with myself and admit this is not working for me. It worked for a while, the last two years, and I've lost a great deal of weight. But I'm struggling to get past this point. I'm coming to the conclusion that it's because I was able to achieve enough of a calorie deficit to lose weight while still eating at a high carb level and indulging in the type of foods that call my name. And if I want to keep doing that I'll stay right where I am and go no further.
Something needs to change and I think that something is that I have to say goodbye to carbs ruling my world. I need to make a lifestyle change when it comes to my food. I've been playing around with a style of eating variously called Paleo, Primal, Caveman, whatever. The theory being that human beings are genetically programmed to use fat as the primary fuel source rather than glucose and that people whose diets primarily feature glucose foods (sweets, flour and other grains, other processed foods, excessive fruits) run into problems because their bodies start looking for glucose for fuel rather than being able to tap into fat stores when food is scarce (like during fasting or even a calorie deficit).
It's a theory.
Since I have such a history of flooding my body with excess carbs, I think I'm one of those people whose bodies are unable to easily tap into fat stores for fuel. I think that's why I had such a hard time switching to intermittent fasting. My body just couldn't deal with not having a dose of glucose when it needed it.
I really want to change that because I truly don't want to be stuck here or heavens forbid start gaining the weight back. So what I'd like to do is work on reprogramming my body to be fat burning rather than sugar burning. If it's possible which again is just a theory. But I'd like to give it a chance. I want to start by taking the Whole30 Challenge to get myself weaned from sweets and other high carb foods. I want to take this as a lifestyle change and not focus on weight loss. What I'd like to see happen would be for my appetite to naturally regulate itself so that I eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm comfortable and don't eat when I'm not hungry. Which I'm hoping will lead to being able to comfortably fast, either on a periodic 24 hour basis or a 14/10 hour daily basis. I'd rather create a calorie deficit using that method than having to spend so much time and mental energy tracking calories and forcing myself to fight my hunger.
My goal right now is to start the Challenge on August 1 with the next three weeks devoted to slowly eliminating all sweeteners, sugar and artificial, grains, dairy (except butter) and legumes, and slowly increasing the percentage of fat that I consume relative to protein and carb. I'll provide more details on how I'm doing that in future posts. I'm excited and scared to do this, sort of like how I feel about starting my new job. I guess as long as I'm changing my life I'd might as well really change my life.
I had a great 4th of July. Great. Family, friends and food. That's what I wanted and that's what I got. I'm in the process of disengaging from my current place of employment and preparing for my new life. As part of that, giving notice and telling my staff was both exciting and sad. And I'm swinging back and forth between the two emotions during this transition.
So what does that have to do with carbs you ask? Well, as some know all too well, I'm a habitual lifelong overeater, specifically of sweets and other not-so-healthy carbs. Although I don't eat those foods like I once did (half gallon of ice cream, whole pan of brownies anyone?) I still gravitate towards those foods in good times and bad. I fight that battle on a daily basis and mostly win, but it's a battle nonetheless.
I gave in to my cravings over the holiday and have been struggling with coming back to the calorie tracking...no, let's be honest about it...dieting that I've trying to do since like forever. I have to get brutally honest with myself and admit this is not working for me. It worked for a while, the last two years, and I've lost a great deal of weight. But I'm struggling to get past this point. I'm coming to the conclusion that it's because I was able to achieve enough of a calorie deficit to lose weight while still eating at a high carb level and indulging in the type of foods that call my name. And if I want to keep doing that I'll stay right where I am and go no further.
Something needs to change and I think that something is that I have to say goodbye to carbs ruling my world. I need to make a lifestyle change when it comes to my food. I've been playing around with a style of eating variously called Paleo, Primal, Caveman, whatever. The theory being that human beings are genetically programmed to use fat as the primary fuel source rather than glucose and that people whose diets primarily feature glucose foods (sweets, flour and other grains, other processed foods, excessive fruits) run into problems because their bodies start looking for glucose for fuel rather than being able to tap into fat stores when food is scarce (like during fasting or even a calorie deficit).
It's a theory.
Since I have such a history of flooding my body with excess carbs, I think I'm one of those people whose bodies are unable to easily tap into fat stores for fuel. I think that's why I had such a hard time switching to intermittent fasting. My body just couldn't deal with not having a dose of glucose when it needed it.
I really want to change that because I truly don't want to be stuck here or heavens forbid start gaining the weight back. So what I'd like to do is work on reprogramming my body to be fat burning rather than sugar burning. If it's possible which again is just a theory. But I'd like to give it a chance. I want to start by taking the Whole30 Challenge to get myself weaned from sweets and other high carb foods. I want to take this as a lifestyle change and not focus on weight loss. What I'd like to see happen would be for my appetite to naturally regulate itself so that I eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm comfortable and don't eat when I'm not hungry. Which I'm hoping will lead to being able to comfortably fast, either on a periodic 24 hour basis or a 14/10 hour daily basis. I'd rather create a calorie deficit using that method than having to spend so much time and mental energy tracking calories and forcing myself to fight my hunger.
My goal right now is to start the Challenge on August 1 with the next three weeks devoted to slowly eliminating all sweeteners, sugar and artificial, grains, dairy (except butter) and legumes, and slowly increasing the percentage of fat that I consume relative to protein and carb. I'll provide more details on how I'm doing that in future posts. I'm excited and scared to do this, sort of like how I feel about starting my new job. I guess as long as I'm changing my life I'd might as well really change my life.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
I Feel Better Than James Brown
So much news to report...all good for a change. Yay!
1. I gave notice on Monday and told my team that I'm leaving. Not a huge surprise to them but certainly I think for my senior manager. I hope all hell breaks loose from this.
2. I had the MRI on Monday as well and made all my physical therapy appointments. I'll hear from the doctor next week what the diagnosis is and what course of treatment he recommends. I'm hoping for physical therapy now and putting off surgery (if it's needed) until spring. The shoulder is feeling much better and not any more painful than it normally is. As long as I sleep on my back and don't roll over onto it, I should be able to deal with whatever is going on in there for a while.
3. Great workout, also on Monday. I decided to add the two sets I'm not doing for dumbbell presses to the rack pulls. I started with two sets of 3, then two sets of 5 and 1 set of 8. Might as well work on the heavy lifts rather than more redundant accessory exercises.
Here's the details:
Rack pull 135# x 2 x 3, 125# x 2 x 5, 115# x 1 x 8
Wall ankle MOB 3 x 10
One arm DB row (5 sec eccentric) 22.5# x 3 x 8
Goblet squat (5 pulses at the bottom) 10# x 3 x 6
Dead bug 2 x 13
The squats weren't too bad. I can feel a pull in my knee about 10 degrees from parallel which gets better after each set. I'm thinking about doing a bodyweight version of this as a mobility warmup. Must run this by the Rog.
Today I'm just chillaxin' (as the kids say) with some friends and getting used to the idea that my whole life will be changing in 2 1/2 weeks. No pressure there! LOL I'm excited and scared at the same time but that will get better the more the new routine falls into place.
So for now....Happy Fourth of July!!!
1. I gave notice on Monday and told my team that I'm leaving. Not a huge surprise to them but certainly I think for my senior manager. I hope all hell breaks loose from this.
2. I had the MRI on Monday as well and made all my physical therapy appointments. I'll hear from the doctor next week what the diagnosis is and what course of treatment he recommends. I'm hoping for physical therapy now and putting off surgery (if it's needed) until spring. The shoulder is feeling much better and not any more painful than it normally is. As long as I sleep on my back and don't roll over onto it, I should be able to deal with whatever is going on in there for a while.
3. Great workout, also on Monday. I decided to add the two sets I'm not doing for dumbbell presses to the rack pulls. I started with two sets of 3, then two sets of 5 and 1 set of 8. Might as well work on the heavy lifts rather than more redundant accessory exercises.
Here's the details:
Rack pull 135# x 2 x 3, 125# x 2 x 5, 115# x 1 x 8
Wall ankle MOB 3 x 10
One arm DB row (5 sec eccentric) 22.5# x 3 x 8
Goblet squat (5 pulses at the bottom) 10# x 3 x 6
Dead bug 2 x 13
The squats weren't too bad. I can feel a pull in my knee about 10 degrees from parallel which gets better after each set. I'm thinking about doing a bodyweight version of this as a mobility warmup. Must run this by the Rog.
Today I'm just chillaxin' (as the kids say) with some friends and getting used to the idea that my whole life will be changing in 2 1/2 weeks. No pressure there! LOL I'm excited and scared at the same time but that will get better the more the new routine falls into place.
So for now....Happy Fourth of July!!!
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