Almost Christmas!

I have been doing fairly well. I didn't eat like crazy at Thanksgiving. I actually managed to eat at only one house this year. A lot of times I have to go to several houses to please family. Finals have been stressful but are almost over. Exercise has been a bust however. This is due to a combination of school, work, being sick, and being lazy when otherwise occupied. I'm still trying to build a successful exercise habit. What I want is to do various cardio workouts 4-6 days a week and weight train 2 days a week, with abdominal exercise on the non weight lifting days.

Monday - Cardio and upper body
Tuesday - Cardio and abs
Wednesday - Cardio
Thursday Cardio and abs
Friday - Cardio and lower body
Saturday - Cardio and abs
Sunday - rest

I'm also slowly but surely re-building the habit of writing what I eat/drink down in a small book in my purse.

Wish me luck!

Midterms Month

I think college has midterms month, not midterms week. I have been so busy since the 10th working on papers and projects and getting ready for exams that I haven't made it to the gym since then. Terrible, I know:-(

Also it has been crazy because my boyfriend is moving about 1000 miles away for work on November 1. It's independent contracting, so who know's how long he will be gone. I know he will be back for Christmas but that's all I know for sure.

Since I will mostly be eating alone, I foresee a lot of Lean Cuisines, soup, pasta dishes, and breakfast for supper in my future.

Weights

I've had a good time working out this week! I'm doing alternating upper/lower body workouts and plenty of cardio on the elliptical trainers and bikes. I found that decline crunches are pretty tough also!

Doing Well!

I am working on getting into a regular exercise routine. Last week I worked out 5 times and 2 times this week. That averages out pretty well. I want to average 3-5 visits to the gym each week.

Making better food choices is going well enough. I have been eating oatmeal most days for breakfast and not eating too many impulse items. I have had cooked items every day for dinner and only had fast food twice (the sub shop at USI and a burger and fries from Zesto's)

I forgot to weigh or check measurements this week, so I will next Saturday. Fall Festival is coming up in a week and I am really looking forward to it!!

Motivation

Motivation!!!I am feeling pretty motivated right now and am taking advantage of that to get back in the habit of regularly making it to the gym for workouts. I'm also marking on my calendar as a visual encouragement each day that I go to the gym. I have visited the gym four time in the past five days, twice for cardio, and twice for a mix of weights, calisthenics, and cardio. A goal of mine is to do full body weight pull ups...I can only do pull ups with the machine that has a weight assistance. I've been eating mostly good. Basically I am not bringing food in the house if I know I will overeat it. I've been craving Jalapeno Crunchy Cheetos like crazy but I know I can't eat them if I don't buy any! *willpower*

Variety

I come to the realization that I hate most "diet" foods. Such as: carrot sticks and celery, fat-free mayo/salad dressings, fat-free cheese, most "meal" shakes/bars, and plain grilled chicken and fish. I have looked at everything I enjoy that is a good food choice for me and it's pretty varied: Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, olive oil, bulgur wheat, most soups and stews, sushi, hibachi/stirfry, fresh or frozen fruits, hummus...What these all seem to have in common is rich flavors and interesting textures. I basically hate boring food, which is what most "diet" food is. I need to stick with what is interesting and tastes good and is satisfying. The things to avoid are deep-fried, overly greasy or sweet, and too big of portions of anything. I feel like Ben & Jerry's is within reason as long as it's not often and not the whole pint in one sitting.

Caffeine and new stats

Caffeine...

 Everybody knows caffeine is the ultimate weight loss aid, right? It's supposed to suppress your appetite and give you more energy and rev your metabolism and whatnot according to most diet aids. Well, one day a couple of weeks ago I was given a sample of a supplement called Roxylean. It's supposed to do all of the above wonders.

	As you can see, it's basically caffeine, niacin, an herb similar to aspirin, and a bunch of herbs. The interesting part though, is what happened when I took it. I asked the store, and they confirmed that one capsule has 300mg of caffeine. A little higher that what I drink but since I have developed a raging caffeine habit since December, due to having worked third shift, I figured it would be fine.
I took one capsule and felt a strong rush of energy in about 20 minutes. I was so alert and hyper that it was irritating. I could barely sit still and it made me sweat like crazy. And all that caffeine had a wonderful diuretic effect as well.
What is important is what happened when it wore off. The caffeine buzz wore off abruptly after about 4 hours and suddenly I was ravenously hungry and had to eat immediately. I felt like that the rest of the day, no matter what I ate, I was starving again a couple hours later. And I was stupidly tired when the caffeine wore off, even though I had had a good night's sleep prior to taking Roxylean.
Now, since I have been drinking increasingly more and more caffeine since I worked third shift at Denny's, I have been hungry a lot, craving junk, and gaining weight, slow but sure. I never thought about caffeine consumption having an effect. So I did some research and found that caffeine has an effect on glucose and epinephrine. Fist, caffeine binds with a neurotransmitter called adenosine, and prevents the adenosine from doing it's normal job of making you sleepy. So you are wide awake. Less active adenosine prompts the brain to produce more epinephrine, what we know as adrenaline. So if you are constantly consuming caffeine you are having elevated adrenaline levels in your system. A side effect of this is that your cells release more glucose than normal into the bloodstream, raising your blood glucose levels. When blood glucose, or blood sugar, rises and drops suddenly, that promotes hunger pangs and craving food.
So, long story short, after researching this, I weaned myself down to 1/2 cup of coffee a day, then went off it completely from there. Except for caffeine withdrawal headaches, I have been feeling terrific. More importantly, I have easily been able to go longer between meals and I am having far less noticeable hunger pangs and almost no cravings for sweets to think of.  I have been caffeine free for 6 days now and have been drinking almost exclusively water, and I have been feeling great!

My starting stats are:               New stats as of 9/3/11:
Ankle - 9.5                             Ankle - 9
Calf - 16                                 Calf - 16
Thigh - 25.5                            Thigh - 25
Hips - 44                                 Hips - 43.5
Waist - 38                               Waist - 37
Bust - 44                                 Bust - 43
Neck - 14.5                            Neck - 14
Bicep - 13                               Bicep - 12
Wrist - 6.5                              Wrist - 6.5
Weight - 187 lbs                      Weight - 188 lbs

So as you can see I lost 5 total inches over the past couple of months and that's great! That was a really pleasant surprise.

Reading Material

I have been reading some excerpts of the book "French Women Don't Get Fat". It really has some good points and I want to get it from the library and read the whole thing. It sounds like my way of eating: variety, fresh, real foods, moderation and indulgence in balance.


It's been such a busy month working to complete my summer internship before school starts. I have still been more mindful of what I am eating and I am feeling better with more energy, even if I have lost no weight to speak of.

Not a Carnivore!

I tried eating Primal for a couple of days and it made me sick, head-achy, and no energy. I was really hungry, even though I was eating 1400 calories, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Not the plan for me. I will stick with a diet comprised mostly (ideally 90%) of lean meats, good fats like olive oil and avocados, lots of fruits and veggies, and whole grains (like bulgur wheat, yum!), with the occasional room for chocolate and ice cream!

Primal!

I have been researching the Primal Blueprint  diet lately and I am going to give it a whirl. Reasons? 1) Reducing starchy carbs and dairy products from the diet has been shown to reduce acid reflux, which I have (and it sucks!). 2) I pretty much always crave sugary stuff and need to eat less of it. 3) I love fruits, veggies, and eggs, all of which I can eat lots of on this diet. 4) This plan claims to reduce hunger pangs and cravings.

I will be trying to follow this as closely as I can for the next 1-2 weeks and will note any changes in mood, attitude, energy, concentration, physical well-being, and of course any weight/inches lost. Basically I will be cutting out all sugars and grains. Potatoes are ok in moderation but not encouraged. Wild rice is ok, because it is not actually a grain. Fats and proteins are a heavy part of the diet. Fruit is fine in moderation and non-starchy veggies are unlimited. Dairy is fine but preferred to be fermented or whole fat if possible. No alcohol. Small amounts of dark chocolate are permitted.

I'm encouraged to get low-moderate intensity cardio 3 days, 2 days with heavy weight training/calisthenics, and to get daily play and sun in and to get plenty of rest. I'll keep you posted!

2

Today is the 4th and I'm having a great day so far! I made a great contribution to our family potluck...a Black Forest cake made low fat and low sugar but tasting 100% great! After that I am walking down to the riverfront (about 1 mile each way) to watch the fireworks with my boyfriend. Have a Happy 4th everybody!

1

Today went well. I slept in really later for me, 10 AM, and was busy so I wound up eating for the first time at 2PM. That's odd for me because I am a big breakfast eater! I went with my boyfriend to the Super Buffet and had sushi, stir fried mushrooms and broccoli, lots of water, and a little dessert. Then I went to my brother's to work out and stayed for dinner. We had spaghetti pie and cheesecake. I was a lot more active than usual and despite skipping breakfast on accident and eating semi-junk, I was never too hungry, and didn't overeat or even eat a lot. Tomorrow - swimming!

The Beginning

My blog title is "Round To Hourglass" and that is my physical goal in a nutshell. I am starting my journey to better health and fitness. I'm a 27 year old female and I have let college get in the way of health and I am working to find a better balance. I have a Y membership, keep a food journal, have a bicycle, and Netflix has lots of streaming workout videos so I can even work out at home if the gym is closed or weather is bad.

I'm not sure where I am exactly healthwise. Physically I fit in a size 12 pants and large tops. But I also have been recently diagnosed with high blood pressure and my weight just keeps going on up. I now weight 187 and I am not going to gain more weight! From here it it going to go down. Diabetes runs in my family and I am scared that I will become diabetic if I stay overweight. I'm not sure how overweight I am because BMI is not very accurate (according to it bodybuilders are clinically obese) and I don't have a good way to tell my body fat percentage. I am going to be tracking my weight and measurements once a week, on Saturday morning. 

My starting stats are:
Ankle - 9.5
Calf - 16
Thigh - 25.5
Hips - 44
Waist - 38
Bust - 44
Neck - 14.5
Bicep - 13
Wrist - 6.5
Weight - 187 lbs