The right trigger.

Whoa Nelly! Nearly three months since my last post. I feel like it's been much longer since I've felt like I can take on the world. But these last few weeks have been notoriously bad, even for me.

I've been eating poorly; my healthiest meal was likely Subway. I'd gone from drinking one to two coffees per week to having one every day. Tim Horton's became a regular stop on my way to work where I'd fill up on bagels and muffins and a fatass double double.

I'd been sluggish for days. I'd attributed my lack of energy to balancing some wedding planning while packing, moving, and just getting through all of my regular every day stuff.

Yesterday, still sluggish while drinking my third coffee, my coworker asked if I'd been sleeping well. I have, and despite the longer communte I'm not sleeping any less than before the move. She then asked if I take any vitamins. Eureka! It's so simple isn't it... my nutrition has been through the toilet so much so that apparently it's affected my brain.

So I'm clearing all this stuff out of my system. Drinking dandelion root and milk thistle tea to renew my liver. Eating mostly vegetables and protein for the next few days. Reminding my body that it does not need to crave sugar in all its glorious forms.

And find renewed energy to get my house unpacked and life back in order.

Top of the Year.

The holiday is over. And though I don't have eight families to visit over Christmas, I consumed my holiday excess through work events and lovely time with friends. And really, it's times like that where you shouldn't be restrictive about what you're doing. You shouldn't be over-indulgent either, but no one is going to deny me trying that pie or having a second helping of turkey.

But it's January, the top of the year and a good excuse to start fresh. You'll notice that my MFP weight loss ticker reads 0 lbs lost. I reset all my stats to shed the ideals and attempts of previous years. 2012 is a new year, and there's something about that number that's been speaking to me. Anytime we started talking about postponing the wedding date, I couldn't - there's just something about 2012 that tells me that that all the pieces will be tied together this year.

So what do I have on my plate this year? I've decided to trust in my knowledge of food and quit being so restrictive. I would like to rely less on processed, prepackaged food (within reason) and create more of my meals from scratch. And as a continuation of last years cutting out of any form of fried potato, I vow to cut out all deep fried foods from my diet.

On the exercise front, I vow to keep going to karate and absorbing as much information as I can. I will start my weight-lifting program, and once we move in the spring, I will restart my Couch to 5K running program.

And in the meantime, my partner and I will pack up our apartment, find a place to live, move, unpack our apartment, plan a wedding and get married. All by the end of June...the second half of this year is going to be a breeze!

Karate is kicking me arse.



I am LOVING karate, even though I've been flooded with so much information that it will take me a while to process and retain it. Still, I cannot tell you how awesome it feels to be in class barely scraping the barrel of what is in store for me.

Physically, I don't feel like I'm overexerting myself. Yet each time, beads of sweat form on my forehead letting me know how hard I'm working. In the days following a class my muscles feel like they want to shut down and I know that I'm using them in a way I never have before.

The other areas of fitness aren't going as well. I just don't think I have the physical aptitude (yet) to handle expending all this energy. So Karate it is for now.

I'd like to start my heavy lifting next. But since I'll be actually increasing my calorie intake for the first time in this journey, I want to make sure I do it right. I have to reread the information given along with the offered diet plan and see if I can work those meals into my lifestyle.

Sorry running, you're taking the back burner. Even though I already did week one of C25K, it's just not the season to start it up for a newbie like me. I'm not planning on dropping it altogether, but it's just the hardest piece to work into my schedule. I'll pick it the regiment in the spring (likely after we move) and in the meantime I'll just do a little bit here and there at the gym.

Whoa, wait, what? Where did the week go?

Oh yes. They were lost in a haze of exhaustion, poor eating, and wedding planning. Bloody wedding planning. It's been taking up so much of my energy. But that's a story for another day.

So unsurprisingly, I exhausted myself last week. Even as I was writing the blog detailing all I was taking on, I was worried that I was taking on too much. But let me tell you, I did not think that Karate would kick my butt as much as it did.

The classes themselves didn't seem that hard, but after class was another story; we'd get about three quarters of the way home and my brain would stop functioning. I fell asleep out almost immediately after class on Friday, and after a fantastic yoga class on Sunday, my body just shut down. I made it through work ok on Monday but was left with little energy and motivation to get out and do something at night.

On Tuesday I probably could have gotten back into it. Instead I caved and swung the other way: lazing on the couch and ordering pizza. And I paid the price. I could not fall asleep comfortably. My body was really angry at me for feeding it crap.

The rest of the week wasn't much better. With a few lunch meetings at work, and a festive celebration all day Wednesday, it was easy to give up on good eating habits. And eating crap does not give you the energy to get up and go.

But enough excuses. I fell off the wagon for five days, and I'm back at it tomorrow. I won't overdo it, and I plan on pushing forward at whatever pace I can.

I'd love to try running at lunch time, but winter running is hard without investing a LOT of money into gear. I will continue to run at the gym, but it's a lot more boring and not as easy to work into my schedule.

And I got far enough into the New Rules of Lifting for Women to realize that it's structured more on a curve. It eases you into the heavy lifting, starting you out with workouts that you're used to. This, in addition to three workouts a week vs. five, makes me feel a lot more confident that I will succeed with the program.

So, here we go (again)!

Tweaking the program along the way.

This past week brought me some little successes, but I want to ensure they continue. I'm continuing my research into heavy lifting with a book called The New Rules Of Lifting For Women by Lou Schuler and Cassandra Forsythe.

I ripped through the first half of it in a couple of days. Research, myth-busting, a ton of statistics to prove their points (but not too much, or else it would be way too hard to get through). A diet plan that mirrors the type of food I'm already eating (yay!), just asking for more of it.

More? Well, it makes sense. If you're putting your muscles through the ringer, they are going to need to be able to repair themselves. And they are going to need more than 1200 calories a day to do so. I'm not worried, for so long as I'm packing away nutrient-rich foods, I cannot be doing my body any harm.

I've just reached the part of the book that gets into physical excercises, why you are doing them, why you aren't doing the others, and the seven-stage fitness plan. Yup, seven stages. Now I haven't really gotten into the stages themselves, but I like knowing that this road is a long one. It is going to take some damn hard work to transform this body, and anyone that promises me they're going to get me there in three months isn't going to get my buy-in.

So tonight I plan on delving a bit further into how to get this process started. The three workouts per week seem a bit more acheiveable than the five workouts a week demanded by the BodyBuilding.com heavy lifting program I posted about last week.

Tripping up.

Every week I trip up (a.k.a. indulging) slightly on a day or two, and I usually trip up SERIOUSLY once a week (twice on bad weeks). I should weather this week's trip ups as I've been active nearly every day. But if I actually want to get anywhere, weathering will no longer be enough.

When it comes down to it, I'm doing better about the food I choose when I'm out. I know that once I'm regularly active, I will have more leeway with my food choices. In the meantime, I've got to take more control of what I'm putting in my body if I want to be healthy.

In the old weight watchers world, you get a certain amount of daily points depending on your weight, and an extra 35 points to use up over the week when you need. This is so you don't end up worrying too excessively about restricting every single day and not indulging ever. That said, your best losses happen when you don't dig into those weekly points. Also, more points are gained for being active.

I find that my most successful weeks come when I maintain my daily points, eat more when I'm active, using up my activity points, and don't touch my weekly points.

This week I over ate beyond my daily points by 54. FIFTY FOUR. That's absolutely unacceptable. So how am I going to weather it? In addition to my 35 weekly points, I've also gained an extra 14 points through activity. To compensate, I will go for my planned C25K run and I will have to tack on a 30-Day Shred at the end of the evening.

So I'm documenting my trip-ups in hopes that I don't make the same mistakes week after week.

Trip ups, week of Nov 22-28 

Nov 22: 7.5 points over for the day
Dinner.
Had too hefty a serving of Butternut Squash/Lentils/Walnuts, and covered it in butter to moisten it up (this would have not been so bad if I either halved my serving, or didn't add butter to it)

Post Dinner.
Was feeling down and had one whole wheat waffle with a bunch of chocolate chips on it (this is self-explanatory...bad choice)

Nov 23: 4.5 points over for the day
Dinner.
Was unprepared with food at home and ended up getting Swiss Chalet (chose healthy, but it's still Swiss Chalet)

Nov 25: 6 points over for the day
Lunch.
Went out for pho had the small serving. (I would have been full only eating half of it, but I ate the whole thing. It kept me so full that I didn't need to eat the rest of the day... also not good practice)

Nov 26: 33 points over for the day
Breakfast and post-karate snack.
Ate well to compensate for a good amount of activity (had I stayed the course I would have had a great day)

Lunch.
Had a kids cheeseburger when we stopped for my partner to eat (I could have done without and waited until I got home)

Dinner.
Took a friend out to a buffet (DANGER WILL ROBINSON! I probably didn't even count for all of what I ate, and ended up eating more than what I should in an entire day)

Nov 27: 2.5 points over for the day
Breakfast.
Went out for to a diner and the 'healthy' option was a bagel and cream cheese...ended up going with the eggs benny (didn't end up eating until I had a snack just before bed)

Late snack.
Piece of toast with half an avocado (a quarter probably would have been sufficient)

Just keeping busy.

It's not January yet, but I've set myself some goals. After all, your new year starts when YOU want it to, no? It's all about your mindset.

I'm excited to start a bunch of new activities. It may look like I'm overloading myself, but even if I achieve one of these goals I'll be happy. So I'm going to start and try my best, pushing to become a ‘me’ with more strength, confidence, focus, and endurance.

So what have I lain out on the table?

#1: Couch to 5K, or C25K as it's known in acronym format.

I'm no longer waiting for a Running Room class to start and follow a schedule. I'm going when I'm able to go, running with the music I want to hear, and being instructed by a cool iPhone app to keep me informed of my intervals. I’m starting with jogging. I’ve never been a runner, and I still have to pay good attention to the impact on my knee.

I did my first 'run' (it was mostly walking) tonight, and it felt quite easy. Then again, the program is made for people who literally are just getting off the couch; I've been slowly building my cardio up in the last little while.

Actual goal: Complete the program by the end of January. 

Follow-up goal: Find a 5k run sometime thereafter and sign up for it.  

#2: Heavy Lifting

I am shifting my weight training to more of a heavy lifting program. I received some inspiration this week from a blog post that's been making waves in the online fitness community. While I don't need to deadlift more than twice my weight, I do like the philosophy behind building dense muscle and think that I could make some real progress if I start training this way. 

I've turned to this article at bodydbuilding.com and plan to work into it slowly; making sure my form is perfected before moving into really heavy weight. Once I'm ready, I'll be doing their sample workout.

Actual goal: Spend the next little bit getting comfortable with my form.

Follow-up goal: Start phase one of the program. 

#3 Karate

I went to my second self-defense seminar at my partner's dojo. The first time I went, his Sensei said something that stuck with me: 'Not everyone needs to be a black belt, but everyone should train." This time around, I got enough of an itch that I decided not to wait any longer. I picked up my gi on Wednesday and I have my first class tomorrow.

Actual goal: Attend classes twice a week. 

Follow-up goal: Go for my yellow belt... you know, when I'm told I'm ready to do so ;) 

So yes, I'll be busy for a good while. Still, I don't think it will be too much. After all, look at me…I’m blogging on a Friday night. More importantly, I know that the only way I will achieve the changes I have desired for so long in my life is to put myself first.

Watch out, here I come.