Day 59 - Body Bugg?

I’m curious about the BodyBugg and other calorie burn measurement devices.  Would wearing one of these contraptions really motivate me to workout harder or workout more often?  Would they spur me to walk an extra mile instead of eating ½ cup of ice cream? 

I like the idea of knowing how much I’m burning throughout the day.  Knowledge is power, and power, in this case, is weight loss.  I have long been suspicious of the online calorie burn calculators and the tally kept by the cardio machines at the gym.  Both seem unrealistically high, as if by telling me I’m burning 400 calories instead of the actual 250, I’ll go out and buy a treadmill or elliptical trainer of my very own. 

Unfortunately after a little online research and a solid comparison article by a fitness device guru, I am unconvinced that the Body Bugg or its competitors will do little more than swallow up my time and my money.  Right now I am putting in an average 8 hours a week of exercise with one rest day.  I can honestly say that is as much as I can do.  I have no time (or energy) to move any more than that.  Granted about one third of that time is spent walking at a moderate pace, but the rest is pretty hardcore exertion.  Well except for swimming, which is also moderate.  Even still, I’m spending at least 3 hours a week sweating like a pig, and I have the heart rate to prove it.  Wearing a Body Bugg isn’t going to make me workout more because I just don’t have the time.

Body Bugg

Day 58 - Food, Food, Food

I have to say that exercise has gotten exponentially easier.  I wake up expecting to put in an hour or more of cardio.  I rarely have to push myself to get going.  Last month was much more challenging in that regard. 

But for whatever reason, I am struggling with food control.  My portions are pretty good for the most part, and I'm not snacking like a crazy fool.  My trouble is sweets and simple carbs.  I have eaten dessert for the last 6 days.  Friday I ate three brownies.  What is up with that?

Maybe I need to go cold turkey.  Just cut it all out.  Paleo.  Allow myself two cheat days, one full and one just dessert.  Do this for a month.  I know paleo works.  If I eat paleo, I can lose weight even without exercise, not that I would do that now, but that is a testiment to it's effectiveness. 

On second thought, cold turkey will probably doom me to failure.  Too extreme.  I will aim instead for two paleo meals per day this week and no more than three desserts.  Week two will be two desserts.  Week three 5 full days of paleo, two modified, and two desserts.  Week four will be 6 full days, one cheat, and one dessert. 

I feel like I'm not getting the most out of my exericise endeavors because I am not eating as well as I should for optimal weight loss.  But at the same time, I know from past experience that if my expectations for eating are too high, too "perfect," I will fail.  And failure equals weight gain.  It's difficult to know where to find the moderation line.  It could be that for me 75% paleo is more realistic than 100%.  Success is measured in perseverance not only pounds lost.  Who was more successful in the long run?  The tortoise or the hare?

Day 51 - Keep On Keepin' On

Still on track.  So far this month, I've exercised for 24.5 hours.  Since the first of the year, 58.5 hours.  Not too shabby.

Sugar and carb cravings seem to be diminishing, which is great.  I rarely find myself overeating or snacking when I'm not hungry.  Physically I'm tired from all the exercise, but I'm motivated to keep going and like feeling strong.  My muscles are definitely firming up.

Clothes continue to fit better/looser.  Things that didn't fit now do, and that is always a good feeling.

Sciatica and lower back are still bothering me, particularly the sciatica.  It improves mid-week when I'm not swimming.  I think maybe the frog kick (breast stroke) is making it worse.  Guess I should crawl stroke only for a week or two.  See how it goes.

Day 44 - Sciatica

My sciatica is not getting better.  I take that back.  It felt better last week, but now it's worse than ever.  I'm guessing all this working out is stressing my piriformis muscle, but I don't want to stop.  I didn't walk today because walking does seem to stress it.  Unfortunately for Bella, I won't walk again tomorrow.  I'm hoping that by taking 4 or 5 days off from walking, things will get better.

The elliptical, stationary bike, and swimming don't seem to affect my sciatica too much, at least not during the workout.  So I'll concentrate on those activities this week.  Pilates is good too.

I was tired today.  Don't know when I've been this tired.  I took some Exedrin PM last night, and I think it took all day to work it's way out of my system.  I was exhausted all day.  Productive but exhausted.

Ate a lot of carbs this weekend.  Whole wheat mini pitas, hash browned potatoes, mashed potatoes, ice cream, cookies, corn tortillas.  I usually fight the urge to eat simple carbs, but this weekend I didn't care.  Although I feel now that I got it out of my system and am planning to get back on track tomorrow.

Read an article today about how to mix things up so you don't become bored with your workout.  One suggestion was to walk backwards on the elliptical. Set to level 8 and do 4 paces forward then 4 paces back, rinse and repeat for 2 minutes.  Do this 3 or 4 times in a 30min workout along with intervals.  I'm going to try this tomorrow.

I am also going to try a 30min stability ball workout.  http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_2264_stability-ball-workout.html

Day 42 - I Love Plyometrics

I had a great workout at the gym today.  Alternated upper body and lower body workouts with free weights and plyometrics.  Spent a little time on the bike and elliptical, but only about 6 minutes total and at a hard level/fast pace.

Have been surfing the web for basic plyometric exercises and workout routines.  I think I'll try this one next.  But damn those burpees are tough for me. 

Day 41 - Recovery Time

I've been discouraged this week.  Worked really hard for four days and throughout the weekend, but come Tuesday, felt discouraged.  I feel fat.  I know that I have lost weight, and my clothes do fit better, but I still feel really fat.  I am anxious for the day when my fat pants are two sizes too big.

Last night I played basketball with my brother's kids, something I've been doing pretty much every week since the start of the year.  Running back and forth between hoops always leaves me gasping for air...until last night.  Last night I didn't gasp.  I didn't wheeze.  My  heart pumped and sweat poured off my forehead, but my lungs felt surprisingly calm.  I do believe my recovery time has improved.  Significantly.

Tomorrow will be 6 weeks.  They say it takes 6 weeks to notice a change.  I'm right on time.

I think the intervals and circuit training are paying off.  Walking and swimming too, but they're more of a moderate thing.  Apparently when it comes to cardiovascular health, slow and easy does not win the race...unless you're training for a marathon.

Day 38 - Waisting Away

Two weeks ago I tried on a belt I haven't worn in a while and blogged about it.  The belt was tight.  Soooo tight.  Mortified, I vowed not to try it on again until March 1. 

So much for resolutions.  After an intense three days of exercise (and a sore bum from yesterday's jump squats), I decided to try the belt on again.  I slipped on my favorite jeans which were so tight at the start of the year that they created a siginificant muffin top but now fit perfectly.  These jeans need a belt.  They sit below the waist, and without a belt, tend to slide down my hips. 

The belt fit!  A year and a half ago, I wore the belt on the second hole, sometimes the 3rd, if I had been cutting back on carbs.  Today I had to wear it on the first hole, but who cares.  I am only an inch away from the second hole.  Considering that I've lost more than an inch from my waist in the last 2 weeks, I'm happy with slot number one.

Day 37 - Tuckered Out

Today my body was tired.  Determined to stick to my goal of 6 hours of exercise over the past 3 days (including today), I put on my sneakers and headed out the door as if every muscle in my body wasn't crying out for me to stop.  I took an hour long walk in the middle of the day with Bella, and I had to push myself to keep going every step of the way.

My plan was to spend 30-45 minutes in the gym doing some aggressive circuit training followed by a 30 minute swim, but after my dog walk, I fell asleep on the couch.  Then later, when cleaning up my room, I fell asleep on my bed.  When I came to, it was nearly 5pm, and the gym closes at 6pm.  So I rushed out and made it there with 55 minutes to close.  I gave circuit training everything I had for 25 minutes and then swam easy to moderate laps for another 25 minutes.  In the end, I was proud of myself for persevering, even if it took two short naps to get me into gear.

I work plyometrics into my circuit training, alternating between upper and lower body.  Today's 25 minute routine was something like this:  2 minute treadmill warm up followed by a 1 minute jog, 1set of chest presses, 2 minutes hard cycling on stationary bike, 1 set bicep curls with free weights, 1 minute stability ball jumps, 1 set chest pulls, 30 seconds jump squats, 1 minute ball catches, 2 min stationary bike, 1 minute ball throws, overhead presses, jump squats, leg presses, stability ball, hamstring presses, treadmill, tricep curls, lunges.  Didn't seem like I did so many different things, but now that I see it in writing, no wonder I was so wiped out after only 25 minutes.

This was my first time doing jump squats.  I saw them online and decided to give them a try.  The you tube athletes make them look so easy, but oh my.  I tired quickly.  I was hoping to do them for a minute, but could only get through 30 seconds.  My legs felt like lead.

Had a smoothie for dinner. No sugar added.  One small banana, frozen strawberries, unsweetened almond milk, amino protein powder, and ice.  Calorie count was about 250.  Not bad.

Day 35 - January in Review

I exercised for 34 hours in January.  I'm happy with that number.  I took a total of 5 rest days, all of them while traveling for business.  It's tough fitting exercise into my schedule when away from home.

Although there were many days during the month that I ate healthy, low calorie meals, I did splurge quite a few times on ice cream, chips and salsa, coconut cake, bread, and mexican food.  I think for February I need to focus on eating paleo more often than not.  With some planning, I should be able to eat paleo 80% of the time without too much trouble.  I also want to focus on allowing myself one indulgent day a week.  Studies show that overeating or eating something different once a week helps wake up your metabolism.  Too much of the same thing, and it gets in a rut.  If I limit my free meals to only one day a week, I think I'll see better results.

Despite my imperfect dieting, I have lost weight.  My fat jeans stretch out when I wear them at the office and by noon are much too big to look good.  So that's progress.