Back in the Saddle

Ok, enough of this only writing once a week nonsense. It's time to get back on track in lots of areas, including the keeping of the weblog. I have a client who calls it "acting out" when she gets off track in life. So last week was a week of acting out for me and my acting out included some poor food choices. Well, acting out doesn't work well for me -- it leads to less writing and less interaction and more sadness and more lethargy. Well, yuck to all that. So it's a new week and I'm ready to go!

The weekend had a lot of newness and fun stuff in it. Saturday was the 10 mile hike on the Western States trail. I almost bailed on the hike, because I got scared that I wouldn't know anyone, but then my girlfriend Stacy decided to come which made it tons more fun.














We met Suzy the ultra runner who led the hike. She was a delight (and the back of her car is a crack-up -- it's a cross between a mobile hospital and a running store, which I guess you need when you regularly run 20+ miles through the wilderness!) and the three of us stayed together for most of the hike. Stacy convinced us to run for about a mile along the trail (not that we needed much convincing, but at 3900 feet altitude, you sound like a pervert when you run!). And when Stacy and Suzy both licked a banana slug, I took the opportunity to give my slug a kiss.


You would think a 10 mile hike would be enough exercise, but when I got home, Tim wanted to do a workout. So while he did like a million of every exercise, I decided to do 50 reps of these:

low rows (using a black band = hard)
stiff-leg deadlifts (using 24 pound body bar)
bodyweight squats
jump squats
pushups
dips
kettlebell swings
thrusters

On Sunday I was a little sore, but overall felt good.

So Sunday's new activity was a limousine scavenger hunt. It was an event to benefit a foster family agency, and there were like 20 teams that rode in limos to various locations. We tasted ice cream (blindfolded) at an ice cream parlour. We watched movie clips and had to identify them at a home theater store. We ran an obstacle course for time at a local park. And while in the limo we had to figure out puzzles to provide clues for each location. We had a great time, and the event raised money for a very worthy cause.

Why it's so hard to write

I finally figured out why it's so hard to write! It's that I have a child who no longer does gymnastics, so we have LOTS more time together (which is great), and that's usually time I would use to, among other things, write in my weblog.

Ok, so in these few stolen moments, here are some things that are going on in my world:

1. I got to try a Power Plate today, and boy oh boy is it neat! I tried it doing squats, and lunges, and pushups, and crunches and stretching. After coming off it, my body felt amazing -- alive and aware are the best words I can think of to describe it. And after hearing Mr. Bodybugg talk about how it increases bone density, enhances production of HGH, and reduces cellulite, well I'm sold. Now if I can just find an extra $3000 laying around. :)

2. The Smith machine is a great way to train for handstand pushups! I just figured out today that you can set the bar to about face height, then get on your hands, and put your feet over the bar, and you can offset some of your weight. I'm getting more and more comfortable with doing actual handstand pushups, but my range of motion is still limited. But with doing them on the Smith machine, I can go much deeper.

3. The bodybugg has gone to live with its new owner for the next 3 months. I kind of weaned myself off it by not wearing it last week, but now I'm a little panicked about not having it. So I dusted off my FitDay program and am committed to logging food there, shooting for about 2000 calories per day.

4. So maybe it's all in my head, but I think the Power Plate does a fabulous job on abs. Today I went to my gym and did some weight work (bulgarian split squats, squats off a bench, push press, all with 15 pound dumbbells), the handstand pushups, and Cardio Coach on the ARC trainer. After dinner, Tim wanted to go running, so reluctantly I went on a 4 mile run. And I swear I could feel my abs the entire time. And I was very very happy when the run was over.

5. I have two fitness field trips scheduled for the next two weekends! This weekend I'm doing a 10 mile hike led by Suzi Leon, a world-class ultra runner, that goes along parts of the Western States trail. And the next weekend, I'm traveling to Palo Alto to meet Tracy and get some kettlebell training! For someone who usually stays pretty close to home on weekends, watching the kids play, this is big stuff!

How I train

I'd love to use the video camera to record one of my training sessions so you could see what I actually do. But this YouTube video really does a good job of capturing the spirit and method of my training. Enjoy!

Mother's Day

We are members at a really nice golf club, but I don't golf, so I don't go out there much. But this Sunday I am SO hanging at the club, cuz we're going for their Mother's Day brunch. Let me share the menu with you (the !!s and the ??s are from me, not part of the actual menu):

Mother's Day at Catta Verdera

Omelet Station!!
Eggs Benedict
Assorted Quiche
Applewood Smoked Bacon
Sausage & Grilled Ham
Country Potatoes
Stuffed French Toast!!
Prime Rib & Baron of Beef Carving Station
Smoked Salmon Display (?)
Shrimp Display (??)
Caesar Salad
Mixed Green Salad with Assorted Dressings!!
Waldorf Salad
Bagel & Flavored Cream Cheeses
Imported Cheese & Fruit Display!!
Fresh Baked Muffins & Scones!!
Croissants
Mini-Chocolate Cakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Breakfast Bread
Mini-Cheese Cakes

Harp & Flute music

All I can say is hooray for golf!

Comments on comments

It's such the icing on the cupcake when friends write comments. Thank you everyone who took the time to read, and here are the special thank yous to those who too the even longer time to write!

Matt and Katie -- thank you for your suggestions on how I could post my training form to the weblog. Losing the formatting wasn't going to work (since the whole beauty of the training form IS the formatting), and I got too busy to post it to googlepages.com, but will keep that in mind. Thank you, my techno-friends!

Pamela -- thank you for the encouragement on the GDE and on weight loss.

OldLobo -- your perspective on calorie deficits and interval training is very appreciated, as I know it comes from someone with experience with both!

Eileen and Colette -- thank you for your sunshiney attitudes and spirit-lifting words!

Matt -- the salad comments (there are 4 macronutrients: protein, carbs, fats, and salads) cracked me up!

Katie -- Yes, my competition suit would have fit LOTS BETTER if I was tan, in the same way my car drives much nicer when it's clean!

Irene -- I'm so happy there are others like me who won't talk on their cell phone in a store. Niceness rules! (And way to go on your long runs!)

Ok, just ran out of time here, so more later. Oh, but Colette was asking if I'm leaving blogland. Survey says NO WAY! I love being part of this community, and have no intention of leaving! Hooray for weblogs!

We have found our people!

I have very mixed feelings about saying what I'm about to say. I DO want you to read what I write. And I DO want my clients to like training with me. But the truth is, we should all move to the East Bay, join Ice Chamber, and only read what's written on Fitness Fixation. I will miss you all (sob, gasp, resolute deep breath in.)

Honestly, I can't tell you how I found the site or the gym. But what a fun place! And what fun writing! Here's the introduction to yesterday's Fitness Fixation post:

"I have a new favorite formula. It’s horrible-upset-lonely-despair + workout = nirvana. (Not the band. Kurt never exercised a day in his life, I bet. And don’t even get me started on Courtney’s yoga…) I’ve tried many other equations. Like horrible-upset-lonely-despair + eat a whole cake = burned-out-bloated-self-loathing. Or horrible-upset-lonely-despair + uncontrollable sobbing = nap. Sometimes horrible-upset-lonely-despair + yell-at-loved-ones = further-alienation. I’ve even done all in the space of a half hour. So far I believe the first one is the wisest, though not always the one I grab in a pinch."

Isn't that TRUE?!?! I spent the better part of the 6:00 am hour reading past weblog entries, and learning a lot in the process.

And Ice Chamber -- we really have found our people. The ones who keep fitness fun and do all sorts of different cool stuff. I smell a field trip coming on! Really -- let me know if you want to head to Albany (that's CA, not NY, just outside of Berkeley) for a fitness jaunt!

Writing envy

I think of myself as a pretty good writer. I have a good vocabulary, I can usually tell when something isn't spelled right, and I'm able to self-edit to a degree that means when I write it comes out pretty good. But there are some EXCELLENT writers around, and recently I've been reading one and having writing envy.

Her name is Krista and she has a website called Stumptuous.com. (It's a combination of the words "stumpy" and "voluptuous" -- you gotta love her already, right?) She writes about women and weight training, and she's funny and knowledgeable and very very good. Here's an example of how she writes. It's the first two paragraphs of an article titled "Lies in the gym."

"You don't have to go far in the average gym to find someone willing to give you bad information. People are full of ideas and advice about women and weights. The other day I heard the most ludicrous thing yet: that cardio work was bad for you because it built muscle that pushed the fat out farther. Yep, I guess that's why marathon runners are all so obese—duh. Some of the worst offenders are fitness magazines and personal trainers. This is somewhat distressing, considering that people look to such sources for help and information. The other day, reading a fitness magazine, I learned that yoga will firm my breasts (it won't, unless they meant to write "plastic surgeon" instead of "yoga"), and that over 90% of all long term exercisers exercise in the morning (oops, I guess all the evening regulars at the gym are just fooling themselves).

Anyway I've compiled a list of some of the most common myths floating around like the alligator in the sewer stories. The difference is, of course, that there really ARE alligators in the sewer. And snakes that pop out of your toilet, heh heh."

If you go to Krista's website, be sure to have quite a bit of time on your hands, because she's a wealth of information on all things fitness.

Still here!

I don't know when the last time was that I took a week off from writing. (Guess I could check, but that would take away from writing, now wouldn't it?) Life's been really busy. Remember when I said I wasn't taking any new clients? Well, that changed, because some people who expressed an interest in training a long time ago, well, they are now coming back, which is a great thing. But that means I really have to have my systems in place. So any computer time this week has been spent working on what I think of as "infrastructure" -- all the stuff that helps you to stay organized and on track as you run a business.

My intention is to set aside some time and answer comments -- I save every single one -- but now is not that time. So let's talk fitness, ok?

At last week's weigh in, I was exactly the same weight as the week before, which just sucked and led to a 24 hour sugar festival. I KNOW in my mind that you can't lose weight every single week. I also know that weight fluctuates. But I was feeling rather adolescent -- I WANT TO BE LIGHTER AND IT'S NOT FAIR THAT I'M NOT BECAUSE I'M WORKING REALLY HARD, SO SCREW IT -- that was the overriding thought. Oh, and I'd gone to TWO movies and eaten a protein bar each time, while my companion(s) ate yummy stuff, and that my friends, should result in negative calories, don't you think?

Anyway, it's a new week and I'm back on track. In fact, I'm getting some feedback that I don't need to lose any more weight. Whaaaat???? I've needed to lose 5 (10? 15? 20?) pounds for my entire adult life practically. Plus I'm not at my dream weight yet -- you know, that magical number where life will be perfect .... ok, so I know that's not how it works, but I still really like my number. But I can see the vein that runs along the top of the bicep all the time now (even when I'm not lifting) and that kind of freaks me out. And I did take measurements. Here they are:

5'5.5" tall
135 pounds
36" bust
27" waist
36" hips
21" thighs

So maybe the reality is that I'm at a good weight for me? For some reason, I'm incredibly uncomfortable with that thought. Like it seriously makes me uneasy. In fact, I don't want to talk about that anymore, ok?

(This is the great thing about typing a monologue -- abrupt subject changes are just fine!)

On the workout front, I'm trying to get acclimated to the heat. So yesterday I did a 5 mile run/walk at 11:00 when it was in the mid-80s or so. I could tell I wasn't feeling all that energetic, but it only takes a few of those planned heat runs to get used to the warmer temperatures. I may be able to fit in another run later today or tomorrow -- we'll see.

Time to do Junior High pickup, so must run. Hugs to all friends -- stay healthy and know that you are appreciated!

Fighting the good fight

There are 3 very specific things that are helping me in battle of the bulge. Here they are:

1. Apples. Now that I have the healthy temptations out of the house (TLCs and protein bars), apples are a great snack. I've read several articles where the authors think apples do more to help with satiety (feeling full) than most foods do.

2. MET-Rx protein powder with glutamine. I got some at Trader Joe's and I really like it. The only thing is that their serving size is 210 calories and 46 grams of protein, which is a little much for me, so I just use 2 servings.

3. Sugar free gum and diet sodas. Maybe not the most healthful things around, but right now it's 11:10 and I'm tired, and without a diet soda and some gum, I'm positive I'd be munching.

G'night all!

Pet Peeves

I had another nail salon incident on Monday, but I was tough as nails (get it? Tough? As nails???) and did not take the ick that was dished out.

In my previous weblog I talked about the man at the nail salon who asked me how many grandchildren I have. Yes, you heard me right. I know that in some cultures women get married early (I didn't) and have children early (I didn't), but the question seemed insulting. When I told him I had none, and he asked "Why you not have grandchildren?" I replied, "I'd BETTER not have grandchildren, because my kids are 12 and 10!" We didn't talk the rest of the appointment.

So I've been going to the same nail salon, and I stopped in Monday before picking Tucker up from school to have my nails filled. The place was busy, but after about 10 minutes they had someone to work on me, so he started working. About 5 minutes into it, a woman walked in with her daughter in tow. She was talking on her cell phone and didn't acknowledge the people at the nail place. When she finally finished her conversation, she said to the man working on me, "I have an appointment with you now." He seemed flustered, and went off to talk with some coworkers. When he came back, he told me, "You sit over there. Someone be with you in 10 minutes." I told him, "No, I have to pick my son up, and I can't wait," and I left. I was feeling small and invisible and sorry for myself, when I realized that there are HUNDREDS of nail salons. Literally! And I don't have to go to one where I feel bad. So I came home and took the nails off myself, which was fine, even though they're kinda ugly at the moment. But the process of deciding that I didn't have to go there? Tremendously liberating!

So let's talk pet peeves. From Monday's incident, here are a few:

1. People who come into a place of business talking on their cell phone. WAIT OUTSIDE till you're done talking. It's rude to come into a place where people greet you and ask what you want when you know darned good and well you'll give them no attention whatsoever.

2. People who treat people differently based on what they're wearing. I was wearing track pants and a t-shirt. Rude mom was wearing a business suit. I guess in this case, business suit wins. But that's WRONG!

3. (As long as I'm on a roll now...) People who have extended conversations on their cell phones while spending time with their kids. Ok, so I have no idea who she was talking to or what they were talking about. But I'm not in the mood to be charitable to the woman who took my place and whose nails got done. Be with your kids if you're with them!

4. (This feels really good, and I'm sure I'm going to offend someone soon, if I haven't already, but what the heck...) Women who leave their butt paper on the toilet in a public restroom. I'm not at all sure that the tissue paper seat cover does anything to block germs from jumping onto your butt. But if you use one, for goodness sakes make sure you flush it, ok? It is NOT asking too much to not have to deal with someone's used butt paper!

5. (Ooooh, what's another good one???) People who don't look behind them to see if someone's going through the door. I'm trying to teach my kids this one, that it takes so little effort just to glance and see if you need to hold the door a nano-second longer to be polite. I would never in a million years say anything if someone didn't hold the door, but I really do think it's the right thing to do.

Maybe I'm done. Am I done? I think I am, although the minute I post this, I'll have lots of new ones, I'm sure!

Doing what it takes

It is not news to me that keeping tempting, high-sugar, high-fat foods around the house is dangerous when I'm trying to lose weight. But one thing I've realized just recently is that there are some healthy trigger foods that I'm best to just steer clear of.

Food number one is TLC's. That stands for Tasty Little Crackers (it's a brand, not just my nickname for them). The stats are good for crackers. They're organic and healthy. But if I have an open box around, it's just too easy to eat crackers instead of an apple or some carrots or something else fresh and healthy. So now I keep potato chips around, or non-flavored tortilla chips, which for me are no temptation at all.

Food number two is Think Thin protein bars. Again, stats are good. But I eat them like ... well, like candy. So having one is good, but honestly, two is way better. And that's far too many calories devoted to a manufactured food. So I've given Tim a nice supply of bars, and they are hidden from me.

Yesterday and today I managed to change my macro ratios and get more fats. So without going into boring detail, yesterday I hit a good calorie deficit while eating 2000 calories with a 53/28/19 (C/P/F) ratio. Today's numbers are dependent on if I'm having some Fiber One and low-fat vanilla soymilk before bed. WithOUT the cereal, it's 1821 calories with 46/26/28. With cereal, it's 2021 calories and 51/24/25. Decisions, decisions...

My real marathon running friend Jenny asked if it makes me crazy having to think about food all the time. At first logging the food was tedious. And sometimes you just make educated guesses about your intake, unless you only want to eat manufactured foods from packages with labels. But with time I'm learning to really love the whole process. Maybe that's because I'm losing weight that's been so resistant to budging. (Ok, so maybe I was resistant to changing my diet, but still, resistance was there!) And let's face it, when you're feeling like everything fits with ease, that's a great feeling. I even tried on my WTF suit from 2 years ago. It's the tiniest most scandalous thing you've ever seen. And even without a tan, it fit. Bottom line: when you're getting the results you want, the process becomes your friend.

On a final note, I LOVE what I do! The process of getting to know the delightful women I train (and that one special little girl, who incidentally is doing great and getting stronger!) is ... I don't even have the words to express what a privilege it is to work with them. With the sincerest of hearts, I can say I feel like I'm doing what I was MADE to do, and I'm beyond grateful for the opportunity to do it!

Still don't know about the cereal, though... :)

Happy Tuesday!

I have a new favorite song! Actually, I have a song that makes me feel about 15-years-old. It's called "All Black" by Good Charlotte and there's nothing I don't like about it. The lyrics are smart and clever. The vocals are great. The guitar is rich and lovely. The minor key resonates with the edgy part of me. And the bass line is to die for. Austin shared it with me yesterday, and I've listened to it, conservatively, like 20 times. And every time I get in my car, I'm excited because I get to hear my song! The song I loved before this was "Right Where you Want Me" by Jesse McCartney. Before that it was "In the Stone" by Earth, Wind & Fire. I know the infatuation won't last, but it sure is fun!

There's an interesting Q&A on Evelyne's blog from April 30. If you get a chance, go there and read her good question and lots of great input in the comments section. I did Cardio Coach this morning and pulled out an article I'd printed and not read yet from T Nation. It's by Alwyn Cosgrove, and it's titled "The Hierarchy of Fat Loss." (Perfect, huh?) It's a fantastic article that you can (and should) read yourself by clicking here. Here's what really stuck with me:

1. The two most important things for fat loss are proper nutrition and proper nutrition. Honestly, without fixing your diet (creating a calorie deficit, getting enough protein and fat) you can't really get the job done.

2. Metabolic resistance training is where it's at! That means full body weight training where your heart rate goes up and you're working hard. (Note from me -- this is how I train myself and my clients -- hooray!)

3. "Interval training is like putting your savings into a high return investment account. Low intensity aerobics is like hiding it under your mattress. Both will work, but the return you get is radically different."

Happy Monday!

Well, it didn't start out happy, but it's much better now. Although I was up at 5:15 and at the gym shortly after that (Cardio Coach and I did the ARC trainer today) and that usually starts things out well, the homemade (by me) chocolate chip cookies of last night messed with my mood. But I'm feeling better now, so a happy Monday it is.

GDE update: It's going well. Last night we had leftovers (spaghetti), mixed veggies, and ugly eggs (scrambled eggs w/fresh salsa and cheese mixed in -- a hit with the whole family). Tonight is a chicken stir-fry. The chicken's marinating in soy sauce, garlic, serrano chiles, and fresh ginger, and will be stir fried with broccoli, carrots, snow peas, and served with rice. And for tomorrow? Well, I'm not exactly that good at planning ahead -- YET!

About the cookies: Ok, so I kind of guilted myself (found out about a mom who makes cookies TWICE A WEEK!) into making homemade chocolate chip cookies on Thursday night. That's not a good thing to do when you're tired and hungry. But I did it, and didn't eat a single bit of the cookies, baked or unbaked. Then for having friends over Saturday night I decided to make more cookies -- this time some had Heath bar pieces in them, some had mini-Reeses, and some were plain old Toll-House cookies, which are my version of heaven on earth!

I've decided (this really does have to do with cookies!) that I'm not logging my food on weekends, but will still wear the bodybugg. And I'll eat healthy, but not try for huge calorie deficits, and will have a few indulgences. So Saturday night I ate maybe 3 cookies. And yesterday when out shopping, I had two pieces of chocolate. And last night when our family went out for frozen yogurt, I had a small yogurt with carob chips (my favorite).

But then it got to be late, and then I was irritated by something, and then I realized that we still had cookies. Maybe I had 5 or 6. I wouldn't care at all, except that I woke up STARVING, and in an awful hopeless mood. So yeah, maybe I need to remember this the next time I make cookies, which will be in 2008 based on this weekend's results!

Results: I hesitate to say anything (in case you really CAN jinx weight loss!) but in my month of wearing the bodybugg I've lost 5 pounds. That's with a week of NOT wearing the bugg while we were in Mexico, and for a few days after that. And these are 5 critical pounds that are making a world of difference in how I look and how my clothes fit. So a month ago I would weigh somewhere between 138 - 141 in the morning (I'm calling it 140). And Friday morning the scale said 135, a number I haven't seen since Women's Tri Fitness 2 years ago.

Science experiment: I'm shooting for 1700-1800 healthy calories today, with macros of about 40/30/30. Having the bodybugg and logging food makes me feel like my body is a science experiment that I can control. The last couple of weeks my fat has been below 20% and I'm noticing that the skin on my arms looks kind of dried out, which is not the look I'm going for. So I'm increasing fats, and I think I'm seeing a difference. What's fun is that I know how to make the changes I want to make. Am I sold on the bodybugg? You bet! Does everyone need one? Of course not! What it puts to rest for one and for all time is this: if you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. It also puts to rest my of getting onto Survivor, just so that I could drop a quick 10 pounds! Yeah, like I'd be happy with the whole sleeping on the ground, being eaten by insects, no food thing -- I think not!

The Great Dinner Experiment

I've adapted the name from Shelly's Great Breakfast Experiment, and as with anything new, whatever you need to do to make it happen is all good, right? And for me, having a real name for the projects, rather than thinking of it as "cook more dinners" makes it more fun. So the GDE is all about figuring out the answer to this question:

Can a too-busy family with a dinner-discouraged mom actually sit down to a home-cooked meal on a regular basis?

So far, the answer seems to be that with a little more planning and a little less denial, YES they can!

Tim and I had a discussion about this subject on Friday night. I've known that it would be nice for the family to have dinner together more. And I've heard all the parenting experts talk about how important it is to eat together. Over the years, though, I've let some circumstances get in the way of making dinners a priority. The roadblocks?

• Two kids who practice gymnastics 4 (Tucker) and 5 (Austin) nights a week and are not home at dinnertime.
  

• A mom who transports those kids (30 minutes round trip) once or twice a day.

• A husband who comes home sometime between 4:00 and 7:30, depending on what's happening at work.

• A husband who sometimes likes to workout before eating, and sometimes likes to workout after eating.

• A wife who feels like cooking is a lot of work and it just creates a big mess for her to clean up, and who honestly is just fine with a nice bowl of cereal whose name is dinner!

Put those all together, and dinners together become a thing of the past, unless they're eaten out.

There are some circumstances that work in my favor:

• I am a good cook.

• I enjoy the process of cooking once I actually get into it.

• I have lots of good cookbooks with lots of good recipes.

So after our air-clearing discussion, we decided that dinners at our house happen at 6:30, regardless of who's there to eat them. (Tuesday night was an exception, but we still had dinner!) And I agreed to stop pretending that if I just ignore dinnertime, it won't actually come. And I decided that I'm just going to cook whatever is yummy, rather than trying to find the healthiest recipe around, and will work on portion control to make it work for me.

Well, so far, so good. Sunday night was a Mexican cornbread casserole. Monday was twice baked potatoes with broccoli & cheese. Tuesday was baked ziti (from the Nordstrom Family & Friends cookbook -- SO yummy!). Last night was our worst dinner of the week, but it was because Austin had to be at gymnastics at 5:00, Tucker had church at 6:30, and we had Bible study at 6:30. I picked up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and we had that and salad and good bread. But I did make guacamole for the kids as a snack, and also made them smoothies.

A few random things that are helping with dinners for me:

• Cloth napkins. I have some in really great colors (what a surprise!) and they make dinner feel nicer to me.

• Music. We have a playlist on iTunes on the kitchen computer titled "Family Dinner." It makes the time feel so nice. We all contributed to the songs in the list (and Austin published the list on iTunes as "Family dinner!").

• Setting the table early. Just having that done makes it feel like dinner's going to happen, and that's good.

Eating and Moving

Yesterday I decided to go for a smaller calorie deficit. Lobo is right -- a 2000 calorie difference between calories in and calories out is really tough, and I'm concerned that I'm setting myself up for a complete and total binge. So I ended yesterday with a 1200 calorie deficit, which is way more doable, although I have to say that even though I ate almost 2000 calories total, I was hungry virtually every second of the day. Here's what was on the menu:

Breakfast:
Protein & water
Fish oil capsule/Viactiv

Snack:
Smoothie at home of 1/2 banana, 1 cup blackberries, protein, water
1 ounce raw almonds

Lunch:
Yummy burrito
Fresh salsa
Apple

Snack:
Protein & water
Baby carrots
1 ounce raisins

Dinner:
3 oz chicken breast
Mixed greens salad (a LOT) with Newman's Own Light Balsamic Dressing

Snack:
Fiber One cereal & Vanilla Soy Milk
1 slice 7-Grain bread w/1 Tablespoon sunflower seed butter (YUM!) and 1 Tablespoon honey (double YUM!)

Macros:
Protein 28%
Carbs: 54%
Fat: 18%

On the workout side of things, I went to the gym in the morning. Did 100 pound leg press, doubles, singles, and played with tempo. Then did handstands and forward rolls. And then Cardio Coach on the ARC trainer. And last night while Tim and I watched Criminal Minds, I played around with crunches and plank variations for abs.

That's my accountability for yesterday. As much as writing all this down makes me feel bad for anyone who reads my blog (just look away if you're bored, ok?!) and doesn't want this level of detail, I will say that I did not impulsively buy a candy bar the other day because 1) I didn't want to enter it on the Apex website, and 2) I didn't want to have to include it in my stats.

One final thing -- I can tell I'm losing weight and getting into new territory that I haven't been in since the WTF competition in 2005! Waist, hips, and thighs are tighter, arm definition is more apparent, and I can see my abs more than ever. So even when I'm feeling a little deprived (like when rest of family had cinnamon rolls the other night and I had Fiber One and soy milk), I'm convinced that what I'm doing is working. Next weigh-in is Saturday...

Ridiculously happy things

It goes without saying that my husband and my kids are the best thing in my life, and they make me happy. And I really do believe that the most important things are NOT things. But you know how everyone has little things that make them a ridiculously happy? Well, here are a few of mine...

• Freshly sharpened pencils. Because I press so hard when I write, pencils get dull really quickly. So I love freshly sharpened ones (even though I always break off the very tip with the first word I write).

• My new pens. These are called Profile by Papermate, and they have nice fat tips (works well with the insane amount of pressure I put on writing instruments of all kinds!) and the ink colors are the colors of the pens. Aren't they cute?
  

• My trailer hitch cover. I drive a small SUV and it has a trailer hitch, and for the longest time I've wanted to get a hitch cover. But I don't want one that says the make of the car, or a boat propeller (because if you don't own a boat, it doesn't work, you know?). It was a happy day when I found this flower hitch cover. It goes great with my "Whatever you are, be a good one!" license plate frame!
  

• Marcia Brady on Celebrity Fit Club. I wanted to be Marcia in the worst way when I was growing up. I had long straight hair (as did nearly every other in the early 70s), and that's where the resemblance ended, but it didn't stop me from thinking she was the grooviest around. So I loved when I saw she would be on Celebrity Fit Club. But the little bit of it I watched with her in it had me a little nauseated, cuz she just a little too "Pollyana" for me. But I'll keep watching!

• Work Out. Again with the TV here, I LOVE to watch Work Out. The people are fascinating and the trainer/client interactions give me plenty of food for thought, as well as more ideas for future workouts.

• My front porch. Here's the picture:

Now let me tell you what I love about it. Let's start with the flowers. I have never had flowers like these because I've never known what to plant, and I'm way too cheap to buy more than a few 6-packs at $2.49, because annuals don't last. Well, we had someone come in and plant these and I can't tell you the pleasure I get from them.

Next up is the blue front door and the blue bench. I smile every time I see them. Again, ridiculous happiness.

Also, I love our house numbers. They're quirky and fun. And the windchimes make the most beautiful sound.

Finally, what you can't see in the big picture is Walter (Tucker named him), the front porch flying pig. Here's Walter in all his glory:

P.S.

I finished my training form and I'm so happy with it! If anyone knows how to post a word document in Blogger, let me know and I'll put it on the weblog. Otherwise, give me your email address and I'll send you a copy!

Checking in

Tracy's question regarding not logging fish oil or Viactiv ("What's the resistance about?") was a good one. And after doing some thinking (the resistance has to do with wanting to live in a fantasy world of food, where calories you don't want to eat, but eat for health, don't count, and where you get credited negative calories for all tempting foods you resist), I decided to enter both.

So I ended yesterday with a 2012 calorie deficit, taking in 1416, and burning 3428. Not surprisingly, I woke up in the middle of the night absolutely starving. Protein powder and water to the rescue, and I was back to sleep.

I really don't know if I want to write daily. Up till now, my weblog strategy has been this: I write if I have something to say and I have the time to say it. Which accounts for why some days I write 3 times, and then it's 3 days till my next update (which averages once a day, really!). But for today, yeah I'm writing.

Here's today's food log thusfar:

Breakfast:
2 servings protein powder (one in the middle of the night!)
fish oil capsule
Viactiv

Snack:
1 cup broccoli
1 cup carrots

Lunch:
my yummy burrito
fresh salsa

Snack:
PowerBar Protein Plus
2 oz wheatgrass juice
1 oz raisins

For dinner it's Baked Ziti. We're eating late (9:00 pm) tonight because Tim's golfing, and Austin has gymnastics till 8:30. The dinner strategy will be all about portion control, cuz I can tell that even though this is a new recipe, it's gonna be yummy!

Today's exercise was fun -- it was an hour-long hill walk with Colette! Great company, great weather, and a killer walk -- lots to love about that.

Accountability

So I'm back to logging what I eat in the bodybugg program. Turns out that just tracking activity, while keeping me on track for the exercise part of things, doesn't do much in terms of keeping calories in check.

But speaking of staying active and eating clean and stuff, what's up with how strange the scale is? The other day, I weighed 136.5 in the late afternoon. The next morning I was 138.5. (Maybe I'm weighing too often???) I think I'm going to weigh once a week, on Friday mornings.

Back to accountability (my mind is really scattered right now, I have some itchy insect bites that are not helping matters, AND my son is playing his favorite music [alternative rock] right next to me) I'm CONSIDERING committing to writing every day, and including what I ate, and my activity level. (Ok, got some Benadryl itch stuff, which should help.) What I will NEVER include in my food logs, though, are my one fish oil capsule per day (20 calories) and my one Viactiv calcium (also 20 calories). So any calorie counts are 40 calories low, and I DON'T CARE!

Calories burned: 3149 (will probably be 3300 by day's end)
Calories consumed: 1263 (this is way lower than normal -- I'm usually right around 2000 per day)

What I ate:
Breakfast: Protein & water
Snack: 2 oz wheatgrass
Protein & water
1 orange
Lunch: My yummy burrito (from Costco -- perfect in every way!)
fresh salsa
1 cup blackberries
Snack: 1 tablespoon Better n Peanut Butter
Dinner: 1/2 of a twice-baked potato (made w/broccoli, cheddar cheese, & milk)
fresh carrots
fresh tomatoes
Snack: 1 cup Fiber One cereal
1 cup Vanilla Soy Milk

As per the bodybugg website, my macro ratios (are you asleep yet?) are as follows:

Protein: 25%
Carbs: 58%
Fats: 17%

Hmmmm ... I don't know if I want to enter what I eat on the Apex website (although that's really easy to do) and THEN type it here. But if it helps to keep me on track.

Oh, other than the fish oil and the Viactiv, there's one more thing I ate today that I'm not posting. I found 4 Sweet Tarts in my car (they were still in the wrapper) and I ate them all. And Apex doesn't seem to have Sweet Tarts listed in their foods. What a rebel I am -- they were delicious!

The pictures I promised!

The camera made it home from Tim's trip safe and sound, and here are some pictures from our trip. I must confess that we're way better at taking pictures of our kids or whole family pictures than we are at taking shots of the two of us. And I still long for a "younger/thinner" button -- but maybe everyone's super critical of what they look like in pictures, right?

This one was taken in Playa del Carmen. It was 90 degrees with what felt like 90% humidity. Thank goodness for Secret Clinical!!














Here's my handsome husband playing pool boy, with Pepsi Light and snacks. Does it get any better than this?














Another shot of Tim, who was an all-league water polo goalie in high school. He really saved the day for his team in Mexico too!














This picture was taken today, many hours after a workout, on a day when it seemed right to just stay in workout clothes to garden, do laundry, and putter around the house. And yep, that's the bodybugg on my right arm. I'm hoping today's calories burned is higher than yesterday's sitting on my butt number!

Observations and opinions

• Working at my desk on my husband's expenses, the never-ending papers from kids classrooms, and various piles of stuff does NOT burn many calories at all, as confirmed by my bodybugg yesterday.

• I love the idea of organic, vegetarian, chemical-free everything. But I also love Diet Mountain Dew, lots of caffeine, and artificial citrus scents, a la AirWick Sparkling Citrus plug-ins.
  

• Staying at home and getting a little bored, but not falling into the "my life is boring and I'm depressed" mindset is an awesome way to get lots and lots of the little stuff done.

• Sometimes (like right now) living in boyland is tough. Sometimes (like most of the time) it's delightful. What am I going to do about it? In a few minutes, Tim and I are heading to Costco, like everyone else in Placer County does on a Sunday afternoon.

• I'm really really happy the school lockdowns are over now that the man making the threats was apprehended. Turns out that the worst of it was Thursday, when coincidentally, I was at the elementary school from 11:00 till 2:20. I feel relieved to have been with one of my kids that day, even though I didn't know what was going on at the time.

• Lots of my on-line friends are using Tony of DreamBodies for on-line training, and are getting wonderful results. He has most of them drink an apple cider vinegar and lemon juice shot several times a day. I think (just my opinion) that the benefit of the acv/lj concoction is that it reminds you that you are on a program and helps you to stay on track. I'd be surprised if it actually has fat-burning properties. But (true confession) I occasionally mix myself the acv/lj concoction, just in case it really does do something magical!

• Next time I write, pictures!

The quickest update ever

1. Not accepting new clients because I need to get my "infrastructure" in place. Currently working on a training form (I'm having so much perfectionistic fun lining up the columns and centering the headings and deciding how it's going to look). Next project is tri-fold brochure. My business name is "Lift Personal Fitness Training" and the tag-line underneath the name is "A FRESH approach to fitness." FRESH is an acronym, but I can't decide on all the words. Here are the current candidates:

F = fun (no other candidates here, it HAS to be fun!)
R = rejuvinating? realistic?
E = energy-producing? encouraging?
S = supportive?
H = honest? holistic? HELP!!!

If you have any ideas, I'd LOVE to hear them!!!

Brochure will also include cancellation policy, rates, workout overview, and who knows what else.

2. (Ok, so maybe I lied about this being the quickest update every, as it's already getting long...) Here's last night's workout:

Run 1 mile (warmup)
5 rounds of:
20 ball crunches
20 pushups
10 pull-up negatives
10 lat pull downs
20 step ups (to a 16" step, using 15 pound weights)
20 kettlebell swings (20 lb kettlebell)

What I like about workouts like these is that I can do what I like (ball crunches, kb swings, step ups) in bigger sets, e.g. 60 kb swings cuz they're fun, and do what I don't like as much (pushups!) at the end. Or however I want to work it.

3. I have a problem that I need to work on, which is going to get its own post out of respect and seriousness. The problem is FAMILY DINNERS and I need to figure out a new way to do them (as opposed to pretending dinnertime doesn't exist!).

4. Bodybugg update -- I'm wearing it again, but trying something different. I want to see how it works if I don't enter my food, but just let the Apex program estimate how much I'm consuming, based on my activity, and my weight changes week-to-week.

Kristin asked for more info about the bodybugg. It's not bulky to wear (it's like wearing an iPod mini on your upper arm), and I actually like the feeling of it, because knowing I have it on reminds me to keep moving and to make good food choices. It doesn't buzz or make noise unless you set it to have reminders, in which case it does sound a chime or something -- not loud, not annoying. You can't get it wet, so you can't use it to track swimming calories, and you have to take it off when you shower. Overall, I'm impressed with it. I could see wearing it all the time while trying to lose weight, then wearing it one week out of every month just to stay on track.

5. School lockdowns -- Colette and I live within 10 minutes of each other, and I'm sad about what's happening here. We've opted to not tell our kids about the threats, because there is nothing they can do about it, and I don't want to make school frightening for them. With all that goes on in the world, the only things that make sense to me are to pray continually, love your family, and (yes, we're back to my favorite quote) "Whatever you are, be a good one!" Or as Ghandi said (another favorite quote) "Be the change that you want to see in the world."

Too much!

Don't ever take too many days off from writing in your blog, cuz then you have WAY TOO MANY THINGS swirling around in your head, and it gets overwhelming to even consider writing.

But I'm here. And I'm writing. I'm listening to "Father Figure" by George Michael -- guess I needed a late 80s fix. I also had 1/2 of a movie-sized box of Dots candy for dinner. I don't even really LIKE Dots, but there they were at the Circuit City cash register (electronics stores should NOT sell candy!) and I was hungry.... Guess I'll use the sugar to fuel tomorrow's workout.

Ok so yeah, MATT, I did go somewhere, and that somewhere is Mexico! We stayed at Adventure Spa Palace in Playa del Carmen. The resort was huge and everything was included, from the bottled water and Pepsi Light (hooray!) to the upside-down bottles of tequila, rum, and whiskey in your room (wasted on us, as we are non drinkers!). It was a work trip, so Tim had some meetings to attend, and one day rather than working out, I laid in a hammock for about 3 hours and read a book -- sheer heaven! (The book, "Eat, Pray, Love" is wonderful, and I finished it on the trip. Lots to think about and re-read from the author's year-long trip to Italy, India, and Indonesia.)

We only took a few pictures, but Tim took the camera to Palm Springs where he's golfing this week, so I can't post them yet. But I have to tell you about a nice compliment I received. We went to the fitness center. Tim was on the treadmill, and I was in the group exercise room. I'd found a jump rope, and I was doing circuits of jumping rope, jumps onto the stage (at about 20" tall, this was the hardest thing), pushups, and dips. One of the instructors approached me, and said in heavily accented English, "You like the fitness, right?" I said, "Yes, I do like fitness." He said, "I hope you do not mind if I say this, but you have a beautiful body." Note to any 20-something guy who wants to say anything nice to a 40-something : bring it on, baby! Then he repeated the compliment, and left, and I attacked my workout with a vengeance.

It was easy to eat well on the trip, if eating well includes chocolate with every dinner (and to my way of thinking, it does!). Fresh fruit and eggs for breakfast. Salad and salmon for lunch. But traveling 12 hours one day, to stay 2 days, then repeating the travel route the next day was a little too much for me. So on the return trip, I ate anything I wanted to, in a deliberate conscious effort to numb my feelings. And it worked.

But now I'm back on the wagon, so to speak (minus the Dots of tonight's dinner). And I'm putting on the bodybugg again tomorrow, hoping to get into the low 130s by summer.

In non-fitness stuff, I'm attacking a couple of organizing projects that have things strewn around everywhere. Actually, it's just one project that I'm tackling, and it's called "my books." I LOVE books. My husband thinks I have an Amazon addiction, but I think addiction is a very negative word. I just like presents. And when UPS comes to the door with a present, well it's really a happy thing.

Ok, so seriously, I do have lots of books. Virtually all of them are non-fiction. I read at least 1/2 of each of them, and because they're non-fiction, I re-read them. But I've never taken the time to categorize them and make them available in a non-secretive sort of way. So that's what I'm working on, and doing it while Tim's gone is perfect, because I've got them scattered all around our bedroom in piles (fitness, parenting, organization, cookbooks, vegetarian/raw eating, and spirit are the names of the biggest piles). Tim's a little (LOT) more organized than I am, so having piles of books around the perimeter of the bedroom probably wouldn't make him a happy guy, so this is a good project to tackle while he's gone.

When I write next I'll explain why I'm not accepting any new clients at this time (no, I'm not training like 100 people or anything -- and it's really a good thing too!), and start to put down my thoughts on how I'm going to train for the Nike half-marathon (I'm SO excited!!!).

I'm back!

Just a quick note to say I'm back. Will write in the next day or so.

Hasta la Vista!

I'm off to Mexico in the (very early -- 4:30 am!) morning, heading to Playa del Carmen with my main man! So today is feeling crazy as I prepare to be gone for (are you ready?) FOUR WHOLE DAYS AWAY FROM MY KIDS! Gosh, with the internal turmoil I feel, you'd think we were leaving for four months. Breathe in. Breathe out. Sip Diet Mountain Dew. Repeat. :)

Yesterday's workout was FUN! It was the kids last day of spring break, so again I took them to the skate park. But this time I brought 4 of my weight bags (10 pounds each) and my backpack. And I did every variation of lunges, squats, deadlifts, pushups, and dips that you can think of. I've been taking Glutamine before each and every workout for the past week and a half, and today I'm not very sore, which is shocking because the workout was HARD! So maybe Glutamine helps with recovery??? Two things are noteworthy from yesterday: 1) I did 2 LONG sets of squats using all 4 weight bags. 2) I did 10 pushups (hands on a bench, so elevated, but still) with 20 pounds of weight in my backpack. That made me feel STRONG!

On the bodybugg front, I don't know if it's the accountability, or the twice a day workouts most days, or what, but I've dropped three pounds and all my clothes are loose, which is a great way to feel when you're heading out of town. Am I taking the bugg on vacation? Heck no!

Anything else? Guess not. Be good and enjoy spring!

I'm IN!

Just found out tonight that I got chosen for the Nike Women's Half Marathon!!! My excitement is only slightly diminished by the bodyslug saying I only burn 4.9 calories per minute when dancing wildly through the house and jumping on the couches. It feels like TONS more!

October 21st, I'm running 13.1 miles in San Francisco, and I am SO wearing the Tiffany finishers necklace with pride!

Good things

1. After a completely discouraging Wednesday where my kids couldn't find a single thing they liked about each other, which made me want to turn in my mom badge and run away, yesterday was a good day.

2. I've found an amazing deodorant. Much as I wish I was one of those s who "glows" when she exercises, that's just not me. When I saw the ads for Secret Clinical Strength I decided to give it a try, and it works!

3. My 11-year-old client is doing great. In fact, her mom told me that her friends and family are noticing that she's losing weight. I am SO proud of her! And I've found a great way to train her -- we work out together. No, this isn't a way for me to sneak in some more activity, I promise! But the "you do pushups, then I do pushups" strategy really seems to work. Lots of laughter, lots of fun.

4. The class at Whole Foods was really good. (Greg -- I can't believe you almost went to that class and live there. That's where I grew up, and my parents are still over by Rio!) The instructor was vegan and eats almost 100% raw, but was NOT a freak about it, which was so very nice! She talked about enzymes in our food and why it's important to eat as much raw food as you can. Based on her recommendation, I tried soaking my raw almonds (to remove the bitter brown coating that denatures their natural enzymes) and plan to keep doing that. And I'm becoming more aware of eating fruits and veggies. If only I didn't have a nagging suspicion that Diet Mountain Dew is probably not full of enzymes and recommended in a whole-foods diet!

5. Bodybugg is still going well. After a week of averaging an 800 calorie deficit per day (eating around 2000, burning 2800 - 3000), my waist is more defined, thighs are leaner, and I'm feeling a little tighter all over. But my weight had not changed a bit. So I decided (after reading several blogs where people are doing this) to try a fiberous carb day yesterday. It was hard, but doable. Calories were right around 1300 and carbs were under 100 g. I didn't die of hunger. And the scale was 3 pounds lighter this morning. Which proves that so much of our weight is based on the water we hold. It was nice to see a dramatic scale change, but since I just had 1/3 of a cup of oatmeal, and plan to drink lots of water (as always) today, I'm sure the low weight won't last. Maybe I should have taken a picture...

6. Speaking of pictures, I WILL take pictures in Mexico and post them.

7. Matt, your comment just cracked me up! I plan to tell each and every client that my workouts come with the "Brit-man seal of approval!"

8. I got to talk to Eileen! We email back and forth when blog posts and commenting aren't enough, and last night we got to talk. I called during the worst possible time for a mom -- late afternoon when the kids are usually hungry and tired -- so shame on me, because I knew it might not be ideal. But we got a few minutes on the phone, and it was just so nice to hear her voice -- hooray!

More Bugg

To finish the story of Saturday, after spending about an hour together, Rex asked if I was interested in kayaking. I told him I like it (we've done it in Hawaii), but the setup time -- loading boats, getting to the river, etc. -- is hard for me to justify. He said he'd asked because he's putting together a summer program called Tru Adventures, and wants a woman trainer to join the group. He said I'd be paid for my time and asked if I was interested. I told him to keep me posted.

It felt great is that he would even mention the possibility of us working together. And it made me feel like a REAL FITNESS TRAINER!!!

Speaking of being a real trainer, I have two new clients starting in the next two weeks, and one of them has trained at two different places before, both of them with good reputations, both in the area. So I'm nervous, because I really want her to like what I do, but at the same time, I know WHY I do things the way I do them and I just keep thinking, "If I build it, they will come!" or something along those lines.

In other training news, I bought a digital bodyfat caliper system, so I'll be able to track progress. And I'm working on a goal setting form to help clients get where they want to be.

(Sorry if this sounds distracted -- I just broke up a neat fight between my kids and am listening for any low rumblings in the background. When I started typing, there were 6 kids playing together outside, and I thought I was going to have a few minutes to get thoughts down.)

In Bodybugg news, I am finding that I'm very aware of how much I move, and how much I eat, because of wearing the bugg. I think I'm averaging about a 650 calorie per day deficit, which equals a little more than a pound a week. One thing that's hard is logging foods you don't know. At the class last night, we sampled everything, and I couldn't really say how much of one thing or another I had. So I just estimated the best I could. I am getting a pretty clear idea of what it feels like to eat less than you're burning, and with Mexico just a week away, that's a good thing.

Well, gotta run. My stomach's rumbling, and there's a burrito with my name on it calling me...

We interrupt this regularly scheduled life...

...so the kids can be on Easter vacation.

Still using the bodybugg and still loving it. The awareness it creates is probably the best thing. It's like you can no longer go "I don't eat hardly anything, and I exercise all the time, but I can't seem to lose weight." Nope. It doesn't work that way.

Tonight I'm going to a cooking class called "Raw, Healthy, Fit and Fabulous!" at the Whole Foods Market in Sacramento. I'll be sure to share any epiphanies regarding food. And if I ever find more than 5 uninterrupted minutes in my day, I'll continue with the story of Mr. BodyBugg and how I kinda got offered a weekend job this summer!

Lovin' the Bugg

So wearing a BodyBugg feels a little like being in a giant pinball game. While microwaving water for tea today, I did some "skin the cats" on the rings (our microwave is in the garage since our kitchen remodel -- no I do NOT have rings in the kitchen!) because I knew it would increase my calories burned total. And I'm tempted to do just random stuff like jump up and down (which I did while I waited for my flat iron to heat up) just to maximize my number.

I've been wearing the bb since lunchtime Thursday. Thursday night as I wrote, Tim and I did the Crossfit workout. Friday morning I did CardioCoach on the ARC trainer. Then Friday night Tim wanted to go to the gym, so I went with him and did some handstands (fun, and didn't seem to hurt today!), then walk/ran the hill by the gym for 30 minutes. And THEN (yes, it's been an active few days, to be sure) this morning I took a Les Mills BodyPump class at Tru Fitness, the gym where Mr. bb (aka Rex) works. Although it's not the main subject here, I was VERY impressed with the BodyPump class, and if you live in Placer County and want to join a seriously upscale NIIIIICE gym, Tru Fitness is great!

After the class (which Rex took as well), I had my second bb appointment, the one where I actually get to see how many calories I burn. I was nervous, mainly because I was afraid I'd get all weird about seeing my actual expenditures (e.g. "If CrossFit doesn't burn a million calories, then I'm not doin it!"). Turns out I'm a very active . The bugg says I burned 3248 calories on Friday. That's a ton of calories, and it may explain my little departure into the brownie batter last night. I'd eaten well all day, but I felt HUNGRY -- I had breakfast, I had protein and water, I had almonds, I had fruit (all this before lunchtime) and I COULDN'T BE SATISFIED! But the choices stayed clean, albeit with huge quantities, until last night. We were watching "The Pursuit of Happyness" and I could not get my mind off the brownie mix in the pantry. After resisting for an hour, I made the batter, complete with oil and eggs, then filled a ramekin, grabbed a spoon, and dug in. So the long and the short of it is that I'm sure I made up for any potential calorie deficit with my brownie-fest. But the good thing is that I actually understand why I was so hungry, and maybe next time I can plan for it better. Didn't someone smart and famous say that knowledge is power?

(Gosh I wish I had some pictures to break up all these words!)

Then we were on to the bodyfat testing. Apex (makers of bb) use a Skyndex caliper, and before he tested me, Rex and I had a discussion on how inaccurate bodyfat testing is. He said virtually any measurement is "plus or minus 5%". My question was, "So why do it at all? What good does knowing your number do?" He had a good answer. He said that knowing your percentage doesn't mean anything, unless you're using it as a reference point to see where you're going (like comparing measurements). He also said that it lets you evaluate absolute bodyfat, so if your tricep measurement was a 5 and now it's a 4, you're dropping bodyfat. Ok, I'll buy that.

For the actual test, there were settings based on your age for women. Rex said he would use not a #9 for me (which correlates to my actual age) but a #7, which would be used for younger women. I have no idea why he did this, but it made me feel happy, so I was good with it. After telling me that the Skyndex tends to measure athletic people like me (!) 4 - 6% higher than our true bodyfat, he told me I am at 20% bodyfat. I can say that his skin pinches didn't hurt, whereas Darla's left a couple of small bruises, which may account for the higher reading. You know what, though? I'm happy with my number. It gives me a point of reference, and now I can see where my nutrition and exercise take me.

I've run out of computer time, so the rest will have to wait till tomorrow. If you actually took the time to read this way-too-long diatribe, thank you. But if you're up to HERE with BodyBugg info, be warned that there will probably be a few more posts about it in the near future, cuz I'm really digging my new toy!

Hi and answers

Matt, as always, your words encourage -- thank you!
Colette, I miss you! Do you want to borrow a book anytime soon?
Eileen, I value your friendship so much.
Katie, thanks for being you!
Stacy, hanging knees to elbows is where you hang from a pull-up bar and try to bring your knees up to your elbows, using your abs.
Laurie, Pamela, and Evelyne -- keep up the great work. I love following your progress!
Tracy, there was as little rest as possible in the CrossFit workout -- just enough to barely catch my breath. Mine sets were all broken, so like the burpees were done in five sets of 10, the wall ball was in 2 sets of 25, and so on. I don't do workouts that intense very much -- maybe once a week? Oh, and it took me about 35 minutes to complete it.

Hell

Instead of doing 5 CardioCoach workouts or something easy like that, Tim (who is back from Pebble Beach -- hooray!) convinced me to do today's CrossFit workout. I don't know what CF calls it, but my nickname for it is "hell!" Here it is:

50 burpees
50 wall ball shots (using 16 pound med ball)
50 push press (I used 18 pound Body Bar)
50 walking lunges
50 double unders (yeah, right -- I did 200 regular jump rope jumps)
50 box jumps (20" box)
50 kettlebell swings (I used 20 pound kettlebell)
50 hanging knees to elbows
50 back extensions
50 jumping pullups (my arms were so fried that I didn't even attempt these -- felt it would be unsafe)

I think the BodyBugg will show a million calories burned for sure!

Oh, and I started my day with the Cathe DrillMax DVD. I mostly liked it. I'm not that into step though, so the few step intervals were kinda "meh" for me, but I really liked the intensity of the workout, how she changed the tempo of the exercises (like doing plie squats where you go up-down-up-hold, then down-up-down-hold) and the variety. But maybe I'm just stuck in the 80s, cuz I'm truly a FIRM Believer at heart!

Bugg-ed!

Got it! Met with Mr. BodyBugg today and I'm now wearing a BodyBugg on my right arm. Wearing it makes me want to go and do CardioCoach, like five times, or run hills or something!

hi

I have a few free minutes and thought I'd just start typing and see what comes out. So what's going on here? Well, I trained a client this morning, then did CardioCoach CL at the gym, then trained a second client, and now it's almost time to pick the kids up.

Last night I was folding laundry and I was cold. So rather than put on a sweatshirt, I grabbed a kettlebell and did swings until I got warm.

I'm waiting on a Cathe Friedrich DVD -- Drill Max -- that I'm looking forward to trying.

I haven't done handstands in a couple of weeks because my shoulders and elbows have been aching. So I'm following my rule ("Don't be stupid. Do SOMETHING!") and trying to give my joints some recovery time. I miss being upside down, though.

Still don't have a BodyBugg because Mr. BodyBugg hasn't called me back. I need to try him again and make this happen.

Hugs to everyone who's taken the time and energy to write comments.

Tired legs, happy heart

Today's workout was an hour-long run, broken into two parts. The first part was 30 minutes listening to an interview with Jim MacLaren about his first accident, his second accident, and how he continue to choose living. The interview was part of the CardioCoach CL workout. I don't have the words to describe the respect and admiration I have for Jim, or the impact listening to the interview had on my entire being.

The second part was the first 30 minutes of the CardioCoach CL workout. Quite a butt-kicker. One of the challenges is this, repeated 5 times:

1 minute hill
30 seconds rest
1 minute sprint
30 seconds rest

I know it sounds strange to do "hills" while running on the street, but it does work. The music's tempo slows down and you just try to push harder with each step.

The intensity of CardioCoach, combined with mostly clean eating, is causing some visible results, according to Tim. I should check the scale at some point, but I can feel my clothes fitting with ease and I can tell that my trouble spots (we all have them!) are less troublesome. I think it's the intensity of the workouts. They're HIIT, but they go on for anywhere from 30 minutes to almost an hour. And what's interesting about sprinting is that it works your arms and your abs, which is not surprising when you consider the mechanics of sprinting, but is not what I expected. Happy surprise, right?

Weekend update

In no particular order, here's what's on my mind this weekend:

1. Both kids have decided to continue with gymnastics. How do I feel about that? Mixed. I stayed and watched almost 2 hours of practice last night, and my heart just swells with pride for how hard they work and what they can do. But truly, gymnastics at these levels changes a family. Any sport where you practice 15 - 20 hours a week year round would change a family. So I was looking forward to an easier schedule and more family time. But if this is what my kids love to do, and they can balance homework and practice and still be happy kids, then I'll support it all the way.

One win-win from their decision? They're both attending gymnastics camp at Stanford for a week this summer. It's a great opportunity for both of them and their coach is supportive of it. And me and Tim? Guess we'll be enjoying AN ENTIRE WEEK of just the two of us here!

2. I really need to post more pictures to break up my text-heavy blog entries. If only I could find the "younger/thinner" button my my camera for shots of me!

3. I went shopping for the first time since meeting with Stephanie, the image lady, and it was so much easier! Before I was a drive-by shopper -- in desperation I'd just grab anything that looked like it might kinda work, buy it, try it on and home, then return most of what I'd gotten. (Yeah, I'm sure salesclerks loved me!) What I really wanted was a uniform, cuz I hated to shop and hated to figure out what I was going to wear. That's changed now. What I learned from Stephanie was to really LOOK at what you are considering -- the color, the fabric, the cut, the details -- not to just go "ok, so it's a white shirt and I need a white shirt so GOOD!" I came home with two dresses, two pairs of capris, three tops, and two pairs of shoes. And I had a 20% off card for for Macy's, so that was even better. And the best part? I am confident that there will be NO RETURNS and NO REGRETS because it's all going to work!

4. My hamstrings definitely felt the love from Thursday's workout. On today's agenda is running with Sean (CardioCoach). Temps will be in the mid to high 70s here -- perfect!

5. Tim's golfing Pebble Beach and staying at the Lodge Monday and Tuesday. I'm sending positive swing thoughts your way, Tim!

Keeping my mouth shut

Today's workout was a quick lower body circuit. I did 100 reps of:

Stiff-leg deadlift w/40 pound bar
Front squats w/12 pound bar (thighs breaking parallel)
Box jumps to a 16" box, straightening legs at the top

I did sets of 20, 20, 20, 25, and 15.

Finished with some decline abs and pushups on the Bosu. That's when I saw the woman on the inner-thigh machine. She looked like she had at least 30 pounds to lose. And I desperately wanted to go over to her and say, "Let me show you how to do squats!" I realize I only saw her for a few minutes. And the rest of her workout could have been lunges and squats and all sorts of valuable exercises. I also know that I have prejudice against the inner thigh machine, because I think it's such a waste of time.

It was hard, but I said nothing. But I'm still thinking about her.

Planning client workouts

I honestly love what I do, and one of the most intriguing parts is planning workouts. To me it feels like a giant Sudoku puzzle. Here's the thought process (using me as an example client):

Ok, so she's wanting to lean out for a vacation in a few weeks. So we need plyometrics to really get her heart rate up and burn calories. And she wants to tighten lower body and abs. But she said her left knee has been sore and twingey, so can't do huge knee flexion. We need to talk about emphasizing high fiber carbs, as in VEGETABLES, as the trip gets closer. And I want to check how her water intake is going. So what did we do Monday...?

Those are the things that swirl around in my mind as I'm considering what to incorporate in a workout. And then, of course, I want to do new exercises for interest, but enough "old" things so there's a sense of mastery and "I know how to do this one!"

So what do I use as resources? Anything and EVERYTHING! I watch what other trainers do at the gym. I watch exercise DVD previews and do exercise DVDs. I read books and magazines and articles. And I try to find the very best of the best.

One resource that I'm so excited about I could squeal is the show "Work Out" on Bravo. Season 2 started last night and it's taking every bit of my willpower to NOT be watching it right now. I don't always agree with what they do, or even like the training styles, but it's an insider look at the training industry and it's FASCINATING!

So far, so good

Both Monday and today I was at the gym before 6:00 am. I have a great deal of respect for the people who do the early morning workout thing, cuz it's not easy, but I sure liked cruising in the door this morning at 6:50, with a hard workout DONE! Last night I used my Val Slide (a paper plate on carpet, or towel on slidey flooring would work too) to do some squats and lunges, so the sprints of CardioCoach this morning were tough and had my legs feeling like lead. All I can say to that is GOOD!

Eating has been very clean and it feels great. The big question becomes this: why do I reach a tipping point where all of a sudden the temporary pleasure of simple sugars "win" over the longer term satisfaction of balanced eating? (That's a rhetorical question, cuz I know the answer: because I'm human!) But honestly, because simple sugars and refined carbs do such a number on my emotions, I've thought that a way to handle it would be to plan my diet as though I am allergic to candy bars/jellybeans/whatever the treat of the moment happens to be. Or pretend in my mind that I have diabetes, and eat accordingly. But the thing is that I know I'm not REALLY allergic or diabetic.

On another topic, Tucker wants to quit gymnastics because his coach has told him how hard he would have to work to get to the next level, and Tucker doesn't want to work that hard. And I wouldn't have a problem with it, but Tucker seems sad, and I don't know if it's because he thinks we're disappointed or if he's sad for what he's leaving behind or what. I wish kids came with instruction manuals.

Starting Over

So I'm starting over again. What went wrong? I let my emotions over a situation with the kids get the best of me and chose to cope by eating everything! Guess what? Eating everything doesn't help anything. Guess I had to find that out once again, right?

The weekend was spent at the gymnastics state championship meet. Yes, both of my sons qualified, which, yes, makes me a crazy proud mom. Tucker (younger son) competed on Saturday and took 13th place overall, out of the top 28 kids in Northern California. He took 2nd in vault, 5th in pommel, and 9th in floor. The high point of the meet was seeing him NAIL his floor routine, after a warmup where he was flat on his back or on his butt after every single tumbling run.

Austin competed on Sunday. With 2 months off of gym, a wrist that still is not 100%, and an ankle-twisting tumbling pass right before the competition started, he still managed to do all six events, and on pommel, he's almost back to his old self -- an amazing mixture of power and grace. We did get video, and when we get it on the computer, I'll be sure to share it!

Fitness-wise, it's tough to workout when you're sitting on your rear for hours and hours in a gym, but last night I did Cardio Coach #3 running outside, and this morning I did Cardio Coach #5 at the gym. Why 2 within such a short period of time? Well, I'm re-reading a book I love titled "The Power of Full Engagement." The basic premise is that we all need positive rituals that provide renewal and structure to our days. And my "I just work as hard as I can for as long as I can" approach has no rhyme or reason to it. So I'm going to try doing 3 early morning days at the gym per week as a way to start the day with intention.

Well, I have 3 clients workouts to plan, and it's only 30 minutes till I get to eat lunch -- hooray!

Quivering goo

Yep, I'm sitting here, a quivering mess of goo. Why? Well SST, of course! When Tim suggested we go while the kids were at gymnastics, I reluctantly agreed. But I was scared. Why? Cuz it's always really really hard!

Tonight's workout was as follows:
50 pushups, 50 air squats, 50 situps, 100 jump rope jumps
40 pushups, 40 air squats, 40 situps, 100 jump rope jumps
30 pushups, 30 squats, 30 situps, 100 jumps
20 pushups, 20 squats, 20 situps, 100 jumps
10 pushups, 10 squats, 10 situps, 100 jumps

I should mention that the workout comes after the 30 minute warmup, which has you sweating profusely and already feeling exerted.

Tim's time was 19:30 and mine was 20:50. I did the first 40 pushups "man style" but dropped to my knees for every single pushup after that. And I'm REALLY ok with it, cuz there's no way I could have done 150 boy pushups! But maybe someday? ... hmmmmm...

Countdown to Mexico

In 33 days, Tim and I will be flying to Mexico, just the two of us! I want to feel confident in a bikini, and feel like it's ok to indulge a bit. So it's time to create an actual plan, as opposed to the "I try to workout nearly every day and do whatever crosses my mind" non-plan that I've been following. Here are the elements I've come up with so far:

1. No eating after 9:00 pm. My usual m.o. is to eat cereal with rice milk within about 30 minutes of bedtime. As per Bob Greene's new best life book, it will not kill me to go to bed a little hungry. In fact, he's a proponent of a 7:30 cutoff time, but that's just a little too drastic for me to get my mind around.
2. 5 days a week of Cardio Coach. I did CC number 5 on the ARC trainer last night (HARD!), and did number 1 just running on the street today. Both were excellent workouts. There's a part in #5 where he's talking about a lion and a gazelle, both of whom are fighting for survival, and at the end of a challenge, he inquires, "Chase or be chased?" My immediate answer was "I run my own race!" It felt empowering.
3. 3 days a week of strength training. This will include pushups, pullups, kettlebell swings, thrusters, step ups, and anything else that will help to build muscle.
4. Weekly progress checks. I will weigh myself once a week, and based on results, may adjust program as needed.
5. 5 vegetables a day. I'm getting a lot better about eating fresh stuff, but upping the non-starchy carbs has NEVER moved one in the wrong direction in terms of weight, at least not that I'm aware of.
   
6. (This is the most exciting one!) I'm getting a Bodybugg! There's a trainer at a super nice club in Roseville who is the Bodybugg guy. I've already talked to him once about using the Bodybugg for my clients so they can get an accurate picture of how many calories they're burning. So I'm calling him tomorrow, and hoping to have one by the end of the week. He claims I won't want to give mine up, and that he wears his all the time. We'll just have to see about that, but I am confident that it will help to know what I'm burning. (Stacy, you'll get your turn right after Mexico!)
   

Snowboarding support

We headed to Northstar today, along with approximately 9000 other people (that's capacity, and I heard they did close the park!). I did NOT want to go. Why?

• I didn't even bring my board, because a whole bunch of little aches and pains would only be exacerbated by snowboarding.
• My confidence on the board is shot after taking a whole season off.
• I had a million better things to do than sit in the lodge and do nothing while my family was having fun.
• I didn't want to be the support crew!!!
  

Somehow I managed to get past my ty mood and decided to make a contribution and try to make the best of the trip (a la The Secret -- what you focus on really can happen). And the day turned into an awesome day in so many ways.

• I parked the car a mile and a half from the resort and had a beautiful walk back, listening to Windham Hill music and loving the snow, the trees, and the sunshine.
• Sitting in the lodge I took the time to read two wonderful books about how to eat -- books that I've owned for quite some time, but never taken the time to really investigate.
• I got to be a part of all the fun Tim and the kids had, by hearing about their accomplishments and just by being there.
• I shared my table with a man who was interested in what I do for a living.

So, let's talk about that last one for a minute. This man -- maybe in his 60s -- was standing against the wall, reading a huge boring work-like document. I offered him a seat, and he gratefully accepted. After a few minutes, he asked me if I was studying for something, and I told him I was a newly certified personal trainer and so yeah, I guess you could say I was studying. He asked me a few questions, then we went back to our reading. Then a few minutes later, more questions -- what does it take to be certified? what kind of clients do you have? What ensued was a really nice conversation about fitness and health and kids and grandkids (he was there with his wife, daughter, and grandson), and so on.

The reason I bring this up is that when I was "just a housewife", people didn't know how to talk to me. I attended parties on more than one occasion, and felt invisible and mute. Much of this may have been my own doing -- I'm somewhat shy in groups of people I don't know. But the point is that something very cool happened today, and it would not have happened if it wasn't for my new profession. And that, friends, felt great!

My final "good thing" of the day was my slow jog (1-1/2 miles at 7000 feet altitude is HARD) back to the car, which I drove right to the snowbooted feet of my family at the bottom of Home Run. On and at In N Out for dinner, I ate exactly 1/2 of my cheeseburger, and 7 french fries -- victory!

Handstand envy

I am really happy with my handstand progress. When I first tried doing one in December, I couldn't even muster up the courage to kick up by a wall. I was not sure if my historically unstable shoulder would even support my bodyweight. So I've come a long way since then. But I've found two videos that are giving me total handstand envy. If you want to check them out, click here, then scroll down till you find the entry titled "press handstand videos." I can just TASTE how much I want that to be ME pressing up to handstand.

Comments, field trips, and websites

It is so encouraging when anyone reads what I write, but to have someone take the time to comment -- that's like the icing on the yummy cake that is Blogger! So big thank you's to everyone who took the time to write words of encouragement or advice -- it is much appreciated!

Greg directed me to a wonderful video on the Crossfit website about handstand/forward rolls. Thanks so much Greg! Over the weekend I got some one-on-one coaching from the owner of my kids' gym. As was shown in the video, he recommended doing candlesticks to train the body to go from handstand into forward roll, instead of from handstand into back splat, which is what I was doing!

Oh, one more note for Greg -- I'm planning to take some fitness field trips this spring, and BodyTribe is on my list of places to check out.

Fran stopped by which was very cool! Fran's workouts are a lot like mine, but harder -- check out her weblog here. Wish she lived closer!

Back on the subject of field trips, I also want to go to Palo Alto to visit Girya Kettlebell Training. As I mentioned a while back, I'm fascinated with kettlebells. I'm also fascinated by Tracy, who with her husband, owns Girya. Tracy has lost over 100 pounds in the last year or so and has managed to keep it off (!). The story of her weight loss is here, and her weblog is here.

Another website to check out is Simplefitness. This was created by a CrossFitter who wanted to simplify the CrossFit workouts for his friends and family. It truly is simple and he's done a great job of articulating not only what will work for fitness, but also some great (simple!) guidelines for nutrition.

Hello to Matt, Evelyne, Eileen, Katie, Erica, Jen, Laurie, Miss Petite America, Pamela, Colette, and anyone who I forgot to mention, cuz my head, although less pillow-ey today, is still not 100%. It is so fun to be a part of this virtual community of great people!

ThinkTQ.com

I found this website as I find all things interesting -- by poking around and following links on the internet. And while I'm not ready to wholeheartedly endorse the website, I thought I'd pass on something I've been reading every morning and every evening that I found through Think TQ:

Here are the 10 choices you must make each day, each hour, even each minute, to GUARANTEE that you are on the road to GREATNESS... rather than heading down the road to MEDIOCRITY:

1. Choose to be ENERGETIC—instead of permitting yourself to become run-down and burned-out.

2. Choose to be PASSIONATE—instead of permitting yourself to become aimless, apathetic and indifferent.

3. Choose to be ENTHUSIASTIC—instead of permitting yourself to become half-hearted and discouraged.

4. Choose to be SELF-DIRECTED—instead of permitting yourself to become directionless and uncertain.

5. Choose to be PREPARED—instead of permitting yourself to become shortsighted and reactive.

6. Choose to be FOCUSED—instead of permitting yourself to become scattered and impulsive.

7. Choose to be SUPPORTIVE—instead of permitting yourself to become critical and judgmental.

8. Choose to be SYSTEMATIC—instead of permitting yourself to become haphazard and disorganized.

9. Choose to be TIMELY—instead of permitting yourself to become distracted and preoccupied.

10. Choose to be PROACTIVE—instead of permitting yourself to become procrastinating and hesitant.

With the right tools, you can learn to make these clear choices consistently and automatically. No question, it comes down to identifying exactly what's holding you back from being Energetic, Passionate, Focused, etc.—and ELIMINATING the root-cause—by choosing to take smarter ACTIONS.

Ok, me here again. I think what I like the most out of what they write is the word "choose." It truly is my choice as to how I engage life, and how we all engage our lives. And that's a very very good thing, isn't it?

Back to the land of the living

My 10 hours of sleep did me good, and I'm back to the land of the living. Hooray! It feels so great to have energy and enthusiasm again!

Over the weekend my health and my healthy eating went down the drain, though. So I headed back to the gym today feeling fluffy and self-conscious, even though I know logically that two days of indulgent eating haven't made that much of a difference. I'm staying away from the scale till next week, though!

As usual, today's workout was a mishmash of all sorts of things I think are fun.

Handstands: about 5 minutes of handstand practice, including some attempts at handstand pushups.
T-pushups: where you do a full pushup, then shift your bodyweight to one arm and rotate so you're supporting yourself on one arm and both legs, with the other arm facing the ceiling (3 sets of 10)
Endless rope: 3 - 1 minute sprints -- HARD!!!
Front squats: 3 sets of 10 with a 24 pound body bar
Overhead squats: 3 sets of 10 with a 24 pound body bar
Lunge walks: 1 song's worth by the pool
Plank play: spent about 3 minutes in plank, playing with lifting a foot, bringing a knee in, etc. At end, abs were shakey, and that's all that matters, right?
Weight swings: 25 pound weight, 100 swings

I can tell that my energy isn't at 100% but just the fact that I wanted to workout is huge progress!

My head is a big pillow...

...but otherwise everything's ok. I'm battling a nasty head cold, using the time-tested formula of lots of vitamins, lots of Diet Mountain Dew, and lots of kleenex. I'd write more, but at the moment all I can think about is going to sleep. Yeah, I know it's only 8:10. Nighty night!

And the half marathon is...

...sold out. :(

Guess I'll have to find a different challenge. :)

Rock bags and Nike Marathon

The rock bags were a big hit yesterday. I put all nine of them at the base of the stairs. Initially I thought I'd have her bring all nine to the top of the stairs, but after just one trip up the stairs, it was evident I'd have to break it into sets. So I had her bring 3 bags up, then had her pull 3 bags (one at a time, sitting on BOSU), and then had her do a set of 10 counter pushups (using the counter in my laundry room, which is right next to the training room.) We did that sequence 3 times. She enjoyed it, and we'll be doing that whole sequence again!

So the Nike Women's Marathon and Half-Marathon is accepting registrations tomorrow (March 2) starting at 10:16 am. It's in San Francisco on October 21st (October is the best time to visit SF!). The course is supposed to be great. And you get a Tiffany-designed necklace and a special Nike technical t-shirt as your swag! Does anyone want to run with me? Irene is signed up (people who have run it before can sign up today -- lucky Irene!). My neighbor is signed up (lucky Jan!). I'm signing up for the half marathon -- I just don't have the desire to train for 26.2 miles. Well that and I just got back from running 7 miles and it was HARD!!! So yeah, 13.1 sounds about right. :)

Kickstands, handstands, and the Sacramento Kings

Kickstand lunges

Because you only use your back foot for balance, they feel a lot like pistols (single-leg squats) -- at least the top part of a pistol. The next day my entire lower body felt exerted, but it's hard to say which exercise hit which part. I love variations on lunges and squats, because especially for women, they seem to work the entire lower body in perfect proportion, as opposed to doing isolation exercises. Just my opinion though, and everyone has an opinion!

Handstands

So I got brave and tried handstands out in the great wide open (translation: not against a wall). Didn't go so well. I couldn't get my body to go into a forward roll, so I landed nearly flat on my back five times in a row. Yeah, it hurt a little -- thank goodness for the spongy flooring by the rock wall at my gym! Austin gave me a tip last night -- try to look at your toes as you come out of handstand. I'll let you know how that goes.

Also, I've found a few online bloggers who are working on handstands!!! I'm NOT the only one! One of these days I'm going to post links of what I read, and you'd better believe my fellow handstand people will be listed!

Sacramento Kings

Tim and I got to go out on the town last night. We headed to Bistro Midtown (Susan, if you're reading -- you'd LOVE IT! The design concept is strong and extends to every single aspect of the restaurant!) for dinner. Tried the Kobe mini-burgers as an appetizer, had salads and then split an order of salmon for dinner. Kings were on FIRE, and we had really good seats which made the game even better. And Mike Bibby was unstoppable on his three-point shots!

Bad news -- weighed myself this morning, and I'm over my own personal threshhold weight (possibly due to last night's eats), so it's time to tighten up the diet.

Getting Intentional

I think it's actually time to get intentional about life in general. Having a plan would be a good thing, rather than "Ummmm, I want to exercise, so what do I want to do?" every single time I workout. Having a food plan would be a good thing too. That's what I'm going to be working on in the next few days, and I'll be sure to keep you posted!