Tag Archives: health

20 weeks pregnant and back on the radar. 

I’ve been MIA for about two months while I pouted about my lack of exercising. 

Work has been sooo crazy and I’ve used that as a terrible racist to eat shitty and not exercise. That ends today. 

  
Trying to get back into the running thing has been really hard. I’ve just been avoiding it. I have been weighing myself every week but the gain has been scary; 2-3 lbs per week. I need to cut that out because my worst fear needs to be avoided. I can’t come out of this pregnancy an extra 60 lbs on my body. 

  
Today I weighed 259 lbs. I am not prepared to be 260 so I’m done with the fast food and back to the real food and real workouts thing. Long hours are a good reason to KEEP working out, not stop working out. I know that I just don’t like to do it haha. That stops today! My baby boy (oh yeah, we found out the gender!) needs mama to be happy and healthy. 

“Cross fit training”

So, because I’m a pinterest hound (and now also weight loss blogs too), I’ve been seeing lots of posts about “cross fit”. At first I thought it was another program like P90X, but the more I look, the more it seems to be referring to exercises that don’t necessarily require any machines, but are geared toward strength training. I could be totally wrong. BUT, for the purpose of this post, that is what I’m going to be referring to when I say “cross fit” things.

Today, during my ULTRA boring biological psychology class, I was debating what workout I would do in between that class and my other one. I have 3 hours to kill between the two, and I’ve been trying to hit the gym in that time. Fortunately, my bio class is IN our campus gym, so I don’t have to work too hard to get motivated. Because I’m still uncomfortable with my body though, I usually wait until I see all of my classmates leave before I actually go into the weight room or up to the track. Who am I kidding, I usually go to the track, because I run into the same self-esteem things in the weight room. Not only do I feel as though I don’t belong, I also hate when people watch me work out, and in the weight room there are always people just standing around shooting the shit. In my mind I imagine these people standing around and making fun of the fat people in there trying to get ‘skinny’ or whatever. SO, instead of sticking around, I grabbed a yoga mat and went up to the track where I knew I could set up kinda off to the side and do some circuit stuff, what I’ve come to understand is newly called ‘cross fit’.

I could have just done an extra C25k workout this week, but my knee has been bothering me (the one I previously had surgery on), and I knew that an extra day of running might ultimately cause more problems than benefits. I also know that when I was in physical therapy, they told me that when my knee is hurting, its usually because that leg is weaker, and there is more strain on it. So, I decided to do some exercises that are low impact, that will also help to strengthen my legs, therefore helping me in several different ways. I’d just like to say that I thought this workout would be easier than just running. BOY was I wrong (I’m finding that a lot the more I blog). It turns out, this might have actually been harder than running.

My plan was to do three sets of the following: 30 second plank, 30 second bridge, 10 push-ups, 15 lunges, and 10 squats with weights in hand. When I was younger and going to aerobics a lot, I learned that it isn’t very healthy to be standing up and laying back down when your heart rate is high, so I figured I’d bunch my laying-down exercises together so that I only had to get up and down once for each set of reps. I did 30 second rests in between each, and by the last set, I completed the planks and bridge, and just couldn’t get myself to do the lunges. My legs were exhausted, I was breathing really heavy, and I just felt all together beat. I couldn’t believe it! I’m thinking that when I try this again (because now I know I need it), I’m gonna try to do 60 seconds of rest between each set, and that way maybe it will be a little easier. Having a workout regimen that I can’t physically do is not going to keep me motivated. SO, I’m gonna try to do this little crossfit thing at least twice a week from now on. If you add it up, its really only like 22 minutes long, so it shouldn’t be too hard to fit in. I’m thinking I’ll try to do it Sunday’s and Thursdays. This way, I can maintain my Saturday, Monday, Wednesday runs, and still be getting some strength stuff in on the other days. I like that it focuses on my core too. I originally planned to do a plank challenge, but to be honest, I kinda forgot about it, so I hope that if I commit to doing this two other days, it will help me to build that core strength while also counting as a ‘full workout,’ instead of just hoping that I’d fit in my two minutes somewhere in the day.

After I worked out today, I stayed on my yoga mat and used my ‘Guided Mind’ app to walk me through a meditation. I’m taking a mindfulness class right now that has really helped me to change my life. One day I felt stressed and downloaded this guided imagery/meditation app, and today was the second time I used it. The one I chose was short – like only 5 minutes long, but it seemed to work perfectly to just help me focus my attention on my breathing and muscles.

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This is something they do at the end of every yoga class, and its supposed to be one of the most important portions of the whole class. SO, I’m hoping I can try to do one at the end of every cross fit day, and hopefully if I see that I like it, also do it other times too.

In totally non-health related news, when I got up this morning, I spent a little time doing some things around the house before I headed to class. Although it isn’t too warm outside, my apartment was nice and toasty because Jared called and yelled at our landlord for our heat being broken… soo now we have heat!

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You can see Yoli is quite happy about the heat. She likes to lay in the sunny spot by our sliding glass door, and get so warm that she pants. Its cute that when she’s panting she looks like she’s smiling. With her eyes closed, she looks extra happy! It’s the little things….

Super Saturday

Today was another weigh-in day, and I’m at 25 days clean! (Still, sooo not used to the excitement about weigh-ins) I actually lost nearly the same amount this week as last week – 3.4lbs. This is 3 1/2 weeks for me, and surprisingly, I still feel really good about what I’ve been doing. Mondays and Tuesdays are still killers for me, but that should be over soon enough; only like 6 more weeks of school and then I won’t be killing myself (well, Ill still be doing like 60 hrs of work/week BUT I’ll be getting paid for all of it, and not just being a stupid intern… YAY).

This week is spring break for me, which means I’ll have a little more time for me (you know, like sleeping/working out/taking dogs to the park). I’m pretty excited about that. I’m still interning and working 40 hours, but without my 4 classes, that seems soo much more doable.

Tomorrow I’m meeting one of my girlfriends at a park in Cranberry with our dogs to play for a while. Ava, Yoli, and I went to the park yesterday at our apartment complex and they had a ball playing around in the mud.

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Look at those big brown eyes! Happy girl in this warm (muddy) weather.
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Curiosity caught on camera. Yoli with her little monkey toy that she LOVES to chase.

It was quite the hassle cleaning the mud out of my tub after the bath, but that’s the price you pay to see your babes having a good time.

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You can see how much Ava likes the water…and how much Yoli hates it.

We actually chased some other dogs out of the park… it wasn’t our fault tho! There are two dogs that go there pretty often, one is a Labrador-mastiff mix and the other is some kind of pitbull mix. The mastiff is usually pretty easy to get along with, but the pitbull is small and AGGRESSIVE. From the moment we arrive, all it does is bark and try to assert its dominance on my dogs. It’s kind of frustrating because the girl who brings the pitbull is pretty nice, but she doesn’t seem to have any control over that behavior. Sometimes she even seems mad when she has to leave, but its not my fault that her dog doesn’t get along with others. My dogs usually just crouch on the ground while her dog tries to nip at their ears or hump them… it’s so weird. It is really nice to not have to worry about mine hurting other dogs, though, because they are not dominant at all. That may be because I’m very dominant. Or they just have really good temperaments. Who knows.

ImageSo, this is an image I came across a VERY long time ago on pinterest. The funny thing is, when I pinned it, I was still in that precontemplative phase of change and knew that I wanted to get healthier, but any time I would ‘diet,’ I would give up after like 3 days because I didn’t lose 10lbs right away (a slight exaggeration, but not completely). Right now, I’m at 3 1/2 weeks of my lifestyle change, and I’m not convinced I see physical changes. I know there are some emotional and energy level changes that are undeniable. I also know that I’m not out of breath as often when hustling up a hill to get to class (or wherever), so I know that I’m slowly getting my heart into better shape too.

I think my mindset is the biggest change that I’ve seen. After 3 1/2 weeks, I’m feeling proud of myself, but also still determined. In the past, I was under the impression that I could diet for a month, lose 50lbs, and then be able to go back to what I was already doing, which was eating fast food at least once a day, and never exercising. I would even avoid exercising because I knew it would make me more hungry. Now, I feel icky when I DON’T do some kind of exercise, even if it is just squats or planks or something. At this point, I’ve lost 14lbs, and I feel soo good about myself for saying I want to do something, and then DOING it. Some days it isn’t very hard, and others it is REALLY hard. Last Sunday, I went to dinner with some friends and reallllly wanted to order a big, greasy sandwich. Instead I had a steak salad and picked around the french fries. Yesterday, I went out for drinks with a girlfriend, and instead of binging on McDonalds on the way home, I ate a cheese stick before bed with a big glass of water. I knew I wasn’t hungry, but one of my old habits (and now a trigger), is driving home after drinking a little, and stopping to gorge on fast food. When I’m with someone, like Jared, its much easier to not do this, but when I’m alone, that little sneaky voice in my head says “nobody will know… just do it!” Last night I was able to ‘play the whole tape,’ and think through how I’d feel today if I had. I wouldn’t be able to check-in with 25 days clean… the scale would probably reflect the food (at least somewhat), and I would be feeling crappy. That might make me not feel motivated today and blah, blah, blah. Playing the tape really helped me deal with the trigger. Its amazing how strong I’ve become in such a short time. I want to keep this momentum going, and use it on my run today.

C25k week 3, day 1 is coming up soon (on my lunch break from work). Right now I’m eating some Healthy Choice tortellini cooked with veggies. It is surprisingly good, especially because I didn’t think I liked zucchini or cooked carrots. I’m learning new stuff about myself every day 🙂

Here’s to another week! Cheeeeers to spring break… and a break in the weather FINALLY!

14lbs