Blocky-mc-blocker pants...

So blocks to my success have been discussed here and there and Tara has given me the task of trying to identify those things that I'm putting in the way of my kicking some serious health ass.

I put it off for a week using being in Kelowna as an excuse. Then I put it off claiming to be very busy.

And then I had that crystal clear flash of insight.

My biggest barrier? Stupid PROCRASTINATION. I am horrible about putting things off that need to be dealt with. It is The Thing that I am least proud of.

I'm going to work on this... tomorrow. ;o)

In all seriousness, it is something that I need to address in a big way because it affects my entire life, not just my health...

The Week of 20

For a "mulligan" week the results are actually impressive.

As of this week Rita has lost 20 pounds and over 20 inches all over.

As mentioned in her previous post, I am asking rita to consider her "obstacles". Each one of us has these obstacles. Little niggly things (self talk/doubt, fears etc etc) that have stopped us from achieving our goals in the past.

Rita and I have had ALOT of discussion about it. I think that there is definately a bit of a wall up there somewhere. She is making changes, for sure, but not as quickly as she might if she were to acknowledge these barriers/obstacles.

Please understand, its not a fault or a criticism of what she is currently doing. I happen to think she's doing fantastic! She's making better choices, feeling better, losing the weight etc etc. Its all good. I just happen to think she could get there faster.

So we'll see how this plays out next week. We spoke about it, and with Ritas permission I think next week we will post her actual numbers?

Mulligan...

I'm claiming a Mulligan this week.  I've been in Kelowna hanging out with my family and while I haven't been going crazy with the food and whatnot, I haven't been following the meal plans in any way, shape or form.  I've discovered when you are at the mercy of other people, it's harder to stick with the "eat every two to three hours" thing.  I haven't walked to any significant level of intensity at all but I've walked and I've swam... oh my how I've swam.  I've been keeping my portion sizes under control for the most part and have only really caved and nomed  to excess one day.... but it was salmon.  My brother's salmon.  Those of you in the know will testify how you just can't resist.  And can I get a "nice job" on the amount of alcohol I DIDN'T drink?  I was really good.  Even at the wedding I only had about 4 glasses of wine.  But it was realllllyyyyy good wine.

It's been fantastic spending time with my family and we've had a ton of fun.  But today we head back home and I've already booked my walking buddy for tonight.  I'm curious to see how I've done weight wise.

HOWEVER, my job over the last week was to figure out what is stopping me from totally diving into this adventure and I've spent a bit of time pondering it, but I'm still not sure what it is.  Once we are home and back in the groove, I'll work on that a bit more.  Anyone who's spent time with my family, especially en masse, will understand that it's hard to get time alone in your own head.  We are an intense bunch that way.  But I love them.  Oh how I love them.  They are a good bunch of people.

I'm just sayin'...

http://caloriecount.about.com/

There's an app. Easy to use.

Not about the counting of the calories as much as creating a true awareness of what you are eating.

You'll see.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Before you get all uppity...

... lets see if this app actually works for me.  So far, not so much.  I downloaded the MyFitnessPal for Android (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/).  There are a few more out there so I'll try a couple out before I either settle or throw my hands up in frustration.  I am less than thrilled with this app because of the following:

1. I don't like spending too much time futzing about with entries.  This app takes a long time to enter in one meal.  Granted the more you enter, the more options you have for "quick picks" but it's still fussy.
2. With the amount of cooking from scratch that I do, especially without recipes, it's hard to enter in the caloric value of a meal.
3. We will HAVE to sit down and discuss exactly how many calories I should be taking in each day... something tells me that 1500 calories is just not enough for a gal my size and that is what this app is recommending. 

I really really really don't like counting calories. I just don't want to be so mindful of it.  Yes it's a good idea to get a bigger picture look at what I'm taking in, but I just want to LIVE, not always be thinking about how many calories this is or what the fat content of that is... I just want to get into the habit of healthy eating, smaller portions and good clean food.  

HOWEVER, the other app that I downloaded is RUNTASTIC (http://runtastic.com/en/users/Rita-Floor) and although I've only used it twice, it gets a solid TWO THUMBS UP from me.  It tracks your exercise routes via GPS and gives you a summary of where you went, how fast you went and how many calories you ultimately burned.  I foresee this app being used a lot in the coming months.  

So back to the food... Someone asked to see what my daily food is like so here goes: 

Today, June 23:

6:30 AM - Fruit smoothie; 1 cup of 1% milk, 1/2 a banana, 3 good sized strawberries, 1/4 cup of blueberries, 1 scoop of Gensoy Vanilla Protien Powder.

9:30 AM - 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, 2 strawberries, 1/4 blueberries, 1 cup of Kashi cereal, 1 container of blueberry Astro yogurt.

12:30 PM - Turkey sammich on whole wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and a bit of cheese

3:00 PM - Fresh peppers and cucumber, 10 whole wheat pretzels (omg nom nom nom)

4:30 PM - 1/4 cup salsa and a handful of chips

6:00 PM - beef stirfry with a crap-ton of veggies, wild rice

According to this app (it took me at least 10 to 15 minutes to upload everything!) I took in 2178 calories, burned 425 with my uber awesome walk, leaving me 213 calories short for my goal of 1540.  

It's all well and fine, but ultimately I just don't care.  I don't care that I ate exactly 2178 calories.  I just know I had a really tasty sammich for lunch, and was served really delicious beef stir-fry for dinner.  I had enough that I was satisfied but not so much that I felt full.  And that's how it should be.  I don't ever want to be obsessed with each and every morsel of food that passes my lips (ha!  I typo'd lisp instead of lips...).

But I'll try it.  My biggest challenge with this will be to remember to enter everything on the day I eat it... I have a tendency to let slip once in a while, and have to back track one day and remember what I ate.  This app doesn't let you go back.  Kind of like life.... right? ;o)

 

Almost...

... Broke through our first barrier AND made (what I think) is a major breakthrough!

One more pound, which is easy peasy this week, and our first little milestone will be reached. Which makes me happy.

I know, I know, it's not about the weight. However, the decreasing weight IS an indicator that this is moving in the right direction.

So there!

The milestone that I am so very happy that we have reached is that now, Rita is tracking her food using an online app WHICH then let's her see things like sugars and salts WHICH then allows her to make different (better? I think so) choices in the products she will choose.

Again. So there!

Rita - you may now both put in a plug for the App AND admit I was right...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A day in the life...

Well, more like a week. This week actually. This week started off on the tough side. I had my weigh in on Tuesday after work and it was GREAT. I went home and put on my runners... wait, let me digress just a bit:

I have to get new runners. The reason I know this is because I have two pairs of runners that are a billion years old collectively. One BILLION. One of them (Pair 1) has bits of rubber missing from the heel. But they are comfortable. So comfortable. The other pair (Pair 2) is seemingly in MUCH better shape. But they lie. Ok, back to the narrative... 

I put on Pair 2 thinking that since they appear to be in much better shape, they'll be better suited to my increasingly more intense walks. I was wrong. Sooooo wrong. I started my walk on Tuesday but by about 1/2 a block from my place I knew I was in trouble. Pain SHOOTING up my legs. Intense, searing stabs of pain that went up the outside of my lower leg. So bad that I cut my walk short at 10 minutes thinking 10 minutes is better than none minutes. I thought perhaps it was because Pair 2 was a little lacking in arch support so I went to Ye Auld London Drugs and bought a set of pretty decent supports that came highly recommended by my cousin's wife who works there.

Cue Wednesday's walk - started out a little better.  Supports were super comfy, but sure enough, 1/2 a block away the pain started again.  A little less intense, but still there.  I managed 15 minutes before I couldn't take it any more.

Thursday night I went for a walk with the Significant Other (aka B-man) and I wore Pair 1 and nary a pain did I experience.  I was able to walk as quickly as I wanted and no pain.

So there you have it.  I need new runners that are exactly the same as Pair 1.   Because with Pair 1 I've gone for 4 consecutive walks with the ever so wonderful Mrs. J. and we've walked I tell you.  We've gone out for minimum 45 minutes almost every day.  Sunday morning was a glorious trek all over our neighbourhood with the beautiful sun beating down on us, conversation flowing as easy as a mountain stream.  Mrs. J pushing me to go faster, harder, more... I love Mrs. J and am ever so grateful that she's supporting me on this journey.

Next post, lets meet my food journal!