Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Gym!

I finally got to the gym last night and I think I will go again! I worked hard and was exceedingly proud of myself for going in the first place, since I didn't go until 9:40pm! I know that morning workouts are better for you because you end up burning more calories through the course of the day, instead of sleeping like I did, but working out at all will vastly improve my condition and ability to burn calories in general, so nights are good for now. I am also considering working out in the early morning before Eric goes to work but I am NOT a morning person and the thought of working out at 5:00 in the morning makes me laugh that I am even considering it!

The other reason that I am proud of myself is that when I got home from the gym, I ate a huge salad with lots of veggies and tuna on the side for protein. I sprinkled on a bit of cheese and ranch dressing. I know that's not that good for you, but I don't use that much (really) and its better than not eating the salad. Fat is not the enemy, excessive sugar is.

I have been shaky all morning today though and I don't know why. It's weird; it is the way I feel when I've had too much caffeine and not enough food, but I've had no caffeine and I just finished a large bowl of yummy chili. Who knows...I hope to work out again tonight, but I think Eric might be home too late. I am glad to be starting this routine because it is one of the harder ones to keep up.

I'm off for a little rest while the kiddos nap.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow that is quite an accomplishment! I truly do not like to exercise. My main problem is I would just rather stay home with a book. I understand how hard it can be to take that step to exercise, so good for you!

Your food choices were great too! YOu seem to be on a roll!

I am enjoying the book Perfect Weight. I wonder if ~reading~ about excercise will do me any good...

Mary in TN

Kristi said...

Ahh...staying home with a good book, blanket wrapped around me, snow falling outside, fire blazing, cup of hot chocolate and plate of cookies nearby...now that is bliss!!! Or the more realistic if slightly less pleasurable, stuffed under the covers reading until dawn. Yes, I absolutely love to read also. What books do you like to read?

What a sad spurt my gym-going has turned out to be. My husband has been home incredibly late these last two nights and so I have been unable to workout. I played a little pretend tennis with my kids today but I doubt I worked off the calories in a Tic-Tac!

Have you ever worked out with a good friend? In the book, he talks about this workout he is doing with his buddy and while it sounds vigorous enough, it also sounds like it would be fun to do with a friend. Running on a treadmill alone is boring after a while. I got a great workout the other day when we all went to Charlie's Safari which is basically like a McDonald's playground on steroids! Their tube/platform structure is two stories tall, they have five different inflatable slides/bouncers and tons of fun for the kids. We went on a weeknight and since we don't have school age children (and plan on homeschooling anyway) the crowds cleared pretty quickly so I wasn't too embarrassed and actually went in with my kids! My husband has been with them all night, it is perfectly acceptable, even expected there. But I had a blast ducking and twisting my way through this structure and sliding down slides. I felt like a kid again and though I was aware of my weight, it didn't get me down, I just had as much fun as I could. We were the only people there by then so that really helped! That one activity (and several others where I have found myself having a blast and still breathing heavy) have been a large factor in why I WANT to work out now. I see the reason, I see a glimpse of how much better I will feel when I've lost the weight. People always talk about the health risks of obesity, but I truly think the social and emotional are far more important to focus on as you lose weight. Overweight, I am lazy and dull. Healthy, I could be fun and ready for anything. It's the smiles I miss the most-actually having fun doing something throughout the day, enjoying a conversation or activity with my peers.

I am on your side when it comes to "reading" counting for exercise! Man, if I could lose weight for every good recipe I read or every diet plan I've read and every exercise I've read....I'd be fit indeed!!!

Anonymous said...

Well I exercised my brain and finished the Perfect Weight book. I would be interested in your opinion of it, before I spout mine. This IS your blog after all. =)

Mary in TN

Anonymous said...

Good for you!! Keep up the good work!! I've been on the weight loss journey as well...I know...it's NOT easy!! This is the first time, I've visited this blog and your other one...I'll definitely be back to visit more!! It's always more encouraging to ready about others dieting as well!! Thanks!!

Anonymous said...

I hope you're doing ok!

I just wanted to pop in and say I EVERCISED today! I walked a little over two miles, and ran up two steep hills, and I didn't die! It wook me an hour to recover, I might do it again later this week.

I rally don't like exercising, but I feel so good now that I'm done!

How are you doing?
Mary in TN

Anonymous said...

I'm a dummy, that should say "EXERCISED"

"took"

"really"

Good grief, I must have typed in a foreign language. Sorry about that!
Mary

What do you think about the Perfect Weight book?

Kristi said...

Mary,

I am doing good! I understood you perfectly well, I didn't mind the typos. I got one of those chain emails a while back that was a paragraph with all the letters jumbled up, except the first and last letters. It was amazing that we were able to read the paragraph without a lot of difficulty! We usually just read what we expect to see! The only one that got me was "wook" because it didn't start with the right letter! I figured it out though!!!

I really like the Perfect Weight America book. I liked his first book, The Maker's Diet, as well, and still consider it a worthy read. In many ways, I feel like he just took his original diet from Maker's Diet and made it a little more "standard" in order to pull in a larger audience. Regardless, the health principles are about the same, in Perfect Weight America he uses scientific information, in Maker's Diet, he uses Biblical reasoning first and backs it up with the scientific. My copy of PWA has been highlighted like crazy and I am amazed at how many things you can eat even at the first stage- it's just cutting out the carbs, but then, that's the hardest part!

I still haven't had enough money to afford the high quantity of fresh produce that I would need to stay on that diet, though, so I am pretty disappointed about that. I haven't been back to the gym and finances are going to dictate that we cancel the membership. I am trying to develop a plan to go walking with the kids every morning, but I am slightly afraid of walking into a bad area with my kids. The one alternative that I DO have is that my mom has offered me the use of her treadmill at her house. It is only a 10 minute drive (or less) and the kids are comfortable there, so I might take her up on that...then I won't have to worry about modesty as much when I am working out! My husband has given me a monthly budget for my grocery bills, so I think I am going to give the PWA diet a shot this month to the best of my ability. My kids and husband will probably stay on the same ol' diet, at least until I get on the "sustain" portion of the plan.

I am still in the process of creating a "standard" meal plan that I can turn to for breakfasts and lunches besides cold cereal and peanut butter and jelly. Once I get that determined, I have to be aware of exactly the right quantity and exactly how much it is costing me to eat that meal. This shouldn't be too terribly difficult to do, so look for at least my breakfast and lunch menus soon!!!

Anonymous said...

How is the PWA diet going? Are you finding it difficult preparing two types of meals? (yourself and your family)

I found pros and cons with the PWA book. Pros, it IS a great eating plan, althoiugh I think far reaching for the average family. Very nutritionally sound. On the other hand, I after reading the book, I felt that I would never be good enough unless I bought his products. THere were no alternatives offered to the drinks and bars he says are needed in the book.

I also belive that organic is best. I also know there is more risk in being involved in a car accident than there is of being harmed by non-organic food. That does not keep me off the road.(For the record 3 people died in 3 different car accidents within 2 miles from my home this past week alone!) All that to say, I wash my produce very throughly in water with a drop of dish soap and baking soda. As for the rest of what we eat, it's in God's hands, not mine. I do make my own bread, rolls, buns, cookies, crackers, tortillas etc. Always have, just because they taste better.

I LOVE the parts in the book about changing your mindset. Negative self-talk plays a big role in the inability to stick to an eating plan. I have always had negative feelings about myself and the way I look, the way I talk etc. I am going to persue that part of the book further and try to change that about myself. I think once I convince myself I am worth the effort, weight loss will be a bit easier.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I kind of got the impression that you felt since organic food was not affordable, you shouldn't diet at all? You can still follow a healthy eating plan, just using regular, available food. My problem is, at this time of year, I don't WANT to diet. I WANT to bake, and try new recipes. SO I do. January 1st is coming, and I'm hopping on the bandwagon with the masses trying to lose weight. Maybe, just maybe, I'll have my blog up and running by then.

Take care!
Mary in TN

Shelbie Molnar said...

Hey. It's your cousin Shelbie. Good for you being so dedicated to loose weight. I'm going through the same thing right now. After having Ryder I assumed the weight was going to fall off. I realized I'm a lot more vain than I thought.

Also, excuse my writing and spelling, at terrible at both.

I couldn't agree with you more, healthy eating = high price tag. Since I stay home now I have gotten really creative saving money at the grocery store.

I have a small accordian divider for coupons. I always leave it in my car so I never forget it. I buy the sunday paper and cut out only the coupons of things I would purchase. I cut out all brands for toilet paper, toothpaste, and other house hold staples.

I try to shop at places that double coupons(Vons, Ralphs) but I only buy things on sale or that I have a coupon for. If toothpaste is 2/$ 5.00, I have a $1.00 off coupon, doubled I end up spending $.50. Then I have a little extra $$$ for quality produce.

When the weekly adds come out, I find chicken (breasts only) for $1.69-1.99 lb. I buy 5-10lbs., trim the fat and put meal size portions in freezer baggies. I do the same with groung turkey 7% fat, buy in bulk (cheapest is $1.99 for 1.25lbs) freezer bags.


I purchase most of my produce at Henry's Markey. I'm not sure if you have one, but when produce is on sale, it's about 1/3 the grocery strore price. You can get on line to check all grocery ad's.
I buy veggies in bulk, steam them and use freezer bags.

Then once a month I go to Costco. I buy my multi-grain bread, small whole wheat bagels, Alternative Brand pita bread, eggs, milk, lunch meat, and cheese (string, sliced, and shredded.) (Lunch meat and cheese I only have to buy every 2 months.) I DON'T buy friut there, it's way too much and it will go bad. I do the same with the bread, lunchmeat, and cheese. Divide it and freeze it.

I spend less than $100.00 a week. That's for groceries, wine, beer, and detergent, deoderant, or what ever necessities we need.

Don't forget Walmart, Target, and all grocery stores take coupons.

With club card and coupons I cut my bill by 35-70%. It's amazing!!!

Also good healthy recipies at www.hungry-girl.com and great money saving tips also.

Keep up the good work.

Kristi said...

Mary-

I have heard a lot of negative comments from other people about how all of Jordan Rubin's books are just trying to sell his own products and while I agree that he is wealthy by now because of the promotion of his own line of products and books, I don't think that is all bad. When I logged into the website (free with the PWA code), I got a lot of different choices for the snack items, mostly fruit and veggies. I didn't care for his "meal plans" in this book so much because there wasn't enough variety to get a good idea of what to expect. In The Maker's Diet, he does a lot better. Since they are essentially the same diet, I like to pull from that book as well.

As for not dieting because of lack of organic, no that's not the reason I was not dieting. We are going through a really hard time, financially, right now (isn't everyone?...ours is especially bad!) so I was really not able to afford even basic produce items. Things are beginning to smooth out and I have been given a $350 grocery/toiletries budget for the month for my family of four. We will have to cut serious corners, since that includes diapers, but I think it's reasonable enough for basic items. I have to buy my lettuce in bulk instead of chopped and washed in a bag, but that is okay, it's better that way!

I am also with you on the wanting to cook right now! I love BAKING!!! Most baked foods are not on the PWA list, so I am going to be breaking it a bit during the next few weeks. It all starts November 13th, which is my 7 year Anniversary! The fun starts there! I am basically creating go-to meals. If I get inspired to make something, I'll make it, eat a small portion and get back to the regulars. It will at least get me through the holidays...I hope!

SHELBIE!!!

It's so good to hear from you!!! I don't have a Henry's Market (or a Wild Oats) near me, but I will when we move to Colorado. I'm bummed, by the time you bring your baby up toward me, we will be gone!!! You are going to have to call or email me (my contact information is on the mac website). Thanks for the other frugal tips. I always forget to clip coupons...I think I am just too lazy! And don't forget- it took you time to put on the weight being pregnant, it takes time to take it off too. Ryder is only four months old, wait until he's a year old to evaluate where you stand. So much is changing during those first months, enjoy it, don't worry about being heavier than normal! That might not be comforting, but believe me, they grow up fast. My "baby" is going to be THREE in January...that is just so hard to believe. I want my little bundle back! How is your sister doing? Are they still moving to Colorado?