August 27, 2008 - Sweating is apparently GOOD for you..

Well, I recently had my first visit with a Personal Trainer. I like her a lot and learned to how to properly do the exercises that she believes I should do. We met at a local Spa/Fitness center. I noticed that I definitely pushed myself harder because she was there telling me how many to do and pushing me that one point further with the exercises.

The only thing I did not like about it was the fact that I got sick 2 days later. Of course, I am sure it had nothing to do with the training and everything to do with the fact, I was just sick, but for a week I have blamed it on the workout I received with the Personal Trainer.

The day after I worked out I had my regular appointment at the weight loss clinic. I had convinced myself that I was not going back to the Personal Trainer due to how much it costs, but the physician reminded me I am not going to the Personal Trainer to be trained for something in particular, but as another check-in to stay on track.

Point made. I will be going to the Personal Trainer once a month.

Til next week,
Kristi

August 12, 2008 - Forgiveness is Part of Weight Loss, Too

Well, after an eventful two weeks watching my dog-nephew Sam and his dog-sisters life is back to normal. Of course, Sam was VERY bad while his mother was vacationing in Hawaii. He would leave me "presents" every day even if he had been outside several times. He also wanted to pick fights with his sisters continually. He did manage to live through the two and a half weeks. He recently posted a public apology to me. It can be found at http://katiezipperdoodle.blogspot.com. I have decided to forgive Sam since the stress of not forgiving him will just hamper my weight loss efforts.

I have also decided to forgive my sister for not bringing me back a Mu Mu. I am of course, kidding about this. Why would I want to wear a Mu Mu when I am losing all of this weight?

As far as my weight loss efforts go, I have met most of my daily goals this week, but do not seem to notice it on the scale. We shall see next week when I have my official weigh in at the clinic.

I saved the best for last! I received 275 dollars in donations this week! 25 to the Lymphoma Society and 250 for Juvenile Diabetes!!!! How EXCITING!

Til next week,
Kristi

August 6, 2008 Keep on Keeping On

Hello!

Well, as expected the doc wasn't impressed with my VO2 max. Some blah, blah, blah about it is not indicative of real VO2 max results blah, blah, blah. While I wasn't impressed either it was the only test result that came back that was good! Oy! Made me giggle...

Anyhoo...It has been a little harder the past couple weeks to eat as well. What I have learned is that I need to have that "go to" meal/snack that I can fix when nothing else will do. I have been eating a lot of McDonald's salads, which are fortunately not too bad for you, but that can get expensive. I did manage to lose 2.5 pounds in the past two weeks. Obviously, my calories spent in energy were greater than my calories consumed!

I would say the best thing in my diet that I think I need to share with folks this week is Fiber One cereal and bars. The recommended daily allowance of fiber is 25-35 grams. Being an overachiever I shoot for the 35 grams of fiber. Fiber One is really good. I eat the Raisin Clusters and any of the bars. For recipes that call for croutons I use the plain Fiber One cereal. I really like it and it adds up quickly. A cup of Fiber One cereal has 9 grams of fiber. Most of the rest of my fiber I get from high fiber bread and berries.

Til Next Week,
Kristi Sue

August 1, 2008 - My REAL age

Ohmygoodness, what an interesting week I had...

At the advice of my physician I went to a local spa/fitness club and checked out something called a Polar Body/Fitness Analysis. The Polar analysis is a series of questions and physical "tests" to determine how healthy you currently are and how healthy you can be.

I was tested for flexibility, strength, cardiovascular health, nutrition, weight, BMI, etc. The results are interesting because at the end it gives you an indication of your real age based on your current nutrition and fitness levels. Well, I am 8 years older than my current age, but I have the potential to be 7 years younger than my current age. Losing weight adds 5 years and then each of the other areas requiring improvement add 2 years.

The most interesting part is that my V02 max (capacity of an individual's body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise) was off the charts (in a good way). What?!?!?!? I get winded walking up the stairs.... I am going to research this a bit more. Maybe it means I have a healthy heart, NOT that I am in good cardiovascular health. I am assuming this is a genetically determined number. It was very odd....

At the end it also provides a plan for aerobic exercise. The plan includes target heart rates and how long you should be in the target heart rate, etc. Of course, in order to do this I think I need a heart rate monitor. I do not want to stop and check my hear every five minutes to see if I am in the zone..that would be too annoying. Why give myself a convenient excuse not to do something!

If you live near a fitness center or spa that offers this I recommend it. It is very enlightening and is a good health checkup. I plan on getting another one in about 6 months to see if I have improved over time.

Til next week,
Kristi