A MUST read!

OMG just came across this analogy on the right balances to achieve fitness and it couldn't be more right-on (or simple!)!  I know many of us already know this, but it puts fitness into another perspective.

Please please PLEASE check it out over at Trainer Momma's blog.

(picture from her blog)

Quick weight update

Starting weight: 176.4
Last week weight: 137.0

Current weight: 135.2
Current loss: -1.8
TOTAL LOSS: -41.2

I ain't mad at that!  Nutrition and staying on track with my plans are doing great!

The thing I have the hardest time with is avoiding the "bad" food.  Not so much because they're bad, but because I know I'm not suppose to have them, so it makes me want them even more! Human nature, right?  But I want a healthy and fit body more than any ice cream flavor Ben and Jerry's could ever think up.  More than Cheesecake Factory's special red velvet cake cheesecake (which I had this weekend and LOVED it!  You know how my obsession with red velvet anything goes)!  And more than the awesome Kobe beef cheeseburger my boyfriend had that night... so  good!

Yup, I want a fit body more than any of those things.

To semi-quote someone I don't even like:

"Nothing taste as good as being (fit)." 

It actually said "skinny" in place of fit but I don't wanna be skinny... 

Quote by Kate Moss.

That's a wall!

Yesterday I had my last PT session till August and it was crazy! Not just crazy... C.R.A.Z.Y!

I had a long day at work and pretty much only ate lunch (meant to make breakfast when I got to work but you know how it gets) so by the time the afternoon rolled around, I was ready to call it a day but NOOOOOO... had to go to the gym still.

Started out with a nice 20 minute brisk walk on the treadmill as my warm up, then headed to see my PT.

60 minutes of full body conditioning + plyo + not enough energy = hitting the wall harrd

This is the first time I really experience what you Beachbody veterans call boinking (or is it bonking - I can't remember). About halfway through my workout, right in the middle of my vertical jumps/skaters/plyo lunge sequence, I hit it.... the wall. It's like someone literally flipped a switch and I was out! I just coudln't move my body how I wanted to and there went my form and execution on all my exercises. Even my PT asked what' s up. After taking it down a notch, the 60 minutes were up BUT the boyfriend picked up a shift yesterday so I had to walk home from the gym. It's a short walk, about 30 minutes, but I was just so drained I seriously didn't think I could. Luckily it was raining a little bit so that kept me "refreshed".

Never again will I attempt a serious workout with not enough fuel in me.

But on the plus side, I've been back at nutrition and exercise for the last several days and we all know that for me, that's amazing!! Keep it up! KEEP IT UP!!!

Thank you! And taking a break

Hey Bloggies,
Thank you so much for your awesome comments on my last post. It really means a lot and I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's like this... I know what needs to be done so it's time for me to just do it!

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In other things, I have a lot coming up in the month of May so my posts will be very sporadic... summer is my office's busiest time but I'll still be here, fighting the good fight. And of course I'll be checking up on you guys too!

And before I forget, I'm doing an exercise challenge this summer, that you are more than welcomed to join. More info can be found here but it's gonna be a long hot summer for me! Hope as many of you can join as possible because we all need other sources of motivation and accountability.

1 bad meal = f*cked for the day?!

Umm... so what is about me that if I mess up my nutrition in one meal, it goes to my head and makes me wanna just give up for the rest of the day?

One piece of chocolate = eating like crap for the rest of the day
(and most other times means throwing out the idea of exercise too!)

That seems so stupid, yet that's how I am! And from what other people blog about, that's how a lot of people are. I just don't understand how that works.

I mean if I accidentally go over my monthly financial allowance (yes-I'm talking dollars here, not calories), I don't say, "F*ck it! I'm gonna spend twice as much next month and not save anything!!!!!" One month of overspending a little bit won't kill me as long as I adjust my next months expenses. I know this. YOU know this. The logic is so darn simple!

So why in God's good name, does it all fly out the window when it comes to my health?

Instead of messing up and just having one bad meal, that one bad meal leads to one bad day. Then that one bad day leads to feeling guilty and affects the next day... and the next day... and the next. Uuuggghhhh.... and it usually doesn't stop unless I get my spark of motivation back which can sometimes take weeks!

I've been at this for almost two years... I KNOW it's one day at a time, one meal at a time. I KNOW it doesn't make a difference to loathe in my guilt. I KNOW I just need to get back on it the next day, hell even the next meal. I KNOW all these things yet all still easier said than done. Why why WHY?!

I'm not flaky, I PROMISE!

No surprise here but I have once again changed things up with my exercise. Yesterday I had my PT session at the gym and when we were done, I talked to the gym manager and put a freeze on my account for three months!

That's right, no gym, no PT, no outside accountability (except you guys!), and no monthly membership dues from May 1 - Aug. 1!
Between this and my sweet tax returns, I think I smell Vegas again!

I'm not flaky or indecisive, I PROMISE!

Constantly changing things up is what works for me so I roll with it. Anyway, I have several trips/weddings this summer so figured it might not be worth paying that monthly membership when I might only be here for half the summer. Plus, summer in Hawaii = get moving outside! So that's the plan for now. I'll still continue the BFL program until the end of May, when my 84 days are up and will jump into something new again. I'm really excited about this summer and I'm not sure why...

Nutrition wise I'll be changing things up a little... will still focus on the BFL program but make it a point to be more consistent with nutrition. Last night Anthony and I ordered a family meal from Pizza hut: 2 large specialty pizzas, 5 bread sticks, and cinnamon bread. We polished the bread sticks and cinnamon bread, and almost ate one entire pizza. Thankfully we couldn't eat any more. Yup... that's so not part of my nutrition plan but what are you gonna do? It's a done deal so moving on.

In other news, I jumped on the scale this morning and not surprisingly it was the same as last week: 137. That's a bona fide gain of about 2 lbs. in the last month which isn't bad, but considering how hard it is for me to even lose 5 lbs., it's kinda bad. Not beating myself up cause I know exactly why it happened and I'm okay with it cause I knew it would happen. I'm not "okay" as in I'm cool with it, but I'm "okay" in the sense that I accept it. I just gotta get back on track... it really is that simple. Now to just do it...

It's not about the scale: NSV's!

NSV's, or non-scale victories, need to be celebrated just as much as scale victories IF NOT MORE!! And since all my post have been so negative recently (see here, here, and here) I figured I owed it to myself to do this.

NSV's are a true measure of how our bodies change and they tell us things the scale never can.

1. Fitting into a Juniors size 7 dress! JUNIORS!
   
2. Running a mile under 10 minutes.
   
3. Craving healthier foods over junk food. I don't know when this happened, but I just realized it about a couple months ago.
   
4. Noticing how much farther my boyfriend's arms can wrap around me.
   
5. Having my boyfriend mistake me for a stranger because he didn't recognize me from a distance because I've lost weight (this actually happened the other week)!
   
6. Increasing the amount of weight I lift every month... even if it's only by 2.5lbs, I'm stronger today than I was yesterday!
   
7. Putting on a top I've only worn once because it was too tight, now be too big. A waste of money, but an awesome NSV!
8. Having my personal trainer (who's fit) blown away because I can lift the same amount of weight as he can on a particular back exercise!! And yes, I said HE!
   
9. Doing a pretty intense hike and having a complete stranger tell me what an awesome job I did. I passed her doing up the mountain and was halfway back down when I passed her again!
   
10. On a different day on said intense hike, I caught up to and paced a bunch of military guys all the way to the top. At the top of the hike, they asked what type of exercise program I was currently doing cause they were impressed - yeah impressed that the fat girl could keep up with them!

Don't forget about your NSV's!

Have my goals set

Remember my homework assignment from my PT? Well I did it and I think these are pretty good goals for all around fitness.

1. Body fat percentage - Probably my most important goal... to shed this layer of fat! I don't mind weighing 135 for the rest of my life but I want it to be mostly muscle, damn it!
   
2. Drop some pounds - In 8 weeks I would like to be down 8 lbs... that's not asking for much. A pound a weeks is something totally doable if I stick to being consistent with my nutrition and exercise.
   
3. Calorie deficit - I was so torn about this goal. I wanted to stay away from counting calories but I can't ignore what's always worked for me when I need to stay on track. I'm aiming for at least a 500 calorie deficit 6 days a week over the next 8 weeks.
   
4. Increase my 1-mile time - This one is gonna be really interesting! Whenever I do cardio, I usually do it just to get the calorie burn. I've never aimed for a goal as far as cardio goes so I like this one a lot. Will be running my first timed 1-mile run over the weekend to know where I stand.
   
5. Increase amount of weight I lift - In every exercise I do. With the BFL program, I've been using the same couple of exercises for each body part so keeping tabs on what I started with and where I am now should be easy. Will make it a point to increase all the weight next week.

If anyone can think of some better ones, please let me know! This is just what I came up with but would love advice...

Can I get a fatter version of P90X please

Yesterday I threw in P90X+ Intervals and I proved to myself that my mind is stronger than my body... and not in a good way. For those who don't know, the P90X+ Interval routine is made up of 15 cardio/strength/plyo moves that have three 20-second speeds: slow, medium, and killer.

(source)

So I'm going through the routine but towards the middle of the dvd, I realize I'm stopping about half-way through the last killer 20 seconds not because I'm wasted and exhausted, but because my mind tells me I can't do it.

I see Tony and his two assistance - one of which is a skinny chick with killer abs - and it's just intimidating to me. I never realized this before. Then it starts getting into my head:

I can't keep up with them, they're so fit!
And I'm not.
If they get winded, I should be lying on the floor passed out because they're so fit!
And I'm not.
If it's hard for them, I can't possible finish cause they're so fit!
And I'm not.

Uhh... can I get the P90X with fat people in it so I know I have a better chance of keeping up?

Over and over for each exercise. And seriously I would stop just because my mind thought I couldn't do it not because I physically couldn't do it. The weird thing is this doesn't happen to me when I do P90X plyo and to me that's a much harder workout. Maybe it's because the girl in the plyo dvd doesn't look that intimidating... she's not fat by any definition, but she has more muscle and meat on her bones so I feel I can keep up with her better... she doesn't have that "perfect" fitness model look. I don't know what it is, just an interesting thing I noticed.

Rant and self-pity party over!

Huge disappointment!!

Four weeks down in the BFL program and these are my results?!?!

It has nothing to do with the program cause I still think it's a really sound plan, it has to do with me! ME! ME! ME! I'm not even gonna get into excuses on why the measurments are the way they are, even though there are MANY factors that can easily skew the data... the point is... 30 days is most definitely enough time to make all those numbers go down. It's a huge disappointment especially because I was feeling smaller in the pants... but it's also a huge motivator! Only 54 more days until summer is here! It's really time for me put up and shut up.

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Because of my crappy on-again-off-again attitude with exercise and nutrition, my PT gave me homework to do: come back next week with five tangible, attainable, and measurable goals to achieve in 8 weeks. And two of those goals have to be weight and body fat related. PT wants me to start focusing on short-term goals rather than only what I want in the very end (goal weight of about 120ish).

I've never set physical goals for my body, only weight goals and usually exercise/calorie goals so this was a great idea. I really wanna set these goals up to include all areas of the words "fit" and "healthy" so think it'll be a spread of different things I want to accomplish. Will get those posted when I come up with them.

Back and forth... and back again

After my post yesterday, I got some really good comments and feedback regarding my "discovery" of a potential reason to why I wasn't losing weight. I wrote most of that post over the weekend but had it scheduled to run yesterday, which it did. Without even giving it a second thought, I kinda had to ask why did I want this information. Most of the comments I received were more or less along the lines of, "Why does it matter?". And I couldn't be more happy with that response because it doesn't matter! Plus I love tough-love much more than "it's-okay-you'll-do-better-tomorrow" type of comments so keep 'em coming!

Here's what I wrote in my comment section yesterday, after I posted:

Add to say that the last couple comments hit home for me. After I wrote this post (which I composed over the weekend) I realized that all this information doesn't make a difference. I think I was looking for an excuse to why I haven't lost any weight since the beginning of the year.. sad, huh? I think my main point about this post was to lead back to the fact that I think I may be taking in more calories than necessary. Yeah, I haven't been counting calories for the last several weeks, but before that I was sticking to a cal intake of no less than 1600 (based on the "average") but I was so worried about going below that 1600 number. I think I just to need find what works for me, even if it is a little lower than average. If it works for me and I can still continue to bring it, then that's what I need to do, right?

So a lot of what I wrote yesterday had to do with the fact that I think I was searching for a reason to why I wasn't changing: weight-wise and body fat wise. But that's all it was, a reason or excuse for myself! I was hoping I'd find somethig that told me I was eating too much calories for my body size because per my nutrtitionist/personal trainer, I should eat all 1600+ calories everyday, even if I'm not hungry so that's what I was doing. But no more.

I gotta start listening to my body and just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm not.

With that said, the best thing for me right now is to have a plan. Exercise plan is to still continue the BFL program but I need to get back on a sound nutrition plan. Enter my Bodybugg... again. It was a pretty expensive investment so the least I can do is use it to it's full advantage while I have the free membership to the site. I'm gonna stay away from counting calories but will be wearing and logging my bugg daily to just get an estimate of calories burned.

I tend to start dropping weight when I get an average burn of 2300/day so that's what I'll aim for.

Should I listen to the "average" info?

I have my B.A. from a 4-year college - which actually took me 6 years to get, but who's counting - but I swear, the amount of research, reading, looking up, and soaking in of information I've learned on this healthy journey is WAY more than my years in college! There's so much info out there but since the beginning, I've always wondered something:

Should I, your non-average American, be following the "average" info out there?

I am an Asian-American and according to the United States statistics, I am a minority in this nation. And a woman nonetheless. The U.S. has health stats and figures (and websites!) that differ for women from a minority group so should I be looking up health info for an Asian-American woman rather than follow all the "average" weight/BMI/RMR/calorie intake/body fat % stats we usually go by?

I've always wondered that but I ask now because I've been going at this for over a year and half now and although I've lost a lot of weight following the "average" info, I've come to a point where my progress has stalled. I know I've had an off week here or there, but to date, I haven't lost ANY weight since the beginning of the year. Also, according to my monthly 4-point caliper readings done by two personal trainers at my gym, I'm 34% body fat. It's not that I'm in denial or don't believe I still have fat to lose (I KNOW I do!), but when I look at other women with a body fat % of about 30%, I don't think my body composition is anything like theirs.

I'm no scientists or health care professional, but it would seem that my stats would differ slightly than what the average - dare I say it, Caucasian - woman's stats are.
(I don't want to offend anyone but I'm not sure what the politically correct term is for the majority of people in the U.S. I've seen white ethnic American or European American, but Caucasian seems to be the most common so I'll stick to that. Again, I don't mean to offend anyone.)

The best analogy I can think of, which may not be a good analogy at all, are dogs - or any type of animal. We know dog breeds range from sizes to different body compositions, which is why each breed has different feeding requirements/amount of exercise/health stats. They're still all dogs in the general sense, but each breed is different. Couldn't that be the same for each race? I mean if the average Asian woman only grows to 5'2" but the average Caucasian woman is 5'5" why do we follow the same guidelines? Three inches may not be a huge difference, but I'm 5'0" so you're talking about a 5 inch difference from the "average". According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), all 5-feet of me is overweight with a BMI of 26.4. Add 5 inches to me and 5'5" me has a normal BMI of 22.5... that's a big difference.

I haven't done too much research into this, but from what I've been reading on the World Health Organization site, different countries/races have different BMI guidelines. INTERESTING!

Here's a chart I found for an adjusted BMI for Asian-Americans. For me, that's a 10-lbs. difference from the "average" BMI:

(source)

I'm still trying to find the credibility of these numbers but good to know I might be on to something.

And don't worry, I'm not caught up in BMI numbers cause I know they don't reflect body composition, BMI was the only example I could find differences in for minority/majority groups in America. But if BMI can be different, then maybe calorie intake, body fat % measurments, and other health stats could be different for the non-average American.

If anyone else has info or know of any good sites, PLEASE let me know.

One month down, two to go!

Today is day 26/84 for the Body For Life program and tomorrow marks 4 complete weeks under my belt. 4 weeks already!

Remember how well I started the week with my workouts? Well I spoke WAY too soon cause this is how my week went:

S: Cardio X + 60 min jog/walk
M: OFF
T: 20 min elliptical + full body workout
W: OFF
Th: OFF
F: OFF

Yup! Today just started and I'm pretty sure I won't get a workout in because I have some family stuff going on right now. Nothing to worry about but my grandpa went into the hospital for pneumonia this past weekend and so I have family in from the outer islands and it's just been busy.

Wednesday I had my entire afternoon planned out to a "T". Get home, cook an early dinner, visit my grandpa in the hospital, hit the gym with Anthony, then get home by 9:00. As I was cooking my lemon salmon and steaming my fresh broccoli, my aunty called me and insisted that we come over for dinner. I told her we couldn't make it because we had a busy schedule that night but at the last minute, changed my mind since I don't get to see them often. As I put my healthy dinner away I got dressed in my gym clothes, thinking I'd hit the gym after dinner even if that meant getting home after 10:30. Well, dinner - which was greasy Chinese take out! - turned to conversations with drinks - which I had one - and a crash-course Windows 7 tutorial for my parents. I didn't end up leaving their house until about 10:30 so there was no way I was making it to the gym. I was actually bummed about it too!

Yesterday I didn't work out but again I meant to. I was so tired when I got home, I hit my bed to just rest a quick 5 mins. 5 minutes turned to 10, 10 minutes turned to 15, and 15 minutes turned into 2 hours! And to make it worse, I wasn't even sleeping! Just dozing in and out of sleep because I wouldn't let myself take a nap because I knew if I did I could kiss my exercise time good-bye. So basicially I was up just lying in bed for two hours! What a waste of time!

(source)

And what's my early excuse for not working out today? Hospital visit and family dinner followed by games and drinking - which I'm not doing this time - which will last almost all night. And why can't I go to the gym before or after all this? Because Anthony works tonight and he has the car from 4:30 - 12:00a, which means I go straight from work to my parents' house so I can't workout at my place first. No way for me to get to the gym after either. Pretty lame excuses but it is what it is. I'm going to try and get a run in when I'm at my parents' house but the weather has been rainy and wet all week long so we'll see. Pathetic... I know!

I'm so tired of making excuses for why I can't workout or eat right!

Instead I need to think of reasons why I CAN!

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Can I also say that I'm a little bummed about this? I never got confirmation that it was an April Fool's Day joke but I assumed it was. I'm not bummed about the huge 128 oz. being a joke but I am bummed about Starbucks not rolling out the little 2 oz. version. I actually thought it was a brilliant idea! Imagine craving your favorite high calorie Starbucks drink and going in, paying some ridiculous price (as it always will be, right?) but being able to get a shots worth of your drink. Kills the craving and saves you some major calories.

I'm not a Starbucks consumer at all strictly because of the calorie/nutrition content of their drinks but that 2 oz. size would have brought me back as a customer.

I'm just saying...

New loves!

Wow it's been a while since I got back on here.

Had a really busy weekend and actually stayed on track with my BFL and 20-day Eating Clean Challenge. HOW BOUT THAT?!

I did jump on the scale this morning and I gotta say I'm a little shocked. I'm showing 137 which is a gain of 3 lbs. since I started the BFL program on March 14. Hmm... the number isn't getting to me because I feel great and my clothes are feeling bigger so that's what counts for me. The boyfriend even mentioned he could tell I was slimming down from my side profile view! So the scale is no biggie.

Heading into week 4 of BFL was good. Sunday I did P90X Cardio X + 60 min jog/walk with my dog and took my break day yesterday. Today I have a full-body workout planned with my personal trainer so starting off the week strong. With the BFL program I've found that I'm becoming obsessed with working my arms. Last week I got in 4 workouts for my bi's and tri's: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I LOVE working my arms, especially since I've fallen in love with barbel curls and high-pulley curls (thanks, Boomer!).

(source)

DAMN IT, why do I always have to fall in love with equipment I don't already have at my home "gym"? Well I have been doing one-arm high pulley curls with my resistance bands and the door attachment and it works wonderfully!

The best thing I like about BFL is still the awesome pump and DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) I get. No other workout or time in my life have I had it. BUT to be fair to the other programs out there (mainly my love, P90X) it could be that I wasn't lifting heavy enough at the time or doing it with proper form or I just didn't care. But either way BFL was the right choice for me during this part of my journey.

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On the other side of the equation, my nutrition has been spot on with only a few mishaps here and there. And I'm talking minor, take one-bite-only type of mishaps except for yesterday. Yesterday I treated myself to a McDonald's vanilla cone and loved every single calorie of it! Here's a pict of some of my normal eats during this challenge:

Start most of my mornings off with my Shakeology mix.
If you haven't tried a handful or two or spinach in a smoothie, it's wonderful. Can't taste it at all and another way to get in more veggies!

B.I.G salad with some kabochoa and chicken.

Shakeology plain.

Typical dinner of brown rice, veggies, and chicken.

Favorite snack: 1/2 sweet potato and protein powder

Steamed edamame.

Egg-white veggie scramble w/ low-fat feta an cayenne pepper.

Hmmm...

I pray this is an April Fools Day joke because I don't think this will help out our obese nation!

(source)

This is the actual size cups Starbucks will be rolling out this fall... 128oz for their largest size! REALLY?! 128oz of a white chocolate frappuccino will now cost you 3150+ calories!
YAY!