Grizzly Flats Fitness Challenge

I have not updated in a long while, but I am still doggedly pursuing fitness!  On May 12, I went on a pretty intensive diet and no, I am not afraid to use the word "diet" even though it is a way I will likely be eating for the rest of my life.  To me, diet means the way you eat, not the way you eat for a while.  I cut way back on portions and made sure I ate at least something small every 2 hours.  Overall calorie intake for the day is targeted to 1800 calories or less, but I actually shoot for 1500 and usually don't pass that limit.  I gave up all but 2 diet soft drinks a day, which is a huge decrease, and upped my water intake considerably.  I started taking cinnamon and chromium picolinate supplements to regulate my blood sugars.

So far, I have lost 13 pounds and 2 dress sizes since the 12th, which is the most I have ever lost in one dieting attempt.  I did not do any exercise until this week when I began doing the time crunch segments of the Extreme Makeover DVD, which are around 30 minutes long.  I was really surprised at how much easier it was to do them with the extra weight gone.  I look forward to seeing what it is like with even less weight holding me back. 

I really look forward to the completion of this process, but it is just that...a process... and it doesn't happen over night.   It will likely take me anywhere from many months to a couple of years to get to where I want to be, but I know that I will and that feels good.  I have not yet felt a moment of wanting to give up or not pursue this goal any more.  I am no longer challenged by heavy cravings or emotional eating responses.  That went away after the first 3 days for the most part and the first week almost completely.  Now it's just eating to not be hungry any more rather than to satisfy some kind of emotional need or appetite eating.  I do quite enjoy the taste of food and eating was very recreational to me, which is how I got to the point where I am now.  That means I have to behave differently and find other ways to entertain myself.

I expect to also be doing a great deal of walking this summer, although that has not yet begun.  I still do not enjoy exercising, but I know it is vital to my success, so I do it anyway.  I figure I can devote 30 minutes a day to becoming more fit and have the remaining hours to do what I actually do want to do.

So that's where I am now in the process.

Katrina and I weren't able to connect today, I tried to ride my bike, I made it about 1/4 mile, then came home to my bean, I did the back workout, all told I only exercised about 20 minutes, but hey, it's something....

That's my story and I'm stickin to it.......

Andie

 We did yoga yesterday together, I felt better almost immediatly.  Today we weren't able to connect, so I tried out my new "Bean" that my little girl got me for mothers day, I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow!  It is weird, you lay on this thing and you make barely a movement and your abs start feeling like they are burning!  There are all kinds of exercises to do on it, and depending on how you lay on it it can be easier or more difficult....You can exercise every muscle group on it, I thought it was an "ab" device, but I was wrong!  While I did the 30 minute total body workout I felt soreness from yesterday's yoga.  It feels better to be trying again!

That's my story and I'm stickin to it....

Andie

 I haven't done a thing since the big walk, so it has been 8 days since my last workout.  I'm tired, sore, my back hurts....It is so not worth the hour a day to do anything but work out.  I'm exhausted, I have a lot going on, but so does everyone else on the planet, I have to find time to "just do it" for myself!

My friend came up the other day, he has lost a bunch of weight, he doesn't look like the same person.  He started eating better somewhere around November and immediatly dropped some pounds, then he started working out, granted he works out 2 hours a day, but he was skinny, I mean high school weight.  Here I am plugging away for 2 years and have lost all of 4 pounds, and I'm sure a few inches here and there, but it isn't noticable to anyone but myself, and he just strolls in and is a different person,   These are the results I had hoped for for myself, so I am happy for him and all, but it just doesn't seem fair that men lose so differently.  

So, right now, at 5:28a.m. I have to hop in the shower, the boys have a baseball game an hour and a half away and they have to be there before 8a.m. (this is the only game this horrific!)  I hate mornings!!!!!!

Andie

I walked with my hubbie and our little dog, too!  We went to a local swimming hole three miles away from our house.  It is mostly downhill on the way there until you reach a dirt road, and then there are knarly uphill climbs, I did o-k, I had attempted before but didn't make it the last 1/2 mile or so, so I'm glad I made it "all the way" today!  I hit my mental block only 1/4 mile away from our house, where I just didn't want to take one more step, but I did make it!  So did our little dog, but he did have to ride in my hubbie's backpack for a little bit, I never would have thought a shi tzo would be up for going that far, but he did prove me wrong!  So, it was six miles, we left here at 9:45, and got home at 12:30, we stopped and hung out for a bit, it was fun.  My hubbie has recently lost 25lbs without dieting or exercise, which ticks me off, since I've been making an effort for almost 2 years now and lost 4lbs, he thinks he probably lost weight today.  Ugh!  Men!

So, I'm tired..........

Andrea 

  So, my son's baseball team had batting practice on Monday, they set up their pitching machine and all the kids got to go through somewhere around 30 balls each I would guess, I thought I'd be all bad and show those little suckers how it was done.  Problem is, I played slow pitch softball, umm, baseballs are smaller, and surprise of all surprises they travel a bit faster, also.  Needless to say I only hit a few, it was embarassing!  It is a workout, it takes a lot to get your whole body around to hit that thing!  And now my arm is so sore I can barely drive my stick shift!  But, it was fun, and now I'm obsessed, I want to play softball again.  I can't wait!

We were able to get together on Tuesday for yoga, it felt great to stretch out, it was really nice.  Today Katrina and I both had things to do, so hopefully we will be able to get together tomorrow.  Otherwise, I'll do a video here at home, I'm enjoying the results of staying active, my stomach is really getting smaller, my back is on the mend, and I just feel better for the most part.

I did attempt to jog on Monday also, I can't seem to make it more than once around the track, but I'm going to try, try again.  A little guy around 13 made it around 4 times, and was really excited it was the first time he had run a mile all at once, I can do it!!! 

That's my story and I'm stickin to it.......

Andie

I'm taking a break from my day to update.  On Friday, we had our last bingo for the school year for G FORCE which meant I was on my feet for 7 hours straight for the most part including set up and clean up.  On Saturday, we had our Grizzly Flats Craft Fair and I was on my feet pretty much nonstop from 8am until 3pm.  Yesterday, Jackie and I worked at the Diamond Springs Swap Meet from 6:30am until 2:00pm.  Even though I changed off shoes each day to redistribute the pressure of standing all day, when I woke up this morning, I could barely walk from the soreness in my legs and a re-flare of an old case of plantar faciitis.  On top of that, I started my period and was cramping like mad, so my back and lower abdomen were a wide belt of pain.  It is so frustrating that after a menstrual lifetime of having mild to no cramps, as I am moving through peri-menopause, they are absolutely tearing me up.  I got about 4-5 hours' of sleep for the past 3 nights, so I'm exhausted as well.

All that being the case, there was no way I could get through a work out today.  I'm just done.  Since 9am, I've spent my day cleaning my house, but it is very, very slow going.  I'm not even finished with the downstairs, which is partly because I'm moving so slowly and partly because a house with 5 people living in it has been completely ignored for 3 days straight. 

It's so cold, I actually started a fire.  I can't seem to get warm, so I'm wearing my flannel robe today.  I don't think I am getting sick.  I think I'm anemic from heavy flow.  The good news is that I feel so physically lousy that I've hardly eaten at all today.  I had some chicken breast pieces in a couple of small tortillas for lunch and that's been it.

I have hopes for tomorrow because I don't want to go any longer without working out.  I want to feel better and get back into the swing of things, but for today, I had to take care of myself to be able to do that.

So that's today.

 It's Monday, Katrina couldn't work out today, it is so hard to work out at home.  First of all, I have no room in my living room whatsoever, secondly I have a dog and a cat who are fascinated by me jumping around.  On Friday I accidentally stepped on my puppy, he was trying to "play" with my feet and he wouldn't go away, so I just continued working out, poor little guy...I really should update my gym pass so I can get down there when Katrina isn't available.  It is weird, I'm so used to having her work out with me, it just seems wrong to not work out with her....but I am determined to lose these saddlebags!  I cannot believe all the progress I have made, I hadn't really ever sweat before two years ago, and now I do on a daily basis, and it is an amazing feeling to use weights that I never thought I would be able to use.

That's my story and I'm stickin to it........

Andie

 We did the Extreme Makeover DVD again, yesterday we "took it easy" and did yoga, my arms are like jello right now, I absolutly cannot believe I am up to using the 10lb weights, 8lbs are our "light" weights...this from starting with no weights for lights and 3lbs for our "heavy" ones...I love seeing some progress, I try not to weigh myself a lot, I did take measurments a month or so ago, so I'm curious about where I am with that, but I'm not going to measure today.  I have to run to town....

That's my story and I'm stickin to it....

Andie

Andrea and I again did the Extreme Makeover workout and agreed that we will likely stick with it for a while.  It really did us in.  We were sore from yesterday, but we made it through the whole workout and felt accomplished and comfortable with the demands it made on us.  The effects we saw from this program before were significant and that gives us motivation to get back on it and stay on it.

We were pouring buckets of sweat after the first cardio segment and that told us we were doing the right thing.  One thing we like about this workout is that Geeky Boy Wonder only has us do a maximum of 15-20 reps of each exercise before moving on to something else, so there is no belaboring.  He keeps things moving at a really good clip, so if you hate a particular move, it's not going to last long.

My curse is jumping jacks and Andrea's is push ups. 

Monday is weigh in.  Wish me luck!

 I always feel like the opening act for the opening act with my writing next to Katrina's.......but since this isn't a competition for who can write the best, and is a motivator for me to check in and therefore actually have something to write about (that would be exercising), I'll just let it go.....but I just don't know how Katrina can make the simplest acts so interesting to read about!

O-k, so we did the Extreme Makeover DVD, like Katrina said, I like that it is kinda normal people on the DVD, they aren't always perfect, and the host is downright dorky, so it makes me do better I think, rather than trying to live up to the standards of other videos, the new Jillian video we got was a perfect example, three people as fit as you can get, with one of them doing "modifications" for beginners, first of all, that chick should not be so damn perfect, you know she doesn't need to modify at all. secondly, beginners just can't crank out that many push ups-geez!

Anyway, I'm pleased to say we are still going, and seeing results!  I did extra ab work just a bit ago (less than 2 months to get into a bathing suit) and plan on trying to tackle that darned track at the baseball field.  Of course, I eat even more than usual when I work out this much, and feel like I deserve a cookie for working out, so I kinda sabatoge myself, but I am feeling better, whatever works....

That's my story and I'm stickin to it.......

Andie

Andrea and I were able to work out together today for the first time this week.  We chose the Extreme Makeover DVD, having determined that we pretty much suck at self-led work outs. 



It has a "Best Results" day-to-day work out section for 5 days a week and honestly, when we followed that, we actually did get the best results we have gotten since we started this over a year ago.  Thursday's schedule on the DVD is upper body cardio and lower body toning.  It had lots of cardio involved in all of the sections and in a glowing illustration of how perfectly in tune we are, we had both come to the conclusion independently that although we despise cardio, it's what we both need most to meet our individual goals.  So yep, more cardio coming.

The work out was intense, but I don't think we ever modified or slacked off except for my usual inability to do jumping jacks because of the whole boobular issue.  Another thing we both started doing without consulting the other is to give intense mental focus and awareness to the muscles we were working at the time.  Normally, we work out, chat and catch up at the same time.  Today, even though we had not seen each other in several days, I found that I was really tuning into the muscles that were being worked and it really intensified the work out.  About 5 minutes later, Andie said something, I don't remember what, that told me she was doing the same thing.  It really made such a difference and in the impact of the work out and we came out of it all sweaty and fiercely proud of ourselves.

I'm tired of seeing no results.  I lost 8 pounds the first week I started working out (mid-January) and since then, have been moving up and down a 3-5 pound range just above that initial 8 pound loss.  I want to see that scale move DOWN again and keep going and the only way that is going to happen is for me to step up my game.  I need to work out more and eat less and eat better, period, so that's my goal and I'm fully invested in making it happen.

Yesterday, I went to the store and got lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.  That's one of my favorite things about Spring is the abundance of good, fresh food.  I am going to be steering away from processed foods and deal more with "live" foods, meaning foods that used to be alive.  I guess that means I am going to be eating a lot of dead things.  :)  I am also cutting way, way back on any sodas and upping the water intake yet again.  Yesterday, when I went out to lunch with Jackie Lou, I ordered a very nice grilled chicken and green apple salad and enjoyed it just as much as if I'd had the burger or steak sandwich I'd normally have.  I will be making much healthier choices from here on out and, I suspect, not feeling a particularly huge sacrifice as a result.  The main challenge is to get in the cardio and limit the grazing that happens when I'm emotional or bored.

Fortunately, I'm rarely bored.

So yep, all good news to report and onward and upward.

...and PS! ANDIE LOST 4 POUNDS!! YAYYYY!

I'm off to the monkey making portion of my day!

 Today I did an Extreme Makeover workout, I just did the time crunch abs workout because no weights were involved, the weights live at Katrina's.  She had some things to take care of today, I had things to take care of yesterday, but we are still plugging away!  I had such positive feedback this weekend, my little sister told me I looked skinny, and my hubbie said my outfit I wore to my little brother's wedding made me look super "scary" thin (but it was the outfit, trust me...).  It just motivates me to keep plugging on!

Andie

Andrea summed everything up perfectly.  Both she and I know that we are completely dedicated to fitness and even when real life gets in the way, which is bound to happen when you are combining lives as filled with variables as ours, we will persevere.  I don't have that sinking feeling any more when I know Andrea isn't coming or I can't be available at the time she can work out.  I used to get all kinds of visions of failure and even was dreading the summer when we would be swamped with kids and likely unable to work out together.

Now, I don't feel that way.  I love working out with Andie and enjoy it when we can team up, but I have this sense of complete, steady confidence that even when we can't, we are still individually progressing to fitness.  It will happen, it's just doing it in its own way.

Today, I decided to go simple on the cardio, so I ran up and down my stairs a bunch of times and got really, really winded.  That is SUCH a work out! You don't really feel it when you just fly up or down, but do it 9-10 times in a row and you'll really feel like you're doing something!  As much as I dislike cardio, I am feeling that for my particular goals, I need to do a lot more of it, so that is my focus during my non-Andie workouts.  Together, about the only cardio we enjoy is walking the hills, although I have yet to bust out the Richard Simmons videos (not DVDs, mind you) on her. 

Once the threat of rain/snow has passed, I want to set up the elliptical, the treadmill, the gazelle and the recumbent bike outside so we can circuit train again.  I don't have room for the equipment inside the house and it has been sitting in the shed all sad and alone this winter.  I can cover it with tarps and such to keep it safe, but it would be dumb to take it out before we know we're clear of snow.

I look forward to giving them a whirl again!

I didn't feel like I was at my best when we were doing our own work out without a DVD leading us.  I started feeling sick, which held me back, but I am not convinced that even had I been 100%, I would have pushed myself the same way as when we are competing with one another to finish a DVD workout. 

Like Andie, I'm disappointed with the 30 Day Shred DVD and previously had high hopes for it.  I am always willing to try out something new.  Who knows?  Maybe we haven't even found our favorite yet?  Suffice it to say, that wasn't it.

Still, Extreme Makeover, all 4 Biggest Loser workouts and some of the Prevention DVDs are plenty to keep us busy!  The good weather makes me want to get outside, so I am sure some walks are in my future as well. 

I am SO excited about the idea of getting new, smaller clothes, but I have some old favorites to shrink down into before that happens.  Just losing the one dress size so far has made me much more comfortable in what I have and that's reward enough for me right now.   

 We are really trying to work out together, it has just been hard lately, I am still trying to move forward.  I think we got together on Monday or Tuesday and kind of did our own thing, we did crunches on the fitness ball, used weights a bit, etc...Yesterday I went shopping for clothes for my step brothers wedding this weekend, and it was nice trying on the smaller sized clothes, and I found several things that fit well and made me feel good, which is just awsome, I can get really depressed after shopping for clothes, so this was a very nice surprise.  Of course, when I have lots of money to spend nothing fits me so I guess it makes since that when I'm on a very tight budget I actually find three or four great outfits I absolutly love.......and have to leave in the store.  We won't discuss the bathing suits I tried on....

So, Monday and Wednesday nights I jogged 1/2 a mile, I walk a lap, jog a lap, then walk, then jog.  I really hope to work up to 1/2 a mile at a time, and eventually a mile, I would be thrilled.  I also did a few fitness stations when I was done with my jog/walk.  Tuesday I helped a friend weed a client's yard, so that was pretty physical, up and down, I was sore on Wednesday from that a bit, so I am trying to make sure to do something every day, I need to step it up, I just have a few months until my beach vacation with friends that were there when I was 16 and teeny weeny, we have made a pact that no pictures will be taken in our bathing suits...but still.  

Katrina, gear up to kick some tail next week, we can do this!  Oh, and as for the 30 day shred, let me save you some money, do a bunch of jumping jacks, then push ups, then jumping jacks, then pushups, then maybe a minute of crunches, make it last 20 minutes......

Wow, I'm not complaining about my back, that means I must be on the right track!

That's my story and I'm stickin to it................

Andie

I have to say,  I am a bit disappointed in Jillian Michaels' "30 Day Shred" DVD.  I didn't check it out until Andrea was with me today because we're PARTNERS and that's just how we roll.  The cover promises that we can lose UP TO 20 pounds in 30 days.  When I got into the DVD options, I very much wanted to know things like "how often do you want us to work out in order to lose - potentially - this huge amount of weight in such a short time?" and "what exactly do you want us to eat and not want us to eat to lose - potentially - this huge amount of weight in such a short time?"  Of course, there were work outs on the DVD.  Three of 'em, in fact.  Each one is only 20 minutes long (?!) and each one is successfully more horrible than the previous one.  We started, as well we should have, at Level 1, but that comes in a minute.

I will admit to a minor girl crush on Jillian, although it is nothing like my man torch for beautiful (gay) Bob Harper, her co-trainer on Biggest Loser.  This motivated me to want to please dear Jillian, even through the DVD.  Shocked was *I* to get to the options menu and find that under "recommendations" (i.e. what to eat, how often to work out), there was a "recommendation" that we buy her damned book or go to her website and sign up for her (*cough*$4 a week*cough*) online program.  I mean, I already shelled out for the DVD!  Now I have to buy more stuff to get the program to work?  What th' eff? 

We did the work out, which is a few circuits of cardio, strength and abs.  I seriously thought I was going to stroke out or something.  I don't know what was wrong because really, none of it was any harder than what we always do.  Well, there was that whole thing of how we didn't work out all last week because of Spring Break and there was that thing about how I worked until 10pm, went to sleep at 11pm and got up at 5:45am.  Then there was that thing about how I just started my period and my life force is completely bleeding out of me by the bucketsful.  Then there's that thing about how I'm getting over some minor and blessedly brief intestinal bug.  So yeah, maybe that was it.  I could barely get weights over my head and my legs felt like they were just going to fall off my body and flop onto the floor of their own accord.  The whole day, I felt worse after working out rather than better like I normally do. Usually I feel accomplished and healthy and today I felt all lethargic and exhausted.  Plus, my back started getting sore part way through the day and radiating down my left leg, so THAT isn't good!

I have high hopes for tomorrow and yes, I will work out.  I didn't dare weigh yesterday because the scale hadn't moved last week and this week, I'm all swollen up like the Garfield balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I couldn't handle the bad news.

So yeah, I'm still doing it, but nature is mucking up the results at the moment.

Katrina leaves out the part about the Biggest Loser video where I started using 5 pound weights and she stuck with 8's.....

We did a new yoga video today, it was pretty hard, there were a few things I could not do, nor had I ever seen, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again.

We are on our way......

Andrea

I am shaking so much it's hard to type.  Andrea and I just finished a killin' workout from the first Biggest Loser workout DVD.  I know I saw this every time, but I tthink this is the hardest workout we have done.  I mean everything is burning and shaking and we finished about 5 minutes ago.  I felt like I was floating for the cool down because my appendages were so floppy and disconnected-feeling from me.  I started pouring sweat about 2/3 of the way through the cardio, just seconds after I proclaimed to Andrea that this wasn't really challenging enough for us.  Au contraire.



It was this one and it just utterly kicked our asses.  We did the low intensity (ha) cardio and the sculpt and shape.  It took us about 45 minutes, I'd say.  Coming out of it, we really felt as though we had accomplished something, but I didn't have the sick feeling I had after the Abs Advantage workout.  This was the sweaty, shaking feeling of having a good workout, but Abs Advantage gave me the "something's wrong here" feeling.  I am sweating inside my ears, my clothes are soaked and my hair is soaked and muscles are still really burning.

In short, YAYYY, we did good!!

I really needed it today and I promised myself that I would give my all to the poses instead of half-assing it like I usually do.  It really felt good to stretch everything out and connect with  myself again.

Tomorrow, we will be back to beatings, albethey moderate beatings because we save up our worst for Mondays and Fridays.  Maybe we'll even go for a walk before the weather turns off bad again.  I think it was last Wednesday that we were walking. 

My abs are really sore today, but hotshot Andrea's are not.  Every time we would stretch out our mid-sections, even for something mellow like cat post, my obliques and abs were screaming.  It doesn't hurt when I'm not moving much, just when they are over extended. 

I cheated and hit the scale today and found I'd lost another pound, so I am only 1 up over the 8 Iost last week, so that evens things out considerably.  I have high hopes for my re-weigh on Monday.

Onward and upward!

 I'm so excited I have a vacation planned with my girlies from high school!  We are trying to plan it for June, but with 4 busy moms and three of them working and coming from Arkansas it is difficult, but now I wanna look good!  I was a size one in high school, believe it or not, not that I would ever want to be that size again, but it seems like every time I see anyone from back then they say something about me gaining weight, it would be nice if I at least felt like I was looking good!

So, in addition to Katrina and I working out I'm trying to stay more active, I spent Sunday moving logs around our property, my husband says he "needs" eight foot logs, for what I do not know, since we do not have wood heat, but we stacked them in a nice neat pile, and I raked up pine needles and I have no soreness whatsoever, which is a huge difference from last time I raked.  I'm just feeling a lot better now!

I'm planning on walking again tonight around the track and doing some of the fitness stations, and we may play tennis, not that I know how, but hey, running around trying to hit a little ball has to help a little bit, doesn't it?  I'm doing so much better now that Katrina and I are in this together.  I'm glad it ended up working out for us both.  Next week is Spring Break and my Mom is coming up, so I'm not sure how that will work out, with all seven of our kids around, we may have to make it work on our own all week, I really don't know.  For now we are just taking it one day at a time....

That's my story and I"m stickin to it....................

Andie