Contemplating 16 +1 days of low-carb, high protein eating

Yes, the 17 day diet.

I’ve had three friends try and have success with this in the last three months. Their experiences ranged from one who just did the first 17 days (lost 8lbs) and then went back to her usual (she has gained 3lbs back) to another who has been at it since January and enjoys it now but will admit to more off-diet days than perscribed but still has lost 25lbs and her skin glows, glows!

My roommate has lost 11lbs in the first two cycles (about a month) and feels it mostly in her upped energy levels and settled digestive system and is getting back in clothes she hasn't in a while. She actually didn't think it would work or have the impact it did but tried it to support her parents who were starting it (they've since stopped).  She has another 4 pounds to get to her goal weight and feel that much more confident in a sassy dress she has for her brother's chichi wedding at the end of May. 

So this is something I’m looking at as I’d like to be 7 lbs slimmer (give or take) and then hold there. The idea being that I'll lose and over a month+ shake up some habits that I can keep.  

I rarely do anything spur of the moment, I take my time with decisions and changes and look at different angles and options (to a fault, I'll admit) so it'll be another few days before I decide if this is something I'll want to do. 

I know now I will need to figure out an adaptation for the days I have TKD... as seen below, the classes are intense. I think I'll have to break the guideline of no fruit after 2pm and have at least a banana before class.

Drop and give me 50 she said

In recognition of a special bday I'm writing out my physical activity designated to participate in Julie's birthday challenge.

It seems my coach was in cahoots with her as last week as he structured the class around sets of 50.  Here is a detailed description of my TKD class (fairly typical but no class is ever, ever the same)

•  Jump-rope (6mins – I’m an awful skipper so I may have only got 50 jumps in)
• water
• hurdle/hops
• sprints/zig-zags
• water
• partner up
• umpteen rounds of arm fakes and counter kicks
• sliding back, counter kicks
• sliding forward counter kicks
• water

Suit up in body pads

• one-legged front leg roundhouse – 50 each leg without putting down the other foot (made to 25 on the right leg, then had to put it down every 5-7 to 50, same pace for right leg)
• 100 kicks (50 left and right) – first 40 went fast, started to slow to 60…next 25 were painful and last 15 I could barely feel my legs.  The partner acting as target had to hold their arms above their shoulders to avoid getting kicked – resulting in burning shoulders by the end.
• With partner combo front leg, backleg, spinning kicks

Finishing core work

1 min planks (30 sec rest between each)

•  Front
•  Left side
•  Right side
•  Back (v-sit)
•  Back rotating v-sit.  

At one point one woman let down and said – I can’t. Coach said – sure you can just breathe through it – she responded with “I’ve given birth, I know about breathing through pain but this isn’t happening” – the over 30’s in the group started chuckling.   At the end we all (aged 15-63) just collapsed and were still on the mats for a while. I love that feeling!

And I also want to contribute my bellydance class to the special day – though it’s less structured and I don’t know the names or can describe much of what was done. Something like shimmy, shimmy, shimmy, shake it, shake it, hip bump, hip bump, snake arms, veils, shimmy, shimmy, shimmy, shake it. :-)
Happy Birthday Julie!

 

Hmmmm

That was a week ago – since then I changed my eating habits drastically from my farm diet of fresh fruits, veggies, eggs and pasta to a junk-food munching machine.  Snacking, margarine on things I usually eat plain.  I ate an entire family size bag of chips (and I’m more of a sweet than salty-treat person) in two days.  And it’s not cause I was feeling hungry but because it was there. And back in my normal life, at work I felt it was a little break from my day to day, a pause from whatever was stressing/confusing/challenging me and I didn’t want to think about.  

On the farm if I was feeling that way I’d take a minute and smell some flowers (literally), or play with a dog or pet a horse or mess about in the garden and pull some weeds or just a deep breath and look at the beauty around me.  I didn’t eat a lot, but neither was I hungry and I wasn’t fixated on food or when my next meal was. 

For me the beauty of vacation is to recharge and refresh the body and mind and I always take time to reflect some on my “truths”.  There are some things I learned there about stress and communication and perceptions, that I don’t want to forget. And I’m going to integrate some of those good eating and living habits into my “everyday” life.

So that's where I am (haven't checked but guessing back out of the jeans)

The jeans are on...

After a vacation/volunteer stint at an organic farm in the caribbean I am tanned and feeling fit. So I thought - why not try on "the" jeans and boom!  There they are.  I can walk, stand and sit in them.  They are a little tighter than I'd like and probably couldn't eat in them but I'll get there. 

This is a couple of weeks past my deadline but who cares, not I and not you - you all have been most supportive. 

On vacation

Haven't thought about calories or cardio or cellulite in 10 days - it's been lovely - hope you are well.

Running towards not away

Two years ago today my father died.  We were somewhat estranged (I’d given up trying to have a relationship with him earlier that year) but his death still hit me, hard. I internalized the shock and grief and it threw my immune and digestive system all out of wack. I cut my hair very short and started running more and more, until I was exhausted enough to sleep. 

Obviously this was not a healthy response.  The sad part of it is most people just saw resulting weight loss and congratulated me.  Only some close friends and the rare sensitive and observant teammate or coworker saw through it.

Since then I’ve made some changes, counseling helped me develop better ways of viewing the situation and dealing with stress. I moved to be closer to people who know and love me, take a gentler outlook to exercise, I found a less emotionally stressful work place. My iron and vitamin b levels are ever so slowly getting back to my normal and my hair is almost pony tail length. I liked it short and will do it again but from stylistic motivations this time. 

While I do want to lose some weight and start running again – this time I’m doing it from a position of strength, not desperation, and I’ll be running to enjoy it, to feel fit rather than running from my feelings, from myself. 

 

 

ps. this post should have gone up Thursday but blogger wasn't cooperating.

Good habits and another use for hockey tape

Hockey tape was the answer to my recent TKD problem of finding something to protect my feet but not land me on my behind, during last class's umpteen kicks. It kept the band-aid in place (friction burn from all the kick's last week) and allowed me to pivot.

So yay - and hockey tape is pretty ubiquitious in my rural northern town.  I also got over my fear of a certain kick (the move I tore my ACL on).  I was nervous, my hands were actually shaking before hand but after a few misses, I landed some strong ones and will only get better with practice.

Also after reading this article on creating routine and habits for success I'm making a few more minor changes. Making water drinking a habit (when I wake up, when I get in to work, before I leave work, etc.) and also taking a stronger look at my diet, I am a pretty healthy eater - veggies are some of my favourite things on the planet but I was also eatin more sweet treats than my body can handle if I want to lose weight. I'm of the philosophy that some are fine but I don't want to be counter-productive.