10 Pounds Down

Well, it's happened. I've fallen off the squat and abs challenge. I don't know what it is but I get about a week and a half in and I stop. I guess it wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy to complete. 

So, maybe I didn't have a win with squats and abs, but I'm doing great on the weight loss program! As of today, I've lost 10.8 pounds. My official weigh-in is Monday...so this measure can change. But no complaints from me! I'm an instant gratification kind of gal, so seeing results so soon definitely works for me. 

I've found a new routine in getting up for a 5:15am workout most weekdays. I wake up, get dressed, move the furniture, set up the zoom, and then sweat like hell! I never thought I'd enjoy working out at home. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, there's so much this year that I never thought I'd enjoy and then did. 

If you were peer into my windows in the morning, you'd see me leaping and flailing around. I'm sure it's quite comical. I have trouble keeping up, especially when the routine switches quickly to the floor. And there's plenty of exercises that I'm just not able to do. But that will come with muscle development. I've also been trying to get out for a 30 minute walk at least once per day. 

In addition to working out at home, I've continued to explore Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I did three short hikes last weekend and saw 9 bighorn sheep! One of the hikes was out to a town, St. Thomas, that was submerged when the lake filled in. 

I'm taking a class this semester too. It's Arizona Constitution and Government. I figured it could help me prepare for my fellowship experience later this year. It's the first week, and of course, I'm putting pressure on myself...that's just me though. I've had points this week when I've considered dropping the class. Not that I don't want to take it, but it's not like I need to add to my plate. I've never exactly been known to remain idle for too long though.

In the meantime, I'm plugging along and doing well.

Today's Challenges:

• I have a short paper due tomorrow and not enough time to finish it
• I'm freaking out that I'm going camping next weekend and have so little time to do my home work

Today's Wins:

• The class material is so interesting!
• I've lost 10 pounds!!!

Week 1 Complete!

My first week on this new weight loss journey is complete and I still feel energized, like there's a light at the end of the tunnel! The light is distant, but it's there. 

Today is the start of Week 2, and I'm off to a great start! I went for another hike near Lake Mead, this time on the Historic Railroad Trail. The trail itself is pretty easy and goes to the Hoover Dam, which happens to be one of my favorite tourist places. Between the hike and walking around the dam, I managed to hike just over 9 miles. Let's just say, I'm a bit sore, but...

In terms of the weight loss plan, it's a FANTASTIC start to the week! This plan requires that you burn 2000 per week through physical activity. Today's hike, according to the tracker in my phone, burned over 1000 calories!

I've also been keeping up with the squat and ab challenge. Yesterday was a rest day and today needs to be one too. 9 miles is wonderful, but I don't have it in me for squats and sit-ups after that. I'll pick it back up tomorrow.

Today's Challenges:

• I didn't plan my food well and was pretty hungry during the hike
• I've been fighting food cravings today because of not eating enough early in the day

Today's Wins:

• I lost 4 pounds this week!!!!

Start Strong!

Day 1 SUCCESS!!! I feel so energized today! Mostly mentally, but physically too. I was up at 4am to get my living room in order for a zoom exercise class at 5:15am. What fun!! It was a tough class, but that's to be expected since I'm not particularly in shape and the choreography is all new to me. I enjoyed it, that's all that matters. I think one of my favorite things about the class was that the instructor reached out on Facebook after to welcome and encourage me to join the class again.

For the food, I tried some of the new entrees. One completely sucked and the other was pretty good. I thought the yucky one would be good when I ordered it. I ordered 4. Now I'm stuck needing to eat all 4 in the next 2 weeks. I should probably just eat one per day for the next 4 days and get them out of the way. And I'll need to drown them in hot sauce. 

Anyhow, the HMR plan has this great app to track food, water, and exercise. I haven't tracked my water before and I remember how they used to tell us that sometimes when we feel hunger, it's actually thirst. Well, I'm going to take this opportunity to increase my water intake. 

The app really makes it easy. Each day, 3 shakes/cereals, 2 entrees, and 5 fruits and veggies are the minimums. For exercise, it should work out to a minimum of 2000 calories weekly. I ended up eating just over 1200 calories today. The best part though was that I didn't feel hungry or like I was missing out on anything. 

I'm a big geek and track this all separately on a spreadsheet too so that I can capture more detail than in the app. 

Today's Challenges:

• early morning gym class - my back is stiff in the mornings

Today's Wins:

• stayed "in the box"
• LOVED the gym class and working out first thing in the morning

Food Arrived!

 My food arrived today!

Trust me, it's better than it looks. 

I'll be starting the HMR program a day earlier than originally planned. I feel like I've got a good plan in place so far. I know I'll need some tweaks, but I've got some good momentum and I'm feeling lighter about it, if that makes sense. It's amazing how positive and freeing it feels to have made a decision AND have taken action on that decision.

I'm still not completely clear on how to meet the 2000 calories of exercise per week. Not because I can't do it, but because that feels like it will be the biggest change and will require me to change my routine. I'm taking this planning in small chunks. This will allow me to not feel overwhelmed and help me not feel defeated if I miss something. This morning, I got up a little after 4 and was at the gym around 5:15. I did about 30 minutes of exercise. Not huge, but a great start!

So much of this past week has been about "shaping the path" so that getting started is easy. Today, I tested out hooking my laptop up to the tv so that I can more easily attend gym classes by zoom! Tomorrow morning at 5:15am is a zoom class called Strong Nation that I'm planning on trying. It's described as a high-intensity class and should be challenging but satisfying.

Today's Challenges:

• had to visit 2 stores to buy a bottle of water for the gym
• had to deal with feelings around doing a different work-out than I planned

Today's Wins:

• made it to the gym!!
• received my food!
• attended my second HMR class

Another day, Another hike

Great hike today!! I went out to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and hiked the Liberty Bell Arch trail. The first portion of the hike was forged by water, and the rest by fire. I love this contrast! The trail starts in a wash and just as it enters a slot canyon, there's a turn off to the arch. The path to the arch winds through and over an amazing volcanic landscape with rocks of all colors! There's even a mine shaft with abandoned WWII era equipment. 

Liberty Bell Arch

 

Abandoned mine equipment

Bridge at the Hoover Dam

Awesome freaking cactus!

The mountains in this landscape rise up like cathedrals. Looking out over these vistas was awe-inspiring. 

All in all, a good day. Got some exercise. Got some additional information on more hikes from the Visitor Center. Actually, that was pretty cool. The woman I spoke with recommended another slot canyon hike and told me about a hike to a ghost town that was flooded when Lake Mead was formed. 

Today's Challenges:

• the day's to-do list was not completed

Today's Wins:

• I'm on my way to fitting exercise into my days
• hiked about 5.5 miles today
• my Christmas tree was taken out and recycled
• have my alarm set super early to get to the gym in the morning

First Day Hike

2021 is here and First Day came and went...It seems I'm starting a new tradition of going on a First Day Hike. This is year 2 of the new tradition. You can check out a description of this year's hike of the Camp Beal Loop trail here. 

Knowing that I'm about to embark on a new weight-loss journey in just a few days, I've been "shaping the path" (thanks Brothers Heath!) to make incorporating exercise into my day that much easier. Some of this is just as simple as getting a little bit of exercise - going for a hike for example. I've also started a squat and abs challenge. I'm only 2 days into that. We'll see how that one goes. And, of course, I re-joined my gym. 

When it comes to food, I have some items I need to remove from the house. I've slowly started doing this. Very slowly. This one is more difficult. It's called Environmental Control, or EC. Basically, I've got to get the snacky foods out of the house. I also realized that I'll need ice and to make room in my freezer. I've reorganized and have trays full of ice. Tomorrow is my day to make a shopping list. I'll need frozen fruit to make smoothies out of the shakes and plenty of vegetables! 

Clearly, I've had a bunch of to-do items buzzing through my head. I'm basically breaking it down into small bites and doing a little bit each day. 

Today's Challenges:

• completing all the cleaning items I wanted to do 
• dealing with the parade of to-do items running through my mind

Today's Wins:

• planned a hike for tomorrow!
• chatted with a friend in the laundry room
• successfully packed and re-organized the Christmas decorations

A step toward exercise progress

Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly...

It may not seem so, but I made important progress toward my weight-loss goal today. The program I joined focuses on both calories in and calories out. Calories in is pretty easy. At least, they make it easy and basically provide a formula to follow. Calories out is more difficult. It's exercise. I like exercise. So why's it so difficult? Well, it's always harder to start than it is to keep going. It's a good thing that another focus of the program is planning for challenges. 

2020 brought so many challenges, and exercise was only one. My gym closed for a bit last spring. Turns out, when they re-opened, they did not automatically reinstate everyone. Not a problem, because I wasn't ready to go anyway. Well, I rejoined today! And guess what. They purposely schedule the high impact classes outside and offer classes by zoom! The woman who reinstated my membership also said that very few people attend first thing in the morning, so it would be a good time if my schedule permits. 

Just getting this part done and picking up a schedule feels like a big action step and like I have a bit more momentum. I'm getting excited to start thinking about getting back into exercise! I think I'll spend some time this weekend figuring out how to use my tv as a monitor for my laptop to take zoom gym classes...

Today's Challenges

• need to do more planning...my head is actually abuzz with this one

Today's Wins:

• re-joined the gym!
• accomplished everything on my to-do list for the day
• saying a final "fuck you" to 2020