Ragnar Relay is going to have 2 team of former Biggest Loser contestants at the So Cal race in April. They are having a contest for 4 spots on those teams. You could either do a written essay or make a video. I thought a video would be more interesting. Here is my entry video:
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Week 3
I'm kicking myself today. I worked out and ate really well all week then blew it on the weekend. Fortunately my weight just stayed the same. I would have been more upset if' I'd gained. Pizza did me in on Saturday and I ate a bunch of treats I had sitting around the house. I don't normally have treats in the house.
Picking up and moving on. Hopefully I can channel that disappointment into working harder this week. Next time I make treats for someone else, I need to give all of them away or throw the leftovers away. Oh, they were so good though. Sigh.
Starting weight: 146
Current weight: 143.5
Goal: 131
Goals for this week
1. Limit special sugary/fatty treats to 2 for the week.
2. Work out 5x for 50 min
3. Make a list of challenges/weaknesses and come up with 2 possible solutions/action plans for each one
Picking up and moving on. Hopefully I can channel that disappointment into working harder this week. Next time I make treats for someone else, I need to give all of them away or throw the leftovers away. Oh, they were so good though. Sigh.
Starting weight: 146
Current weight: 143.5
Goal: 131
Goals for this week
1. Limit special sugary/fatty treats to 2 for the week.
2. Work out 5x for 50 min
3. Make a list of challenges/weaknesses and come up with 2 possible solutions/action plans for each one
Friday, January 21, 2011
Me on a diet
Anyone who knows me knows I love food. I love good, delicious food. I've found since I've been doing the weight lose challenge group, I've been eating better food. I slip into ruts where I stop thinking about what I'm eating and just stuff whatever in my mouth as I go, go, go.
There's a lot of negative baggage with the word "dieting." I would bet more people associate "hungry" with diet than "delicious." Actually I don't like the term dieting because it's too temporary. To lose or maintain a healthy weight it takes lifestyle changes. I'm adopting a term I heard recently--clean eating. To me, that means eating nutrient, delicious foods that are good for my body.
Technically I cheated the raw concept cause I added some baked chicken on the side for added protein. Gossip has a Vietnamese dish similar to this but it also has rice noodles and bean sprouts. Next time I'm going to add the noodles (also not raw, but I'm not all into a completely raw diet, but that's a whole different blog post. Moderation in all things.).
The dressing is rice vinegar, agave nectar, olive oil, & chili paste. Sweet, sour, and spicy--sigh. Next time I'm actually going to decrease the oil a bit and I think it will be just fine.
I'm trying not to get on my soap box, but I believe a part of the weight problem in the U.S. is that we don't have a healthy relationship with food. We fight food. If you're dieting food is the enemy. I read once that you shouldn't take a bite of anything unless you are enjoying it. Can you imagine how your eating habits would differ if you enjoyed every bite. To me that's not a free pass to eat all the rich foods I can, it's a challenge to find foods I enjoy that are delicious to me.
That also doesn't mean you can't ever eat anything high in sugar or fat. Moderation, moderation, moderation. I generally avoid fries if I eat at fast food 80% of the time. Do I miss fries? A little. But that 20% when I eat fries (and I only get them somewhere they are really, really good, I'm not wasting those calories on junk) I enjoy them even more. Distance does make the heart grow fonder. Psychologically, I'm not telling myself I can't have them so I don't crave them. And knowing that I'm going to enjoy them more than if I eat them all the time makes it easier to avoid as well.
Same with rich, creamy desserts. I don't waste my luxury calories on crap like packaged cookies or whatever (although sometimes I do indulge but only if I will really enjoy it), I like to save it for something that will knock my socks off. Going to Gourmandie's Bakery is like a taste of heaven. I believe Homer summed up my feelings about pasteries, "teacher, mother, secret lover."
There's a lot of negative baggage with the word "dieting." I would bet more people associate "hungry" with diet than "delicious." Actually I don't like the term dieting because it's too temporary. To lose or maintain a healthy weight it takes lifestyle changes. I'm adopting a term I heard recently--clean eating. To me, that means eating nutrient, delicious foods that are good for my body.
I took some pics of a couple of meals this week. I had grilled salmon with quinoa, sauteed mixed peppers, and a little homemade tartar sauce. I think the whole meal took me 20-30 minutes to cook. It actually looked better than this pic. So hard to get the lighting right in my house. I added some turmeric, salt, & pepper to the quinoa. Used almost no oil with the peppers. The salmon was cooked on my Foreman Grill (<3>
Yesterday I made a recipe I found from a FB group, Raw Recipe a Day. It's a Thai salad. Yikes, will I be making this again? Yes, yes I will. I'm salivating right now thinking about the leftovers I 'm going to eat later. It's basically napa cabbage with some julienned vegis (zucchini, cucumber, red peppers), herbs (cilantro, basil, & green onions), Thai peppers (couldn't find any so I used a serrano), and a fabulous dressing. It's fresh, delicious, cool, and spicy all at the same time. I love contrasting flavors/textures so I loved it.
Technically I cheated the raw concept cause I added some baked chicken on the side for added protein. Gossip has a Vietnamese dish similar to this but it also has rice noodles and bean sprouts. Next time I'm going to add the noodles (also not raw, but I'm not all into a completely raw diet, but that's a whole different blog post. Moderation in all things.).
The dressing is rice vinegar, agave nectar, olive oil, & chili paste. Sweet, sour, and spicy--sigh. Next time I'm actually going to decrease the oil a bit and I think it will be just fine.
I'm trying not to get on my soap box, but I believe a part of the weight problem in the U.S. is that we don't have a healthy relationship with food. We fight food. If you're dieting food is the enemy. I read once that you shouldn't take a bite of anything unless you are enjoying it. Can you imagine how your eating habits would differ if you enjoyed every bite. To me that's not a free pass to eat all the rich foods I can, it's a challenge to find foods I enjoy that are delicious to me.
That also doesn't mean you can't ever eat anything high in sugar or fat. Moderation, moderation, moderation. I generally avoid fries if I eat at fast food 80% of the time. Do I miss fries? A little. But that 20% when I eat fries (and I only get them somewhere they are really, really good, I'm not wasting those calories on junk) I enjoy them even more. Distance does make the heart grow fonder. Psychologically, I'm not telling myself I can't have them so I don't crave them. And knowing that I'm going to enjoy them more than if I eat them all the time makes it easier to avoid as well.
Same with rich, creamy desserts. I don't waste my luxury calories on crap like packaged cookies or whatever (although sometimes I do indulge but only if I will really enjoy it), I like to save it for something that will knock my socks off. Going to Gourmandie's Bakery is like a taste of heaven. I believe Homer summed up my feelings about pasteries, "teacher, mother, secret lover."
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Week 2
Week 2 went pretty good. I started school so I didn't have as much time for working out or I was just tired at the end of the day so my work outs didn't all happen. I didn't sit down and list all my reasons for losing weight. I thought about it but I never wrote them down. The eating part went well. I had meals planned and lots of vegis in the fridge for snacking on.
I lost 1 pound and at first I was a little disappointed but my goal is 1 pound a week so I'm right on target. None of my clothes are tight and more, so that's great too.
Starting weight: 146
Current weight: 143.5
Goal weight: 131
This week my goals are:
1. exercise: working out 5 days for 50 mins
2. nutrition: taking my thyroid medicine every day this week
3. motivation: write the reasons and benefits for losing weight and making a collage that I can hand somewhere I'll see every day
I lost 1 pound and at first I was a little disappointed but my goal is 1 pound a week so I'm right on target. None of my clothes are tight and more, so that's great too.
Starting weight: 146
Current weight: 143.5
Goal weight: 131
This week my goals are:
1. exercise: working out 5 days for 50 mins
2. nutrition: taking my thyroid medicine every day this week
3. motivation: write the reasons and benefits for losing weight and making a collage that I can hand somewhere I'll see every day
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Week one complete
Starting weight: 146
Current weight: 144.5
Goal weight: 131
I guess it was a good week. M-Th I ate well and got at least 30 minutes of exercise in. I actually was feeling really run down by Friday and didn't work out Friday or Saturday.
The hardest part was actually getting in enough calories. The nice part about eating lots of nutrient dense foods is they are lower in calories. I really ate delicious meals even though it was "healthy". We need a new word for healthy diet that doesn't have baggage. We should just call it standard or average. Hmm.
Anyhow, with all that "standard" eating I even had room for some ice cream for evening snacks. Not a bowl full, just a serving, but it was a enough to make me happy. I also had a jr burger and small fry once last week. Eating a healthy diet doesn't mean not ever having anything fun, it means keeping it in moderation and just making sure you're active enough for whatever you're shoving down your crawhole.
I bet if I had worked out friday & saturday I could have been down another half pound. Oh well, the goal is 1 per week so I still exceeded the weekly requirement. It's only been one week so my motivation is still feeling good.
I went to costco Friday and bought a vegi tray, mini peppers, dried cranberries, prunes, and granola bars. I'm stocked on treats for the duration of this thing almost. The vegis should last 2 weeks if they don't go bad first. I made a pasta thing last night with the broccoli and peppers and some whole wheat penne and chicken. Instead of adding a sauce I just used some herbs, a tiny little bit of sour cream to moisten it up, and some lime juice. It was really good actually.
Week 2 goals
Goal 1--track all foods eaten for 5 of 7 days for the week (this is a stretch for me, I usually do 3 or 4)
Goal 2--exercise 5 of 7 days this week for a minum of 50 min/day
Goal 3--I'm going to write down all my reasons & benefits for losing weight and make a collage of pics representing those things
Current weight: 144.5
Goal weight: 131
I guess it was a good week. M-Th I ate well and got at least 30 minutes of exercise in. I actually was feeling really run down by Friday and didn't work out Friday or Saturday.
The hardest part was actually getting in enough calories. The nice part about eating lots of nutrient dense foods is they are lower in calories. I really ate delicious meals even though it was "healthy". We need a new word for healthy diet that doesn't have baggage. We should just call it standard or average. Hmm.
Anyhow, with all that "standard" eating I even had room for some ice cream for evening snacks. Not a bowl full, just a serving, but it was a enough to make me happy. I also had a jr burger and small fry once last week. Eating a healthy diet doesn't mean not ever having anything fun, it means keeping it in moderation and just making sure you're active enough for whatever you're shoving down your crawhole.
I bet if I had worked out friday & saturday I could have been down another half pound. Oh well, the goal is 1 per week so I still exceeded the weekly requirement. It's only been one week so my motivation is still feeling good.
I went to costco Friday and bought a vegi tray, mini peppers, dried cranberries, prunes, and granola bars. I'm stocked on treats for the duration of this thing almost. The vegis should last 2 weeks if they don't go bad first. I made a pasta thing last night with the broccoli and peppers and some whole wheat penne and chicken. Instead of adding a sauce I just used some herbs, a tiny little bit of sour cream to moisten it up, and some lime juice. It was really good actually.
Week 2 goals
Goal 1--track all foods eaten for 5 of 7 days for the week (this is a stretch for me, I usually do 3 or 4)
Goal 2--exercise 5 of 7 days this week for a minum of 50 min/day
Goal 3--I'm going to write down all my reasons & benefits for losing weight and make a collage of pics representing those things
Monday, January 3, 2011
Weight Loss Game Plan
Sometimes it seems like it's the last 10-15 lbs that are the hardest to get rid of. Here's my game plan. It's not absolute but I think the closer I can stick to it, the better my results are going to get. I used calculations that came from my college nutrition classes that comes from nutritionists and and pro athletic trainers. If you are interested I can run some numbers for you specifically.
Starting weight: 146
Goal: 131
Time frame: 12 weeks
Total daily calorie intake: 2000
% of cal by meal
breakfast snack 1 lunch snack 2 Dinner Snack 3
20% 10% 30% 10% 25% 5%
400 200 600 200 500 100
That seems like a lot once I mapped it out but that is based on 60 min of exercise/day. Less intense days I may drop that down a little bit. I know if the past I have restricted my calories much lower and I think it totally messed my metabolism up.
Cardio workouts: 4x/week 45-60 min each (mainly from spinning,running, & step aerobics)
Strength workouts: 2x/wk 60-90 min each (1 weights/1 yoga)
That's the basic plan for the 12 weeks. Each week I will have different goals as well.
This weeks goals are:
1. Tracking everything I eat for 4 of 7 days.
2. Eating at least 3 vegitables & fruits (each) 4 of 7 days
3. 4 cardio workouts of at least 45 min total/day & 2 strength training of at least 30 min each
4. Walking to work at least 80%
Starting weight: 146
Goal: 131
Time frame: 12 weeks
Total daily calorie intake: 2000
% of cal by meal
breakfast snack 1 lunch snack 2 Dinner Snack 3
20% 10% 30% 10% 25% 5%
400 200 600 200 500 100
That seems like a lot once I mapped it out but that is based on 60 min of exercise/day. Less intense days I may drop that down a little bit. I know if the past I have restricted my calories much lower and I think it totally messed my metabolism up.
Cardio workouts: 4x/week 45-60 min each (mainly from spinning,running, & step aerobics)
Strength workouts: 2x/wk 60-90 min each (1 weights/1 yoga)
That's the basic plan for the 12 weeks. Each week I will have different goals as well.
This weeks goals are:
1. Tracking everything I eat for 4 of 7 days.
2. Eating at least 3 vegitables & fruits (each) 4 of 7 days
3. 4 cardio workouts of at least 45 min total/day & 2 strength training of at least 30 min each
4. Walking to work at least 80%
2011: Return of the Viking Woman
I don't really do New Year's resolutions but there is something about the changing of one little digit in the date that drives me to make some goals or challenges for the year.
1-Viking Man Part II
I watched the Kona Ironman and got all pumped up again to do an ironman. However, I'm just barely smart enough to know I won't have time to train for it and work and go to school so it's not in the picture for 2011. I do want to take another try at the Vikingman 1/2 ironman though. Due to weather conditions I added about 30% to my predicted time. It took something like 9 hours 50 mins. Crazy. So I want to go back and get closer to a predicted time of 6:30:00. I really need to get my time down to around the 6 hour zone if I'm going to be able to finish an ironman in time. Sadly, they changed the race to the same day as Peach Day's. I've run that 10k 7 years in a row.
2-Century ride
Instead of a marathon, I'm going to focus a little more on the bike and go for a century ride--100 miles. I'm doing the Tour de Cure again so that will probably be it.
3--International travel
We didn't get our trip in 2010 so it must happen in 2011. Italy is still on the short list. So is New Zealand, Prague, Vietnam, and Peru/Manchu Pichu.
4-Perform with jazz band
I put a little jazz group together and we have been practicing on and off throughout 2010, but school really, really sucked up my free time and will and energy. It's going to happen though. I should probably set a date and send out invites so I'm held to it.
5-Learn to play the Yukalele
6-Hike the Narrows
7-Finish my AAS
That's really all I have planned. I'm sure many exciting adventures will come up along the way.
1-Viking Man Part II
I watched the Kona Ironman and got all pumped up again to do an ironman. However, I'm just barely smart enough to know I won't have time to train for it and work and go to school so it's not in the picture for 2011. I do want to take another try at the Vikingman 1/2 ironman though. Due to weather conditions I added about 30% to my predicted time. It took something like 9 hours 50 mins. Crazy. So I want to go back and get closer to a predicted time of 6:30:00. I really need to get my time down to around the 6 hour zone if I'm going to be able to finish an ironman in time. Sadly, they changed the race to the same day as Peach Day's. I've run that 10k 7 years in a row.
2-Century ride
Instead of a marathon, I'm going to focus a little more on the bike and go for a century ride--100 miles. I'm doing the Tour de Cure again so that will probably be it.
3--International travel
We didn't get our trip in 2010 so it must happen in 2011. Italy is still on the short list. So is New Zealand, Prague, Vietnam, and Peru/Manchu Pichu.
4-Perform with jazz band
I put a little jazz group together and we have been practicing on and off throughout 2010, but school really, really sucked up my free time and will and energy. It's going to happen though. I should probably set a date and send out invites so I'm held to it.
5-Learn to play the Yukalele
6-Hike the Narrows
7-Finish my AAS
That's really all I have planned. I'm sure many exciting adventures will come up along the way.
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