Paying Attention

Today I set out to walk 20 miles.  The AWBC is only 2 weeks away, and you need to rest the last week, so this was my opportunity to really push myself.

I had breakfast, got dressed in my favorite wicking yoga pants and socks, put on my AWBC tee and stretched.  I got my water and my fanny pack (yup, I said it...) and had Sam & Gregg drop me off at the forest preserve at 8 am.

It was HOT.  Already 80 degrees at 8 am with high humidity.  But I was committed.  The first 10 were no problem.  Piece of cake.  I stopped for lunch (Gregg brought a picnic) and some Sam lovin'.  1/2 hour later, I was ready  to go again.

Okay, a bit more difficult this time.  It had climbed up to 90 degrees and this portion of the trail didn't have as much shade.  I was trying to stay hydrated but after a while (mile 15) realized I had stopped sweating and it was getting difficult to breath.  Then I started getting dizzy.  I sat down on a log and realized I was getting dehydrated and showing early signs of heat exhaustion.
In the past, I've had ice-baths, IVs and ER visits for heat exhaustion and dehydration.  So I KNOW it's a slippery slope.  I called Gregg and with big sobs asked him to pick me up.  Problem was, I was in the middle of the forest and it wasn't vehicle accessible, so I had to walk out.  About 2 miles later I met Gregg (literally) on the side of the road.  I had only walked 17 miles.
It took a couple hours of rest, 1/2 gallon of watered-down apple juice, a couple of handfuls of pretzels and a 45 minute cool shower, but I'm better now.  I'm very disappointed that I didn't finish the full 20.  But I'm glad I paid attention and didn't end up collapsed on the trail or in the hospital.
This was unusual weather.  We don't see heat and humidity like this until July/August.  In fact, last week it was 58 degrees when I started my training walk.  I seriously doubt it'll be 90 degrees with high humidity walk weekend.  I really think I can do the full marathon on Saturday and 1/2 marathon on Sunday.  Of course,I'm going to pay attention, and won't see it as defeat if I need a sweep (van takes you 2 miles to the next rest station) or the medical tent.  But I REALLY hope I can keep hydrated and healthy and finish the walk.

Where in the World is Sam's Mom?

Things have been incredibly busy over here.  I've missed blogging and missed all of your supportive comments.  I've missed seeing Zenful Mommy as regularly as I would have liked.  (WAY TO GO! on the 5k!!)

What's kept me away from all of you?

** working on my marriage: communication is really good and we've taken some "date time" for ourselves recently

** working on my parenting skills: giving Sam more boundaries, working on language, working on not hitting!

** working on ME!  physically & emotionally

** AWBC training.  Up to 15 miles on the weekend

** Bilateral knee cortisone injections (today!) which should help me with AWBC and general health through easier exercise

** working on WORK.  So busy, but aiming for good time management skills

** fitting in more family time ... really getting the most out of each hour of the day

** home improvement projects: we're doing the kitchen, basement & backyard.  80% of the work we're doing ourselves

WHEW!  That's a lot.  I do have details and will be sharing those soon, hopefully.  Obviously to get the above in, I'm cutting back on blogging (and reading the blogs of you lovely ladies...sorry.)

I'm hoping to get in some training walks with Zenful Mommy before Walk Weekend.  It's so exciting to be walking with such dear friends as Zenful Mommy, her DH and SIL.  I cannot wait!

What "self improvement" projects have you been working on lately?

90 days...to a new ME!

I did it, I completed 90 days! P90 is difficult, it was hard to do it everyday but I pushed thru it. On the days where "life came into play" ( like being out of town, busy day and didn't have time to do the workout, or was plain tired) I did another form of exercise on that day or worked out on my day off.

My results:

Food wise: I made a life change, I no longer eat processed, fried or refined foods....YIPPEE!!Fruits, Veggies and a little dairy are a constant! I gave up pop and juices, unless 100% juice...and I drink water, water and more water.

I take daily supplements and have one protein shake a day (this also helps as I am vegetarian and gets in some needed protein)

Now to the good stuff, no the AWESOME stuff

Pounds lost: 15 pounds (and this was NOT a goal, just wanted to `get healthy and TONED)
Inches lost: 6 inches off of my waist (unbelievable)
6 inches off of my hips ( my skinny jeans are TOO BIG)
3 inches off of my chest (not sure if this is good or bad?)
4 inches off of EACH thigh

This is 19 inches ..... honestly I can't believe it...If I can do this, you can too!

I am taking a week off and then on to P90X!!

It's Amazing

It's Amazing what paying attention what you put in your mouth does for your mind, body and soul. My healthy commitments are: I gave up soda over a month ago, NOT MISSED! I gave up fried foods, NOT MISSED! I vowed to do mostly CLEAN EATING and I love it! In fact my kids are eating healthier...just shows that Leading by Example works.

Over the last week, I got in my 6 workouts and took my daily vitamins and ate well.My waist is shrinking and i am getting stronger by the day! I have energy now and am loving everyday!

Thanks to bookieboo for this challenge to lead a healthier lifestyle, you gave me the little push that I needed.

You were right

Gawd I hate admitting that. But you said (a collective you) that exercise would give me more energy and help me sleep more deeply at night. I fought you. I bitched about it. I made excuses. And then I did it.

And I must say, you were right. 

I've been getting about 150 minutes/week in via walking and such.  Nothing hard-core.  But today I did 40 mins on the elliptical at the gym (thank you LaGrange YMCA for adding 4 extra machines this summer!), a feat never before attempted because after 15 minutes my thighs were burning and quivering (and not in a good way, wink-wink, nudge-nudge.) But today I felt GREAT, and actually had energy to spare afterwards, which would have translated into time on the weight machines if not for the YMCA babysitting ending at 12 noon (it's a work-at-home day in between a ton of suburban meetings.)

Oh, and I'm sleeping deeper than I have in...well...forever. Now, part of that is the fact that Sam is sleeping, in his own bed, ALL NIGHT LONG. This has been going on for almost 2 weeks now and it is delicious. He does wake at 5:30-6 but he'll go back to sleep for another hour in our bed, which I'll do for the extra sleep. But the hours between 11p-6a are pure and utter bliss. Okay, so Sam may be waking up, but G and I don't know about it because we are sleeping so well. I think we would hear him...

The moral of this story? 2 points for you 0 for me. Maybe I'll be right about something else fitness related in the near future.

Portion control & 150 a week

I have now learned the art of portion control.  I had NO IDEA how much I was eating before.  300 cal of healthy food is still 300 cal.  I took about 3 weeks to measure things out and now can pretty much eye-ball it.  I can tell you what 2 c of spinach, 1/4 c nuts, 1 serving of pretzels, 1 inch cube of cheese all look like.  I've also been getting my 150+ minutes of exercise a week.  That represents 30 mins/day for 5 days.  Last week I got in 180 minutes and my goal for this week is 200 minutes. 

Overall, I've lost over 12% of my weight-loss goal (okay, I'm just gonna say it and get it out of the way, I'm trying to lose 100 lbs to reach a healthy, "normal" BMI.)  I've given myself 18 months to lose the weight...slow and steady wins the race and insures the weight will STAY OFF this time around.

Stats: down 12.5 lbs in 7 weeks and almost ready to go down a dress size from where I started.

How are you doing on your "get healthy" goals?

Guest blogger: House Call Fitness

From our friend Abby at House Call Fitness (where the personal trainer comes to YOU at YOUR house.  How cool is that??  Please check out this great woman's owned business if you live in the Chicago area!)

You say you don't have time to exercise? I beg to differ. Read on for simple strategies on how you can get your 30 minutes per day.
30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on most days of the week (think 5) is the minimum amount of exercise needed to achieve cardiovascular and health-related benefits. (Remember: more is needed if weight loss is the goal) The good news for people who are time crunched is that you can accumulate this 30 minutes throughout your day. You can break it up in to three manageable 10 minute periods.
Ideas for increasing your daily activity:
WALK ON YOUR LUNCH BREAK
PARK IN THE FARTHEST SPOT FROM THE STORE ENTRANCE
TAKE A WALK AFTER DINNER
WALK OR BIKE TO WORK
CLIMB THE STAIRS TO YOUR OFFICE INSTEAD OF TAKING THE ELEVATOR
ON YOUR 15 MINUTE BREAK, CLIMB THOSE STAIRS AGAIN


Here are a few random facts on stair climbing that I gathered from a recent article in the Intelligencer.
67% RISE IN STAIR USE AT A 10-STORY MIDDLE-INCOME HOUSING COMPLEX IN THE BRONX AFTER THE CITY STARTED POSTING "BURN CALORIES, NOT ELECTRICITY" SIGNS
33% DIFFERENCE, IN A HARVARD STUDY, IN MORTALITY RATES BETWEEN MEN WHO CLIMBED MORE THAN 55 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS A WEEK AND THOSE WHO DIDN'T
STAIR-CLIMBING IS A MORE EFFICIENT FORM OF EXERCISE THAN WALKING: TWO ADDITIONAL MINUTES OF STAIR-CLIMBING PER DAY (APPROXIMATELY 3 FLOORS) CAN BURN MORE THAN ENOUGH CALORIES TO ELIMINATE THE AVERAGE ADULT'S ANNUAL WEIGHT GAIN


WORKOUT WITH A BUDDY, TAKE TURNS MAKING UP NEW EXERCISES
EXPERIMENT WITH A NEW CLASS
PICK UP A FITNESS MAGAZINE AND TRY SOME NEW EXERCISES
PURCHASE A NEW WORKOUT VIDEO SUCH AS TAW KWON DO OR HIP HOP
TRY A BOOTCAMP STYLE WORKOUT
GO ON A WALK/RUN WITH A FRIEND
RUN AROUND AND PLAY WITH YOUR CHILDREN IN THE YARD


Take a look at this video clip and see the measures that some folks in Sweden went to in order to encourage people to take the stairs.

People are discouraged by boredom and encouraged by novelty. What can you do to make exercise more appealing to you? How about making it more fun?


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Since Zenfull Mommy and I are both doing the 2010 AWBC, we will be doing some long training walks together. YEAH! I'm also getting a friend at work to join our AWBC team: she lives just 2 miles from my house so we're going to start working out together as well. This will get ME motivated, as I cannot let these two amazing ladies down.

Yoga Chiropractics

Stretching is part of any well-balanced fitness program.  It helps prevent injury.  We know that.  But did you know that stretching is, in and of itself, exercise.  Serious, calorie-burning exercise?  Well it is. It's call YOGA.  In it's truest, most basic form, yoga is a tradition of physical and mental discipline.  Yoga is a calming of the mind through meditation + stretching positions called poses.  Its learning to breath, and moving your body with those breaths.  Believe it or not, there are loads of different ways to breath and each one benefits the body in different ways.  Similarly, each yoga pose benefits the different muscle groups in different ways.  Oh and balance...did I mention the balance?  For an extremely clumsy person like me, yoga is a god-send of balance perfection.  I swear I don't fall down as much as I used to, because I've learned my center of gravity and how to properly hold my posture.

But even if you don't want to meditate or do "hot yoga" at your gym with a bunch of sweaty bodies, you can do yoga.  It sounds intimidating at first, but it isn't.  Like anything else, it takes practice.  You likely already know some yoga poses and don't even know they are poses at all.  This site has a good run-down of basic poses along with pictures.  This blog has daily poses and breathing techniques ... like you are doing a group practice without the group.   

Back to the title of this post: yoga chiropractics.  Sam is quite a toll on my body, especially my back.  I didn't go from a 6 lb baby to a 20 lb baby gradually as birth moms do.  Nope.  I started w/ a 15 pounder.  That was TOUGH.  And it still is, as Sammy likes to be carried, a lot.  I have found some basic yoga stretches completely decompress my spine after a long day with Sammy.  I cannot begin to imagine the chiropractor bills I've saved just by learning and DOING a few simple yoga poses.
Now, I'm green, don't get me wrong.  I need to do yoga more consistently, and I need to branch out on my poses.  I used to do yoga practice at the gym once a week, religiously; but if you read this blog regularly, you'll know I'm afraid to go back to the gym and lose precious time w/ Sammy.  So I do it at home.  And that's OKAY.
The best thing about yoga is that it doesn't require equipment or anything special.  You can do it at home in comfy clothing, or at the office in your desk chair.  Its accessable and attainable.  And you feel the benefits immediately.

Have you ever done yoga or taken a class/bought a video?  Are you interested?  How has yoga helped you?

Wellness Wednesday Guest Blogger: The Exercise Game

Today's Wellness post is from Guest Blogger Marathon Mama. I met Marathon Mama in Ethiopia this summer.  Her dedication to herself and her family really impressed me.  She has, over the years FOUND that balance between her family and herself.  She is a HOTmama for herself, and her family. 
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Yes, You Do Have Time to Exercise!
Some of us love to exercise, some of us hate it, and some of us are just happy to get it done because we're supposed to. All of us are busy moms who are going to have to sacrifice/juggle/struggle to find time to take care of ourselves. I'm not going to spout statistics, but I think we all know (deep down, even if we don't want to admit it) that exercising will keep us alive and energetic longer than not exercising, and there are people counting on our energy for the long haul. Day to day, feeling stronger, more alert, and more energetic can only help.
My personal routine is a little crazy. I've been an avid distance runner for about 7 years. No, I'm not good--I just love doing it. My favorite races are road marathons, but I've also done some trail running and some shorter races. While I'm running, I meditate, decompress ,and problem-solve. It's become a very necessary part of my life... Which is why I wake up at 4 AM EVERY MORNING. Yes, even on the weekends. On 3 days during the week, I have a little breakfast, warm up, run for an hour, come home, get ready for work, spend some time with my men, and I'm at work by 7:30 so I can get my (13-month-old) son from school before 4. (My husband and I shift our work schedules to keep M in school less than 8 hours a day.) The 2 days I don't run during the week, I'll do calisthenics or cross-training during that early-morning hour. On the weekends, my husband and I alternate our long run days. On his long run day, I spend an hour doing strength work before waking M and spending quality time with him that includes an hour run in the jogging stroller. On my long run day, I leave right around when M wakes up, and the men have bonding time until I get home a few hours later. Sometimes my work requires me to work crazy hours, and then we have to juggle, but for the most part, this is how we do it.
Yes, I'm blessed with a supportive spouse. Yes, I'm probably harming my health somewhat by only sleeping 5-6 hours a night. And yes, I've been an athlete my whole life (gymnast for 20 years). So, for those of us who are just beginning a program, who really can't leave their children with someone else for any period of time, or who just aren't crazy about exercise, I offer...
The Exercise Game
Think of it like a drinking game. Every time you finish changing a diaper, drop and do 20 push-ups. You can start out with "little boy" push-ups with your knees down, but try to build up to the "womanly" version with flat back and head forward. Every time you feed a kid, do 25 sit-ups. Get the older kids to hold your feet (and/or sit on your chest to make it harder--hee hee). Every time you get a kid dressed, do 25 squats or 10 lunges on each side. You get the idea. Make up your own rules, mix it up, and have fun with it. If you're worried about bulking up, trust me: you won't. Most women do not do enough strength training because they are concerned about this. You will only firm up doing body-weight-type exercises. (Bulk only comes with lifting massive amounts of weight and/or taking extra testosterone.) For cardio, get the family out for a 30-45 minute walk 4-5 times a week. Walk to help digest your dinner or to go to a park for some fun. If you work, and you have a lunch hour, consider an extra walk then. To make sure you are exerting enough effort, keep in mind that you should just barely be able to carry on a conversation while walking.
Make sure you're stretching and drinking plenty of fluids. And, as always, be sure to consult a physician before beginning a new exercise program. If anyone tries this, keep me posted on your progress, and let me know how you change things up--I'm always looking for new ideas... Happy moving!
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I'm very inspired by Marathon Mama, and I'm going to try to get up at 5 am, 3 times a week to walk outside for 1 hour before work.
Has Marathon Mama inspired you?  Are you going to commit to taking time for exercise?  How?