Post Hunger Considerations

After a very hungry day yesterday I recognized what I think are a few truths for myself.  The first is that it is really important for me to not let myself get over hungry - this one is kind of obvious but it never hurts to remind oneself of these things.  The second is that if I do find myself on the verge of that over hungry state - make sure that I eat a real meal - eat to satisfaction, don't just graze a bit of food, then another little bit etc.  I don't think that it satisfies me and it seems like yesterday at least it really threw my body's hunger queues way out of whack.

This morning I got the good old step aerobics going.  Felt good but I also discovered something odd.  The heartrate measurement can definitely be influenced by how I hold my hand.  If I leave my hand in an open position my heart rate does not measure as being very high even if I feel like I am working pretty darn hard.  But if I close it into a fist then it does measure as being reasonably high.  So that is an interesting thing.

Yesterday at pilates I continued to have a good time with the roll ups - having discovered that putting my arms all the way down for the start of the roll up seems to be pulling my ribs up a bit and making the roll up way harder.  So that was a great discovery from the other day.  The roll over on the other hand is something I am still way off with - I think I will have to work the dvd pilates routine into my week at least a couple times - I know it has the roll over in it so I hope it can help me to improve it.

Other	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
warm up and cool down 19 walking 20			22	50 (yesterday)

Food Theories

On the whole I have been thinking a bit about food lately.  I have never been a fan of low fat, no sugar added, etc etc.  Usually, what I read when I see those things is PROCESSED, ARTIFICIAL, UNNATURAL.  So one of the things that I have been attempting to do since starting on Weight Watchers is to really choose good, healthy, natural foods.

I never choose classic "diet" foods.  Most things that are low fat seem to replace the fat with sugar which is much worse for you than the fat probably was.  Plus I think of a place like France where people tend to be much slimmer than us here in Canada and North America generally.  It certainly isn't because they eat a bunch of "diet" food.  It is because a lot of them do what a person should do - pick a very good quality selection of food to eat and eat it in moderation.  And that moderation is made much easier because the good quality of the food is so satisfying and delicious that there isn't this big void of satisfaction left like there is after you eat so much of the processed garbage that passes for food here.  When you eat the crappy, unsatisfactory "diet" pudding and are left wanting (because it tastes terrible and is missing the food elements like fat etc that provide physical satisfaction) - so what do you do, you eat another one even if you aren't still hungry you are not satisfied.  I put that down to quality over quantity.  I think some of this idea has come from a variety of places but I think there is a book written by a french woman that talks about this - just did a search it is called "French Women Don't Get Fat".  Think I might need to pick that one up.

It is interesting quite a few people on the WW boards who were on the previous WW plan complain about this one - saying they can't lose on it.  What I wonder is how many of them do the whole "diet" food thing - they are so used to choosing their low fat yogurt etc that they just can't break those habits.  Would be very interesting to get a sense of that.  But that is just a theory and I have no idea if it would be true or not.  I just know the plan is working great for me (another 2 pounds off this week) and I credit my food choices and portion sizes with that - and like I said before portion sizes are much easier to control when the food you eat is truly satisfying.

I worked today so I am going to try to get in  a bit of exercise later - not sure what yet so I won't fill in anything on the table yet.

Other	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates

Bad Blogger

Well I haven't been very good at getting on here to blog daily.  But I am doing much better with making sure I keep myself moving.  I have been at it every day getting in some activity at least.  Today it was step aerobics and then of course walking to and from work (in the -49 with windchill weather).

Today I just thought I would like to talk about the supreme importance of language in this process of transformation.  I spend quite a lot of time on the WW boards reading and writing posts etc.  I am shocked at the number of people who use the most negative language to refer to themselves and how they are doing on the plan.  It actually makes me kind of mad when I see it because I think I have come to really and truly realize (and fully take to heart) the fact that trying to do something like this with a negative vocabulary to describe what you are doing is going to make it so much harder - perhaps impossible.  Positive language and attitudes will take you a long, long way. So I get mad because I feel so sure they are sabotaging their efforts with that type of language.

I suppose it is obvious, if one were to read back through some of my earlier posts, that I have been developing my awareness and understanding along this theme for a while.  The labels we use for ourselves and how powerful they can be is all part of this language thing.  So here is to my continued positive belief in myself and my ability to keep making these lifelong healthy choices.

Other	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
warm up and cool down 19 walking 20			22

A-HA moments

Well a great A-HA moment in life deserves a few great A-ha moments on youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vdOgObQvz8&feature=related Train of Thought was my favourite a-ha song back when I was a teenager and absolutely and madly in love with A-ha especially the lead singer.  The last moments of the video and the song are my favourites - as the singer walks a few steps and sings the title line.  Oh how it takes me back to the days of teenage idol infatuation ;-)

Anyway, enough of that and now on to my a-ha moment.  Yesterday after I ate my supper I was looking to forage for more food - and my supper was big enough and filling enough.  So it was shortly after supper that I realized I always feel that way when I don't drink some water with my meals.  This is a big deal since it is usually supper I am the most likely to eat without a glass of water handy.  So this should be a very useful insight that will make a huge difference in my nutrition part of my weight loss journey.

Today is pilates class and then brunch buffet.  Looking forward to a few of the items on that menu at the buffet!

Other	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
				50

TRX

Yesterday I went to http://leadpilates.com/ and tried out their TRX workout.  That was one desperately hard 40 minutes. The idea of it is that it is resistance training using your own body as the resistance.  There are these straps suspended from the ceiling and using the straps you do all kinds of exercises that are kind of like regular calisthenics but not quite because you can vary the resistance by changing your body position.

There is a section where you put your feet in the straps and do a plank and then in the plank you crunch in or sway to work the obliques.  That was the hardest part (although the tricep work was also very challenging).  One great thing about that workout was that it does help to isolate the correct muscles - I did find the work in the proper places most of the time whereas I know at home sometimes I figure out ways to "cheat" the work to other muscles sometimes.  The other great thing about that workout is that it really made me 100 percent aware of just how badly I need to rebuild the quad strength in my right leg.  I never really rebuilt it after my knee surgery all those years ago and now I really recognize how badly I neglected it.

Now to the slightly sad news - I had a small gain this week.  And I know the name of the culprit is SODIUM.  Most of the week I was just parched as can be because my sodium intake was definitely up far over what it had been recently.  Well I am sure it will drop back down next week.

Other	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
TRX 40 Walking 12

Step Aerobics the new headache cure :-)

Woke up this morning with a good solid headache going on.  Drank a half a glass of water and tried to get back to sleep.  I know the headache is a result of not having enough water yesterday combined with going to bed too late.  So no one to blame but myself.  After a while of a mostly fruitless attempt to get back to sleep for a little while I got up and had some more water.  Didn't want to work out though - thought very seriously about having a day off.

But I snapped myself out of it and hit the ea sports active for a half hour of step aerobics (with warm up and cool down).  The combo of that workout and about 6 glasses of water by 11 o'clock and the headache was gonzo.

Oddly today during my step I couldn't seem to get my heart rate to stay up where it normally is during the step.  I had decided to hold the second remote in my hand with the sensor in it so maybe that had some impact on the sensors measuring ability.  At any rate I felt like I was working just as hard as normal so it was a great workout regardless of heart rates!

Yesterday was Pilates class in the morning.  There are some moves I am really starting to feel very good at and others I am just catching myself in my body's cheats to make them easier.  Chrissy suggested thinking of a couple of the core pilates principles while doing the class yesterday and I picked flow and precision.  I think precision was not a great choice for me in some ways because I get a bit too judgmental of myself when I watch for it and I think it actually reduces the quality of my workout in some ways.  Flow I think I would like to continue to work on since I love the opportunity to move in smooth graceful ways and know I can improve on it - and I think without too much self judgement!

Other	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
Warm up and cool down 19 Walking 15 (yesterday)			33	50(yesterday)

Awesome things ahead

Today I am feeling really great.  My cold has passed and so that is fantastic.  Today I had a great workout on the ea active.  Did a warm up, 33 minutes or so of step aerobics followed by a cool down.  Then a walk to work and of course the walk back home from work.

I also made an effort to increase my NEAT (nonexercise activity thermogenesis), got up for a few short walks throughout the day at work.  Printed a couple things at separate times so I would go to the printer more times.  Little things that don't cost me very many minutes but get and keep my body moving and my brain working.

I have a few ideas for work that I am looking forward to trying out.  Not sure if they will end up happening or not but I think it would be simply fantastic if we could get something going on a couple of them.  I am also thinking about getting involved in the CCWESTT organization.  Seems like it would be a good way for me to branch out a bit.  Not sure what got into me today but I am feeling pumped!

Other	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
walking 25 warm up and cool down 19			33