Last night, I completed my second 100 Pushups workout. Since I had trouble completing the first full day, however, I decided to modify my plan a bit. Instead of starting with my on-the-floor pushups, I'm going to run through the program once doing them on an angle. Then, after finishing the program that way, I'll go back and do it closer to the ground or on the ground. Doing that, I finished my workout with 25 repetitions on the final set, placing my total for the workout at 63.
I'm still doing fine on my calorie counting, and on my daytime activity level. This was my second day standing at work. My feet are a tad sore, but not bad at all. I can already see and feel the first bits of difference, specially around my face and the overall bulge of my gut. I'm really hopeful that this time I'll be able to maintain my progress for the long term, and that I'll be able to sink to new lows on the scale.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I stand to lose weight
By increasing my activity level while simultaneously reducing my caloric intake, I stand to lose weight. Well, as of today, I have another way I stand to lose weight: I got rid of my desk chair!
Yes, as of this morning, I'm chair free. I'll stand all day, thereby burning perhaps a few hundred extra calories a day. While this change coincides with my Biggest Workplace Loser participation, it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I had no opportunity to try it where I last worked, but the desks here are wonderfully adjustable.
So, I'm giving it a whirl. I certainly hope I'll be able to do it long term.
I've also increased the number of laps I do in the halls and on the stairs. I'm up to six laps, four times per work day. Over the past day or two, I've really felt it in my lower abdominal muscles. I'm also eating six times a day (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and a final snack). That seems to be working well for me. The snacks are typically 170 calories or less (the amount of calories in a regular yogurt or some granola bars). I'm less hungry throughout the day, and my blood sugar levels are much lower and level.
Have a great one today!
Yes, as of this morning, I'm chair free. I'll stand all day, thereby burning perhaps a few hundred extra calories a day. While this change coincides with my Biggest Workplace Loser participation, it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I had no opportunity to try it where I last worked, but the desks here are wonderfully adjustable.
So, I'm giving it a whirl. I certainly hope I'll be able to do it long term.
I've also increased the number of laps I do in the halls and on the stairs. I'm up to six laps, four times per work day. Over the past day or two, I've really felt it in my lower abdominal muscles. I'm also eating six times a day (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and a final snack). That seems to be working well for me. The snacks are typically 170 calories or less (the amount of calories in a regular yogurt or some granola bars). I'm less hungry throughout the day, and my blood sugar levels are much lower and level.
Have a great one today!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
First weigh-in (BWL)
Well, this morning I had my first weigh-in for my workplace's biggest loser competition (BWL)... drum roll, please... and I lost 10 lbs!
Wow! It felt great to see that result on the scale today. I quickly inventoried my clothes and realized that I was wearing jeans when I weighed in when I registered, so my real loss is probably closer to 8.5 or 9 lbs. (they were my lightest jeans and I'm wearing medium weight pants today), but I'll take it either way. What a fantastic feeling!
I didn't even get in my own "last chance workout" last night. I spent most of the evening mixing and packing some trail mix. [Which, unfortunately, I'll be able to eat only sparingly over the next few months, since it calculated at approximately 310 calories per half cup serving! (see below)] It's a high calorie food, but a favorite for camping, canoeing, and hiking trips. In reality, it will make a good energy food once I ramp up my workouts. Here's the mix (rounded to the nearest whole pound for most):
Trail Mix (yields 128-160 1/2 cup servings)
Remember, we have a large family, so you may want to scale this back if you try it. I couldn't fit it into our largest mixing bowl (and, boy, is it large--it makes our 6 qt. Crock Pot look small), so I used the bowl to mix batches that I then divided between two paper grocery bags. Then I combined portions from each bag back in the bowl and mixed to ensure everything was distributed evenly. Once that was done, I measured out 1/2 cup servings into snack sized zipper bags, plus put another 24 cups away in sealed containers. The zipper bags then got placed into a Girl Scout cookie case--I got about 90 portions tucked away in that box.
When I measured out the mix before packing it, we had 64 cups of mix by volume. When we packed the baggies and other containers, we ended up with about 90 bags plus eight three-cup containers (48 additional servings). The difference seems to be from how tightly things were packed when I measured in our large measuring cup versus how things fit in the half-cup measure I used to scoop the mix for each bag. So, in reality, that 310 calorie figure was based on 128 half-cup servings, when we actually got approximately 158 servings. That would drop the calorie count on a bag down to 251--now I can live with that number, too!
So, I need to get back to it. I have a class all morning, so I won't get my morning laps in, but I did already do six flights of stairs (each way), so I'm staying active.
Have a good day!
Wow! It felt great to see that result on the scale today. I quickly inventoried my clothes and realized that I was wearing jeans when I weighed in when I registered, so my real loss is probably closer to 8.5 or 9 lbs. (they were my lightest jeans and I'm wearing medium weight pants today), but I'll take it either way. What a fantastic feeling!
I didn't even get in my own "last chance workout" last night. I spent most of the evening mixing and packing some trail mix. [Which, unfortunately, I'll be able to eat only sparingly over the next few months, since it calculated at approximately 310 calories per half cup serving! (see below)] It's a high calorie food, but a favorite for camping, canoeing, and hiking trips. In reality, it will make a good energy food once I ramp up my workouts. Here's the mix (rounded to the nearest whole pound for most):
Trail Mix (yields 128-160 1/2 cup servings)
Remember, we have a large family, so you may want to scale this back if you try it. I couldn't fit it into our largest mixing bowl (and, boy, is it large--it makes our 6 qt. Crock Pot look small), so I used the bowl to mix batches that I then divided between two paper grocery bags. Then I combined portions from each bag back in the bowl and mixed to ensure everything was distributed evenly. Once that was done, I measured out 1/2 cup servings into snack sized zipper bags, plus put another 24 cups away in sealed containers. The zipper bags then got placed into a Girl Scout cookie case--I got about 90 portions tucked away in that box.
When I measured out the mix before packing it, we had 64 cups of mix by volume. When we packed the baggies and other containers, we ended up with about 90 bags plus eight three-cup containers (48 additional servings). The difference seems to be from how tightly things were packed when I measured in our large measuring cup versus how things fit in the half-cup measure I used to scoop the mix for each bag. So, in reality, that 310 calorie figure was based on 128 half-cup servings, when we actually got approximately 158 servings. That would drop the calorie count on a bag down to 251--now I can live with that number, too!
So, I need to get back to it. I have a class all morning, so I won't get my morning laps in, but I did already do six flights of stairs (each way), so I'm staying active.
Have a good day!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Not a bad weekend
Well, I didn't restart C25K, but I did get some time in on the treadmill--a bit of walking at 4.5 mph and a bit of running at 6 mph (with the last 30 seconds at 7). I did, however, get through day one of the 100 pushup challenge on Sunday, however, though I couldn't finish the final set. Later today, I'll either move on to day two, or repeat day one.
My blood sugar dropped low enough yesterday that I got shaky, and it's the first time that has happened in a long time. If I can keep my activity level up, I might be able to back off my medications again (which had increased over the past two years).
Keeping under my calorie goals for each day has been a bit easier than I expected. Even with the extra sugar I had to consume yesterday (when I bottomed out), I still was just below my goal (net, accounting for the exercise).
Okay, so it was a good weekend. Now I hope I'll have a similarly good week. I already have one set of laps through the halls and the stairs done for today.
Weigh-in is tomorrow. I'm interested to see what the scale reveals.
My blood sugar dropped low enough yesterday that I got shaky, and it's the first time that has happened in a long time. If I can keep my activity level up, I might be able to back off my medications again (which had increased over the past two years).
Keeping under my calorie goals for each day has been a bit easier than I expected. Even with the extra sugar I had to consume yesterday (when I bottomed out), I still was just below my goal (net, accounting for the exercise).
Okay, so it was a good weekend. Now I hope I'll have a similarly good week. I already have one set of laps through the halls and the stairs done for today.
Weigh-in is tomorrow. I'm interested to see what the scale reveals.
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