A body pump class, foiled birthday plans and a chatty post!!

Well after planning on taking a body pump class for many many days, I finally got around to it yesterday. The instructor was great and combined body pump with pilates on popular demand. Result : I discovered the joy of walking-belly- on-pilates-ball (which I could not really do too well, and kept bumping off the ball!). But I also broke the barrier of being scared to do something that adventurous (for lack of a better word). I kept fearing that I was going to either burst the ball under my massive weight or have a bad fall and hurt myself. However, I put up my valiant best and attempted something that was about 50% of the expected move.

 

Lifting weights after so long has made my legs sore. I really feel the pain as I sit and rise from my chair at work and the staircase feels like its best avoided right now. For all the pains that come to me after exercising and running and lifting as if there is no tomorrow, my bottle of volini spray finds a more rightful than does the body spray I got myself from bath & body works.

 

That said, I did make something like a birthday plan for the kindly Scientist. The same was however not too enthusiastically received as it involved him waking up at 5 a.m. heading to Sankey Tank for a fun 5k run ( as I called it) and having breakfast consisting of idlis and the delectable chow-chow-bhath at Veena stores. I presumed the prospect of spending quality time on a birthday morning to be with me, followed by my simple yet thoughtful plan of breakfast will be a total hit. But lets just say the Scientist preferred to  stay in bed until after I headed out alone for my not-so-fun-5k-run and spent the morning reading his usual hard to understand sci-tech news.

 

Anyway, I still tried to be a sport even though my plan for him was totally foiled and tried to cook a yummy lunch to pack for his dabba. It seemed like the food was taking my side and nothing I cooked turned out even as good as I prepare on non-special days. And my run this morning turned into a 2k run-then walk-run-walk-run until I finished. I just did not seem to be able to do it today! Somedays things don't go as I expect and it kinda slows me down until I realise that the granola bar I just ate is not as "healthy" as I hope it is and that I am eating or craving food just mindlessly. Once realised, blog, eat, run repeat!

Workout update and March goals revisited

My work out this week looked like this:

Monday: 30 mins on treadmill and 30 mins on arc trainer

Tuesday : 30 mins on elliptical and 20 mins on stationary bike

Wednesday : Personal Strangth Training trial session (was nice and tough)

Thurday: Day off

Friday: Personal Strength Training session 1 ( I loved it)

Saturday: Dance Aerobics Class

So workout wise, I had a good week. Foodwise. I am improving. staying off the chips that travelling with us from Kerela is proving hard. Si I let myself a small portion and cur out the starch from dinner. Todays dinner for example was a half papaya that I shared with Chittu, a subzi I made out of tinda, ivygourd and paneer and glass of cold milk as I type this out. Chittu loved the papaya :)

Weightwise, I barely made it to the seventies again. With 79.8 this morning. I'm expecting the personal strength training to rev up my weight loss and help drop a few quick kilos. Also, the exhorbitant amount I am paying for it, should help me stay with controlled eating.

March goals revisited:

1. Structured workouts:

Yes. I did it. I was regular with strength training before the vacation break. Now even more so with the services of a personal trainer.

2.Improved fluid intake:

Errrm. Doing ok with this one. But some days, in the midst of work, I forget my water.

3. No vacation weight gain.

Total bummer! I messed up!

4. Food weight diary

Yep it has become part of my routine now. It also helps me keep track of my work outs.

Seriously now thinking of it, I totally went out out of control during the vacation. I wonder how long it will take me to get out of the seventies! The eighties costed me seven months, for the record :) Sometimes I panic how long this will take. I really want to make it, and feel time is running out. I hyperventilate. I freak out. I think of doing drastic things. But well, I now know what works! And that certainly is not yo-yo dieting!

Ok baby steps. One day at a time. I should get there :)

TGIF, a little secret and just a happy post :)

Its Friday. Can you believe it? I’m happy though. I always look forward to the weekends. There used to be a time in my life when I loathed weekends. My person life was spinning out of control and I hated to be home with my thoughts. I resorted to food for comfort, as a way of rebellion and out of complete helplessness. Mentally, I was a mess and physically I was driving myself towards another disaster. Nearly five years later. I am still paying for the abuse I threw at my body, in terms of the five star (candy) bars I used to devour in the dead of the night!

Despite knowing how badly overeating hurts me, I still find myself reverting to my old habits. The only argument in my favour is that I snap out of it pretty fast. Like this time after vacation eating, I went right back into exercise mode.

I have signed up to have a personal trainer at my gym. Let me promise you, it costs a bomb. But can I whisper a little secret – Oh my God! I love it. My body demands and craves for exercise. After an hour of a combination of squats, lunges, pull ups, crunches and other exercises, I feel awesome, stronger and happier. And all that hard work keeps my eating in check too.

I have found that I make better food related choices and decisions when I exercise. Its possibly the thinking that when I’m working so hard, I should not mess up by eating a bakery goodie. Or may be it’s the endorphins?

Anyway, I really wanted to share my experience with exercise, with those who are trying to lose weight in some part of their life. What is your experience with working out? Lemme know. Or do a post and leave me a link J.

The weekly work out update, ProtineX review & the recipe promise

Yep! I am keeping my word. My work out  schedule this week looked like this:

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday - I skipped the work out for the reasons I mentioned here
Wednesday: Lower body strength training &
Thursday: 30 minutes on elliptical & 15 on treadmill
Friday: Upper Body strength training
Saturday : dance aerobics group class

Now for the Banana-Black Grape-Strawberry smoothie that is my new found obsession:

Ingredients:
 one red banana, about 10 black grapes and 5 strawberries
2 teaspoons of ProtineX powder
1 cup of curd and half a cup of milk



Whisked everything together in the blender and tadaaa :)



As I said its a new obsession. I feel like its a treat and with no added sugar it is. Two teaspoons of protineX have approx 45 cals. The above will make two servings.And that's about 160 calories per serving. I don't how well it will last in the fridge and so I just drank up the whole thing :P

Sorry about the poor picture quality. But I took the pictures on my iphone 1.

ProtineX - Product review - you can find the calorie break-up here. When had in my shake, it tastes pretty ok. There is 8 grams of sugar per serving, which is not too bad as well. But I might just try the diabetic version next time out of curiosity :). As is apparent from the name it is also a good source of protein. It has also not affected my weight loss attempt. So, the product is pretty good, though a wee bit pricey :)

So my promises have been kept. My eyes are shutting down. I am looking forward to Sunday. How about you?

Liking Strength Training & a little bit of Introspection

Last few days have been on plan. The strength training is going well also. I must admit that I like it better than I expected to. I did do some strength training back in my college days when I thought I was fat and ugly. Though I’m probably heavier now even after losing 20 kgs, than I was while at college, I like the way I look and also have great regard for that person inside me who decided to move her butt on the weight loss front. I know I have a long way to go, and that maintenance is another story altogether, but one step at a time is less terrifying than thinking ahead. Of course I have a plan on the food and exercise front, but I’m going to achieve it only one step at a time.

Remember my trek two weeks back? While on it, as I looked at the trail ahead, I wondered how I would climb over that part that seemed so difficult from where I stood. But once I got there and took the step, I kept moving forward. I also worried over how hard the climb down would be. But then one step at a time, I climbed down without much of a struggle.

I appreciate how I broke my barriers with that trek. My fear of doing physical activities is a long story. I was less fearful of injury than of how hard it would be for somebody to pick me up! What would he/she/they say & think about me? This time, I was going up with the Scientist who has been very sensible about my self image. Without support from him, I may not have come this far.

Coming back to weight training and how I don’t dislike it as much as I expected to, that is again a personality trait. I tend to adjust easily into circumstances, once I realize that there are no two ways about it. But that has to come from me. No one can talk me into it. It’s a process in my head, where I speak and reason and convince and eventually like.

Does any of the above make sense to you dear reader? As you can see, weight loss has a huge bearing on me both physically and emotionally, and this journey I’m on is proving to be more about introspection than I thought.

So I am going to keep up with weight training for a little while. 2/3 days a week is what I plan. Plus cardio on other days. So I have finally given my workout some structure, rather than doing what I felt up to. I will also post every Saturday, my work out of the week gone by, so that there will be a record here on my blog too J

Until then, do leave me a line. I’d love to know your thoughts.

Midweek update

O.K. So where were we? Yes laying out my clothes for the Monday work out. Well, it turned out I did not work out on Monday or Tuesday because of the monthly cycle. I did not feel up to working out both days, though I waited until the morning to decide if I felt like it or not. So, I hit the gym this morning with a new found vengeance. Today was strength training day - lower body & legs! I returned home feeling great with quivering thighs.

Remember the time I bought a box of Getrim? Well, its finally over now. And I replaced it with a box of ProtineX, since I'm doing strength training and all. 

My experience with soya milk, has not been good so far. I tried it earlier on in my weight loss process, probably early 2011. I found I was not losing weight when I had soya milk. Hence I stopped. However, I continue using soya flour in my Chappati dough and make a curry out of Soya nuggies ocassionally. Its not a daily affair though! 

I made a smoothie using - milk, curd, a banana, strawberries, few black grapes and Proteinex for an evening snack after work today. Review coming up soon :) with recipe & picture!!

Honestly, I've got a lot to say, but if I pour it all here in one post, it is going to be very disjoint. So I'm going to wind up. Gym clothes are ready for cardio day tomorrow :)

Somedays, like today are good - when I've eaten on plan, worked out well, cooked good food for my family, spent time with the toddler, had a decent day at work and don't feel like crashing out by 8p.m. Also, remember my goals for 2012. I have begun to make some progress on three points on that list. But that shall remain a secret until the finished stamp is marked on it!

How is your week coming along?