Friday Fitness

If I blog about all my healthy progress, it'll feel more like progress right?  This has been a long week. Nothing really terrible happened. But if just felt like it dragged so badly.

I did okay at working out this week.
M- Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones
T- 2 mile run/walk
W- I slept in - I've been fighting a cold and Nyquil-induced sleep sounded smarter
Th- 3 mile run/walk
F- I forgot my alarm, woops!

Oh, and for my concerned dad - I took vitamins every day this past two weeks. Now you can stop the phone lectures ;)

I'm working on downloading some new music for my ipod. I'm really not picky with music - I like a little bit of everything. But I need certain songs for my work outs. For weight lifting, I need heavy rock. Bring on the Staind, Korn, Three Days Grace, all the drums and yelling you can get. For running, I need a strong beat to keep pace to. I can do heavy rock, but I like lots of variety or I get bored. I stumbled across this list via Pinterest, full of 90's music. Some I already had, some I can't believe I didn't have yet. I'm also pretty behind on current music since I get one radio station here and I don't even listen to it most days. So I browsed Billboard's lists and downloaded some new songs from there. If you're curious, I prefer country for cleaning. Which I plan on doing tomorrow, so some of that got downloaded too. Dancing while cleaning counts as fitness right?

Lately

Hey, it's been a while. I've been back on the exercise bangwagon again. It's a shaky ride, but I'm hanging on.

I started Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer, a free program that tells me what to do when I'm at the gym.

No More Trouble Zones

I can.not.move.

I did Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones workout last night, even though my legs were already tired. Oh my god, legs. Shoulders. Triceps. LEGS.

I've discovered through random spurts of working out that I far prefer weight training to cardio. I may not be good at it and I may have wimpy arms, but I love it.

I hate Jillian while I'm working out with her, as I'm shaking and wobbling and about to die. But it's good, right? It'll feel good in about a week when I'm no longer sore.

Her weight training is intense. You work at least two muscles at a time - squats with shoulder work, crunches with chest presses, triceps with lunges. It feels like it's going to go on forever, but it's about 45 minutes and I believe 6 circuits.

This is my favorite Jillian Michaels DVD. It's low weight high intensity, and seriously kicks your ass. Well, it kicks mine.

And when I can move again next week, I'll do it all over again!

Operation Get in Shape for Fuji --- Progress?

I've been saying since we moved here that I needed to get into shape. We had planned to climb Mt. Fuji before we even moved here, and I would die if I tried it right now. Only sort of kidding. I'm wheezing like an old man just climbing our 8 flights of stairs.

It's um... 13 months after we moved here and less than 6 until we do the big climb. I've gained 10lbs and gotten into even worse shape. Awesome, right?

I've been on my Operation for four weeks now.

The first week I tried to start Body Rock TV's 30 Day Challenge . I thought it could be a good before work activity. But I kept getting dizzy when I was doing that high intensity before I was fully awake or nourished. It was nice not to have weights or machines, but I needed variety from all the heavy impact jumping on my severely screwed up balls of my feet.

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2012/01/26/day-4-week-4-the-30-day-challenge-stronger-workout/

The second and third weeks I hit the gym. I did some intervals on the treadmill and switched between a fast jog/run and walking, until I was sweating like I was going to die. Then I'd do weights. The first week, I did pretty well. But the second week, I didn't do as well. My timing wasn't good for me. I'd go after work because it was most convenient for me, but it's most convenient for a lot of people. I don't like crowds. I'd get itchy trying to lift weights next to some beefy guy, and I couldn't stand when all the treadmills were full or the weight machines I wanted were in use. No patience. My feet were also screaming at my jump right into running method. Maybe not my smartest decision...

NOT what my gym looks like! I wish...

This week, I'm working slightly later. It's enough that by the time I'd go to the gym and get a good workout in, then come home and cook dinner, eat, and clean it up - it'd be bedtime. I need at least a half an hour somewhere in there to chill. So I decided to try my home DVD's again. I have them, most of them I've had since we first got out to Lemoore. I know they're all good if I do them consistency, but consistency is my weakness.

I was super proud of myself when I did a workout Monday night. I had Monday off and indulged in pizza and a movie with some friends. I remembered to workout. It was painful working out on greasy food like that. I don't really want to see pizza for a while now... which isn't so bad really.

Monday I did my old favorite, Jillian Michaels. Despite feeling like I was going to have death by pizza and cardio, it felt good to get through it. Today I did Julianne and danced like an idiot. I have no rhythm.

I'm hoping to make it through three more workouts this week, in whatever order seems best each night.

I'm hoping if I keep blogging about it publicly, it'll kick my ass in gear to get moving!

Life Lately

I haven’t been updating very frequently lately. But nothing has been happening that prompts pictures or detailed blog posts, so I’ve mostly just gone about my business and called it a day.
Then I got a birthday card from my wonderful aunt who reminded me that some people can’t regularly check my Facebook and look to my blog for life updates (If you’re reading this Aunt Alice – thanks! I meant to send a thank-you card, but you know how that goes.) And even I’m not going to go digging through my Facebook page to try to remember what happened a few weeks ago, much less any longer. I was trying to remember the exact date we landed in Japan, and looking on my blog was way easier and faster than trying to use my Facebook. Better.

So.

I’ve started a new job. I bumped up to a salary job and I’ve bumped down my age group – I’m still working with kids but now they’ll be toddler sized. I haven’t been given a specific age group yet, so it’s anywhere between 6 weeks and 5 years. I’m bouncing back and forth between school age and child development for a few more weeks, and the contrast is refreshing. It’s hard not to love your work when you spend your mornings playing dress up with toddlers (I was a cop, firefighter, and construction worker this morning) and spend your afternoons making Christmas cards with school age kids and talking about anything from where we’ve lived (some of these kids have been all over the place!)  to what we love to do on the weekends. Of course the getting puked on (babies) getting hit or bit (toddlers) or getting screamed at (school age) puts a damper in things, but not for long. Regardless, I’m very excited about my new job.

Jeff and I haven’t been exploring too much lately. Snow has hit Misawa already, so the roads are going to get tricky fast. Japanese don’t really plow, so snow piles on ice on top of snow on top of ice on narrow, winding roads. It’s fun. On base the roads are fine, at least. We’ve also just been really lazy lately and have been choosing to spend our weekends at home relaxing rather than adventuring. We’re hibernating?
We’ve ventured out a few times.

We visited some caves and an amber museum a few weeks ago (I just realized I never blogged about this, I should do that soon!)

Last week, we had Jeff’s command Christmas party. We had a lot of fun, I could probably do a quick blog post about that at some point too…
Next weekend we have my command Christmas party. The week after that is Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, we’ve been shipping boxes all week. We had bought most of our gifts for family back home well before Thanksgiving with the intention of mailing them all out before the big turkey day. The best laid plans, right? We got them out this week, which happened to be before the priority mail deadline, which was today according to my radio. We splurged on some special gifts for our nephews, and then bit the bullet and paid the price for the hassle of shipping something that didn’t fit in a flat rate box. Ouch! Not happening again! I can’t wait until everyone gets to open their gifts and see what we’ve picked. I’ve loved shopping for unique gifts to give from our end of the world.
I even took pictures of mostly everything I bought before I wrapped and packaged.
Health wise I’m chugging along at pretty much the same place I was at weeks ago. I’ve cut back drastically on soda. I’m now down to very little each week. We usually eat out once a week, and I usually end up having one or two more sodas throughout the week. But that’s miles better than the one to four sodas I’d been drinking daily. Workouts are relatively nonexistant, but I’m working on it. Diet is still mediocre at best, but oh well. You can’t do everything perfectly, right?

Hmm, what else to update on? It’s hard to think of what people will actually be interested in reading. Life in Japan lately has mostly consisted of working and sleeping, which really isn’t very different from life in the states, except for which side of the car I drive in and what timezone I’m sleeping with.
It’s hitting me that we’ve been here for almost a year. It’s hard to believe on one hand. How have I lived overseas for a whole year?! On the other hand, it feels like home. Our apartment is good enough for now, we’re both working full-time, we’ve made friends and we’re involved in the community. We know enough of our town to maneuver the streets and enough Japanese words to at least decipher gestures and broken English. I’ve fallen in love with sushi and the scenery. If you asked me exactly a year ago if Japan would ever feel like home, I’d have looked at you with wild eyes and said “no!”. How things change, eh? (You can bet when one year hits, you’ll get a long blog post about how much change a year can bring!)

Fitness Lately

I've been working at making some changes to my fitness, and I thought actually writing them down to share would be beneficial. I'm hoping to push myself to a healthy lifestyle, so the support of blogland will be helpful :)


Since I started work, my goal was to tackle a regular schedule of working out. I took my time at it, since the first couple weeks of working with kids was exhausting. Not to mention adjusting to the early mornings, when I'm anything but a morning person. But now I'm feeling more adjusted and comfortable, although the days are rough since the kids are out of school and full of energy all.day.long.

Because I work early, I've been trying to fit my workouts in after work. Which is proving challenging, because I'm tired and just want to get home and put my feet up. But to work out in the morning, I'd have to wake up at 0430 or some ridiculous hour like it, which is too tough to stomach. I'm still working on the schedule, but I'm getting to the gym at least a couple times a week.



I've been slowly working my way through the Couch to 5k Running Program. I have long-standing foot injuries and problems, so running is problematic and I've tried and failed to start running a handful of times already. I'm taking this try slow, and trying to focus more on my feet and my strength than the weekly schedule and deadlines. I'm hoping to start Week 3 on Wednesday, even though I've been at it for 4 weeks. My feet were more sore than normal last week, so I took a break from running in favor of the bike and a couple days of rest. (Probably more than I needed, but it was nice!)

I've been getting up to about 1.3 miles each run, which is pretty amazing for me. I've never been a runner, so even just 1 mile is a looong way for me to jog. It's a little disheartening to do my measly mile next to all these military members who run miles daily, but I'm trying to focus on my own body and not compare.



I've also entered the world of lifting at the gym! I have some DVD's for weight training at home and using my own body for resistance, but I've always been intimidated by all the machines and weights at the gym. I went to the gym with some friends from work a handful of times, and they helped push me to try some new machines and learn how to use them correctly. It worked perfectly, because now that I'm going on my own I actually know how to use the machines and can get over my anxiety about looking like an idiot and just lift the weights.

I prefer it to cardio, hands down. I'm feeling a little discouraged by how weak my muscles are, but I'm hoping to see some progress soon. Even if I'm not lifting bulky weights, I have to admit it makes me feel pretty strong to be doing pull-ups, even if they are assisted. Luckily my legs are much, much stronger than my arms and back (I did Irish dance for 10 years), so putting some weights in the triple digits is a mood boost when I'm feeling wimpy.



I'm planning to get back to some of my workout DVD's, because the gym can be monotonous. It's also crowded and sticky after work, when everyone is trying to get their sweat on. It's harder to come into my own comfortable home and get sweaty instead of comfy, but I'm going to work on it.

My goal is to get into a routine of working out 4-5x a week. I'm not there yet, but I'm hoping to be.

I'm finding food much more challenging, since all my energy is currently being spent on playing with cute kids and then working my a$s off in the gym. Cooking is less than appealing at the end of the day, especially when it's been hot and humid and sticky. I'm hoping to work on that more soon to, since our quick fixes and picking up food are anything but healthy. I feel so much better when I take the time to cook a healthy meal, I just can't find the motivation to get there right now. Something to work on. Luckily my handsome husband has been grilling out all weekend long so I've gotten a free pass out of the kitchen!

So that's my fitness update. Not much, but a little progress. I've got a long way to go to get where I want to be, but that won't happen overnight. A little is better than nothing, right?

Becoming a Runner??

Long time, no talk.

I still haven't touched my camera. We've been meaning to get out and do a few things for a few weeks, but either the weather or our laziness keeps spoiling our plans. So lately Jeff and I have been working and watching lots of movies.

And working out!

Today, I started the Couch to 5K Running Program. This is my second attempt. My first had a couple problems. I repeatedly ran outside on the unforgiving concrete, which is so not good on my troublesome feet. I ran in old shoes, with not enough support for my troublesome feet. I didn't do many other workouts in addition, so all I was really doing was running. My muscles were being worked in one and only one way, I got burnt out and bored pretty quickly, and when it started to hurt, I just stopped.

That was over a year ago.

Today I started over. With new shoes, on a treadmill. I'm not going to focus exclusively on running each week. I'll aim for 2-3 days of running, mixed in with 2-3 other activities, whether that be weights or other forms of cardio. I'm not as concerned with following the program week by week as just progressing at the pace I'm comfortable with. I'm going to try to push my feet to adjust to running without injuring them, which is a balancing act that will prove challenging.

But Day 1 was pretty good. It was hot in the cardio room, so I was sweating bullets. I jogged nice and slow so my legs/feet don't cause problems tomorrow. It felt good to be jogging a little.

Someday I'd like to be able to call myself a runner. Living on a military base with all these active people around me makes me want to try. They have 5k runs nearly every other month, so it wouldn't be hard to train for and run one. I just have to get there. So for now I'm taking it slow and focusing on one day at a time.

One good thing that's come out of my injured feet is that I know my limits. I know when something hurts too much to continue, and when it's better to "push through the pain". There's a definite difference between fatiguing a muscle and real muscle pain, and I'm glad I learned that difference early.


Not much else going on around here. I haven't been cooking much since I started working. We've been living on easy meals and takeout. Our apartment is usually a disaster area, with only the couch cleared for relaxing. Oh well, as long as we're still eating, right?

Getting Back on Track

I've been slacking off the past week or two with Weight Watchers and all the healthy lifestyle changes I've been working on. I got lazy, stopped tracking what I was eating, then ate more than I needed to because I wasn't going over in points since I wasn't tracking. Not good!

Yesterday I bought some new gym shoes, and it was just the kick I needed to get back into things. For one thing, I was excited to put them on and try them out...




I bought these shoes from the BX for much cheaper than the suggested retail price. I was just surprised and excited to find a supportive shoe in their minimal collection. With flat feet and a tendency to roll my feet to the sides, I need a shoe with lots of arch and heel support and something supportive enough to keep my feet in the right placement. These fit the bill.

I did a quick workout on the treadmill today and my feet have never felt so cushioned and supportive! I'm in love, and want go buy another 5 pairs just so I can always have supported feet!

Since the new shoes made my workout much more enjoyable, I'm getting back on track with tracking my food and activity. This week is off to a much better start. And speaking of staying on track, I'm getting close to hitting my 10% weight loss goal!



Just in time for summer right?

Working Out With Music

When I go to the gym, I need my iPod. I can't workout without music. Sometimes, Jeff will leave his iPod behind and just go. He seems to sweat and push just as much, but that just wouldn't work for me. I need music to help distract me from how hard I'm working and to push me to go just a little further. If I don't have that distraction, all I focus on is how tired I am, how much this sucks, how much I'd rather be doing something else, etc. etc. etc.

Since it takes a lot for me to stick to simply stepping foot in a gym, much less do dreaded cardio, anything that motivates me is needed.



I have a simple little iPod that plays music, and that's all I really need. My brother had given me an iPod Touch last year when he upgraded to an iPhone, and I would play with all the apps and nonsense on that for hours. But since I didn't really need any of that, I passed it on to my husband. He loves it. I got his older model iPod nano in return. I'll listen to just about any kind of music. I have everything from country to rap to musicals on my Itunes and I listen to all of it.

But when it comes to working out, there's just something about heavy rock music that keeps you going. The heavy drums, the heavy voices; I don't know but it always pushes me to go further or longer than I would to begin with. I always have a playlist full of Slipknot, Three Days Grace, and Breaking Benjamin ready to go when I need to get some cardio out of the way.



Of course, that's IF I go to the gym! I'm having a rough time getting back into working out after being sick for a week or two. I downloaded some new music and updated some playlists so I have some new things to listen to, I just have to convince myself to get out of the house and GO. Easier said than done, right?

Just because, here's some videos. I bet 30 minutes of this music will keep you going on that treadmill or bike.



(Marilyn Manson - Beautiful People)
_{This video is just the lyrics, because he's a little too freaky for me, but his music without video is great...}



(Three Days Grace - Bitter Taste)


So, do you need music to work out? Or are you just fine with the quiet while working up a sweat? Are you one of those weird people who loves cardio and doesn't need any extra motivation to get moving?

Making Changes

I debated whether I wanted to post this for the whole world (or whoever actually stumbles upon my little blog) to read or whether I wanted to keep it to myself, but decided there's no reason to keep it a secret.



Over the last few months, my healthy habits have been steadily declining. I started my last semester of college in the same month that we found out we were moving to Japan...in 3 months. I finished a crazy condensed semester while preparing to move overseas. We moved out of our house and into hotel living for a month while my husband did training in San Diego, and lived on fast food. We drove the many miles home to Illinois to spend some time with family, and spent a good chunk of that family time eating out. We indulged in every Chicago food craving we had and then some. We flew to Seattle and were delayed days for our flight to Japan, then spent another week in a hotel waiting for our apartment, all while eating garbage the majority of the time. And exercise?? Forget about it. I went from being buried in books and boxes to being surrounded by family. I didn't have a moment to spare in California and I didn't want to lose a moment in Illinois when I knew we were moving so far away. Then we moved here. I was jetlagged and overwhelmed and holed up in the hotel until we moved in. Then I holed up some more, because it was still overwhelming to adjust to a new base in a foreign country where I had to figure out how to drive on the wrong side of the road and use currency and language I didn't understand. I'm still adjusting to that side of things.

The long story short -- my body was showing the months of neglect.

I've never done extreme diets, but I have yo-yo'd with eating healthy and exercise just like every other person. I've gone months with relatively healthy eating and regular exercise, and I've gone months without. I'll spend a week working hard and burning calories, then have a rough day and give up. Just like so many other people. Every time I would have to start over, I would feel all this pressure at doing it all over again.

I decided this time, I didn't want to do it alone. I wanted something that will last more than a few weeks or months. I wanted something I would feel committed to, not just throw away when things get tough. So I decided to join Weight Watchers.



I don't have dozens of pounds to lose, but I do have a lot of unhealthy habits to break and healthy habits to nurture. I've been at it a few weeks, and while things haven't been as productive as I imagined in the midst of earthquakes and illness, I'm making small changes and working towards bigger ones. I've lost a couple pounds, and I've gotten better at cooking homemade meals. I'm taking the stairs more often, even though those 8 flights up to our apartment are killer. I still need to work on my exercise habits, since being sick interrupted that. And I really need to work to give up soda, but I love it so much!

For now, I'm still learning and adjusting. I'm planning to update occasionally about my progress and struggles, and to share recipes I try and workouts I enjoy. It's a little intimidating to put it all out there and admit that I need some extra help getting and staying healthy, but I'd rather face that hurdle now, in my 20's, in good health, and only slightly over a healthy weight, before it gets out of control and serious health problems start popping up. All I need to adjust for right now is long-standing foot injuries, and I'd like to keep it that way.

So that's my story. I know it will be a challenging journey to commit to a new lifestyle and stick with it. But I think with the help and support of Weight Watchers, I'll be able to deal with whatever life throws at me. Although it still breaks my heart to think about giving up soda...