What Worked For Me

myboysmomx2

Since posting my six month progress report with pictures last week (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/327406-six-months-on-mfp-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-pic-hea ), I’ve had several people ask me all kinds of questions about my workout routine, goals and more. To make things easy for everyone to refer to and easy for me to reply, I thought I’d write it down for you on my blog. You can skip around to the answers you're looking for. Please keep in mind that this is what’s worked for me so far. I am nothing special, I have A LOT to learn, and I have not arrived at my goals yet. In fact, I have a LONG way to go. I do read a lot to learn about becoming healthier and fit. You need to find what works for you! You can follow my main blog here: http://transformingabetterme.blogspot.com/ "Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience." - Denis Waitley

My Workouts: Because I am still in weight loss mode (not maintenance mode), I like to work out a minimum of 5-6 days per week if possible. My workouts are anywhere from 1 hour to 1 hr. 45 minutes long the majority of the time. Keep in mind, I worked up to this length of time and it took me about a week or so to work up to my first hour mark. When I started, I wanted to make myself form a habit, so I very faithfully worked out six days a week for at least my first six weeks. In order to keep from being bored and to keep my body guessing, I wanted to start incorporating other things too.

Heart Rate Monitor: I would like to encourage you to buy a HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) with chest strap as soon as possible so that you will get very accurate calorie burn numbers. I already had a Sportline SX when I started MFP (My Fitness Pal), but if I bought a new one, it would be a Polar FT7 because you can go back and see days worth of your exercise and more.

Step Aerobics: I love step aerobics, so I did that for the first couple months or so. I bought a Gilad Step Aerobics and Gilad Step Aerobics with Weights workout DVD and stepped away. I alternate the step aerobics video with the step aerobics with weights video. These DVD’s are older, but ones that I had worked out to before and loved. No crazy dance moves that are difficult to keep up with and Gilad gives you advance warning when a change is about to take place. Just a good hard core workout!

Power Walking: The first thing I added to my step routine was power walking. We walked on the weekends in the beginning. Keep in mind my endurance level was already pretty good by the time I incorporated walking because I had already been stepping for a couple of months. We walked three miles on our first walk. My pace and miles per hour really weren’t great, but I did it. When we walk, we really work hard! Many people would have to jog to keep up with us and there are times that it becomes difficult to carry on a conversation while I’m walking because I’m working so hard. We now walk about five days a week. I really love it! I use a free app on my phone called Runkeeper (www.runkeeper.com). This app coaches me and helps me to achieve my goals. I have it set to coach me every ¼ mile. It tells me my pace, speed, distance, etc. I can also listen to music on my phone while I walk. With Runkeeper, you can walk, jog, run, cycle, elliptical, treadmill, and more. Runkeeper keeps track of my personal achievements, records, calories burned and more.

Weightlifting: Weightlifting is so good for you. Did you know that after weightlifting, you’re still burning calories from that workout the following day? Yeah! I don’t go to a gym. I do my strength routines at home using our cable machine, free weights, Olympic set, and stability ball. If you don’t have a gym or access to all of that, you can use your own body as resistance, and just pick up a couple different sizes of dumbbells to get you started. That’s all it takes. Do a little research on the internet to find a workout routine using dumbbells and resistance training for you. I also have a couple of links here on my blog to routines that I do (http://www.transformingabetterme.blogspot.com/ ). You can find them on the right hand side of my blog if you’d like to try those. I’ve had the hardest time staying with my strength routine consistently though. It is my goal for the month of September to strength train 3x a week. I also want to make this a habit so I want to do this faithfully for the month of September and October and then continue on from there.


My Eating: I track all of my eating, drinking, and exercise here on My Fitness Pal. MFP has been instrumental in my weight loss because I have combined the best of both worlds (exercising & portion control) all in one spot. When I have done one without the other, it has lead to frustration because my weight loss has been so slow that I would often say, “Forget it!” and quit. I do not restrict myself from eating certain foods. Is it possible for me to weigh less and be better toned by this point had I eaten cleaner and not enjoyed some of the "treats" that I do? Probably, but I want to be able to enjoy foods and not feel like there is a "Do Not Touch" sign on it. Moderation is key! Remember that I have never consumed one diet pill or diet drink during this whole process. I LOVE to cook, I make/decorate wedding and other cakes professionally, I cook meals for my church suppers, and I’m always around the kitchen. It’s part of who I am. I just log whatever I do eat, and I make my food & exercise dairy public so others can help me when I’m struggling – it also helps keep you honest! ;-)

Water Intake: I try to drink at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water a day. Generally speaking, you should drink one-half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. If you are ill, doing a cleanse or are physically active, the amount might increase to your body weight in ounces of water daily. So really, for my current weight, I need about 10 glasses of water daily. Sometimes I get that amount, sometimes I don’t.

Weigh In’s: I weigh in every Thursday morning after I get up. I also take my measurements every Thursday too. When my weight isn’t moving like I’d like it too, my measurements will be an encouragement for me (and vice versa!). I took pictures of myself in the beginning, so between comparison pictures, the weight loss, and measurement loss, this has been a huge motivator and success indicator. Without doing these things, sometimes it’s hard to see the progress you’re making.

How I decided my goals: I decided my goal weight because I want to get back down to where I was after I had my first child. I never even gained weight until after my second son was born. After my oldest was born, I was back in my size 8-9 jeans in under two weeks time. I was fit, healthy, and that's where I want to be again. However, I may decide that I don't want to get back down that low again because I want to weight train so that I have more muscle definition than I did back then. I also want my body fat to be where it needs to be. One other consideration is that I have a small bone structure and I’m 5’11” tall. I wouldn't recommend going to where I want to go if you had a medium-large frame and were tall like me. I set MFP to 2 lbs weight loss per week in the beginning, and now I believe it's about 1.6. So, that will change as you go along. MFP will tell you how often you need to exercise and how many calories you need to eat in order to make your goals a reality for you. Although we all want to lose weight, weight loss is the byproduct of healthy eating, portion control, and exercise. That's my focus now...the weight will drop as my reward. As always, consult your doctor. These are only my opinions and I'm sharing with you what has worked for me. :-) We will be seeing our nutritionist again soon to get a progress report, get a very accurate BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) with the breathing machine, and reevaluate our goals. If you have benefits through your work for health and nutritional counseling with a nutritionist and or personal trainer, take advantage of it. Do a little research to see if you have this available to you, then make an appointment and go! You’ll be glad you did.

Hopefully this answers your questions. What worked for me may not work for you, but so many people asked that I thought this would be a good forum to post my answers in. Don't be afraid to change things up and experiment. Now….get moving and reach YOUR goals!!! You CAN do it!!!

Enigmatica

You have done a fabulous job!! You have this down!!!

JennyGirl83

Awesome tips! I love the fact that you eat what you want just in moderation. I'm the same way in that if I try to avoid foods I want I feel deprived....Usually it leads to binge eating for me :P

Circa1964

Very inspiring on how to live healthy! I love it!

Janworkingitout

You look amazing! This is what I like about MFP... we want to see each other succeed. Wonderful tips...thanks for sharing! Keep up the inspiration!

fiberartist219

You have really inspired me with your blog. You look amazing, and I know what you mean about people who say you carry it well. You certainly l did, and I do too when I wear clothes that fit right, but honestly, I don't care what I look like. I care about my health more than anything.

Thanks for posting this and a link to your blog. Not only am I reminded that this isn't easy, but I'm also reminded that struggles can be overcome and if the weight is worth losing, I better work out tonight , get back on the wagon, and track my food!

myboysmomx2

Thanks everyone! Maybe i can help you and you can help me too :-) We're all in this together!!!