Sunday, September 15, 2013

Recapping this past week

Monday September 9 I took my first hot yoga class at Rapid Fitness. It was a real tough workout. I sweated like I have never sweated in my life. My knees are still sore 6 days later. I looked it up and you can burn between 500-1000 calories from one 60 minute class. I believe I did. I was amazed at how flexible the instructor was. AMAZING.

Tuesday September 10 I woke up in pain from the hot yoga and the 38 squats I decided to try. I took the day off from working out. The good news I have to report is I lost 3.6 lbs. I was the 2nd biggest loser of the week at TOPS.

Wednesday September 11 I am still taking time off to recover from the soreness. I finally go to Massage Envy for a well-needed and overdue massage. 60 minutes was just not enough.

Thursday September 12 I finally decided to get up and out the bed and go for a walk to help ease some of the soreness. It went better than I thought.

Friday September 13 I attend water aerobics at Rapid Fitness. It felt so good to get in the water. My favorite part is getting in the hot tub after class. It's nothing but pure joy.

Saturday September 14 I met up with the NCRC Women's Beginner Running Group at the Dorthea Dix campus to run the Women's Distance Festival course. It was hilly. I'm glad I got out there because it let me know what to expect next weekend on race day

Sunday September 15 The Magnificent Mile was held in Downtown Raleigh. this was my 1st race post surgery. I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes while on the course. I took off running when the race started. I was good for about a minute. Then I walked and ran a little more. I was really pushing myself and I could feel it. I wasn't breathing properly and felt it in my throat. My right foot started feeling really hot and burning. I figured it was either the socks or the shoes. I need to change up either. I had a 19 minute mile which is pretty good for a person who is 6 weeks out after major surgery.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Thursday morning walk

I've discovered getting up at 7am allows me to get my walk in before the sun shows up. Going to bed at 1am and attempting to wake up at 7am is a no-go. The alarm was still set at 8am for water aerobics. I slowly rolled out out bed at 8. I'm checking the temps and it's under 70 but the sun is out and it's BFF humidity is already out. I get my 30 minute walk in. Being consistent is my new goal. This made 2 30 minute walks this week. I plan on getting in a long one in on Saturday with NCRC Women's Beginner Running Group since they will be around the corner from the house.

Thursday night from April - September, NCRC hosts a weekly social series runs. For September they are being held at Omega Sports in North Hills. The WBRG was there as well. I figured I would go and be social since running is now on the plate for me right now.

It was great seeing my running family. Everyone wanted to know why I wasn't running or walking. I got my walk in the AM. Some people don't get I can't overdue it as I am still recovering from surgery.

http://ncroadrunners.org/

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Water aerobics

I love being in the water. My local gym, Rapid Fitness offers aqua fitness AKA water aerobics classes about 4 times a week. Since my schedule is WIDE open being on medical leave, I can make the morning classes. Today makes class #3 for me. Wednesday's class is taught by Bonnie. She is a hoot. Today she had us using swim boards for resistance. I must say I am not a fan. 60 minutes of water aerobics is good for the body. I even left the house an extra 5 minutes early to make sure I got the the gym on time which I did. As I am preparing for class, I take the required pre-shower and I realize I'm wearing my flip-flops and not my water shoes :-) I opt to go shoeless the rest of the time. Note to self: leave water shoes in gym bag.

Being in the pool for a hour and the hot tub for about 10 minutes will wear you out. I'm in the shower and can't lift my leg to save my life. I've been yawning ever since class. I think naptime is calling my name.

weight training, personal training, mixed martial arts, and boxing

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Renewing TOPS membership



Tuesdays at 6:30pm TOPS meets at Body of Christ Church. Last week I attended my first meeting in years. It was like a family reunion. The regular members were still there and still working on their goals. It felt great to be there. Tonight I attended the weekly meeting and I renewed my membership for the low low price of $28. Tonight's weigh-in counted as my 1st official weigh-in and it was at 339.6. I gained 2.6 pounds since last week. I'm still down from when I first joined TOPS in 2007. I'm still down from when I first started getting serious about weight loss in February 2007 when I joined Curves and tipped the scale at 367. We had a really good roundtable discussion of what our weak and strong areas are in the ongoing battle with the bulge.

We all decided to re-commit to our goals. We all plan to lose 1-2 pounds by next week. We all plan to write down our goals and post them somewhere in our homes where we can see them on a daily basis. The accountability from the group is such a helpful resource.

My own personal goals are to drink 1/2 my body weight in water or as close to as it I can get. Use MyFitnessPal to write down my food. Go from there.

I have OBX in 2 months and I need to be down so it will help with my finish time.

TOPS Helping Hand
You take my hand and I'll take yours,
and we'll start out today
for a helping hand is what we need,
to help us on our way,
the way to goal is a lonely road,
we need someone to care,
so reach out my friend and take my hand,
and then we're almost there

Getting back on the saddle

I have been on this journey for a healthy lifestyle for awhile. My biggest hurdle is getting under 300 pounds. I know what my real issue is and it is food. I have a serious addiction to SUGAR and carbs. While I've been recovering uterine fibroid surgery, I've noticed a serious habit I have of accumulating stuff. I have more diet/weight loss books, magazines and workout DVD's. I can seriously start my own library. The newest addition is the Nutri-Bullet which I am loving. I saw an infomercial for it while I was in the hospital and I was hook, line and sinker. Technology really helps you keep track. I love RunKeeper! I am a fan of MyFitnessPal, i just need to use it more often to keep up with my caloric intake. This week's goal is 3 days of walking and 2 days of water aerobics and I'm planning to try the BodyFlow class at the gym since it is a combination of yoga, tai chi and pilates. I've gone back to my roots, TOPS (taking off pounds sensibly) on Tuesday evenings at Body of Christ. You have to use all resources that are available to you. Health and Wellness is an ongoing journey.