Phase 2 / Workout 15 thru 20 - Big News after not having blogged in a while

I have continued to connect with my neighbor "J.S." who is motivated to walk even if I am not available. I love that. She saw that I walk after she goes home. If I am unavailable, she'll start without me and I'll catch up with her. I walk her home (we enjoy talking) and then I go back for more laps if my ankle and schedule allow. I also do my arm pumps when I walk by myself.


Two more neighbors expressed an interest in walking with us. That's a total of five! We may have to use Twitter to coordinate our walking schedule. I'm dreaming. I may be the youngest among the walkers, so we'll probably use a telephone tree.


I have been taking plastic bags and rubber gloves to pick up trash as I walk. Surprisingly, I've found that all the bending really gives me a workout that is more intense than walking. Its not that much trash. I love my triangle and it is looking much better without the empty beer bottles, candy wrappers and fast food containers.


Last Saturday, I took advantage of a 50% off sale at my favorite women's store on-line. I had never done that before. They offered free shipping to any of their locations. When I went to pick up my items, I dove into the clearance rack as I usually do. The staff was wonderful in assisting me with putting together beautiful clothing combinations. The savings were even greater than half. But this is not a blog about bargains. The reason I am sharing this is:


I have begun to fit into smaller clothing! I can now wear one size smaller that I have been wearing (and last year almost out-grew). I haven't even tried it in years! This, added to so many people noticing my body change, helped a lot considering the pounds have not been coming off the way I hoped or expected since the beginning of my journey. But wait...


My trusted friend and I went to the scale today and (drum-roll - symbol crash) I am down 8 pounds! 


The plateau has given way and I am finally losing some significant weight. She and I talked about the fact that the metabolism change (and the noticeable loss of low density fat replaced by higher density muscle) I have clearly been experiencing set up the momentum that has now begun to manifest when I step on the scale. She and I think the same when we go to the scale. She says something and I was just about to say the same thing.


Although I have not blogged in a while, my walks have been at least five laps around the triangle or up and down my block in front of the house. Today, I walked 8 laps around the triangle. I entered my walking totals for each day on www.startwalkingnow.org. Anyone can track their activity and nutrition on that site.


Do something beautiful for your heart today.


~ Cheryl ~

Phase 2 / Workout 8 - Workin' hard for my body!

The list of salad ingredients will be large so I will build it a little at a time:


Nuts/Seeds: Pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pecans, sesame seeds...


Fruits:dried cherries, dried cranberries, diced apples,  pineapple, mandarin orange sections, raisins...


Vegetables (non-leafy): tomatos carrots, corn, artichokes...


Legumes: black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans...


Leafy greens: spinach, romaine, iceberg...


Grain products:corn tortilla chips, croutons... 


Cheeses: cheddar, colby-jack, feta, parmesian, cream cheese...


Dressings:french, italian, ranch, vinaigrette. russian, honey mustard...


I am ready to create some amazing salads from these lists albeit hypothetically. I have to have the ingredients in the house. Next I will create my first custom salad from listed items I like, post it here with a photo.


My results for March 2nd (Phase 2 / Workout 8) are:

Time: 20 min. 
Average Speed 14.8
Distance 4.8
Calories 132
Average Heart Rate 126
Watts: 71
Level: 4 (Program: Manual)

Do something beautiful for your heart today.

~ Cheryl ~

Phase 2 / Workout 7 - Note to self: "Just hop on the bike!"

It's so simple: all I need to do is hop on the bike! One moment I was in another room, the next I was in the hall pumping pedals! No procrastination - I just got it done.


For some reason, I couldn't get my heart rate as high as I did yesterday so I don't feel as though I expended as much energy. But I did work hard. I am getting over something in my sinuses (but that has been going on since last Thursday). The bike rides definitely help.


My results for March 2nd (Phase 2 / Workout 7) are:

Time: 20 min. 
Average Speed 14.1
Distance 4.5
Calories 121
Average Heart Rate 110
Watts: 63
Level: 4 (Program: Manual)

Do something beautiful for your heart today.

~ Cheryl ~

Phase 2 / Post 4: My GIGL To-Do List

  1.  Acquire and set-up my journal as instructed in the Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss (this has a to-do list of its own).
  2.  Create my GIGL "treasure map" (this is going to be FUN!).
  3.  Plan a week's worth of GIGL menus.
  4.  Write a shopping list based on those menus.
  5.  Obtain/organize equipment and utensils for measuring food.
  6.  Start a binder for printed resources from the internet. This will include: 
          - newsletters
          - menus
          - a copy of the food guide pyramid for weight loss
          - recipes (w/ GI estimates)
          - lists of food items and their GI values.
  7.   Dry clean the garment(s) I used to fit into at my ideal size (I will post a photo).
  8.   Schedule my daily meal and snack times (I may consider sharing this on-line).
  9.   Write my affirmations (personal - for my journal only).
10.   Customize my personal exercise repertoire (low impact, allows intensity, contains variety while protecting and supporting body parts undergoing physical therapy).
11.   Set my start date for eating according to Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load (GIGL).
12.   Develop a stress-management strategy.
13.   Empty and clean the refrigerator; reorganize with reserved shelves/drawers to accommodate my new plan.
14.   Reorganize the pantry similarly (actually they're kitchen cabinets).


You can see I have my work cut out for me. Some of these objectives will be completed before I start my GIGL eating program. Others will be finished later. 
I am hesitant to set a date in the near future because there is so much to do. But just as hotels and restaurants open before their "Grand Opening", I guess I could start my low glycemic eating before my official start date. I'll be just as committed but I might make a couple of rookie mistakes and follow-up with the necessary adjustments. That makes sense, doesn't it?


Do something beautiful for your heart today.


~Cheryl~

Phase 2 / Post 3: Getting ready to GIGL

The way it's worded in the book I've been reading sounds very awkward when I say it from my mouth: "eating the glycemic way" & "living by the glycemic index". Although that is what I am about to do, these phrases sound very clinical and promotional, like a health care program marketing campaign.


Am I supposed to be so excited about this that the words just roll off my tongue? They don't, despite my excitement about what I've read (those phrases notwithstanding). You've probably figured out that words are very important to me... so much that I had to do something most other people probably wouldn't do: change the words. Actually, I created a new one:


GIGL: verb  (pronounced "giggle")  sounds happy and fun, exactly what I want this experience to be. It creates the expectation in me that the hard work I have to do will be a joy. 


Of course the word is an acronym/acrostic (?) that comes from 

"Glycemic Index Glycemic Load" 

and it's a homonym, too. Right?

Do something beautiful for your heart today.

~Cheryl~

Phase 2 / Workout 4 - Beginning to appreciate my progress

I let a big gap develop between workouts. Physical therapy did happen last Thursday (and I do not record the details of those results). However, I can say my ankle is improving despite some continued but diminishing pain. My knee is definitely the more compliant patient.

My reading in the Complete Idiot's Guide: Glycemic Index Weight Loss has confirmed and clarified what I suspected about my progress. My doctor also alluded to it during my last visit with her. My metabolism has increased or become elevated... oh, it's just better. 


Although I didn't lose much weight in the first months of this project, my exercise did count for something. Muscle mass, more dense than fat, increased in my body. I am certain I lost fat and got somewhat smaller visually, the change on the weight scale was marginal because muscle is heavier per unit of volume (if you had a marble made of fat and a same-sized marble made of muscle, the latter would weigh more). All this to say, I lost some of my marbles and gained some better ones.


This also explains how I could be away from exercising with no change in my eating throughout the majority of December, and not gain weight during the entire holiday season.


I have finished reading through chapter 7 of my book and I've found some potentially helpful supplementary resources in line with my winter goals. One, I will mention here. On Facebook, the Glycemic Index page contains discussion and resources for people who are pursuing healthier eating habits using Glycemic Index/Load. 


My experiences at the University of Phoenix. where students are required to write and post substantive answers to instructor questions and responses of fellow students in the on-line classrooms, motivated me to look for a place where I could participate in constructive discussions on this topic. Although I joined the group a few days ago and the most recent posts were many days earlier at the time, when I checked in today, I found two fresh posts there. Both were questions, to which I knew a good answer from yesterday's readings. 


I initially returned to the page to see how vibrant the discussion was because I wanted to question a paradox I found in my reading concerning pH balance (I will explain in a future post). I didn't want my post to just sit out there unanswered. I observed that many people have been posting to this page but few recent posts had responses. So, I decided not to post my question there at this time. But...


Since the best way to prove that you know something is to share it with someone else, I wrote responses to two of the questions. This was easy, especially since I would not be  graded by a professor. Still I wanted to give it my best as if a professor was reading. In this forum, one or more probably will. With book in hand, I dove in and attempted to respond to the two questions posed. After all, these would not be my answers but what I learned from my studies. You already have enough information to find the page on Facebook. I am interested to see if you agree with what I wrote there.


My results for January 19th (Phase 2 / Workout 4) are:

Time: 20 min. 
Average Speed 15.2 
Distance 4.9
Calories 135
Average Heart Rate 126
Watts: 77
Level: 4 (Program: Manual)

Do something beautiful for your heart today.

~ Cheryl ~

Phase 2 / Workout 3 - Weigh-in day (the first for the new year)

Originally I set out to bike and listen to the Daily Audio Bible on the iPod today but I ended up listening to music instead. 


My brother stuffed my cell phone's mp3 player with music from his collection that he thought I would like. When I couldn't get it to play on the phone, I transferred it to the iPod. He gave me so much, it will probably take me a few months to listen to it all and at least a couple more months to create playlists for my workouts according to each song's tempo so I can listen to them during my walks, rides and other types of exercise I may choose in the future.


Certain songs I picked helped me keep my pedaling at a targeted speed and motivated me to push when I felt like slowing down (regardless of the tempo). I am going into iTunes tonight to create "Bike Ride" playlist. Every time I hear a song I can pedal to, I'll add it. In a month or so I'll have accumulated a diverse collection from which I can mix and match to keep things interesting. I'll have to do my DAB (www.dailyaudiobible.com) at another time while multitasking with something else or in solitude.


Trusted Friend and I went back to the scale for the first time in months this afternoon and I am very happy to say that my starting weight for 2010 is my lowest recorded weight since I began this journey on Sept. 1st. So, I am picking up where I left off somewhere between September and November at my maximum net loss of 4 lbs.


Why am I so happy about this? Hello!? Look at the calendar! Two and a half weeks ago was Christmas. Nearly a month before that was Thanksgiving. In between, before and after were social events with lots of... you know... food and I didn't gain weight over the holidays (cue the Halleluia Chorus) despite the fact that I was limping to physical therapy and not doing much else with respect to exercise. Do you get it now?

I am still uncomfortable writing my weight for others to see. That is why I have a designated Trusted Friend who can look at the scale and verify the current weight and subtract it from the starting weight which she saw back in September to make sure I did my math correctly.

My results for January 12th (Phase 2 / Workout 3) are:

Time: 20 min. 
Average Speed 14.3 
Distance 4.6
Calories 125
Average Heart Rate 120
Watts: 66
Level: 4 (Program: Manual)

Do something beautiful for your heart today.


~ Cheryl ~

Phase 2 / Workout 1 - My (late) mom's birthday & a breath-taking story from childhood

I felt it was necessary to honor the memory of my mother, who battled back successfully from heart disease, by starting back doing my workouts on her birthday. If I hadn't done it today, I would have found it easy to procrastinate tomorrow.

Yes, I have been going to physical therapy and I did walk for 40 minutes in my neighborhood just after Christmas but I didn't log any distance or step measurements. Tonight was my first official night back doing what I had been doing apparently rather well in 2009. I imagine I can only improve upon my previous work - keeping it humble of course - by finally embracing an eating budget and losing some weight!


I expect that my feet, which had started to swell slightly in recent days, will begin to look normal as early as tomorrow morning. Over the holidays, I discovered another way I had improved that was previously untested.


Here is the background: Our family was on the way to New York for a funeral. My 100 year-old aunt Evelyn passed away the day after Christmas and her funeral was two days before New Year's Day. Anyway, the drive north took us through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, which I have ridden through countless times since I was too small to notice.


As children, my brother and I were always in learning mode with our mother, the conscientious teacher. I think she decided that if she was teaching children (as excellent as she was at teaching), her own children would get the best from her - the most - her all. Everything she could find to teach to us, anywhere at any time, we were learning. And it was fun. So, we were learning about tunnels (waterways, fish, boats, bridges, etc.) as we went through the tunnel on vacation trips to New Jersey or to visit relatives or see Broadway Shows in New York.


I was fascinated by the fact that we were driving under water but not getting wet. Although I couldn't see the water, I knew we were under water. And I wanted those bricks to be clear so I could look at the fish. I got it into my elementary-aged head that I should hold my breath always when I am under water. 


From then on, nearly every trip we took through that tunnel I held my breath (even a few years ago when I was driving to Philadelphia alone). Back then, I didn't always tell anyone, I just held my breath. Sometimes, the rest of the family noticed I was no longer participating in the conversation and I would have to explain once I started breathing again. From the moment our car was underneath the first part of the structure to when we cleared the other side, I was holding my breath (or trying). No air went in or out. I didn't always make it. Sometimes traffic was heavy and slow but often I would still be holding my breath seconds after we were under the sky again.


On this most recent trip, I held my breath through the tunnel without telling anyone as we traveled northbound. I failed miserably. On the return trip south the next day, I introduced my nephew, who is 12 and appropriately competitive [he's a boy], to my breath-holding practice. It was not hard to challenge him to a contest.


I remember my personal record from years ago was 1 minute 35 seconds. I didn't expect to do any better or even come close (maybe a minute or a minute 5 seconds). My nephew didn't last for 60 seconds. Well, I broke my own record and held my breath for 1 minute 45 seconds!  I attribute this to the work I did in the fall (presented in previous blogs below) and am sufficiently motivated to continue through the winter. 


My nephew is probably practicing holding his breath right now.


My results for January 10th (Phase 2 / Workout 1) are:

Time: 20 min. 
Average Speed 13.2
Distance 4.2
Calories 110
Average Heart Rate 117
Watts: 54
Level: 4 (Program: Manual)


Do something beautiful for your heart today.


~ Cheryl ~

Day 2 & 3 - Still on track to reach my first week's goal

Yesterday, my second day, will go down as my first day off. That means for the rest of this week, I will be on my bike at least once per day. I am not going to share why I didn't get on the bike yesterday. I set aside one day and that was it. I have not transgressed so there is no need for any explanations.


Today, I waited again until the day (and the night) ended. Then I realized there were two things I needed to do before midnight. So, I did them simultaneously!


That's right. The clock keeps ticking and the tock waits for no one.


Because of this multitasking, I did not capture the results after 20 minutes on the bike. I only know that I burned 69 calories during that time. Because I stated at the beginning of this week to blog my results daily, I decided to get back on the bike for another 20 minutes!
This had nothing to do with my not having gotten on the bike yesterday. Any questions? Read the first paragraph again. 


Imagine how ridiculous it would be to sit around for six days and then cram on the seventh. I wrote this because I might be tempted to try it in a future week. Now that I've written it, I am less inclined.


My official results for Day 3:


Time: 20 min.
Average Speed 8.2
Distance 2.6
Calories 66 + 69 = 135 (from the first 20 minutes - they  count!)
Average Heart Rate 90
Watts: 20
 
Although I didn't exercise, I did go shopping yesterday and stumbled across a sale on Lean Pockets at Giant. I heated one and my trusted friend asked me what I was about to eat. She should have known that I probably wouldn't have let her see it if I wasn't prepared to talk about it, especially now that I'm in training. She understands, as you have probably inferred, I haven't set any dietary goals yet.
 
Lean Pockets are delicious! They taste so good that I was fooled into thinking the numbers on the box should be bigger. I wouldn't have known they were lean if I hadn't seen the box. They come two to a box. After I finished one, I didn't feel like I needed to go back and fix the other one.
 
I had one for lunch on Day 2 and when I went to get one at lunch time on Day 3... I found lunch had been served. Tex-Mex leftovers from a meeting had been set out. At work, leftover food is put in the kitchen on the counters and table for anyone and everyone. "Help yourself"  is understood. Everything except meat was there. So, I enjoyed tortillas with refried beans, salsa, fresh and roasted veggies, corn, rice and a little sour cream. I saved my Lean Pocket for dinner.

I'll just have to admit, before someone approaches me to confront me about this: I recognize I have been putting off the workout to the last minute and need to adjust my workout schedule to earlier in the day. I'm glad we had this little talk.

Do something beautiful for your heart today.

~ Cheryl ~

Serendipity Warms My Heart

I am getting ready to walk for the American Heart Association Start! Heart Walk on November 14th. I work for CACI and we've been forming teams to fund-raise and train.

When the team names for my department were announced during a recent meeting, one incited giggles throughout the room. I guess the "Pacemakers" conjured an image of limping heart patients in the race barely crossing the finish line long after everyone else had gone home. Well, that's what came to my mind when I giggled. As a result, I thought "surely not many people would pick this team as their first choice" so I did and added my name to that of the team captain, her mom and her boss. Our fund-raising goal was set at $1,000.

Elizabeth (the team captain) and I began exchanging e-mails and she let the team know that she had proposed an exciting fund-raising idea that was later approved by our employer. Her idea led to our team raising over $23,000 in one month. I feel like we're winners even before the race begins.
Just before I set up this blog, I set up my Heart Walk fund-raising web page with the AHA http://heartwalk.kintera.org/dc/cherylsmakingpaces, sent out some e-mails and took a tour of the AHA Heart Walk site. I discovered that the Pacemakers are not only the top team in our company, we're the top team period. As of this writing, we're ahead of the 2nd highest fund-raising team by nearly twice as much as they have raised and have contributed more than 25% of our corporation's total funds. We also have seven members now and we are going to continue to fund-raise.

For the record and just in case you missed it earlier, Elizabeth gets the credit for the idea that has benefitted our team so tremendously. For this, I thank her profusely, but that doesn't mean I am going to just sit back, relax and wait for November 14th. Serendipity may have governed my decision to join this team but I have my own serious work to do.

I am at risk for heart disease and have dozens and scores of pounds to lose (OK, about 100!) I believe it is important to say publicly. Heart disease almost killed my mom the summer after my first year at Virginia Tech. She recovered and had no more heart problems for the rest of her life. Now, I have been healthier than the average fat person despite the extra weight ever since I gained it earlier in adulthood. But, I understand that my relatively good health should not be taken for granted any longer.

So, the first 20 - 25 pounds are going to come off in public! Even if no one visits my Heart Walk site or if this blog has zero readers forever, the accountability of knowing someone might be reading and watching me on-line adds some much needed silent pressure. With that, I hope to receive responses of encouragement and support for my fitness improvement efforts. This will help me build my confidence in this endeavor even if I am the last to limp across the finish line. So whether you choose to pray for me or pat me on the back (or both), thanks in advance.


My plan: My official start date is September 1st and November 14th will be the milestone for my first long term goal of 20 - 25 lbs. lost. I'll set and post a manageable weekly goal and give updates as to how well or badly I did with my previous goal(s) that week. I'll celebrate or dust myself off, make adjustments and keep going forward. I think I'd like to post photos and start tweeting, too. If I do, you'll read about it here first.


Do something beautiful for your heart today.

~ Cheryl ~