What Have I Done???

Billie and I had our free one-hour session with the personal trainer at our new gym tonight.  Well.....that one hour turned into two hours and before it was all over, we signed up.  I can't believe it.  I've never hired a personal trainer before, mainly because I can't afford it.  So why did I do it tonight?  For one reason really.  I'm desperate.  I want to reach my goal, I've been struggling for quite a while, and I need to be pushed.  So I'm paying someone to push me.

The cost is $30 per session.  At one session per week, that's $120/month.  He's letting us split the cost, so my half is $60 a month, or $15/week.  That will buy me one session a week with the trainer, and an exact plan laid out for us on what's expected of us to do on our own the other 2 days in the week (we're supposed to do 3 workouts a week w/ strength and cardio....and I imagine we'll just do cardio on the other 2 days a week, so that we're working out 5 days/week still).

We're also required to write down everything we eat EVERY day.  My accountability level just rose 100%.  That's exactly what I need....kick my a$$ in the gym and monitor every bite of food that goes in my mouth.  Hmmm....maybe I'll actually lose the weight and get fit!!!  This could be worth $15 a week.

Many of you asked the logic behind doing the weights before the cardio, so I told him tonight that I have a weight loss blog, and I want to know the science behind his plan.  He explained that he wants us to do a 5 minute warm-up of cardio (we chose the elliptical).  Which, by the way, he told me tonight that I'm the most graceful person he's ever seen on an elliptical machine.  That embarassed me, but that's cool.  At least I don't look like I'm having seizures up there anymore.  That gets your heart rate up, and then you move to the free weights, and weight machines. 

He said doing these first burns through the crap in your body, and he listed off a bunch of stuff like glucose, sucrose, fructose, etc.  He said you do weights for 30 mins, and then you do 20 minutes of cardio, which is strictly fat burning.  I didn't argue with him....but I know that you can do it in whatever order you want.  Different people are all going to tell you different things.

The trainer at my last gym does cardio first, and then weights, and never told me the science behind his idea.  However, he did tell me to never eat before you do your cardio.  If you do, then you have to burn through that food first.  If you don't, then you go straight to burning through the stored fat.  But the trainer I met with tonight said that's stupid logic.  He said you have to have energy to fuel your workouts, so you should absolutely eat before you go to the gym.

The trainer tonight also said protein repairs muscles.....always have some after a workout.  And he said carbs provide energy.  Then he said what kind of energy do you need while you're sleeping?  None.  So never eat carbs for dinner.  I asked him what he had for dinner and he said a grilled chicken breast and asparagus.  Alrighty then, lol.  I challenged him and asked him if really NEVER has carbs for dinner.  He said of course he does....he even went so far to tell me that sometimes he has pizza and beer, saying that he's human...not a robot.  I'm going to like this trainer.  :)

Obviously, there are plenty of people who can't get to the gym til after they get off work, so does that mean they're not doing themselves any good because they've already eaten all day?  Of course not.  I think it all works, no matter what order you do it in.  Also, both of the trainers at both gyms are in prime shape...full of muscles, hard-bodied, without an ounce of fat on them.  Yet they do opposite routines.  That's proof to me that it all works.  Since I'm paying this current trainer, I'll do what he tells me to do.  Makes no difference to me....I just want this fat gone.

I also asked him to tell me my body fat percentage tonight.  I knew it would be hideous, but I felt like I really needed to know exactly where I'm at.  I was praying it wasn't 50%.  He tested it and said I'm at 37.6%.  As I said...hideous.  He said he's going to get me down to 24%.  I was surprised.  That sounded high to me, because Sean had his checked recently, and is at 16%.  He said that his personal trainer said a guy should be between 10-15%.  Now I'm curious as to what a woman's should be.  Does anyone know?  Is 24% too high? 

I'm not looking forward to this Friday's weigh-in, but I'll be looking forward to the next one.  Our first session is this Saturday.  They'll do all of our measurements, go through all of the machines with us again, go over our food sheets, give us a small workout, and lay out our plan for the other 2 days during the week when we won't have the trainer.  After the workout we had tonight, I feel pretty positive that I won't be able to move when I get out of bed in the morning.  But we're supposed to have one more day of sunshine this week, so I'm going to try and grab my sister Amy and go on a hike.  My niece is spending the night with me tomorrow night so I won't be able to get to the gym with Billie, so I want to make sure I get in some kind of exercise.  A hike in the sunshine sounds perfect.

The weather is supposed to turn bad Friday....they're calling for a little snow Fri night/Sat morning.  As long as there's not ice on the roads, then I'll be at the gym at 9am on Saturday for our session.  I'm kind of scared, lol....but I'm excited, too.  I think this is exactly what I need.  I did it.  I bit the bullet.  I hired a personal trainer.  God help me, lol.  :)

Guest Post: Popcorn Perils

Let's all send Tammy our hellos and love across cyberspace!

Tammy asked me to guest post for her tonight - she's got some things going can't get on to post this evening, and since she didn't post last night, she didn't want to go two days during the week without a post, so here I am!

I was planning on talking about this on my own blog, so I'll just hijack my own post....

On both The Today show and The CBS Early Show this morning, they touched on a new report on a not so new subject of the perils of popcorn, more specifically, movie theater popcorn.

I can easily remember in my younger, more "I don't give a care what I am shoving into my body" days, walking into a theater and plopping down with a big ol bag of popcorn, a big, sweet soda and clutching a beautiful box of candy in my other hand, all ready to enjoy whatever I came to see. Of course, before the lights went dim for the previews, I had already inhaled my bounty, and usually had a little soda left to sip on throughout the show.

Of course, over the last few years, we have heard about the unbelievable caloric totals that the popcorn at most theaters, but a new study went a little more in depth.

Here are a few excerpts from The Today Show Article:

New laboratory tests conducted by the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest reveal that a $12 medium-popcorn-and-soda combo sold at Regal, the country’s largest movie-theater chain, contains 1,610 calories and 60 grams of saturated fat — the equivalent of three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with 12 pats of butter.

At AMC theaters, serving sizes are smaller but can still pack a wallop. A large popcorn has 1,030 calories and 57 grams of saturated fat — the equivalent of a pound of baby back ribs topped with a scoop of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, but with more fat.

At Cinemark, which pops its popcorn in heart-healthy canola oil, a large popcorn has 910 calories with 4 grams of saturated fat. “Though popping in canola gives this chain’s popcorn far less saturated fat than its competitors, it’s almost as high in calories and has the most sodium — about twice as much as Regal or AMC,” the Center for Science in the Public Interest said in a statement.

The giant sodas served at the movies also take a toll, the study said. To name just one example, a 54-ounce large soda at Regal has 33 teaspoons of sugar and 500 empty calories.

And don’t forget about the candy: A 5-ounce bag of Twizzlers contains 15 teaspoons of sugar. A 7-ounce box of Nerds contains 46 teaspoons of sugar. And an 8-ounce bag of Reese’s Pieces contains 1,160 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat.

I think back at how I used to eat so haphazardly and am surprised I was able to make it to 38. It also makes me very aware of the perils that are still out there, and how so many people choose to ignore them. The article also mentioned how some theaters tried to offer more healthy options a few years ago (1994), and they all flopped significantly.

One point, however, is that none of the theaters offer nutritional information to their patrons, and while in general, the "people just have no idea what they are eating" excuse is a dumb one, I do think seeing this information could possibly deter a few individuals from making these choices.

I know that a movie is a special treat that most of us do not have as a frequent occurrence in our day to day activities, so special treats seem to deserve allowances for extra indulgences, don't you agree? But, when you consider a drink, a popcorn and a box of candy combined has potentially 3,270 calories, and copious grams of saturated fats, sugars and sodium, is a movie really worth it?

I say smuggle in your own air popped popcorn, a bottle of water and enjoy the show!

Thanks Tammy! Its been fun!

Pam: Journey To The Healthier Side of Life

Learning Lots

I went to the gym this morning and walked just over 2 miles. My knee still isn't back to normal yet, but it's a lot better than it was. Billie and I went back to the gym tonight at 7pm and learned all kinds of stuff from a personal trainer named Dell. This man is 59 years old, has 27 years of experience in body building, personal training and nutrtion. He's been Mr. Universe and won numerous other competitions around the word...Italy, Germany, Spain, etc.

I hate to say this, lol, but a lot of the stuff he told us is stuff my mother has been telling me every day....oh how it pains me to say that. I know you're reading this Mom...I hope you're basking in the glow. You deserve it. I don't give you enough credit. :)

Let's see....there's a lot of stuff we already knew....stuff like:

-It takes 3500 calories burned to lose 1 lb. of fat.
-Eat 5-6x a day.
-Protein, protein, protein.
-Water, water, water....at least (3-4) 32 oz. glasses a day.
-Toning requires less weight and more reps.
-Look for a 1-2 lb. loss weekly.
-Do the weight training/toning every other day.
-Do the cardio 5-6 days a week with one rest day.

Here's what I didn't know:

-Yellow squash (my fave) is a bad carb; zucchini is a good carb
-Always do your cardio (treadmill) BEFORE you eat ANYTHING.
-Cottage cheese is the absolute best protein you can eat.
-If you eat a snack after dinner, make it cottage cheese.
-Jogging is BAD...too hard on the joints, and it wastes energy...you get more of a workout from walking. That was a hard one to swallow.
-Change your daily calorie limit EVERY 2 WEEKS to keep the body guessing.
-Change your exercise routine EVERY 2 WEEKS to keep the body from stalling.
-If you're going to count calories, keep it between 1500-1800 to lose weight.
-He listed about 6 supplements you should take, but the only 3 I remember is 5HTP, flaxseed capsules, and green tea EXTRACT in capsule form.
-Have a cheat day ONCE A WEEK. I knew cheat days were okay once in a while to change things up and jolt the body, but I did not know they were okay once a week.
-Walk backwards on the treadmill to strengthen my screwed up knee. I saw a girl doing this yesterday, but thought she was just a weirdo, lol.

Half the time I was shaking my head "yes" at stuff I'd heard before....and the other half I was picking my jaw up off the floor...especially the thing about the yellow squash, lol. I can't believe I made it this far in life not knowing it was a "bad" carb. Which doesn't mean not eat it....just don't eat it as plentifully as you would eat zucchini. I always thought the 2 main veggies that fell under the "bad" carb list were corn and potatoes.

He is in such perfect shape that I just had to ask him if he ever eats fast food. He said yes, and that he eats at Waffle House all the time...today, in fact. My eyebrows raised, my jaw dropped, and I think I blurted out something like, "Are you effing kidding me??? The Awful Waffle???". He laughed and said it's all in the ordering. Today he had steamed hashbrowns and a couple of eggs cooked in cooking spray, not the regular oil of butter. First off, I had no idea they had cooking spray. And secondly, I had no idea you could request "steamed" hashbrowns. I seriously thought they fried everything. Tonight was a total learning experience for me and it was awesome.

We worked out on the machines when we were there last night, but tonight he showed us how to do them "correctly". I feel a big difference in the soreness tonight from the soreness last night. Last night, I had to much movement in my exercises on the machines...I was wasting energy, or something like that. Tonight the movements were much more compact, efficient, intense, with higher weight than I used last night. Last night I used 10 lbs of weight for everything...tonight he put us on 30, 40 and 50 lb weight for everything. Big difference, lol. HUGE. But it feels good. I'm glad I know how to do it right now.

I'm going to weigh in tmrw morning, and then Billie will be here at 8:30. She's working from home this week, so she's able to go with me in the morning BEFORE BREAKFAST. That will be a change. I've been told for so long to eat 30 minutes after I get up to kick in the metabolism. He said that is correct, if you're not going to do any cardio that day, or if you're able to do the cardio in the morning and not after work. We all know I have no job right now, so I'm supposed to get to the gym and get the treadmill in before I eat anything. He said the purpose of this is if you eat breakfast, the body will burn that first. If you don't, it goes right into burning the stored fat. Makes perfect sense to me.

I doubt I'll have time to do a post before I go to the gym, so I'll do it when I get back in, sometime between my household chores and my errands. The goal this week was to lose 1 lb so that I could show a loss 2 weeks in a row and start gaining some consistency, so that is what I'm hoping for. :)

Quote For the Day:

"Your goals, minus your doubts, equals your reality." -Ralph Marston

Too Close For Comfort

The most bizarre thing happened to me tonight...right in the midst of my newfound attitude towards healthy eating for life, crucifying Obesity, and gaining optimum health.

I almost ate an entire casserole. It was so close.....too, too close.

Here's the bizarre part....I have NO idea why. I had a good day. It was productive with cleaning house and packing more boxes for the move. No bad emotions going on...no major stress...heck, I wasn't even celebrating anything. No binge feelings, no plans to go over my calories...in fact I'm so in sync with my calorie limit now that I've actually been thinking about dropping them, but decided that's better left for when a plateau hits.

I almost always have around 800-900 calories left by dinnertime. I had the desire for a casserole...something a little creamy and a little cheesy. I had bought some 98% fat free cans of cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and broccoli and cheese a couple of weeks ago, and decided to finally try them. I figured with almost no fat that they would taste like crap. Boy was I wrong. Turns out the broccoli and cheese one I used was entirely too good.

I sauteed (3) 6 oz. chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces w/ my Pam Olive Oil cooking spray. I covered them in all kinds of yummy spices....a touch of salt, black pepper, Adobo, garlic powder and onion powder. I added them to my casserole dish along with 1 c. of instant brown rice, 1 can of the broccoli and cheese soup, some water, 1 jar of mushrooms, and 2 c. of broccoli. I baked it in the oven on 350 for 45 mins and then raised the temp to 400 for the last 15 mins to make sure it was good and done and heated all the way through. When I removed the foil I added 1/4 c. of reduced fat finely shredded Colby Jack cheese on top and watched it melt. I was already starting to salivate.

I went to the computer and added everything up on my nutrition website, SparkPeople, to see exactly how much I could have....I'm ususally pretty darn hungry by dinnertime. And even after nearly 7 weeks of reducing my calories from 4,000 a day to 1550, I'm still amazed at how much volume I can hold and not feel sick afterwards. The entire casserole ended up being 1150 calories, half of it being 575. I decided I needed to eat half the casserole, lol, and I did. Of course I shared some with my puppy dog, so I didn't eat the whole whopping plate full, but probably 80% of it.

Here's the problem. It was TOO good. Just creamy enough, just cheesy enough (I do NOT like a ton of cheese in my food), and the chicken had just the right flavor. I wanted more. I took my plate back to the kitchen, set it down, and stared at that beautiful casserole. After what I had already eaten, I had 289 calories left for the day. I could have had a little more, but I wanted ALL of it.....another 575 calories which would have sent me way over, not to mention probably would have sent me to the bathroom puking my guts out once the entire thing hit my stomach.
Who eats ENTIRE casseroles in one sitting????? Good grief.

I stared at it...my eyes glazing over as if I were in a deep trance...food trances are the worst kind. I could just barely hear Skinny Tammy screaming at me in the background....very, very faint....barely audible.

nooooooooooooooo fat tammy....don't do it!....think of destin....think of the 21 lbs you've already lost....think of how much you're going to hate yourself....it's the day before weigh day for God's sakes......step away from the casserole.....save yourself!

It was so faint...so far off in the distance......I could just barely hear it. The casserole was winning out. I took a bite. OMG it was sooo good. Why do I have to cook so good? Why didn't I eat egg whites for dinner on the night before weigh day? I took another bite. And all of a sudden I was jolted out of my trance like Skinny Tammy was standing right beside me screaming in my ear with a megaphone....

GET YOUR FAT A$$ AWAY FROM THAT DANG CASSEROLE!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING??? THIS IS YOUR AMAZING MENTAL CHANGE???? THESE ARE THE GREAT STRIDES YOU'VE MADE??? THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL "FINALLY" HAVING YOUR MIND IN THE RIGHT PLACE??? YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!

The best way I can describe the way I felt after snapping out of it is "frightened". I've read in other blogs where if people make a mistake or nearly do, they try to analyze it, identify trigger foods, certain emotions that set off bad eating, etc. I have no answer for mine and that frightens me. I very nearly ate that whole thing....1150 calories in one meal.....more food than any human being needs to put in their bodies in one sitting....would have totally killed all the work I've done this week to get off the sodium gain from all the birthday/restaurant eating LAST weekend.
And I just don't know why.

All I can say is that I hope it doesn't happen again...or if it does, I hope Skinny Tammy is a little more audible from now on. It's really, really bothering me. It's screwing with my mind. It doesn't jive with my decision to get this weight off at all. Yeah, I'm definitely frightened at what a close call that was, and having no reason to explain it.

Moving on....tomorrow morning is my weigh-in. I've drank enough water this week to float the Titanic. As I mentioned earlier in the week, after my 3 restaurant meals last weekend, I got on the scale Monday morning and saw a 5-6 lb. gain. Yikes. We'll see where it ends up. I can promise you one thing though....the following week WILL be a loss. The numbers WILL go down. How do I know that? Because I know what it takes to lose. It takes a decision to do the work, it takes daily consistency on staying within your calorie limit, it takes persistence with your daily exercise...pushing yourself as far as you're able to go. That's what I'll be doing this next week.

I'm really looking forward to the next 7 days. And there will be NO restaurant/Publix deli food this week. NONE. ZERO. I don't care what we're celebrating...I don't care if I win the lottery...we won't be celebrating it in SODIUM HELL!!! If I win, it will be more like....turkey burger and egg whites for EVERYONE!!! I'm buying. ;)

Quote For The Day:

"Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is the one who endures that the final victory comes." -Buddha