Category: Fitness Stat-urday

Here I am, half way through my “12 Weeks Until the Holidays” challenge to myself.  I really flubbed it this last week – I was so, so sick.  If I get sick (that’s a big IF), I’m usually sick for no more than 24 hours.  This thing got me for 72 hours – 3 whole days.  I was out of energy, suffering a sore throat, and sneezing constantly.  I just did not have it in me to run or do any exercise, really.  Miraculously, I only gained 0.2 pounds from last week until now, and lost body fat.  So, I think it’s fair to say that I’m managing my calorie intake rather well, especially when I’m unable to exercise.

Here are my mid-way stats:

• Weight:  141.4 pounds (down 1.6 pounds from my starting weight of 143.0 pounds)
• Body Fat %:  22.8% (neither up nor down – started at 22.8%)
• BMI:  22.2 (down 0.2 from my starting BMI of 22.4)
• Natural Waist Measurement:  27.5 inches (no change from starting measurements)
• Belly Button Measurement:  31.75 inches (no change from starting measurements
• Hips:  35.75 inches (no change from starting measurements)

Goals for the 12 weeks:

• I want to weigh 145 pounds or less every Wednesday
  • This goal was 100% met!
• My body fat cannot go above 24%
  • This goal was 100% met!
• I want to keep doing 5 hours a week of vigorous activity
  • This was only met one week… most weeks are running about 4.5 hours of activity a week

Thoughts at the Mid-Way Point:

• I’m really happy with the main stats of weight and body fat % – to be hitting those goals consistently, week after week, with less than 5 hours of exercise is promising for my busier future
• I do need to be more consistent with exercise, and got back on the wagon today with a horrendous 5 mile run – HA!
• If I could drop another 1.6-2.0 pounds in the next 6 weeks, I would be under 140 again (I only got under that when I was still nursing Bryson very consistently) which would be pretty awesome!
• It’s getting colder outside… it’s time to get back into KB in the garage and INSAN.ITY workouts in the kitchen

I got through the first 4 weeks of the final 8 weeks of summer with really great results with running, but totally skipped out on weight training (always my nemesis) and the 100 Pushups and 200 Sit Ups programs.  In all fairness, after one week of doing the sit ups program, I tested in at 200 in a row – so that program really wasn’t the best for me.  But the pushups were a different story.  I hurt my wrist badly after the first week and a half and had to stop.  I’ve been scared to start again.  I am going to try to start again these final 4 weeks.

As a recap, here are my starting stats on 07/07/2015:

Starting Statistics on 07/07/2015

• Weight:  146.4 pounds
• Body Fat %:  23.7%
• BMI:  22.9
• Measurements:
  • Natural Waist: 28.25 inches
  • Belly Button: 32 inches
  • Hips:  36.5 inches
• Core Strength Starting Stats:
  • Starting Sit Ups:  105 (starting at Week 5 of the program)
  • Starting Pushups:  32 – (starting at Week 3 of the program)

Goals for the 8 weeks:

• Completely finish the core strength programs (200 sit ups, 100 pushups) weeks 2-7
• At least one (1) cross training session a week (this is hard for me to do in the summers because I’d rather run)
• Bands/resistance training once a week
• Clean eating with just one cheat day a week (I will not be logging food here though, but I will confess my sins in the notes section each week – HA!)
• 20-30 Total running miles each week
• At least 5 hours a week of exercise (this includes running, core strength, resistance, cross training, lawn mowing, and HARD yard work that makes me sore the next day)
• Keep within my net calorie goals (1330 per day) 6 days per week (allowed 1 cheat day a week)

Here is where I ended up after 4 weeks – I’m quite happy considering that dropping weight just isn’t easy for me right now.  I’m at a good BMI and body fat percentage for my height and age, so I can’t expect to lose much more without a serious overhaul of what I’m doing.

Week 4 Statistics

• Weight:   144.4 Pounds
  • Pounds Lost or Gained:  2 Pound lost
• Body Fat %:  23.4%
  • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.3% Lost
• BMI: 22.6
  • BMI change in 4 weeks (starting was 22.9):  0.3
• Workout Days (goal is 24 days)/Time Spent Being Active (goal is 20 hours):  21 Days/19 Hours 29 Minutes (damn – just shy of the goal!)
• Miles Run (goal is 80-120):  98.54 Miles
• Days within Calorie Goals per MFP: Of the 6 days a week that I tracked (allowing 1 free day a week), I averaged a net of 1,130 per day – right on par with a  1200 goal and well under a 1330 goal!
• Measurements:
  • Natural Waist: 27.5 inches (28.25 on 07/15) – lost 0.75 inches
  • Belly Button: 32 inches (32.0 on 07/15) – lost/gained 0 inches
  • Hips:  36.0 inches (36.5 on 07/15) – lost 0.5 inches

So – I’m a happy camper right now!  My average running distance has moved from 5 miles per day to 5.5-6 miles per day, so that’s awesome!  My pace improves so I’m not spending much more time running that extra distance.  Eating is going well, but I’ve got that so figured out that I’d be so angry with myself if it wasn’t going as planned.  All-in-all, I’m happy and am ready to kick it up a bit these final 4 weeks.

I need a new fitness plan.  After thinking on it for quite a while, I came up with the one linked here.  I’m testing in with my sit ups, pushups, and squats tonight and will kick that training off on Saturday.  I’m running up until then and am logging as of this week.  In case you’re interested, you can check it out, but don’t feel like you need to.  🙂

My goodness, it’s been FOREVER since I’ve checked in here on my fitness.  I was doing another 10 weeks of fitness challenge with myself, but quit after writing this post because, well… it was very eye-opening and I thought it was time for a break on weekly logging of stats.  I didn’t even announce my departure from Fitness Staturdays – I just departed.

And it’s felt good.

But it is time to ramp things up again because my half marathon is next weekend and honestly, I’m ready for a change of pace.  Running on a schedule is no fun at all and this time around (I’ve run 3-4 20K’s or half marathons in the past – I can’t remember), I told myself that I will not be doing this again.  I had a pretty serious foot injury that should have side-lined me for at least 6 weeks, but a solid week of no running got me ready to run again (my doctor agreed it was OK).  The injury (a ruptured plantar fascia in my left arch, meaning that it is forever severed and will never heal back together) should have been way more painful than it was, but my family’s insane pain threshold has been passed onto me and I healed up as quickly as I healed from my C-sections – so I’m out running again.  BUT, the same thing could happen to my right foot, and that arch is burning a bit here and there, so I’m pretty nervous about the race.  I’m doing a trial long run this weekend (10-11 miles) to see if I can do it without upsetting my arches, and I’m staying close to home.  The longest I’ve run so far is 9 miles (which is when I ruptured it) so I know I can squeak out 13.1, but I’m not sure I want to.  I’m not sure that I want to risk a similar, or worse, injury.  It is more important to keep running for the rest of my life than to cross a particular finish line and have an injury that could side-line me for weeks to forever.

So I’m not sure.

Anyway, back to the point of this post – I’ve been running 20-30 miles a week both indoors and outdoors and it feels great, but I need a change.  I need to get back out to the garage to do some kickboxing, I need to do INSA.NI.TY again, and I need to get back to ab and strength work.  I’ve gotten a bit soft.  Before you go on and say, “no you haven’t – etc. etc.” check out my stats from the last time I checked in:

• Weight:   137.8 Pounds
• Body Fat %:  21.9%
• BMI: 21.9
• Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  6 Days
• Time Spent Being Active:   4 Hours 42 Minutes
• Miles Run:  21.3 Miles

And compare them to now:

• Weight:   144.4 Pounds
  • Difference of 6.6 pounds
• Body Fat %:  23.3%
  • Difference of 1.4%
• BMI: 22.6
  • Difference of 1.7
• Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  5 Days
• Time Spent Being Active:   6 Hours 2 Minutes
  • A good increase, but it was a good week!
• Miles Run:  20.2 Miles (and includes 4 miles of walking)

This isn’t horrible by any stretch, but see what I mean?  A little soft.  It turns out that my younger son was a pretty serious little cardio machine and I didn’t even realize it.  I plugged 200 calories a day into MFP for nursing, and I’m thinking it was much higher.  I believe that 5 of the added 6.6 pounds is from weaning – that kid was keeping me trimmed down.  Not counting his calorie usage correctly means that I shorted myself probably 100-150 calories a day, which explains why I dropped more than 1.5 pounds a week back then and was starting to look a little gaunt in the face (I can admit it).

So – once this race is or isn’t done, 😉 I’m going to take a week to figure out what I want to be doing.  I REALLY love running, especially outside, but I need to get my strength up and my abs toned again.  Man alive, I loved my abs back in January.  Unfortunately, those aren’t easy to maintain (well, they actually are if I just do ab work while my husband reads books to our son each night).  I have a feeling that on the days I don’t run (I skip to rest my shins – if they didn’t hurt, I’d run every day), I think I’ll do some kickboxing since my son is OUT OF MY ROOM FOR NAPS and the bag in the garage won’t wake him now.

I’m not at all bothered by my current stats – I’ve never maintained 140-145 pounds in my life and I’ve maintained it since before Thanksgiving, so that’s awesome – but I need to mix things up a bit.  And I need to stop eating sweets.  Now that my period is back, I have a serious sweet tooth.  Who knew?

I’ll check in with starting stats in a couple of weeks!

 

 

 

Starting Statistics on 01/03/2015

• Weight:  144.4 Pounds (I gained 2 pounds between my holiday challenge and weigh-in, good gawd!)
• Body Fat %:  22.9% (I gained here too – oops!)
• BMI:  22.6

Goals for the Next 10 Weeks (Ending 03/13/2015)

• Weight:  135 Pounds
• Body Fat %:  <21%
• BMI:  21.1
• Total Miles Each Week (Average):  25-30

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Week 3 Ending 01/23/2015

• Week 3 Statistics
  • Weight:   137.8 Pounds
  • Pounds Lost or Gained:  0 Pounds lost
  • Body Fat %:  21.9%
  • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.0% Lost
  • BMI: 21.9
  • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  6 Days
  • Time Spent Being Active:   4 Hours 42 Minutes
  • Miles Run:  21.3 Miles
• Food: 
  • Saturday – Humus, carrots, smoked chicken
  • Sunday– Chicken 🍗 and avocado sandwich
  • Monday – Butternut squash soup 🍲
  • Tuesday – Spinach salad
  • Wednesday – Curry burgers
  • Thursday – Spinach salad
  • Friday – Free night – Mexican!
• Exercise: 
  • Saturday – Treadmill walking (21 minutes), ab work (13 minutes)
  • Sunday– Running outside!!!! (60 minutes)
  • Monday – Treadmill running (50 minutes), walking (10 minutes)
  • Tuesday – Treadmill running (43 minutes), walking (7 minutes)
  • Wednesday – Ab work (13 minutes)
  • Thursday – Rest
  • Friday – treadmill running (60 minutes), walking (5 minutes)
• Notes: 
  • I’m likely not weighing in this week since I’ll be out of town starting EARLY Thursday morning. I could use Thursday’s weight, but that’s 2 days and 2 workouts early… And I like using my scale.
  • The weekend was hard on my body. Ha!
  • We are having tremendous weather here, allowing me to run a bit outside and just feel motivated to keep on keeping on.
  • I finished the week strong with a long treadmill run in Friday while on vacation. I ate reasonably well so felt good about that as well!
  • 138.4 pounds on Thursday when I left and 21.8% body fat… But those aren’t official numbers

Week 4 Ending 01/30/2015

• Week 4 Statistics
  • Weight:   137.8 Pounds
  • Pounds Lost or Gained:  0 Pounds lost
  • Body Fat %:  21.3%
  • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.6% Lost
  • BMI: 21.6
  • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  5 Days
  • Time Spent Being Active:   4 Hours 53 Minutes
  • Miles Run:  21.19 Miles
• Food: 
  • Saturday – Tijuana train wreck
  • Sunday– Chicken and avocado sandwich
  • Monday – Meatballs
  • Tuesday – Meatballs (again!)
  • Wednesday – Butternut squash soup 🍲
  • Thursday – Greek chicken
  • Friday – Date night!
• Exercise: 
  • Saturday – Treadmill running (55 minutes), walking (5 minutes)
  • Sunday– Treadmill running (51 minutes), walking (5 minutes)
  • Monday – None – rest day
  • Tuesday – None – umm….
  • Wednesday – INS.ANI.TY (52 minutes)
  • Thursday – Treadmill running (54 minutes), walking (6 minutes)
  • Friday – Treadmill running (61 minutes)
• Notes: 
  • I was forced to do INS.ANI.TY on Wednesday because the treadmill appeared to be broken after a power surge in the house. My husband fixed it when he got home, but it was a nice reminder that I like that workout and should be doing it more often!
  • Back to 137.8 on Thursday before saturday weigh-in. We have date night tonight (Friday) so I’ll use today’s stats.
  • I’m thrilled with my body fat %. I saw 21.1% for two days, so that’s promising!
  • I’m confident I’ll hit my goals this session. I’d like to exceed them. 6 weeks to go!

 

Starting Statistics on 01/03/2015

• Weight:  144.4 Pounds (I gained 2 pounds between my holiday challenge and weigh-in, good gawd!)
• Body Fat %:  22.9% (I gained here too – oops!)
• BMI:  22.6

Goals for the Next 10 Weeks (Ending 03/13/2015)

• Weight:  135 Pounds
• Body Fat %:  <21%
• BMI:  21.1
• Total Miles Each Week (Average):  25-30

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Week Ending 01/16/2015

• Week 2 Statistics
  • Weight:   137.8 Pounds
  • Pounds Lost or Gained:  1.8 Pounds lost
  • Body Fat %:  21.9%
  • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.3% Lost
  • BMI: 21.6
  • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  6 Days
  • Time Spent Being Active:   5 Hours 47 Minutes
  • Miles Run:  27.65 Miles

• Food: 
  • Saturday – Chinese food
  • Sunday– apricot chicken, mushrooms, sprouts
  • Monday – Panera
  • Tuesday – leftover apricot chicken, spinach salad
  • Wednesday – Smoked meat and green beans
  • Thursday – Spinach salad
  • Friday – Date night – free night!
• Exercise: 
  • Saturday – Treadmill running (60 minutes), walking (15 minutes)
  • Sunday– None – rest say
  • Monday – Treadmill running (50 minutes) walking (14 minutes)
  • Tuesday – Treadmill running (60 minutes)
  • Wednesday – Treadmill running (51 minutes), walking (14 minutes)
  • Thursday – Strength class (50 minutes), treadmill walking (23 minutes)
  • Friday – Treadmill running (50 minutes), walking (10 minutes)
• Notes: 
  • What a week! I dropped my weekly (sometimes twice weekly) pizza for an awesome bacon salad, and that seems to have made a difference. We’ve also been eating more spinach salads at home for dinner
  • It felt great to lift weights again. It’s been too long!
  • I’ve met my mileage goal both weeks so far, and it’s been quite easy. Running has become my lazy workout and I need to get back to IN.SANITY next week
  • This weekend is going to bring me a couple of outdoor runs. I’m so excited!
  • Safely in the 130’s is so close, I can taste it (137.8 this morning, and safe is 136 or less)!

 

Starting Statistics on 01/03/2015

• Weight:  144.4 Pounds (I gained 2 pounds between my holiday challenge and weigh-in, good gawd!)
• Body Fat %:  22.9% (I gained here too – oops!)
• BMI:  22.6

Goals for the Next 10 Weeks (Ending 03/13/2015)

• Weight:  135 Pounds
• Body Fat %:  <21%
• BMI:  21.1
• Total Miles Each Week (Average):  25-30

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Week Ending 01/09/2015

• Week 1 Statistics
  • Weight:   139.6 Pounds
  • Pounds Lost or Gained:  4.8 Pounds lost
  • Body Fat %:  22.2%
  • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.7% Lost
  • BMI: 21.9
  • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  6 Days
  • Time Spent Being Active:   5 Hours 23 Minutes
  • Miles Run:  26.00 Miles

• Food: 
  • Saturday – Free night of pizza, cupcakes, oh yeah!
  • Sunday– Greek chicken and carrots
  • Monday – Pork and apple sliders with mashed sweet potatoes
  • Tuesday – Chicken non-tortilla soup
  • Wednesday – Srirachi maple shrimp with bacon and pineapples, carrots
  • Thursday – Leftover chicken non-tortilla soup
  • Friday – Date night!
• Exercise: 
  • Saturday – Treadmill running (60 minutes)
  • Sunday– None – Rest day
  • Monday – Abdominal work (13 minutes)
  • Tuesday – Treadmill running (37 minutes), abdominal work (13 minutes)
  • Wednesday – Treadmill running (45 minutes), treadmill walking (6 minutes) abdominal work (13 minutes)
  • Thursday – Treadmill running (53 minutes), walking (7 minutes), abs (13 minutes)
  • Friday – Treadmill running (60 minutes), abs (13 minutes)
• Notes: 
  • Quick gain is a quick loss! I’m shaping up to be around 141 by the end of this week.
  • I’m doing lots of ab work every night as my husband reads to our son, and that’s working out nicely.  I’m sore, but it’s necessary!
  • 140.6 on Thursday morning! Holiday pudge is gone!
  • We have date night tonight (Friday), so I’m stealing next week’s free night for tonight’s dinner. I weighed in on Friday because I never weigh in after a free night!

Starting Statistics on 08/30/2014

• Weight:  155 Pounds (took 0.6 pounds off during my stabilizing week)
• Body Fat %:  25.1% (took 0.7% off during my stabilizing week)
• BMI:  24.3
• Predicted Weight from MyFit.nessP.al:  140 Pounds (targeting 1.5 pounds per week)

Goals for the Next 10 Weeks (Ending 11/22/2014)

• Weight:  143 Pounds
• Body Fat %:  23%
• BMI:  22.4
• Push-ups:  90
• Sit-ups:  53
• Mile Run Time:  7:26

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Week Ending 11/22/2014

• Week 11 Statistics
  • Weight:   144.6 Pounds
  • Pounds Lost or Gained:  0.8 Pounds lost since last week, but only 0.4 pounds since the low (145 pounds) two weeks ago
  • Body Fat %:  22.8%
  • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.6% Lost
  • BMI: 22.6
  • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  5 Days
  • Time Spent Being Active:   5 Hours 21 Minutes
  • Average Number of Steps Per Day:  13,600 Steps
  • Food: 
    • Sunday – Paleo meatballs
    • Monday – Beet soup (from our frozen stash) and 2 meatballs from last night
    • Tuesday – Butternut squash soup (from our frozen stash)
    • Wednesday – Chicken tortilla soup, shrimp and avocado skewers
    • Thursday – Curry bison burgers
    • Friday – Curry bison burgers and Brussels sprouts and mushrooms
    • Saturday – Free Night
  • Exercise/Activity:
    • Sunday – None – Rest Day – 12,300 Steps
    • Monday – Treadmill running (40 minutes), strength training (37 minutes) – 17,200 Steps
    • Tuesday – Treadmill running (52 minutes) – 17,100 Steps
    • Wednesday – Strength training (47 minutes), INSAN.ITY core (8 minutes) – 8,600 Steps
    • Thursday – INSA.NITY (57 minutes) – 13,400 Steps
    • Friday – Treadmill running (41 minutes), strength training (39 minutes) – 17,700 Steps
    • Saturday – None – Celebration Day – 8,900 Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • It’s going to be really hard to hit 143 pounds… at this point, I’m shooting for 144
    • I signed my husband and myself up for an 8 mile run in the snow in 2.5 weeks.  Hell yes!  We actually ran it many, many years ago and it was one of the most memorable runs of my entire life – fresh crunchy snow under our feet, bald eagles flying above us, a high sun over a freezing day.  It was pure solitude, so I’m hoping for that again.
    • It’s only Tuesday morning and I am 145.4 pounds and 23.0% body fat. Here we go!
    • We’ve been watching “Under the D.ome” at night and I quickly realized that time was being wasted when I could be doing resistance bands while watching.  Two nights down, a season and a half of episodes to go!
    • I had 2 martinis to celebrate my friend’s birthday on Wednesday night.  I know the damage it may do, but it was worth it.
    • I took photos in case we don’t get them done this weekend.  I can see improvement since 5 weeks ago!
    • Final stats up tomorrow!

My second 10 weeks of fitness (10+2 weeks, actually) will be wrapping up on Saturday the 22nd.  This has been a long haul given all the travel and date nights we’ve been doing – it’s hard to eat sensibly when you’re having fun!  I also think that my body is getting pretty attached to the pounds that remain on it – it’s getting harder and harder to shed pounds and body fat, which is expected after you’ve lost 25 pounds already.

So people are asking, “what’s your end goal here?”  They want to know what my weight and body fat goals are for the long term, and that’s hard to answer.  I don’t really know what’s realistic or attainable.  I’d love to be 135 pounds (I was a soft 139 pounds at 14 years old) but that’s just a number.  I’d love to be a strong 135 pounds with a body fat percentage in the low 22%-iles, but I’m not 100% sure how to get there or how long it will take.  If I can end this current 10 weeks at 144-145 pounds, then that would leave 9-10 pounds to go.  This current 10 weeks shed only 10 pounds (I’m not complaining!), so I’m thinking it’s going to take some time – and a lot of work.

I’m a big fan of shorter-term goals, and the holidays are coming up, so I’m not going to even think about committing myself to another 10-week fitness period.  We may be out of town on the 22nd when this 10 week session wraps up, so I’m going to take my final stats and photos on Wednesday, 11/26, so that I’m not fretting about it if we’re out of town.  Doing it Wednesday gives me time to recover from a weekend away (I usually “correct” my weight and body fat by Tuesday/Wednesday after following a fun weekend) and it also sets me up for a 5-week stint until the new year.  This is PERFECT for setting a shorter goal over the holidays!

So what’s the goal for the 5 weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years day?

• Whatever weight I end up at on 11/22, I’ll set a goal to drop 3.5 pounds from that number (no reason to get over-excited and shoot for a pound a week while I’m fighting the urge to eat holiday treats)
• Whatever body fat % I end up at on 11/22, I’ll set a goal to drop 0.5% from that number
• I will set a goal to exercise DAILY during those 5 weeks, but allow myself a pass on 3 of the 35 days (walking counts as exercise if it’s dedicated walking and not tooling around)
• I will set a goal to do strength training two days a week instead of the one day I’m doing now
• I will set a goal to get to the Y three days a week to ensure dedicated time without having to worry about the kids
• I will set “final” goals for myself once this mini-session is complete

In typical fashion, I’ll be tracking my progress!