I Think I See the Light

Every one of my posts should start out with a Cat Stevens-inspired title, yes? Today, I have started with aforementioned title because it's rings true. I have been trudging through a seemingly endless tunnel; the Tunnel of Infertility, Disordered Eating and Depression. If I had seen the sign ahead of time for that one, I would have avoided it and taken a detour!

Now I am emerging at the other end of the tunnel. I am looking behind me, and saying, "holy shit, that was long as hell!" and I'm also looking ahead, breathing a sigh of relief, and eagerly seeking a change of scenery.

On this journey, I have doubled back many times. I've had some high points, including running a half-marathon, starting an amazing job that I am still loving, getting to a healthy weight, lots of psychical and fitness "firsts". I have also had many low points; ending a very traumatic chapter of employment that caused a great deal of anxiety, stress, and self-doubt, retreating into myself and withdrawing from family and friends, developing disordered eating and loosing too much weight, becoming infertile and struggling with it every damn day. and gaining back all the weight (the loss of which was in part the cause of said infertility).

With the support of my love, many friends and family, some professional help, and lots of ugly, tough work I've been putting in, I have been rebuilding my life. To move forward, on, up, out, past, ahead- choose your descriptor, that's where I'm headed.

Currently, this is going to involve working on some other life goals and passions that do not involve having children. After 2 rounds of hormone treatments and attempts at pregnancy, and after nearly 2.5 years without a period, I just CANNOT continue to devote the time, energy, and mental/physical  anguish I have been spending on trying to make my period appear. It's not here, it might never come back, and I need to let go of it, for now at least. So this is going to be a break from the goal of "starting a family", and focusing on the awesome, funny, weird framily I already have, spread around the city, the state, and the country.

Mike and I sat down yesterday, and plotted out exciting things that gave me energy and enthusiasm (sorely lacking as of late). I can't remember all the things, but it is essentially a list of dreams and goals for the next year and beyond. Things we can dive into wholeheartedly, things that will move us forward, as well as expanding our minds and hearts, some individual goals, some shared.

Exciting things we plan to do in the next 6-12 Months:

• West Coast(ish) trip: Sara & Wes, Erin & Ali, Paul & Lauren, Angela & Mike; we're coming!
• Pay down the mortgage so PMI is gone
• Run a 5k (again)
• Take a trip to Greece
• Hike a chunk of the Appalachian Trail this summer: Libby? Mary? Erin? 
• Pare down the garden outside, and make the part we have left low-maintenance
• Do some upgrades to the basement (re-tile, add door) to ensure it is rent-able long-term
• Gym 3x per week
• Hit the $50,000k mark for retirement savings
• Finish the Rolling Hills disc course under par (that's a Mike goal. Mine is just to finish without an uncountable number above par)

These are all value-driven goals. My foundation was in a shambles, and in re-building I have been able to examine what exactly was under all that other stuff! I've sorted out some pretty simple core areas of importance that I hope I can live by: 

• Happiness and enjoyment 
• Being a regular person, not aspiring to be a perfect, flawless fictional character of myself
• Presence and authenticity
• Getting re-involved in community activities that I love
• Connecting with family and friends (even when times are hard)
• Building up to a more healthy lifestyle, a middle ground between where I was and where I am

A huge, unending hug of THANKS! goes out to everyone who has lent a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, love from across the miles, advice I needed to hear, patience and understanding when I needed it most, and a kick in the pants, even when I didn't want one! 

Part 4 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- Create Action Steps, & Get Started!

We've come so far together in this series, Design your Perfect Fitness Routine! We covered components of a successful workout plan in Part 1 of the series, figuring out your starting stats in Part 2, and SMART Goal Setting in Part 3! Hopefully by now you've established 2-4 specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound goals for yourself. You still with me? :) 

Our next steps will be to take the goals we've set for ourselves, and assign a game plan for achieving them- this will be your Fitness Routine! 

For weight loss goals, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• 3500 calories = 1 lb!
• A Healthy Weight Loss Expectation is 1-2 lbs per Week

If you want to loose 1 pound, you need to get rid of 3500 calories; through exercise, through eating less, or a combination of both. As the figure to the right illustrate, decide how you're going to reduce or get rid of those 3500 calories!

Healthy methods only, please- no starvation or crazed exercise is needed!
An example of this in practice:
My BMR: 1,520
320 Calorie reduction x 7 days/week = 2400/week
183 Calories burned x 7 days/week through exercise = 1100/week

Based on this calculation, I was able to design my Fitness Routine. This is where you get to fit your favorite fitness activities into your routine: you can even make a list! A nice way to truly plan this based on how many calories you want to burn is to look up each activity.

Know Calories Burned by Activity
I personally use MyFitnessPal- once you create a profile it will give you a guideline on how much you'll burn. This list is based off of my estimated calories burned, for my height, age and weight (a 5' 0" female, 27 years old, 122 lbs):

Cardio
Spinning 60 mins =390 calories
Running (tread) 30 min s= 277 calories
Elliptical 30 mins = 249 calories
Zumba class 50 mins = 323 calories
Kickbox class 50 mins = 466 calories
Stationary bike 30 mins = 194 calories
Walking 45 mins = 127 calories
Stairmaster 30 mins = 249 calories

Strength Training
Free Weights 60 mins = 166 calories
Weight machines 30 mins = 83 calories
Calesthenics 30 mins = 221 calories
Total Body/Bootcamp class 50 mins = 369 calories


Make your Workout Schedule for the Week
Each week I look at this list (in my head), at the class schedule at my gym, and at my work schedule. Then I figure out when I can fit in a workout, how to get a good balance of cardio, strength training, and balancing/flexibility work for that week.

I want to say as a sidenote that I am not a crazed calorie counter. The reason I made that table on calories burned and used per day was to illustrate that weight loss is definitely a game of numbers.  I also want to be clear that these methods I'm outlined have been working REALLY well for me, but that doesn't mean a) they will be guaranteed fix for you and b) that there are not other ways to be healthy and get fit!

Hopefully this series has been a helpful illustration of how to assess your current fitness level, decide what your fitness priorities, choose your favorite fitness activities, and then create your Fitness Routine based on your fitness goals! Let me know if this works for you, and good luck!

Part 3 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- SMART Goal Setting

We've covered Components of a Successful Workout Plan and Figuring out your Starting Stats. Now it's time for some goal setting! We'll talk in Part 4 about the specific strategies to get to these goals, but I think it's good to go ahead and throw some numbers out to start with.

I find that if you're confused about where to start goal setting, a good place to look for inspiration is some of your fitness stats you've been gathering. In my goal setting process, I started with some of my most alarming measurements (Hello '31% Body Fat percentage' and 'Overweight' on the BMI scale!), and felt like I could do the most improving there.
What stats jump out for you?

Next, you'll be formulating goals around those points for change. This is the time to start looking up BMI calculators, Body Fat % charts, and other indicators if you haven't yet. These are merely starting points or guides- it's definitely a good idea to talk to your doctor, get their opinions and thoughts. But if you're WAY off of the chart, I figure that's a good place to start chipping away at a fitness goal, right?

I've shared some of my goals for the next 3-6 months as examples below. Your goals could look vastly different, depending on your motivation for working out. If your goal is weight loss, you might have more specific goals around that. If your goal is building strength, you might create more goals around specific strength indicators (sit-ups, pull ups, bench press, etc). Since my goals are a balance of strength building and changing my body composition aka less fat & more muscle, you'll see that I have different types of goals.

I've shared some of my broader workout goals for the year, but here are my specific SMART Goals for the next 6 months:

Specific: Hit and Maintain Goal Weight of 115 lbs
Measureable: Will weigh-in each Friday between lunch and dinner
Attainable: This is an average of 1 lb/week weight loss, which is healthy and do-able
Relevant: This would get me to a BMI of 22.5. For my height, 95 -128 lbs is a healthy range, so 115 is right in the middle of that!
Time-bound: by January 15th, 2013

Specific: Reduce Body Fat percentage from 31% to 25%
Measureable: Starting number from 9/7/12 - follow up test on 12/7/12
Attainable: Not sure how quickly this number will change- we'll see!
Relevant: A healthy Body Fat % for my age is between 22.1-25.3%, so 25% is totally do-able and healthy
Time-bound: Will schedule another test 6 months from original date (3/7/13)

Specific: Increase upper body strength
Measureable: Starting/ending weights- started w/ 8lbs dumbell curls, goal= 15 lbs, from 24 to 35 push-ups
Attainable: Not sure how quickly this number will change- we'll see!
Relevant: Push-ups and curls are two good measures of upper body strength
Time-bound: Will do the Grip Test again on 12/5/12 and 3/7/13 to track progress

In Part 4, we'll talk about how to set up your Fitness Routine to meet the goals you've set. In the mean time, start sketching out your goals.

As you're setting goals, remember:

A healthy weight loss goal will be broken down into a loss of .5-2 lbs per week. Less is fine, of course, and more is possible, but if you're loosing weight using drastic, unhealthy methods, it's less likely that you'll be able to maintain that weight loss.

You're just you! It doesn't matter if someone else that is your height and weight and age and gender can do bicep curls with 25 lbs dumbells. If you're starting out using 2 pounders, a) It's ok! and b) you're not going to change over night.

Slow and steady progress is the easiest to implement and maintain.

- Good luck! 

Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- Part 2: Get your Starting Stats!

In Part 1 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine, we covered the core components of your best fitness routine:

Consistency. Versatility. Achievability. Actualization.
Too bad that's not a catchy acronym. Oh well! Now that you know what criteria your plan needs to meet in order to be most successful, we can talk about goal setting, developing your routine, and your personal health stats, which you should figure out in order to do all that!

In order to get somewhere, it's helpful to know where you're starting so you know how far you've come! There are 3 types of benchmark number sets that are helpful to have as you're starting this journey:
Weight Mgmt Stats

• Current Weight
• Basal Metabolic Rate
• Body Mass Index
• Body Fat %

Heart Healthy Stats

• Blood Pressure reading
• Resting Heart Rate
• Cholesterol Levels

Exercise Performance Stats

• Target Heart Rate
• Maximum Heart Rate
• Other Fitness Assessment measures

If your gym, rec center etc. offers a Fitness Test, that is a nice way to establish a baseline as well. My gym offers a complementary Fit Test to members twice a year- every 6 months. I took my first fit test on September 7th, 2012, a week after I started my new healthy lifestyle. 

My Weight Mgmt stats:

Weight- 136.7 Starting, 125 Current

Waist Circumference- 30 and 1/2" Starting

Waist to Hip Ratio- .76 Starting

BMI- 27.14 Starting, 24.41 Current

Body Fat %- 31.8% Starting

My Heart Healthy stats:
Blood Pressure reading- 108/64 Starting
Resting Heart Rate- 64 BPM Starting

My Exercise Performance stats:
Push-Up Test 24 StartingSit & Reach- 9.2" Starting
VO2 Max- 29.9 Starting
Grip Strength Test (Left hand)- 36 lbs Starting
Grip Strength Test (Right hand)- 32 lbs Starting

Now is the time that you go start collecting information! Start with whatever you have easiest access to. The important reason to have, know, and understand these measurements is because they will help you set goals, and also be indicators for measuring future improvement!

I personally CANNOT WAIT to take my 6 mo. Fit Test check-in, because I think I will have radically changed both my body composition and my fitness abilities!

Your homework before you read Part 3 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine is to figure out some of your more basic stats: current weight, BMI, body fat %, etc. You could even do a Push-Up test for yourself! Once you've compiled those numbers, think them over. Was anything shocking to find out? Are there stats that stick out like a sore thumb, ones that need to change for the better? These things you notice will help to influence Part 3 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- Goal Setting.

Thanks for tuning in- Click here to head on to Part 3- SMART Goal Setting

Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- Part 1

If you're looking to get serious about fitness and weight loss/weight maintenance, a reliable Fitness Routine is essential. Think of it as your Road Map- this routine or plan will not only tell you your destination, but how to get there!

Map Analogy- For those that are as direction-challenged as I am, you know that without a road map, GPS, Google Maps, etc., it's easy to get lost. I've experienced the same lost feeling when trying to decipher the world of fitness information:

What's the right plan for me? 
What will work for my "body type"?  
Is there a magic workout combination for weight loss? 
What am I doing wrong?

Without a Fitness Routine, it's easy to get stuck exercise-hopping. What is exercise-hopping? It's what I define as trying one type of workout routine for several weeks, only to become discouraged by lack of results and to try another "plan", etc. etc. I did a lot of this for years without actually stepping back and looking at what was working and what was not working.

More recently, as I have stepped back to look at patterns and trends in my health and weight loss, I began to connect some dots. Here are some helpful steps to take when it comes to developing a workout routine that will be perfect for you:

Click here for Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- Part 2: Get your Starting Stats!