I have been trying to keep up with exercising and eating right, but I am not doing so well with that. I have been having trouble eating because of some nausea (not too bad, thank goodness). I don't really want anything to eat, and when I do eat something, I don't eat much. Exercising is a problem when I don't eat enough because I haven't taken in the calories to support any extra activity. I did attempt to go for a run with my sister-in-law last week. That didn't work too good, I thought I was gonna throw up halfway through. I estimate I did get about a mile of running in, and I walked the other mile, for a total of 2 miles. I felt awful afterwards though, so I need to do something different next time. I won't be pushing myself so hard, and I will make sure that I have eaten enough that day so that I won't feel so bad. I am going to try and go for at least a short walk each day so that I can stay active as much as possible. The doctor cleared me for running, but I don't know if I'll feel up to that anymore until I feel better. That remains to be seen....
Have a great Tuesday! Stay fit!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Adjusting
Happy Thursday!! I am having an interesting time adjusting to being preggo....At first I was just so happy (which I still am) but now I'm trying to get over being sick. I have a bad case of the pregnancy sniffles, which is also making my throat hurt. I'm taking Tylenol, the only medicine I can take. Also, this week has started the yucky feelings in my stomach. I have been having trouble eating, because just the thought of food makes me feel yuck. I haven't gotten sick or anything, but it has been close sometimes.....especially this morning. Blah! I have been attempting to exercise some days, but when I can't eat much, I don't have the energy to exercise. The doctor did clear me to run, so I tried to do so on Tuesday with my sister-in-law. I did about a mile of running I think, and the other mile was just walking. I definitely thought I was gonna be sick after that. I will not be doing that again until I can get some food in me. I have walked several times for a good amount of time. The doctor said that the first trimester is just a survival period, so I'm just gonna try and do what I can, when I can.
I had my first ultrasound this week! I found out that I am 6 weeks, 2 days today. My official due date is March 15, 2011. I got pictures from the ultrasound that I will try to post later, the baby is about .26 cm long. Baby just looks about the size of a grain of rice according the the ultrasound tech. According to my preggo book, Baby's about the size of a sweet pea. I will go back next week to hear the heartbeat! :-D I hope to get back to feeling better soon so that I can do better about being healthy!
Stay fit!
I had my first ultrasound this week! I found out that I am 6 weeks, 2 days today. My official due date is March 15, 2011. I got pictures from the ultrasound that I will try to post later, the baby is about .26 cm long. Baby just looks about the size of a grain of rice according the the ultrasound tech. According to my preggo book, Baby's about the size of a sweet pea. I will go back next week to hear the heartbeat! :-D I hope to get back to feeling better soon so that I can do better about being healthy!
Stay fit!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Big News!
Okay, so as most of you probably already know, I got some really BIG news yesterday....
I'M PREGNANT!!!!!
I am so happy right now, and so excited! I can't wait to continue staying fit through my pregnancy! Also, I've been getting all kinds of questions, and I will write a post in a little bit explaining the whole story :-)
Stay fit!!
I'M PREGNANT!!!!!
I am so happy right now, and so excited! I can't wait to continue staying fit through my pregnancy! Also, I've been getting all kinds of questions, and I will write a post in a little bit explaining the whole story :-)
Stay fit!!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Burn more calories every day Part 2
As promised, here are 5 more ways to up your daily calorie burn in order to increase your calorie deficit, and of course lose weight!
6. Do some cardio (maybe while the TV is on?). Doing cardio exercise ups your metabolism for many hours you finish it. Add that to the calorie burn that is created by doing the actual cardio, and your calorie deficit has just gotten a significant boost! When I combine watching my favorite show with doing some cardio, I feel like I have actually accomplished something as opposed to being lazy and just watching TV.
7. Move, stand, fidget. Get off your butt! Whenever possible, do your tasks while standing, or move around while doing the dishes, or just fidget a little bit while you're sitting down. You could stand while having a conversation. You could make 2 trips to the car instead of having your arms super full of stuff. If you have to be sitting, bouncing your legs a bit is a good way to not be so still; but this may not be as good of an idea at work around other people, it can make you look impatient or annoyed which wouldn't be good in front of the boss! Also, you can walk around while talking on the phone if you are using a cordless phone. That wouldn't work so well with a corded phone (but you can try if you don't believe me). Doing these things can burn up to 350 extra calories every day.
8. Clean house/wash car. If you throw in just 30 minutes of cleaning house, you can burn around 80-90 extra calories. Of course, if you're really scrubbing and working hard then you could burn more! Not only does it get you moving and burning calories, but it also gets you a clean house. Washing the car can burn about 110 calories in 30 minutes. I'll have to be honest here and say that I normally leave that one to my husband. However, it might be kind of nice to get outside in the sun and wash the car every once in a while. It doesn't have to be perfect though :-) All you have to be able to say is that you did it, had fun, and burned some calories that you wouldn't have otherwise.
9. Play with the kids. This can get you burning some serious calories. In around 30 minutes you can burn 120-150 calories depending how much effort you exert. Even if you don't have kids of your own, there are always kids around that want somebody to play with them, like nieces/nephews or even neighbors' kids. Just going outside and playing ball with one of them is a great idea. It burns calories for you, gets said child active, and develops relationships for both of you. A great idea, all around!
10. Cook dinner. I'll have to admit, this one is not one of my strong points. Cooking is not my thing, but it can burn about 60 calories in 30 minutes or so. That's a good average of how long it takes to make a normal dinner. If you do it just 5 days a week, you're halfway to losing 1 pound. All that chopping, stirring, and serving up can be combined with another activity on this list and add up to weight loss.
I hope that this list (today's post and this post) can help you include things in your day that will help you lose weight and live a fit life.
Stay fit!
6. Do some cardio (maybe while the TV is on?). Doing cardio exercise ups your metabolism for many hours you finish it. Add that to the calorie burn that is created by doing the actual cardio, and your calorie deficit has just gotten a significant boost! When I combine watching my favorite show with doing some cardio, I feel like I have actually accomplished something as opposed to being lazy and just watching TV.
7. Move, stand, fidget. Get off your butt! Whenever possible, do your tasks while standing, or move around while doing the dishes, or just fidget a little bit while you're sitting down. You could stand while having a conversation. You could make 2 trips to the car instead of having your arms super full of stuff. If you have to be sitting, bouncing your legs a bit is a good way to not be so still; but this may not be as good of an idea at work around other people, it can make you look impatient or annoyed which wouldn't be good in front of the boss! Also, you can walk around while talking on the phone if you are using a cordless phone. That wouldn't work so well with a corded phone (but you can try if you don't believe me). Doing these things can burn up to 350 extra calories every day.
8. Clean house/wash car. If you throw in just 30 minutes of cleaning house, you can burn around 80-90 extra calories. Of course, if you're really scrubbing and working hard then you could burn more! Not only does it get you moving and burning calories, but it also gets you a clean house. Washing the car can burn about 110 calories in 30 minutes. I'll have to be honest here and say that I normally leave that one to my husband. However, it might be kind of nice to get outside in the sun and wash the car every once in a while. It doesn't have to be perfect though :-) All you have to be able to say is that you did it, had fun, and burned some calories that you wouldn't have otherwise.
9. Play with the kids. This can get you burning some serious calories. In around 30 minutes you can burn 120-150 calories depending how much effort you exert. Even if you don't have kids of your own, there are always kids around that want somebody to play with them, like nieces/nephews or even neighbors' kids. Just going outside and playing ball with one of them is a great idea. It burns calories for you, gets said child active, and develops relationships for both of you. A great idea, all around!
10. Cook dinner. I'll have to admit, this one is not one of my strong points. Cooking is not my thing, but it can burn about 60 calories in 30 minutes or so. That's a good average of how long it takes to make a normal dinner. If you do it just 5 days a week, you're halfway to losing 1 pound. All that chopping, stirring, and serving up can be combined with another activity on this list and add up to weight loss.
I hope that this list (today's post and this post) can help you include things in your day that will help you lose weight and live a fit life.
Stay fit!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Burn more calories every day
TGIF!!!!!
I have talked before about maintaining a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. Some days, though it is hard to get in enough exercise to have that deficit. That's why most days I try to do some little things that will increase my calorie burn that aren't too difficult or time consuming.
1. Park farther away from your destination. I try to do this every day when I go to class. I park in the parking deck as far away from the stairs as possible. And depending on how late I am (which I usually am), I try to park as close to the top as possible also so that I have more stairs to walk up and down. If I can't get a spot in the deck, I park in the farthest away parking lot, which is also easier because it is less crowded. So I get double the benefit from parking farther away from my class, exercise and less difficult to park! Sounds like an easy choice to me!
2. Turn off the TV. According to the RealAge doctors (Rozien & Oz...awesome docs), people who turn off the TV can easily burn an extra 100 calories a day. This is most likely because if you're not sitting on your behind, you're probably up doing something that burns more calories than sitting on the couch. However, the docs say that even if you are still sitting on the couch you will be doing something like reading or writing or typing which all burn more calories than vegging out watching TV. You can read the RealAge article here.
3. OR Do something productive while the TV is on. This can be anything from actual exercise to paying bills, updating your blog, washing dishes, and etc. You could even still sit, but sit on an exercise ball to tone up your core! During commercials, you could go put in a load of laundry or do some jumping jacks. Of course, you may want to do the jumping jacks when you're by yourself, I would feel silly doing jumping jacks or anything like that with other people in the house. But anything else can be done alone or with other people around. Anything that will burn more calories is better than staring zombie-like at the TV.
4. Drink more water. I talked about this in my last post (see it here), but to reiterate, water increases your metabolism, which increases the amount of calories you burn. Drinking cold water especially burns more calories because your body has to work harder to bring it to room temperature to process it. Water helps your body perform essential functions, so having enough of it is crucial to burning more calories every day. I try to drink at least 4 normal sized bottles of water each day, and I definitely drink more on days that I exercise.
5. Lift weights. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Building muscle doesn't mean that you have to bulk up though. Lean muscle can be gained by using light weights and more reps (bulk is gained by few reps using heavy weights). Even while resting, you will be burning more calories all day, every day if you have more lean muscle.
Okay, so there are 5 ways to help burn more calories every day. I'll give you 5 more in my next post. They don't require too much effort, and hopefully are easy enough to help you live a fit life!
Stay fit!
I have talked before about maintaining a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. Some days, though it is hard to get in enough exercise to have that deficit. That's why most days I try to do some little things that will increase my calorie burn that aren't too difficult or time consuming.
1. Park farther away from your destination. I try to do this every day when I go to class. I park in the parking deck as far away from the stairs as possible. And depending on how late I am (which I usually am), I try to park as close to the top as possible also so that I have more stairs to walk up and down. If I can't get a spot in the deck, I park in the farthest away parking lot, which is also easier because it is less crowded. So I get double the benefit from parking farther away from my class, exercise and less difficult to park! Sounds like an easy choice to me!
2. Turn off the TV. According to the RealAge doctors (Rozien & Oz...awesome docs), people who turn off the TV can easily burn an extra 100 calories a day. This is most likely because if you're not sitting on your behind, you're probably up doing something that burns more calories than sitting on the couch. However, the docs say that even if you are still sitting on the couch you will be doing something like reading or writing or typing which all burn more calories than vegging out watching TV. You can read the RealAge article here.
3. OR Do something productive while the TV is on. This can be anything from actual exercise to paying bills, updating your blog, washing dishes, and etc. You could even still sit, but sit on an exercise ball to tone up your core! During commercials, you could go put in a load of laundry or do some jumping jacks. Of course, you may want to do the jumping jacks when you're by yourself, I would feel silly doing jumping jacks or anything like that with other people in the house. But anything else can be done alone or with other people around. Anything that will burn more calories is better than staring zombie-like at the TV.
4. Drink more water. I talked about this in my last post (see it here), but to reiterate, water increases your metabolism, which increases the amount of calories you burn. Drinking cold water especially burns more calories because your body has to work harder to bring it to room temperature to process it. Water helps your body perform essential functions, so having enough of it is crucial to burning more calories every day. I try to drink at least 4 normal sized bottles of water each day, and I definitely drink more on days that I exercise.
5. Lift weights. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Building muscle doesn't mean that you have to bulk up though. Lean muscle can be gained by using light weights and more reps (bulk is gained by few reps using heavy weights). Even while resting, you will be burning more calories all day, every day if you have more lean muscle.
Okay, so there are 5 ways to help burn more calories every day. I'll give you 5 more in my next post. They don't require too much effort, and hopefully are easy enough to help you live a fit life!
Stay fit!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Hydration
It's almost Friday! Which means it's almost my birthday weekend!! Yay :-D I am pretty excited about it, can you tell? Haha...
I have not been very healthy this week. I was attempting to lose the 2 pounds I gained back plus a few by my birthday, but that didn't work out so well. I have been stressed this week, which makes me careless about what I eat and about exercising. I have had really good intentions, and I do okay during the day while I'm at work. Then when I get home, I just forget all about my goals. Ugh! I have got to get back on the ball, and I am starting today. I have eaten healthy so far today, but it is easy to do at work because I pack my food at home and can only eat what I bring with me. When I'm at home I just go crazy and eat too much of everything, even healthy stuff, and I don't get off my butt and exercise. But, like I said, I am determined to change that today and be really healthy.
This week, I am greatly increasing my water intake. Each day so far, I have drank at least 4 bottles of water. Hydration is especially important during the hot weather like we've been having. For me, it's kind of hard to get started drinking more water than usual, it feels like I'm drowning myself at first. But once I get a day or two of drinking lots of water, I start being really thirsty if I don't drink lots of water so it makes it really easy to continue. Drinking lots of water is really healthy too, it helps to flush toxins out of your body, and also helps shed pounds. It boosts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories throughout the day. Drinking cold water makes your body burn even more calories because then it has to bring the water up to room temperature to process it. Water can keep you from eating too much as well, because if I have a lot of water in my stomach, I don't want to fill it up with food. I'm also less prone to have caffeine if I'm guzzling water, and I know that I don't need to drink most things that have caffeine in them. There are so many ways that water is healthy, it does wonders for the body!
I hope everyone has a great Thursday! Stay fit!
I have not been very healthy this week. I was attempting to lose the 2 pounds I gained back plus a few by my birthday, but that didn't work out so well. I have been stressed this week, which makes me careless about what I eat and about exercising. I have had really good intentions, and I do okay during the day while I'm at work. Then when I get home, I just forget all about my goals. Ugh! I have got to get back on the ball, and I am starting today. I have eaten healthy so far today, but it is easy to do at work because I pack my food at home and can only eat what I bring with me. When I'm at home I just go crazy and eat too much of everything, even healthy stuff, and I don't get off my butt and exercise. But, like I said, I am determined to change that today and be really healthy.
This week, I am greatly increasing my water intake. Each day so far, I have drank at least 4 bottles of water. Hydration is especially important during the hot weather like we've been having. For me, it's kind of hard to get started drinking more water than usual, it feels like I'm drowning myself at first. But once I get a day or two of drinking lots of water, I start being really thirsty if I don't drink lots of water so it makes it really easy to continue. Drinking lots of water is really healthy too, it helps to flush toxins out of your body, and also helps shed pounds. It boosts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories throughout the day. Drinking cold water makes your body burn even more calories because then it has to bring the water up to room temperature to process it. Water can keep you from eating too much as well, because if I have a lot of water in my stomach, I don't want to fill it up with food. I'm also less prone to have caffeine if I'm guzzling water, and I know that I don't need to drink most things that have caffeine in them. There are so many ways that water is healthy, it does wonders for the body!
I hope everyone has a great Thursday! Stay fit!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hello, all! I am dragging on this beautiful Tuesday. I could not go to sleep last night for some reason, so I am super sleepy today! I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend, I know I did. I am also pleased to report that I was pretty healthy this weekend, even though it was really hard. I was able to not eat too much for the most part, and I made sure to load up on fruits and veggies, and not so much on the slaw and desserts. I also exercised almost every day this weekend. I didn't do any exercise, per se, yesterday. However, I did scrub my house for about 4 hours, so I think that counts! :-)
On the negative side: I gained 2 pounds back :-( I know that it's because I was not too careful last week about what I was eating, and I let myself slack off from exercising a few days when I shouldn't have. It took a few days to show up on the scale, though. I have noticed that it normally take 2-3 days for any change, positive or negative, to show in my weight.
On the plus side: I have had a great start to a healthy week today. I ate a banana and a soy chicken patty for breakfast, and it was super filling. I hate being hungry all morning, so I love it when I find a breakfast that keeps me full. For a late morning snack I had a piece of string cheese and a FiberPlus Antioxidants bar. I didn't need this snack until late in the morning, which is good because for the next few weeks I will be eating lunch later than normal. My lunch consisted of albacore tuna in water and cantaloupe. It was really yummy, even though I did drop some tuna on my skirt, so now I will smell like tuna until I get home! I don't know yet what I'll eat for the rest of the day, but I am going to try to keep up the healthy eats!
I got some home grown cucumbers this weekend from my dad and my grandparents-in-law. I LOVE fresh cukes, so I will be snacking on those all week. They are so healthy! I do dip them in just a little ranch, but not too much, and I make sure it's low fat or fat free. I read today that putting salt on cukes makes them sweeter/less bitter so I think I might try that this week. I have never thought of doing that, and I don't think these will be bitter, but I'm going to try it anyway. I don't want to get too much salt though because I don't want to start holding on to water weight. Has anyone else tried that? I'll let you know how it goes...
Speaking of starting the week off healthy, I read an article today about the best time to start a new diet. It said that you are more open to change when there are other changes going on in your life, like moving or starting a new job, so that would also be an ideal time to make changes in how you eat. I think this could be true, but I think it would discourage people from starting a new diet if they are not in a "change" phase in their life. Changes in eating habits and lifestyle can also be made when there are no other changes going on. To me, it would be more stressful to have too many things changing and going on at one time. Changing how you eat and exercise is a big step and something that you have to keep up with, and I would think that it would be hard to continue with it in times of change. To make up your own mind on the subject, you can see this article here.
Stay fit!
On the negative side: I gained 2 pounds back :-( I know that it's because I was not too careful last week about what I was eating, and I let myself slack off from exercising a few days when I shouldn't have. It took a few days to show up on the scale, though. I have noticed that it normally take 2-3 days for any change, positive or negative, to show in my weight.
On the plus side: I have had a great start to a healthy week today. I ate a banana and a soy chicken patty for breakfast, and it was super filling. I hate being hungry all morning, so I love it when I find a breakfast that keeps me full. For a late morning snack I had a piece of string cheese and a FiberPlus Antioxidants bar. I didn't need this snack until late in the morning, which is good because for the next few weeks I will be eating lunch later than normal. My lunch consisted of albacore tuna in water and cantaloupe. It was really yummy, even though I did drop some tuna on my skirt, so now I will smell like tuna until I get home! I don't know yet what I'll eat for the rest of the day, but I am going to try to keep up the healthy eats!
I got some home grown cucumbers this weekend from my dad and my grandparents-in-law. I LOVE fresh cukes, so I will be snacking on those all week. They are so healthy! I do dip them in just a little ranch, but not too much, and I make sure it's low fat or fat free. I read today that putting salt on cukes makes them sweeter/less bitter so I think I might try that this week. I have never thought of doing that, and I don't think these will be bitter, but I'm going to try it anyway. I don't want to get too much salt though because I don't want to start holding on to water weight. Has anyone else tried that? I'll let you know how it goes...
Speaking of starting the week off healthy, I read an article today about the best time to start a new diet. It said that you are more open to change when there are other changes going on in your life, like moving or starting a new job, so that would also be an ideal time to make changes in how you eat. I think this could be true, but I think it would discourage people from starting a new diet if they are not in a "change" phase in their life. Changes in eating habits and lifestyle can also be made when there are no other changes going on. To me, it would be more stressful to have too many things changing and going on at one time. Changing how you eat and exercise is a big step and something that you have to keep up with, and I would think that it would be hard to continue with it in times of change. To make up your own mind on the subject, you can see this article here.
Stay fit!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Detox Diets
Detox and fad diets just make me mad. All of the fad diets/detoxes out there that claim to get rid of excess weight in no time flat are just ridiculous. There is no real scientific research to back up the claims that they make, nor is any weight loss attained sustainable. Even worse, these are the most unhealthy way to lose weight that anyone could choose. Detoxes that "clease" the system of toxins and require the user to drastically restrict their diet and/or use a supplement to aid the "cleansing" do more harm than good. Fad diets also restrict the diet or eliminate certain essential food groups, which is not good. Also, the weight that is lost this way is usually not fat, but mostly water and muscle. This is not a sustainable way to lose weight, because most diets like this are short-term, as well as addicting if done for too long. As soon as the user goes back to eating normally, all of the weight lost comes right back, and maybe even plus some. This is why I know that the best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy and balanced diet including all the necessary food groups. This means that I eat a balance of carbs, proteins, and healthy fats from a combination of sources such as fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole wheat breads and other foods. I try to limit my excess sugar, salt and calories because too much of any of those equals weight gain. If I want to do a "cleanse" of any sort, I make sure to up my fiber intake, and also my water intake. Both of these are natural ways to clean out the body, and they are sustainable and not damaging to my body. I believe that it is much better to lose weight the healthy way, a few pounds at a time, than to go on some crazy diet that is going to harm you or not continue in the long run. My personal goal is to have sustainable-in-the-long-run eating habits so that I can be healthy for life. I know that by cutting calories I can lose weight, and once I have attained that weight loss I can adjust my calories up to a level to maintain my weight. I know that it can be tempting when I am not seeing the results I want to fall into one of these diet traps, but I also usually know why I'm not seeing results, whether it be because I'm not eating right or not exercising enough. Even though the bad dieting can look like a good option at times, being healthy is by far the best way to live.
Stay fit!
Stay fit!
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