I love being strong

I’ll be the first to admit I’m overweight, actually obese. However, I fall into the fat-fit category. That’s the opposite of skinny-fat and from what I’ve read is actually healthier than skinny fat in some ways. It’s also frustrating. There’s this great, fit person inside me, literally surrounded by a thick layer of fat. I’m not just saying that either. Here’s the latest proof.

My husband ordered some furnace parts for me to bring home as checked baggage. They were in 2 boxes, one weighed about 45 pounds and the other 25. At the airport, my dad helped get the heavy box from his trunk onto the little bag cart because that was awkward. Then I plopped the smaller box on top and we were on our way. At the bag counter, the clerk saw me deftly unload the bigger box (with a little help from my kids to keep the cart from rolling away) and was rather amazed I didn’t need help (being a short, fat woman). When we arrived in Alaska, I wrestled both boxes from the baggage belt. A guy tried to help me, but the box was too heavy for him to lift.

I don’t understand why so many women are afraid of doing strength training. The most common reasons are intimidation and fear. They don’t know where to start and feel intimidated being around the men. When I was a member of a gym, I was often the only woman in the weight room. Ironically, sometimes the men were intimidated by ME. They didn’t know how to react to a woman in “their” territory. However, most guys were helpful and encouraging once they realized I was serious about being there. You just need to ignore the roosters.

Another reason women don’t want to use weights is they are afraid of bulking up. That is a myth. Women don’t have enough testosterone to build huge muscles like guys. The women you see in body building magazines are very dedicated and work very hard at it. A few short sessions each week won’t make you look like that. You will get nicely toned and some definition though. In other words, you will look fit.

Instead, they spend endless hours on the same cardio machines. Yet weight training has longer lasting results than most cardio. With traditonal, steady state cardio, you get a boost to  your metabolism while preforming the exercise but it quickly resets to normal once you stop. With weight training, you also get a boost while exercising. However, it builds muscle which raises your metabolism long term. A good fitness program should combine cardio and strength training.

Regular strength training has other benefits as well. Besides strong muscles, it helps build strong bones. That is especially important to women as they get older and are more prone to fractures.

So, my goal is to begin unwrapping my fit body from it’s layer of fat. I just got on the scale and am currently 177 pounds. My goal weight is 125 and my ideal is 105-110. I’m going to use a combination of cardio and strength training with motivation from Oxygen magazine, my friends here and on Team Beachbody. As added motivation, when we were in Japan I saw several cute dresses. My husband told me he would take me back for a shopping trip when I reached my goal.

I don’t know how long it will take. Theoretically, it can be done in 6 months if I lose 2 pounds/week every week. That’s probably not realistic though. As long as the overall trend is down, I’m not in a rush.

Back from vacation

I haven’t forgotten about you all. I’ve been on a vacation. We went on a cruise. It started in Japan for 2 stops, then S. Korea, Russia, Alaska, and ended up in Vancouver Canada.

To get to Japan from Alaska, we were routed through Dallas. That means we spent all day traveling the wrong way before we could start going west. Oh well, the price was right. We finally arrive in Tokyo and found our way to the hotel. We got on the wrong train at the airport, but it took us to a station near where we wanted so it worked out anyway. The next 2 days we spent exploring the city.

Then it was off to Osaka for another 2 days. We took the bullet train down and it was great! Much better than American trains. Very smooth. It felt more like a great airplane ride than a train.

In Osaka, the hotel made a mistake. They said they had no more non-smoking rooms that would fit the 4 of us, but they did have another room they thought we would like. There was a price difference but they agreed to waive that. OK, just get us some beds. Turns out the new room was the Executive Suite! An $800 room for $110. I wish that kind of mistake happened more often.

After 2 nights in the suite, we headed for the port to board our cruise. The ship wasn’t scheduled to leave until the next afternoon, so we had another day to explore. We took the local train to their China town area.

We went to Nagasaki, where the second atomic bomb exploded during WW2. There is a park, museum, and memorial where the center of the blast was. Rather disturbing seeing all that, but interesting.

My dad was stationed in Korea when I was a baby. I grew up hearing stories about it so I was excited when were found Bouson was on the itinerary. However, none of the tours were particularly interesting to us so we just took the shuttle into town. We went up in a tower and took pictures of the city. Turns out when I showed Dad them, it was a place he had also been to.

After Korea, we went to Vladivostok Russia. It was pouring rain. Luckily, we had each bought an umbrella in Osaka. We wandered around a bit, going to a submarine turned into a museum, listening to church bells. We were scheduled to have a couple of sea days before arriving in Petropavlosk on the Kamchatka peninsula. However, we never make it.

We didn’t make it because we ran into sea ice. There had been a north wind and heavy swell all day and into the night until around 4am. Then it quieted down. Upon awakening, we all knew why. The sea was slushy. The ship had slowed to around 4 knots. The ice was getting thicker and more dense as the morning went by. Plus a thick fog had formed.

At around 1030, the captain announced that due to the ice, we would be turning around. The ship was now traveling at just 2 knots. Some of the ice pans were large enough you could feel them jarring the ship as we plowed through. Around 530pm he announced that due to the ice and time lost we would no longer be able to stop in Petropavlosk, but would try to reach Kodiak on schedule. That was very disappointing because that was one of the most interesting stops to us and a major reason we went on this trip. Oh well. Better safe than sorry.

We arrived about noon to Kodiak. That was later than scheduled. We had managed to hire a private tour boat and went out with a group of 12 friends (including both guest lectures) from the ship. We saw lots of sea birds, sea lions, otter, and bald eagles.

From Kodiak, we went to Glacier Bay. Here we were joined by 2 park rangers. Karen was impressed because they were both women. They had both an adult presentation and spent an hour with the kids in Club HAL. One of the glaciers was quite actively calving. That was interesting. It was also louder than I thought it would be.

After Glacier Bay we went to Sitka. Here we walked to the Totem park, Raptor Center, and ocean science center.

Then we went to a nice small town in Canada called Prince Rupert. We weren’t able to get any tours because they were sold out. So we took the shuttle into town. Turns out that was a tour in itself. They took you around and showed the sights. Our bus had the ex-mayor telling us about the city. After returning to the ship, we went to the train station museum and Safeway.

Finally, we arrived in Vancouver. The kids are I were expecting to ride a train over to Spokane. However, when I checked the reservations they were from Vancouver WASHINGTON, not Cananda. OOPS. After a few minutes of panic I was able to get them changed and that only put us into Spokane an hour later than planned.

Well, I wasn’t as good as I hoped on vacation about eating well or getting exercise on sea days. As a result, I gained about 5 pounds. I also learned to use chop sticks while in Japan. Their food court didn’t have silverware. They did in the hotel restaurants at breakfast though. The most interesting food was in a box lunch on the bullet train. It was a small octopus or squid, I’m not sure which. However, I didn’t eat it.

Squat jump mantra

Mantras or chants can help you get through a tough workout. It’s a mind over matter kind of thing where if you say it enough, you eventually believe it. Plus, it can distract you from thinking negative about the workout.

I have a love/hate relationship with jump squats. They are a bother to do, but make your legs and butt look great. This morning I decided to make up a little chant about them.

Jump squats are wonderful

Jump squats are fun

Jump squats make me beautiful

When they’re done

You start the line as you rise up. Be sure to land softly and let the lowering of yourself absorb some of the impact. If done properly, jump squats should actually have less impact than jump rope.

Do you use mantras or chants in your workouts? If so, leave me a comment. I’d love to hear about it.

Reducing sugar consumption

Don’t worry too much about the natural sugar in fresh fruits and veggies. Your body can generally handle that. What gets a person in trouble are refined sugars added to foods and drinks. The USDA estimates Americans consume an average of over 150 pounds of refined sugar per person each year.

I did the math for you. At 1755 calories per pound, that’s 263,250 calories per year, or 721 calories per day just from sugar. That means since the average person needs 2000 calories/day, we get about a third of our total daily allotment of calories just from sugar! Yet, sugar has no nutritional value. No wonder obesity is on the rise. Candy, desserts, and sodas are obvious sources of added sugar that should be removed from your diet. So what are some less obvious, but practical ways to remove sugar?

Cut out sweet, processed, junk, and fast foods. Stay away from bottled drinks. Drink just plain water, black coffee, or unsweetened tea (including most herbal teas you brew yourself). Besides just sugar, other items to look for on labels to find out if they add sugars are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn sugar, glucose, fructose, and cane syrup. Frosted or lightly sweet are key words that mean sugar added.

Besides often being full of empty calories, “white” flour products are often sources of added sugar. Switch to whole grains and lower portion sizes for rice, pasta, bread, and cereal. Crackers and bars especially have sugar in them, even supposedly healthy varieties. Many bars are between 1/4 and 1/3 sugar.  Snack on fresh fruit or cut veggies instead. Dip it in a little peanut butter or hummus for added flavor and protein. Save cakes, muffins, doughnuts, and other sweet pastries for special occasions, not snacks or breakfast.

Now what about that breakfast? I’ve already mentioned switching from a “white” to whole grain cereal. But that also needs to be low in sugar. For instance, plain Cheerios instead of honey oat or plain shredded wheat instead of frosted. Then add fresh chopped fruit or berries. The same with oatmeal. Many instant oatmeal packets have several grams of sugar. Quaker’s maple & brown sugar variety has 9 grams. Their fruit varieties have between 9-11 grams of sugar in each 35 gram packet. That means they are a quarter sugar. However, their original variety has none, so have it and fresh fruit.

Pre-fruited yogurt is a popular option for dieters, but is high in sugars. Granted some of it is natural milk and fruit sugars, but there is still a lot of refined sugars in them. Buy plain or vanilla then add fresh fruit or berries.

Juice may have added sugar. Again, read labels carefully. Choose varieties that are 100% juice or better yet, have fresh fruit and a glass of water.

Be careful of products labeled low fat. Many of them add sugar to make up for the lost flavor from the removed fat. They may not be as healthy an alternative as you think. In fact, sometimes, they actually have more calories than the original version. Low fat does not always mean lower calories.

If you use protein supplements, check the label carefully. Many have a lot of calories and sugars so they don’t taste as much like cardboard or sawdust. Try getting your protein naturally instead.

Condiments such as salad dressing and ketchup have a lot of sugar in them. A little goes a long way so use them sparingly. Dip your fork or fry, don’t pour them over the fries or salad.

The big take away I want to leave you with is the importance of reading labels, at least until you find products you enjoy that are healthy and nutritious. Make substitutions for healthier varieties and watch for hidden sugars.

Reference: John Casey, “The Hidden Ingredient That Can Sabotage Your Diet” Medicinenet.com http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56589  Retrieved 3/15/2012

Quaker Oats, Nutritional Info http://www.quakeroats.com/products/oatmeal/instant-oatmeal/original.aspx

Curry

Curry. Usually the word sets my mouth, sinuses, and stomach on fire. However, I’ve learned how to make a nice, mild curry that everyone in my family enjoys. It has all the health benefits of curry, but with a milder flavor. This recipe works well with chicken breast or white fish such as tilapia. It serves 4. Plus, it doesn’t need a lot of unusual ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp minced garlic

2 chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes OR 3 fish fillets

5 fresh mushrooms, sliced

3 cups water

olive oil for frying

curry powder

cumin powder

HOW TO PREPARE:

1. Fry meat in a little olive oil until done. Set aside. Do not wash pan.

2. Add a little more oil to pan. Fry onions and garlic on medium heat until slightly brown, adding cumin and curry when halfway done. I use just 1/2 tsp curry and 1/4 tsp cumin. Adding more will increase flavor and kick. Traditional full-flavored curries can use 2-3 teaspoons, so there is a lot of room for adjusting to your personal preference.

3. Add tomatoes. Allow mixture to form paste, stirring frequently. When it no longer sticks to pan, it is done. This takes about 10 minutes. Set aside.

4. Add a little more oil. Saute mushrooms to desired tenderness. Add tomato paste, chicken, and water.

5. Allow sauce to thicken to desired consistency. Serve over rice.

Vegetarian dieting

Many people believe that simply becoming vegetarian will make all their health and weight problems disappear in a short time. However, that simply isn’t true. Just cutting out meat, won’t make much difference and could even do harm unless you do it the right way. You must insure you still get enough protein. Plus, if you simply switch the meat for processed vegetarian junk, you’re actually less healthy. Junk foods, no matter if they are vegetarian or even organic, are still junk and should not be a regular part of a healthy diet.

It doesn’t really matter if you are vegetarian or not, the same strategies will work for meat eaters and vegetarians who are trying to get healthy and shed pounds. The only different is how you get your protein. Good, healthy vegetarian sources of protein include beans and legumes (including hummus and lentils), soy (including tofu and endame), nuts and seeds (including nut butters, just be careful about sugar content of some brands), eggs, and dairy. These are less protein dense than meats, so you need to eat more to get the same amount of protein that’s in a smaller portion of meat. However, they are generally lower in fat than meat (especially saturated fat and cholesterol).

You’ve got to cut out sweet, fried, processed, junk, and fast foods. Eat lots of different fresh fruits and veggies with each meal and as snacks instead of chips, cookies, crackers, bars, etc. You’d be amazed how many vegetarians don’t actually eat much fresh produce, because they eat so many processed foods. (I know. Technically a vegetarian doesn’t have to eat them, they just don’t eat meat.) An easy way to limit calories while still getting a balanced diet is divide your plate into quarters. First fill half the plate with veggies. The other quarters are for lean protein and healthy carb. Do not have seconds. Don’t forget the calories in what you drink count toward your daily total too, so have just plain water, black coffee, or unsweetened tea.

Pay attention to portion sizes. It’s better to eat 3 small meals and a few healthy snacks (if you are hungry between meals) than 3 larger meals. Snack on fruit or cut veggies with plain yogurt (with fresh fruit or berries if desired), hummus, or a handful of nuts or spoonful of nut butter. That will give you a balanced snack. Eating smaller amounts more frequently keeps your blood sugar more steady throughout the day. That helps prevent the mid-afternoon slump in energy. Since you aren’t going as long between when you eat, you are less hungry overall and not as likely to give in to evening binging. Just make sure you don’t take your calories too low. Stay above 1200 for women and 1500 for men. You’d be surprised how much food you can eat for just 1200 calories when it’s healthy.

There are some easy ways to turn your favorite meals into vegetarian without changing the taste (at least not much). So even if you don’t go completely vegetarian, you may want to try a couple meat free meals each week. Cooked lentils are wonderful way to add texture to dishes with sauces like spaghetti or even sloppy joes and tacos. Often, I simply don’t add any meat to my spaghetti sauce. I’ll saute lots of fresh mushrooms, onions, and garlic in olive oil to add instead then serve over whole wheat pasta. It makes it more filling but fewer calories and fat. My family loves it.

Salads and eating out

Salads are the dieters stand by. When made properly, they are full of filling veggies, fiber, and other healthy toppings. I had a Fiesta chicken taco salad from Taco Bell the other day. It was filling and a good choice, relatively speaking. It packed 34g protein, the highest of their salads. The salad has 25% fewer fat than the regular taco salad. That still made it 35g fat (compared to 42g in the regular taco salad). It was 730 calories, 320 of which were fat, a lot of it from the shell.

If I hadn’t had the salad, I probably would have had a Crunchy Beefy Box. It has a Crunchwrap supreme (540 calories, 21g fat, 16g protein), Beefy Crunch burrito (500 calories, 22g fat, 14g protein), and a regular taco (170 calories, 10g fat, 8g protein). That’s a total of 1210 calories, 53g fat, and 38g protein. That’s only slightly less than my full day’s worth of calories just in 1 meal with 3 items. Then you add in the 200 calories from raspberry tea, and I’m at my limit.

However, not all salads are equal. Nor should they all be part of a dieter’s healthy eating plan. That’s especially true of many fast food salads. My advice to anyone who knows they will be eating out is to check the restaurant’s website for nutrition information before you go. Make a list of options that are low fat and calories. Then pick a few of your favorites from the list when you order, keeping in mind the overall total for your meal. Look for smaller sizes, ask for dressing on the side or leave off the sauces. Many places give croutons in a packet on the side. Leave them in the bag to save calories and fat. Add grilled instead of fried or breaded chicken. Use low fat reduced calorie dressings, salsa, or even lemon juice.

Regrouping

Whew! I worked tons of hours the last 10 days. We’re trying to remodel an apartment this month so the new tenant can move in on the 1st, but it’s a lot of long hours. Then when we get home, dinner needs to be made (assuming we don’t eat out). After dinner we catch up on other errands and chores. We take turns who goes out and stays home with the kids in the evening. They watch tv movies. Finally around 11pm bed.

That left almost no time for exercise since my last post. Also, with the family watching tv in the living room, I can’t do Turbo Fire. I managed to do it a couple times, but they lost patience waiting for me to finish, especially the days with longer routines scheduled. There’s not enough room in my bedroom to do it. However, Oxygen magazine has a cardio and weights routine you do 3 times/week that I do have room for. I will probably have to get some more weights since I only have 5′s and 10′s. It’s pretty challenging and definitely better than trying to muddle through making up my own, hoping it will work. I’ll still do some of the Turbo Fire when I can sneak enough time into the living room.

I’m going to start meal planning. What I’d like to do is make a month’s calendar of meals. Then I can do up a shopping list so I can get everything but the fresh stuff then buy the fresh stuff once a week. I think that will help a lot. No more rushing around half hour before meal time deciding what to make with what we have around. An added advantage is that I can see at a glance how healthy we are eating rather than trying to remember. Some of it will probably be generic entries like fresh fruit or veggie. Then I’ll just wait and see what’s on sale.

Valentines’ pig out

Yesterday, of course, was Valentine’s day.  We’ve been doing well with business lately so, my husband decided to treat the family to dinner at a local rustic lodge a few miles out of town. They have fancy meals with appetizers, bread, salad, main course, and dessert. We ordered seafood stuffed mushrooms and bbq riblets for starters. Then came the salad (could have had clam chowder, but thought that was too heavy). Then wonderful, homemade bread before our main course. I ordered a filet minon. It’s great. They wrap it in bacon and rub on black pepper. It came with baked potato covered in sour cream and fresh butter. Last, but not least was dessert. I had a piece of chocolate cake with fudge icing and chocolate bits. I ate half and brought the rest home. I also brought home some of the meat. Still, it was a LOT of calories. Oh, and I had 3 cups of coffee with cream and sugar during the meal.

The leftover cake was today’s breakfast. Chocolate cake drowned in milk is one of my favorite naughty breakfasts along with cold pizza. The meat became an open faced sandwich for lunch. Dinner tonight will be the potato soup I’d planned and cooked for last night before finding out he wanted to go out.

I feel somewhat guilty. However, we don’t do that very often and it was a great family night together. Back to the exercise today with HIIT 20, Stretch 10.

Biblical inspiration

Fitness PhoenixX comment on my recent post (I Don’t Wanna Exercise) really got to me. “Push play. Every day! Keep it moving! Once you start…”

Guilty as charged

What got to me was the end of her comment about getting started. It made me think of a Bible verse. It’s supposed to apply to your decision to live for Christ. However, I think it can apply to any healthy decision. It’s Luke 9:62(KJV)

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Jesus doesn’t want people changing their minds. Nor should we about fitness. That’s part of why I call this blog Fitness, Just Do It. I just need to do it. Not over analyze. Not question each day. Just do it. It’s not that complicated. Like a Christian walk, it just takes commitment and faith. Commitment to stay with it in good times and bad, and faith that eventually I’ll be more healthy.

I admit, last week was a major stumble. I gained back most of the weight I’ve lost. It would be so easy to just walk away and say lamely, I tried. But if I am honest, I know I didn’t! Besides, I’d still be overweight and unhappy. Quitting won’t solve obesity. This is a new week. Another 6 workouts to challenge myself. Starting today. Starting NOW. No turning back.

No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is FIT…