This is a post about downs; the good kinds of downs, the lbs that go down. Yesterday, I had my monthly meeting with my surgeon. To do my weigh-in, to talk about nutrition and other stuff. I weighed in at 3 lbs below last month. That was amazing because the last few months, starting in November with Thanksgiving, continuing in December with Christmas and then January with the all you can eat cruise, the weight was just lolling around. A lb lost, 1/2 a lb gained. And at last month's weigh-in, I was actually a lb up from the month before. So, this was a great victory over my mind and body.
What changed? A couple of things. I started recording what I was eating. I look at the nutritional content of everything I put in my body ... and I mean everything. I have stopped eating fries from McDonald's because I found out a small order had more calories than my frozen lunches. Ridiculous. It's very easy to record what I eat since there's an application (Lose It!) on my iPhone that lets me do it. If the nutritional information isn't already in the database, you can add your own food. If you can't find the nutritional content of something anywhere, you can create a recipe in the application and it will give you the nutritional content based on what goes into the food. It also allows you to track exercise. It has some built in ones but since I started High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), it helps that it lets me add my own custom exercises as well.
So, the second thing that changed last month was that I satrted running. On the treadmill and outside. Granted, I only ran outside once but we'll get back to that story in a minute. So, at the gym, I've started HIIT. I am slowly bringing up my speed but according to all sources, I am at an intensity level of 8-9 when I am running because I cannot speak during those 3 minutes. I have been able to do 30 minutes of HIIT 1-2 times a week and that's made a big difference in how I feel and even my leg muscle definition. Can you see me flexing my calves for you? My goal is to "maybe" do a 5K next year. why next year? Because the first time I ran outside this year, I hurt myself. That's right, my body rebelled and said WTF? I twisted my knee last Sunday and now I have it taped up and it's sore and it hates me. But, as soon as I can bend that knee without wincing, I'm back ont he asphalt with Smokey as my trusted running buddy.
I have 24 lbs to go before I am not in the overweight category according to that BMI chart. Compared to that, 3 lbs seems nothing. But, considering how hard I worked for it, I gots the right to celebrate (with a diet coke & half a serving of animal crackers)!
3 comments:
Hi! Thanks for the blog comment! I am very interested in running and always have been but when I weighed 315 pounds it just wasn't possible. What is HIIT?
Kim, welcome!!! HIIT is high intensity interval training. It's when you run fast for a small period of time and then walk for a small period of time and you repeat that for 20 - 30 minutes. The sugegstions everywhere are to have the intervals be 90 seconds running and 60 seconds walking. I am, satrting at 3 minutes run and 2 minutes walk, just to get comfortable with the treadmill. but, it jumpstarted my weight loss and where I had stalled for 3 straight months and after a month of HIIT, I lost 3 lbs. So, I can vouch for it's efficacy.
Hey, progress is progress! No matter how small it may seem in the grand scheme of things, you can't reach the top of a staircase without taking the first few steps =)
CONGRATULATIONS on a job well done!
Also, take care of yourself on the running front. I hope your knee is back to normal soon!
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