Yes, I am a nerd :)

I am a list maker. I have been since I was little. Once I ran across a list I made when I was seven. It was a list of things to do at my grandma's house and included things such as "play in old chicken house" or "look at old coins". The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My mom was a list maker and my eldest, at the age of 9 is showing tendencies, too, though he keeps track in his head. Some people call this anal retentive or crazy, I call it a way to maintain sanity in a crazy world :) I get a big satisfaction crossing things off of my "to do" list. I've even been known to write stuff down that I've already done just so I can cross it off! In the pre-smart phone era/pre palm-pilot era, my ex was given the equivalent of a Dayrunner at his job. It was some corporate push to increase productivity. He brought the binder home and gave it to me, saying "you are going to love this". It brought list-making to the extreme. One could make a list and then prioritize with an A or B, and then further prioritize with a number. Therefore item A1 was more important than B9. Then, one could block off time to complete these tasks. Wow! How exciting! In addition to fueling my list addiction, this binder turned me onto goal setting: a perfect marriage of list mania and number crunching. I could now make a list of things to accomplish...and then measure how well (and how fast) I did it. I am at the 2 month point in CrossFit. I love it. I constantly feel the need to quantify what I am doing. In fact, on my enrollment paperwork, I noted that CrossFit was cheaper than a tummy tuck. At $100 a month, I can do CrossFit for 60 months vs. a $6000 tummy tuck. A couple of weeks ago, I took some baseline measurements and set a goal to lose 1" from my waist. I am happy to announce that I have lost 1/4" a week for a total of 1/2" gone from my waist. If I continue at the same rate, I'll lose the other 1/2" in two more weeks. However, when I asked the trainer if an inch a month would be a reasonable goal, the reply was a joking "you wish :)"...and then he further noted that it is really hard to say as it depends on metabolism. We'll see.....

Adventures in Intermittent Fasting

I am absolutely starving as I write this post!!!! Today is day two in my experiment with intermittent fasting (IF). I was encouraged by a two pound decrease this morning when I weighed myself. Seems recently that the scale has only gone up up up....I'm sure it's not water weight loss as I've been drinking a bunch to keep my belly full. The mornings are not bad. This morning I had a little tummy rumble when I inadvertently licked the peanut butter spoon while fixing my Body by Vi shake for latter consumption. I suspect that my body is already trained to delay food consumption in the mornings as years of taking thyroid medicine will do that. (Can't have food in belly with that medicine) Evenings are killer!!!! I am so used to eating later (7 p.m. some nights) and maybe even having an ice cream snack (....or chips n'crack). Tonight's dinner was at 5:30. The good news is that both boys like pork chops on the grill now. The bad news is that my pork chop and veggies have worn off. So what is IF? It is not a diet, but a timing of eating. There are many variations on the theme including skipping meals, going days without meals, but I have chosen a daily fast of 14-16 hours (includes bed time). One consumes the normal allotment of protein, carbs, etc in a smaller window of 6 to 8 hours. In my case, I'm having a Body By Vi shake (almond milk and peanut butter) at 11 a.m., which is one hour prior to my CrossFit class. I then have a big meal after my work out, along with some healthy afternoon snacks. I then have an early dinner with my boys. Why? some have suggested that frequent meals can trigger fat production, especially if the meals are of high glycemic carbs. I have yet to see any scientific evidence that supports either small, frequent meals (the long time suggestion for weight loss) or fasting. I don't think anybody really knows the answer...All I know is that what I have been doing isn't working, so it's time to try something new. I'll probably give it a month and then reevaluate. Anybody out there with IF experience?

I've got work to do!!!!

After CrossFit on Friday, I took a look at body measurements. There are several measurements to take into consideration. According to the hand-held instrument, my body fat percentage is 28.8%. This is "high" according to the machine, and "Over Fat" according to the nutrition hand-out. I will need to go down several percentage points before I fall into the 21-24% "healthy" range. Next, I took a look at waist and hip measurements: my waist is 34" and my hips are 39". According to the nutrition hand-out, anything over a 33.8" waist is "obese". According to Dr. Oz, one of the 5 numbers you need to pay attention to is your waist measurement. Anything 35" and over for a female increases risk for chronic disease (i.e. diabetes). I am getting near that 35" mark!!!! (FYI Dr. Oz number for men is 40" waist). The handout suggests that a 26" waist for a female is ideal, and Dr. Oz suggests a 32.5" waist. Either way, I am currently not in a good category!!!! My waist-to-hip ratio is 0.86. this is the apple vs. pear shape. Those who are "apple" shaped tend to carry their weight in the abdomen and this increases risk for coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. According to the hand-out, I am on the cusp between "average" and "at risk", whereas sources on the internet clearly put me in the "high risk" category. Finally, I took a look at my BMI, which is 25.23. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered "overweight". Thankfully, I am towards the bottom of this one. Considering all of this, I think my first goal will be to lose one inch off of my waist, since my waist-to-hip ratio seems to be the most serious measurement of health status. Loosing an inch will drop me into the "moderate" risk category in the waist-to-hip ratio. I'm sure if I lose an inch off of my waist, my body fat % my decrease, too. Surely an inch of belly fat weighs something?????? I'm guessing maybe my weight will drop too? Maybe loosing that inch will drop my into the "normal" weight category. Setting a goal to lose an inch off my waist at the start of Thanksgiving week...ROTFLMBO Well, We'll see.

$20,500 down in 14 months!!!

Those of you who know me well know that I'm a huge Dave Ramsey fan! Yes, I drank the Kool-aid 14 months ago :) In those 14 months I've paid down $20,500 in debt. This last debt is the slowest to be paid off as it is the largest. Got $6000 left and gonna "kick the old lady (Sallie Mae) to the curb". For those of you interested in becoming debt free, I highly recommend reading "The total money makeover" by Dave Ramsey. My Sunday School class read this as a group. It is an excellent book that lays out all of the principles. There is also have a class called Financial Peace University. Once you pay, you and your family have a lifetime membership. I attended once, but had trouble getting up to the big city in the evenings. I'm going to watch the website for a more local class. I was one of many laid off in February 2012. I was probably the only one in the group not stressed/freaking out---because I had a plan, an emergency fund, and had paid off most of my debts. I saw being laid off as an opportunity to do something more. I was blessed with another job that allowed me more time with my boys. This job will be ending this December...but because I am not leveraged to my eyeballs, I can be somewhat picky in what job I select. Being a single mom (a single income family)the finances can be terrifying. Getting a grip on what's going out vs. what's coming in has allowed me to have "financial peace"...and a lot let stress in life.

Weight is up...must get on track

About 2 years ago my weight crept up from its low point (135) to what I consider the maximum I'd want it to be...or my "high point" (140). This 5 pound range would allow for fluctuations between time of month, time of day, and dehydration vs. hydration. This "high point" is when I should have become worried and become more focused...but I didn't. I've been lax and over the past year and it has crept up to over 140 pounds...fluctuating between 140 and 145 pounds. In recent weeks, my weight has been as high as 150! This is what happens when one DOESN'T PAY ATTENTION and STAY FOCUSED. 15 pounds can come back. I was down to a size 8. Though I can still cram myself into an 8, a size 10 fits much better. I can tell my face is fuller, too, just by looking at pictures. I still exercise, and my endurance is much better...I just need to focus on diet. I am using the calorie counter app on my smart phone. "IF YOU BITE IT, WRITE IT!!!!"

CrossFit Day 2....

I actually felt like falling over last night...I was sooooo tired. I went to sleep at 9:30 p.m. which is not like me at all. Yesterday's CrossFit workout must have worn me out. WOD consisted of 30 cleans, 50 pistols, and rowing 2000 meters. This was in addition to the usual warm-up (10 dips, 10 push-ups, 10 squats, etc, etc). I also worked on my kipping pull-ups...not quite there yet...maybe get there in a week or two. I did my cleans with 20 pounds added to the bar. I used a "cheater-ball" on the pistols. A pistol is a one-legged squat with the other leg extended. One holds on (barely) to a pole. I used the cheater-ball (a medicine ball) so that I knew when my butt was far enough down. I have never really used a rowing machine. Seems like it was a good cardio workout, along with some upper body workout. It took 10+ minutes to row 2000 meters. My overall time was 18 minutes and some odd seconds. I guess I need to write this down in a journal so that I know what time I need to beat the next time we do this routine. I'm considering converting my shop into a home gym as I've outgrown my laundry room. In my limited free time, I have been searching for some equipment so that I can do this on the cheap/free. Class meets again in 3 hours....I hope I survive.

CrossFit Day 1 :)

After my "introductory class" which left me so sore, I couldn't roll over in bed, I signed up for more punishment. That was two weeks ago. I had to take the instruction course which taught the fundamentals of CrossFit. Class met MWF for two weeks. Yesterday was my first day of actual CrossFit class. We ran. Not a good day to NOT have enough time to run home and change into workout clothes. Lucky for me, I had a compression top in my suitcase in my car. I usually wear this top as a swimsuit; I was just getting back in town after spending the weekend at the lake. My time was 17:30 and we had to run 3 segments with a minute rest in between each. I don't know how long the segments were, but the instructor had shortened the lengths to accommodate the class. That's the great thing about CrossFit, if you can't do the workout, it can be adjusted to allow one the benefit of the exercise while allowing one to "work up" to the full amount/exercise/weight, etc. Any how, he told me that since I beat the other participants times, that I will be doing the full length next time. We'll see what tomorrow holds. CrossFit is now daily M-F with a make-up on Saturday. Did go on a short bike ride last night. My rides will most likely be shorter as evening comes earlier....