I May be Crazy But....

Friends,

I ask you to pray with me as next week I add another 3 days with Dr. Drill to my exercise regiment. That's right...6 days a week, getting up at 4:30 a.m. to work out from 5:15 ish to 6:30 a.m.

Yes, I'm still in school and still working full time. May the good Lord give me strength! I'm anticipating feeling extra tired, and as a result, I will be open to irritability, mood swings etc. Pray for my husband for extra grace and love when dealing with me, and pray that I would respect him as I should.

I'll be at the Lansdale YMCA M,W,F and at the Hatfield Athletic Club T,Th, Sat. If you are in the area and interested in signing up contact Dr. Drill through his website at http://www.drdrillinstructor.com/ . This program is the best thing I have done for myself in years.

Have a great day!

Discipline

Our bootcamp homework is to define the word "discipline." We are currently pounding through "Discipline Week." First there was "P.T. Week" (physical training), then "Motivation Week" and now, the big "D."

It's rough. Let me tell yah. I'm hunched over my keyboard this morning, willing my fingers to type...because they are the only parts of my body that can move. It's not quite that bad, but, I'm tired and I worked hard today. I'm still very much out of shape. I compare myself to others in the class and I can see I still have so far to go. One step at a time right?

So "discipline"! The first word that comes to mind when I think of discipline is "correction." By that definition "self-discipline" would equal "self-correction." That's what Dr. Drill is always telling us to do, "Correct yourselves!" he'll yell. He's decided to dub me, "Squatting Schoonover!" And not for a good reason. I still have a hard time squatting down to 90 degrees and holding it for the alloted time. Practice makes perfect. I guess I'll just have to discipline myself.

Discipline: to condition oneself or someone to adopt a particular pattern of behavior. To self-disciple is to train yourself. I like what Wikipedia says: "Self-disciple refers to the training that one gives one's self to accomplish a certain task or to adopt a particular pattern of behaviour, even though one would really rather be doing something else. Thus, self-discipline is the assertion of willpower over more base desires, and is usually understood to be a synonym of 'self control'. Self-discipline is to some extent a substitute for motivation, when one uses reason to determine a best course of action that opposes one's desires."

In what areas of your life are you striving to attain discipline? For me it's study habits, physical fitness and eating habits, and a clean house and tidy yard.

Am I thin yet?

You know when you were a little kid, travelling in the car with your parents, going somewhere, (you may or may not remember where) and you were getting frustrated by the journey? You wanted to ask, "Are we there yet?"

I have made little progress so far in my weight loss journey, although I've only been at it for two weeks. I need to make a more concerted effort! My starting weight was 193 lbs. and my current weight is about 188-189lbs. At the end of this week, I decided through a general class encouragement from Dr. Drill to increase my effort, cutting back on more things in my diet (no simple sugars, no soft drinks, no fried food), increasing my exercise by a minimum of three hours a week (doing an hour of cardio on my off days except for Sunday), and generally putting more effort into this. As I thought about working smarter AND harder, I scrutinized my diet. One thing I have been using is a sugar substitute, but I'm about to drop that too from my regimen.

I'm going to cut Splenda out of my diet. I read about some really bad side effects that can happen to 70% of the women who consume it: (from a post from Dr. Drill on our team chat on his website. A link to his site appears in my blog, on the right side, under "Just for Fun")

"What About Splenda (sucralose)? This is from FIRST, “A Magazine For Women On The Go”In an article titled:“Tired All the Time?”June 26, 2006, pp 25-26.ANDA book:Splenda: Is it Safe or Not? By Janet Starr Hull, Ph.D., Pickle Press, 2005

"Sucralose can cause one to suffer from sluggishness, fatigue, make legs feel like lead weights, mood swings, severe cramps (female), intense pain, painful bowel movements, bloating, dizziness, confusion, and more. Seven (7) out of ten (10) American women consume sucralose daily.“The artificial sweetener sucralose (Splenda) is made by binding three chlorineatoms to a molecule of sugar. The problem: Chlorine reacts with organic material to create chlorination by-products (CBPs) that can trigger chronic symptoms like fatigue, headaches and brain fog, as well as reproductive and immune problems.”“Sucralose is found in nearly 4,000 food, beverage and health-care products,including diet drinks, ice cream, protein bars, vitamins and toothpaste.” It is alsofound in gum, over-the-counter drugs, and salad dressings.

Consumer use of sucralose has grown annually by 10%.70% of those who consume sucralose (Splenda) will have a sensitivity to it anddevelop symptoms. If one is experiencing symptoms from consuming sucralose (Splenda), thesolution is to stop taking it and to “Flush Your System” as follows:“Supplementing daily [for 2 months] with 600 mg of the amino acid N-acetyl-lcysteine(NAC) boosts the body’s production of glutathione, according to a study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. This antioxidant(glutathione) flushed CBPs from the body.” I purchase N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) in the product Complete Glutathione From Nutri-West: 800-443-3333. If these symptoms are caused by sucralose (Splenda) sensitivity, elimination from the diet for a minimum of 2 weeks should start to improve symptoms:Unexplained Tiredness, Brain Fog, Nausea, Joint Pain, Cramps/Bloating, Diarrhea, Headaches, Dizziness, Mood Swings, and Depression."

Does it make you want to quit your sugar substitute? I know I am. For further reading on all the artificial sweetners, visit Fitness Mantra.

Boot Camp Kick Off

It is humbling to see just how far out of shape I have allowed myself to become. Today was the first day of boot camp. I woke up at 4 a.m. (too early) and left the house around 4:15 a.m. to get there on time (I think I'll try leaving at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday). Eager beaver that I was, I got there before EVERYONE, even Dr. Drill so I sat in my car in the dark and pretended I was on a stake out, watching a delivery truck pull into the shopping mall in front of me, a couple of early morning joggers, and the gradual increase in traffic as people started their morning commutes.

When I saw Dr. Drill pull into the parking lot, I followed him into the building. I felt like such a brown noser. Oh well. I helped bring a bag in and set stuff up. Bonus was, I didn't have to wait in line to get my blood pressure taken!

Today was an "administrative day" so we didn't work out as hard as I thought we were going to. A gradual ease-in is good for my nerves I suppose. We are using this week to take base line measurements on our size and capabilities so this morning we did crunches, squats and push ups to see how many we could do in two minute increments. All in all I did 100 crunches, 25 girly-push-ups on my knees, and 73 squats. On Wednesday, we'll be running around a track, so that should be fun :). Ooorah!

My friend Jynell is my squad leader. She has really been showing me the ropes, much to my relief and delight. She's a powerhouse, no-holds-barred, tough cookie. I hope I do her proud! She lent me her old, fingerless, work out gloves this morning because I neglected to purchase a pair. Thanks girl! I hope they bring me good juju :) (Jynell lost 30 lbs. doing weight watchers and Drill's boot camp. This is her 3rd or 4th session. She's my boot camp hero. Go girl!

I'm really enjoying all the repetitive echoing we do of our drill instructor and the counting etc. We do it as a team and I'm finding I really enjoy the enthusiasm and energy it creates. Dr. Drill talks about discipline and setting goals for ourselves and he talks about how we will be monitored. He also talks about the changes in our bodies we can expect to see in 10 weeks and the inches we will lose. It's pretty exciting. He expects us to give 110% when we're there and THAT is good to hear. I like to be encouraged and pushed that way. And I love being around disciplined people! I'm even hoping that some of my friends will want to join if they admire the results and changes in my life.

Mood: positive, expectant, good

Things I'm learning about myself: There is ALWAYS room for growth. I lack spiritual, emotional and physical discipline. I am working on these areas of my life.

I will commit to: counting points with my Weight Watchers guide book, and writing down what I put into my body (both food and drink). Successfully completing boot camp. Going to Sunday School and Bible Study (when it starts), spending time in prayer each day with God and reading from my Bible. I need to journal/blog as often as possible about my experiences so that I don't forget the journey, when I reach the destination. I will work to be cognisant of my emotions and how my behavior influences others.

People I met in boot camp: Dr. Drill, Beth, Kim (co-leaders with Drill), Jynell my squad leader, Raquel (the girl who is next to me on my left), Andy the man who helped me set up the exercise mats this morning (a duty I gladly did because I was way early today).

Current weight: 193 lbs
Height: 5'10''
Goal weight: I'm not sure what's healthy for my height and frame, but I'll say 160 lbs. with muscle.

I weighed 167 lbs when I got married. I would love to be a size 8-10. Right now I'm a 14. Diggidy Dang. Time to get disciplined. Oohrah!

One of the things Dr. Drill has us do is care for and maintain our amo box. It's a munitions box that we are supposed to personalize and bring with us to class each day. Jeff took me to WalMart this weekend to get some stuff to decorate it with and I thought I already knew what I wanted to do when I got there, and then I didn't so we went home without any decorations.

This whole boot camp experience is opening up windows in my life for me and causing me to be "introspective" as Jeff put it so eloquently. Our amo boxes are to be a "reflection of [us]". What am I all about? What is a good reflection of who I am inside? (What would Mulan say? WWMS)

As an adult, I am learning about my own lack of knowledge in spiritual things, lack of discipline in my eating habits and exercise habits, and my inability to be decisive and take charge of my own destiny. That part has changed since I started school, and began this boot camp program. I am hoping that through the discipline of this boot camp, I will become disciplined in my own life.

Just because I was up three hours earlier than I normally am, I had more time to myself, I played with my cat, and didn't feel as rushed as I typically do in the morning getting out of bed late and then throwing myself together to get to work on time. I had to prepare the night before for boot camp, check my gear, lay out my clothes etc. It felt good to do something like this for myself, for ME! Oh my word! How fabulous! Here's looking forward to what the next 10 weeks may bring!

Boot Camp

Well...I'm gonna do it. I'm signing up for boot camp. I'm tired of being out of shape and fat so I've decided to enroll in an exercise program run by an ex-marine. OOOO-RAH! Check it out: http://www.drdrillinstructor.com/ His name is Dr. Aaron Oberst and he's a chiropracter. The name of the program is Preventative Health Boot Camp and it's a ten-week program, running in the fall-winter and spring-summer. You attend three times a week from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. in Lansdale and soon in Hatfield. I'm very excited!

I've just gained so much weight being behind a desk and being back in school full-time. I've gotten lazy and lost self-discipline. I'm hoping that the team environment and exercising I'll get from boot camp will rekindle the flame inside of me to be the best I can be! Dang.

If I had the guts, I'd post before and after pictures. I hope he has an eating plan too.

The Great Weight Loss Adventure AKA, Developing Self-Discipline

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight has failed, at least once. That's my theory. I need to discipline myself. I have to deny my self gratification and have a rebirth of mind and soul before I can have one in body!

I cannot even tell you the last time I darkened the door of a mall store that sold womens' clothing, but I can tell you what my visit was like. I was unable to fit into anything they sold because I have ballooned to a size 14. A sedentary lifestyle will do that to you! I am too fat to wear the trendy clothes of people in their 20's and still not fat enough to shop in the plus size store. I am at that crossroads in fatness where I can choose to discipline myself and lose weight, or I can give in, say "The heck with this!" and just get fatter and fatter, letting frumpiness envelope me like fat folds.

Unfortunately, I can't just wish it away, or drink diet soda and hope that will be enough (I've tried and it doesn't work). Neither does going to the gym three times a week for a half-hour. I have to develop a new way of thinking...one where I have the frame of mind that weight loss is more important than school, more important than housework, yard work or even sleep.

The only way I will successfully lose weight and not continue to be fat in my 30's is to prioritize my weight loss goal. I must manage my diet and get regular, vigorous, sustained exercise. I must get regular sleep. There are going to be some serious changes taking place.

"Lean protein and vegetables," is my mantra, followed by, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger"... I'm hoping that's what happens when I strap on my too tight workout clothes (that I have grown out of) and start exercising again in yet another effort to revisit my size 12, and dare I say, size 10 pants and size medium tops.

I don't want to look back on my life and wish I had been thinner! I have already noticed some unpleasant changes in my body and I have to stop this degenerative progression into fatness and obesity before it's too late.

Fatness happens gradually. It starts with small changes in behavior that develop into poor eating habits and a decline in activity, compounded by a change in metabolism. Before long, you're looking in the mirror flapping your arms that hang heavy with clap-fat, counting your chins and grabbing your own love handles!

Aieeeeeee!