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.

Congrats to Eric

I want to "extend the right hand of fellowship" to my friend Eric the "Ridge Dog" of fitness for completing his personal trainer certification! YAY Eric!! This trophy is in your honor, but you can't take it with you. It's "symbolic."

So everyone else doesn't feel left out, I have some things to share! Eric sent me some cool links to check out. The articles these links lead to deal with the importance of sleep as it relates to weight loss.

http://womenshealth.about.com/library/weekly/aa121702a.htm

http://www.thedietchannel.com/Weight-Loss-and-Sleep.htm

http://www.webmd.com/solutions/sc/link-sleep-weight-loss/sleep-to-get-thin

Check them out all you people who are struggling to lose weight! I know I am.

My Poor Posture

I recently, or semi-recently wrote about comments someone made to ME about my lack of good posture. (This person even asked if I had a history of Scoliosis (spelling?). No, I just huntch. Dang.

I admit my head rests in front of my rounded shoulders and that I have TERRIBLE posture. I slouch all day at work in my office chair, and I don't work out. Hence, I have no muscles developed to help support even moderately good posture.

Like the middle aged man who sucks in his protruding beer belly when the pretty girl walks by, I straighten to impress, and only to impress. I'll admit, it does look better when I sit up straight. Posture is an asset. Everything you have on your body looks better when you can show it/them off by sitting up straight! When a person sits up straight it says positive things about him or her.

A person with excellent posture looks like they have it together. They appear self-confident, ready and in possession of self-control. Slouchers like me just look lazy and like they don't care if someone gives them a papercut and pours lemon juice on it.

Check out this article I found on posture: http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Columns/2005/04/07/Making_a_stand_for_good_posture/index.shtml

It rocks!

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!