Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Life of the properly adjusted

Helloooo all! So I took a bit of a break while on vacation in Tuscon, AZ but decided I should probably get back to blogging, to vent my thoughts if nothing else.  I spent a wonderful week in AZ and got some work outs in and weighed my food and stayed close to on track! Win for me!

Ok but what I really wanted to talk about is how things have changed since I've finally been adjusted into the green zone! :D  I've been in the yellow zone pretty much since day one and it's taken a while to get myself into the green, but man what a difference.  I can actually tell when I'm full! and I stay full for nearly six hours which was my goal. :D  I have had a few oops moments, but I'll attribute that to the learning phase. :D Now in the green zone, I have to take much smaller bites than when I was in the yellow zone otherwise I feel discomfort almost immediately.  And when I say much smaller I mean the normal size bite for a banded person.  I haven't had to change bite size since my surgery until now.  I can happily eat 10-12 oz of food and last a good 5.5 to 6 hours. :D

I have to say I'm really loving the consistency the band is giving me hunger wise.  I can plan all my meals for the day and when I'll eat them because I know pretty much when exactly I'll be hungry.  No worrying about should I bring more food to work cuz maybe I'll get hungrier than I think I will or any of the stuff that caused me to "geek" out so badly before.  It's kinda pretty much awesome.

On the food front I found a great new breakfast that I love!  scrambled eggs with a little bit of cheese, half an avocado and half of a tomato, sliced, and either a cutie or some pan fried potato hash browns.  ( I make the hash browns with just cubed baker potatoes, some olive oil, and salt and pepper.)  It's a very delicious - and colorful!- breakfast.

On the exercise front I'm doing ok.  I took my insanity videos with me to AZ however I only did Monday's and Wednesday's work outs because I was insanely sick on Tuesday and things got crazy busy preparing for my cousins wedding Thursday and Friday and I was just plain pooped on Saturday.  However I did do a TON of swimming and running around with my little cousins and dancing at the wedding so I did do some activity.  I've struggled getting motivated to do my insanity again this week and haven't done any of them but I'm committing myself to doing tomorrows workout when I get up.  I always stick to my exercise plan best when I do it right when I wake up. :D  Here's to keepin' on, keepin' on.

Stay safe, stay happy, stay hopeful
Gonna keep on trucking signing off

Saturday, May 4, 2013

She's back...

Hey all!  So I finally got my computer back (just in time for final term papers, woopey) and I can finally fill y'all in on what's up in the world of moi.

  Number one: Finally found out what's really going on with me.  After more fainting spells I went to see a neurologist early in April.  Though he suspected what it was right away, I had to go through a myriad of tests to rule out any truly harmful problems with my heart, arteries, and brain.  Good news is I don't have a tumor or a damaged heart or damaged arteries; yay!  The not so great news is that my doctor's suspicions were right and I have orthostatic hypo-tension   Basically, my systolic blood pressure (top number reading) drops 20 points periodically, usually when I go from sitting to standing.  He believes the most likely scenario is that my carotid body is underdeveloped and isn't always getting the signal to my heart to beat at the correct pace to keep my blood pressure at safe and normal levels.  If it is this it's just something I have to ride out and wait for the carotid body to mature.  Another possible culprit is autonomic neuropathy.  Basically I showed signs of slight sensory loss in my feet and this indicates (along with my insulin resistance) that the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary functions like the heart beating could be damaged.  If this is the case, treating the insulin resistance can reduce the symptoms but nothing can ever fully cure it.  So for now it's nice to at least know what's up and ways to lessen the symptoms.

   Number two:  I'm nearly finished with school this semester.  I finished my cell biology class and lab on Tuesday and handed in my final term paper on Thursday   The only thing left is my finance final this coming Wednesday and I'll be home free for the summer! YES!

   Number three:  I did not, unfortunately, make it through insanity.  There were a number of excuses I was able to find but it all boiled down to laziness on my part.  I'm going to attempt to start it over on Monday  but also try to mix in some swimming and some light weight lifting as well... well maybe not the weight lifting but we'll see.

   Number four:  I am now down to 224lbs! woot! However I'm having problems with my band.  I feel like every time
 I get a fill I get hungrier sooner on more food, although I make a point never to eat over 12 oz in one sitting if I'm weighing my own food.  Oh and side note, my kitchen scale broke!  So for a while I wasn't able to accurately measure because I've always measured by ounces not cups and 1 and a half actual cups of food did not even last me a few hours.  I'm worried I might have a leak, so my support team at the hospital is having me monitor what I eat, how much I eat, how soon I get hungry and to try and tell if it's real hunger or "brain" hunger.

Well that's all I've got for now.  Hope you all have been doing well and I'll make a point to drop by some pages when I'm less sleepy. :D

Stay safe, stay happy, stay hopeful
Signing off with love. :D

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Technical difficulties

Hey all!  Just wanted to let you know I won't be posting for a while.  My adorable, lovely cat knocked my computer off my desk the other week and ripped the power cord and jack for the power cord out of the back of the computer.  Good news is I can get it fixed for about $100, which is way cheaper than buying a new one.  The bad news is I won't be able to blog for a while. :(

Because of this I'll fill you in a bit on what's happening/ coming up. On Monday I see the neurologist and hopefully finally figure out what's wrong.  i just went in for an adjustment and decided to add another .5 cc since i felt like i had been eating too much lately.  and, ashamed as i am to say it, i've been struggling with insanity.  i've been missing workout days and my nutrition has been pretty far from spectacular. good news is i want grocery shopping and got some good, good for me food and my cousin is a beach body coach so he's helping me with my insanity motivation and i'm back on the insanity train tomorrow. i did go ahead and weigh in and do measurements and though not stellar, they're still progress.  i dropped 3 lbs and 4 in total - mostly in my waist and hips - and i am a little bit stronger than i used to be.

well that's all i've got for now. hopefully i'll have my computer back soon so i can blog.

stay safe, stay happy, stay hopeful
back on the bandwagon signing off

Monday, March 25, 2013

Drum Roll Please...

For those who aren't fully up to date, I am testing out insanity for 60 days.  I started two weeks ago and have been doing pretty great; although I did get sick on thursday and wasn't able to do any insanity until today.  Needless to say, I was a TINY bit nervous (lol as in completely wet my pants terrified) of my workout today.  To make it even more nerve wracking, today it was time for the fit test (you do it every 15 days).  

So I strapped on my big girl panties, bit the bullet, and put in the DVD and do you know what happened?!  I freakin' rocked it! I actually made it through the warm up and only had to stop for it once and I improved on every move!  So, without further ado, I give you my fit test results from both day one and today:
 



As you can see I improved really well in the first three moves but then I pooped out after that; but hey, I still improved! :D  Now all I need to do is get my diet back under control and I'll be golden!

Stay safe, stay happy, stay hopeful
Fit Beast signing off :D

Monday, March 18, 2013

(Early) Update

Pretty much how I look after every insanity workout
Ok, so my plan to blog everyday was a total bust, but I don't feel so bad because I actually managed to do insanity everyday!  Well except yesterday 'cuz I was lazy and woke up late and by the time I was ready to work out my niece was going to bed and all the jumping wakes her up, so yesterday was a bust but I got right back in it today.  Word of advice, if you ever decide to do insanity, don't skip a day.  Because when you take a "rest" day when you're not supposed to (one is worked into the program once a week) then doing the workout the next day is like day one all over again; in other words, miserable!

Now I haven't weighed myself or taken my measurements again because it's only been a week and I think I'll wait until halfway through to do that so I'm not bugging out if my weight hasn't dropped (which usually it doesn't until about week 7 so I've heard).  However I will share a few neat things I've notice that I can now do that I couldn't a week ago:

1. I can kick my legs out into a plank position!  I couldn't even do that when I was at the gym working with a trainer!  This move is used in suicide jumps, drill levels 1 and 2, and burpies (and possibly others but I either can't remember or haven't done them yet).  Basically you start in a standing position with your feet pretty close together.  Next you "drop" down to the floor by crouching down, keeping your legs together, and putting your hands on the ground on either side of your legs.  Then, when your hands are steady on the ground, you kick both feet out behind you, at the same time, and hold your body in a plank position.  From there you can either do push-ups  floor sprints, or jump back into the crouch position, then jump straight up into the air.  Day one, I could not do this!  Today, not only can I jump out but I can also jump back in while keeping my legs mostly together.  (I say mostly because I've got pretty bit thighs and they really like to stick together which makes it hard for my knees to stay together, too).

2.  I can last a little bit longer into the warm-up!  Actually I can only make it through about the first move and then halfway through the second without stopping, but on day one I had to stop halfway through the 1st move so that's progress!

3.  I can go down a tiny bit farther with my push-ups and not once have I done a girly push-up!  On day one I sort of held myself in the plank position and moved my head.  Today I can actually bend my arms just a tiny bit and bring myself back up.  My head still moves, because we all know that head movement makes a push-up easier (right?) ;), but at least my arms are moving now too.

Stay safe, stay happy, stay hopeful
Sore in places I didn't know could be sore, signing off!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Insanity Day 1 Photos (not for the faint of heart or squeamish)


In sixty days these will be dramatically different!  Trying hard not to criticize the photos too much since they do show my progress from surgery day but I never got good photos like these so it's still kind of hard to tell... oh well, in 60 days there will be a dramatic difference.  Will I look like those people who are in the infomercial  No of course not, but I will have some results I'm sure of it!



We're INSANE over here!

It's official: I am now testing out the 60 day insanity work out and today was day one.  Let me give you a quick recap of what my first workout was like... OWWWY!!!! LOL and today was just the fit test.  The real workout doesn't start until tomorrow.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little scared but also kind of excited at the same time.

For those of you who don't know, insanity is max interval training which is basically periods of high intensity with tiny rests in between... so it's interval training turned on it's head.  It claims to be the hardest workout on DVD on the market right now and that it will give you  a  year's worth of results in just 2 months.  I decided why not? If I stick with it for 2 months and I'm not satisfied they'll refund my money; if it's the other way around than woo hoo for me!

So my step sister and I are doing it together which I think is great because I think we'll be able to keep each other motivated since we'll both be lying down panting and sweating like pigs before the warm ups even over, which means we're not alone in our out of shape-ness. ;)  This is something we already demonstrated by doing the fit test.  The fit test is about 25 min. long and includes a warm-up, 8 workouts of 1 minute each with maybe 30s-1min of rest in between and then a cool down.  Seems simple right? WRONG.  The warm-up itself was a workout; to quote my sister "who warms up like this?" said in a breathy panting sort of way. :D  The eight moves are switch kicks, power jacks, power knees, power jumps, globe jumps (traveling squat jumps), suicide jumps, push-up jacks, and low plank oblique.

As an extra motivation to keep me going I'll post on here daily, even if only to say yes I did my workout, and post my fit test results which we do periodically throughout the 2 month process.  Here are today's fit test results:

Switch Kicks: 46
Power Jacks: 26
Power Knees: 54
Power Jumps: 21
Globe Jumps (x4): 5 (20)
Suicide Jumps: 6
Push-up Jacks: 4
Low Plank Oblique: 18

I will also post my beginning measurements, weight and photos... or at least try with the photos since my computer has been picky about that recently.

Starting weight:
230.8 lbs

Starting measurements:
Neck: 15.75 in
Bust: 48 in
Right Bicep: 16.5 in
Right Forearm: 12 in
Waist: 46.75 in
Hips: 52.5 in
Right Thigh: 28.5 in
Right Calf: 18.5 in

Here's to getting insanely fit! teeheehee

Stay safe, stay happy, stay hopeful
She's totally insane, signing off