Ugh, another week, another up and down weigh in... this week I'm up. Considering my previous post where I admitted to not working out once this week (okay, that's not true, I did work out yesterday), it's really no wonder. But I really got to thinking about this and I've come to this conclusion:
Maybe the gym really isn't for me anymore.
We all get bored with various routines. For instance, lunch. I have a habit of making sandwiches for lunch a lot. Then, I get bored and start making eggs or soups or warm lunches. Then I switch back when I'm sick of soups and salads. I've already done this with my workout routine. If I remember correctly, this is what the past few years have looked like:
Spring 2008: Worked out with DVDs, started C25K program in April
Summer 2008/Fall 2008: Joined Gym #1, did lots of elliptical, stairmaster, and rowing along with weights
Spring 2009: Joined Gym #2, started going early in the mornings, but it didn't work out.
Summer 2009: At Gym #2, discovered my love for spin classes
Fall 2009/Spring 2010/Summer 2010: Paid for Gym #2, but barely went. Ever.
I am starting to wonder why I felt that I needed to be a member of a gym in order to lose weight, especially since I haven't really gone to the gym regularly for the past 11 or so months. I have to admit that I joined Gym #2 mainly because that's where all my friends were going, and now we all have different schedules, so I don't really get to see any of them. So, right now, I'm considering two options: return to my workout DVDs and see how that goes OR rejoin Gym #1. I'm going to give myself the next few weeks to really consider what I want to do before school begins. Gym #2 is definitely crowded during the school year, since it is the rec center for the campus, and I really enjoyed Gym #1 for not being so crowded and always feeling like I could get my workout done without having to wait for equipment.
Anyway, the next few weeks will be my trial period to see if I can get over my gym boredom.
My Back to School Weight Loss Goal: 15 Pounds!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
My Head Says Yes, But...
Oh readers... I was doing so well. SO well, I tell you! But I just haven't been able to get my butt out of bed to hit the rec at 6AM this week. I blame it on my allergies. Yesterday, I put up a facebook status about how my allergies have been running me ragged, to the point where I took a nap on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, AND yesterday... and I never take naps. Luckily for me, my head is finally feeling less clogged and I don't feel so lethargic but sheesh... pollen controls my life, I guess. That being said, I like going to the gym in the morning. But I really need to work on my bedtime. In my previously single life, I used to go to bed at 10PM, read for 30-45 minutes and then turn off the light in order to wake up at a normal time to hit the gym. Now, in my couple life, I stay up with Roo (the fiance) until 11 or 11:30 and then snuggle in until 6:45. This needs to change. And maybe August is the month to do it.
I've also been presented with another challenge:
This is my friend, the wrist/thumb immobilizer. I've been having pain through the base of my thumb into my wrist in my right hand since early to mid May, and after a slipshot diagnosis by my very pregnant PCP (seriously, if you're 40 weeks pregnant, maybe you shouldn't be working), I insisted in going to see a wrist specialist. I knew that it couldn't be a ganglion cyst causing that pain (again, back to the pregnant PCP feeling up my lumpy wrist... PCP: I can move your cyst! Kiki: Really? Because I can't! Gimmee a referral!). And in fact, it wasn't. It's tenosynovitis, which is basically the inflammation of the tendon sheaths in my wrist. Lovely. The wrist specialist opted to give me a cortisone shot and give it a few months to see if that helps. If not, I have to get a minor minor surgery to place an incision on the sheath to give it some breathing room.
The specialist gave me these instructions: Use my wrist splint at bedtime and to use my head. Crap. That means no golf or tennis for a while to give my wrist a break. That also means that pushups are out as an option, and when I do some (not so heavy) strength workouts, I'll probably have to wear that lovely above. But that's not going to stop me. My 30s are going to be SO much healthier than my 20s, even though my body is slowly falling apart :)
I've also been presented with another challenge:
This is my friend, the wrist/thumb immobilizer. I've been having pain through the base of my thumb into my wrist in my right hand since early to mid May, and after a slipshot diagnosis by my very pregnant PCP (seriously, if you're 40 weeks pregnant, maybe you shouldn't be working), I insisted in going to see a wrist specialist. I knew that it couldn't be a ganglion cyst causing that pain (again, back to the pregnant PCP feeling up my lumpy wrist... PCP: I can move your cyst! Kiki: Really? Because I can't! Gimmee a referral!). And in fact, it wasn't. It's tenosynovitis, which is basically the inflammation of the tendon sheaths in my wrist. Lovely. The wrist specialist opted to give me a cortisone shot and give it a few months to see if that helps. If not, I have to get a minor minor surgery to place an incision on the sheath to give it some breathing room.
The specialist gave me these instructions: Use my wrist splint at bedtime and to use my head. Crap. That means no golf or tennis for a while to give my wrist a break. That also means that pushups are out as an option, and when I do some (not so heavy) strength workouts, I'll probably have to wear that lovely above. But that's not going to stop me. My 30s are going to be SO much healthier than my 20s, even though my body is slowly falling apart :)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Ups and Downs
This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Mainly, it's been associated with the scale. I have a bad habit of weighing myself every morning. To me, it's a motivational tool. If my weight is up a little bit, I know I need to work a little bit harder, whether it's at the gym or through food, to get back to where I'd like to be. And, this week, since I've recommitted myself to eating better and hitting up the gym, I just expected to see the scale go down.
Um, wrong.
It went up. And up. And up. To this point where I was just SO uncomfortable with those numbers that were on the scale. What was going on? My weight NEVER fluctuates that much. A pound or two, sure, but never... ugh. Not to mention, that I was back to normal with my exercise. I went to spin class twice this week, did the elliptical on Tuesday afternoon, and considered some weight training but never got around to it. So why were these numbers upsetting me so much?
As one of my friends told me, I'm a scientist. I like to quantify everything. How true.
This morning, I woke up and weighed myself. Down FOUR pounds from that uncomfortable number. WTH? Maybe this is the lesson I need to step away from the scale and not depend on that for validation. I don't think I'll ever be one of those weigh myself once a week people, but I definitely don't need to upset myself every morning. Sigh.
Um, wrong.
It went up. And up. And up. To this point where I was just SO uncomfortable with those numbers that were on the scale. What was going on? My weight NEVER fluctuates that much. A pound or two, sure, but never... ugh. Not to mention, that I was back to normal with my exercise. I went to spin class twice this week, did the elliptical on Tuesday afternoon, and considered some weight training but never got around to it. So why were these numbers upsetting me so much?
As one of my friends told me, I'm a scientist. I like to quantify everything. How true.
This morning, I woke up and weighed myself. Down FOUR pounds from that uncomfortable number. WTH? Maybe this is the lesson I need to step away from the scale and not depend on that for validation. I don't think I'll ever be one of those weigh myself once a week people, but I definitely don't need to upset myself every morning. Sigh.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Good Morning Sunshine
After spending a week at my mom's house, enjoying (read: engorging myself on) her wonderful Italian cooking, along with eating out a ton with family and friends, it's no surprised that I gained close to two pounds. Instead of beating myself up for that last night, I took a proactive approach. I decided to hit the 6:15 spin class on Monday morning. Oh yeah, that's right, 6:15 AM, people. Now if you know anything about me, it should be this: I love sleep. I need sleep. Do not mess with my sleep. It's no wonder that for close to two hours on Sunday night, I hemmed and hawed about setting the alarm for 5:40AM. Would I just jolt me and Roo (my fiance) out of bed? Or would I actually get up and get going? I set my clothes in the bathroom to make a quick escape, just in case I felt motivated.
Surprisingly enough, I woke up feeling challenged at 5:40. The alarm went off once, and the Snooze Queen got up out of bed. I was surprised to see that the sun was actually up at that time of morning while I tied on my sneakers and headed out the door. I didn't feel tired and instead enjoyed the calm morning as I walked up to the Rec.
The spin class was only half full (which is a summer trend and will end in about a month), but my favorite instructor Brian never fails. I started taking in classes last summer, when he taught in the afternoon, and I got hooked. He knows how to push, but just enough. He also has fabulous taste in music (hello! who else warms up to something as cheesy as "California Gurls" by Katy Perry at 6:15AM??) and knows how to count to the beat. I stopped taking his class when he moved to the 6:15 schedule. Silly me.
I'm not going to say that today was a walk in the park. By 4PM, I was tired and had a headache. In fact, I feel like I'm just getting my second wind. However, that's not to say that I won't be back at the gym at 6AM tomorrow morning. I love this new schedule. I like waking up and getting my workout done first thing and then have the rest of the day to get my work done and then enjoy dinner and some time with Roo and Miss Kitty. This new schedule might just be the thing I need to jump start... well, me.
Surprisingly enough, I woke up feeling challenged at 5:40. The alarm went off once, and the Snooze Queen got up out of bed. I was surprised to see that the sun was actually up at that time of morning while I tied on my sneakers and headed out the door. I didn't feel tired and instead enjoyed the calm morning as I walked up to the Rec.
The spin class was only half full (which is a summer trend and will end in about a month), but my favorite instructor Brian never fails. I started taking in classes last summer, when he taught in the afternoon, and I got hooked. He knows how to push, but just enough. He also has fabulous taste in music (hello! who else warms up to something as cheesy as "California Gurls" by Katy Perry at 6:15AM??) and knows how to count to the beat. I stopped taking his class when he moved to the 6:15 schedule. Silly me.
I'm not going to say that today was a walk in the park. By 4PM, I was tired and had a headache. In fact, I feel like I'm just getting my second wind. However, that's not to say that I won't be back at the gym at 6AM tomorrow morning. I love this new schedule. I like waking up and getting my workout done first thing and then have the rest of the day to get my work done and then enjoy dinner and some time with Roo and Miss Kitty. This new schedule might just be the thing I need to jump start... well, me.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Emerging from my cocoon
Hi y'all... I took a Kiki style hiatus from blogging, my job, and well, from life. Over the past six months, I've been on a sabbatical from my job as a tenure track assistant professor, and honestly, how it went was a toss up. Workwise, it was tough. I am a very structured person, and I love a schedule. Sabbatical = no schedule. It was hard to get myself to focus, even harder when my papers were rejected swiftly, and harder still when I put pressure on myself to accomplish as much as I could. Personally, it was crazy. I got engaged and moved in with my sweetheart, which made me SO happy, but at the same time, I never felt so isolated personally and professionally. Most of my friends are people I work with, and since I wasn't going into the office, I felt that most of my social life revolved around my honey and the cat. Fitness? Bwahahaha. Sabbatical means never having to put on real pants, and let's just say it's a scary situation when your sweatpants that are supposed to be comfortable become tight. I mean, seriously, I was squeezing myself into sweatpants. Who does that?
How did I go from a 172 pound Hard Core Kiki to a 193 pound (my high was 197) soft and round Kiki? Stress? Laziness? Elastic waistbands? All of the above?
Yeah, probably.
I figure the best thing to do was be honest with myself. I went from 250ish pounds to 172 pounds over two years. That's a 78 pound loss. SEVENTY EIGHT POUNDS. Wow. Now, I'm up 20 pounds from my lowest low. I can do this again. One thing that I did was create a game plan for when I come back from visiting family next week for my eating and fitness goals over the next five weeks. I have plenty of motivation... fit in clothes that are just sitting in my drawers right now, get off my blood pressure medicine, and (my ultimate goal, years down the road) be fit enough to have a safe pregnancy and live a long life.
There are things that I've realized. I'm not a runner. I never have been and never will be. I do love cardio though, and the endorphins that come from it. I like spending time in the gym, on various machines that are available to me like the elliptical and the stairclimber. I also LOVE spin class, which is something that I haven't done in a while, because my favorite instructor has been teaching at 6:15AM (did you see that lazy part up in the first paragraph? Yeah, that extends to my sleeping habits). I also LOVE feeling strong. Weights are my friend, and I really hate how soft my middle and arms have gotten since I haven't been weight lifting lately. These are things that I remember that helped me on my weight loss journey and things that I actually liked. By incorporating them back into my life, I can get back to where I want to be.
So, what's this blog going to be about, and why did I feel the need to start *another* new blog? Well, first, part of my job is publishing, and every academic loves the chance to "revise and resubmit" a paper rather than being outright rejected. That's how I feel about this weight loss journey that I've been on since Fall 2007. A paper hardly if ever gets accepted outright. I feel that a person hardly if ever is completely successful in their first stab at weight loss. It's easy to get stuck on a plateau (or like me, gain some of that weight back) and say, "ugh, I'm done, I'm never going to reach my goal weight." But that's not what I'm going to do. I'm going to look at what I've done and compare it to what I've been doing (uh, nothing) and... revise my plan and resubmit to my weight loss journey. This blog is about honesty with myself and allowing myself to share my thoughts on this journey.
How did I go from a 172 pound Hard Core Kiki to a 193 pound (my high was 197) soft and round Kiki? Stress? Laziness? Elastic waistbands? All of the above?
Yeah, probably.
I figure the best thing to do was be honest with myself. I went from 250ish pounds to 172 pounds over two years. That's a 78 pound loss. SEVENTY EIGHT POUNDS. Wow. Now, I'm up 20 pounds from my lowest low. I can do this again. One thing that I did was create a game plan for when I come back from visiting family next week for my eating and fitness goals over the next five weeks. I have plenty of motivation... fit in clothes that are just sitting in my drawers right now, get off my blood pressure medicine, and (my ultimate goal, years down the road) be fit enough to have a safe pregnancy and live a long life.
There are things that I've realized. I'm not a runner. I never have been and never will be. I do love cardio though, and the endorphins that come from it. I like spending time in the gym, on various machines that are available to me like the elliptical and the stairclimber. I also LOVE spin class, which is something that I haven't done in a while, because my favorite instructor has been teaching at 6:15AM (did you see that lazy part up in the first paragraph? Yeah, that extends to my sleeping habits). I also LOVE feeling strong. Weights are my friend, and I really hate how soft my middle and arms have gotten since I haven't been weight lifting lately. These are things that I remember that helped me on my weight loss journey and things that I actually liked. By incorporating them back into my life, I can get back to where I want to be.
So, what's this blog going to be about, and why did I feel the need to start *another* new blog? Well, first, part of my job is publishing, and every academic loves the chance to "revise and resubmit" a paper rather than being outright rejected. That's how I feel about this weight loss journey that I've been on since Fall 2007. A paper hardly if ever gets accepted outright. I feel that a person hardly if ever is completely successful in their first stab at weight loss. It's easy to get stuck on a plateau (or like me, gain some of that weight back) and say, "ugh, I'm done, I'm never going to reach my goal weight." But that's not what I'm going to do. I'm going to look at what I've done and compare it to what I've been doing (uh, nothing) and... revise my plan and resubmit to my weight loss journey. This blog is about honesty with myself and allowing myself to share my thoughts on this journey.
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