Week 0 of P90X: First DVD is tomorrow. But first, some more self-reflection.

Hello, All! I know it's been a few days since I've blogged and I'm probably going to have to cut back to one time per week. Life is getting busy once again and I'm about to start P90X tomorrow. This means, going forward, Saturday will be my rest day and I'll also make it my blog day. I will still post FAT STATS, but they will be encompassing the entire week, not just one day. I won't be posting daily nutrition, but if I try something new that I want to share, I'll post the recipe and nutrition information. I may also post shopping lists, like I'm doing today. I hope you all continue to follow my blog! Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your fitness journeys!

  

I am currently consuming between 1400 and 1600 calories per day. When I go out to eat at a restaurant (which is more often than I'd prefer for weight loss, due to work travel), I always ask for "no oil, no butter, no salt." If I'm ordering a salad, I ask for the dressing on the side and I barely dip my fork in it as I eat. Usually, when I'm finished, the side of dressing looks untouched.

When I purchase food from the grocery store, I try to stay away from unnatural ingredients. READ THE LABEL! If there's something on the ingredients list that you either 1) Don't recognize or 2) Can't pronounce or spell (if asked), then you probably shouldn't be putting it in your body.

A rule of thumb I acquired from my trainer is to try to keep the carb to fiber ratio at less than 10:1. The lower the ratio, the better. For example, if you are eating something with 30g of carbs per serving, it should also have more than 3g of fiber per serving. Much to my surprise, this put Cream of Wheat on the brink of the "bad" zone. I still eat Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal for breakfast, though. Most of the time, with almond milk and fruit. It's filling and it gives me great energy for my morning workouts.

I also do most of my shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. My food list this week was:

Unsweetened Almond Milk

High Fiber, Low Carb Wheat Tortillas

Frozen Fruit

Tofutti Soy Cheese Blend

Black Beans

Organic Egg Whites

Organic Deli Ham

Organic Deli Turkey

Light String Cheese

Honey Crisp Apples

Cutie Tangerines

Bananas

Raw Almonds

Natural Salsa

Bison Patties

Sea Scallops

Salmon

Chicken Breast

Edamame

Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins

Organic Almond Butter

Spinach

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Yellow Onion

I ate dinner at a friend's house last night and he made THE BEST soup! I have to get the recipe! It only had 350 calories per serving! Although it had cheese in it, it was packed with veggies and tasted like a spicy enchilada. I'm sure I could make a healthy version of it that would taste ALMOST as good... but, that soup was BOMB.com! Once I get the recipe and make a successful healthy version, I'll post it here with my own modifications.

Going forward, my Garmin will track my calories burned for the week. I'll post the totals here, categorized by exercise. I love how the Garmin automatically posts all the calories you've burned, by exercise type, on the GarminConnect web site, once you are in range of your computer!

The only additional exercise I've done so far this week that was not captured in other blog posts was some jogging, quite a few miles on the bike, running intervals and sprints, and a circuit workout with my trainer that left me sore from head to toe for two days.

  Personal Score:  C+
After getting super sore from Thursday's workout, I waited until Saturday to workout again. But, my body was telling me to rest and I listened.

This week was very interesting for me. I felt like I made a few breakthroughs in coping with life and emotions, but I am still feeling like I'm not doing as much as I can or should be doing when it comes to exercise. This is partially due to insomnia (which affects my energy), and partially due to the lack of a solid routine. It's as though I am still seeking an "answer" to how I can keep motivated each day. Being so sore that it hurt to touch my skin hasn't helped my motivation for the last two days, but I instead of beating myself up for skipping Friday, I hung out with friends and didn't worry so much about being in the gym. Funny, I actually only skipped Friday and it feels like I've skipped three days! Ha!

I am so fortunate to have friends that continue to ask me to do active things! Heidi and Marisa get me into yoga at least once per week, Michelle reminds me of available hikes, Ben and Marisa get me into Zumba on Sundays.... and I have others who like to go to the gym or martial arts. I also have the greatest support system with my BLR family and those I've befriended as a result of my BLR experience! So, why is it so difficult for me to stay motivated?

After some self-reflection, I realized there were external factors that were causing me to get in my own way regarding my fitness goals. I am no longer under any delusions; the mental part of fitness is SO important and, for me, much more difficult than the nutrition. If you don't address the mental aspect of "what's wrong," then the positive physical changes will only be temporary, at best.

There were three major stressors lingering in the transoms of my mind. I was able to address one of those factors this week, with success, which gave me a small sense of accomplishment (See the Jan 17-18 blog post).

I can't tell if the chick in the above picture is wearing shorts or granny panties....

Anyway, I have been avoiding some financial factors and they continue to eat at my subconscious. I HAVE to tackle these because they are beginning to feel overwhelming. Ugh. Money... the more I make, the more problems appear! I could easily start preaching about student loans, but I think we all know how we get to that "drowning" stage. I just wish someone would have told me at age 17, as I was entering my first year of college, that student loans aren't free money, they eventually come due (with a vengeance), and the payment can be as much as your mortgage.

The final issue that is causing me angst is the fact that I short-sold a home last year and taxes on the "forgiven amount" are due this year. It's a lot of money. I have worked hard to get to a point in my life where I don't have revolving debt, because I hate owing anybody anything. But, this is a big chunk of debt that is sitting there like a giant turd, stinking up my life. I just hope I can "wipe it clean" in the best way possible so that I can be re-assured that short-selling was not a poor financial decision.

As part of getting my mind "right," I have committed myself to doing healthy things with people I care about. So, on a very positive note, I have few trips coming up that should prove to be exciting and fun! I'll be visiting quite a few friends and family over the next several weeks. My first trip is to hit a few cities right here in California, where I'll be hiking and going to bootcamp classes with several friends and some family members in different cities. The second trip will be to Utah for the Vigor 5K with the birthday girl, Meg, and her fabulous friends (who I already feel like I know and love). For the third trip, I'll be heading to the east coast, where I was told I'd be getting some intense workouts and I may even try spinning for the first time in about 15 years! I'm super excited because I'll be seeing new places and gaining new experiences during each adventure! Plus, I'll be spending some time with some pretty fabulous people and staying fit! It's not so daunting to travel when I know I'll be able to get some good workouts in while I'm on the road. This will be my first true test regarding extended travel with my new lifestyle of fitness. I know you all will hold me accountable! :)

Please keep the texts, posts, tweets (and #shweets), comments and inquiries coming my way! They all help me to make better decisions each day than when I try to do it alone!

See you on the fit side!
-Heather