Accountability

Breaking Patterns

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

I’ve been struggling with balance since starting my new job in June of last year.  The balance has been a combination of eating and exercise.  I’ve been hit or miss on both.  It has been frustrating to say the least.  The biggest challenge has been my travel schedule.  I knew going into the job it was going to be a challenge – I just didn’t realize how big of a challenge it would be.

I’ve actually done better during my travels with eating – no time for grazing as I’m constantly on the go.  However, being constantly on the go and driving everywhere makes a girl TIRED!!  I’ve really struggled with it and at a bit of a loss as to what to do.

Rewind to last Thursday and I had the opportunity to attend a 30 day check-in from The 8 Week Body Project Program (I am a past member of the program).  The timing was PERFECT!!!  It was my own personal 1:1 session as I was the first and only one on the call for the first 15 minutes and that is all we needed to come up with a plan.  Here is the question that started it all – “What patterns are working and empowering me (and what patterns aren’t helping me)?” – My answer to that was – “I have no patterns and I’m struggling.”  We discussed my biggest challenge was getting my exercise in when I’m on the road (I was just coming off a trip when I didn’t exercise at all except walking through airports).  There are some things that I fly by the seat of my pants on but for most things I need structure – and this is one of them.

We discussed if having a travel bag with some equipment and exercises would be the answer  and committing to at least 15 minutes in the morning – I JUMPED at it!!  We agreed to a 30 day accountability program that I would either text or post on Facebook.  I picked up my travel bag with a golf ball, lacrosse ball and exercise bands (one with handles and a smaller one without) (I’d like to think I’m a beta test for this program – so the exercises weren’t quite ready in time for me to travel the following week – I got my exercises this week though).  No time like the present to try it out!

I left for Boston on Sunday – unbeknownst to me was also the last day of vacation for MA spring break – a 4:30 hour drive took me 6 hours!  Not a good start to a week of travel!

I started my 30 days on April 25th – I’m journaling my food, water, exercise and notes.  I’m also posting my exercise programs on Instagram to stay accountable  I’ve done something every day this week – here is a look at what I committed to doing this past week:

  • 4/25:  5x5x5:  5 exercises, 5 times, 5 rounds:  Squats, Bicep Curl, Back Rows, Triceps, Dead Bug and Cardio Finisher:  10 Jacks, 20 High Knees, 10 Total Body and 30 Punches
  • 4/26:  5x5x5:  Squats w/OH Press, Hip Ups, Superwomen, Side Lat Raisers, Front Raises and Cardio Finisher – like above and lastly – 1 mile run/walk
  • 4/27:  5x5x5:  Squat w/OH Press, Lunges (RS), Bicycles, Lunges (LS), Hip Bridge; Squat w/OH Press, Bicep Curl, Triceps, Dead Bug and Toe Touches and Cardio like above 2xs
  • 4/28:  Crazy 8s (8 times; 3 rounds), Cardio and Ab Finishers
  • 4/29:  6 am Pilates / Barre Fusion (and I was the DJ)
  • 4/30:  Pilates, Restore Yoga and 90 minute recovery massage

I was super pleased with my commitment to the 30 day accountability but also how I felt throughout the day!  I felt AWESOME!!  It wasn’t easy getting up every morning but I gave myself a pep talk – I only need to do 15 minutes (workouts ranged from 15 – 45 minutes).  Prior to leaving for my trip I stepped on the scale and I was up 4 lbs – I’m pleased to announce that I’m back down those four pounds.  I’m back on the road next week and looking forward to see how this journey progresses for me.  And tomorrow is a REST day – I’m looking forward to it!!

To breaking patterns – “When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge” ~Tuli Kupferberg

My journey continues…

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

It is hard to believe that I started this journey in the Summer of 2011!  Looking back from the summer of 2011 to May 0f 2012 – I was really dabbling.

Everything changed in May of 2012 when I started seeing my nutritionist.  I can’t believe it has been 3 years already.  I’ve had lots of ups and downs – and I’ve learned a lot about myself.

It is super easy for me to gain weight and so hard for me to take it off.  I’ve had my metabolism tested (functioning on all cylinders – and firing higher than expected), no thyroid issues and I did have that bout with Lyme Disease (Nov 2012).

This time last year I saw a fairly large decrease in a 6 week period during Lent – I changed my eating pattern – 2 meals (and a snack if needed) on non-workout days and 3 meals a day on workout days and I gave up sweets and chocolate for Lent.  I lost 7 lbs.  My favorite quote from my nutritionist appointment was “You can give up sweets for Jesus – but not me.” (I reminded him of that quote when I saw him on Friday.) – it still makes me laugh.

As you know – I’ve been traveling a lot for work the first part of 2015 – which has scared the crap out of me – that I would regress and quite frankly ruin all of my hard work.  So I pulled my awesome resources together to get me through it.  I joined BP’s 8 Week Body Project program (the accountability portion of the program – I did their Fall Inaugural program – and it was AWESOME).  And the other thing I did was reach out to MIM-Multisport Training as I knew running was going to be the thing I could do no matter where I was in my travels (all hotel gyms have a least on treadmill – usually more and I was going to warmer weather locations and could get outside to run).  Plus I’ve seen great results from many of my friends who have trained with MIM Multisport for triathlons – so I know this was the right decision for me (plus they were starting Spring Half Marathon training – so the timing seemed to be right).  I trained most of January to get ready for the first official training session – 5 miles.  Tomorrow we do our last long run – 12 miles (holy crap!!)  🙂

My travel schedule has been pretty constant which means lots of meetings (which drive you to want to snack) and dinners (with appetizers, drinks and sometimes desserts).  I’ll be honest I’ve not been tempted by the snacks at the meetings.  I do have some appetizers, I do partake in the adult beverages (wine has been mine choice – more on that later) and a dessert every once in awhile (the bread pudding while in New Orleans was to die for – but everyone had some of it so I didn’t eat it all – I’m all about sharing!)  And then Lent started – so I decided to do the same thing as last year – give up sweets and chocolate – because I do love them and it is a challenge for me.  I was expecting to see some weight loss the first part of Lent – and what I saw was weight gain / losses – the only thing consistent was no consistency (frustrating).  Then I went to a Black Tie event where I drank wine (remember I told you keep that in mind) – and the next day I was hungover and I blame it on the sugar in the wine.  😉  I had a wedding the following week – where I opted not to drink wine – instead I had vodka / club soda (and no wine for 3 weeks).  And the weight started to move in the right direction.

So drum roll please – I’ve lost 6 lbs since January 30th!!  And I’m down a total of 33 lbs – I’ve kept it off – I’m confident that when I reach my goal (which we haven’t even discussed) – I’ll keep it off because I didn’t put it on overnight and as you can see it isn’t coming off overnight.  Slow and steady wins the race!!  And it has taken me a year to really learn that sugar really is my Achilles Heel (so the latest quote from my nutritionist is – he predicts the Easter Bunny will see his shadow and I should have 6 more weeks of no desserts and chocolate!) (Ha!)

I thought I’d share this inspirational message I received this week (the first part is what I wrote on a card this past fall from during the 8 week program – My Mantras) and the second is a note from my coach – the timing was perfect.

My Mantras

My Mantras

 

And the journey continues…

Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

How many times have you used the Ctrl+Atl+Delete to Restart your computer?  I can say I’ve done it more times than I care to count (plus Task Manager to unlock the multiple windows I normally have opened) – I’m pro!

This Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart is a bit different.  This is about me and my journey.  I haven’t posted much lately on my weight loss.  Quite frankly there hasn’t been much to report.  So why am I writing about Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart today…read on…

I had an appointment with my nutritionist at the beginning of December.  This appointment was an early morning appointment so I could have my metabolism test done.  The good news my metabolism is still firing on lots of cylinders! 🙂  The not so good news is I had lots of CO2 in my body – so what does that mean? – I’m not burning my fuel efficiently – mainly the carbs (I’ve mentioned before I’m carb sensitive). Oh and I was up a pound.  The one warning I took away from that appointment was if I’m not careful – I will gain weight back – starting a bad trend (I’ve kept that comment in the back of my mind for the past 6 wks).  I wasn’t as disappointed in the 1 pound up as I was scared of the potential impact of the CO2 messing up all of my progress.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and my stress level was quite high with some deliverables at work right before going on vacation – which meant workouts suffered and my eating probably wasn’t at my best (it wasn’t awful either).  Although I enjoyed my Christmas break with my family – I ended getting a bacterial infection which messed up my progress even more.  The positive is – I didn’t go super carb crazy (based on feedback today) – I made some good choices.  And this whole time you know I was checking the scale – and it was all over the board no matter what I did.

So the end of last week – I was up over my December appointment – I was not happy.  I tried to really focus on eating the right things this weekend, while still going out and enjoying time with friends (if you can’t do that – what is the point of going out!) and getting some exercise in (a nice walk Friday night, yoga on Sat and Spin on Sunday) – mission accomplished!  Or so I thought…

I got on the scale yesterday morning – not where I wanted to be – at this point I would’ve been happy with flat to December – and trust me I wasn’t there.  So of course, I start trying to rationalize in my head – I have a lot going on at work this week – maybe I will move my appointment tomorrow to a couple weeks out.  I know I’ll get a reminder call and I’ll have an opportunity to move it to see if I can get this under control.  Then the next thought was – what if I don’t get it under control and I’m up even more – that would just completely de-motivate me.  I got absorbed in a project and put it out of my mind.  So I get my reminder call – and it isn’t my nutritionists assistant who calls to remind me – it was him!  Now I couldn’t re-schedule – because I knew I would get grief :-).  So my flip / sarcastic response was “If this job doesn’t kill me today – I’ll be there tomorrow”.  We had a good laugh and I hung up.

So I was optimistic this morning when I got up – yesterday was a good day – ate the right foods, drank lots of water, no snacking and even got about a 30 minute walk in last night before I finished my project.  I always jump on my scale the morning of my appointment to see how close my scale is to the ‘official’ scale – plus I know I check because I want to know what I’m getting into at my appointment.  Surprise – Surprise – no movement!  It was an 8:00 am appointment so no turning back now.

I’m glad I went today – it was a good appointment – we really talked through my struggles in December / early January.  Discussed that being sick and the holidays do really mess things up.  And the food choices I made while sick (I swear I was living on soft boiled eggs and English muffins) were not that awful (think lots of pasta – which I didn’t have any).  We talked about getting me back on track – doing the things I know I need to do – focus on the protein, vegetables / salad and hydration (and the structure I need).  Limit my carb intake.  And really watch how full I get and when are my triggers – and what I’m doing to address it (drink coffee and if I’m still hungry – what am I selecting to eat).  We also talked about how this appointment really helped and how I almost cancelled – and that his phone call probably made it so I didn’t cancel.  I had the option not to get on the scale – I chose to get on the scale.  As I knew – I was up 2 lbs from the beginning of December.  However, I wanted to be accountable to myself and my progress whether it was what I wanted to see or not.  I’m not going to beat myself up over this – another example where it isn’t all about the numbers (but most of you know I still believe that deep down).  🙂

So today was my Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart – instead of restarting a computer – I’m re-starting my focus – which right now it is all about giving my body the right type of fuel that I need to be more efficient.  

Thanks for reading – Post #140!  

Week 3 – Accountability

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Week 3 is in the books.  It was a much tougher week than I expected even though I achieved a score (that I calculated) of 87%.

My week 3 goals were to limit my daily coffee to 2 K cups per day and add 2-3 green smoothies (for the week).  In addition, to continue my week 2 goal (salad at every meal) and week 1 goal (80 ozs of water per day).  I achieved 100% of the week 3 goals and I missed 1 salad (I think it was Tuesday – that was my blur day) and 1 day of water (Tuesday as well).

My observations on the past week:

  1. A tough week – everything felt a little harder this week. I don’t know if was incorporating all 3 goals in a cumulative fashion or just that this was ‘hump’ week of the transformation.
  2. A bit of upset stomach on Tuesday into Wednesday.  
  3. Low energy pre-Wednesday workout – felt much better after the workout.
  4. Green Smoothies — I’m not a fan!  – I’m sure part of it is I’m not eating fruit (under the guidance of a nutritionist) and I did put avocado (1/2 in it – which I love) – it was just too think – even after I re-blended it. I had my last one for lunch on Friday – and I found out I enjoy eating lunch over drinking it. I will leave the smoothies for now for my in a pinch breakfast. Just not for me on a regular basis.

Celebrate my Success: Not limiting my coffee this weekend – I won’t go crazy – but I’ll enjoy my morning cup of Joe even more!

Hump Day Workout

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Not only is today Hump Day – but this is “Hump” week for the 6 week Spring Transformation  – week 3!  I started feeling kind of crappy yesterday morning – felt better today but still not feeling great when I made it to my evening workout.  It was interesting to see everyone tonight sort of in the same boat – not a lot of pep in the room.

So tonight’s workout was perfect for our little ‘pepless’ group! 🙂  Workout at your own pace!

Here was tonight’s workout – 5 rounds or 25 minutes:

  • 15 High Knees
  • 10 Tricep Crusher (each side) (10 lbs)
  • 10 Deadlifts (12 lbs)
  • 10 Back Rows (12 lbs)
  • 10 Mountain Climbers (each side)
  • 10 reverse lunges (each side)
  • 5 helicopters (each side)
  • 10 Squats with a Plie

I completed all 5 rounds with a minute or so to spare.  We finished the night up with some abs and stretching.  Everyone (including me) left with a lot more energy and glad we all made it tonight!

Have a great evening!

Week 2 Accountability and Week 3 Goals

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

As promised – here is how I did on my Week 2 goals.  The goal is to achieve 80 – 100%.

  • Drink 80 ozs of water per day (which includes preparing the night before – filling up my pitcher – seems so simple, but something that I put off).  100% Goal Achieved
  • Set calendar for every 2 hours to get up and move around (away from my desk).  90% Goal Semi Achieved (got up and walked around every 2 hours – never put it on my calendar).
  • Have vegetables (non-starch) at every meal. I actually do a good job at breakfast and I’m getting better at lunch – dinner is sometimes the challenge – I use a personal chef and sometimes the meal has a starch vegetable and I don’t have a salad or add something else. I will add a salad to my evening meal.  90% of Goal Achieved – only night without a salad was Saturday night (although I did have asparagus – and do wasabi peas count?)

Other successes:  Tried out the Open Studio and made it to Project Sculpt on Thursday (killer workout).  Additionally made two yoga classes this week and was able to do a standing balanced triangle.

Celebrate:  Got to see a college friend and her family last night who I haven’t had a chance to see in quite some time.  It was a great time!!

Notes/Reflections/Revelations:  Preparation makes things so much easier!

Week 3 Goals:

  • Address my coffee addiction – Limit 2 K cups per day.
  • Add 2 – 3 green smoothies into my weekly menu – most likely pre-workout – good news is I’ve already made them and they are in shaker bottles in my fridge.  I had one today – pre 7:00 pm workout.  Not too bad (I did add protein mix – didn’t have it in the batch I made last night). (I’ll post later what I put in the smoothie)
  • Continue the following:
  • Drink 80 ozs of water per day
  • Get up and move around every 2-3 hours during the workday
  • Eat a salad with dinner

I’ll post my results and observations next week.

Week 1 – Accountability

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Last week started BodyProject Fitness’ (http://bodyprojectfitness.com/) 6 week Spring Transformation. We do these twice a year (Spring and Fall) – a great way to re-focus on fitness and nutrition goals!  We were all asked to post our goals for the week so we could have accountability and support.

My goal was to drink 80 ounces of water a day and get up and move around every 2-3 hours (I spend a lot of time on conference calls).

  • Day 1:  Goal Achieved (HardBody Class)
  • Day 2:  Goal Achieved (Yoga)
  • Day 3:  Goal Achieved (HardBody Class)
  • Day 4:  50% of goal achieved – was in NYC for work and got quite a bit of walking in; however, my water was no where near 80 ozs of water – it is such a challenge to get all that water in when you are in meetings – but I did try (oh and I had an event in the evening that made it a challenge as well). (nice amount of walking)
  • Day 5:  50% of goal achieved – should’ve had more control as I was at home; however, really busy day on the phone and working on some important projects – just ran out of time in the day. (about 50% of water and 50% of movement during the day)
  • Day 6:  Goal Achieved  (Yoga)

So 4 out of 6 days, I hit my goal at 100%!  And if I was grading my week based on the scores I’d be at 83% or a B!  I knew Day 4 was going to be a challenge.  I tried to prepare, but sometimes ‘life’ gets in the way.  I’m pretty happy with my results.  And the really good thing is I didn’t beat myself up on the days I didn’t hit my goal – I’m understanding the why and learning from it.

 

Names I’ve been called lately – all in good fun!

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

At work for the past year they launch a SprintGetFit challenge. It gets the competitive juices flowing plus it is great as we all become healthier. This time around, I’m the team captain. You can have a team of up to 11 people (we have 9) and they ask you to track weight, steps walked and minutes exercise – you have to compete in at least on category (and everything is private).  The program runs from May 14th – July 8th.

One part of the program allows everyone to issue daily challenges.  A challenge could be to walk or run for 30 minutes, yoga, drink 64 ozs of water, complete your favorite exercise and even record your results (and yes that is a challenge) (and there are prizes for this program).  I decided this time around, I would take this a lot more seriously – especially since I’m a team captain.  I’ve leveraged some of my boot camp experience to issue a little more challenging ‘challenges’.  Here is an example of one of them:  30 minutes of exercise, 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups and 2 30 second planks.  Here are some of the comments from my team (and btw I love it):  ‘Taskmaster’, ‘Are you crazy?’, ‘Always up for a ‘D’ Challenge’, ‘I hate planks, but I will do them’, ‘Fun for all’.  At least they are reviewing the challenges right?  And even doing them.  It helps me hold myself accountable and provides additional motivation! (I shared the comments with my trainer and she loved it – she even volunteered to help me with challenges – some of my team reads this blog too – hmmmm – maybe I’ll take her up on her offer 🙂 )!

I’ve even put out some easier challenges as well – here was Friday’s:  Drink at least 64 ozs of water (not ice tea or crystal light – pure water) and 30 minutes of your favorite exercise.  Even got some people not in our group to accept the challenge.  I think the team was glad to see I went a little easy on Friday.

Then I posted Saturday’s challenge (which I didn’t get to until tonight):  Set the clock for 15 minutes and do the following (record your rounds):  5 bicep curls, 5 tricep kickbacks, 5 walking lunges (I had to do high knees), 10 Jumping Jacks (modified mine), 10 full sit-ups (with a weight) and 10 squats.  Rest/Hydrate as needed.  All exercises requiring weights I used 8 lbs weights – I just got 6 rounds in!  Whew – and worked up a great sweat!

Have a fantastic week!!

PS:  Hope you enjoy the two posts in 1 day!

Couch to …

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

1/2 Marathon or ???

Over the weekend I received a text from one of my BFF’s from college (TBG) that said the following, “What would you say if I thought we should do the Disney Princess Half Marathon next February??  We could make it a girls weekend!!”  My first reaction was to laugh and it took me awhile to even respond so guess I was a bit speechless too (and special note:  girls weekend <> running).  I finally responded with a “Who are you?  And what have you done with Tracy?”  I never responded No at any point though (which is important as I dislike, loathe, hate running – you get the picture).  At some point in the afternoon we spoke – and I agreed to do it with a couple of caveats – I have a knee injury and need to lose some weight (which I believe is also contributing to my knee injury) before I could completely commit.  I also found out the TBG shared with her husband that the two of us were doing the 1/2 Marathon – he wanted to know if I knew it yet – which I didn’t 🙂  This still makes me laugh!

So then reality started to set in – will my knee be able to handle, will I lose some of the extra weight that I’m carrying around before I start training (which I believe is part of the knee problem), what would my time per mile be? – then I did the math – 2 hours + probably running for me – I’m just not mentally there yet – nor do I truly believe Couch to 1/2 Marathon is a smart thing to do from a training perspective.

Today, TBG and I agreed to the following:

  • Complete the Disney Princess 5K next year with a girls trip (either weekend / maybe week)!
  • Complete the Disney 1/2 Marathon the year we turn 45!

I’m looking forward to the challenges of completing each goal!

December 2011 Accountability Log

Posted on by keepingupwithkate91

Time sure flies nowadays.  I can’t believe it is December 6th already.  I don’t know about you but I have lots to do this month and just don’t seem to know when the heck I’m going to get it all done.  The good news is I do take off the week before Christmas off so that is my saving grace.  This will be the 3rd year I’m hosting Christmas at my house.  I love having my family here but I’m a procratinator so it should be an interesting month (the first year I hosted, I was still putting the finishing touches on my tree Christmas morning).

So in the end I know I will get everything done, but the one thing that seems to suffer is the making time for myself to ensure I exercise and make good food choices.  This year is going to be different.  I’ve established 3 goals for myself (December 5th – January 13th):  Keep a food journal, drink 105 ozs of water a day and complete my Daily10 Challenge (click here for more details:  http://bodyprojectfitness.com/daily10-challenge/ ).  What are you doing this year to keep your focus during this busy time of the year?

Accountability Log:

12/7:  Food Journal – check, 105 ozs water – check, Daily 10 Challenge (modified for my knee) – check

12/6:  Food Journal – check, 105 ozs water – check, Daily 10 Challenge – check

12/5:  Food Journal – check, 105 ozs water – check, Daily 10 Challenge – check (it included a total of 80 push-ups)