Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Workout Mania

Something I forgot to mention in the earlier workout post was documenting. I personally like to have a record of my goals and my progress along the way. The easiest way I found to record workout was to take pictures of the screen of the machine, or a snapshot of the timer, after a workout.
Run Example:

 Elliptical Example:

 Recumbent bike Example:
  Try to get the duration, the distance, and the calories burned in the picture :)
 Its really fun to go back through all your workouts and see how much  stronger you've gotten!

Laterz

Goals are Dreams with deadlines..

One topic I'm pretty passionate about is goals; what they are, how you decide on them, and how you help yourself get there! You may have an idealized pant size, a BMI, dress size, a weight, or simply just a way you want to look. I know that from a very young age I was taught about what we "should" weigh, but I'm here to tell you that most height weight charts were made, or are based on ones made, during the Great Depression! A time when our country was comparatively unhealthy and in a situation we can never fully reproduce (environmental factors and such). With the current state of our country and all the factors that are out of our control, I think it is stupid to try to base our idea of healthy on those numbers. Now, I'm not saying that you can't get to that number, just that you shouldn't have to in order to be considered healthy.
I spent a lot of my life wishing to be skinny, to look like the other girls. Then I went through hell and realized it was simply a gift to be healthy! So that is my goal now, to be healthy. My idea of health is: a weight within a realistic range, a good BMI, normal blood chemistries (cholesterol and such) and having a body that can do what I want it too. For me this is: 138-140lbs, 24.7-24.9 BMI, and being able to run a 5k without passing out! I have included the height-weight chart I like to look at.
   So here's what I suggest: look at this chart, check out your BMI, and then take your dreams for yourself and put them together so you have a feasible healthy goal that will make you happy and confident! The next step is to set up a schedule or a date, I like using a 1-2lb a week model. Once you have all these laid out, and I personally like to write it all out makes me feel organized and excited, then pick "subgoals" at which you will reward yourself! A lot of people make the mistake of rewarding themselves with food, but as my good friend Pinterest reminds us:
Its true, when you act like you are depriving yourself of everything good, or when you actually do, your mind never settles into this new healthier you scheme. So get yourself a new shirt to show off your new bod, or go to a movie with friends! Do something simple, but at the same time meaningful :)
  That's about all I have to say on goals for now, message me if you have any questions or just want to talk!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Motivational Posters :)





Working Out

So I know this is probably the hardest part for anyone to get started on... I know I still dread some days heading to the gym after class or work, but the feeling afterward makes it all worth it! The trick with working out is to start slow, challenge yourself but don't push it so far as to make you never want to come back. Try starting out with 2-3 days a week then gradually add more if you want. I started out with 3 days a week, then went to 5 and then I was going 6 days a week when for awhile when I was trying to overcome some plateaus. Right now I go a gym 5 days a week for 75 minutes- 3.5 hours depending on how tired I am, what I want to do and how much time I have. I also do some home exercises like crunches, push-ups, and yoga on a 6th day but I do take Sundays off. One thing I've learned is that you have to give yourself a day off, especially when you're starting out!
   The most effective and do-able workout I've found is a mix of cardio and strength training, they say you should do 60 minutes of cardio 3-5x a week for your heart, so keep that in mind as you start working out, that 3-5 hours will be your first goal. They also suggest 2-3 strength training sessions a week to build muscle and help your metabolism. Here is an example of one of my beginning workouts:
  1. 15-30 minutes on the elliptical at level 1 or 2
  2. 30 minutes on recumbent or upright bike at level 3-5
  3. 10-15 minutes of resistance weight training: abdominals, triceps, biceps, calves, quads, and shoulders are the most important groups.
 You can try exchanging the elliptical for running, I do that twice a week, to keep your body on the edge and give you a little change of scenery. Swimming is absolutely wonderful if you have access because it can be cardio, fat burn and strength training all in one!
 If you've never worked out seriously before and this is intimidating just try 15 minutes or so on a machine and see how it feels. You have to learn your body and its limits as you do, so just try something anything, and then things will start to fall into place!
If you can't afford a gym or just don't have any near you try this home routine:
  - Itty Bitty tummy workout via Pinterest
       25 crunches, 25 reverse crunches, 25 bicycle crunches, 40 Russian twists, 25 hip bridges, 25 side crunches per side, 30 sec plank. Repeat 3x
- push-ups: start with 5 or 10 and work up to more
- tricep dips: find a sturdy chair and with your back facing the seat grip the sides of the chair and bend your knees at a right angle, then slowly lower yourself down and then raise back up, repeat 10-30x.
-Hip abductors and adductors, lateral leg lifts
- squats (optional)
-bicep curl: find something weight 2-5lbs that you can hold in one hand and use that as a weight if you don't own one.
- Yoga: there are lots of free apps and routine on the internet, its a great way to stretch and calm the mind!

I'll post more on this as we go,  its all about finding something that you can do that feels good. You don't want to constantly be sore from working out, but you do have to gain muscle and keep your metabolism up for good weight loss!

Ta-ta-for now :)

Recipes



First Steps :)

Hello again! Here's a list of the first steps on how I found My Kind of Healthy
Step 1: figure out your daily points allowance- http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/ww-points-allowed/
             This will give you the amount of points you can have a day as well as a tentative schedule for how much you can expect to lose in a given time frame and when you should reduce your daily points.
              Keep in mind, if you go over one day simply take that many points off your total for the next day or if it is a large number take a few points off each day until you break even. The point is not to go hungry!
             On the "real Weight watchers" you get a set number of weekly/cheat points in case you need to eat out or something along those lines, for 28 daily pts you get 49 weekly points so you can extrapolate from there.
Step 2: figure out how many points your favorite foods are-http://www.calculatorcat.com/free_calculators/weight_watchers_calculator.phtml 
      What you want is low fat, high fiber, medium carbs and proteins :)
      Here is the list of point free foods! http://www.exercise4weightloss.com/zero-point-foods.html
             all veggies are free, most fresh fruit is free too
Step 3: create a varying meal plan! 
Step 4: watch the pounds fall off!

If you're looking for some tasty low points recipes try Food.com, thats where I've found a lot of my stuff!'

Hope this helps you all!

Introductions

To start off I'd like to give you a little bit of background on me to let you better understand why I'm doing this and why it means to much. First of all, I may only be 21 but my body has been through more than most peoples go through in their entire life. I've been through chemotherapy twice, once for Hodgkin's Lymphoma and another time for an infection. I've had radiation therapy, seizure medications, steroids, and so many other chemicals injected or otherwise put inside my body that I've lost count. Let me tell you it may be hard to be fit when you're otherwise healthy, but its a beast when you've got other issues going on. I've struggled with weight and health my whole life, but about 6 months ago, a few months after I achieved "cure"(5 years of my cancer being in remission) I made a decision that literally turned my life around. I was tired of having my health and happiness seemingly out of my control. So I got organized, did some research and went at it! Thanks to the support of my family and friends, and my own hard work, things are finally turning around.
   Here's what I did and what I want to share with all of you: I researched a widely accepted eating plan that has worked for people I know personally and other who have had just a hard of time with weight as me, Weight Watchers. I didn't want to pay for the service because I wanted to make sure I could stick to it first, so I found some websites that calculate your daily point allotment ( which I think is a whole lot easier and more satisfying than counting calories). The number seemed reasonable to I made myself some sample meal plans that sounded good. At the same time I started exercising at the Student Recreation Center on my university's campus, I started out slow and then let it grow!
    Between those two things, eating right and exercising I've lost a net total of 60lbs! If I can do this so can you, so can anybody. And let me tell you, even when I don't meet my expectations for weight loss on a given week I feel stronger and healthier than ever. I plan on posting all the recipes I've found and liked, a sample of my exercise regime, Pinterest posts and other websites I've found helpful and motivational things. I hope you'll read and enjoy this blog, please feel free to leave comments or notes if you have any questions!

Hello World! I'm currently working on putting together some posts and links about how to get on the road to My Kind of Healthy. This blog is about finding what works for you to get your mind and your body into not only the shape you want it be in but into the shape it should be in. This isn't about fad diet or getting super skinny and super ripped, its about being healthy in a modern world :) Over the past 6 months I've been building my own plan and have lost about 60lbs the good ol' fashion way with diet and exercise. I hope that this blog will help you find your own kind of healthy and happiness!