Weekly Workouts 3/25-3/31

Weekly Workouts: March 25th- March 31st

Monday: rest day

Tuesday: 30 minute Treadmill interval (speed).  5 minute warm up.  7 mph for 30 seconds, 6 mph for 30 seconds, 3 mph for 2 minutes.  Repeat 9 times.  Cool down. Plus a pilates class.

Wednesday- rest day

Thursday: 5 minute warm up. 27 minute upper body circuit training
30 minute eliptical interval training (1 minute high intensity, 2 minutes moderate intensity).  Cool down. Stretch.

Friday: Slow Flow Yoga class. 40 minute Treadmill interval (distance).  5 minute warm up.  Run for 9 minutes at 5 mph.  Then, run 1 minute 5.2, 1 minute 3.2 for 22 minutes.  Cool down.  Stretch.

Saturday: 5 minute warm up.  33 minute lower body circuit training. 20 minute arc trainer cardio. Stretch.

Sunday: Hike with family.  Non-strenuous.
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Non-Scale Victory: Treadmill Tamer

As they come up, I will let you know about my non-scale victories.  These may be goals reached, but more likely, they will be the small wins we all have during our weight loss journeys.  Last night, I had a huge NSV- Since I started including running in my workouts, it's always been through interval training.  This allows me to run faster than I otherwise would to build up my stamina, while still giving my body, lungs, and heart a break with walk breaks.  Over time, I have been increasing the time running, and decreasing the walk segments, and once a week, I try one block of time just to run.  For the past month or so, I had been hovering around the half mile mark.  I ran 3/4 mile straight on the treadmill, and likely could have gone more, but had to get to my yoga class.  I had thought running a mile straight was very far away, but now I feel like it is a possibility, perhaps even in the next month.  Just a few months ago, running one minute and walking two was a challenge, and this really showed how much progress I am making!

Snack Break: Roasted Rosemary Almonds

Today's recipe is one I've made a half a dozen times since I first discovered it 2 months ago.  It is a powerhouse.  It is delicious, salty, with a little hint of something else from the rosemary.  I pack up a quarter cup of the finished product with a couple dried plums (or other dried fruit of choice) into little baggies for a wonderful snack when the craving for something sweet and salty hits.

Depending on what I've got for rosemary, I use whole fresh/ dried sprigs (never try to mince whole dried sprigs of rosemary.  It flies everywhere!).  Don't like rosemary?  I bet thyme could work.  I admit, though, the rosemary is sublime.  I use light soy sauce (slightly less sodium), but tamari or regular soy would also work. Sometimes I use olive oil if we are out of veg oil.

Rosemary-Soy Almonds (adapted from LCBO)

2 cups (500 mL) natural whole almonds
2 tbsp (25 mL)  soy sauce
2 tsp (10 mL) vegetable oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) finely chopped fresh rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

1. Toss almonds with tamari sauce and oil to coat well. Spread out on ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle with rosemary.

1. Bake 5 minutes, then stir. Return to oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Cool, then store in an airtight container.  When the soy starts burning to the cookie sheet, they are done.  I like them with a bit of char.  If you don't like that, feel free to take them out earlier.

What to Expect

As I have progressed with my own fit-gain adventure, I've learned that there is a lot of information out there. People that tell you you have to go from sedentary to 6 days a week at the gym (that is how people get injured), or that you can only eat 1200 calories (are you kidding!?! I weigh 255 lbs, I would kill my husband and anyone else around me), or that you will get a shredded 6 pack if you just do this one non-crunch exercise every day for 5 minutes (do people still buy that?  Thighmaster, anyone?).  What you do to get healthier and more fit needs to make sense for your body.  Health is the rest of your life, so there is no hurry (unless there is, in which case, talk to your doctor).

When I first started working out, I'd go 2-3 times a week, and just try to increase my walking.  I also had a relatively active sedentary life even when I was at my top weight- I walked everywhere for work, and had no problem walking 3-7 miles a day.  If you do, then start with the walking.  Start with 15 minutes, 30, whatever you can do.  

Now, I go 4 times a week.  I'm trying to increase that to 5 times a week, but if my body is not feeling up for it, I need to respect that.  I will put my workouts on here each week so you can see what I do.  I have a strong preference for circuit training for strength, and interval training for cardio.  I also am trying to add in more core and stretching with pilates and yoga when it fits.  I am not a personal trainer, but over the years, I've had several years of interaction with great ones, and many of the exercises I do now are based on what I  have done with them.  Others come from internet sources, which I will include when appropriate.  

In addition, I'll also share with you some of my favorite healthy recipes.  The snacks I tell everyone about because they are just so good.  The dinner that was surprisingly delicious.  I'll try to keep it a bit interesting, because, if you know my husband and I, we like our food delicious first, and healthy second.  Ok, perhaps I like my food delicious AND healthy first.  

I will aim for one fitness post, and one food post a week, with possibilities for others mixed in.  I will also try to share relevant links and info when I find them.   Feel free to send some over if you've got ones you like.  Will I do actual weigh-ins?  I don't know.  Maybe.  Scale numbers are not so important, but I do think goals are important, so I will also share monthly goals, successes and challenges as well. 

I am writing this blog for myself, but if I can share useful information with others, then this blog will have been a success.

An Intro to Journey to a Healthy Size

Hello, and welcome to my Journey to Size Healthy!  My name is Brianne, and I am writing this blog, both as a reflection for my own fit-gain journey, but also to share what I learn as I go.  So, how did I get here?

I am 28 years old now.  When I was 24, I was prompted to get back on a scale by a picture that was taken of me on a trip home to Michigan. When I got on the scale, I was horrified by the number.  Perhaps at some point, I will feel comfortable stating my top weight, but for now, suffice it to say it was a number I would never want anyone to hit except perhaps professional football players. I decided I had to do something.

Over the next 2.5 years, I lost 40 lbs.  I started by increasing my walking, then by joining a gym and going a couple times a week, then meeting with a personal trainer once a week.  This was a slow, achingly slow process.  I always felt I ate pretty healthy as a whole, and I love fruits and vegetables, but in retrospect, I would be lying if I said my food habits were healthy.  I had (have, as I'm not sure that ever fully goes away) a big program with binge eating.

When my dad passed away, I think I used my sadness as an excuse to take away the focus from my own health, and 20 lbs crept back on.  When we moved, I stopped my gym membership because the location was no longer convenient, and it took me 5 months before I finally got inertia back on my side.  In September, I joined a gym that required a 3 time a week meeting with small group trainers AND weekly weigh-ins.  It finally stopped my weight gain, but to say it kick started my weight loss would be an overstatement.  Perhaps I lost 5 lbs in the 3 months I was there.  I hadn't dealt with food, and so my work outs countered the food, but didn't help me lose.

As December approached, I looked up other (more affordable gyms), and began to look into the other piece of my own personal weight puzzle- polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).  Long story short, part of the reason for my binges were the effects PCOS had on my body's response to sugars.   I always said I ate healthy meals, it was the in between times that caused me problems, and now I understand that was totally true!  In looking up healthy eating for PCOS, I found some healthy solutions for eating.  I now eat 3 vegetable, protein, and whole grain focused meals a day, as well as 3 snacks focusing on protein and produce.  I eat ALL THE TIME, and I don't binge because I'm never hungry.  

Now, even on my own at the gym, I've lost the 20 lbs I gained back, and an additional 10 lbs.  I won't say it's been effortless, because planning 6 "meals" a day as well as hitting the gym for 3 strength and at least 3 cardio sessions a week is never easy, it has been easier this time than anything else I've ever done (Atkins, anyone?).  This is a lifestyle that I've maintained for several months, one that involves delicious meals out occasionally, chocolate cake occasionally, pizza occasionally, and enough food that I never deprived.

Each journey has a misstep for each forward movement, and mine is no exception.  I am nowhere near a healthy body fat percentage, but I have made remarkable progress.  I have no exact size or timeline to reach my ultimate "goal weight," but that is why this is a journey to Size Healthy (not size 6, because let's be honest, that's not going to happen).  This is not about a number, but a feeling and an ability.  I feel like I'm eating and living to be the healthy, fit person I want to be, and it is making a world of difference.