Shoutin’ from the Rooftop

I have mentioned before that I have a heart rate monitor and it has always been a HUGE motivation to me. Nothing like seeing your calorie burn increase as you work out. It makes me push myself when I see those numbers. My beloved Polar F4 heart rate monitor finally bit the dust after 5 years. I was literally lost for several weeks without one. I know I wasn’t always pushing myself like I know I should because I couldn’t see the numbers. Shows how much of a visual person I actually am.

So I finally broke down and ordered a new Polar watch. I researched. I fretted. I debated. I finally ordered the Polar FT 60. It has so many bells and whistles compared to my old watch. Shows how much technology advances in such a short time. It was a long six days waiting for the new watch to be delivered. Finally yesterday it showed up. Funny how such a crazy thing can be so exciting for me.

Today’s strength class was the first time I was able to try it out. So happy to see that heart rate and calorie burn. I am still learning how to work it. Unfortunately after 5 minutes, I accidentally stopped the watch recording. EEK. So I had to restart it.

Add five minutes AND 25 calories to that total.  462 calories and 1 hour and 15 minutes. Thank you very much Polar. I love this watch. I can’t wait to figure out everything that it does.

I am excited to see what my calories burn is tomorrow for cycling. We have a new teacher for spin who just happens to be our new strength teacher. She is good and she is brutal. And my heart is thankful that she is whipping me in to shape even more.

Tags: exercise, HRM, motivation

I think there is a huge myth in the world of exercise. Or maybe I should say that the myth is held true by those that do not work out but know that they need to start doing something. I do not like working out most days. I do not enjoy it. I do not wake up in the morning and think “Yippee! I get to get up and run today!” or “I cannot wait to go to my strength class tomorrow so that I am so sore I can barely sit down”.

I am not in any way saying that we all need to be running marathons. Because that is not happening for me. All I am suggesting is simple: MOVE MORE.

When I saw this on Pinterest, I struck me. This is so true for me. I do not love working out. But I just suck it up and do it. I suck it up six days a week. Why? Because I never ever regret working out after I am finished. I feel better once I finish the workout.

Lack motivation? Just suck it up? Suck it up and eventually you will be glad that you did start.

Quit making excuses. Push yourself. I know that I do not regret for a minute that I started regularly attending my strength class twice a week. It is a standing appointment on my calendar. I do not let anything come in the way. I have noticed a huge difference since I started the class in January. My cycling class is the same way. But if for some reason I cannot avoid a conflict, I make myself get up early and run before the rest of the family is awake.

So my piece of advice if you know you need to start moving more. Just suck it up and do it.

PS. Be warned. I have found a bunch of great pictures like this. More to come! Save them as your desktop picture. Print them out. Whatever it takes to get you moving more.

Tags: exercise, motivation

I went to see my nurse practitioner on Wednesday concerning my insulin resistance. This was a follow-up from May. I had not my insulin levels checked since I started on the modified insulin resistance diet.

When I went for my first appointment, my insulin was at 20. At the time of my blood work almost two weeks ago, I was at a 9! The goal is 5. Yay! According to their scales I had lost 14 pounds since I first started going to their office. Of course, the NP was extremely pleased.

By the way, as of this morning I weighed in UNDER my Weight Watcher goal. It has been a long time coming. I would say that I have about 10 pounds to go to get to my perseona

Tags: insulin resistance

Last week I mentioned The Stupid Cookies. I still have been thinking about those cookies. Not in a I-want-more-cookies type of way. But more of a it-is-good-to-learn-control type of way.  For me, it has always been a moderation issue. I never learned that one cookie or one piece of candy is usually ok but not six cookies or half the bag of candy.

So, when I made the cookies last weekend, I used that opportunity with my girls. I didn’t make a big deal about it. I just casually mentioned to them that one cookie is ok and it gives us the taste etc etc. I pray that my girls can grow up and learn that one cookie is ok but not to go crazy and eat half the batch in two days.

This is still a trait that I continue to work on. I have in no ways arrived to conquer the cookie but I am making huge strides.

For those of you that wondered, I sent the rest of the cookies with Chris to work.

Tags: temptations

Last night, my youngest daughter asked me to bake cookies with her. Well, I had no chocolate chips in the house. So I told her that we would bake them today. Early this past spring, we had friends over to our house. They brought these amazing chocolate chip cookies. Chris & I both thought they might be the best chocolate chip cookie ever. They were perfect.

Chris finally remembered to give me the recipe that had been sent home through the co-worker’s wife MONTHS ago. So I thought I would give these cookies a whirl.

They are still as good as I remembered. Chris just said they might even be better than he remembered which is saying a lot.

I keep walking by the cooling rack full of cookies. They are taunting me. I walk by them. Determined to resist. I pick one up. Give myself a mental shake. Put the cookie back. Walk away.

This process has seriously happened five or six times. I had one cookie when they first came out of the oven. One cookie is enough. One cookie gave me the taste and satisfaction. If I eat more it is just for the sake of eating.

These stupid cookies will not get the best of me no matter how much I want another.

Tags: temptations, victory

As you know, I have kept my ramblings honest. Many times it even takes me some time to put my thoughts in to actual words. The thoughts were just whisperings inside my head and my heart.

I haven’t kept my struggles secret. It hasn’t been an easy road. Some of the struggles I brought on myself. Some of the struggles I didn’t want to battle. Some of the struggles were brought on. Period.

When I look back at the end of my Weight Watcher journey. All the way back to when I was a member. Back to when  I was working to my weight goal, I wasn’t quite to the place that I needed to be. I had some close friends (you know who you are), tell me that I was setting my goal too low for myself. Looking back, they were speaking some truth. I think the main reason they were right is that exercise was not part of my life in any form really. Not consistently. Not in my blood.  Now, I am consistent. It is part of my life. It is part of who I am. I am at the gym five days a week. Not if, ands or buts about it. That is how it is. I work my schedule around my classes at the gym. It is high priority for me. I feel better physically, mentally, and emotionally when I get my workout in. Do I always enjoy it? No! Do I always want to go? NO! Is it always worth it. Absolutely.

As I mentioned several times, I was working to figure out this new situation with insulin resistance. I started that journey back in February. I honestly got lazy several times along the way but always found my way back to the balance act between protein and carbs. If I don’t balance……I don’t feel well. No two ways about it.

Yesterday was a special day. I finally weighed in within 2 pounds of my WW goal. Yippee! Am I where I want to be in the end? Nope. But at least that monkey is off my back. Now I can focus on where my body needs to be to function properly.

All day yesterday I was continually reminding myself that I haven’t arrived. I am one choice away from slipping back down that super slippery slope. I woke up this morning reminding myself that it is all about choices. Reminding myself that food is not bad. It is eating when I am not hungry that is the problem.

Finally I am back on the right track headed in the right direction with the right goal in view.

Tags: honesty, struggle

OK. I procrastinated and procrastinated. The okra really intimidated me. All I could think of was slimy. Why would I want to fix something that would be slimy. So today while I was blanching green beans to put in the freezer for the winter, I decided to tackle the crazy okra. I wasn’t about to let the okra get the best of me.

I appreciate everyone’s suggestions. My sweet friend, Mary, even brought me several recipes. In the end, I took the okra by the horns and make up my own little dish. Since I didn’t have a large amount and I was home alone, I figured I would go simple.

I sauteed some onions in a few drops of oil. Then I added in the sliced okra (those little suckers are sticky), a fresh diced tomato and some chicken broth. I let that mixture simmer for about 20 minutes. It really was tasty. I think it would have been really good served over some rice but honestly I didn’t have time to cook any rice. I ate the mixture just like it was.

I might even go as far as to say that I would try okra again. Thanks for the suggestions!

I need help. Anyone have any good okra recipes. I will be honest. I have NEVER ate okra. I don’t know the first thing about okra. I figured I would ask you. I am off to search the internet. To be honest this vegetable scares me. Just sayin.