1. On Thursday, I did my first pullups using resistance bands. It was awesome.
Of course, when my trainer showed me what I was to do my face was frozen in fear since it looked like a death trap.
First, the resistance band looked like a noose made from a rubber band.
Secondly, he had tied it to the pullup bar by the monkey bars so it was REALLY high in the air (as in there was no way I could jump up from the ground to grab the bar.) Thus, I had to stand on a platform (that cannot be moved) which was to the left side of the bar and then swing my right leg over and up. (This normally wouldn’t have been a concern but because of the groin injury I was worried it might aggravate it.)
But, this is why I continue to have a trainer because I am pushed to do things I really want to do but that are out of my comfort zone. So, I grabbed the bar, put my right foot in the band, and then slowly – with great trepidation – stepped my left foot off the platform and
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The band swung me forward so agressively I almost bowled my trainer down. (He hopped out of the way just in time). It was actually a lot of fun. But then I stopped swinging, and had to get to work. The band helps you for the bottom half of the pullup, but by the time you’re at the bar it’s all you. I was able to do about 5-6 sets of 10 pullups. It was incredible! Later that night, my forearms started to ache. By the next day my lats were on fire. I hurt in ways I have never felt in either doing lat pulldowns OR the assisted pullup machine OR any other movement. (This is a good thing.) Since pullups are a goal, I am definitely going to add this to my workouts. (Along with the other tips mentioned in this article.)
2. In other health news, my March Meltdown went well! (Although, I’m not finished yet. No Cheats Till Tax Day!)
My goals were to cut off all processed foods and refined sugars, to plan out and prep my weekly meals, to track what I ate, and try to loosely follow Jamie Eason’s food plan section of her LiveFit trainer. After a week, my craving for sugar went away. After two weeks, the hunger that was haunting me each evening dissipated as well. I feel fantastic. Last time, I did this I also felt fantastic. However, the reason I stopped and the reason I was so reluctant to begin again is because of the initial expenditure of energy which it requires each weekend. The planning, the shopping, the prepping. It’s exhausting! I still haven’t gotten it down to be an efficient process (although it has improved drastically.) Shifting my focus to cleaning up my diet, I went from working out 6 days a week to 5 days a week (although that could be due to tax season as well.)
However, the return on investment for all that work is definitely worth it. There is something that makes sticking to a plan easier when everything is consistent and already in place. The few nights I worked late, I had food with me at the office and was able to continue as planned. (Opposed to having to stop a little early due to starvation and grabbing Chick-fil-a on the way home.) It also helps that the food I’m eating is delicious and I feel as if I’m getting plenty to eat. I’m not going off the plan because I’m hungry or because I feel denied. I don’t even mind waking up a half an hour early, because it’s to make myself a batch of egg white pancakes. (I alternate between using blueberries and using half a banana.) Cinnamon sprinkled on top and 1/4 cup of Sugar Free syrup (with the fewest most natural ingredients I could find) and I’m in heaven.
Until noon, when I’m ready to eat again.
3. I found a new recipe I love which is for Buffalo Chicken from Little B’s Blog. I make a lettuce wrap with the buffalo chicken and a dab of Greek Yogurt, and it is delicious. Plus, it can easily work for Ben as well. I just heat up some gluten free tortillas, (these by Udi are WAY better than regular corn tortillas) and serve with chopped up tomatoes, shredded lettuce, peppers, and salsa.
4. Last weekend, I took my 3 month progress pictures. What I’ve learned from losing weight via strength training (versus by just dieting and doing cardio) is that you HAVE TO take progress pictures instead of relying on the scale or even measurements. It’s a lesson which I’m incessantly forgetting and having to relearn.
This is my progress picture routine EVERY SINGLE TIME.
*I get in the same clothes I wore for my last pictures.
*I weigh and take measurements.
*Under the day’s date, I write my new weight and waist measurements on the white board which I haven’t used since the last time I took progress pictures (so I can see exactly where I was last time).
*I sigh heavily over the fact that I’ve made no progress. This time I had lost 5.7 and 1/2 an inch off my waist. IN THREE MONTHS. Three months where I was working out 5-6 times a week, and eating well. I work so hard for 5.7 pounds in 3 months? And it’s not as if my measurements are telling a different story either! This is so depressing that I want some damn french fries.
*I briefly consider not taking pictures since they’re going to be more like “lack of progress” pictures.
*I get over myself, and Ben very kindly takes the photos.
*I upload them and make a collage where I compare them to my last progress pictures and
*I AM SO HAPPY WITH THE PROGRESS AND THE RESULTS THAT I DANCE AROUND, DEMAND BEN TO COME LOOK AT THEM, AND THEN PRINT THEM OUT. I look as if I lost 15 pounds, especially from the back and on my side views. I am noticeably leaner and I can start to see muh muscles!
I then happily think about all the things I can do or have done now that I couldn’t do three months ago when I took the last pictures. I can now bust out 30 standard pushups. I ran my second 5k race in 27 minutes! I didn’t let my injury stop me and while I can’t run I’m now doing 5ks on the row machine several times a week. I’m doing so well, and having so much fun. Life is so great.
This happens every single time. Because I’m a remedial learner. And because dictating my weight loss progress by the scale is a built in mode of thinking which it is almost impossible for me to get past. Somehow I have let that number determine how I feel about myself rather than the scale just being another tool used to help measure the process. It’s not the only tool, and it’s not even the best tool. I’m hoping several progress pictures down the road I’ll be able to switch the routine up some. And even when I only have lost a few pounds I will know – before seeing proof – that it ain’t no thing.
5. Whoever said, “It’s just like riding a bike” would definitely rethink that if they had seen me today. It was the first time I tried to ride one in over twenty-five years. I have been begging asking Ben if we could go out and use our new bikes. (We got our “new” at least 5 years ago, and I haven’t ridden once. At least I know that I didn’t make the wrong decision in going with cheap bikes at the time.) He spent hours fixing them (as they were put together at the store we bought them from and this was done incorrectly), fixing a flat, and testing them out. So, I didn’t think it would be polite to give up in the first five minutes we were out riding. But I wanted to. I fell three times. Once into a chain linked fence. When Ben looked at my bike and realized that my handlebars were crooked, I switched bikes with him and did MUCH better. But still it wasn’t pretty.
When I got home and saw this posted to my local running club’s Facebook group page, I couldn’t help but comment:
The bright side is that I learned that people on the trail are very kind. (Unfortunately, I forgot that when I’m hurt I sound mean. So I neglected to soften my voice when I said, “I’m fine” which happened to be about 100 times.) Also, a little scary. At one point I took my bike off the trail so I could practice in an empty lot. A man asked me if I needed any tools, and I said no. Which would have seemed nice, except that he then drove by people obviously fixing their bike and didn’t offer them anything. (It wasn’t obvious as I was heading off the trail that Ben was with me so I guess I looked like an easy target being a girl by myself about to head off trail.) Besides that disconcerting event and all the tumbles, it was fun. It will definitely take me several more practice rides before I can even think of keeping up with Ben – who has a confidence with these things that I can never come close to. My goal is just to be stable enough that when we go to Kiawah I can ride a bike around the island. After having run 13 miles. That shouldn’t be hard, right?
I’m so inspired by your progress! You are awesome!