Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

The age old adage of ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’ has been used as the mantra for weight management (loss/gain/maintenance) for as long as I’ve been trying to manage my weight.  What I have noticed, however, is that the more I plan, the more I fail.  How terrible is that?  Maybe I just rebel against authority, even if it’s my own.

Take, for example, the K.I.S.S. blog entry wherein I wrote about these easy workouts that I could and would do every single day.  Ever since that entry–I haven’t worked out once.

Yes, the workouts are taped RIGHT TO THE FRONT DOOR.  They are literally in my face whenever I go to leave the apartment and whenever I pass into the kitchen, and yet, I’ve turned a blind eye and ignored them completely.

The fitdecks and resistance bands, too, are gathering dust.

This is a pattern that I have noted more than once about myself.  I start off with the best of intentions and I plan and plan and plan… but that’s as far as my motivation gets me.  I finish up with the last detail of the diabolical weight loss scheme and my motivation goes (with a thick Minnesota accent) “Oof-da! That there is enough work–you betcha!” and my motivation just clocks out.

My latest endeavor is to participate in this 8 week book-learning course (through work, of course) that details healthy eating habits for all (not just people looking to lose weight, but really the right way to eat as a regular ol’ human being).  I like to think I know it all, but the pre-test showed that I’ve got a lot to learn.  I’m hoping that the structure of that class will help to keep my mind on fitness and that having a variety of OPTIONS available to be active and healthy will help me to succeed.

One of the healthy-minded girls that I interact with on Facebook posted a pin from pinterest that showed using post-it notes to set daily goals with daily rewards, so I decided to give it a whirl:

I liked the idea so much, actually, that I put the template in a frame with the post-it notes on top.  In case it’s too difficult to read, the first goal is to “Clean up/off desk at work: wall, surface, files.”  The reward for completing this task is “new batteries for my butterfly”

The second goal is to “Set limits for gaming: pre-requisites, curfew.”  The reward for this task is a new set of batteries for my kitchen scale (CR2032).

The last goal is to “Check out/join community center.”  Because of the area that I’m in, and the agreements that the localities have with each other, I can actually join any of three community centers in my area for about $30/month.  The one I was looking at last night would let both Jeff and I join for $50/month for both of us.  They have access to a 24 yard (I think?) lap pool, sauna, whirlpool, tennis courts, cardio machines, weight machines, free weights, and group classes including aqua zumba–whaaat??  I really want to check that out this weekend.  The reward for checking out the community center is a walk outside with Jeff.  D’awwe 🙂  He’s already agreed to be a part of my reward system hehe.

 

 

K.I.S.S. — Having a work out plan

Along the same lines of the cooking related “I don’t feeeeeel like it” there’s also the exercise demon named “I don’t wanna.”  He’s a fiendish thing, sneaking up and stealing the best of your intentions and leaving you as a gelatinous heap on the couch.

The “I don’t wanna” excuse comes out after a long day at work and although you *meant* to go to the gym after work, somehow you ended up at home eating funyuns and watching re-runs of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.  Or Dr. Who, either or.

“I don’t wanna” also comes around early in the a.m. when the alarm is set nice and early to allow you time to work out–he sneaks up and slaps the snooze button for an hour until you cannot possibly squeeze in a work out before you have to squeeze into your shrinking work clothes and get your bum to the office.

The good news is that “I don’t feeel like it” and “I don’t wanna” are both trumped by “it’s too easy NOT to.”

In the last K.I.S.S. entry, I told you about Campbell’s Skillet Sauces.  In this entry, I’m going to tell you about a number of tools and resources that you can use to make a quick work out too easy NOT to do.

1. The first, and my new favorite, are resistance bands.  My mom got both Jeff and I resistance bands for Christmas and I have been using them quite a bit ever since.

You can still partially give in to your couch potato ways and sit in front of the TV while using an exercise band to do seated rows, arm curls, chest presses, etc.  Get a door anchor for the resistance band and you can do even more workouts–single leg abductors, kick-backs, squatting rows, etc.  The band should come with a booklet of ideas, but then that’s where a couple of other resources kick in:

2) Fit Deck.  These handy-dandy cards let you shuffle up any and all exercises you might be interested in and then choose as many exercises at random as you’d like to do.  Originally, we sorted them out into specific areas of the body to target because I really need to focus on my arms, upper back, chest, and torso so I can make sure to rock it in my wedding dress in May.  I realized I was defeating the purpose of the cards by targeting them, though, so recently they’ve been mixed together again so that we can have a spontaneous work out any time.  Right now, we can use the body weight and resistance band cards thoroughly.  Stairs are optional depending on how embarrassed we’d feel if a neighbor were to catch us.  We’re looking into getting a medicine ball at home, too.  If you like to work out at home, but DVDs are too predictable for you, definitely look at picking up some Fit Decks.

3) Spark People’s Work Out Generator.  Answer a few simple questions in this free tool and it will spit out a fitness plan that works with where you’re at in your fitness journey and the equipment that you have available to use.  I am a member of spark and value their community so much.  A few of my spark buddies have recently gotten engaged and so we will be able to get together (virtually) to do wedding dress work outs.  I’ve taped a few to my front door so that as I leave for work, I know what’s coming up and I can stay motivated.

4) Pinterest for Fitness Motivation.*  I love pinterest.  Granted, not as much as I used to when it was new and shiny, but it’s still a great place to find new ideas and inspiration.  My fitness board is my place to dump ideas that I come across for fitness info online, funny quotes about working out, self-image, self-acceptance, reasons to work out, etc.  It’s a one-stop-shop for workout ideas and inspiration to do them.  I love to laugh, so there’s a lot of humour thrown in.  I have some body image issues, so there’s a lot of self-acceptance thrown in.  All in all, my board is my place for fitness inspiration.  Your board, might be different!  Pinterest user Emily has more workout plans and how-tos than inspiration.  The point is that you can use pinterest for whatever you want to use it for.  *The caveat is that it can be addicting.  Don’t get sucked in to pinterest for so long that you lose the time to actually go do something. 

My S.M.A.R.T. goal for fitness is:

S – Specific – I want to lose 12 pounds by the end of March, 2013.

M – Measurable – I will weigh in every other Saturday and report it to The Last Stand girls (spark people)

A – Attainable – 12 pounds in three months is l pound per week gone, doctors recommend 1-2 pounds per week weight loss in order to keep it off in the long term.

R – Relevant – Losing weight is relevant because being at a healthier weight will reduce the cost of food, clothing, and medical bills in the future, plus it has the potential to increase my happiness and self esteem.

T – Time-bound – Weigh-ins are bi-weekly with a milestone check-in in March.

So there you have it.  The cure to “I don’t wanna” is to make it too easy not to.  How do you defeat the “I don’t wanna”‘s?  

New Fitness Center!

Over the weekend I:

– walked in the Heart Walk

– threw a party (where myself, Jeff, my step-dad, his daughter and my friend were the only ones to show up–woo hoo more food for us!)

– received a 45lb kitchen cart in the mail and watched Jeff put it together

– started playing Final Fantasy VI for the first time

– logged a couple hours on Aion

Oh yeah, and I WORKED OUT!

The new gym is pretty awesome for being at an apartment complex.  The old home gym was a rickety treadmill stuffed into a storage locker with a couple of hand weights just for fun.

I started out on the treadmill.  It has been a *long* time since I have had a good work out.  I wanted to be conscious of that, but at the same time, I wanted a sweat-huff-and-puff workout.

One of the cool things is that I was the only one working out.  There are two tv’s and one remote so I got to pick what I wanted to watch.  No compromise 😉  I tried setting it to HGTV, channel 229, but one TV changed to channel 2 (public programming) and the other changed to 29 (fox).  I tried to change it again and I was foiled yet again!  The technology was telling me that I was there to work out, not vege out…

Hint taken, I mashed the buttons on the treadmill and started my cardio workout.  Some beeps and boops and I was gripping the heart rate monitor and off with a steady stride.  The idea of a cardio program on a treadmill is that it lets you set your own pace, say, 3.5 mph, and then it raises the incline until your heart rate meets the desired level.

Well, I don’t know if my heart rate was good or bad, but the incline got up to 13.5% before jabbed the down arrow and reigned it in.  I lasted about 15 minutes and then decided that the treadmill was too intense for me.

I switched to an elliptical for another 15 minutes and enjoyed the view outside almost as much as the view on the TV.  I had found a show on DIY where a guy remodeled a room to be ‘strong and manly’ but ended up looking like a hodge podge of reclaimed (read: garage sale quality) greek artifacts (read: plastercast).  I was done with my cardio and done with TV, so it was off to the free weights!

If you will allow me to admit… I adore working out to Dub Step.  A half hour flew by like mad.  I have been thinking about photographers for the wedding and it kind of solidified for me that photos are for. freaking. EVAR.

In that respect, I knew that I needed to work on my arms like whoa.  I started on the 5-way cable machine and did some “lat” pull downs (I did the pull-downs to the front).  Next, I did tricep kickbacks with a dumbbell.  I used a 15 to do some tricep skull crushers on a bench.  It must have been tricep day…I took it to the mat and did my crunches with a ball.  Out of nowhere, I decided it would be fun to throw the medicine ball into the air as if I were setting a volleyball.. So that was a thing.  After that, I attempted to do some push ups, but those were verreh verreh difficult, even doing them in a modified position.

Arms Workout: 

– Lat Pulldowns

– Tricep Kickbacks

– Skull Crushers

– Crunches w/ a medicine ball

– Medicine ball sets

– push-ups

Lather, rinse, repeat–3x.

Warrior Dash: Week 1 Day 1 (Phase 1)

I tried for a few minutes to find a photo to represent how I felt after my first personal training session yesterday.  I googled the words “triumphant” and “proud” and scrolled through a few pages of photos of people caught in those feelings, but none of them really grasped what it was like.   So then, I read a small book of Wisdom from Ariel Books. I found the following quote to be most suiting: 

Don’t wish me happinss–I don’t expect to be happy….Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor–I will need them all.  – Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Yesterday morning, I showed up for personal training at 6:50am and changed into my workout clothes.  My mom, who had come for the core class at 6:00am was just finishing up with her workout.  I got a sweaty hug from her as we crossed paths.  I bid her good job on her work out and she wished me luck on mine.  It started out innocently enough on the treadmill.  3.5MPH for a little bit.  Just to warm up, then he wanted me running 5.5MPH, then 5.7.  After that he started adding in the strength exercises.  Over here to the ball–chest presses, go! Back to the treadmill, no stopping! 3x. Now over here to do standard-stance squats with a bar, now back to the treadmill–go go go!

Overall I think we did 4 strength exercises spaced by sessions on the treadmill.  I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and so we were really tapping into the harder-to-access energy reserves that I have.  It felt weird and challenging and difficult and once I thought I might just toss my cookies.  But I pressed through it–because I signed up for this.  I asked for this.  I need this.  On and on it went and it was challenging enough to push me but not so hard that I would give up.  I could hardly think about what I was doing let alone anything else.  It was kind of liberating, in a way.

When I was all through and he told me I made it, I was already laying on a mat and he just rolled the exercise ball out from beneath my feet.  Unexpectedly, I found tears cascading down my cheeks and I just felt momentarily overwhelmed!  I was so proud that I hadn’t given up.  He gave me a few minutes to collect myself and when I was back to good, he told me that he was proud of me for pushing through–that a majority of his first-timers need at least 10 minutes rest at the 30-minute mark because they feel the overwhelming desire to or have given in to the desire to throw up.  He also told me that since I have a track-record of working out and an established fitness base, he is starting me at something more like Phase 4.  He said I could be ready by December.  I could have 6 months to do anything I wanted.

The other trainer called me last night to finalize registration for the Warrior Dash.  She asked me what size shirt I wanted.  I said Medium.