Ottawa, Canada — April 10, 2009 — Ottawa River...Image by dugspr — in Osaka via Flickr

Well, I had a busy night last night. I biked to my in-laws, grabbed their car, drove home, grabbed the kids, went grocery shopping, drove home, made supper, drove back to my in-laws, dropped off the car, biked home, rushed over to my friends place and we walked out 5 km. Phew!

At least with all of the busyness I didn't overeat. Although I was hungry and wanted more food. I was able to keep myself from going to the kitchen for more. It was so hot yesterday and all the exercise, I was so sweaty I had to have a shower after my 5 km walk. At least it helped me cool down.

Wow today is such a beautiful day! The sun is shining brightly. It's really hot though and it's not even 11 am. I slept in but was determined to bike anyway. I still made it with enough time to shower and get breakfast. I must say I love biking! Especially in this great weather. I'm even starting to get a tan.

My goal date is Friday and I think I just might make it after all! I'm not sure if you remember I'd set a goal for June 26th. My goals were:

To workout 5-6 times/week with at least 3 of those as heavy workouts at the gym
To be in the 230 lb range I'm aiming for somewhere between 230-235

Well, I haven't made it to the gym at all. I have managed to workout at least 4-6 times per week, (minus one week where I didn't do anything significant). My goal weight will not be 235, but if I'm 238 I'll be excited. I'm hoping to at least be below my lowest recent weight which is 239. Anything below 239 will be great as it will be NEW weight lost which I think will help spiral me out of this rut I've been in.

EXERCISE

Biking: 18.3 km
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

1995-1996Image by hyperbolic pants explosion via Flickr

Well, I did really well for most of the last week and then Wham the weekend appears and I've binged for most of the weekend. I barely even touched my food journal which defeats the purpose of keeping a food journal. I know part of it was because of Joey's birthday party and part of it was due to the kids stressing me out. This weekend HAS to be better! I can't let the stress of the kids fighting give me an excuse to binge. If I can stick to my plan during the week why not the weekend? One thing I really noticed was by setting specific times to eat I'm better able to control my eating.

I've been biking again this week. Also didn't keep up with exercising during the weekend either, all in all it was a bad weekend for health and fitness.

This week my goals are:
  • Stick to my specific times for eating
  • Keep track of ALL foods I eat
  • Go to the gym at least twice this week

I haven't been to the gym in a long time. I'm feeling intimidated again, which is ridiculous I know. I'm going to the gym to help myself to gain muscle and lose weight not to try to impress strangers. But it is hard to get up early and when I know I'm biking/walking most days the gym seems like less of a priority.

EXERCISE

Monday
Biking: 18.3 km
Walking: 5 km

Tuesday
Biking: 18.3 km
Walking: 5 km
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Hi! My name is Laura. I have a problem. I'm a binge eater. And for the first time in my life I'm doing something about it.

I have a problem. I've mentioned it before but I don't think I had the right label before. See, I'm reading a book on Binge Eating disorders. No, I'm obviously not anorexic and I'm definitely not bulimic. I know what many of you are thinking "Big Surprise! You're overweight because you eat too much" I know this, but what people don't know or maybe just don't understand is the lack of control when one is bingeing.

When I look back I can see where it started. I think I was prone to it in Shilo but it became a problem when I was living in Petawawa for reasons that I don't need to hash out in my blog. Then when I was living with my grandparents I didn't have the opportunity to binge which is why I lost weight. I gained weight again when I lived on my own and lost weight when I lived with Dawna where again I no opportunity to binge. Through all of this even though I've lost weight in the past I never really fixed the problem and I never really figured out how to deal with stress.

I'm now at the self-help portion of the book. The first step is to monitor EVERYTHING I eat, the good the bad and the ugly. I've also started walking in the evenings with my good friend and "litte sister" Dre. It's only been 2.5 days but I have NOT binged! I know the walking at night is helping a lot. It's my prime binge time.

I'm not looking at calories right now and I'm also not denying myself anything. One of the biggest reasons I binge is because I try to deny myself "bad" foods. Denying food creates this cycle that causes me to binge which causes me to diet which causes me to binge and so on.

A big part of bingeing is secrecy, eating alone, hiding what you eat and how much you eat. Which is why I felt compelled to share with all of you. Binge eating is rarely discussed as the real problem that it is. I always thought that I was just lacked willpower and was lazy. I thought if I just diet enough or lose enough weight that I'd stop eating this way. We hear so much about anorexia and bulemia, but not much is said about binge eating.

I'm so thankful to my dear friend who handed me the book Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn. I highly recommend it to anyone who even thinks they have a binge eating problem.

EXERCISE

Some of you may be wondering whether or not I've kept up with working out. The answer is mostly yes. There was a week I didn't do much of anything, but overall I have continued to bike and I've also started walking at night. I plan on getting back to the gym soon, but I'm in desperate need of new running shoes. Yes, I realize this is probably an excuse and I'm aware of that. At least I'm still getting in a lot of exercise. I bike 19.3 km most work days and I've even went biking last weekend. Saturday I went biking with my husband...alone! (My husband and I getting out alone together is almost unheard of!) We biked 14.5 km that day and had such a wonderful time. Sunday I biked 8 km. Daily I've been biking 18.3 km and wlaking close to 5 km at night.

Monday

12:31 PM | 0 Comments

Total Biking: 11.4 miles / 18.2 km

I've been lacking words lately. There's a lot going on in my head. I need to take some time to get my head on straight. I'm still trying to workout and next week I'm going to try and get to the gym more.

Total Biking: 11.4 miles / 18.2 km

From A New Day to STRESS! Amazing how we go from ready to really work hard to a week full of stress, and too many things to do with no time to do it. No gym, but I did bike.

Total Biking: 11.4 miles / 18.2 km

A New Day

11:20 AM | 0 Comments

Good Morning! So I know I was supposed to start with going to the gym but I was so tired. I had a crappy weekend and didn't really relax at all. I did get my pedicure so I've got new feet! And I've decided my feet deserve a pedicure more than once a year.

Total Biking: 11.4 miles / 18.2 km

Friday

3:40 PM | 0 Comments

The end of the week I haven't been getting enough sleep and I've slacked off a lot. I have been paying attention to what I'm eating though.

This evening I hope to do some more ab workouts, now that I know where my heavier weights are.

Speed Walking: 0.72 miles

Thursday

3:27 PM | 0 Comments

Biking: 5.72 miles

Abs @home:



Sit-Up#1 12

sets #2 12


#3 12


Crunches#1 12

sets
#2 12


#3 12


Reverse Crunch#1 12

sets
#2 12


Dumbbell Side Bend#12 12

sets
#22 lbs12


#3212

Couldn't find our heavier weights at home so only used 2 lbs

Well folks I did it! I biked from to Baseline! Total 9.1 km / 5.7 miles in 35 minutes!
It was hard, but it was beautiful on the Woodroffe bike path! And I can't believe it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. I was so early for work even with showering there. The second part of this goal is to bike home, but now that I've done it once I don't think that will be a problem.

My arms and back are definitely feeling yesterday's workout, which is great! It means I worked hard yesterday in that short period of time.

I'm looking forward to next week and really getting into my new routine. Tomorrow I'll be working on cardio and abs.

Total Biking: 11.4 miles / 18.2 km

Thursday I worked 12-8 so I didn't go to bed at a decent time and couldn't get up early. Friday night my daughter ended up with the flu, so I didn't get to do my Walk the Micah Road Walk-a-thon. In fact I didn't do much of anything, except yell and scream all weekend due to lack of sleep. Sunday night I was packing my gym bag and getting everything all set. It was later than usual, but I was still going to get up early. My daughter got sick again and I ended up on the couch with her most of the night.

This morning I procrastinated so much. I hit snooze a bunch of times. When I did finally get up I ended up poking around Facebook looking at pictures. I finally left and went to the gym. I got there at 6:30 and worked out for 30 minutes.

I walked to work and showered there, which I'm going to start doing from now on. I'll miss the sauna, but at least I won't have to fight for the shower. And it gives me some extra time since I'm already at the office.

Biking: 4 miles

Elliptical: 0.45 miles / 73 cal / 5 min / L8

Seated Row: 70 lbs x 8 reps I thought I could do it...instead I did...55 lbs x 4 sets

Elliptical: 0.23 miles / 32 cal / 2 min / L8

Lateral Pull Down: 70 lbs x 3 sets (I felt it in my back while working out and set 3 killed!)

Chest Press: 55 lbs x 3 sets

I now have a goal. A real, tangible goal with a date. My little sister's birthday is June 30th. She is trying to lose weight and tone up. Meeting a goal is easier when you have someone else striving to reach the same/similar goal.

Goal Date:
- June 26th

Objectives:
- To workout 5-6 times/week with at least 3 of those as heavy workouts at the gym

Goal Weight:
- To be in the 230 lb range I'm aiming for somewhere between 230-235

I am contemplating biking to Baseline bus station to catch the bus in the morning. It's a 5.7 miles trek one way. I'm scared! It's a long trek at least for me. I know I can do it. So, here is the idea for my new workout schedule for the next 7 weeks:

Day 1: Upper Body
Day 2: Biking 11.4 miles
Day 3: Abs
Day 4: Biking 11.4 miles
Day 5: Lower Body

Tomorrow is trial day. I'll let you know how the biking goes.

So I did work out last Thursday and it was a GREAT workout! But I lost my little piece of paper I wrote it down on so I'm going from memory.

I biked 3.4 miles to the Barrhaven gym. I did 5 or 10 minutes on the Elliptical. I worked on lower body so I did my regular machines. Although I did decide I'm going to do one static weight with multiple sets. All of my sets have 12 reps.

Total Biking: 5.9 miles

Back Ext: 175 lbs x 4 sets

Elliptical: .20 miles L8 2 minutes

Leg Curl: 70 lbs x 4 sets

Elliptical: .20 miles L8 2 minutes

Leg Ext: 70 lbs x 4 sets

Elliptical: .20 miles L8 2 minutes

Leg Press: 190 x 4 sets

Elliptical: .20 miles L8 2 minutes

Hip Abduction: 130 lbs x 4 sets

Hip Adduction: 130 lbs x 4 sets

Ab Thingy: 1 set x 12 (no weight at this time) (the machine you lean over and pull your body up)

Good Morning. I did it again. I got up at 4:45 am. I biked to Fallowfield, caught the early bus and was at the gym by 6. Today was upper body. I think I've got to revamp this workout, it just doesn't seem like it's enough. I feel like I'm missing something. Maybe it's just because I'm so used to doing triceps and biceps.

Sunday I made dinner for my husband's grandmother and two great aunts. April 20th was his aunts birthday, she's 97! I know how much she likes curry so I made her a nice dinner. Well she tells me I've lost weight. She also tells me I'm wonderful and have nice hair and a nice face! LOL the stuff elderly say! It was a nice ego boost and brings me to another discussion...

I've lost about 10 lbs since New Years. I know I was up close to 250 lbs. On March 23 I weighed 247. Today I weigh 240. I don't feel like I've lost anything. I'm not proud or happy about it. When people tell me I've lost weight I argue and tell them I haven't. I figure because after I gave birth to Riley I weighed 235 that anything before that isn't losing weight. It's taking off what shouldn't have been there. But really none of it "should" be on my body and weight lost is still weight lost. I did gain all that weight I should be proud when it comes off regardless of how many lbs or what my current weight is.

Biking: 4 miles

Treadmill: 0.70 miles / 1.14 km / 13 minutes / 93 cal

Seated Row:
55 lbs x 12
70 x 10
85 x 8
100 x 6
70 x 12

Elliptical: 0.25 miles / 0.40 km / 2 min / L8 / 33 cal (one minute in reverse)

Lateral Pull Down:
55 lbs x 12
70 x 10
85 x 8
100 x 6
70 x 12

Elliptical: 0.23 miles / 0.37 km / 2 min / L8 / 33 cal

Shoulder Press:
40 lbs x 12
55 x 10
70 x 8
85 x 6
55 x 12

Elliptical: 0.20 miles / 0.32 km / 2 min / L8 / 30 cal

Abdominal Crunch:
20 lbs x 12
30 x 10
40 x 8
50 x 6
30 x 12

Elliptical: 0.20 miles / 0.32 km / 2 min / L8 / 30 cal

Obliques: 2 sets x 12 x 25 lbs

Reverse Abs: 2 sets x 12

I've started a new gym routine. I'm getting up at 4:45 am again. I'm able to get to the gym by 6 am which gives me a full hour. I'm no longer going to work on my small muscle groups. I'm working all the big muscle groups and adding more cardio. After every machine I'm doing 2-5 minutes of extreme cardio, of course to start I'm only doing 2 minutes, but I'll work my way up.

Let me tell you, it was a very hard workout. I was sweating like crazy! And I'm quite tired today, but that's more from lack of sleep than anything.

Biking: 4 miles / 6.43 km / approx 30 minutes

Cross Ramp: 1 mile / 1.6 km /15 minutes

Back Ext:
145 lbs x 12
160 x 10
175 x 8
190 x 6
160 x 12

Elliptical: 0.22 miles / 2 minutes / Level 10

Leg Curl:
55 lbs x 12
70 x 10
85 x 8
100 x 6
70 x 12

Elliptical: 0.23 miles / 2 minutes / Level 10

Leg Ext:
55 lbs x 12
70 x 10
85 x 8
100 x 6
70 x 12

Elliptical: 0.22 miles / 2 minutes / Level 5

Leg Press:
170 lbs x 12
190 x 10
210 x 8
230 x 6
190 x 12

Elliptical: 0.21 miles / 2 minutes / Level 5

Abdominal Crunch:
20 lbs x 12
30 x 10
40 x 8
50 x 6
30 x 12

Hip Abduction:
100 lbs x 12
115 x 10
130 x 8
145 x 6
115 x 12

Hip Adduction:
100 lbs x 12
115 x 10
130 x 8
145 x 6
115 x 12

Total Interval Elliptical: 0.88 miles / 1.41 km / 8 minutes
Total Cardio Distance: 5.88 miles / 9.44 km
This morning was so hard to get up and out of bed. I managed, barely. I wanted so badly to crawl back into bed. I biked to Fallowfield. I even got their earlier than usual, next week I'll be getting up at 4:45 so I can leave by 5.

I found out Wednesday night that my thyroid checked out okay. I do not have any thyroid problems. I'm not going back to the clinic again. I have been feeling okay lately, but if things get worse again I will go back to the clinic and ask them to test everything they can. For now I'll just leave well enough alone.

Next week my goals are to get up at 4:45 every morning and to start really paying close attention to what I'm eating.

I also plan on putting in some workout time this weekend too.

Biking: 4 miles
Cross Ramp: 0.40 miles / 0.64 km / 5:24 / 70.1 cal

LOWER BODY

Back Ext:
155 lbs x 12
170 x10
185 x 8
200 x 6
170 x 12

Leg Ext:
55 lbs x 12
70 x 10
85 x 8
100 x 6
70 x 12

Leg Curl:
55 lbs x 12
70 x 10
85 x 8
100 x 6
70 x 12

Leg Press:
210 lbs x 2 sets of x 12 reps

Hip Adduction:
145 lbs x 12

Hip Abduction:
145 lbs x 12

Ab Machine:
20 lbs x 12
30 x 10
40 x 8
50 x 6
30 x 12

Reverse Crunches:
2 sets x 12 reps and 1 set x 6 reps

Obliques:
25 lbs x 2 sets x 12 reps

Biked to GEMS and back: 1.6 miles
We also practiced our dance moves for He Reigns. We'll be performing in front of the girl's parents our last night of GEMS.
Not much to say today so I'll get right to it.

Biking: 4 miles
Elliptical: 0.58 miles / 0.93 km / 78 calories / 6 minutes
This morning's personal goal was to hit .5 miles in under 5 minutes. I did it in 4:56!

UPPER BODY - 1 set of 12 reps each machine
Chest Press: 70 lbs
Lateral Pull Down: 85 x 2, 100 x 12
Shoulder Press: 20
Seated Row: 70
Triceps: 65
Biceps: 65

AB EXERCISES
Crunches: 12 x 3
Reverse: 12 x 2
Obliques: 12 x1

With the arrival of spring brings Spring Cleaning and Tunes Ups. I did a very basic tune up on my bike yesterday but will do a more complete one this week.

Here is a bicycle tune up check list that I found:
  1. Pump it up!
  2. Check for wear and damage
  3. Check break lever and caliper action
  4. Check break-pads
  5. Check cables
  6. Lube the chain
  7. Tighten lose bolts and screws
  8. Clean the bike
So, after 3 weeks of not going to the gym and really not exercising I'm trying to get back to it. Yesterday I put air in my bike tires and WD-40 on my bike chain. I biked a total of 5.2 miles (8.36 km).

I had to pay $1 to put air in my tires! I shared with the next guy who needed air in his car tires. My bike chain fell off, but I'm pretty sure that's because my pants kept catching in the chain. I will never again laugh at another person who tucks their one pant leg into their sock, who knew?

If any of you have ever done any real biking you'll know what happens when you haven't biked in a long time and start out fresh. Your posterior hurts an awful lot, but I'm pushing through the pain. =)

This morning was a challenge in many respects. First was waking up, I desperately wanted to just go back to bed. It's easy to fall into a routine of NOT going to the gym. I finished packing my bag and the next challenge was my gym bag. It's too heavy and awkward, what I need is a large back pack. If my gym bag slips the wrong way I almost topple over. The other issue of course was sitting down on my bike seat, I had to make sure I lifted off the seat when going over large bumps. The important thing is I DID IT!

At the gym, I only worked out for about 30 minutes. Since, I'd already done my cardio with the biking I opted for just a 6 minute warm up on the Elliptical. I didn't want to over do it so I just did 1 set on the machines. I did have moments of feeling dizzy, but I pushed through it. I'll find out Wednesday evening if the problem is my thyroid or if I have to keep looking.

Biking: 4 miles / 6.42 km
Elliptical: 0.54 miles / 0.86 km / 6 minutes / 70 cal

LOWER BODY - 1 set of 12 reps

Back Ext: 175 lbs
Leg Press: 210
Leg Curls: 85
Leg Ext: 85
Hip Adduction: 100
Hip Abduction: 115
Ab Machine: 30 (x2)

Update

2:26 PM | 0 Comments

Good afternoon. It seems I keep being hit with one illness after another. I'm rather sick and tired of being sick and tired. This week I was hit with the flu again! I'm guessing my immune system is weaker than normal and that's why I keep catching what's going around. February I had the flu, March I had a bad head cold and now April the flu! Not to mention in between I've had issues with weakness, fatigue and dizziness. The good news is that I went to the blood lab this morning for my thyroid test. I hope to know sooner than later, but I suspect I won't know until next week. I will keep you posted.

On the bright side of life I seem to have found a solution to my problem of getting up early and trying to get enough time in at the gym and still make it to work by 8 am. I'm going to bike to Fallowfield bus station. I'll buy a lock (I needed to buy one anyway) and bike there in the morning and bike home at night. This way I'll be getting in a lot more cardio! I've got some tuning up to do with my bike so I'll probably get everything ready to go this weekend and start back full throttle Monday, April 20th.

Good day. Well, as you probably noticed I took some time off from the gym. I'm completely weak, exhausted and lightheaded.

We moved to our new place March 29th and we've been setting up ever since. My husband has had to take the brunt of most of the work. I've barely been able to get out of bed in the mornings, let alone make it to the gym.

I've gone to the clinic twice now trying to find out what is wrong with me. At first I thought it was my iron, but that test came back fine. Tuesday I'll be going in for blood work to test my thyroid. It's been so hard to go from having so much energy to none at all. Simple things like carrying my daughter upstairs is a challenge. Standing on the bus when it's full is a challenge.

I did make it to the gym on Tuesday morning. I did not do nearly as much as I would have liked. I even tried to get in more cardio after my weights, but felt like i was going to pass out, so I didn't push it.

Treadmill: 1.03 miles /1.62 km / 11 minutes 43 seconds

FitFix Circuit
Back Extension: 190 lbs
Leg Extension: 85
Leg Curls: 85
Leg Press: 210
Hip Adduction: 100
Hip Abduction: 100
Seated Row: 70
Lateral Pull Down: 100
Chest Press: 70
Shoulder Press: 30
Biceps: 50
Triceps: 50

About