Tag Archives: precision nutrition

Hello, 2014!!!

12 Sunday Jan 2014

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YES! How joyous it was to toss 2013 into the recycling bin (the calendar tossing is SO symbolic to me) and start a new year off fresh!  Some of you who tune in here regularly know how the last part of 2013 went right into the crapper.  The break up with J.  My Grandmother’s passing.  My nephew’s scary hospitalization for 2 weeks after not feeling so great at Thanksgiving.  And that was just November!  [My nephew is fine now, thank the Lord…he came down with an auto-immune disease and had a 17 hour transfusion of antibodies flushed through his little 6-year-old body to fight it off and to get that 104 degree fever down.]  Scary and stressful…

So now it’s a new year and I couldn’t be happier!  Happy for fresh starts and happy to get back to the routine.  The holidays are done, whew.  They were brutal last month and I went through it all in a sad, numb fog.

Many people love the ritual of starting new and better habits with new years resolutions, but I am overjoyed that my exercise and nutrition habit is 6 months old already! So January is a turbo boost to all of that…I’m going to be amazing this year and finish up this year-long program fabulously!  Yes, the gym sure gets packed this time of year!  Soon it will thin out again to us regulars.  And I’m proud to call myself an evening regular there too.  Nice to nod and smile at the familiar faces every night.

So, not a whole lot of profound ramblings today…I’m just happy, content and getting reset after the sadness of November and December.  I’m so happy that’s all in the rear view mirror now.   I’m feeling back to being Me again.

Cheers to 2014, everyone!

Nike’s got it Right: Just Do It

03 Sunday Nov 2013

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JDIEvery day in this Lean Eating for Women program I started back in late July, we get some reading material.  Nothing overwhelmingly long…just maybe 10-15 minutes to read through.  And the material is archived so we can always go back and re-read something if needed.  The timing on these works out great for my daily routine:  given my time zone I usually get “tomorrow’s” reading in the evening here.  So I can take a sneak peek at it…and then I re-read it again in more depth after I get home from work and the gym that next evening.  And so on.  I’m blocked from lots of external sites by design at work (it’s a secure IT environment) and taking the time to read small print on my phone during a lunch break doesn’t really work for me.  And I’ve yet to pull the trigger on some sort of tablet.  Hmmmm.

OH, by the way, it’s one of my absolute favorite days of the year.  The Sunday after the end of Daylight Savings Time.  YES.  One extra, gloriously blissful hour.  Yeah, I know when we ‘spring forward’ we have the benefit of longer evening daylight hours in the summer, but the price to pay is a steep one.  Setting our clocks ahead an hour makes me feel tired, cranky and like I’m constantly running late for a good week or so until I adjust.  So now…the bliss of extra time.  Time – one of our most precious commodities of all.

Now, back to these daily readings from PN!  One of them (thankfully) shattered some weird mind perception I’ve had about people who are experts in fitness and nutrition.  Those of Olympic athlete caliber…or someone like one of my trainers at the gym who is probably 10 years my senior and puts people half his age to shame at how fit he is.  His spinning class is jam-packed with a waiting list for a reason.  I can always tell when he’s teaching, because the gym parking lot is extra packed those nights!

For some reason I had it in my head that fitness gurus are ALWAYS without fail super jazzed about what they’re doing and their workouts.  Endorphins perhaps?  Just extra happy, positive people by nature?  Motivated by achieving their fitness goals and inspiring others to do the same?

Well, maybe some or most days, but some days, well, notsomuch as it turns out!!

How illuminating this was for me, this new realization!  OK, I think I get it – there are days I’m not really going to feel like working out for all sorts of reasons.  It’s easy to come up with lots of excuses.  I just figured that as I stayed with this program and did the workouts that I would feel happier because I’m getting regular exercise, seeing improvements in my strength and muscle tone and I’m now down nearly 15 lbs since late July!  YES!  That in itself should be motivating, right?  I even had a shocker a couple of weeks ago when I actually was looking forward to working out during the workday!  Meaning, during the workday I knew later that evening I’d be at the gym…and was excited about it!  WOW! And what the hell?

But now I know I’m not going to always feel that way.  Not even when I get in more peak condition, whatever that might look like.

The point of this lesson in PN is to just do it anyway if you don’t feel like it.  Action before motivation, everyone!!  Get a routine scheduled and get what you need to surround yourself with for success!  For example, before I go to bed at night on weeknights I make sure my gym clothes, shoes, iPod and my workout printout are all ready for me to grab on the dining room table on the way out the door when leaving for work.  I make sure I have my lunch and snacks in the front of the fridge and ready to throw into my lunch bag that morning as well.  Mornings are not my strong suit.  I need my clothes, shoes and jewelry all picked out and laid out the night before so I can just get dressed, put on some makeup and get going to work as quickly and mindlessly as possible.  I don’t have time to linger and my mind is just too fuzzy at that hour to make any sense.

And when I get to the gym after work, I have my list of exercises printed out and ready to take with me!  I make sure to watch the short video clips the night before to mentally ‘practice’ them.  Maybe that in itself provides some motivation for me to keep practicing the exercises.  Every time I do them I get a little better and a little stronger.  And improved muscle tone – yes!

So action first…then motivation.  Great stuff for those days I just won’t feel like working out.  Love it!

So, How’s that Lean Eating Program Going?

12 Thursday Sep 2013

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A few people have asked me how things are going with the Lean Eating for Women program I started back in late July.  WOW!  I did this through the entire month of August and now all of a sudden it’s mid September!  YES!  I’m still doing this…I’m not giving up!  This is a year-long journey, and I am so happy to have tons of support all around me.  People like J, my family and my friends.  And a few co-workers who I trust to share what I’m doing.

Ironically, my work environment, the place I spend the most of my hours, is not conducive to this life changing journey of mine.  Work is an all-out Food Palooza every day.  I’ve probably blogged about this before.  Someone is always bringing in donuts or pastries and passing them around to everyone.  The DBAs in the cube farm near me love to bring in ice cream for themselves every week and since I sit near them they always offer me some too.  We’re always chatting about what we’re doing for lunch – who’s going out to lunch and where – or who volunteers to go pick up takeout Chinese.  People sometimes get offended when I politely decline the donuts they’re passing out.  That’s OK – that’s their stuff to deal with, not mine.

We even had an ice cream social at work this week as a nice thank you for all that we’ve been doing these past couple of months.  200 people descended on the large meeting room near our cafeteria and it was a make your own sundae set up with our Directors and VPs scooping up ice cream for us.  Fun!  I did have one scoop of chocolate ice cream and ate it slowly.  Interestingly enough, it didn’t taste that great.  Kind of metallic and yucky!

Now wait a second, why the heck am I blogging on a Thursday afternoon, you might be wondering?  Well, I woke up not feeling that great this morning with a slightly sore throat.  So I knew I didn’t have a lot of meetings today and just stayed at home and slept.  I am feeling a lot better now.  I probably slept with my mouth open and it got all dry and irritated!  Too funny.  What a relief!  I simply don’t have time to get sick!

Lean Eating is a habit-based coaching program.  Who wants to get overwhelmed having to learn everything they need to do all at once when starting something new, right?  That’s a guaranteed formula for failure.  Rather, this program has you start out small, just doing one or two things every day, repeating them.  And you track your progress on a private site to show whether or not you did your habits that particular day.  As time goes by, exercise programs are introduced, and now we’re just starting to practice some food-based habits.  Every habit builds upon the other one.  Get off track for a bit?  No problem…tomorrow is a clean slate!

We also are provided some reading material online every day and a short assignment to reflect on how you can apply the lesson content into your own life.  And, you track your progress online to show you’ve completed that day’s lesson.  If you get behind, it’s easy to catch up and see which ones you still need to do!  This was perfect for me, as I was in Kansas City in late July for Silpada National Conference right when the Lean Eating program kicked off so I missed the first few days of the program.  In retrospect that wasn’t a big deal at all, but I remember at the time I was a little worried as I had no idea what to expect!

The Precision Nutrition coaching team is very grounded.  Each of us in the program is assigned a coach, and there are online forums and private Facebook groups to hook up with to share ideas and ask questions.  My coach sends her group a short video message every week and we can book appointments with her to chat over the phone or Skype.  I would bet there isn’t one scenario they haven’t been through with the thousands of clients they’ve worked with!  So, no excuses!  Practice your habits, do your workouts and complete your assignments!  And it’s all with a sense of humor too – I don’t feel like I’m in a military boot camp at all!  And did I mention how easy it is?  Meaning, I just read what I’m supposed to do that day, do it and note online I completed it.  They include short videos showing how to do the exercises and I just print out the exercise list for that day and take it with me to the gym!

Getting exercise is becoming a habit with me again. I remember now how great I feel after a workout and how it helps me unwind mentally.  I’m at the gym 5 nights a week, I do something active outdoors once a week and have one day off.  I looked at my stats and I’ve been 93% compliant with getting my workouts done over the past two weeks!  YES!  High Five!  I feel great and have noticed some subtle changes in my muscle tone.  I’m down 7.5 lbs (3.4 kg) and can see the double chin slowly going away. Some of the exercises that were super hard at first are now getting slightly easier.  This has been a huge wakeup call for me.  I turned 46 in May and have never had a naturally thin, fit build.  After losing 35 lbs 10 years ago I gained about 60 lbs back!  This is not healthy!  So that’s why I’m doing this.  Regular exercise is essential for me to be the best me…YES!

I am a ‘peeker.’  I want to peek ahead and see what the program content will be toward the end.  I want to know exactly how we’ll shift into maintenance mode once the program wraps up next year. I want to know how to manage things like life that will conflict with the time I’ve budgeted to exercise every day. Hell, when I cook I like to open the oven door and peek at what’s cooking and inhale the aroma!  Peek peek peek!

Well, the Lean Eating website must have been designed with peekers like me in mind.  There is new content posted each day….and we can only peek ahead two days!  Ha ha!!  If you try to peek ahead further you’ll get redirected back to today’s info.  Well done, PN!

Spontaneous Sauna!

11 Sunday Aug 2013

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saunaWhen I started typing in here today I didn’t have a catchy title in mind (well, catchy in my mind, at least).  Usually that’s what inspires me to start writing.  But today, I’m doing the opposite.

I’m looking back on the 3 (!) weeks since starting the Lean Eating for Women program at Precision Nutrition.  I remember how I was a little frustrated that I would be out-of-town the first few days we started in late July…I didn’t want to miss the boat right off the bat and feel behind. How frustrating, especially not really knowing what to expect!  Well, on the other hand I was at Silpada National Conference, and my life was gloriously not my own for 4 days of jewelry sisterhood in Kansas City!

Now, dare I say, I’m kindasorta getting used to the habit of working out at the gym after work (and also on the weekends too, when we do have a workout scheduled in our daily plan).  It’s nice going in and feeling good and familiar with the gym surroundings, seeing the regulars there and hoping I’ll soon seem like a regular as well!  And feeling confident about just doing the workouts I need to do, no matter how good I’m doing or how much I might suck.  Man, I’m so glad I started this new health and fitness journey in July, not January!  January is such a cliché for things like that (and the gym – as I’m sure most of them are – is completely bursting at the seams that month).  Then, it thins out a bit.

As far as eating goes, I’m practicing the habit of eating food slowly (with a heavy emphasis on practicing), and having a small meal or snack every 2 to 3 hours.  This REALLY helps me get through that late afternoon ‘crash’ I used to feel at work during the week, and it was that feeling that made me tired and unmotivated to get some exercise after work, whether it was going for a walk or getting in the gym.  I’d get home and plop down on the couch with a big bowl of pasta and pesto or whatever, eat too fast and then feel bloated and miserable the rest of the evening.  Wow, just a few small changes make such a huge difference in my energy level!  And I don’t feel nearly as hungry or wiped out at the end of the workday!  And so refreshed and happy after completing my workout!  WOW!!

J’s been very supportive as well.  On Friday he came over to help me take my body measurements.  We have to post our weight and measurements online every week…now, personally I find taking my measurements every week a bit much, but this is the process we need to follow and I’m trusting it.  On the other hand, I don’t like just posting my weight weekly – I know, I’m rebellious.  I find it much more accurate to weigh myself daily and then take that weekly average.  Our weight fluctuates all the time for numerous reasons…so I do follow the process and post my weight for the date I need to upload it, but I mentally track daily weigh-ins to see my overall trend.  For example, yesterday my weigh-in weight looks like I dropped half a pound from the previous week.  But, my weight was a full pound lower for 3 days  in a row prior to my weigh-in date weight.  Weighing myself daily helps me not freak out when it looks like – according to the weekly weigh-ins – that I’m not making any progress or even gaining weight.  AND, of course, muscle weighs more than fat, so I’m not going to freak out if I don’t steadily drop weight week after week.  This is a lifestyle change getting back in the habit of regular exercise, and I can’t possibly correct years of gradual weight gain in just 3 weeks.  Nor would I want to!

Anyway, on Friday I made us dinner – General Chang’s chicken – a fun twist on chicken with Asian-style spices…and gluten free.  J and I have both been super busy.  Man, there’s so much more I want to do together before the summer slips away and the weather turns.  But, I try not to stress about it too much.  August is flying by, but September is usually good weather too.  Anyway, as we were finishing dinner, he was talking about how he’s thinking about joining my gym too…mainly so he can take saunas, which he loves to do!  (He’s Swedish, by the way…OK, yes, those stereotypes start from something, right?).   And he thought, why not go check out the gym right now?  Man, that sounded good to me…those dirty dishes can wait!

We hopped down the street to the gym and I gave him the 25-cent tour.  It was a pretty light crowd inside – 9:00pm on a Friday night with beautiful weather and all.  I had to laugh as I’d not set foot in the steam/sauna section of the gym in years.  I couldn’t even remember if it was a co-ed area or if there were separate, private areas for men and women.  The locker room for me is to keep my clothes and purse secure while I work out and nothing more.  I live so close to the gym so I typically shower at home…driving 5 minutes in sweaty clothes isn’t really a big deal to me.  So I’d not been through the windy, twisty hallways in the back of the women’s locker room past the showers since the gym remodel a few years ago.  Then, suddenly, there was the big hot tub and the steam and sauna rooms…and there was J on the opposite side of the room!  HA!  Too funny…so the steam/sauna area IS co-ed!

As we were driving back home, J said he really wanted to take a sauna…and was happy he had some extra shorts with him.  I quickly changed into some synthetic workout shorts, a sports bra and a light t-shirt and we headed back to the gym yet again!  I don’t have a bathing suit that fits me any longer – yikes – and have been completely reluctant to even think about shopping for one given the size I am right now.

We did both the sauna and the steam rooms…ah, complete with a little eucalyptus aromatherapy too!  I need to do these in short stints until I get more used to the feeling…and make sure to drink plenty of water before and after.

What a great way to wrap up a busy week!  And now it’s time for a little shopping…I’m going to need more than one sports bra that fits, and while I love my bootleg-cut black yoga pants I’m getting a little sick of them too.  How funny that my closet is full of workout clothes from my size 6 years (OK, year) in 2004!  Hopefully I can find some stuff on clearance that hopefully will be too loose in good time!