Gear: Fitbit One

My mother has a completely blocked femoral artery in her left leg, and yet she walks. She tries to walk 10,000 steps a day, which is what her cardiologist told her years ago that any healthy person should be able to do. It hurts her to walk, and yet, she does it because she knows it's the right thing for her body. In her words, "If I don't move, I won't be able to move," and she's right.

And here's the thing: if my mother can do it with a non-functioning femoral artery, then I  have no excuse whatsoever not to do the same.

My mother has worn a pedometer for years, and it has helped her so much. It makes her challenge herself, and it makes her keep track. When hers was broken, she found she walked half as much, so she replaced it as soon as possible. So I got one, too. I did some research, and I asked the internet for its opinion. The overwhelming recommendation was to get a fitbit, so I got one and tried it out. I LOVE it!!! There are many models from which to choose these days, but I love, love, love my fitbit one.

This little buddy clips onto my bra strap, waist band, or pocket, and it goes where I go. There are so many models of pedometer from which to choose, and it seems like most people choose the wrist band options. I actually won a fitbit flex through a wellness program at work, so I tried it for a few days, and it was NOT for me. I type all day at work, and it really bothers me to wear something on my wrist all the time. The one is my jam--it's tiny, hidden, measures everything I need it to measure with reliability and accuracy. Plus as I move more, the little flower grows throughout the day--I love to make that thing grow! I sync it in real time with my iPhone, but I can also track it on my laptop. I've been wearing it almost daily for about 18 months, and I can't recommend it enough!

It has also been enjoyable to have "friends" in the fitbit network. I know so many people with these devices, and it's really fun to see how everyone else is doing with their step goals. It's competitive in a good way, with people encouraging each other to succeed. I need more of that!

The one negative thing I about the fitbit is that the calorie counting feature on both the one and the flex is no good.They have no way of measuring workout intensity or food intake unless you enter those manually, and yet, they report how many calories it thinks you've burned every day. It's utterly inaccurate, and I completely ignore it. Otherwise--I say, get one!

The Plan

The day of my first weigh-in, I will be meeting with a personal trainer to make a plan for the 90 days. There will be discounts available if I want to utilize a personal trainer and/or a nutritionist for the whole challenge as well. I am not convinced I need these things--what I need is commitment and consistency. Ask any chronically overweight person, and I guarantee you they know WHAT to do; they just have trouble maintaining the motivation to actually DO it. I have a plan, though I am flexible and very open to input from the trainer when I meet him/her.

Nutrition: Over the past dozen years, I have read more about nutrition than just about anyone I know. I believe I know how to create a healthy and sustainable diet, both for weight loss and for maintenance. I know that there is a mindset to treating food as body fuel and still getting pleasure from the acts of cooking and eating. I will begin with elimination, then proceed with an additive eating agenda.

• Throughout the challenge: No potatoes and no deep fried foods, period, ever. Avoid refined sugars and carbs. Avoid fatty cuts of meat and too much dairy fat. Shoot for 5+ servings of fruits and vegetables per day, always.
• Weeks 1 and 2: Eliminate all sugars and carbs from my diet and eat a combination of lean proteins and low-sugar vegetables. This means no fruit, no natural or refined sugars, no grains, no potatoes, and no high-sugar vegetables like peas, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, or corn. No booze. It's only for two weeks (you can do anything for 2 weeks!) to reset my blood sugar levels, reduce sugar cravings, and jump start the weight loss. This is essentially phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, though I can't get behind that diet's use of artificial sweeteners--YUCK!
• Week 3 - the end of the challenge: Add limited whole grains, lower sugar fruits (no high sugar tropical fruits like mango, papaya, and pineapple), and all vegetables to my diet. Stay limited on sugars, and only allow natural sugars into the diet (honey, turbinado sugar). Continue to avoid fatty meats, refined carbs, etc. Limited red wine is ok, but I'll keep that to weekends. This is essentially how I should be eating all the time, and how I want eat in general.
• Notes: 
• Cooking is essential to success. It's very hard to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight while eating out or eating processed foods all the time.
• This doesn't mean I plan to go 90 days without ever eating in a restaurant. However, it does mean that I need to take care when eating out to make smart choices.
• I know that supplements are currently all the rage in fitness circles, but they are not for me. I believe I can get what I need from whole food, close-to-the-ground eating. 
• Sodas are gross and not a temptation for me, so no need to cut those out. That's huge for a lot of people, and I am lucky that I don't like them to begin with.

Exercise: I know that I need a combination of cardio, resistance, and core training. I also need to be very careful with both my right foot and with my left knee. I am planning to combine in-gym and out-of-gym experiences to make the most of what time I can carve into my schedule to work out. Here's what I want my week to look like:

• Every day: Walk a minimum of 30 minutes. This will happen at a variety of times, depending on weather, work schedules, etc. I prefer to walk outside if I possibly can, but I'll do whatever I have to do to make it happen. I really want to try to hit that 10,000 mark on my fitbit if i can do it!
• Sunday: Sundays are already family gym day. We go to the Cary gym in the morning, check the kids into the kid center while Jason and I work out. I am doing a combination of stretching, light weights, body weight exercises, and calisthenics. It takes about an hour. Then we go for a hike/walk/scooter ride as a family in one of the local parks--we are exceedingly lucky to live in an area where we have so many lovely wooded walks from which to choose!
• Monday: Off except for regular daily activities.
• Tuesday: 5:45am Barbell Strength class at the Apex gym. Tuesday is also weigh-in days, so I need to see what that entails.
• Wednesday: 8:00pm Zumba class at the Cary gym.
• Thursday: 5:45am Barbell Strength class at the Apex gym.
• Friday: 5:00pm Zumba class at the Apex gym.
• Saturday: Something fun and active with the kids--activities on Saturday will vary.
• Notes:
• 30 Day Fitness Challenges: I really like the idea of getting through 3 of the challenges from this site during this overall weight loss challenge. They only take a few minutes, and it's something I can do at home in the evening after the kids are asleep. These are the 3 I will try to do, in this order:
• 30 Day Abs Challenge
• 30 Day Arms Challenge
• 30 Day Little Black Dress Challenge
• Try-It Tuesdays: The overall challenge provides the opportunity to partake of Tuesday classes designed to encourage us to try new classes, classes outside our comfort zones, etc. Those I will keep and eye on and try if they look interesting and, more importantly,  if I can fit them into my already crammed schedule. That's a play-it-by-ear situation.

This sounds like a lot, i know, but the truth is that a) it will take a lot if I am going to make my own goals in just 90 days, b) I already eat pretty healthy and cook a lot--the nutritional plan above is just more focused, and c) the workouts listed should total about 1.5 - 2 hours per day, and not all at once. It should be both possible and maintainable.

Re-con Mission

Today I learned that the Apex location of our gym has a child care center, of which I was previously unaware. So after I gathered the kids from school, we went! I checked out the 5pm Zumba class while the kiddos played the hour away, and all of us had a great time! The boys were both reluctant to leave, and both asked if they could come back next Friday. Win! Plus the Zumba teacher, Tameka, was positive and high energy, as were all the students in the class. I'll definitely be including her class in the plan!

PS--I have decided that the fitness equivalent of speed-balling is taking a Zumba class and then a Yoga class.

Something New

When I got pregnant in July of 2007, I weighed 218 pounds. I was starting to feel pretty gross and thinking about trying to lose weight. Oddly, having a baby turned out to be a great weight loss plan for me: my net gain while pregnant with my first son was 3 pounds, and I came home from the hospital 22 pounds lighter than the day I got pregnant. Breastfeeding helped with losing even more weight, and I was feeling pretty good when I got pregnant with my second child in 2009. After he was born, I got more active and had more energy and continued to lose weight until I was down to 169 pounds. I felt great! I felt like I looked good! And I was maintaining.

Then came what we call The Summer of Loss, which was the summer of 2013. A long series of personal events happened that took over life and left me with little time or emotion left to devote to fitness, my weight, or anything beyond getting through the next day. The barrage continued well into the next year, and in the spring of 2014, as the seasons changed, I realized that I had gained back a huge percentage of the weight I had lost. I had crossed back over my dreaded 200 pound mark again, nothing fit, and I began to realize that my lack of energy and stress level had much to do with the weight gain. I took steps and started walking and working out again, though not quite as consistently as I should have. Still--it was working, and I was starting to slowly go down again. However, I had a huge setback last fall when I developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot, and my doctor put me on rest for 3 months, right as the holidays hit. I can't tell you how demoralizing that was for me--all that progress disappearing before my eyes. And in the end, here I am, back where I started. My fat pants aren't my fat pants--they're just my pants.

I need motivation, a plan, and accountability.

I have signed up for a 90-day weight loss challenge at my gym, and I am hoping it will provide the kick start I need to get my body back on track. Here are the details:

Lifetime Fitness Weight Loss 90 Day Challenge

My weigh in is on Sunday, August 9th at 9:30am, and my challenge will officially begin then. Subsequent weigh-ins will be on Tuesdays. I plan to record everything here, including pictures, stats, and anything I learn along the way. I am not in it to win the national competition; I am in it to hit my own goals and to get my body to a place where I feel better, both physically and emotionally. This is the beginning.