The 1 mile challenge

I recently joined the dietbet Diet Right for Your Personality Type with Jen Widerstrom. February 22, Jen posted a challenge to complete a 5k or 1 mile on foot. I went for it. It was great for me because it pushed me to walk one mile and I kept at it. She also stated that she was going to post the challenge again at the end of the dietbet with the expectation that our times will improve. With only 3 days left, I'm not sure if the challenge will be redone but her challenge became my challenge. Initially, I finished the mile in 22 minutes and 55 seconds (2/28/17), with a total walk time of 26:10. 

March 8, I tried to beat my time but ended up extending it 5 seconds. I didn't do a paper calculation of how long it would take with my speed adjustments. I just reasoned I was making less adjustments to get to my focal highs of 2.8 & 3.0 (like a turtle, I know). So first, it was 2.0 for 2 minutes, 2.2 for 2 minutes, 2.4 for 2 minutes, 2.6 for 2 minutes, 2.8 for 2 minutes, 3.0 for 5 minutes, 2.8 for 5 minutes, then down in increments of .2 for 2 minutes at a time. Next, I tried a 2.0-2.3-2.6-2.8-3.0-2.8... series in 3/5 minute increments. The following night, I managed to shake a whooping 19 seconds off my initial time, finishing a mile in 22 minutes and 31 seconds, with a total walk time of 26 minutes, 1 second. I still moved in .3 increments but at 2 minutes at a time.

I like this challenge because it is something I can quantify, an accomplishment I can touch and name. My goal is to simply get down to a mile in 20 minutes-- that's an average of 3 miles per hour. It might take building endurance-- longer walks-- before increasing speed but it's a goal to reach.

Namaste. 

Identifying Food Triggers

That 6 week commitment I was blogging about-- that didn't go too well. Choosing to focus on the bright side, I walked away encouraged that I was exercising at least two times per week and drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day. Now, it's like I'm on to the next fad in what I like to think of as my fad-free life.Well, my current spin is definitely not some diet or style people are participating in in masses. Instead, it's a typical allergen elimination diet-- no gluten, dairy, nightshade plants, corn, soy, sugar, MSG,nitrates, etc., and caffeine. My goals are to identify migraine triggers, identify pain triggers, identify triggers for skin burning or other skin sensations, and identify triggers of stomach issues. Also, my wife said we both have to lose weight so I agreed to lose 25 lbs. I've been doing this for about 2.5 weeks and lost 10 lbs. Also, my leg pain has decreased from a 8 to a 6. The progress isn't as great as I'd like but 4 weeks is a pretty typical length of time needed in order to get the junk out of one's body.

Water? I still drink it but have slacked with a faithful count. I'm confident I'm reaching 8 glasses per day but not so sure of reaching 10 glasses, which is my current preference.

Exercise? Not so much but this week I decided to fold it back into my schedule. I exercised at work once this week and have it on my to do list to complete before weekend's end.

A somewhat perk of this diet has been discovering new recipes and new delicious food. My faves have been the flourless almond cookies (I substituted chocolate chips for macadamia because I had that on hand) and turkey burgers with shredded zucchini and carrots. I'm also quite proud of myself for my hamburger steak dish that was extra delicious. If not for time limitations and dirty dishes, I might could enjoy cooking.

Here's to holding the faith. It works if you work it and I'll keep coming back.

Moving into Week 5 of 6

I did not do well with my commitments this week. The week began with me just not being into it + learning a bit about how being on the road for work can affect things like water consumption and snacks. Mid-week, I focused. Then, I was bummed and didn't put the energy into the commitments. So,

1. Water consumption-- I consumed at least 6 glasses of water 2 days and made it to 5 one to two additional days. Goal not reached.
2. Exercise-- I just sat down from 18 minutes on the treadmill and exercised 17+ minutes one other day this week. Goal failed.
3. Carbs? I achieved my goal of 135 or less on 3 days. I went over 1 day and didn't track my carbs the other 3 days. Not a good and faithful week.

Despite this week's slacking, I am moving forward into Week 5's goal. Part of the sadness was disappointment in not being able to bring down my elevated blood sugar with one day of good behavior. Hence, this week is my time to focus on consuming 105 carbs or less per day in snacks. It's modified from my original 100 stating to make a smooth 30,30,30,15 snack breakdown. It's not ideal from a doctor's perspective but I think I can manage with it if paired with carb control in meals. It's a step towards focus and intention so we'll see how it goes. Slow and steady. Steady, consistent. Namaste.

Week 4 of 6 week committment

Tonight, I realized my week count was off. I think that's because I referred to the end of the week as the week # of that previous week? Anyhow, week 1 was count carbohydrates consumed through snacks and limit daily snack carbs to 135 or less
Week 2 was exercise at least 10 minutes per day at least 3 days per week
Week 3 was to drink at least 6 cups of water daily

What about week 4? Well, I told you last week; it's time for me to kick up my exercise routine. I decided to increase the time spent exercising instead of increasing the pace of my walks. A regular exercise routine is important for maintaining good health. Although it would be easy to focus on a 10 or 15 minute increment, I need to learn to incorporate exercise into my weekly schedule. Self-care. Heck, that was even part of the message at church this morning at First Congo. Week 4's commitment is to exercise at least 17 minutes per day at least 3 days per week.

So, how am I doing with the commitments?
1. I tracked my carbs in snacks 6 out of 7 days. Excellent.
2. I stayed within my 135 daily carbs in snacks limit on 5 out of 6 of those days.
3. I averaged 90 carbs in snacks per day and frankly, my overage was  "1" carb over when using the diabetic count on the day I went over (i.e., I hit 143 carbs).
I count this as a success for the week. Before the 6 weeks ends, I plan to reduce my carb count to 100 per day. Making that commitment terrifies me. I've been achieving it while my goal is 135, somewhat, so one would think it won't be too hard. But I know me. We'll see.

Exercise was good. I did an official 10 minute routine on three days this week, 2 on treadmill and 1 via youtube. I even got in some lovely child play this weekend. Small as this goal has been, there have been multiple moments when I was aware of the cardiovascular improvement due to these simple walks. Bodies are meant to move. It's been a process of shaking off the cobwebs and telling mine it's okay to move. I've also been pretty faithful to ice my legs after my short workouts. I really, really, really don't want a repeat like before.

The water goal has been great. It took a mental adjustment to get those 6 cups in and sometimes I've definitely skipped something flavored in order to press towards this goal. But it's been met almost daily. My log verifies goal achievement 5 out of 7 days. I logged 4 one day, and 5 another. I sure felt like I smashed this goal but I admit that 5 out 7 ain't bad. Plus, there's no guarantee that I logged everything. I don't log everything but I do try to log the first six cups.

In closing, let me share that my scale believes I dropped 5 lbs this week. I won't argue ;).

Week 2 of 6 week Commitment

Last week maybe went a bit better than week 1 of the 6 weeks of commitment. I tracked my carbs consumed in snacks for 5 out of 7 days, I think. It continues to be difficult to know for sure when I've logged everything since myfitnesspal won't allow me to close out the day due to the low number of calories consumed. This week's tracking solidified my belief that I tracked more than 1 day last week. I only went over the 135 once, averaging 95.4 carbs in snacks per day.

This week's goal was to exercise for at least 10 minutes three days per week. I exercised twice. Today was day 1 of exercising for this week. I will do better this week with goal two, much like I did better with goal 1 the week after it debuted,

Week 3's goal is to drink at least 6 glasses of water daily. Thus far (3:30pm), I've consumed 5.5 glasses of water. A few weeks ago, I purchased big bottles of Dasani because they were on sale. They are perfect for now. The 1 bottle is nearly 6 glasses; 2 bottles will easily exceed my 10 cup goal that's to come.

Although I am comfortable with the progress I'm making, the commitment, my scale did not tell me a happy story on Friday. I had gained 1lb for the week but the most alarming thing was to generate the grid to see my weight for the year. It's gone up and up and up, about 12-14 lbs, I believe. Disheartening. Then again, that doesn't sound right. I believe I'm 6 lbs away from my high so I guess the 12-14 is the increase from my recent low. I find the graph to be a bit motivating. It's a fact that weight loss does not tend to motivate my actions, only health. But seeing the increase from my recent natural weight-loss (side effect of going gluten-free) made me want to go back to my previous weight. Truly, my low made me want to lose a few more pounds to cross one those theoretical weight line (increments of 25). I'm not jumping up and down to become a calorie counter with an intense exercise schedule, but I am hopeful that weight-loss will be a byproduct of my simple, gradual, intentional changes. Next week's goal is going to be to exercise 17 minutes a day at least 3 days a week; funny how the goals are coming to me faster than the weeks are passing.

Here's to strength and health....

2nd take of 2016

My job has been sending e-mails trying to hype employees up about a new fitness/health program being offered to employees. I believe it incorporates nutrition, exercise, and mental well-being into its curriculum. It's distinct from Weight Watchers, which is also offered. I admit that I’ve given thought to joining this group. Problem 1 is I’m stationed off main campus and really don’t like the hassle of getting to campus to participate in a 30 minute group. It takes about 30 minutes for me to complete the round trip traveling. Problem 2 is I haven’t fully committed to anything health positive recently. I believe the time my body fell apart every time I exercised is the last time I was committed (February 2016). Well, one of the e-mails encouraged us to make one change per week. Slow and steady. It’s the kind of thing I would come up with myself while everyone else looks at me like I’m crazy, lazy, and uncommitted (Problem 3, BTW). Although I haven’t joined the class, I made the commitment to change 1 thing per week for 6 weeks and told my wife to encourage her to keep me accountable (I don’t think that part is working though, as she is not making the same commitment). My changes?

Well, post-Easter I went crazy with the candy, especially those of the pure sugar variety. As peeps continued to be on clearance, I began thinking about my diabetic status and what my snacking was likely doing to my A1C (average blood sugar reading). How to scale back? Figure out how much damage I was doing and work from there. I managed to track my carbs consumed as snacks for 5 days and had an average consumption of 169 carbs per day (in snacks). I want to get down to no more than 100 daily and therefore decided to set my first goal at 20% less of original consumption. Goal 1, week 1, was to limit my carb consumption through snacks to 135 carbs or less. To help reach this goal, I realized that 135 carbs divided across morning, afternoon, evening, and night snacks allows up to 34 carbs per time of day period. That was manageable. If I wanted to eat a Snickers at 11am, I’d look and say, “Okay. It’s 11. How many carbs in snacks have I had today and how many do I have left before noon?” Sometimes, it was necessary to wait a few hours before getting that snack. Manageable. But how’d I do? Well, let’s start by saying I did not carb count one day this weekend—not Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Friday I went to an outreach event at work and had access to a ridiculous amount of sugar while there. No restraint. Strike out. Bad. Saturday, I went to a wedding. That allowed for a slice (and half) of cake but didn’t involve a whole lot of sweets. Today, I am craving but the day’s guilt is about pizza + sweet bites + blended coffee  in one sitting. Besides that, I tracked my carbs through snacks 2 full and 2 half days out of 4 days last week and stayed within my limit one of those days. Wow. I thought I did a better job tracking my snacks last week. My gut says I tracked for 3 days but myfitnesspal won't let me mark the day complete when my log says I didn't eat enough calories per day. 

Week 2 begins tomorrow but I began my action today. This coming week, I commit to walking 10 minutes per day on at least 3 days. Today, I walked for 10 minutes at 2.0 miles per hour. Around minute 4 or 5, I had great leg pain. That’s when I knew that this week’s goal would be 10 minutes, not 15. I still remember last time. I also experienced hip and back pain at the speed I figure is about as slow as I can go while still moving. Session over, I applied ice packs to my calf muscles. I’m trying to stay “healthy” and stable with the exercise this time. I will also continue to track my snack consumption.

6 weeks. I haven’t given much thought to what goal I will set per week so this journey will be interesting to see unfold. Also, I’ve been having issues with my shoulders, which have prevented me from spending time on the mat. I’m still in the phase of nursing my right shoulder and don’t think it wise to balance my weight on it. Some days, I put too much on my left side which then screams in ways similar to the right. The doctor says if I don’t get better with the shot he gave me and meloxicam that I’ve opted to take, that I seem to be a surgery candidate. I sure don’t want or plan to have surgery. Maybe rotator cuff exercises should be a week 3 goals. Lol. Namaste and Peace.

3 out of 4

10pm and I had not exercised this weekend. That would not be okay. So, I climbed on the treadmill at 10:10pm and began a 15 minute walk. It was still slow. It still feels like there are knots in my calf muscles. But, it wasn't as bad. 

All weekend,my yoga app has been yelling me as I started a 2 week program on Friday but haven't been on a mat since leaving my office on Friday. It's a break thing. I shall return tomorrow. Lord knows Monday's need a breathe and a stretch. 

And now, post walk? My legs are screaming but they were screaming before I got on the machine. I must get better. Fibromyalgia will not win. Sadly, exercise isn't a cure all, if a start, but I have to do something to try. 

I've exercised 3 times since initiating this habit 4 days ago. Not bad. Now to continue for week 2. 

Namaste. 

13 minutes @ 2.0

2 minutes at 1.5

stretch