It’s Spring!

Yippee!  Spring has finally arrived!  The daffodils are in bloom!  The days are getting longer!  And the sun is shining (most of the time)!  It’s time to lace up your shoes and hit the walking trails.  This is an amazing time of year!  Winter seemed to be especially gloomy and cold and everyone is excited about the chance to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Hopkins County has a variety of walking trails available for those ready to say good-bye to winter and embrace the bright and sunny days of spring.

• Dawson Springs City Park: This is a nice shaded, quiet trail.
• Dr. Festus Claybon Park: A relatively flat trail with the playground visible from the entire circuit.   
• Earlington City Park: This trail is also known as the Stewart Creek Walking Trail.  This is the trail I use the most.  It’s simple and provides plenty of shade.  I also feel safe walking it alone in the rare occasion I must walk without a partner (which for safety sake, I don’t recommend!) 
• Madisonville City Park: This is by far one of the most popular trails in Hopkins County.  Yet it is my least favorite.  My issues—traffic, safety, and snakes.
• Nortonville City Park: This path offers a pleasant but challenging walk. 
• Trover Wellness Park:  This trail is relatively new.  I haven’t had a chance to try it out, but those I’ve talked to describe it as enjoyable and tell me they felt safe walking here.  
• White Plains City Park:  I’m sorry, but I’ve never walked this path and haven’t even looked at it.  If you have tried this trail and have an opinion on it, please post it in the comments.  

Walking is America’s favorite form of exercise.  It’s cheap, easy, and convenient.  Studies have found that people are more likely to keep walking for exercise throughout their life.  And walking boasts the highest adherence rate and lowest dropout rate of any physical activity.    

Before you take off, consider a few pointers that can help make your walk safe, effective and enjoyable!

• Warm-Up: Aim for 5 minutes of slow walking or other warm-up exercises before setting out.
• Use proper form and technique:  Good posture prevents post-walk aches and pains and enables you to go faster.  You may have been walking from a young age, but here are a few tips that can help you get more results from each step:

1. Keep your gaze forward, not down.
2. Maintain an upright but comfortable posture with your neck, upper back and shoulders relaxed.
3. Bend your arms to about 90 degrees and make a loose, relaxed fist.  This turns your arms into shorter, more compact pendulums.  You’ll be able to swing them faster and thus help your legs and feet move faster. (Have you ever tried running with straight arms?)
4. Front hand should rise no higher than chest level.  Rear hand rises just to hip height.
5. Gently pull in your abdominal muscles.  This helps strengthen your abs while reducing lower-back pain.
6. Resist the urge to squeeze your glutes as you walk, as it can throw off your form.  To increase backside sculpting, increase the incline.
7. Avoid locking your front knee.
8. Land on your heel, roll through the ball of your foot, and push off with your toes.
9. Keep your stride moderate in length, allowing your knees to be slightly flexed as your legs swing forward and your feet strike the ground. 

• Breathe: It’s important to breathe deeply and evenly through your nose and mouth as you walk. 
• Cool-down: After your walking workout, start to slow down gradually.  Keep walking, but slow your pace to a stroll.  The cool-down phase is an excellent time to do stretching exercises.  

Hands down, walking is the easiest, no excuses, put-on-your-shoes-and-go cardio workout.  It’s popular, the risk of injury is low, and you get to be outside.  It’s the best way to get back into shape, especially for people who are overweight, have been sedentary a long time, or are over sixty.  In my next post I’ll discuss more of the health benefits derived from a walking routine, tips for staying safe during your walk and ways to have fun and boost the calorie burn while you walk. 

Until then, Stay Well and Be Fit,

Mel  

[Via http://mx2fitness.wordpress.com]

Watch this nerd shrink!!!

Hey blog-world!

This is day number one of my new life.

I don’t expect anyone to read this. I’m not under the impression that I will become an internet sensation and end up writing books about my story; signing books for throngs of admiring fans who hope to accomplish what I have.  Naturally, the narcissistic part of everyone secretly hopes that their blog will somehow be an overnight internet phenomenon.

I’m okay with this being a private recounting of a struggling girl trying to lose weight.

I am a 21-year-old University student. I grew up in a broken family that tried to quell awkwardness with fatty food.  Getting second helpings of food at supper guaranteed me a “Good girl!!” from dad.  By the time I was 13, my food options were almost entirely up to me.  Lets just say that I didn’t always make the best choices.

I was always big, I was 190 when i graduated from high school.  University  and late night pizza and beer, along with a long-term relationship where I got quite comfortable ballooned me up to 275 over two years.  (Working at McDonald’s didn’t help either!)

My relationship ended and I moved across the country and have been slowing losing weight for two years; I lived with athletes in residence at school and my fear of judgement overwhelmed my desire to eat an entire pizza, shoving it in my mouth, right out of the box, growling like a deranged animal.

This fear style dieting lost me some weight.

But let’s face it, it’s time for a complete overhaul!  I’m up to it.

Although it might be the most cliché thing ever, today is the first day of the rest of my life!
Here are the measurements I have been dreading taking. Ughhhh!

Bust:42
Waist:36.5
Hips:51 (oh me, oh my!)

Weight: 242
Height: 5′6″

Yeahhhhhhh….. How about that! Ugh.

[Via http://kathleenschange.wordpress.com]

Day 47, March 19th, 2010

I need to stop slacking. Seriously. Bah.

EXERCISE

Did a different workout on my wii fit… lots of boxing, step dancing and hoola hooping. The best I could describe it as was aerobics, and my internet research led me to believe I burned 173 calories. I can’t really argue it, and I guess it makes sense since it’s mostly cardio.

DIET

Went over again with late night snacking and doing a few shots with my bff, not to mention eating popcorn, and then pudding, in celebration of her being a kick ass photographer and taking new pictures for my business website

Oh yeah, who's the best? ME.

So I’m at 1800 calories for the day, with about 4 glasses of water I guess again…

MEASUREMENTS

195.2lbs… one day it will go down….

[Via http://wiislim.wordpress.com]

232 Days Till The Wedding

Dearest Supporters:

Not much to report today.  I slept later than I wanted, but when I got up, amazingly, I didn’t feel any pain in any part of my body.  As I think about it, I can’t even remember the last time I felt so… normal.  It’s fabulous though.  I wonder if taking Advil before going to bed helped or maybe it was the yoga stretches I did in bed to fight off the insomnia I was suffering from.  Whatever it was, it worked.

I made it into the gym today.  This marks three whole days in a row that I’ve exercised.  Wow!  Give me a gold star.  I think I’m settling into a routine.  I still haven’t seen any changes in my body and my pants and tops are still too snug.  Even though I know very well from experience that losing weight takes time, I still wish I could be surprised when I  pull those skinny jeans over my fatty thighs.  Sigh!

While I’m proud of the fact that I’m remaining so regimented, the thought crossed my mind today that being a week on vacation has certainly helped me to remain focused.  But what happens come Monday when I have to be up at 5am, into work at 7:30 and then I spend the rest of the day getting totally lost in my work?  When my day finally ends, I will have to endure an hour commute home, and it’s during that period of time when I talk myself out of exercising.  You see, this is ultimately what happens.  This is the pattern. I get cozy in the car and realize that I’m just too tired to do anything but go directly home to eat and relax.  Then before you know it, five months have gone by, I’ve forgotten where the gym is located and I’ve gained a few pounds.  Sound familiar?

So, how do I stay focused and motivated at the end of the day?  That’s the question I’m going to have to ponder and when I figure out the answer, I’m sure millions of overweight, Americans will want to know it.  Maybe it’s this blog that will keep me accountable as well as my followers, which as of right now, I apparently don’t have any.  I know there are still 232 days left until I have to squeeze into the Maid of Honor gown, but really, if I’m going to make my goal of losing twenty-five pounds, I don’t have much wiggle-room to mess up.

Time to snuggle up in bed with a good book.  I think I’ll pop some Advils and stretch a bit first.

VTY,

Thy Maid of Honor

[Via http://thymaidofhonor.wordpress.com]

Diet Friday

It’s a late post for Diet Friday; in fact it’s an extremely late post as I missed last week!  Thanks for your inquiries, all is well.  I’m working on some big projects at work (yes, I have a real job) which will take some more of my attention for the next month or so.  But enough about me, I know that what you’re really curious about is The Diet, so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.

Another pound down!  I am pleased to report that the slow but steady downward trend continues with almost no effort on my part. Here is what I’m doing”

•  I limit the amount of sugar I eat, and try to focus on “good carbs” without actually counting carbs.
• I focus on foods with high nutritional value
• I allow indulgences of really good artisanal cheese, very dark chocolate and red wine. (in moderation)
• During the week, I eat smaller, more frequent mini-meals
• On the weekends, I adapt to the situation. 
• If I’m eating out on the weekend and want to have bread (only the really good kind) I take a starch-blocker made from white bean extract.  (Only on weekends, I don’t make a habit of it)
• Exercise is 30 minutes total body program on elliptical trainer at least 4x per week, crunches 3x per week.

Now please don’t think that I’m advising anyone to eat cheese as a health food; I happen to love it and it takes the place of a sugar-laden dessert for me.  I also don’t tout the health benefits of taking a starch-blocker.  Although the ones made from white bean extract are supposed to be free from any known side effects, certainly check with your health care provider to make sure it’s OK for you.  I only use it a few times a week when I want to enjoy a piece of fresh bread and although it works for me without any side effects, I wouldn’t use it on a regular basis.  The good carbs that I eat regularly are high in nutrition and I wouldn’t want them to be “blocked”.

For me, limiting sugar intake is key.  I don’t avoid it completely.  Originally I was keeping my sugar intake under 15 grams per day.  I no longer keep track,  as choosing low sugar foods has become second nature.  I really (truly) have no cravings.  My hunger and appetite is under control, and I occasionally lose track of time and forget to eat.  (For those of you new to the blog, this has really never happened before!)  I’m not going for drastic weight loss, and if I lose only a few ounces every week I am quite pleased with the  steady progress. 

If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask and I will be happy to anwer.

To all my blogging friends out there, I’m still reading; keep up the good work.  I hope to participate more actively when things slow down a bit!

[Via http://kitchrn.wordpress.com]

AWOL!

So I have been a bit absent from my blog lately but in my defense I have had a few things going on!

1. Jason and I got engaged! I am so excited and already having fun with wedding planning!

2. I’m taking the Praxis test next week so that I can go back to school and get my teaching certificate!

3. Work has been SO stressful lately that I feel like I am treading water and just trying to stay afloat.

I fell off the wagon last week and pretty much ate anything I wanted. It wasn’t pretty but I did continue to work out and watch my portion sizes. So I skipped last weeks weigh in and tried to get back on track this week. I weighed in today and lost .4 pounds! Woo Hoo! I was happy for any loss!

This week I am recommiting to stay on track and hopefully get into the 170’s next week! When I started WW’s this time 170’s seemed so far away but now it is just around the corner and then the 160’s will be here before I know it! I really can’t wait! I am so excited and so committed this time around!

[Via http://dawnm3513.wordpress.com]

Damn Girl Scouts

So, the last couple weeks, I am clicking away the days, watching my diet, discovering good foods and low point snacks to chase away the cravings of sweet or salty, oh, and let me give a quick shout out to the people at Jello, the sugar-free chocolate mousse, its awesome and only 60 calories per serving.

Anyways, doing good on the diet until the doorbell rings. I find this strange since being in my new home, far removed from my old neighborhood, no one comes to visit yet.  Low and behold, there is the sweet little girl scout who sold me cookies over a month ago, the cookies I swore I was going to give to my kids or bring into work to be devoured by my co-workers. I smiled and thanked her, closed the door, opened the bag and saw the 3 boxes of cookies. Not even completely sure of what I ordered.  There they were. One box of thin mints, a Girl Scout staple of course, Trefoils, luscious shortbread, and a box of Samoa’s, a little slice of caramel and coconut heaven.

I close the bag quickly, actually feeling a lump build in my throat, from the stress of knowing I really can’t eat them.  I opened up the freezer and threw the bag in. Bad mistake, it just reminded me how good thin mints taste frozen. My kids came upstairs due to the door bell and saw the cookies. The jig was up, and now they had to be opened. Dammit.

I wanted to eat them row by row as I had mindlessly done in years past. But I am trying to be a forward thinker regarding all things food. I heard all my excuses and rationalizations in my head, and then I had one of each cookie.

The rest I had my son hide until the next day where I split up the balance of the cookies, giving one half to my oldest son to be shared with his Lacrosse buddies and the balance was brought to my son’s daycare and divided accordingly.

Myself, I feel as if I need an anti-anxiety pill and hope the cookie sales are no longer happening at the local grocery stores.  I can do this, I think, I hope.

Damn Girl Scouts.

[Via http://curveygirl.wordpress.com]