Goals and New Habits

I just started a new session of a group I belong to  called Lighten Up For Life.  Part of our "attack" on getting fit and healthy is to set goals. Goals are important because they give you a 'marker' to keep track of your progress.

Some of the goals they suggest are 1) Keep a food journal, 2) Increase your activity, 3) Boost your water intake, 4) Build a support squad, 5) Eat more vegetables, 6) Make moderation your method, Choosing smart snacks, Stop with the sugar, etc.

I like to say, as others have, that unless you are a professional athlete, you are not in competition with anyone except yourself. So set those goals and make the goals things you really have to work on to achieve. At the beginning goals could be made to be achieved easily so you gain some confidence. But as you go along make them harder to achieve. Challenge yourself. 

Remember you are the only one that can get you healthy and fit. You are the only one that can make you walk away from that cookie. You are the only one that can make you get off the couch and put those tennis shoes on and go outside for a walk, or to the gym or do some aerobic dancing in your living room.

People that are in great shape set goals. One of my favorites was/is setting a goal for myself doing a plank. When I first started out I could barely do 30 seconds. But I kept at it everyday and each day or two or three....I added another 30 seconds. I'll be the first to admit, I've been a little lax on doing that everyday. But at one point I was up to 7 minutes and I was stoked! So I'm back at it and building my time up again. The tool that helped me was to download some songs onto my iTunes and set up a playlist called planks. I made sure I had songs of varying times from 30 seconds to 9 minutes. I then put them on my iPod and I listen to it when I am doing my plank. Every few days listening to the next song on the list which is a little longer than the previous. It works great. My goal right now is to work up to 10 full minutes in a static plank.

I've set myself a calorie goal and I work on that on a daily basis. I set myself an exercise goal and I've made a plan on what days I exercise upper body, lower body, do cardio, etc. and I remember to occasionally change that routine up to keep my muscles and mind on their toes.

Now I can hear some of you saying......"you are way to serious about this....all of those goals counting calories and plans seem like such a chore". My thought on that is that with anything, when you are trying to form a habit, the beginning may seem like a boring task. But that's really what we're trying to do here. We're trying to form a life long habit. A habit that will become second nature to us. A habit that will keep us healthy and fit for the rest of our lives.

So if you're just starting out or if you've been at this for a while and you seem to be hitting a brick wall on your weight loss or in getting your body toned and fit....try making some new goals. Keep your eye on what you want to accomplish in your 'healthy' journey. And remember that it takes a while to form a habit so don't give up after the first few days or the first few weeks. This is not a quick fix. This is your life and if you want to join me in being healthy and fit at 99, you have to make up your mind that you're working on a habit you can live with the rest of your life.

I am my own worst enemy....Keep your mind on the goal!

Part of losing weight and keeping it off is exercise—that’s really a key factor—let’s call it 1/3 of the equation. Another 3^rd is diet. You CAN NOT “out exercise” a bad diet. I can take 6 fitness classes a week, workout at the gym and power walk 8 miles, but if my diet is full of fatty and unhealthy foods, I might as well be walking around with one foot nailed to the floor...just moving in a circle going nowhere.

Which brings me to the last part of the 3-way equation—that being ‘mental’. In my opinion, this is the 3^rd that can do the most damage. Your mental awareness and attitude can produce either the most success or the most failure in getting fit. The body achieves what the mind believes. Even if you eat healthy and exercise, you have to get yourself into the proper mindset because it’s so easy to sabotage yourself if you’re not into the fitness equation mentally.

I recently watched a cooking video done Olivia Ward (you might recognize Olivia as the winner on season before last – Biggest Loser show). She has a blog along with her sister (2^nd runner up) Hannah Curlee. Their blog is terrific...you might want to check it out http://myfitspiration.com

In the video http://myfitspiration.com/2012/08/14/olivias-breakfast-tour/ she demonstrates cooking her recipe for an omelet made with egg whites, spinach and mushroom. In the video she says that you can add other things—other veggies—fat free ham—low fat cheese, etc. But she follows that up saying, “I don’t put cheese in mine because “I can’t be trusted”. When I first heard her say that I about fell over....those words could have come right out of my mouth....with certain foods “I can’t be trusted”. One of the main rules about getting fit and eating healthy is to remove from your home those food items that you can not “control”. That’s the reason I don’t keep candy in my home, the reason I limit the amount of chips in my home, the reason I limit my treat to ½ cup of frozen yogurt to only Sunday night.

I’m going to be perfectly honest with you here—my “former fat girl mentality” has a mean dangerous way of sneaking up on me and whispering in my ear.......“oh just one more bite won’t hurt you”..... “2 nights of frozen yogurt won’t hurt, after all you exercised really hard today”. It’s like the old cartoon picture of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other battling to win over your mind. It’s those little baby steps backwards that lead to slow ‘backsliding’.... that gets you in so much trouble.....and can take you down the old yoyo path of lose weight—gain it back....lose weight—gain it back.

My sweet 89 year old daddy and 87 year old mom love my chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies.....so I have a habit of making a batch of each for them when I travel down to see them every 2-3 weeks. So here I’ll let you guess....Do you think I can just bake them a batch, wrap them up, deliver them, and not have one single cookie myself? OK stop with the laughing and rolling of your eyes.....yes 99% of you guessed right....NO I CAN’T. I’m my own worst enemy. One of my recent goals I’ve set for myself is to do just that. Bake those delights, not take one hot out of the oven, not take one as I box them up, not take two while I’m visiting (because after all everyone else is eating them). The answer is simple, easy and age old....PEGGY—JUST SAY NO!

I’ve worked really hard at eating healthy and exercising faithfully to lose the 55 pounds I’ve lost. Now I just need to bring my mind around full turn to get on board with the program. I am not who I used to be. I don’t want to be who I used to be. I want to be fit now, stay fit and be fit at 99.

FAT GIRL “get thee behind me”. The FIT GIRL that’s hidden so long inside me is out and she’s in charge.

THE BODY ACHIEVES WHAT THE MIND BELIEVES. AND I BELIEVE THAT NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS FIT AND HEALTHY FEELS. I’ve got on my T-shirt right now...

Make sure you have all 3 pieces of the equation fully engaged in your quest to be healthy and fit.

EAT HEALTHY

EXERCISE

KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE GOAL!

You're never too old to get fit

So I walk into my core and cycle class that has become my Monday and Wednesday routine, get my mat, stability ball and weights--the equipment we'll use for class that day.  An elderly gentleman walked into the room and shook hands with the trainer.  I thought--must be just coming by to say hello.  But then the trainer assistant got him a mat and some light weights and a stability ball..hmmmmm....is this man really going to take the core/cycle class?? Well by golly....sure enough.  Our trainer introduced him (I'll call him Bob) and said "be nice to Bob, he's 93 years young".  I was filled with inspiration, admiration and a spirit of renewed belief that you truly are never too old to decide to get fit.....especially when I was told he had been working with the trainer for a year and when he first started he cold barely walk.  He got down on the mat 'by himself', got up off the mat 'by himself' and did all the core exercises we did......and then cycled on a stationary bike with the rest of us for the second 30 mins. of the class.

  What an inspiration!  I'm 63.  My goal is to get fit, stay fit, and be fit at 99...........this clearly shows you that you can be 23, 63 or 93 and if you make up your mind that you're not ready for your story to be over you can get fit.  Believe in yourself.  Believe you can do it. 

 

I'm betting he'll be fit at 103!

I'm not just stretching the truth......

 Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have a chronic problem with a sort of tendinitis in my left heel area (not the bottom like plantar fasciatis--but around the back and sides of my ankle).

My doctor explained that there is a tendon that runs the full length of the back of the leg down to the ankle, then branches out to tiny branches on either side of the ankle.

If you power walk (like I do) or walk a lot (like I do) you can damage that area (which I have).  This has been going on for a few years.

Doc advises that since it is a chronic condition, I need to ice the area each time I walk (which I do) and take Ibuprofen on a regular basis (which I also do....well alternating with Tylenol)....  He also told me to get some heel lifts to put in my tennis shoes and NO flat flip flops....can't do them, can't go barefoot....If I do I pay dearly for it.  So now all my flip flops that I mostly live in except at the gym or in a fitness class have the higher wedged heel (my heels thank me for that)!

But what he didn't tell me (or maybe he did and I wasn't listening) is that I really really really need to stretch the full length of that tendon everyday.

I've started doing that and I am here to tell you (living proof) that it has made all the difference in the world. 

My heel got to hurting me so bad about a month ago that I conceded to my trainer who on more than one occassion said, "What are you doing for it".....I replied 'icing and ibuprofen'...and he said, "Peggy, do you ever give it any rest?"  (I'm a bit of a gym rat....a littel addicted to exercise since I realized how much I love it and how good it is for you!!

!.....anyway back to my thought..(see earlier post) and just did not exercise for a full week (well OK...almost a full week) and then I started these serious daily stretches.

I try to do the forward seated toe touches   but still have difficulty because my hamstrings are so tight. 

I also lay on my back on a mat and use a band to pull my leg up toward the ceiling as high as I can get it.  Sometimes I do that against a wall where you scooch up your butt as close to the baseboard as you can get and put your legs up against the wall. I do standing hip flexars.
 I do inverted A's

My goal is to do something like this     
or this or this  

The goal is really 2 part...well maybe 3 part.... 1)I'd love to be able to do those poses...2) I know if I could stretch like that my tendon would be more flexible and my heel would hurt less (at least I hope that would be how it worked) and 3) if my heel hurt less I could get back to the exercises that bring me the most joy--power walking and jogging.  I mean if I can't power walk or jog or run....how will I ever be the 64 year old winner of the San Antonio Rock and Roll Half Marathon (and someday Marathon)...OK wait...if by some miracle I did it this year, I'd be the 63 year old winner, cause it happens the day before my birthday!  This goal may be "stretching" myself to my current limit, but it's a goal (bucket list) dream of mine and if you know me, you know I'm determined enough to do it!

So don't forget one of the most important before and after parts of exercising......
S----T----R----E----T----C----H----I----N---G!

See you in the gym...
Peg

PS.  If you have any real good stretches or tips for helping my hurting heel...write me a comment or e-mail me at Peggylee57@aol.com and put Hurting Heel in the subject line (ya know....you get a lot of spam these days and I tend to just delete if it shows up there or I don't recognize a name...call me crazy, but that's just me!)

Take a compliment....Give a compliment

I guess my hard work is finally beginning to pay off.  On more than one occasion at the gym and at other places (i.e. the grocery store!), I've had other women stop me and ask me how I got my legs so toned and muscular.....or just to tell me..."wow you have killer legs". 

I've got to tell you, that is real encouragement to me!  I try to graciously accept the compliment without blushing or gushing.  And I explain what it's taken to get to this point in my quest for a fit body.  It's been lots of hard work and time at the gym or in fitness classes almost every day of the week
.

The compliments mean so much.....so I try to return them as often as I can.  If I see someone in the gym that is doing something I can't even begin to do, I always go up and tell them what a great job they are doing and ask what it takes to be able to get to a point where I can do that stretch or bend or exercise.

Compliments are great encouragement.  You have to be your own cheerleader most of the time in this struggle to get the weight off, keep it off and get your body fit. So when someone else recognizes the change in you and appreciates the hard work it takes to get there, that's a real bonus.

So accept compliments graciously; use them to fuel your routine; use them to set new goals; use them to feel proud of how far you've come.  But be sure to pay it forward and give someone else a compliment too. And it doesn't have to just be about weight loss.  Don't be afraid to tell someone they have beautiful eyes or really cute kids....

Everyone loves a compliment!

There is simply nothing more rewarding when you're on "this journey" then for someone to say "Wow!  You look great.  You've really lost weight."  or "Wow!  You've got killer legs"!  Especially when you're only 14 weeks away from turning 64 :)

Staying Alive, What to do when you can't exercise and Where's the motivation???!!

A sweet beautiful new friend of mine (Deborah) reminded me today that I'm suppose to be writing in this blog.....I mean I did say I'd write some motivational thoughts and info on losing weight (and the battle that entails), keeping the weight off (and the battle that entails) and how you can stay sane with all the advertisements for food and skinny models! And it only stands to reason that in order to get the words on this blog for you to read and contemplate (and yes sometimes roll your eyes at) I have to write!  I'm smiling....I love to write and I want to motivate, so Deborah or anyone else reading this...when you don't see something on here for a while, get out the old cattle prod and give me a poke!

So first off, let me say to forget the skinny models...some of them are way way too skinny and some of what you see is air brushing.  What I'm talking about here is the real world.  I'm talking about you and me on past 50 and doing our best to stay alive in the best fit body we can get.  Below is a video from YouTube featuring Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth dancing to the Bee Gees famous song "Staying Alive".  Now I have to tell you that someone spent a lot of time and had some real talent to put that video together.  In case it hasn't dawned on you, Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth and the films in this video were long gone or way past their time when the Bee Gees recorded "Staying Alive".  To produce that video the person who put it together had to be dedicated, committed, and had a goal in mind that he/she saw through to fruition.  And so it is with losing weight.  It doesn't just happen.  You have to have a goal, be dedicated and committed.  You have to envision the final product (the new you).  You have to want to change and believe you can make something (a new you) out of the old you....and yes sometimes you have to be creative.

Sometimes (oh who am I kidding) lots of times, life just is not a bed of roses and doesn't go just like we planned it, hoped it would go, dreamed it would go....oh no, you can almost surely count on a stumbling block or two or three along the way to the new you.

Let's say for instance, you have bum ankle.....you know the kind where the tendon aches when you power walk, do killer wall squats, lunges or just exercise too strenuously.  And you let it go and you let it go and you let it go......(getting my drift here) until finally that old ankle says "Look fool, either you give me some rest or I'm going to do some real serious damage and I'll shut you down for a long time!"  Oh listen, don't mess with your body.  If somethings wrong and you don't take care of it or give it the rest it needs, it will stop you in your tracks.  And then what do you do.  You've been eating healthy, counting calories taken in, burning calories by exercising, making progress, getting in your 10,000 steps a day and then BOOM, dead in your tracks.  What the heck do I do now

OK Peggy,....don't make this a riddle....tell me, tell me, tell me now  what do you do when you can't exercise for a while!!!!! INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW!

?.........well other than go into panic condition and fear you will gain all your weight and lost inches back (which believe me you'll do if you've had a lifelong battle with weight), you just have to take a few steps backward, take a deep breath and use your head and all you've learned about how to lose and keep the weight off.  First LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.  When it truly tells you it needs to rest; when you're truly in pain....REST YOUR INJURY!  I'm not talking about you just "wanting to rest" and not go exercise, I'm talking about your body saying "sister or brother, this is not a joke, we may have a real problem here, let's rest for a while or go see a doctor".  And I don't mean rest for one afternoon...I mean rest for a few days or a week. 
BUT PEGGY.....I'LL BE TAKING FIVE STEPS BACKWARDS AND I'VE WORKED SO HARD!!!  OK  calm down you know what you have to do.  You lose weight by burning more calories than you take in....so if you can't burn calories because you are taking a required break from exercising, you have to take in less calories.  Plan your meals carefully, if you have a sweet treat once a week or a hamburger, on the weeks you can't exercise, skip those little extras.  Eat more fruits and veggies.  And do the exercises you can do that don't further injure the area you're needing to rest.  If you have an ankle problem, you can still lift weights and work on your arms and upper body.  If you have a shoulder problem, you can still do leg presses and work on your lower body. 

Remember this is a life-long deal.  We are going to have road blocks along the way and we need to have a plan for dealing with those road blocks....so they don't become setbacks.  We need to be able to substitute things and compensate where we might fall short.  Conversely if you have a big meal (which you're going to do now and again).....you are going to have a piece of coconut cream pie or brownie alamode every once in a while.............oh don't play innocent....it's me you're talking to here.....I've walked in your shoes.....hell I'm the cobbler who made the shoes!!  And you will (you should)  do that, When you do...enjoy every morsel and then compensate with some extra exercises.   And when you can't exercise, because of an injury, compensate by backing off with equivalent calories.

This is not rocket sceince my friend.  This is using the basics of losing weight and keeping it off...for the rest of your life. We are in this fight together and we're trying to get fit and by doing so.....

We're "STAYING ALIVE"!!!

http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=mz3CPzdCDws

If you have an injury....listen to your body....but don't lose your commitment!

Remember.....
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Thanks again for the reminder Deborah.....keep them coming and I'll do my best to keep my promise to write in this blog and hopefully motivate someone.

PS.....I've been promising a before and after of me.... so here you go....

Before                Now....but still a work in progress...

Even at 63 you can dream.....and if you're going to dream you might as well dream big (er....I mean small)!

 Well I figure at the rate I'm going my chances of looking like this will come when I turn 65....so that's what I'm shooting for.  Let's see that gives me 1 year and 4 months to drop 15-17 more pounds and 10 more inches in my core area.  It will not be easy, but then as the old saying goes " Nothing comes easy that's worth anything".  Today I went to my Tuesday Strength class and we did steps with weights and then just weights to strengthen our arms and legs.  This Strength class is actually called "Strength Training".....so it's not really a full workout.  It's an hour long and the fitness trainer shows us different exercises we can do with steps, weights, bands, balance balls, stability sticks etc.   But much like a cooking class or a sewing class, or a woodworking class, you can be shown the things to do and the form in which they should be done, but if you do not take the knowledge home or to the gym or to the woodworking shop, and practice them you really don't benefit from the training.

LISTEN UP!....oops sorry, I didn't mean to yell....I just really need to get your attention here.  This fitness game is serious.  You have to work at it.  It's just like anything else--- you can't just wish it would happen, you have to put in the time and effort and make things happen.  You can't just look at a picture on Pinterest and copy/post it (see above picture) and hope that someday you'll look like that.  I'm being perfectly honest here (been there, done that, voice of experience here).  It just flat will not happen.  When you see the skinny, curvy, muscular, toned gal or guy in the gym and think to yourself....."yeh right...like she really needs to be here!!!  Take a step back and think about this...it's very very possible that that gal or that guy was once overweight and afraid to step foot in a gym to face yet another skinny, curvy, muscular gal or guy.  It's very very possible that at one point they said to themselves, I just need to lose a few pounds so I don't look like some blob walking into the gym that people are going to stare at and silently ridicule.

I was that gal.  I weighed 200 (plus) pounds and I've always been a worrier (about what people think) from the word go.  But then one day something clicked in my head.  I know some of you will hate reading this.....but the first little click came when I started watching "Biggest Loser" on TV.....I know it's a reality show, I know they get paid to show their overweight bodies and let people watch them get weighed every week....but it made me think.  I didn't need to lose as much weight as some of those people and by golly if they can do it...so can I.  Losing weight and getting your body fit, toned, healthy and strong DOES NOT COME FROM SITTING ON THE COUCH WATCHING BIGGEST LOSER OR WISHING YOU LOOKED LIKE THE WINNER AT THE END OF EACH SEASON. It comes from getting off that couch, analyzing/changing the food and the amount of food you eat, going outside to walk, and getting to the gym to work out.  If you're serious you'll want to get a trainer.  Believe me it is worth every single dime you have to pay.

A gal that is in my Cardio Fit class (which consists of 30 minutes of spin and 30 minutes of cardio dance) said to me the other day that getting started and sticking to it was pretty easy for her.....it was simple....it was a matter of life and death (thank you for that inspiration Ellie!)  It is indeed as simple as that.  Think of it that way.  You are fighting for your life.  Don't get me wrong....I know death is a part of life.....not one of us will escape that part of the end of our lives.  But I for one think it's great to know that everyday I watch what I eat and everyday I go to the gym or a fitness class and everyday I put my health and fitness as the number one (top of the list) priority in my life---I'm giving myself the chance to extend my life and the chance that my extended life will be less likely pulled down with arthritis, diabetes, heart problems, cancer and a myriad of other things that being overweight and unfit can bring to you in your elder years.  If I was in my 30's and had young children, I'd think about wanting to be able to run and play with them and be around to see my kids graduate.  If I was in my 40's, I'd think about wanting to be around to see them graduate from college or get a good job, find the love of their lives and be the mother of the bride or groom when they get married.  If I was 50, 60, 70 I'd want to be around to enjoy my grandchildren and maybe even my great grandchildren. 

If you're reading this blog and you're any of those ages, stop for a minute and think about where you are in your life and where you want to be in 10, 20, 30, 40 years.  If you're not healthy and fit, if you're so tired of having to go in the store and buying something in the big girl or the tall and big guy's department, if you feel uncomfortable in your body, if you feel like your eating is out of control.....Help is on the way!!!!! 

Now listen carefully.  Read these words and reread them as many times as it takes to get them to sink in.  "YOU ARE THE HELP YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR"   You are the one who has to get up off the couch and take those first few baby steps.  You are the one who has to make the commitment.  You are the one who has to put in the time and effort.....no matter how slow it goes.  You have to start somewhere.  You have to start today....and if this week doesn't go well, you have to pick yourself up, brush yourself off and start over next week.....and keep doing that.....do not quit....and as my friend Ellie said.....once you get it, once it clicks....it's pretty simple....You're doing it to improve your life and yes maybe even save it.  Get rid of your unhealthy habits and learn some new healthy ones.

Don't say you can't.  Take CAN'T out of your vocabulary.  It's not a question of if you can--it's a question of will you?  I'm hoping you will.  If I could I would scream it from the rooftops....I WANT YOU TO BE HEALTHY AND FIT--PLEASE TAKE THE FIRST STEP!!!  YES I'M TALKING TO YOU!
Remember dreams do come true....this is one of my favorite quotes on taking the steps to make your dreams come true:
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills, countless ideas and endless plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself then providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and
material assistance which no man could have dreamed would come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Remember,

I'm cheering for you to dream.....dream big and get up and make your dreams come true!

Till next time....here's to your health and fitness,
Peg