Phases of Fitness

One of the biggest challenges of starting to workout again after being a sedentary couch potato with a desk job for many years is that your heart can't do what your body and mind can. I would actually call this phase two of getting back into shape. Let me explain: 

Phase 1) When I originally bought Zumba for my Wii I weighed about 10-15 pounds more than I do now (between 196-201 lbs) and even though my mind somewhat wanted to get into shape, my body and heart really struggled. I would do the easiest 20 minute Zumba and my feet would be killing me and my calves would ache so bad the next day. At first I figured it was just because I had new shoes and I needed to break them in. After having this happen multiple times I got frustrated and I didn't want my feet to hurt anymore so I tried doing it barefoot. What do you know? That hurt my feet too. Not only did my feet hurt, but my heart was pounding out of my chest, and I felt like it was just way too hard for someone like me. This was a few years ago and since my mind was only partially committed, I gave up and stopped doing Zumba. I figured I would need to lose a little weight before I could workout.

So as far as my personal journey goes, there was a long period of time between Phase one and Phase Two. Phase one could be broken down as my Mind was only partially committed, my Body "couldn't" do what I needed it to and it ached too much afterwards, my Heart held me back from being able to keep up.

Phase 2) This time when I decided that I need to workout in order to meet my weight loss goals my Mind was in it 100%. I calculated how many calories I would need to burn exercising every week in order to not have to sacrifice by in-taking too few calories that I would feel restricted and give up on my new diet. I had a game plan that made complete sense to me and I had to workout in order to eat the amount that  I wanted to. I started Zumba Fitness Coreand I enjoyed it. My feet only hurt a little because I had already lost a little bit of weight. I was sore the next day and I still couldn't keep up with the zumba lady on the screen, but I did my best. Since I needed an accurate way to track how many calories I was burning, I bought a Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor
. After using it the first time, I realized that I was pushing myself way too hard and going over my max heart rate trying to keep up with the zumba wii lady. I told myself " that's alright, that computer graphic is fit and you need to modify it to work for you". The heart rate monitor has become a very valuable tool for me. It lets me know when to slow down a little and when I need to try harder. It gives me valuable information that keeps me going. I also pick individual songs that I like on Zumba now and take short water breaks between each song. Picking individual songs helps me workout longer because I have no idea how long I've been working out and I don't look at my watch. I wait until I feel like it's been a long time and then I check my calories burned and determine if it's a good time to stop or not. Oh, and by the way, my feet don't hurt at all anymore, even after 2 hours of Zumba with the same shoes!

I would say Phase 2 would be broken down as my Mind was completely committed, my Body was being pushed to the limit and could now do things I used to say it could not, my Heart is getting stronger every time I work out. 

Even though I feel like my heart is holding me back sometimes, it's not my heart's fault. I let it just sit there and flutter lightly for a few years and now I am putting it in overdrive. I've started taking Omega -3's and I know it will get stronger with more cardio. I have to say that I think it's very interesting how your mind can be one of the biggest determining factors of whether your weight loss journey will be successful or not. Nothing has really changed between Phase 1 and Phase 2 except for my Mind set and commitment to getting it done this time.

Why you Shouldn't Trust the Scale

Of course, there are quite a few reasons you shouldn't use the scale alone as a tool to gauge your progress. However, I am only going to talk about one of those reasons. My scale was literally lying to my face. I was using one of the old style scales and it would give me different readings. I got tired of it acting up, so I went and bought a snazzy new digital scale. I also had suspicions because every time I would be weighed on a doctor scale it said I weigh more. Well, it turns out that my old scale was being too kind and was telling me that I weigh 6 pounds less than I really do. That doesn't mean that I didn't still lose those three pounds last week. It does mean that my starting weight was 6 pounds higher. Talk about a low blow. My starting weight is actually 193 pounds and I am now 190 pounds.  Rather than 187 and 184. Yes, it really sucks but it doesn't mean anything when I think about it. If I hadn't found out soon enough then it may have affected me more drastically . Even then, I still have my progress pictures and my measurements to fall back on. Those will never lie to me! So the moral of the story is, gauge your progress using mutliple tools and you are less likely to go awry when one gets messed up or is less than your desired result. You can also gauge it on how you feel as well. I took pictures, measurements, and I'm using the scale. I also feel so much better already.

Week One Weigh In and Update

Hey guys! I've been doing great with my plan! I slipped a little on Father's Day but I am pretty sure I actually stayed within my calories at the end of the day. Saturday night I basically drank most of my calories but I didn't use being drunk as an excuse to eat everything under the moon to "soak up" the alcohol when I was feeling a little sick. My new Zumba game came on Friday so even after making cake pops for 3.5 hours I got my workout in and only ate one cake pop. I kicked butt and burned over 600 calories. It felt really good.  So I think I did pretty well over the weekend even though I did not log my calories.  I still kind of counted them in my head though.
    I did my week one weigh in on Saturday Morning and I am down three pounds!! Wahoo. Also, A non-scale victory is that I have more energy, I don't feel bloated half of the time and I swear I feel a little firmer in some areas from doing Zumba! I am so excited to continue. Here's a little comparison picture for you:

See you guys soon! Here's a link to the Zumba I got for my Wii. They also have it for X-Box Kinnect.

My New Plan

So far I have actually stuck to my plan. I have worked out according to plan and I have been eating well too.

Here's my new (more aggressive) plan :

Currently, my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1,980 calories. This is how many calories I would burn if I did nothing but lay in bed all day . If you search the web for BMR calculators, you will get mixed readings from each one. I am basing my numbers off the one on Caloriecount.com because that is what I am using to count calories as well. Losing weigh is supposedly a simple mathematical equation. Burn 3,500 calories and you will lose a pound. You can burn these calories by either working out or by in-taking (eating) less calories than you would naturally burn that day. My new plan is using a mixture of both. Now, keep in mind that this is just going to be the simple mathematical version of what I am doing. Beyond mathematics, I am making other changes which I will likely talk about in future posts. Just to give you a run down, they include water intake, how I look at food, social networking, changing the food pyramid and other lifestyle changes.

Ok, So here is the raw math version of it:

Current weight is 187 pounds as of 6/08/13. I am 25 years old and 5'9".
I will eat no more than 1,600 calories EVERY day.  By doing this alone, I will save myself from 380 calories per day.
I will exercise 6 out of the 7 days of the week. My one rest day will be the weekend day that my Fiance has off work. My excercise goal will be to burn a minimum of 420 calories. I just purchased a Heart Rate Monitor with a Calories burned calculator. Here is a link to the particular one that I purchased, Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor (Purple/Pink) . They have it in "manly" colors as well. I wanted to get this because I am only cheating myself if I am using an app that says I am burning way more calories than I actually am. Also, using a heart rate monitor will help you keep your heart rate "in the zone" to get the most out of your workout.
Between food intake and calories burned from working out, my daily goal is 800 calories burned. If I happen to eat a little extra that day and go over my 1,600 calories, I better work it off somehow. Also, I picked 1,600 as my magic number even though Calorie Count told me to do 1,470. Why? Well, every time I shoot for 1,470 I end up closer to 1,600 and then feel like crap for going over. So, instead of feeling crappy about that  I am shooting for 1,600. You know what is funny about that? These past couple days, I have been closer to 1,500 anyways!
So, I will be burning 800 calories per day , except on my rest day which will be 380 calories. That adds up to a total of 5,180 calories burned per week. 5,180/3,500 equals 1.48 pounds per week lost. For easy math ( and hopeful thinking) I rounded that up to 1.5 pounds. 1.5 pounds times 4 weeks = 6 pounds. 1.5 pounds times 12 weeks = 18 pounds . This idea started 3 days ago on 6/8/13, so I am basing everything off that date.
 Here are my mini goals:
Current weight of 187 - 18 pounds = 169 pounds on August 31st
169 pounds - 18 pounds = 151 pounds on November 23rd
151 pounds - 6 pounds = 145 pounds on December 21st < that is my goal weight. Either 145 or a size 7.
That means I will look good just in time for Christmas Family Pictures!  Wahoo!

The only thing I need to remember to do is to adjust my allowable calories as I lose the weight. My BMR will lower and I will have to either eat less calories or burn more through working out. Here's to hoping I can stick to it this time!