I Only Get Better With Time

Good Monday Morning Everyone!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  My weekend was filled with too much food and too much sinus pressure! 

So let's get right into it:

Activity Since Last Week's Post:

Monday

3.32 mile walk @ lunch (5 laps)

2.52 mile walk @ home

3.14 mile bike ride @ home

Tuesday

1.44 mile walk @ lunch - Sinus headache...left work early

3.50 mile bike ride @ home - Sinus headache, family dinner, too late to walk by myself

Wednesday

3.51 mile walk @ lunch (5 laps)

Halloween trick-or-treating

Thursday

1.00 mile walk @ lunch - Walked to lunch and back from lunch (celebrated b-day)

1.50 mile walk @ home

Friday

30th Birthday - Not a thing!

Saturday
5 mile bike ride
Joined local health club and swam laps for 45 minutes

Sunday
Walked the Twin Canals Trail - 1.2 miles
Walked the Ring Levee Trail - 1.2 miles

THAT'S A GRAND TOTAL OF 27.33 EXERCISE MILES FOR THE WEEK!
*(This does not include the pool laps b/c I have no idea how far I went or how many laps I did in 45 minutes)

I'm proud of the exercise I DID get in because this was a crazy week with birthday stuff, a day off, and family stuff.  It's safe to say that I DID NOT meet the goals that I set for myself this past week, but the fact that I did 27 miles with all the extra activities I had going on, I am proud of that. It's time to get back on it and get back to doing the damn thing for this coming week!  So here we go:

Goals for this coming week:

1. Workout at the gym every day this work week (bonus if I get a workout in at the gym on the weekend)
2. Walk around the Superdome at least 3 days this week
3. Ride my bike at least 3 nights this week
4. Vote!!!

New Developments

1.  The health insurance at my work is doing a research program on obesity.  They were asking for participants to apply for the program to be part of the study.  I signed up a year ago and never heard back, until last Tuesday.  The program had two options:  The first was surgical weightloss.  The second was intensive medical intervention.  The surgical weightloss speaks for itself.  The intensive medical intervention was the option I signed up for.  This option involves a 16 week diet consisting of protein shakes that are provided by the medical research facility.  During the 16 weeks, veggies and fruits are introduced to your diet.  After the 16 weeks, you are back on solid foods.  Every 2 weeks during the 16 week program you have to visit with the medical staff for a checkup.  After the 16 week program, you enter into group sessions where you are guided by dietitians and doctors to reteach you about food, exercise, reading food labels, learning what is right for your body, etc. 

The entire program kicks off with a complete physical.  My physical is in January.  I am looking forward to getting started.  This is not a green light to eat however I want and not exercise until January when the program starts.  This is a huge motivator for me.  I'm looking at is like this....if I stick to my current exercise and eating plan, come January, I'll be X amount of pounds down and will have that much less to lose on the program! 

I will keep everyone updated!  For now, I am waiting on a call back at the beginning of January to schedule my screening for the middle to end of January. 

I struggle with the notion that I am taking the easy way out.  Plenty of people use diet and exercise to achieve their desired results.  There's no secret that I'm a food addict, and having a dietitian/nutritionist and therapist guiding me is a blessing!  There's also no secret that diabetes and heart disease run in my family either.  I've struggled with being overweight for 30 years and I'm at the point where I'm ready to shed the pounds and move forward.  My main focus is having a baby and if this program puts me closer to dropping this weight and getting healthy so that I can go into a pregnancy healthy, then I'm all for it.  I've gotten a lot of encouragement from friends and family, and some discouragement as well.  Going 16 weeks on protein shakes, fruits, and veggies won't be a cake walk, but all the additional benefits (therapists, dietitian/nutritionist, doctors, and nurses) I think I'll be better for it in the long run. 

2.  I joined a local health club since my membership contract at Anytime Fitness was coming to an end.  I had the option to continue with that membership on a month-to-month basis, but I really wanted to take advantage of the features that were available at the athletic club close to my house.  Plus, I got in under the "student" discounted membership because I have my Tulane school i.d.    The place is AWESOME!  First off, it's HUGE.  As soon as you walk in the door there's a smoothie/cafe that serves all kinds of stuff, including Starbucks coffee.  This could be dangerous for me and counterproductive.  They had a feature that allowed me to scan my access card in order to pay for drinks, products, etc., rather than have cash or debit on hand.  I QUICKLY opted to NOT allow my access card to purchase items.  I also don't bring my wallet with me in the gym, so I don't see this as a problem!  They offer childcare for those with kiddies.  There's a regulation sized indoor saltwater swimming pool with lanes for swimming laps.  There's a massive women's locker room complete with a 12 person jacuzzi tub, sauna, 6 showers, tons of nice wooden lockers, a sitting/t.v. area, and access directly to the pool.  Downstairs there are 2 racquetball courts, a ping pong table, and a women's only exercise room that is massive.  There are 3 separate classrooms, each devoted to a different exercise; one is for yoga and Pilate's, one is for cycling, and the other is for Zumba/aerobic type exercises.  All the classes are free and come with the membership.  Upstairs there's a basketball court, a massive fitness area where the free-hand weights/co-ed machines/cardio machines are located.  There are treadmills, stair climbers, rowing machines, and ellipticals.  I've always wanted to use a rowing machine but was never able to because no place I knew of had those machines.   

I went for my first workout on Saturday after my bike ride and I opted to do laps in the pool.  I didn't count my laps.  I left the locker room at 9:22 and left the gym at 10:30.  I swam laps for 45 minutes and then went to the jacuzzi tub for about 5 minutes.  Loved it.  Part of my membership includes two one-hour sessions with a personal trainer.  I plan to take advantage of that in the near future.

VOTE on TUESDAY!

Last, but not least, I'm 30!!!  I summed it up pretty good on my FB page:

Today I left behind my twenties and embraced thirty. I am excited about my thirties and look forward to all the memories that I'll make along the way. My twenties were amazing to me: I bought a house, got married, became a college graduate, and started working at the Supreme Court. I met a lot of awesome people that I now call friends. I learned a lot of lessons and discovered a lot about myself that it took being in my twenties to discover. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes; they made an exciting day just that much more special. 

Here's to being 30...like a fine wine, I only get better with time!
Cheers!