Check Up

So, I was called out by a family member for not updating this page.

I know I have been slacking. I was hoping that by blogging again that desire to do things as I did them a few years ago would return. The truth is that desire has not returned and I am not going to force it right now.

I did want to let you all know that I have been regularly running again. I am getting in 2.5-3.0 miles Monday through Saturday. I took last weekend off when I went to Missouri but I am back on track.

The more I do it the easier it gets. Thinking of looking up a 5k soon. We shall see...

Any updates on you? Anyone out there? Bueller...

Count down

3... oz oven roasted chicken breast

2... cups chopped, fresh romaine lettuce

1... quarter cup each chopped pecans and croutons

mmmmmm

Add two tablespoons reduced fat ranch and let's pray I keep it all off my keyboard while I type this!

The morning after I returned from Haiti I weighed myself. I think I am the only person who can go to a poverty stricken country and come back heavier. When I left I was at 206, when I returned I was over 210! Really? Really!? I guess that's what happens when you have a week of stress, beans, rice, Clif bars, and Haitian spaghetti.

I vowed to begin using Sparkpeople.com to track my calories and fitness on Monday morning. It has definitely helped me keep stay on track. Those who followed me a few years ago know that counting calories is not my thang. I am so thankful for free programs like Sparkpeople that do pretty much ALL the work for you.

I am feeling better than I have in months and the majority of the credit goes to the Holy Spirit for interceding on my behalf, and my husband for all his support and encouragement.

I did have a minor setback though. On Tuesday night at softball I re injured my right ankle. Praise God it wasn't anything like when I wrecked it in November! It is already doing fine and I will probably start my cardio back up tomorrow.

So, what about my weigh goals and my weigh in?

Well, I think I need to re-evaluate my short term goal. I am probably going to need another month to get back under 190. My new short term goal is to get to 195 By June 3rd.

Maybe this is God's way of letting me enjoy the day I get under 200 again. Last time I hit that milestone I was in the middle of post partum depression and really could have cared less. This time there will be at least a celebratory dance!

I weighed in this morning at 202.0! Yay!

Actual results. Feels good.

How is everyone else doing?

A Psalm of Lament

My heart is broken for an entire nation.

Rather than feel guilty for feeling sorrow, I choose to make Psalm 6 my prayer.

"O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.

Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in anguish.
How long, O LORD, how long?

Turn, O LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave?

I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.

My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.

Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.

All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
they will turn back in sudden disgrace."

I am still processing my experience in Haiti. I asked God to break my heart. A word to the wise...

...be careful what you pray for.

More to come.

The Key and The Cross (and a little weight lost)

So, got a ham cookin' in the oven. Going to have a nice dinner with the family tonight before I head out to Haiti and their should be enough meat for Octavio and the girls to live off of for a week.

As far as my weigh in goes, I weighed in this morning at 206.2. Not much but at least I am finally heading in the right direction.

A cool story, then I am off to finish getting ready for my trip -

Right before Easter I headed up to Michigan with my family to celebrate the life of Gigi, my great grandpa, the girls' great-great grandpa.

Included in my luggage was my favorite earrings, beautiful little dangly keys given to me by a dear, dear friend. When I returned from Michigan and unpacked, it seemed that I had left one of the earrings somewhere in Michigan, as I could only find one in my little box of jewelry.

Fast-forward to this morning...

I decided to go through my big jewelry box and pick out special items to give to women I meet in Haiti. My plan was to lay them out on my bed and pray over them before I packed them up.

Before I even opened my jewelry box I thought of the beautiful little white gold cross and chain my husband gave to me for Christmas in 2004.

Immediately I knew I was supposed find it, take it and give it away. For some reason in my mind I was having a hard time. I sat there with my hand on the door to my jewelry box arguing why I didn't have to give THAT necklace away.

First, kind of selfishly, I thought of the verse that says, "Give and it WILL come back to you." This is a promise. God says give and it WILL come back to you. Not "may" or "might" or "possibly".

Then I thought of Ephesians 5:1-2

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Christ gave His LIFE. I can sacrafice a necklace.

So, I carefully pulled the necklace off its hanger and wouldn't you know it...

my long lost earring was hanging right next to the cross.

That is how quick My God works and just a small taste of how much He loves me.

More awesome stories to come upon my return.

Love you all!

Insert Title Here

I am too frustrated to come up with a witty title.

Here goes...

Last week's weight - 204.4

This week's weight - 207.8

Awesome! I have gained over five pounds since I started this blog. 25 or so more weeks of this and I will be at 260 in no time!

WAIT! I am continuing to head in the wrong direction.

Don't really have much to talk about as far as that (or anything else) goes, really.

I am doing my interval training. Yesterday I did 15 intervals on the elliptical. Started out doing 1 minute hard 1 minute moderate, then about halfway through I went to 1 minute hard 30 seconds moderate.

I am having a hard time getting my heart rate up. The highest I got yesterday was 168 which is about 86%. I am pushing as hard as I can. Not sure I can do much more.

Octavio sensed my frustration (and my PMS) yesterday and sent me the most precious prayer, in which he wrote...

"Lord I pray you will give Michelle all the STRENGTH that she needs to meet all her personal goals, including her Health and Spiritual development."

I don't have a game plan yet. For now, I am just going to cling to this prayer that The High Priest of our household prayed over me.

More to come, hopefully not weight-wise though!

Cha-Cha-Changes

So, I am not even two full weeks in and I am already changing my fitness goals up. Why?

I talked with lovely Trainer Tara.

* Notice I took out the "Torture" and replaced it with "Trainer"? Funny how your perception changes after a few weeks away! *

Probably should have consulted her to begin with. Anyhoo, I talked with her about what area I am having the most problem with right now and she suggested a switch in my training. Below is some of our email conversation.

ME: So, I feel like I am carrying all my extra weight in the area between my belly button up to right under my boobs. What is the deal with that? What can I do, exercise wise, to attack that?

TT: With all fat & specifically belly fat, the best exercise is cardio...and I would suggest doing interval cardio. I also will tell you that it has to be combined with your diet (healthy eating). Most of the articles I have read & from what I have experienced/seen in others, the key is to get your heart rate up!!! Doing ab exercises are great for the abdominal muscles, however if those muscles are buried under fat it is not going to matter.

This is what I would suggest. Interval cardio is simply sprinting. You can complete running sprints, biking sprints or swimming sprints depending on your preference. The key is to push yourself as hard as you can for 30-60 seconds & then rest for 60-90 seconds, until you have mostly caught your breath & your heart rate has slowed to an aerobic rate. Do you know your Maximum Heart Rate? It is 220-your age. I think you are 28, so your Maximum Heart Rate is 192. This is the top of your heart rate chart if you are exerting maximum effort. If you can hit this in that 30-60 second window you will see the best results. I would suggest starting with 10 to 15 sprints per day depending on how you feel afterwards. If you can do more, than add additional sprints until you reach 20 to 30. If you find you still have energy after that, increase the duration.

Sorry to tell you that doing 1000 sit ups for the next 3 days or holding a plank for the next week are not the answer. Sprinting is!! The key is to go as fast as you possible can for the duration...BUT keep in mind...you must warm up sufficiently before pushing yourself this hard as you don't want to injure yourself.

ME: Thanks for the fabulous advice. Funny, I saw Jillian Michaels making a girl do sprints and I was thinking that I needed to try it. Maybe I will try that the rest of this week and see. I am glad it's not sit ups and planks...I know you are surprised to know they are not my favorite. They rank right up there with squat thrusts. What kind of warming up should I do before hand? I heart you.

TT: You are welcome. Your warm up can just be 5-10 minutes of whatever you are going to be doing your sprints on/with. You just want to get your heart rate up a bit & warm up your muscles. You can also use a stepper, elliptical or stationery bike too. Michelle, you are amazing. I pray every night that the Lord would turn me into you.

OK, OK, I added those last two sentences. :)

Today was day three of my interval training. It is kicking my butt, in a good way.

Saturday my brother and I trained together. We picked the only flat stretch of road in my parent's subdivision. We did 10 intervals, probably about 40 seconds sprinting, 75 seconds recovering. It was rough.

Sunday, my dad joined my brother and I. We did 10 intervals again in the same place as Saturday. Dad kicked boo-tay.

Today, I trained on the treadmill. I think I did 13 intervals. Found it easier to push myself since I was setting the pace on the treadmill and not turning it down. By the end of it I was doing 9MPH for 35 second stretches.

The problem with the treadmill is the recovery time. Thankfully no one was in the weight room with me this morning. I looked kind of silly doing high knee marches next to a treadmill that was going 9MPH.

We shall see how it goes...

How are you all doing?

Time for My Waaah In!

I will not get whiny the first week. I WILL not get whiny the first week. I will NOT get whiny the first week.

Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

Here is deal -

Last week's weight - 202.6

This week's weight - 204.4 !

As soon as I looked down at the scale and this number popped up I got that look on my face that Bob gets on The Biggest Loser when someone has been working their butt off and the scale doesn't reflect their efforts.



Don't want to hear any of the normal "encouragements" that are usually handed out in the situation like this. You know the ones I am talking about...

"Could just be water weight"

"Your body needs time to adjust to the new routine"

and my personal favorite...

"Muscle weighs more than fat!"

Here is the deal people - a pound weighs a pound! A pound of muscle is a pound. A pound of fat is a pound. True, a pound of muscle is more dense than a pound of fat, but they both weigh a pound.

But I digress.

I do not have a clue why I am up 1.8 lbs. I let out my big waaaaaaaaah after I weighed in and now I am over it. I am moving on.

Why?

Because regardless of what the scale says this week I know that the change in my fitness habits, just from one week, have had an impact on my health, both mentally and physically.

I had such a great week. I felt good. I had energy. I could focus and complete tasks. I could relax. Impatience and anxiety were virtually non-existent.

So the fruit of my labor didn't show up on the scale. If I keep going it will. It has no choice. That's just how it works.

You hear me scale!? I said that is just how it works!

As far as my fitness goals go, I accomplished most of what I set out to do. I was one day shy on my push up/sit up goal. But here is what I did do...

• 160 regular sit ups
• 160 regular push ups
• 6 miles on the Elliptical
• 3 miles running on the treadmill
• 3 miles (mostly) running outside
• 4 miles walking on the treadmill
• 3 miles walking outside
  

How are you all doing on your goals???

The Short, The Long, and The Sweaty

A quick recap for those just joining us -

I am up 16.8 lbs since Sept 2008. I am not happy about it.

Told you it would be quick. I keep my promises.


So, what am I going to do about it? Glad you asked!

1. I am going to weigh myself in every Thursday morning and blog about my week.
2. I am going to blog one day other than Thursday every week, whichever day I feel like it.
3. I am going to post a short and long term weight goal before my next weigh in.
4. I am going to post my exercise plan before my next weigh in.

This blog's purpose is to fulfill promises 3 and 4 of my action list above.

SHORT TERM WEIGHT GOAL - Lose 16.8 lbs by June 3rd

LONG TERM WEIGHT GOAL - Lose 20.8 additional pounds by September 22nd

EXERCISE PLAN -

1. Get at least 3 miles in 6 days a week any way I choose as long as I work and sweat(elliptical, treadmill, outside, walking, jogging, running, incline, etc.)
2. Get 1 mile straight run for time in 4 days a week
3. Do 40 push ups and 40 full sit ups 5 days a week

Since I know you all are extremely concerned with every aspect of my life, I am sure you are wondering what I am going to do about my eating habits.

The truth - not a whole lot. I have been doing pretty good in this area. It is definitely the exercise that I have been slacking on.

I have been getting my butt kicked by Torture Tara for an hour a day, two days a week, but I haven't done anything else. Now, Torture Tara is one heck of a trainer, but she ain't no miracle worker. Two hours a week leaves 166 hours to play around with and lately I have dedicated ZERO of those 166 to exercise.

Some people, when they are in a slump, need to be around others for motivation. Me, being the type of girl who's dream weekend would be one where I stay home and everyone else goes on a trip, needs to take a time out from group fitness to refocus.

So, tell me folks, what kind of goals, short and/or long term have you set to improve health?

*If you are in the Louisville area and need that motivation that only comes from being around other fun women, you need to hook up with Torture Tara. Email me at michelle.l.castano@gmail.com and I will gladly hook you up with the torture.*

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack

OK, so I am not back, back.

I am not going to blog 5 days a week like I did before. To be honest, when I think about it, I am not even sure how in the world that was possible.

Seriously.

Five days a week? Right now I consider it a miracle if I can get my teeth brushed 5 days a week.

Aren't you glad you are miles away from me reading this and not sitting directly across from me smelling, er, um, I mean hearing this?

OK, enough about my stank breath. Let's get to it.

If you are here reading this then I assume you read my Facebook update and know that I am up 16.8 lbs since my last official online weigh in.

16.8 lbs?? That is the average weight of a 4 month old baby boy!

OK, I am going to turn around and I want you to tell me if their is a small child clinging to my back. Ready?

No? NO?! Really? No infant on my rear?

Then I guess I need to own up to it...

I have been slacking. Obviously.

I have not been doing horrible. I have not gone back to my old eating habits. I have not stopped exercising.

I have a billion and one fairly legitimate reasons for putting the weight on. AND I definitely can say that a big chunk of my weight gain has happened in the last month or so. But that doesn't change the number on the scale. So I will move on.

I need that accountability that I had when I did this blog a few years ago. I need to set a goal. I need to make some rules.

And most importantly, I need you to kick my rear into gear.

So, here is the deal -

• I am going to weigh myself in every Thursday morning and blog about my week.


• I am going to blog one day other than Thursday every week, whichever day I feel like it.


• I am going to post a short and long term weight goal before my next weigh in.


• I am going to post my exercise plan before my next weigh in.
  

Who's with me?

If you answered "I AM!" then here is the challenge for you -

Get some goals ready - both short and long term. They can be weight loss goals, healthy eating habit goals, fitness goals, etc. Be ready to add them as a comment on here when I get mine posted.

And just to warn you, mine will be posted before the start of next week.