So yesterday started my new week of tallying points:

Sunday:
2 points for a 2+ hr bike ride
2 points for no alcohol
1 point for being in bed by 11 PM.  Not asleep, but in bed!

A New Start!

Back to the grindstone!  Anyone want to join me?

I need to start a new routine.  I'm in a new town, for a new start, and need to get back into a schedule of healthy habits.  So far its been pretty tough.

So, I'm going to start a points system as follows:

Exercise:

working out 30 min = 1 point

working out 1 hr = 2 points

Food:

tracking daily intake = 1 point

staying within calorie count = 2 points

Bedtime:

In bed by 11 PM = 1 point

In bed by 10 PM = 2 points

Wake up:

Up by 7 AM = 1 point

Up by 6 AM = 2 points

Alcohol:

1 drink only = 1 point

no drinks = 2 points

Week 1 = Goal is to get 5 points a day minimum.

5 points = 1 silver star

5 silver stars in 1 week = 1 gold star

I haven't thought any further than that, or how many stars it will take to get to perhaps allow myself to purchase something frivolous or take a vacation.  For now I'll just keep track.  

Anyone else want to join?  Strength in numbers!

I'm Back! And need some motivation!

Hello all,

I'm getting back on track and back to blogging after some intense March travel.  Seeing as I have my first bellydance performance in 2 years coming up, I am going to try to really get back to basics this next 2 weeks.

Last night I made this for dinner:
Stuffed Herbed Chicken with Boursin and zucchini spears.  Was pretty good.

I could really use your recipe suggestions for quick and healthy meals.  I'm feeling rather uninspired, even though I've found this awesome new meal resource.

I also need some workout inspiration.  I'm getting back to my everyday ~12 minute Lift workout which consists of squats, pushups, and planks, but I'm really having a hard time with motivating for early morning workouts.  My sleep is a little screwed up from travel and I find myself staying up late out of a bit of loneliness, then waking up with too little sleep and high-tailing it to work.

Any suggestions or support is welcome!

Quick Update - I'm still here!

Hello all!
Just wanted to say that although my blogging has declined, my efforts to exercise and eat right have not!

Some thoughts, prior to my Thursday weigh day, which will mark 1 month of doing this.

I have tracked my caloric intake with myfitnesspal for 27 days now.  I have been honest when I've gone over, which has happened quite a bit.  However, I am sure that if I was not tracking, I would have gone over more.

I have worked out 5 days a week the past 3 weeks.  This has improved my sleep, my mood, my strength, and muscle tone.

I am not exactly sure how much weight I have lost, because I did not weigh until the first week in.  I have a pretty good idea, though, what my start weight was and I believe I have lost 3.5-5 lb up until today, though my 4 week weigh in will be Thurs.

Progress has been slow but steady, and I feel healthy, and perhaps most importantly, not deprived.  It might be my imagination, but my clothes seem to fit a tiny bit better, and I think I look a tiny bit smaller.  Either way, I'm happy with the choices I have made in the last few weeks.

More on Thurs. - and a recommitment to blogging in Feb.!

The best fitness gadget you can buy is not what you think.

In the days of fitbit, iPhone apps, and all sorts of fancy gadgetry, the most effective thing you can invest in is a heart rate monitor.  It will it keep you honest in terms of how hard you are working, allow an accurate estimate of calories burned, and real time feedback on your performance.  One measure of fitness is how rapidly your heart rate drops after a high intensity interval. You have the benefit of the instant feedback of watching your heart rate decrease during recovery and increase with intensity, but you will also have a record of your performance and caloric burn for each workout that can be downloaded to your computer. I can't tell you how effective it's been just to wear it twice in the past week while teaching spin.

Good news is basic models can be had for under $30. Mine is actually part of my GPS watch, which ironically when I used for running I never used the heart rate monitor, but now I don't run very much and only use the HRM.

I even found a way to set it to read both heart rate and %max heart rate to know how hard I'm exercising with respect to the heart rate zone charts. Of course this requires entering info about age, weight, gender, and resting heart rate. Definitely informative for estimating calories burned when inputting exercise into myfitnesspal.

More info here: http://www.spinning.com/en/media/spinning_news_for_spinning_enthusiasts/2010-9-1.html

To dance!

The internet is being evil at my house and hanging when I try to post.  So here goes, second try.

This is not a food related post but rather one related to the reason I am making these fitness and healthy eating efforts:  Dance.

Tonight I went to a bellydance show (or Hafla) and saw wonderful dancers and musicians as well as my dance friends.  I had a great time and I knew watching people dance would make me want to dance, which I did with friends during the open dance part of the show.

So that was my first goal on the road to getting back into dance - to attend a hafla or show.  Next is to start attending some workshops - at least 1 next month (most likely more, as there is a lot going on!). In March, I plan to start dropping in on some classes, and I'm targeting May for performance opportunities. I hope by that time to be in the kind of shape I would like to be in for performing (as in 15 lbs lighter than now).  Hopefully, these efforts will bring me there!  Which means that I need to start being a bit more regular again with my blog posting, and more formal in my day to day actions.  I did choose 2 recipes for the week and I went shopping today.  Also did zumba, and am teaching spin the next 3 days.

I have had some challenges with going out, and alcohol has been responsibly for my calorie overages.  Not just the alcohol but the fact that it makes me want to eat after I drink it.  I need to stay out of situations involving drinking except for perhaps 1-2 nights a week.  Last week was a little anomalously social, and I can tell by looking at myfitnesspal that I definitely overdid it on the calories.

Seeing some dance has refocused me on why I am doing this in the first place, and I think keeping that goal of being able to perform and feel good about my body is something to keep at the forefront of my mind.  Onward and upward!

On from the vaults - Festival on the Nile, Orlando.  Year... 2009! Less than 5 years ago!

Moment of truth - weigh day 2

The good news is that I lost 1 lb this week, according to the scale. Though it's difficult to know for sure because daily weight fluctuations are also on the order of 1 lb or two. I'm pretty sure I lost more than 1 lb the prior week because looking at my avg. daily calories this week, I was up over where I should be - in fact, this weeks avg was 300 cal more than last week, and thanks to tracking, I know why.

I have myfitnesspal set to 1200 calories a day, which is the lowest it goes. As long as I exercise and don't drink, or only have  a planned glass of wine, I'm ok. But days without exercise, weekends involving going out to drink and eat, and special occasions push me sometimes well beyond my net calories even when I exercise. This weeks's net was 1700, which isn't horrible, but will only allow for loss of less than 1 lb per week. Last week's average was 1400, which I will strive for this week.

I'm still very happy that I have been very honest with myself and tracked diligently. 

Coming up: some more challenges and my discovery wearing my heart rate meter last night to spinning. Spoiler alert - I'm working harder than I thought!