Oh man, am I tired. I just came back from the gym! Then I realised (or, well, the BF just pointed out that I hadn't blogged since Sunday) that I haven't made an outline of my workout schedule. So here we go!
I joined a gym where the fitness instructors are complementary. Wooo, no extra fees! When I joined, I filled out a form with my height, weight, what my goals were, if I had any injuries, etc.. Then I made an appointment with one of the instructors and she made a personalised workout schedule. Once every three or four months (depending on when we remember to ask) we make a new appointment and go over the schedule, and make changes.
My schedule right now is as follows:
- 20 minutes cardio on the stationary bike (I use the cardio setting. This requires you to enter your age, and it calculates the ideal heart rate for you. You start peddling at a set speed and need to keep that speed the entire time. As soon as your heart rate reaches the ideal heart rate, the machine starts adjusting the intensity to keep your heart rate level while you need to keep your pace level. It's pretty intensive, if you do it right!)
- Strength training, several types of lifts and pulls, targeting the arms and legs, followed by several exercises that target the abs.
- 15 minutes of cardio (elliptical machine, rowing machine, stationary bike).
I do this 3 times a week, trying to do it as fast as possible without pushing myself. I think, and my trainer told me this as well, that it's more effective to keep going, than to do some exercises, lounge around for a while in front of the tv, and then go on to do the next, as I see some people *uchemybrotheruche* do at the gym. Now, naturally, I do stop for drinks of water. Always remember to drink your water, kids!
If you are on the fence about wanting to join a gym, or are already looking into joining, I have some advice about what really helped me.
- See if there's a gym near you that offers the help of fitness trainers. At my gym, there's always at least one trainer available for questions or help. I love the fact that I can just walk up to them and ask them about my schedule, or ask them about certain exercises, and they're always willing to explain or demonstrate.
- See if they offer a personal trainer-session. From what I understand, many gyms actually have this service but they don't offer it unless you ask. It never hurts to ask! If they don't offer this for free, it may be worth the money to pay for one. I know that it really helps me, to know that my workout is tailored to my wishes and body.
- Look into different memberships. My gym offers several types of memberships, including one that only gives you access to the gym between 10am and 4 pm. If that works for you, go for it! It might save you some money. Otherwise, if you're like me and want the freedom to go whenever you feel like it, get a general membership. I pay 50 Euro a month for my membership, which gives me unlimited access. I go three times a week, meaning it's a little more than 4 Euro per session. That's perfectly doable!
- ask around! Do you know people that go to that gym? Ask how they like it, or if it's busy at the time of day you want to go to the gym, if it's expensive or not, what the changing rooms are like... Get informed before you make a decision. If you're not enjoying yourself at the gym, you're not going to give it your all.
- Don't be afraid of actually going to the gym! This one might be more personal, though. I was so nervous about getting a membership last year (because of my bad relationship with my weight and body) that I was terrified the first time I went. And I ended up loving it there! I go in the mornings, and there's always the same people there, young and old, but it's never too busy. The atmosphere is great, very relaxed and enjoyable. People make small talk, say good morning, we chat and laugh, I have fun with strangers... Something I never would have imagined I would do. So don't be afraid to open up a bit! It may be a very emotional experience, to start going to the gym, especially if your situation is similar to mine, but that first step is the hardest and it will only get better and more enjoyable afterwards.
Good luck!
29 June 2012
24 June 2012
Eating habits
Posted in
food,
healthy living
So. One week in. One week without sodas, sweets, crisps, fried foods and bad habits. And it's feeling pretty good so far! I thought I would miss the sweets and snacks, but I'm doing pretty good so far, snack-wise. I even survived my secondary school reunion barbecue without stuffing my face with bread and satay sauce and bad, fattening meats. I did kinda stuff my face with fresh pineapple. (My god, that pineapple. Oh, oh, oh, my, that was one deliciously sweet, ripe, gorgeous pineapple.) But that's a good thing!
I went against the weight loss tips and weighed myself every day, (I know, even against the advice of my physical therapist, bad me!) but I only saw a slight rise in the line on Friday morning, the morning after I ate a bigger meal than I had planned. It was a bad meal, too, with a creamy sauce and a lot of pasta. So far, I have lost 2 kg this week, a massive amount if you take into account that I did not do a lot more than normal, except change my daily food intake and watch my calories a lot more.
I installed a nifty app on my mobile phone called the Calorie counter by Fatsecret, which is really helping me in keeping an eye on what I eat during the course of a day and to keep my total number of calories below the maximum number I allow. I set myself on 1500 a day, which gives me some wiggle room with my evening meals since the physical therapist told me to stay between 1600 and 1800 a day. I know that eating less than I should sounds bad, but I've hardly been hungry this week! The only time it really hit was on Thursday evening, and I had a very unpleasant evening trying to chug as much water as possible while telling my body to sod off and stop asking for food. I know it wasn't hunger, but it sure did felt like it. Oddly enough, this also was the one evening I ate too much for dinner!
Here's a rough outline of what a daily meal plan looks like for me.
Morning: (at 8:30, unless it's a gym morning)
- 1 bowl of muesli
- 1 piece of fruit (usually an apple)
- 1 glass of milk mixed with the muesli and apple.
Lunch:
- 2 crackers with lean cream cheese
- a handful of cherry tomatoes
Snack:
- 1 apple with peanut butter
Dinner:
- Grilled chicken and green veggies, and a handful of potato-somethings. This week, it was mostly baked potato cubes.
Evening:
- a handful of almonds
During the day:
- 2 litres of water
Depending on what I eat for dinner, this usually adds up to roughly 1500 calories. I have been trying to find more healthy, low-calorie dinners that will satisfy both me and the BF, but he's a picky eater, so it's making it somewhat more difficult than I had anticipated. Plus, I want him to eat well, but he's being exceptionally supportive of my mission and is insisting I eat what I need to, and he'll just fill up on snacks during the evening if the meal doesn't do the trick. He's got a very active metabolism, and has trouble maintaining his current weight of 50 kg. It is making this whole thing somewhat more complicated. I've got some plans for this week, though, to keep him satisfied (and let him eat some of his favourite foods), where I can just substitute part of the meal with something healthy for me!
I'm thinking...
- Shoarmawraps for him, with shoarma and garlic sauce, like he loves to eat it, and spicy chickpea-wraps for me!
- Grilled chicken with a sundried tomato basil vinaigrette, served with a salad and some baked potato, where I just leave out the potato!
- Roasted veggies (curried cauliflower or broccoli with garlic, for instance), with more veggies instead of potatoes for me!
Any tips? I would love to hear more!
Most dieting tips I see tell me to aim for 3 meals that fill up, and add 2 or 3 snacks during the day, aiming for some food every 3 hours. However, my breakfast always fills me up until pretty much 1 pm, when I eat my lunch. At 4, I eat a snack, and I have one more in the evening if I feel like it. Funnily enough, the snack-habit is the easiest to kick: even with the BF sitting across from me, munching on crisps, I don't feel the need to grab something for myself to snack on.
So. To conclude week one:
I lost 2 kg (from 112 kg to 110 kg.).
I had little trouble kicking it off, with one hickup on Thursday evening after a bad meal. I'm pretty sure it was because of that meal.
I went to the gym twice and got good advice from an expert, who will be helping me with my weight loss and will keep an active eye on my progress.
In the following weeks, I want to learn:
- what are bad 'healthy' foods and what are good healthy foods to have at mealtime, so I can put together a better, healthier, leaner meal that will still fill up me and the BF and won't leave us hungry after an hour
- how to better spread out calories during the day without having to cut in portion size during dinnertime, because I want to eat properly to avoid getting hungry in the evening
- how to include exercise in my everyday routine, including good exercises I can do at home during the day, that won't do any harm to the injury in my leg. I read that doing jumping jacks are awesome, for instance, but I know that doing jumping jacks will hurt my calf.
- if I can go to the gym three times a week. I want to start tomorrow with going in the evening after dinner, and see how that works for me, and to go on Wednesday and Friday morning.
I went against the weight loss tips and weighed myself every day, (I know, even against the advice of my physical therapist, bad me!) but I only saw a slight rise in the line on Friday morning, the morning after I ate a bigger meal than I had planned. It was a bad meal, too, with a creamy sauce and a lot of pasta. So far, I have lost 2 kg this week, a massive amount if you take into account that I did not do a lot more than normal, except change my daily food intake and watch my calories a lot more.
I installed a nifty app on my mobile phone called the Calorie counter by Fatsecret, which is really helping me in keeping an eye on what I eat during the course of a day and to keep my total number of calories below the maximum number I allow. I set myself on 1500 a day, which gives me some wiggle room with my evening meals since the physical therapist told me to stay between 1600 and 1800 a day. I know that eating less than I should sounds bad, but I've hardly been hungry this week! The only time it really hit was on Thursday evening, and I had a very unpleasant evening trying to chug as much water as possible while telling my body to sod off and stop asking for food. I know it wasn't hunger, but it sure did felt like it. Oddly enough, this also was the one evening I ate too much for dinner!
Here's a rough outline of what a daily meal plan looks like for me.
Morning: (at 8:30, unless it's a gym morning)
- 1 bowl of muesli
- 1 piece of fruit (usually an apple)
- 1 glass of milk mixed with the muesli and apple.
Lunch:
- 2 crackers with lean cream cheese
- a handful of cherry tomatoes
Snack:
- 1 apple with peanut butter
Dinner:
- Grilled chicken and green veggies, and a handful of potato-somethings. This week, it was mostly baked potato cubes.
Evening:
- a handful of almonds
During the day:
- 2 litres of water
Depending on what I eat for dinner, this usually adds up to roughly 1500 calories. I have been trying to find more healthy, low-calorie dinners that will satisfy both me and the BF, but he's a picky eater, so it's making it somewhat more difficult than I had anticipated. Plus, I want him to eat well, but he's being exceptionally supportive of my mission and is insisting I eat what I need to, and he'll just fill up on snacks during the evening if the meal doesn't do the trick. He's got a very active metabolism, and has trouble maintaining his current weight of 50 kg. It is making this whole thing somewhat more complicated. I've got some plans for this week, though, to keep him satisfied (and let him eat some of his favourite foods), where I can just substitute part of the meal with something healthy for me!
I'm thinking...
- Shoarmawraps for him, with shoarma and garlic sauce, like he loves to eat it, and spicy chickpea-wraps for me!
- Grilled chicken with a sundried tomato basil vinaigrette, served with a salad and some baked potato, where I just leave out the potato!
- Roasted veggies (curried cauliflower or broccoli with garlic, for instance), with more veggies instead of potatoes for me!
Any tips? I would love to hear more!
Most dieting tips I see tell me to aim for 3 meals that fill up, and add 2 or 3 snacks during the day, aiming for some food every 3 hours. However, my breakfast always fills me up until pretty much 1 pm, when I eat my lunch. At 4, I eat a snack, and I have one more in the evening if I feel like it. Funnily enough, the snack-habit is the easiest to kick: even with the BF sitting across from me, munching on crisps, I don't feel the need to grab something for myself to snack on.
So. To conclude week one:
I lost 2 kg (from 112 kg to 110 kg.).
I had little trouble kicking it off, with one hickup on Thursday evening after a bad meal. I'm pretty sure it was because of that meal.
I went to the gym twice and got good advice from an expert, who will be helping me with my weight loss and will keep an active eye on my progress.
In the following weeks, I want to learn:
- what are bad 'healthy' foods and what are good healthy foods to have at mealtime, so I can put together a better, healthier, leaner meal that will still fill up me and the BF and won't leave us hungry after an hour
- how to better spread out calories during the day without having to cut in portion size during dinnertime, because I want to eat properly to avoid getting hungry in the evening
- how to include exercise in my everyday routine, including good exercises I can do at home during the day, that won't do any harm to the injury in my leg. I read that doing jumping jacks are awesome, for instance, but I know that doing jumping jacks will hurt my calf.
- if I can go to the gym three times a week. I want to start tomorrow with going in the evening after dinner, and see how that works for me, and to go on Wednesday and Friday morning.
22 June 2012
How to drink those 8 cups of water a day like a pro
Posted in
food,
healthy living
It can never be stressed enough to say that you should drink enough water. While the debate on whether those 8 cups or 2 litres a day are actually necessary is still in full swing and seems neverending, it still is important to drink plenty of water. Especially when you are trying out for a healthy lifestyle and exercise a lot, you'll have to keep your body sufficiently hydrated.
But what if you're like me, and you start to hate the taste after a few sips? Or what if you loathe the taste to begin with? How do you work those 8 cups down your throat, then?!
It's easier than you think, actually. Here's a few tips on how I like to enhance the flavour of water without adding any sugar or calories! (remember, I'm not a dietician, nor am I a scientist or have I studied this, so this is based on personal experience and taste.)
- Drink sparkling water. Somehow, the taste of sparkling water or soda water is so different from regular water, yet there's nothing more in there than a few bubbles! Plus, it tickles on your tongue. Double bonus.
My favourite brand of sparkling water is Spa, in particular the Marie Henriette. It's only slightly fizzy, and I love the subtle taste. Plus, the bubbles are caused by natural carbonation, and not added manually. I don't know why this makes such a difference, but hey, it does!
I would say, steer away from the brands with added flavours, like Crystal Clear, but that's out of personal preference. I think they taste like butts and leave an awful taste in your mouth...
- Add fruit. A few slices of a type of citrus fruit will add a ton of flavour, without adding a grain of sugar. A related tip would be to freeze chunks of fruit into ice cubes, and pouring your water over these ice cubes, or even to pour it over frozen fruit! Many supermarkets these days sell boxes of frozen fruit that are perfect for making smoothies (because you can leave out the ice) or to use as a tasty alternative to ice cubes. And on a related note...
- Drink your water cold! The taste of water seems to change significantly when it's nice and cold. Keep a pitcher in your refrigerator (you could add those ice cubes I was talking about before, or cut up a lemon and add the slices to the pitcher) and keep refilling it whenever you pour yourself a glass.
- Drink through a straw. Go ahead, try it. Grab a glass or a bottle of water, stick a straw in there, take a few big tugs, and see how much you already drunk. I always drink way quicker when I drink through a straw!
- Always keep a bottle close. Whether you are on the road, during a commute, or behind your desk, whether you're running or lounging on the couch, always keep a bottle of water within hand's reach and preferably within sight. I always have a one litre bottle on my desk and when I'm sitting on the couch, I have one standing next to the coffee table. It's within reach, and within sight, and I have found that having a bottle near me will greatly diminish the craving for a different type of drink (such as that bottle of coke that the boyfriend keeps on his side of the coffee table...).
- I found this idea floating around the Pinterestverse and love it! Take two water bottles, mark them up in regular intervals, fill them each morning, and make sure you empty each one before the marked time!
In other words, there are plenty of ways to ensure you drink your 2 liters of water, too! Do you have any tips? Share them with us in the comments!
But what if you're like me, and you start to hate the taste after a few sips? Or what if you loathe the taste to begin with? How do you work those 8 cups down your throat, then?!
It's easier than you think, actually. Here's a few tips on how I like to enhance the flavour of water without adding any sugar or calories! (remember, I'm not a dietician, nor am I a scientist or have I studied this, so this is based on personal experience and taste.)
- Drink sparkling water. Somehow, the taste of sparkling water or soda water is so different from regular water, yet there's nothing more in there than a few bubbles! Plus, it tickles on your tongue. Double bonus.
I would say, steer away from the brands with added flavours, like Crystal Clear, but that's out of personal preference. I think they taste like butts and leave an awful taste in your mouth...
- Add fruit. A few slices of a type of citrus fruit will add a ton of flavour, without adding a grain of sugar. A related tip would be to freeze chunks of fruit into ice cubes, and pouring your water over these ice cubes, or even to pour it over frozen fruit! Many supermarkets these days sell boxes of frozen fruit that are perfect for making smoothies (because you can leave out the ice) or to use as a tasty alternative to ice cubes. And on a related note...
- Drink your water cold! The taste of water seems to change significantly when it's nice and cold. Keep a pitcher in your refrigerator (you could add those ice cubes I was talking about before, or cut up a lemon and add the slices to the pitcher) and keep refilling it whenever you pour yourself a glass.
- Drink through a straw. Go ahead, try it. Grab a glass or a bottle of water, stick a straw in there, take a few big tugs, and see how much you already drunk. I always drink way quicker when I drink through a straw!
- Always keep a bottle close. Whether you are on the road, during a commute, or behind your desk, whether you're running or lounging on the couch, always keep a bottle of water within hand's reach and preferably within sight. I always have a one litre bottle on my desk and when I'm sitting on the couch, I have one standing next to the coffee table. It's within reach, and within sight, and I have found that having a bottle near me will greatly diminish the craving for a different type of drink (such as that bottle of coke that the boyfriend keeps on his side of the coffee table...).
In other words, there are plenty of ways to ensure you drink your 2 liters of water, too! Do you have any tips? Share them with us in the comments!
21 June 2012
Blogs I love: summer edition
Posted in
blogs I love
Today is the first day of summer! And I say this, knowing that outside the temperature is barely rising above the 15 degrees and there's a lot of rain coming my way sometime today. Yes. We call this a "Dutch summer". It's as good as it's going to get.
So why not stay indoors and read up on some awesome blogs?!
- I have posted about her before, but Andy is such a rockstar when it comes to craft-blogging, it bares repeating. Over at Untangling Knots, she has started her new mini-series, "Summer of the Blog"! I'm a big fan of her mini-series, as they are very informative and well-written. This one focuses on the art of craft-blogging, and will contain a ton of advice as well as discussion on what makes a good craft-blog. 
- For a splash of colour in your day-to-day life, which everyone would need if the summer will be this grey and dull, hop on over to Creature Comforts for her Color Inspiration Daily! Graphic designs, prints, pictures, these posts are bound to make you happy. I know they make me happy!
- The same thing goes for the entire blog Oh the Lovely Things. The name says it all really. This is one heck of a lovely blog full of colour-inspiration, gorgeous prints, lots of DIY-goodness...
- Crea in the City is a lovely blog for many reasons. 1: She's Dutch. Yay! 2: She makes adorable things. Yay! 3: She has the cutest dog ever who doesn't mind being used as the occasional photo-prop. Yay! 4: I really enjoy reading her blog just for the cozy-factor. And we all know that when you're freezing in your optimistic pair of shorts or summer skirt, cozy is what you need. Lots of cozy.
What blogs do you love to read during the summer? I love to add more to the list!
Happy reading!
20 June 2012
Physical therapy and positive thinking
Posted in
fitness,
healthy living,
pinterest
As you may have read in my welcome-post, my attempt to start running was thwarted by a painful leg injury and I was forced to stop before I even really began. I was able to get a free appointment with a physical therapist through my gym and the conclusion was: no more running. For a while, at least. Needless to say, I was bummed. The cause of my injury was a muscle in my calf that was too tight, causing the connective tissue to get stuck to my bones, which hurt, which caused the injury. I probably made it worse by continuing to run after it started to hurt.
Today, during my intake, he explained that exercise and stretching might help with this problem, but he agreed with me that losing weight would help as well, since my injured leg wouldn't be carrying all that extra weight while running.
So now I'm in physical therapy. He was talking about multiple sessions, adjustments to my fitness-schedule, more cardio (DO ALL THE CARDIO!), specific cardio-exercises... and keeping a close eye on my weight and weight loss. I'm no longer allowed to weigh myself at home, (not that it'll stop me, but hey.) but I'll have to be weighed at the office every 3 weeks, or so. When asked what my average intake of food was, he was very impressed with my meal-plan yesterday. I explained that it was in no way representative of what I ate before on a weekday, since I only just started with the adjustments in my diet, but he told me I was on the right track. He even asked where I found the information on the changes because the types of food I ate (like an after-dinner snack that consisted of berries and nuts) and was surprised when I explained about my fitness-board on Pinterest.
This morning has taught me several things. One: that physical therapy fucking hurts. Oh, my. It is supposed to make it better, but so far.. Ow. I couldn't even climb the stairs afterwards...
Two: that the internet taught me all sorts of good things about changing my diet and eating habits. Go Internet! Point for you.
Three: that my work situation will benefit from taking regular exercise breaks during the day, instead of one big exercise moment at the end of the day. In other words, because I'm behind the desk all day, I'm better off going for several 15-minute bike rides, instead of going for a 1-hour ride after dinner.
So, in other words: I'm on the right track. And that's making me feel pretty good, just knowing that I made some good decisions. The fact that my progress will be monitored will give me a push to keep going, to stay motivated, and hopefully, to get me to where I want to be.
Today, during my intake, he explained that exercise and stretching might help with this problem, but he agreed with me that losing weight would help as well, since my injured leg wouldn't be carrying all that extra weight while running.
So now I'm in physical therapy. He was talking about multiple sessions, adjustments to my fitness-schedule, more cardio (DO ALL THE CARDIO!), specific cardio-exercises... and keeping a close eye on my weight and weight loss. I'm no longer allowed to weigh myself at home, (not that it'll stop me, but hey.) but I'll have to be weighed at the office every 3 weeks, or so. When asked what my average intake of food was, he was very impressed with my meal-plan yesterday. I explained that it was in no way representative of what I ate before on a weekday, since I only just started with the adjustments in my diet, but he told me I was on the right track. He even asked where I found the information on the changes because the types of food I ate (like an after-dinner snack that consisted of berries and nuts) and was surprised when I explained about my fitness-board on Pinterest.
This morning has taught me several things. One: that physical therapy fucking hurts. Oh, my. It is supposed to make it better, but so far.. Ow. I couldn't even climb the stairs afterwards...
Two: that the internet taught me all sorts of good things about changing my diet and eating habits. Go Internet! Point for you.
Three: that my work situation will benefit from taking regular exercise breaks during the day, instead of one big exercise moment at the end of the day. In other words, because I'm behind the desk all day, I'm better off going for several 15-minute bike rides, instead of going for a 1-hour ride after dinner.
So, in other words: I'm on the right track. And that's making me feel pretty good, just knowing that I made some good decisions. The fact that my progress will be monitored will give me a push to keep going, to stay motivated, and hopefully, to get me to where I want to be.
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