lop's Fitness Profile

lop's Latest Activity

• 24 days ago
  lop burned 250 Calories yesterday!
• 25 days ago
  lop did one of her personal workouts.
• 28 days ago
  lop burned 800 Calories yesterday!
• 29 days ago
  lop did one of her personal workouts.
• 29 days ago
  lop added Manzanilla olives stuffed with pimentos to her favorite foods.
• about 1 month ago
  lop did one of her personal workouts.
• about 1 month ago
  lop added a personal journal entry.
• about 1 month ago
  lop burned 496 Calories yesterday!
• about 1 month ago
  lop added Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich to her favorite foods.
• about 1 month ago
  lop added Couscous to her favorite foods.

lop's Health Journal

	10/19/08 The nutrition tracking seems to have gotten me back on track this week. It's annoying, but I think I'll keep doing it for at least another week. I'm getting a bit concerned that the weather is starting to turn. It's getting darker earlier, and quite cold, and its going to start becoming difficult to workout outdoors. A gym membership is not in my budget at the moment, and I get bored with aerobics videos. I do tend to enjoy doing a few Ana Caban pilates videos I have, though these are not cardio. I'll have to spend some time this week coming up with a winter exercise plan. Created about 1 month ago by lop
	10/14/08 What's the deal with gyminee and its carb calculater? It's like its putting you on psuedo-atkins. Anyways, I was alarmed that I seem to perpetually go over on carbs, so I did some net research and by most standard calculaters my allowance should be somewhere between 200-300 carbs...one calculater implied that less than 120 would be unhealthy. It makes me wish gyminee did more to explain how it comes up with its numbers. Then I looked up the protein RDA, which is twice what most calculaters indicate I should be needing. I've actually been drinking whey shakes to get up to this ammount. I'm kind of dismayed. Created about 1 month ago by lop
	10/12/08 Hmm, I wasn't happy with my results this week, especially considering how much exercise I got in, so I've decided I'd better start logging my nutrition again in case I'm in need of a reality check...it certainly feels like I eat very healthfully! In terms of endurance its been a great week. The day after the 10/9 bikeride I decided to bring my bike on the bus to an event (Obama rally) downtown and then see if I could ride all the way back home on the trail. I made it and really enjoyed myself (although I did end up walking the bike up the very last hill to my house...so for now 5-6 miles is probably my limit). I'm pretty sure that if I did lose weight I would be able to keep it off by maintaining my current lifestyle, but I would really like to lose the 25 pounds I gained over the last two years in grad school, and it looks like I'm going to have to step up my level of commitment if that's going to happen. This week I plan to track my nutrition and focus in more on resistence training...I'd like to get in three really good weight lifting sessions and 3 cardio sessions of jogging or biking. Also, I've accumulated three 1 liter water bottles, so I'm going to fill them each morning to get in 3 liters of drinking water each day...I drink alot of yerba mate and the label actually says that I should not include it as part of my daily water intake, so I think the mate may be offsetting some of my water intake...we'll see if these things help.... Created about 1 month ago by lop
	10/9/08 I went out for a 30 minute bikeride and really noticed how much improved my endurance is. When I went to log my exercise, I saw that my last bikeride was 50 days ago! Back then I was huffing the whole way, only made it half the distance I went today, and had to get off and walk up the final hill to my house. Todays ride felt like a very moderate workout, and the final hill was challenging but I never worried that I wouldn't make it. I'm still sometimes mystified that the scale hasn't reflected any change in weight (stepped on this morning and it said I'm back up to 168), but when I see progress in what I'm able to do its reassuring that I am definately reapping benefits from working out. Created about 1 month ago by lop
	10/4/08 I'm pretty jazzed about today's weigh-in. It's been a great week for me: I hit some sort of threshold jogging and suddenly find I can maintain a jogging pace for 5-10 minutes, whereas I was having to switch back to walking intervals every 2-3 minutes. Also, midweek when I was doing the Jillian Michaels Shred dvd I discovered that all of a sudden I seem to be able to do perfect form pushups (the kind with my knees crossed and touching the floor, but still with a straight line from knee to head). It seems like each week that goes by, a more active lifestyle seems more and more a part of my life, and less and less single-mindedly attached to hoping to shed pounds and more about trying new things, seeing myself improve, and knowing that for several hours after a good workout I feel so much more alert, calm, and focused. Minor set-backs this week - I was a bit too agressive trying to break in a new pair of running shoes and ended up with a blister that prevented me from running for 3 days. I was able to do the Shred DVD instead. Also, I broke down and ordered a pizza from a local restaurant and I LOVE it. Since my spouse is in a PhD program, he's going to want this every week...so I'll have to be mindful about portion control...it's hardly health food. Created about 1 month ago by lop
	Thanks for the motivation! Thanks for the kind words. I just make my workouts part of something I do every day. I try not to give myself an option because I can always find an excuse not to exercise. I have committed to a more active lifestyle, and that is what active people do. They make time for exercise. Now if I could only be so committed about my diet... Hope you are doing well. Created about 1 month ago by aedison
	9/28/08 I've started to do the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD. Its by far the most intensive workout I've ever done. It's designed to get a complete workout down in under 30 minutes, and from what I've read, the intense circuit training actually speeds the metabolism, so while the workout might burn 200 calories, you end up burning another 2-300 after the workout as the body adapts. The weight section is particularly intense for me, my arms have been pretty constantly sore all week. The DVD comes with 3 workouts that are incremental in their level of intensity. On on workout 1 now, but I'd like to work my way up to the 3rd workout by Christmas. There wasn't a lot of movement on the numbers in my SUnday weigh in, but I have definately noticed increased endurence this week, and more energy in general. It seems to be getting easier to get out of bed without needing 9-10 hours of sleep (today is Sunday, my day to sleep in, and I popped up feeling awake after 7 hours), so even if I discount the amount of time I spend exercising, its already adding hours to my waking life. Created about 1 month ago by lop
	9/23/08 We were hit by an Ike Related windstorm which knocked out power for an entire week....hence the absence of any recent activity. I did get some walking in, mostly to check out storm damage, and the first few days I had to walk a mile or more just to find a place that was serving food, but I don't think I'll go back and try to remember times to log them. At any rate, I just did a weigh-in and looks like I haven't lost any real ground, so I'm looking forward to stepping back into my routine. In the past, my health routine killers have been those things that break up my schedule....a business trip, a move, vacation, etc. So if I can get right back into the swing of things now that our power is back on, I'll consider it a big accomplishment. Also, I've noticed that toward the end of the week I was craving some aerobic activity, something that would not have occurred to my former sedentary self, so I consider this a small victory too. Created about 1 month ago by lop
	9/7/08 This week I made it out for several jogging trips, and was right on schedule with eating goals (though I've given up on tracking everything, everyday). So later in the week when I had the chance to take a spur of the moment trip to niagara falls, I went for it. Even though I didnt get out for a run, i did do the usual tourist walking around. I ate pretty indulgently, checking out the fudge shop and making no restrictions at dinner. I saw a little jump in the scale the day after, but as I've picked up my health routines again I've actually seen the numbers go back down. Its been gratifying to see that as long as I follow these new health goals 90% of the time or so, I'll still be making progress along the way. Now that i've been out for about six runs I'm also starting to contemplating looking into a 5K...and down the road maybe even a half marathon. I started looking into it more, and realized that at my current walk-jog space I would be at the end of the pack, hence my new goal to see if I can get up to covering 5.5 miles in one hour. If I reach it, I may just celebrate by joining an organized race. One obstacle I'm facing now is that I actually don't think my muscles are strong enough to run that hard for that long without sustaining injury, so its added a new dynamic to my strength training. One other thing of note, while doing one of the SELF workout videos this week I actually got a minor pull in my hamstring. I had to stop, and while the pain went away after about a half hour, the spot remained tender for a couple days. Looking back, I think I should have been a bit more hydrated before starting the routine. Also, I had run for an hour the day before, which is a big deal for me...I think for the next several weeks I'll need to alternate running days with less straining muscle techniques...the pilates videos seem to be good for that. Created 2 months ago by lop
	8/31/2008 Just did my Sunday weigh-in. I'm amazed by how many inches I can lose without seeing any change on the scale at all. (BTW- I'm using the shoulder measurement for hips since gyminee doesn't have a category for them) I'm glad I'm doing these measurements. Created 2 months ago by lop
	8/20/2008 I've started taking 30 minute bike rides on our local trail. While not especially hilly, there are some inclines, and this really gets my heart rate up. This has helped me meet the intensity I might not have been reaching with walking alone, and since I have to stop once or twice to catch my breath, I should really be able to see my endurance increase as I stick with this route. I was getting bored with doing the free weights routine I set up on gyminee, so I rented a video by shape magazine that leads me through a sequenced strength building routine. I plan to try it out tonite. Hopefully that way I can do free weights when I want to watch something else on tv, and pop in the video when I need the extra motivation of a guided exercise. Created 3 months ago by lop
	8/18/08 We had a family emergency this week and had to leave town...I've been completely off schedule with diet and exercise...although I did find that the work i've done over the last few weeks made it easier to make healthier choices on the road to avoid weight gain: water instead of soda, pretzels instead of chips, side salad instead of fries, etc. This week I plan to step up the cardio and see if I can actually begin to see some movement on the scale. My walking may not be getting my heartrate up enough to actually shed pounds. Created 3 months ago by lop
	not much progress this week I just did my Sunday weigh in and measurements, and didn't have much progress to report...I actually gained a few pounds, though that could be muscle as I've been pretty consistent with the weights. Haven't been tracking my nutrition...it gets tedious, but this week I've resolved to do so more religiously. I just relocated, and have not yet re-established a routine. This seems to have lead to alot of oversleeping, which I think was a big barrier to progress this week. I read some articles online, and plan to do some visualizing exercises to help me actually get up with my FIRST alarm (as opposed to 2 hours after i intended to get up). Created 3 months ago by lop
	First Post I did the ab exercises today. I've read that I should increase my intensity in order to build muscle...i only have one set of dumbells, so tomorrow I plan to invest in another set of 10 or 15 pounders, since I'm definately not maxing out the intensity on some of the exercises. Created 3 months ago by lop