Christie's Fitness Diary
- Thread starter ChristieK
- Start date
Carolanski
Back to it!
Hi Christie
Wondered where you'd got to!! Surprised you can find the time to post with all the exercise - you're really putting me to shame!
I really need to get my exercise head on - I was really enjoying it, but have got out of practice and out of the habit in last couple months. No more excuses.
I put half a stone on over Christmas and I'm struggling to take it off again - was going to do a couple more weeks on W8 but figured now I'm down to a healthy BMI prob not sensible, plus I've got more used to eating again now.
How do you keep yourself so motivated? Don't know whether I'd be able to keep up such a strict regime!! Although I probably would be better off going first thing, OH gets up much earlier than me so I should get up when he does and just get it over with before work!
What are you eating these days? I've tried to stick to low-GI and at the moment generally trying to follow the Abs diet (from Men's Health - weird I know)
Typical day : Breakfast -0% fat greek yog with fresh raspberries, a grated apple, handful chopped almonds and some oats
Lunch - Oatcakes, low-fat cheese spread, celery, houmous or a shake made with milk, yog, some whey protein, fruit - got quite used to replacing meals with drinks!!
Dinner - fish and green veg, or lean steak mince chilli with black beans, or chicken casserole with leeks & chick peas etc
Trying to cut out spuds, pasta, high carb veg, bread - eating some rye and pumpernickel occasionally.
Anyway - how are you doing foodwise, any tips gratefully received - you're doing so well. Congrats.
Will keep in touch now I've found your diary
Carol x
Wondered where you'd got to!! Surprised you can find the time to post with all the exercise - you're really putting me to shame!
I really need to get my exercise head on - I was really enjoying it, but have got out of practice and out of the habit in last couple months. No more excuses.
I put half a stone on over Christmas and I'm struggling to take it off again - was going to do a couple more weeks on W8 but figured now I'm down to a healthy BMI prob not sensible, plus I've got more used to eating again now.
How do you keep yourself so motivated? Don't know whether I'd be able to keep up such a strict regime!! Although I probably would be better off going first thing, OH gets up much earlier than me so I should get up when he does and just get it over with before work!
What are you eating these days? I've tried to stick to low-GI and at the moment generally trying to follow the Abs diet (from Men's Health - weird I know)
Typical day : Breakfast -0% fat greek yog with fresh raspberries, a grated apple, handful chopped almonds and some oats
Lunch - Oatcakes, low-fat cheese spread, celery, houmous or a shake made with milk, yog, some whey protein, fruit - got quite used to replacing meals with drinks!!
Dinner - fish and green veg, or lean steak mince chilli with black beans, or chicken casserole with leeks & chick peas etc
Trying to cut out spuds, pasta, high carb veg, bread - eating some rye and pumpernickel occasionally.
Anyway - how are you doing foodwise, any tips gratefully received - you're doing so well. Congrats.
Will keep in touch now I've found your diary
Carol x
ChristieK
Queen of Cats
Hiya, Carol! I posted a link to this thread in the old exercise topic over at W8, but I noticed nobody had been posting on that thread. I figured since I wasn't W8ing anymore, I'd be better to keep track of myself and hang out here!
I suppose I'm keeping my motivation going for several reasons.
-- First, I feel a whole lot better now that I"m down to a decent weight and healthier bodyfat percentage. I have more energy, sleep better, love going out and about when I have the time, not embarrassed to go clothes shopping, etc.
-- Another motivation is the skinny jeans that are a bit too big now, they're my favs and I'll wear them anyway (gray Levi skinny jeans) (!), but it feels so cool to not have to lay down to zip up my jeans. I'm able to wear slim skirts, I wore a long tube skirt and long slim sweater to a function a couple weeks ago with very fat mum-in-law, very fat sis-in-law, and somewhat overweight fave sis-in-law, and it was great feeling like a celery stalk, lol!
-- Third, I know I can maintain my weight and fitness with less cardio work, but it's a habit now, I hope, plus a terrific stress reliever. I'm American, although living in UK (OH is English) and I still haven't made any real friends here, so I do get lonely and frustrated, plus I work online from home so not a lot of opportunity to meet people that way. I'm slowly chatting a bit with a couple women at the gym, so that's nice.
I'll write more later, got to fix OH dinner...
I suppose I'm keeping my motivation going for several reasons.
-- First, I feel a whole lot better now that I"m down to a decent weight and healthier bodyfat percentage. I have more energy, sleep better, love going out and about when I have the time, not embarrassed to go clothes shopping, etc.
-- Another motivation is the skinny jeans that are a bit too big now, they're my favs and I'll wear them anyway (gray Levi skinny jeans) (!), but it feels so cool to not have to lay down to zip up my jeans. I'm able to wear slim skirts, I wore a long tube skirt and long slim sweater to a function a couple weeks ago with very fat mum-in-law, very fat sis-in-law, and somewhat overweight fave sis-in-law, and it was great feeling like a celery stalk, lol!
-- Third, I know I can maintain my weight and fitness with less cardio work, but it's a habit now, I hope, plus a terrific stress reliever. I'm American, although living in UK (OH is English) and I still haven't made any real friends here, so I do get lonely and frustrated, plus I work online from home so not a lot of opportunity to meet people that way. I'm slowly chatting a bit with a couple women at the gym, so that's nice.
I'll write more later, got to fix OH dinner...
ChristieK
Queen of Cats
Hi again, Carol...part 2!
I really adjusted my eating after my FitFarms week in November. We had a few hours talking with a nutritionist, plus a great chef who cooked us healthy food and correct portions, so it was a good opportunity to actually see and taste what was right for me versus what was wrong.
-- My problem isn't what I eat, as I tend to eat very healthy in general (organic, lots of veg and fruit, not much fried stuff at all, not much bread anymore), but portions. So I am making a conscious effort to watch my portion sizes. I think I'm still a bit on the large portion side, but I don't stress over it, as long as it's healthy. For instance, had a really big simple salad with dinner tonight, dinner plate size of organic fresh spinach and some lettuce and 6 little cherry tomatoes. Balsamic vinegar as dressing. Healthy, good for me, and not bad calorie-wise.
-- If I'm going to have a snack, it will be a healthy snack. I won't keep crisps and stuff like that in my cupboard (OH has stuff like that in his but I don't go in there anymore). I buy bags of various organic nuts and seeds (always remember to put almonds in), and mix them up in a container. So I can grab a little snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon, a small palm-ful. Really good-for-me protein and healthy fats.
-- I keep a bar of organic dark chocolate in cupboard, and my treat every day is a small square. It's amazing how long I can make that square last, lol!
-- I also learned it's good to pair up a carbohydrate with a protein, so some evenings I have an apple for my dessert, with about a tablespoon of almond butter to dip it in. So the magical protein + carb, and the almond butter has healthy fats in it.
My typical day food-wise is:
-- 150g or so of Greek 0% yoghurt with 2 small handfuls of 2 different organic granola-type cereals thrown in. A dash of acai syrup (for sweetening).
-- nuts for snack
-- 250g tub of nonfat cottage cheese *yum* with a cherry tomato and a ryevita.
-- nuts for snack, or a pair of clementines
-- a small to medium smoked makeral fillet (good fats, omega 3 etc), half cup of quinoa, spinach salad or some organic broccoli.
The nutritionist said her rule of thumb is the 80/20 rule. Be as conscientious as you can 80% of the time, and you can relax 20% of the time. Now, I don't think this means 20% of the time I can go out and eat pizza with chips and a barrel of Coca cola! But I think it's all things in moderation. Last weekend, we took mum-in-law for Sunday lunch, I didn't get a huge portion, and left some potatoes (next time, would ask for more carrots and less potatoes), and had a glass of wine, but it was really nice and I earned it!
Gosh, I really ran on! This is pretty much how I used to eat when in the AF, but I really went off the rails when I moved here...too much time on my hands to eat junk. And it was laziness...easy to stuff crap in my mouth, and too lazy to go to the gym to work it off.
I really adjusted my eating after my FitFarms week in November. We had a few hours talking with a nutritionist, plus a great chef who cooked us healthy food and correct portions, so it was a good opportunity to actually see and taste what was right for me versus what was wrong.
-- My problem isn't what I eat, as I tend to eat very healthy in general (organic, lots of veg and fruit, not much fried stuff at all, not much bread anymore), but portions. So I am making a conscious effort to watch my portion sizes. I think I'm still a bit on the large portion side, but I don't stress over it, as long as it's healthy. For instance, had a really big simple salad with dinner tonight, dinner plate size of organic fresh spinach and some lettuce and 6 little cherry tomatoes. Balsamic vinegar as dressing. Healthy, good for me, and not bad calorie-wise.
-- If I'm going to have a snack, it will be a healthy snack. I won't keep crisps and stuff like that in my cupboard (OH has stuff like that in his but I don't go in there anymore). I buy bags of various organic nuts and seeds (always remember to put almonds in), and mix them up in a container. So I can grab a little snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon, a small palm-ful. Really good-for-me protein and healthy fats.
-- I keep a bar of organic dark chocolate in cupboard, and my treat every day is a small square. It's amazing how long I can make that square last, lol!
-- I also learned it's good to pair up a carbohydrate with a protein, so some evenings I have an apple for my dessert, with about a tablespoon of almond butter to dip it in. So the magical protein + carb, and the almond butter has healthy fats in it.
My typical day food-wise is:
-- 150g or so of Greek 0% yoghurt with 2 small handfuls of 2 different organic granola-type cereals thrown in. A dash of acai syrup (for sweetening).
-- nuts for snack
-- 250g tub of nonfat cottage cheese *yum* with a cherry tomato and a ryevita.
-- nuts for snack, or a pair of clementines
-- a small to medium smoked makeral fillet (good fats, omega 3 etc), half cup of quinoa, spinach salad or some organic broccoli.
The nutritionist said her rule of thumb is the 80/20 rule. Be as conscientious as you can 80% of the time, and you can relax 20% of the time. Now, I don't think this means 20% of the time I can go out and eat pizza with chips and a barrel of Coca cola! But I think it's all things in moderation. Last weekend, we took mum-in-law for Sunday lunch, I didn't get a huge portion, and left some potatoes (next time, would ask for more carrots and less potatoes), and had a glass of wine, but it was really nice and I earned it!
Gosh, I really ran on! This is pretty much how I used to eat when in the AF, but I really went off the rails when I moved here...too much time on my hands to eat junk. And it was laziness...easy to stuff crap in my mouth, and too lazy to go to the gym to work it off.
nexangelus
Carpe diem, baby!
Wow, that doesn't seem like much food at all...but I suppose we are all different...I couldn't just eat that and do what I do at the gym now and I do less than you seem to...
ChristieK
Queen of Cats
Hi Nex; I"m seldom hungry, so I think the mix of complex carbs and protein must be right for me. Remember I'm older (53) and so I don't need as much fuel as a younger woman would anyway.
I did splurge a bit this morning, I went to doc appt (get referral to physio for sore knees) and stopped by bakery on walk home and got a lovely small loaf of lowGI bread. It's dark and rich with seeds in it, terrific stuff!
BTW...nurse took my blood pressure, which was 123 over 63. She said that's the healthiest blood pressure she had seen in the practice for a few years! (I live in an area where LOTS of people smoke and are very overweight) YAY!
I did splurge a bit this morning, I went to doc appt (get referral to physio for sore knees) and stopped by bakery on walk home and got a lovely small loaf of lowGI bread. It's dark and rich with seeds in it, terrific stuff!
BTW...nurse took my blood pressure, which was 123 over 63. She said that's the healthiest blood pressure she had seen in the practice for a few years! (I live in an area where LOTS of people smoke and are very overweight) YAY!
Carolanski
Back to it!
Hi Christie
Sounds like I'm eating the right sorts of things - but I do need to make sure I sort my portion sizes out, I know I shouldn't jump on the scales everyday but I've just bought new scales which show body fat/water content/visceral fat/BMR etc and I'm a bit obsessed with them at the moment.
Apparently despite my BMI being healthy now my body fat content is still obese - 33.5% and it should be between 25-33% and I appear to have put a pound on in the last 2 days. My OH is completely gutted as he has a BMI of 24.3 but his body fat is 25% which is not just overweight but "obese" as apparently men should be between 8-20% - he trains 3-4 times a week, 30-40 mins cardio and 30-40 mins weights, so can't understand what he needs to do to get his body fat down. Eats really healthily - low-GI like me in fact I don't know any men who eat as healthily as him, his mates at work take the p*ss when he has salads/oatcakes and they're eating pies. I'm worried he is going to start overtraining
He's really fit, active job, even though his mates are really muscley they can't carry stuff up and down flights of stairs without getting out of breath.
So we probably need some help with what kind of exercises we should be doing to get the body fat down- every intention of going to the gym today but must have slept funny last night, because my neck and shoulders are agony this morning, even after taking some nurofen, and my cold seems to be resurfacing. My body seems to be conspiring against me!!! Went to get some cough medicine yesterday and wanted sugar-free - I asked the pharmacist & she asked whether I was diabetic, when I said that I was on a diet she told me that it was probably the reason that I've got the cold in the first place, and that I probably wasn't eating enough to keep my immune system healthy. Cheeky mare.
Anyway I'm rambling now!!!
Glad you are doing ok - and the snow isn't too bad where you are (4 inches here and no chance of getting to work today!)
Carol x
Sounds like I'm eating the right sorts of things - but I do need to make sure I sort my portion sizes out, I know I shouldn't jump on the scales everyday but I've just bought new scales which show body fat/water content/visceral fat/BMR etc and I'm a bit obsessed with them at the moment.
Apparently despite my BMI being healthy now my body fat content is still obese - 33.5% and it should be between 25-33% and I appear to have put a pound on in the last 2 days. My OH is completely gutted as he has a BMI of 24.3 but his body fat is 25% which is not just overweight but "obese" as apparently men should be between 8-20% - he trains 3-4 times a week, 30-40 mins cardio and 30-40 mins weights, so can't understand what he needs to do to get his body fat down. Eats really healthily - low-GI like me in fact I don't know any men who eat as healthily as him, his mates at work take the p*ss when he has salads/oatcakes and they're eating pies. I'm worried he is going to start overtraining
He's really fit, active job, even though his mates are really muscley they can't carry stuff up and down flights of stairs without getting out of breath.
So we probably need some help with what kind of exercises we should be doing to get the body fat down- every intention of going to the gym today but must have slept funny last night, because my neck and shoulders are agony this morning, even after taking some nurofen, and my cold seems to be resurfacing. My body seems to be conspiring against me!!! Went to get some cough medicine yesterday and wanted sugar-free - I asked the pharmacist & she asked whether I was diabetic, when I said that I was on a diet she told me that it was probably the reason that I've got the cold in the first place, and that I probably wasn't eating enough to keep my immune system healthy. Cheeky mare.
Anyway I'm rambling now!!!
Glad you are doing ok - and the snow isn't too bad where you are (4 inches here and no chance of getting to work today!)
Carol x
nexangelus
Carpe diem, baby!
I assumed you were much younger...yeah you're probably right about having a different BMR (lower?)...dark and nutty is my fave (rye and the like) or even sprouted breads...mmm...
ChristieK
Queen of Cats
Went early this morning, braved the icy roads...brrrr!
Fri - 70 mins cardio...what a sweat!
Actually feeling a bit down in the dumps today. About 6 months after I moved here, I started developing some psoriasis, 2 kinds of it. 1 - peely dry skin that can get very bad on palms of hand and fingers and feet. 2 - red spots that get itchy and get dry skin forming over them, mostly on legs. I've been to private dermatologist, and had light therapy to calm down the stuff on hands and feet, it's pretty much gone on my hands, and only a bit on my feet. Most of the red spots had gone away from using special stuff to put on them which was great. I'm not vain, but really hate them. It's due probably to a combination of stress and lack of sun, which causes a type of vitamin D deficiency. I think also being careful about my diet, working out to reduce stress, and other things I do, like being careful about moisturizing, using pure aromatherapy oils, stuff like that, has helped. But in the past 2 weeks I've started to get the red spots back, so far they're small but it's really depressing, as once you get this psoriasis crap you will always have it. I've started the medicine stuff that I put on the spots again, but it is really depressing to have to deal with this, so I'm feeling rather sorry for myself today. :wave_cry:
Fri - 70 mins cardio...what a sweat!
Actually feeling a bit down in the dumps today. About 6 months after I moved here, I started developing some psoriasis, 2 kinds of it. 1 - peely dry skin that can get very bad on palms of hand and fingers and feet. 2 - red spots that get itchy and get dry skin forming over them, mostly on legs. I've been to private dermatologist, and had light therapy to calm down the stuff on hands and feet, it's pretty much gone on my hands, and only a bit on my feet. Most of the red spots had gone away from using special stuff to put on them which was great. I'm not vain, but really hate them. It's due probably to a combination of stress and lack of sun, which causes a type of vitamin D deficiency. I think also being careful about my diet, working out to reduce stress, and other things I do, like being careful about moisturizing, using pure aromatherapy oils, stuff like that, has helped. But in the past 2 weeks I've started to get the red spots back, so far they're small but it's really depressing, as once you get this psoriasis crap you will always have it. I've started the medicine stuff that I put on the spots again, but it is really depressing to have to deal with this, so I'm feeling rather sorry for myself today. :wave_cry:
Carolanski
Back to it!
Hi Christie
Sorry to hear you're feeling down - I know its not the same but I used to get some stress dermatitis when I was younger and I know how it can affect you both physically and mentally. Can you take extra vitamin D? Or get a natural light lamp to help?
Carol x
Sorry to hear you're feeling down - I know its not the same but I used to get some stress dermatitis when I was younger and I know how it can affect you both physically and mentally. Can you take extra vitamin D? Or get a natural light lamp to help?
Carol x
ChristieK
Queen of Cats
Hi Carol; unfortunately, it's natural light that does the trick for most psoriasis sufferers. So I'm just going to try and muddle along and talk OH into going someplace sunny for a week. I'm putting the gel medicine Vit D stuff on the spots so hopefully they'll start fading pronto. :sigh:
No gym today, did errands and had a ***** time with OH as usual. He always says "Saturday is your day, we go out and do fun stuff you like to do" but any more it's just another crap day, I do laundry and dishes and clean out cat litter boxes. Whoopee, got to go out and spend my money on curtains for the living room.
I'm off to gym on Sunday morning, I like going when they open @ 8am on Sunday because it's fairly empty, so I do a longer cardio session, hopfully I'll be able to get through 75-90 mins and will get some time on weight machines as well. That'll make me feel better!
No gym today, did errands and had a ***** time with OH as usual. He always says "Saturday is your day, we go out and do fun stuff you like to do" but any more it's just another crap day, I do laundry and dishes and clean out cat litter boxes. Whoopee, got to go out and spend my money on curtains for the living room.
I'm off to gym on Sunday morning, I like going when they open @ 8am on Sunday because it's fairly empty, so I do a longer cardio session, hopfully I'll be able to get through 75-90 mins and will get some time on weight machines as well. That'll make me feel better!
nexangelus
Carpe diem, baby!
Hopefully the endorphins will produce beneficial effects for your skin, sure they must...fingers crossed for you...
ChristieK
Queen of Cats
Thanks, Nex, at least the endorphins help me feel a bit better! (Well, that and the muscular eye candy at the gym this morning...:wow: ) No snow this morning (although it's snowing like mad now), so made it to the gym for my Sunday ritual.
Sunday - 90+ minutes cardio (T-shirt soaked, it was great) Weight machines all tied up, so did some dumbbells and did my stretching.
Feel much better although quads are sore as normal. OH phoned from golf course about noon, so I bundled up and did a very brisk walk over there to meet him and his brother, nephew and other friends at the golf course club, it's about a 15-min walk, actually pretty nice. Going to put on a small roast for dinner early this evening, it's fairly lean, will have some lovely carrots and broccoli with it. OH has roasted sweet potato with peppers and onions in garlic olive oil. Makes the house smell great!
Hope everyone else is having a great Sunday. Looks like it may be snowing here for the evening, cats are having fun watching it out the window. Me too!
Sunday - 90+ minutes cardio (T-shirt soaked, it was great) Weight machines all tied up, so did some dumbbells and did my stretching.
Feel much better although quads are sore as normal. OH phoned from golf course about noon, so I bundled up and did a very brisk walk over there to meet him and his brother, nephew and other friends at the golf course club, it's about a 15-min walk, actually pretty nice. Going to put on a small roast for dinner early this evening, it's fairly lean, will have some lovely carrots and broccoli with it. OH has roasted sweet potato with peppers and onions in garlic olive oil. Makes the house smell great!
Hope everyone else is having a great Sunday. Looks like it may be snowing here for the evening, cats are having fun watching it out the window. Me too!
nexangelus
Carpe diem, baby!
Your gym must be busy...only have to wait sometimes...but I tend to alternate with someone between sets...if they are the sharing type...
ChristieK
Queen of Cats
Yeah, I wish! Folks at my gym aren't very friendly in general, most of them are not what I"d call experienced gym rats, so they don't have much in the way of gym etiquette, if you catch my drift! I've not been going steadily at my regular early morning time (good for getting on machines too), between the icy roads (I'm still used to left hand drive cars and driving on right!) and some work contract stuff I'm doing, I've been going at various times of the day, that's part of the problem, I think. I did have a great cardio day today, though, so I try not to dwell on it.
My OH brought home some flavored tea last week, a guy he works with brought them in for me (they know I'm into eating healthy); his wife works at Cadbury, I think, and these are new products. It's by "London Fruit & Herb Company" and it's the Super Fruits with Blackberry, Blueberry & Acai Fruit Infusion. EXCELLENT STUFF! It smells lovely, like blueberries (which I love). I highly recommend it!! :coffee:
My OH brought home some flavored tea last week, a guy he works with brought them in for me (they know I'm into eating healthy); his wife works at Cadbury, I think, and these are new products. It's by "London Fruit & Herb Company" and it's the Super Fruits with Blackberry, Blueberry & Acai Fruit Infusion. EXCELLENT STUFF! It smells lovely, like blueberries (which I love). I highly recommend it!! :coffee:
nexangelus
Carpe diem, baby!
Oooh snazzy, the tea I mean, it contains those superfoods that everyone (well the health industry and sports people, etc) seems to be talking about.
