201: Looking Ahead

I never have been much of a New Year's Resolution person. I may say I've made some, but I've never really followed through. This year though, you guys have inspired me to really set up some goals and make some great things happen for myself. So here are my overall goals for 2012.

Health

1. Get to Goal Weight: 170lbs
2. Give paleo-style eating an honest month (at least) of effort.
3. Set monthly exercise goals and track consistently (and blog it!)
4. Find fitness events to stay motivated to exercise.
5. Take supplements daily.

Home

1. Paint and install old headboard.
2. Follow the 2012 Organize in 5 Daily Diary.
3. Find a space in the basement to organize crafty items/tools.
4. Carve out a little office niche somewhere in the house.

Work

1. Finish Service Excellence Certification
2. Do monthly or semi monthly staff morale projects.

Where do I start? Well, I plan on doing a fluffy-esque monthly goal setting post on the 1^st of each month and a wrap up on the 31^st. I'll also tell you how I'm doing on the rest of the stuff. I also plan to keep an activity log and populate it with data from my Polar monitor (started that this morning!). I already have my first fitness even picked out for March (I'll tell you more about that later).

And there you have it. Oh, before I forget, my phrase for 2012 is…

Level Up!

Level up my life, that is. There is a blog called Nerd Fitness that I've been reading for about a year now, and it really speaks to me. One of the main points there is you should do something to level up your life every day. In video games (if you are not familiar) you often have to do certain thing over and over (practice?) until you get to a higher level or proficiency. Makes sense that you would do that in real life too. More exercise will get you better fitness level. Making better eating choices over and over will eventually get you better nutrition, health, and weight loss. So, in 2012, I want to remind myself that I always need to be working on leveling up.

Watch out for my first goal post for January coming up!

ETA: linky to the Daily Organize thingamajig!

DEXA Results!

I know I promised you this weeks ago. Sorry! Holidays, you know…

Let's start with what a DEXA scan is. DEXA stands for Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (yes, that is really a word), and it is mainly used to determine bone mineral density. By using two low dose x-rays, a DEXA scan can measure bone density and soft tissue to determine body fat percentage. Exercise.about.com tells me that it is the gold standard for body fat measurement and has a 2-3% margin of error. One neat thing is that it measures all percent fat in your legs, arms, trunk, and head separately. Now I know that my arms and trunk are fatter than my legs (I figured), and my left arm is about 3% fatter than my right arm!

The whole procedure was very quick and easy. I wore comfy clothes with no metal. All I had to do was lie still on a cushy table while the machine moved around above me. It only took about eight minutes. In fact, here's a picture:

I have to admit, when I saw this, I was thinking what is that protuberance on my spine! Um… that would be my band. Funny.

All right, all right, get to the results, why don't I…

Weight (scale): 205

Weight (Dexa): 203 (minus clothes, etc. More of a true weight.)

Lean Mass: 120 lbs

Fat Mass: 83 lbs

Percent Body Fat: 40.9

I know 40.9% still seems like a crazy bad number, but let's break it down a little more. According to my handy-dandy results report, women age 45-59 with body fat less than or equal to 35% have reduced all-cause mortality. Assuming no change in lean mass, I would be there at 185lbs!

Acceptable body fat percentage for an average woman is 25-31%. At 31%, again assuming no change in lean mass, I would be around 175; at 25%, I'd be around 161! So my goal of 170 puts me square in the middle of an acceptable body fat percentage. This report suggests a maintenance weight range of 172 – 185 for me.

Apparently, my bone mineral density is average, so yay for no bone loss yet!

What does it mean? That I'm happy with my intended goal weight, and I'm feeling more confident than ever that I will get there. I'm really looking forward to getting my second one done once I get there! 

Personal Training and Christmas

But not necessarily together...

First the personal training, or in this case, I like to refer to it as personal ass-kicking. I deserved it. Every bit. In fact, I hand picked this girl because I knew she would hand me my ego on a platter. It was great! And I'm horrendously sore. So... I'm happy. And energized. I'm not going to make it back to the gym before next Tuesday, but the workout is mainly bodyweight/dumbbell stuff so there are no excuses for not getting it done at home.

We have a big weekend up ahead. Tomorrow we go to my in-laws, Saturday to my dad's, and Sunday to my mom's. My poor kiddos are going to have some seriously fried nerves by the end of it. We're sending them to daycare tomorrow for half a day just to keep some semblance of order in their little lives. It has the potential to be a logistical nightmare, but we'll make it happen. We have lots of lists!

I finished the last bit of shopping this afternoon, and I finally finished the yarn wreath for my mother in law. I will post pics soon -- it's late and I'm too lazy to plug in the camera right now. It came out really nice though. I'm really happy with it.

Well, here's me, signing off for the weekend. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday and I'll see you on the flip side!

Sunday Night Refocus - Better Late Than Never Edition and Secret Santa!

Better late than never... seems to be my motto these days. I'm losing my spunk, people. I don't know what it is... I was really in the holiday mood and anymore it is waning. I am getting stressed! Lest I forget though, let's check in.

1. Drink more water. Dismal.
2. No candy. Meh. I had some peanut butter M&Ms, but other than that I did avoid the candy.
3. Exercise 3 times: Yes! And I even signed up for some personal training to get some motivation!
4. Bandster Basics. I actually feel I did really well on this. Until Sunday when I grazed all day at my uncle's house. Oh yeah. It's was bad.
5. 1200 cals per day: Again, the weekends did me in. I think I need to approach it more like "I'm only going to eat what I can log", instead of "I'm not logging it because I have no idea what's in it frame of mind."

I got my DEXA results in the mail already -- I'll give you more on that tomorrow. It was very cool, and I'm really really really glad I did it.

So Secret Santa! I got my gift in the mail on Saturday and can I just say that someone out there knows me really well! Sephora gift card and a cool holiday starbucks tumbler. *LOVE*. I am drinking one of the Via packets as I type! Thank you, thank you, thank you secret santa! When are you going to reveal yourself?!

As for my person... I am sending out today (nothing like waiting till the last minute, eh?). And because I am so last minute with it, I'm adding some extra fun.

Plans for staying on track this week...

• water, and no excuses. 
• I made a batch of Rocco Dispirito black bean soup (just got his cook book for Christmas) and divvy-ed it up for lunch portions this week.
• First personal training session on Wednesday night.
• Got Just Dance 3 for Christmas too (yes, we pretty much have Christmas all week long in this family), so I'll be shaking my tailfeathers for some extra cardio a few times a week.

Everyone have a great Monday and a great week. I'll be back tomorrow with DEXA results!

Fill Day!

Finally finally finally. I got a fill yesterday! I was so sick of having that fleeting restriction. Having been around the block a few times with this, I know that when my restriction seems to come and go it means I need a smidge more to get to my sweet spot. And here I am.

Yesterday was a big day. I had the fill in the morning, then I had a marathon exercise physiologist / nutritionist / doctor appointment at the weight control center. I saw a different nutritionist this time, and she was wonderful. Loved the exercise guy too. The main outcome of the whole thing was that I need to supplement with Vit D, and I need to get off the processed food again. The nutritionist gave me some fantastic handouts with soup recipes and lunch ideas which I forgot at the checkout desk. I left her a voicemail today -- I hope she'll interoffice mail some to me since we work for the same hospital system. Hey, it's free, right?

Anyway, how is this fill feeling? Awesome. And I'm promising myself (and you) not to test it. I'm sticking to liquids or yogurt before 11. No more gulping water. No more big bites. I know I will pay for it, so how about just not doing it in the first place? Right? Breakfast was a 1/2 scoop of protein powder in water before the gym (yes, I even exercised this morning), then a Chobani. Lunch was french onion soup with out croutons. Dinner is supposed to be baked chicken tenders with panko crust and salad or slaw on the side. Now if one of the docs hadn't brought in a cannoli pie, I'd be all set. Yes, people, of course I had a piece. I am Italian, you know. 

I also wanted to say that I'm reading your blogs, but finding it hard to comment right now. I'm reading mostly on my phone, so commenting is a pain. I'm trying to keep up with you though!

Sunday Night Refocus - Monday Morning Edition

Hello blogland! I've decided it's the holidays that are making me a lazy blogger. So much to do, so little time!

Let's check in:

1. Drink more water. Yes! I'd say I got in at least 70oz 5 out of 7 days. Loving Watermelon Strawberry Mio!
2. No candy. I did better this week even with PMS! Wednesday I had some Junior Mints.
3. Exercise 3 times: Didn't do anything this week. Unless you count mad shopping!
4. Bandster Basics. Definitely getting better. Not serving myself too much. In fact, I told my hubby he can't make my plate for me anymore because he always puts way too much there and then gets upset when I don't eat it. 
5. 1200 cals per day: I need to be better about logging on the weekends. I also didn't log a lot this week because of the parties. Bad excuse, I know.

We had two potlucks at work this week, and I made it through both without being a pig. Wednesday I indulged in some cheesy potatoes, but other than that, I tried to stick with the protein and veggie options. On Friday, one of the nurses brought in a fantastic texmex coleslaw. I will have to get the recipe to share with you guys... I need to make it a staple. So good! There is yet another party today at lunch -- pizza this time. I hope they have salad too.

So what's the plan for this week? Well, the gym bag is packed and in the car. I'm planning on going to Circuit class this afternoon.  I think I need some kind of program or routine. This willy-nilly thing is NOT working for me. I also brought my shaker cup to work so I'm prepared for post-fill liquids. I have HMR shakes, soups, and some different herbal teas. I still have to plan for mushies.

Hey, I almost forgot! It's fill week! Wednesday is a big day for me. Fill in the morning (I'm going to ask for a teensy weensy bit), then a giant appointment at the weight control center. First I see the exercise physiologist and get the DEXA scan, then I see the nutritionist, and then I see the doc. Should be interesting. And I promise to post about it in a timely manner!

Refocus - better late than never!

Let's do a status check. This was my list of things to incorporate and how I've done this past week:

1. Drink more water. Yes! Been getting 60-80oz most days. 

2. No candy. Ummm... not so much. But definitely less than usual. I do like my treats!

3. Exercise 3 times. Yes! I did the treadmill one day, resistance training class one day, and Zumba another day!

4. Bandster Basics. Getting there. Getting reaquainted with my stop signs and really listening. Serving myself smaller portions and not picking at my food for an hour.

5. 1200 cals per day, logged on myfitnesspal.com. Yes! I've been logging most days and staying pretty darn close to my goal.

So, where did this get me? Minus 1.3 pounds this morning! Yay! It's about time things started moving in the right direction. I'm going to stick to the same thing this week. Exercise has got to be the key. I noticed that my jeans are feeling tighter these last few weeks even though my weight has only fluctuated a few pounds. Not good!