Monthly Archives: April 2012

Navel Gazes…

is a funny name for this post, considering that I still don’t see it too well.  😛

I’ve been terrible at updating this as frequently as I’d like to, but unfortunately the demands on my time at this point in the school year are high, and that leaves little time for anything non-school related, including self-care and exercise.  The past couple of weeks I haven’t been as dedicated to my workout routine as I have been, and while I haven’t suffered terribly, I also haven’t been feeling my best.  I feel fantastic and invincible when I exercise on a regular basis, and the past three weeks, I’ve been lucky to hit the gym 2 or 3 times during the week, which is 2-3 times a week less than I’ve become accustomed to.

Part of it is the busy-ness of my life at the moment, and part of it is the sheer lack of motivation I’m experiencing in my work life.  I’ve reached a crossroads with myself with regard to my career, and I don’t know that what I do makes me happy anymore.  I’ve struggled with it for a few months now, and I feel like internally, things are reaching a fever pitch with regard to what to do next.  But that’s a post for another blog at another time.

This internal struggle is spilling over into my “me” time–I’m not feelin’ it at work, and as a consequence, I’m not feelin’ it at home either.  So what do you do?  If you’re me, you have an internal dialogue with yourself.

I'm pretty convinced her arms are the gold standard for what toned arms should look like.

I told myself this past week that it was time to get back on the horse and ride.  So this week, I’ve been back to the gym three times since Monday, which is better than I did last week.  The plan is to hit it again tomorrow for a leg workout, and then Monday for chest and back and some cardio.  I’m just ready for the summer to get here so that I can invest more time into my health than I have been.  I feel like I’ve been slacking off, and I haven’t been feeling as good as I do when I exercise regularly.  I want to reclaim that feeling–I liked how I felt when I exercised nearly every day.

I’ve been pinning workouts for arms and back on my Pinterest board dedicated to exercise so that I can refer back to them, do them, and turn my arms into killer arms.  They might not be Michelle Obama’s or Angela Bassett’s perfectly sculpted arms, but by golly, I want to be rid of the “bingo flaps” I’ve got.  At the very least, I want to get my arms really toned so that I can brave sleeveless shirts and dresses.

Feeling a bit like the Red Queen…

I’ve been terrible about updating here, I know. Being a full-time teacher and wife while trying to take care of my health is not easy in the least…I don’t know how my colleagues with kids do it.

Not much has changed, weight-wise. I am at the same weight I was when I last updated. I can’t seem to get out of this weight bracket, and it’s really bothering me. I’ve tried counting calories, cutting carbs, cutting diet sodas, increasing protein, working out more, and nothing seems to be working. I’m on a monster plateau, and I feel like I can’t get off.

But I know changes are happening. My clothes are fitting better, I can see more veins under my skin, and I have muscle tone in places I didn’t use to have any. So what gives?

I take a multivitamin, a B12 supplement, a vitamin D supplement, CoQ10, green tea capsules (hate the taste of it so I refuse to drink it), and chromium picolinate. I wonder if there’s something else I should be taking?

I eat 8-9 servings of veggies/fruits a day, I eat whole grains, lean proteins, and eat few starchy carbs. Sugars are kept to a minimum since I’m diabetic, and I get quite a bit of fiber. I drink water and tea like a camel–anywhere from 12-14 cups a day.

I lift heavy weights, I ride the recumbent bike at the gym for 40 minutes at a time now, and still I fight with the same 5 pounds. I am tired of fighting the good fight. My motivation is at an all-time low–last week I only worked out twice, partly because I was super busy, but mostly because I’m starting to believe that no matter what I do, nothing is going to get me over this hump.

I need a reset button, something to get me back on track and going again. I wish I knew what it was.

I will be grateful for the summer, and for the time off. The stress I’m experiencing because of work is tremendous, and perhaps all the corticosteroids I’m releasing are stifling my efforts at weight loss. The biologist in me thinks about that a lot, because I know cortisol can contribute to weight gain. Perhaps taking up yoga is in order?

I don’t know…I just know that I need things to move along tout suite, or I will end up right back where I began in August 2010. And that is not a place I ever want to be again.