The Shed

Welcome to The Shed’s blog page.  Check back regularly for new posts.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll find some inspiration.

When I sat down to think about what a good topic would be for my first blog, SUGAR was the first thing that came to mind. Why sugar? One good answer:  It is poison. OK, I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but I believe there is some truth in that statement. The over-consumption of sugar is slowly poisoning us.  Refined sugar is empty; empty of anything remotely nutritious. Our bodies have to go into over-drive to digest, detox and eliminate sugar, and that process leeches our bodies of precious vitamins and minerals, such as sodium, potassium  and magnesium. Not only that, but it robs our bodies of calcium, and where do we store the most calcium? In our bones and teeth.  So what happens?  Our teeth rot and our bones begin to weaken.

It doesn’t end there. Excess sugar eventually affects every organ in the body. Every ORGAN. Now, if you aren’t taking me seriously at this point, you are in serious denial. Or you are one of those people who believes that “ignorance is bliss.”  Believe me, ignorance when it comes to your health, will kill you. Literally.

How does sugar affect our organs? (Reader beware because I am about to talk science. I’ll try to keep it in layman’s terms).  First, it is stored in the liver in the form of glucose. Since the liver’s capacity is limited, a daily intake of refined sugar soon makes the liver expand like a balloon. When it’s filled to its maximum, excess sugar is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids (fatty… fat-ty… FAT). These are then taken to every part of the body and stored in the most inactive areas: the belly, the buttocks, the breasts and the thighs. Hmm… do these sound like common “problem areas?”

When these areas are completely filled, where do you think the excess fat goes? It is distributed to our active organs, such as the heart and kidneys. These begin to slow down and their tissues degenerate and turn to fat. The whole body is affected by their reduced ability and abnormal blood pressure is created. Our parasympathetic nervous system is affected (this is our control center for all involuntary activities such as digestion, circulation, etc) and organs affected by it such as the brain, become inactive or paralyzed. The circulatory and lymphatic systems are invaded, an overabundance of white blood cells occurs and tissue production slows down. Our immune system decreases, “good” bacteria dies and our stock of vitamin B gets low. We get sleepy and our ability to calculate and remember is lost.

If this doesn’t sound like poisoning, I don’t know what does.

In a world where sugar is added to everything, what is one to do? For one, start reading labels. Know how to calculate sugar grams into teaspoons. This will help give you a visual on how much you are consuming.  Take the sugar grams in a serving and divide that number by 4 to give you the approximate number of TEASPOONS in that serving. For instance, most sodas have 40 grams of sugar. That is 10 teaspoons!  Most yogurts, which most people assume are healthy, have 5 teaspoons of sugar in them! How do we know if that sugar is added? If sugar, in any form or fashion (sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, molasses,  caramel, barley malt, dextrose, fructose…the list goes on), is one of the first three ingredients listed on the packaging, you can assume most of it is added and not from a natural source.

This does not do it justice.

For those of you who don’t know me, I have three young kids and I admit, I used to buy them any cereal they wanted. I thought that eating something was better than nothing…until I realized how much sugar was in so many breakfast cereals. Most have about 10 grams of added sugar per serving! That’s when I decided that I didn’t want to start my kids off on the wrong foot and if I was going to start to limit their sugar intake, then I needed to start with the most important meal of the day: Breakfast!  I switched out all of their breakfast cereals to brands that have less than 6 grams of sugar per serving and believe me, there aren’t a lot out there.  Grape Nuts, Shredded Wheat (not Frosted), Cheerios (not Honey Nut) and Kix are a few that I found that my kids will eat.  At first my kids complained and complained that I never bought any good cereals anymore, but I stuck to my guns, the whining subsided and low and behold, we’ve had many a peaceful morning.  I found if I gave them a choice between a few, they were more apt to eat them because it was their decision.

Another hot topic in the house has been soda. I do not buy it. In fact, I now REFUSE to buy it.  Unfortunately, my husband does not.

It’s diet! My husband says.

Great, I say.  Chemically- laden bubbly. How refreshing. But it is his decision – he is an adult after all –  and I respect that, however it does send mixed messages to our kids.

My son got into a heated argument with me over a diet soda the other day and how it wasn’t fair that I wouldn’t let him have it.

Dad drinks it, Mom! It doesn’t have caffeine in it, he said.

I tried to explain to him that soda is full of sugar and diet soda is full of chemicals that can potentially harm him and that caffeine was the least of my worries when it came to soda. This really just went “swoooosh” right over my nine-year-old’s head but  I didn’t cave into his pleads for the “pop”  and when all was said and done, he went without the soda and I was the bad guy. Go figure.

I agree that there are times when you need to pick your battles with your kids. I understand that they are going to have sugar and most likely I will “treat” them to a candy bar or ice cream here and there. But the key when it comes to sugar, is moderation and if I can control their intake to some degree then it sure as heck allows me to sleep better at night and little do they know, it helps them sleep better too.

Background on sugar derived from: Dufty, William. Sugar Blues. Padnor, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1993.

Yesterday was D-day, DENIAL NO MORE.

I got weighed and measured after a  6 month “vacation”.  The numbers told me what I already knew, that I had gained all the weight back!  Full disclosure, I took the boot camp back in June of 2010 and loved the results so much I signed up for another 6 weeks which got me to my wedding weight.  The blissful event took place on 10/1/10.  I started celebrating that day and never looked back.  So, here I am starting over and feeling defeated, but optimistic.

I got up this morning, looking forward to getting into the early morning routine I remembered so well.  I drove to the studio and asked myself, “how I got here?  How is it that I’m starting over, again!”  The mind is an amazing thing.  It tells me that the jeans I’m wearing aren’t tight because I ate too much, they’re tight because I put them in the dryer.  It tells me that working out today won’t effect tomorrow, or the next day or the next so why bother.  It tells me that I don’t have the willpower or the strength to do it, when I know I do.  I did.  So, what changed?  For me, it’s not having a goal.  So, I created a goal.  The most immediate, is to beat Justin with the highest percentage of weight and inches lost.  Yes, I know, it’s childish but I want to win.  I want to win because I hope it will get me to my next goal which is to stop looking at weight and fitness as a goal and look at it as my life.  I need to stop taking “vacations” and incorporate good eating habits and exercise into my crazy schedule  EVERY day.  I won’t always have the luxury of having a goal, so  I need to make good choices at every turn.

So, here it is.  Day 1 and I’m feeling great!  We finished 8 rounds of HIIT (high intensity interval training) for which I have a love hate relationship but I know they work, which makes me lucky.  I know what’s at the end of the yellow brick road, I just have to stay on it!

Orientation Day & Day 1

Howdy! My name is Justin Neal, and I will be blogging my experiences at a fitness bootcamp over the next 6 weeks at my favorite gym – called The Shed. The bootcamp is called BodySHED, and is like no other.    

 My mother happens to be a successful blogger; hopefully it runs in the family! I hope you find this blog interesting and motivational – feel free to leave encouragement/questions/comments/quips over the next six weeks. 

Sunday was orientation day.  Gotta admit I am a little nervous about embarking on this again.  I have done boot camps before, and even did BodySHED last summer – but this time I am “in it to win it”! 

Orientation always takes place on the Sunday before bootcamp begins.  Measurements are taken, introductions are made, paperwork is completed, and heart monitors settings are adjusted.  Bootcampers report for duty the next morning at 6:00. 

Once a year my father, brother, wife and I hike down (and back up) the Grand Canyon.  The night before the hike, we spend a good amount of time preparing.  We pack and repack our backpacks, split up rations and supplies, and pack everything in the car so we can leave early the next morning. Everything we need for three day hike needs to be carried down the Canyon, and then back up again.  Preparing for bootcamp feels just about the same.  Need the right songs on the iPod, heart rate monitor settings set, water bottles ready,  etc. 

Last time I did the BodySHED program, I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t make it a priority in my life, and the results showed.  The current  group seems very nice – 7 women and 2 men. All different ages, shapes and sizes.  Everyone here for the same reason; to shed weight and inches.  Not a lot of camaraderie yet, but in my experience it doesn’t take long for rapport to build.

 Katie (AKA The Food Stalker) and Spencer are the owners of The Shed. My schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at BodySHED.  Tuesdays and Thursdays at Alumni BodySHED.  More explanation later as to why we have lovingly nicknamed Katie “The Food Stalker”.  She passes out custom books with our guidelines for daily caloric recommendations. It includes custom heart rate zones used for the HIIT (High Impact Interval Training) portion.  

Day 1 – 5:00 AM

First alarm clock going off, backup alarm clock for 5:10.  I have been known to shut off my alarm clock in my sleep somehow sometimes! Coffee brewed, quick meal, and out the door. 25 minute drive from my house to the Shed. Long commute, but totally worth it.  Arrive at The Shed a little early to get my bike and weights all set up. 

As I mentioned before, I have done many bootcamps over the past five years.  BodySHED is by far the best I have ever been a part of. On the fitness side, we spend ½ doing HIIT training, and the second half lifting weights.  The age old debate between weight lifting versus cardio?  BodySHED gets you the best of both worlds, all done before 7 AM. 

6:00 AM

 Our first session of HIIT training.  Everyone on a stationary bike, you control the settings, and the goal is to get our respective heart rates up to certain markers, let it drop, boost it up again, let it drop… on and on for 30 minutes.  More on this to follow in future blog posts. I have been pushed before to what I thought were my limits. However, I have learned that limits are all what the mind determines the “max” is. Katie calculated each of our heart rate zones, and everyone has a specific heart rate number.  My 85% zone is 166, and my 90% zone is 172.  During my last experience with HIIT training at The SHED – 85% felt like I couldn’t possible keep going, and 90% felt like I was about to pass out. After my first few HIIT training sessions last summer, I learned that at 85% I actually COULD keep on going, and I actually did NOT pass out at 90%. Just need to shut the mind off as best as I can, and keep my legs pumping.  

HIIT portion finished, and my heart rate monitor says I burned 512 calories.  Not too shabby for a ½ hour of work!! 

6:30 AM

Shirt now soaked in sweat, socks might be too. Floor all around my bike looks like there was a leak in the ceiling above me – sweat puddles everywhere.  Didn’t someone say somewhere that sweat was sexy?? Pretty sure they didn’t mean sweat puddles.  On to the second half of the workout – weight lifting. Katie leads the class, we all follow along.  Low weights, high reps… not much break in between.  Still the same problem – my brain trying to tell my body when I have reached my max.  Gotta remember to shut the brain off.  I usually try to think of something else to distract myself. 

I wonder what my dog is doing right now? I wonder if she likes the new collar I got her?? She is such a good dog, I should take her to Petco sometime on a leash and let her shop for a new bone or something. I wonder if  I could bring her along to The Shed and have her wait in the car each morning.  She might like the change in scenery and it would almost count as if I actually took her for a walk?

 Crap – we have already moved on to the next exercise.  Better not let the mind wander too much. Katie gives us a slight break between exercises, just enough to get ready for the next set.  We are working on biceps, triceps, and some lower body at the same time.  

DONE. Heart rate monitor now reads 970 calories burned for the entire hour. 

 7:00 AM

Day one finished.  I feel exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time.  Mostly exhausted.  Back in my car and heading north on Lyndale – noticing everyone starting to head to work.  It feels great that I have already got my workout for the day finished. I am not a morning person, but if I don’t get my butt to the gym before work, it never seems to happen.

My goal is give 100% at BodySHED each morning, and then watch my calories throughout the day.  No point in working this hard at 6 AM, and then blowing it on my diet, right??  Katie has calculated that I should be eating around 2300 calories each day to shed lbs. We enter all of our meals online, and Katie can observe and comment.  

More posts later on this week.  I will be blogging each week on my experiences, I hope you follow along! If you have any questions about BodySHED feel free to post and I will shoot you back an answer. Gotta start researching for my NCAA March Madness picks!  ~Justin

Day 2

Getting up at 5am is not fun.  And, in the beginning I hate it.  It’s funny, people have the same look on their face when I tell them my morning boot camp starts at 5:45am, that look like they smelled something bad.  The truth is, it’s become my favorite part of the day.  The trick is to just get up.  Don’t hit the alarm or think about all the reasons why you should stay in bed (again, it’s your mind playing tricks!).  Get up, move around, it’s not as bad as you think.  I actually enjoy driving to class at 5:25am.  No one is on the freeway and I feel a sense of accomplishment, silly really, but I do.  I check it off the “done” list and move along with my day.

So, I’m sitting here with a cup of coffee with a dash of cream (No, Katie, I did not journal that cream!) and reflecting back to the horror that was this mornings class.  I had forgotten how hard the classes are.  Not hard like I can’t do it, hard as in challenging, and hard as in “I can’t believe I allowed myself to get so out of shape!”.  These little reminders of what I did to get where I was and where I am now.  Like I said in my #1 post, I no longer have a fitness goal because what happens after you achieve your goal?  It’s not like a project at work, you can’t move onto the next project once you’ve completed your task.  It’s a continuous series of choices.  Katie says, “Think about every food choice; is it going to help my body function, or hinder my body from functioning?”  These choices don’t go away after achieving your goal weight or you fit into your “skinny” jeans.  The right choice has to be made every day, at every opportunity.  We all have slip-ups but we have to move on, move on to the next opportunity to make the right decision.  Let’s see if I can start making the right decisions.

By the way Katie, those squat and hops were created in hell!

Another component of the BodySHED Boot Camp is the two additional choice classes you take during the week.  I decided to take a 60 minute spin class tonight, conveniently called the Shamrock Spin (cute).  I was a little concerned because I was told only Irish music would be played but wouldn’t you know, it had a nice little beat to it!!

Shamrock Spin

As you can see, some were a little more festive than others (check out Katie’s socks!).

So, one choice class down, and a weigh in tomorrow (yikes!!).  If this was my “last chance workout” I did it proud, I sweat like a beast.  I hope the scale is kind to me tomorrow, I need to feel like I’m moving in the right direction.

Day 3, week one done!

I was a little tired this morning, probably that Shamrock Spin last night.  I wasn’t excited to weigh-in since I heard through the grapevine my competition weighed in yesterday and lost 6.4 pounds, in one week!!  Well, I waited to weigh-in until after the workout, as if that extra pound was going to come off during one the of the 8 HIIT’s.  Drum roll please…….I lost 3.4 pounds!  I’m thrilled, not bad for 5 days.

Now, the trick is to stay on track over the weekend.  As a “camper” we log our meals online where Katie determines our calories and calculates what percentage should be carbohydrates, protein and fat.  We are to log daily but are given one “cheat” day.  Today is that day.  I have dinner plans with friends and since food is my business (did I mention I own an advertising, marketing and public relations firm and that some of my clients are restaurants?) I don’t want to deprive myself since we are trying a new restaurant.  I am going to follow the guidelines for breakfast and lunch and be mindful of my selections for dinner but not count calories, carbohydrates, protein or fat.  Yes, I will also partake in a glass of wine, or two.

I never thought I would like to log what I eat but it helps me stay on track, that and Katie is monitoring your journals.  I think Justin refers to her as a food stalker but I call her the enforcer.  She makes comments on your food choices, and makes suggestions or offers words of encouragement.  She actually told me to eat more, go figure!

So, to anyone out there reading this, I am cautiously optimistic that I can enjoy the weekend without totally losing the progress I’ve made this week.  I have one choice class left and a major grocery shopping excursion ahead so here’s hoping!!

Stats:
Justin lost 6.4 pounds (2.14%)
Jen lost 3.4 pounds (2.01%)

Day 4, Week 2

Today was tough.  I don’t know if it was the spin class I took yesterday morning (Kent worked us hard!) or that it’s Monday, either way, I had trouble hitting my 90% during the HIIT portion of class this morning.  I feel good though.  I stayed on track during the weekend (for the most part), got my 2nd choice class in, and made a few meals yesterday to help get me through the week.  It does however, seem my husband is having a bit of an adjustment problem with my new “healthy” eating.  I know he is trying to be supportive but he is naturally thin and has a fairly active job so weight has never been an issue for him.  I, on the other hand, can spend 10-12 hours at a computer only to get up to eat, bad combination!  I understand, it is an adjustment.  Our typical weekend consisted of eating and drinking with friends or a work event/obligation that pertains to eating and drinking.  Over the course of the weekend we can easily eat out for every meal, or almost every meal and late night dining was the norm.  We stayed in this weekend and he wasn’t thrilled.  At every opportunity he tried to conjure up reasons why we should go out and I had to shut him down at every turn.  I explained to him that it won’t be like this forever, just until I feel confident that I can make the right decisions when we do go out.

Because we stayed in, it occurred to me that we don’t have bad eating habits when we eat at home.  We make the right decisions, the problem is how often do we actually eat at home.  Think about it, if you are like us, during the week we grab coffee and a scone for breakfast, grab something “fast” for lunch and bring take out home, order in, or go out for dinner.  That was us for the last 6 months and no wonder the weight came back.  I told Jason that unless he wants a fat wife WE have to get on a better path, starting now.  He wasn’t enthusiastic but understood the importance and necessity of a lifestyle shift.  We’ve decided that after the 6-week boot camp we will no longer eat out during the week and limit our weekend activities.  We will shop and cook on Sundays to prepare for the week ahead.  It sounds super boring and domesticated to me but I know it’s something WE have to be committed to so weight isn’t an issue for either of us!

This week I’m going to try something a little different and double up on the days that I have morning boot camp (Monday and Wednesday) and take a spin/strength class that same evening.  I want to see if my energy in the morning improves if I don’t take a class the night before.  Obviously, I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Stay classy blog readers!
(I’m playing around with a fun way to end my entries, what do you think?)

Sometimes I look at my dog Penny, and think about how good she has it.  At least from a diet perspective.  I feed her a set amount of organic dog food twice a day.  No table scraps, no third meal (or fourth meal – c’mon Taco Bell??). No sneaking in a candy bar or a bag of chips when no one is looking.  No donut at a gas station.  Just organic dog food, twice a day. 

My point is that Penny’s diet is completely in someone else’s hands.  All decision making is removed, and she is forced to eat a proportioned, healthy and organic diet.  What if life were that easy for us humans? 

If I won the lottery, I would gladly hire Katie “The Food Stalker”  to follow me around day and night, and give her full consent to slap the Oreo out of my mouth whenever I had a moment of weakness.  Unfortunately, I am in complete control of whatever I shove in my mouth.  And therein lies the problem. 

 One of the biggest benefits of being a part of BodySHED is the diet side of the equation. Katie expects all BodySHED’ers to do an online food journal.  Every meal and snack is entered, and then Katie “stalks” around everyone’s food journals (hence the nickname) to see what everyone is eating. She then shoots out many many personalized messages,  like a teenager texting their BFF on a new cell phone. 

“Maybe try organic peanut butter rather than Skippy PB?” Katie says.  Okay, I will concede that one.  Organic PB tastes just as good to me, and only has three ingredients – no stuff I can’t pronounce. 

“You should add more vegetables in your diet.  Try to get them in with at least two meals” Katie says. Annoying, but once again I have to admit she is right.  Well played Food Stalker, well played. 

Katie truly has a passion for teaching her clients the RIGHT way to eat.  Her helpful tips not only educate me on the good food options out there, but she also does it in a saleperson-ish way.  “Oatmeal is a good choice for breakfast, but try to switch from instant oatmeal to steel cut oats.  They are cut, not rolled – which makes you feel fuller longer”  Anyone in sales has been through training to use features and benefits… can  you spot the feature and benefit in that statement?  

 Spencer “Nickname TBD” made an interesting comment while wrapping up the Alumni BodySHED last Tuesday.  “Now comes the hard part… making good food choices the rest of the day today”.  YOU THINK THAT IS THE HARD PART???  You just finished kicking my butt up and down the hallway for the past hour.  All my articles of clothing are soaked in sweat, and my heart rate monitor is flashing 978 kcal burned in 60 minutes… and this ISN’T the hard part?  Driving home, I realize that Spencer is right.  Exercise is great for keeping the body young, and most of my aches and pains go away when I am consistently exercising.  But it seems that the key to long term weight loss is a combination of daily exercise and healthy clean eating, with an emphasis on the latter. 

I have been asked to keep a food journal at other boot camps.  Some trainers ask to see them, other’s don’t.  I could usually wear down a trainer by “forgetting to journal” enough times until they gave up.  This technique doesn’t work on Katie.  It seems to only move me closer on her radar.  

Everyone agrees that the key to weight loss and maintenance is using a food journal.  I am just not used to someone picking up my journal and asking me “what’s up with you eating pizza for lunch and dinner??” I really don’t have an answer for that question.  I tried to convince her that it was “National Pizza Day”; unfortunately she didn’t believe me. 

Interestingly enough, Katie helped me shake my lifelong sugar habit.  I can’t explain how it happened, or exactly when.  I know it was some time last summer when I took BodySHED for the first time.  Katie immediately noticed that I had quiet a few sugary items in my daily online food journal.  In no particular order she inquired, noted, cajoled, harassed, harangued, persuaded and demanded that I break the habit.  Somehow it worked!  I am not saying I still don’t enjoy a candy bar here or there… but I no longer “have” to have it.  And weeks can go by before I realize I haven’t had a donut – used to be a daily occurrence. 

Making lifelong food changes is the only way to be successful with weight loss. Small changes here and there add up to big changes in the long run.  Unless your name is “Penny”, it is up to you to decide what goes in your body every meal!

Day 5

What is with this weather??  I am over it and I’m not alone.  For the first time in Boot Camp history our Wednesday morning class was reschedule for this morning, Thursday.  Katie made the call Tuesday evening after driving home in snow and sleet.  I was a bit relieved, not because of the drive in the morning but because I had a meeting Tuesday that turned into two glasses of wine.  Katie’s phone call came right as I was debating a third.  She must have known.  I had every intention of  “reserving” my wine for my cheat day but in my line of work it is nearly impossible, or rather, unlikely that I would not partake in a glass of wine when the person I am meeting with insists.  So, I did.  I worry that the scale tomorrow morning with reflect me succumbing to peer pressure but I have to continue living my life, right?

Again, and as if Katie knew I needed a little reassurance, she sends this week’s discussion topic, “Alcohol and Weight Loss”.  As part of the BodySHED Boot Camp, Katie sends out weekly discussion topics which are to be read and responded to.  Boot Camp participants receive rewards points for responding and at the end of the program the participant with the most points wins and can participate in Alumni 6-week BodySHED Boot Camp, for free.  Winning is a great incentive but the discussion topics are really interesting and helpful (and in my case, timely).

So, I’d like to introduce you to my frienemy, red wine.  I enjoy “Red” and we share many great memories but according to the articles Katie sent over, “Red” isn’t great for weight loss.  Evidently, when my body attempts to metabolize “Red” and food that has been consumed together, it will use the energy from “Red” first and store food as fat, not good.  This means my meal gets stored and synthesized as fat while “Red” gets burned off.  And, my plan of “reserving” my wine for my cheat day isn’t a good one.  A study published in 2005 found that men and women who had one drink per day, three to seven days a week, had the lowest body mass indexes.  People who infrequently drank the greatest quantity (me on a Saturday night) had the highest BMI’s.  So, the moral of the story is moderation.  I can partake in a glass of wine here and there but “reserving” my wine for my cheat day where I might have more than one, is not a good long-term plan.

So, I’m reluctantly optimistic about the number on the scale tomorrow but I’ve learned a really good lesson about how to achieve long-term success when it comes to my friend “Red”.  And, depending on the numbers tomorrow I may need to pay a visit to my friend, is 7am too early (Katie, I’m kidding)???

I think that title says it all.  Being lazy is truly easy and enjoyable.  However, being lazy has its setbacks.

It takes energy to spend Sunday afternoon preparing healthy meals and snacks for the upcoming week.  Every Sunday I attempt to pre-cook a bunch of grilled chicken and pork chops.  I attempt to cut up a bunch of celery (snacking) , green and red bell peppers (to mix in with scrambled eggs) , and onions (ditto).  I hard-boil a dozen eggs, which is my favorite I’m-in-a-hurry-so-I-just-grab-these breakfast choice. Much better for me than swinging through a McDonalds drive-thru.

It is not easy getting up to go to the gym at 5:00 AM each day.  I am not a happy camper at all getting up when it is still cold and dark outside.  But once I am in my car heading to the gym, I am usually glad I made the decision to get up.  And I have found that if I don’t go at this time, I end up not going at all.  Something always gets in the way if I try to go over my lunch hour.  After work I am either to tired or have kids activities.  I have no excuse for not working out early in the morning… nothing gets in the way at 5:00 AM! I try to pretend that I have to be at work by 6:00, which usually does the trick.  I can make my self get out of bed at that time of day if it is for something that is important to me.

Nothing good in life comes from being lazy.  Don’t get me wrong, I love spending a Sunday afternoon on the sofa watching a ball game or two. But for me to be successful in losing weight, I need to get up off the sofa and cut up vegetables for the week while watching the ball game. My chance of making good food choices greatly improves when I have everything already prepped and in the fridge.

It doesn’t take much for me to find an excuse to run through a fast food drive thru for breakfast or lunch. But if I have all the food for the week all ready to go, I am halfway home.

 Thanks for stopping by San Diego!

Day 8

I’m back!  I’ve recovered from a little cold-thing, a horribly crazy weekend and even crazier Monday and Tuesday, which I hope explains my short break from the blog.  I skipped last Friday’s class because of the aforementioned cold-thing but took Katie’s Saturday morning class where I also, reluctantly, weighed-in.  The good news, I didn’t gain any weight.  The bad news, I lost one pound.  To be frank, I’m surprised I lost anything at all.  I stopped journaling my food last Thursday because my week got crazy and I wasn’t feeling well.  I tend to eat comfort food when I don’t feel well.  I’m not sure why they call it that, I just feel fat!

So, I hit restart last Monday and so far so good!  I knew I had another crazy schedule this week so I doubled up on Monday going to BodySHED in the morning and Kent’s Spin and Strength class in the evening (I love that class!).  I thought I might be sore because both classes focused on arms but I wasn’t, which was good but makes me wonder if I could have pushed myself a little more.

Anywho, back to class this morning and dreading the 3-week weigh-in and measurements on Friday.  I keep telling myself there isn’t an end, just a beginning, and I need to integrate good nutrition and positive food choices with an exercise regime every day, all the time.  I may stumble from time to time but I have to get back on track and not fall into a hole of “why bother”.  I feel great and I don’t want to beat myself up because I’m not seeing the immediate results I feel I deserve (If it were up to me it would take one workout to get back into shape and drop the 15 pounds I’ve gained over the course of 6 months!).  My workouts are truly the only time in my day that are entirely and solely for me.  I need to remember that when it’s hard to get up in the morning or leave the office in the evening for a spin class.  I have to take the time, I deserve the time.  So, I will report the results of week 3 on Friday but here are the meager results from last week (notice I beat Justin by the skin of my teeth!!).

Week 2 Stats:
Jen lost 1.0 pounds (.60%)
Justin lost 1.2 pounds (.40%)

Stay classy!

Day 9, end of week 3

Today is April Fool’s Day and I’m not joking about my real fears about weighing-in.  I hate it!  I worry about the numbers on the scale rather than how I feel, as if that number is going to make me happy or sad.  Let’s be honest, I’m NEVER going to weigh what I think I should weigh.  I’m five feet two and a half and I’ve never been “stick thin”.  It’s just not my body type.  I’ve always had what you’d call an “athletic build”.  The problem is that I’m selective with my “athletic” activity which just means I get fat when I don’t maintain physical activity.  The struggle is having to remind myself that I don’t have an end goal but rather I have to change my thinking.  I don’t want to lose a bunch of weight to only gain it back again because the diet plan was unreasonable or the workout schedule grueling.  I want to get into shape and create a routine where I’m not obsessing about how many calories I’m consuming or if I burned enough calories in my workout.  I just want to stop thinking about it so much, I want to be balanced and make good decisions whenever possible and incorporate exercise into my daily life.  That is what BodySHED is doing for me.  It’s reminding me that I must take every opportunity to make the right food and exercise decisions, that every decision (good or bad) does add up and that it is a lifestyle change, not a diet.

BodySHED provides that accountability I need for what I put in my mouth and whether or not I sign-up for those extra choice classes every week.  Don’t get me wrong, Katie is a good motivator, she will call you out for not journaling for several days (sorry about that Katie) or if you aren’t getting your choice classes in but I need that extra push until I can do it for myself.  I’m feeling more and more confident and I like being pushed, a little.

With all that being said, I do ultimately need to lose some weight.  But, I want to do it in a way that I will be able to continue losing weight after the BodySHED boot camp and until I can get to a healthy place and maintain the healthy eating habits and incorporate exercise into my schedule.  I want to stop the up and down.  I’m getting older, despite what I tell people, and I know the up and down isn’t good for my mind, body or soul.  It’s also harder to go down the older I get.  There is a reason I am here, doing what I’m doing, and I feel confident I will get there!

Stats:
Justin lost 2.2 pounds (.75%) total lost so far, 9.8 pounds (3.27%)
Jen lost .80 pounds (.48%) total lost so far, 5.2 pounds (3.07%)

(Yes, I’m bummed that Justin beat me out this week but measurements will be taken on Monday so we shall see who wins that battle!!!)

Stay classy.

My in-laws and I went to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children over the weekend. I was long overdue for some volunteering, as the last time I have volunteered was when I was 18 years old.  It was parent-ordered, swift justice for being caught sneaking out and trying to climb on top of a local movie theater.  The police and fire dept were kind enough to get me and my friends down and bring us home.  I washed dishes as a volunteer at a hospital for the rest of the summer as a result.
 
Anyway, back to this weekend. I had never done FMSC before, but here is how it plays out.  Your group is one of 9 or 10 groups.  Each group works at a packing station, and tries to prepare as many meals as possible in the 2 hour shift.  We made the most of it and tried to be as loud and rowdy as possible.  Energy levels were high, and we ended up packing 25 boxes full of meals from our station.  I think that might be some kind of record.
  
Before you begin your shift, a spokesperson speaks to the group about the mission of FMSC.  She described some situations where children were hungry 24/7, and even ate “dirt pies” to get their stomach to stop grumbling.  The meals we were preparing were a combination of soy, vegetarian chicken, rice and vegetables.  When it is all thrown in a bag together, it ends up around the size of a nerf football. Not sure if this represents the only meal for a starving child for a day or not.
 
For me, this really put food in perspective.  I am spending my day trying to eat LESS than 2200 calories to LOSE weight.  Meanwhile, a starving child somewhere is hoping and praying to get the opportunity to eat 400 calories in a meal prepared by FMSC, so that they won’t die of starvation. Complete guess there on the calories of the meal prepared, but it is not a great deal of food.               

                         
 
This thought has marinated in my brain over the weekend, and hopefully will have some positive effect on my food choices throughout the week. 
 
If you have not yet had the opportunity to participate in FMSC, I would highly recommend doing so.  It is a hard two hours of work, but when you are done you really feel like you have accomplished something, and given a little bit of your time to help someone in need.  Check out their website, http://www.fmsc.org/page.aspx?pid=376. 
 

I stumbled across this video a few days ago on Facebook.  A truly amazing story of a father and son who recently competed in the Ironman triathlon.  Truly inspiring, and I think I will keep this link handy… re-watch whenever I need some motivation! Click on the link below…

Day 10, start of week 4

I had a great weekend!  Spring has finally sprung and I didn’t have work or family commitments to prevent me from making good food choices, proving I can do it!  I was also able to squeeze in a spin class on Sunday with Spencer, damn good class!  All-in-all, a fabulous weekend and only one glass of wine on Saturday (yes, I journaled it).  My cheat day was Friday and I thoroughly cheated and splurged.  I enjoyed a couple of glasses of red wine, sushi at Wondrous Azian Kitchen, and dinner at Bar La Grassa, two of my favorite places.  I feel good and my confidence is building.

Another benefit to participating in the BodySHED Boot Camp is that I sleep really well.  I suffer severe bouts of insomnia on a fairly regular basis but I’ve noticed that during BodySHED I never have a sleepless night, can fall asleep quickly, and can sleep the entire night through, which almost never happens.  So, when Katie sent last week’s group discussion, “Stress and Sleep”, I thought I could get some answers.

STRESS
Can too much stress really cause us to gain weight, yes!  When we’re stressed, our bodies respond as though we are about to be harmed and need to fight for our lives, the fight or flight response.  This response triggers a whole slew of hormones to be released, one trouble-making hormone that remains elevated during chronic stress is cortisol.  Too much cortisol slows your metabolism and causes you to store fat, in particular in the abdominal region (that is me!).

SLEEP
Recent scientific studies show a strong relationship between sleep deprivation and weight gain, here are some findings:
-People who slept less than six hours a night experienced an increase in their body mass index (height-to-weight ratio) more than those who slept seven to eight hours.
-Women who slept five hours a day, or less, gained more weight than those who slept seven hours a day, according to a 16-year study.

Some researchers believe that the slow-wave sleep, the deep, dreamless sleep that you get about 3 to 4 different times a night, may actually help regulate your metabolism.  In fact, stage 4 slow-wave sleep, which begins about an hour after you fall asleep, is when you release your biggest surge of growth hormone which is the hormone that tells the body to burn stored fat.

So, my solution for insomnia and to stop gaining weight in my mid-section is to get regular exercise.  It will reduce stress and promote a more restful sleep.  Who knew sleeping more would be the answer, I can totally do that!

Measurements will be taken Wednesday so watch for the numbers, I am hopeful I will emerge as the victor in the inches category!!

Stay Classy!

http://communityblog.yelp.com/2011/04/minneapolis-yelp-fit-club-the-shed.html

Ever since I can remember, I have loved techno.  For working out, long trips in the car; techno always gets my toes tappin. There are many different styles of techno – my favorite is called 120 BPM’s (beats per minute).  It is very fast paced, and great to work out to. 

 Beats per minute translate into a whole new deal with bodySHED. Everyone wears heart rate monitors, and Katie has given each person a specific set of numbers to track on their heart rate monitors.  These numbers derive from our individual resting heart rate.  From this baseline, Katie is able to determine everyone’s max heart rate (defined as the highest heart rate an individual can achieve). We are then each given individual goals to hit during our workouts, to make sure we stay in the proper “zones” to maximizing fat/calorie burning. My particular numbers are 146, 165, and 172.

 I try not to let my heart rate fall below 146 during the entire workout, and try to push it to 172 during each interval.  We work hard for a minute, and then let it fall and recover.  Then do it all over again. The first week of bodySHED, I had no problem getting my heart rate up to my 90% MAX (172).  Why?  Cause I was out of shape! Week 2 I found that it was much harder to get to 172, but still able to do it most of the time.  Week 3 – I have found that getting to 172 is really really hard.  I guess I am happy about this as it shows me that I am getting in better shape.

 I have noticed that I am extremely comfortable keeping my heart rate at around 120-130.  Not terribly strenuous.  However, not many calories being burned either.  At 150, I am breathing pretty heavy and my brain starts to remind me that I should stop whatever I am doing to my body.  At 160, I am out of breath, and my brain is screaming at me to stop.  At 172, I feel like I can’t possibly go on, and I think my brain has passed out.  Luckily I don’t spend much time at 172, maybe 30 seconds or so.

 ”Your body can do so much more than your brain will let it” said Katie on Friday.  Or something along those lines – to be honest at that point I was having a hard time focusing on anything happening around me. Also I think my ear canals were completely full of sweat (sexy, right??). Makes sense though. My brain starts talking to me at around 140. “Stop. You should stop. Seriously, stop.  STOP! SSSTTTOOOOOPPPPPP!!!!!”.  It goes on and on until I break down and stop pedaling. 

 Once in awhile I catch a show on The Discovery Channel called “Surviving the Cut”.  It follows a group of elite forces soldiers as they attempt to complete their training.  I am amazed at how these men are able to push their bodies to the limit and beyond.  They somehow are able to just turn their brains to the “off” position and keep on going.

So I guess the moral of the story is that it is OKAY for a 37 year old to still like techno, especially 120 BPM’s.  However, when it comes time to workout – 120 BPM’s is not doing me much good.  I need to make sure I spend my gym time working hard between 146 and 172 BPM’s if I want to see any results.

Day 13, start of week 5 (two weeks left!)

I started last week strong and dedicated, it ended poorly — period.

This is for the ladies, sorry guys.  I had a great Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday but by Thursday I was losing steam, and I feared it would effect if I lost any weight.  Yes, all the signs were pointing to CAUTION! PERIOD and I wasn’t thrilled.  I was worried about the cravings, exhaustion, cramping, water retention, and how that might effect my workouts and motivation.  All that and a very hectic and stressful work schedule and you have a disaster waiting to happen.  Well, it wasn’t a total disaster, let’s call it a minor jolt.  I allowed myself to skip the food journal (sorry Katie) and indulge when I needed to but in moderation.  I didn’t go off and run to Dairy Queen (even though this would have been the perfect weekend for a little DQ treat, loving the weather!) I also didn’t deprive myself because I’m pretty sure my husband would have left me.  I stayed in the middle of the road and struggled through like a trouper.

I’m on the other side of the period mountain so I’m feeling better and my motivation and optimism has returned.  I went out for a 6-mile run on Saturday and attended Spencer’s spin class on Sunday (have I mentioned how much I enjoy his class?).  I missed last Friday’s boot camp class because of a work obligation so I weighed in this morning.  I was relieved to find that I didn’t gain any weight!  I was able to maintain my loss from the previous week and self-regulate what I ate and how much, success!!

Stats:
Justin lost 0 pounds
Jen lost 0 pounds

So, as you can see, both Justin and I stayed at the same weight but the good news is we didn’t gain, and we had our mid-program measurements done and I’m pleased with our results!

Stats:
Justin lost a total of 8.75 inches (4.64%)
Jen lost lost a total of 7.8 inches (4.31%)

That’s in three weeks, pretty impressive.  Katie adds an extra measurement for the ladies so I wanted to calculate percentage of inches lost to help highlight how both Justin and I are progressing with the program.

To be honest, I’m thrilled!  I was worried that getting my period at this stage might ruin the progress I’ve made in the last 4 weeks.  I’m relieved to see it didn’t.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my confidence is growing and this week proved that I don’t have to totally indulge and lose myself.  I can stop, change direction and move to a positive place.  I’m 36 years old and I think I deserve a gold star!

Stay classy!

Day 15, end of week 5

If I had to grade my week I’d give it a B-

I tried to make good food decisions and for the most part, I think I did.  I had two days in a row where both lunch and dinner were eaten at restaurants.  I opted for a grilled chicken breast sandwich instead the hamburger.  (I did, however, eat the homemade chips (my weakness) but I ordered those instead of the french fries, does that count?)  I did have a late night on Wednesday which involved a couple of cocktails but I was able to get a spin class in on Thursday which I think helped balance the scale.  All-in-all, a good week.  I got both my choice classes in before Friday and made up for the Wednesday morning boot camp class I missed.  I’m feeling good and I think you can see a subtle difference, I think.

I hate mirrors.  I hate mirrors because they all seem to say something different.  The mirror at home tells me I’m looking good, slim and trim.  The mirror at the department store tells me I’m hideous and should never leave the house again.  The mirror at The Shed tells me I have a long way to go.  Which do I “listen” to?  I hate mirrors much like I hate the scale.  They are never going to tell me what I want, or what I think it should say.  The reality is that I stopped looking in the mirror after getting married and look where it got me.  There has to be a middle ground, I don’t want to be obsessed or discouraged.  So, I’ve decided to listen to all three mirrors; the one that tells me I’m looking good, the one that tells me I’m hideous (thank goodness I don’t do a lot of shopping) and the one that tells me I have a long way to go.  I will listen to all three because they will keep me motivated to continue with my healthy lifestyle while at the same time acknowledge the progress I’ve made.  The goal is to look at my mirror at home and the mirror at the Shed 4-5 time a week, balance.  Every once in awhile I’ll venture out and take a look at that department store mirror and see if it’s telling me something different.  I hope after a couple of months it does!

Stats:
Jen lost 1.0 pound
Justin gained 1.0 pound

Stay classy.

Choices.

I had a “late night” last night and this morning came way too quickly.  After hitting snooze a couple of times I began thinking about all the reasons why I should skip the 10am spin class this morning.  I thought about my upcoming week and how I’m going to boot camp early tomorrow morning, I could easily skip class today right?  I thought about how well I did this past week, getting all my choice classes in before Friday and that this spin class was a bonus class.  I met the minimum, no need to do anything extra.  I could actually cancel while in bed, get the phone out and click away.  I had the phone in my hand, ready to hit “cancel” and it occurred to me…… choices.  This was my opportunity to make the right decision, this was a test.  These are the times when making the right choice pays off.

I used to cancel classes all the time, coming up with reasonable excuses.  It got me where I am today.  I have to remind myself that these individual decisions add up and that when I cancel on a workout, I let myself down.  I actually feel bad about myself, but, when I make the right decision I feel great.  I am proud of myself.  I feel victorious.  So, I made the decision to follow through and go to class, I did it!  I feel great and so happy that when faced with a test, I made the right decision.  The decision towards a healthy and active lifestyle.  Yes, I would have loved to stay in bed and sleep away my hangover but why?  I left class invigorated and ready to run errands with the sun out and the blue sky above.

So, for those of you who struggle with making the right decision, know this, I am with you.  I am still struggling but it’s getting easier.  I’m making my life a priority.  I wanted to document this day because when another test comes my way (and I’m sure it will and soon) I want to remind myself that I can make the right decision and how great it feels.  Happy Sunday!

Stay classy.

Day 17, last chance workout!

Friday is the last day for Boot Camp and I’m scared.  Scared that without the structure and accountability I could fall back into my bad habits and bad choices.  I’m trying to layout a plan, scheduling morning runs with my running buddies but is it going to be enough?  Will I push myself as much as Katie pushes us?  At this point, I’m  doubtful.

The good thing is that Katie provides options for “graduating” boot campers; option one, continue and sign-up for another Boot Camp (Mon, Wed, Fri AM sessions), option 2, sign-up for the Alumni Boot Camp (Tues, Thurs AM sessions), or continue on your own and take classes at the Shed.  I haven’t decided which way to go but I like knowing I have options and that my journey isn’t over Friday.  For inspiration, I’m listening to “We’ve Only Just Begun” by the Carpenters.  I’m know, I’m a freak!  I love the Carpenters and YouTube!  Take a listen.

I hope you enjoyed the music break and a laugh but listen to the lyrics, “…so many roads to choose, we start off walking and learn to run and yet we’ve just begun…”

I know it’s cheesy but that’s how I feel.  Let’s be honest, I’ve done this all before, time and time again, and I end up back where I started.  A horrible cycle of gaining weight, struggling to lose weight and feeling horrible that I allowed myself to get here, again!  For some reason though, not sure why – it might actually be the blog, I feel like I’ve been able to completely enjoy and soak-in the process.  I’ve been tested and made the right decision (documented).  I’ve identified weaknesses and learned to create solutions (documented).  I’m learning to create balance in every aspect (documented).  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still enjoy my wine or an old fashion for time-to-time and I won’t give up eating at restaurants.  I’ve just learned that I can balance that with eating “clean” the rest of the day and get a workout in.  The wheels don’t have to come off the bus because I had a hamburger, just don’t follow it up with a basket of fries and a vanilla shake.  Balance and choices, that’s what it’s all about.

The last choice I have to make is what to do after Boot Camp.  Stay tuned and look my final blog post and our final numbers at the end of the week.

Stay classy!

Sugar, aww honey honey.

You are my candy girl

And you’ve got me wanting you!

 So appropriate song lyrics for the topic of this blog entry. I love sugar.  At least I used to.  Had to have it every day, usually in the afternoon.

 For awhile, I started to try to substitute Splenda for sugar.  I remember a co-worker and I actually made a Valentine Card and sent it to the company that made Splenda as a joke (shout out to Amy Sundell).  I think we got back a standard reply and some coupons for discounts on more Splenda.

 I am not exactly sure why sugar works against weight loss.  The actual amount of calories in one level teaspoon of sugar is only around 15 calories?  That’s not so bad, cause two teaspoons of sugar can make just about anything taste great! (Shout out to Tony the Tiger).

 I also noticed that I have huge energy peaks and valleys when eating sugar.  The peak lasts a few minutes, and then I feel really tired for a few hours. Not a good trade off.

 I remember once a guy at GNC suggested I add some sort of sugar supplement to my water bottle when lifting weights at the gym.  Said it would give me more energy thru my workout = more reps = better results.  He failed to mention that I should sip the sugar supplemented water throughout the workout, and I chugged half of it on the way to the gym.  Soon felt exhausted, and I think I ended up just sitting in the hot tub at the gym instead. 

 I think I may have mentioned it before, but Katie somehow helped me kick a life-long sugar habit. Something she said must have stuck with me, as my sugar cravings decreased.  It’s weird how cravings work.  I still crave sugar still, but the cravings are manageable. Before, I HAD to have sugar on a daily basis.  I would almost seem to find any excuse. Now, I can walk thru a gas station to grab a cup of coffee, and walk past the donuts and candy bars without stopping.  I haven’t seen any results on the scale yet,  but I have learned that with any goal, you just need to keep doing the right thing and results will happen eventually.

When I did bodySHED for the first time last summer, I had a hard time with getting up at 5 AM.  I would set my alarm (sometimes forget), hit the snooze button (sometimes just turn it off and go back to bed).  The decision to get up and go to the gym versus go back to bed is a tough one to make, especially when you are still lying in bed! Anyway, I missed many bodySHED sessions because I made the wrong choice, and went back to bed.

I stumbled across a neat trick that basically eliminates all the above this time around.  I still set my alarm in my bedroom, but I also set a backup alarm on my cell phone which is charging downstairs in the kitchen.  Main alarm goes off at 5 AM, and backup alarm goes off at 5:05 AM.  Backup alarm is an app on my phone which is set to go off on weekdays, but not weekends.  It is very loud and annoying, and virtually impossible to ignore. 

So, the main point to this was to have a 2nd alarm set in case I forget to set the first one.  However, the bigger unknown benefit has been that it has eliminated a lot of poor choices for me.  I can easily get up and turn off the first alarm when it goes off at 5.  I can easily decide to slip back in bed.  However, if I choose to do this, there is no way to avoid running downstairs five minutes later to turn off the alarm on my cell phone.  I literally run for it, as it could wake up the whole house if I let it go very long.

Once I am up and moving, I am much more likely to make the right choice and go to the gym. I think my odds are 50/50 with this choice if I make it while still lying in bed.  This trick might not work for you, or you might not need a “trick” to get yourself up in the morning; but it works for me!

It’s been a week from our final weigh-in, measurements and pictures – I bet you are all wondering how we did…..

The final calculations have been made and the winner is, drum roll please, ME!

Stats:
Jen lost a total of 6.80 pounds (4.01%) and 10.80 total inches
Justin lost a total of 9.40 pounds (3.14%) and 10.25 total inches

Justin Before

Justin After

Jen Before

Jen After

It feels good to win, winning!!  (Thanks Charlie.)  Not so much winning over Justin (yeah, that feels pretty good too!) but more about winning the battle.  I think I get it, I thought I got it before but for some reason it’s different this time.  I get that it’s all about balance and making the right decision more often.  This is what I know; one, I need to keep track of what I eat and two, I need to make working out a priority.  It sounds simple doesn’t it?  It’s common sense.  So, why can’t I do it?

Accountability.

This was my second time around so I think I understood what that means, finally.  I have to keep MYSELF accountable.  It’s easy when you are accountable to someone else like Katie.  She will hound you if you don’t journal, she’ll ask why you didn’t attend class, she’ll give you that look….that look like, I know you can do better.  It’s easy to be accountable to someone else, why not to ourselves?  That is my struggle and why finishing class with dramatic loss was not my goal.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled at the results, but I’m more impressed that I finally got it.  Again, for me, it’s about making the right decision more often.  So, my journey continues.  I will continue to take classes at The Shed and try to log my food intake 3-4 days a week.  I figure the more I do it the more it will become a habit.  Finally, a good habit!

Stay classy and see you in class!

The Shed was the Ab Fab (absolutely fabulous) item of the day on 107.1 mytalk FM!

Have a listen:  

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Hola Amigos. Me llamo Justin.

That is pretty much the extent of my Spanish! My name is Justin, and I will be blogging on my experiences at BodySHED bootcamp over the next five weeks.

Orientation took place last Sunday.  Measurements were taken, introductions were made, paperwork was completed, and heart monitors settings were adjusted.  BodySHED started last Monday with our first workout at 6:00 AM.

Fast forward ahead six days – week one is done – and I am happy to report that I am down 4.6 lbs. Good result for the week, but I have always been successful losing weight in the first week of a bootcamp. Week two is always tougher, as I think my body catches on to what I am trying to do, and is a bit more resistant to weight loss.

If you would like more information about BodySHED, click here. I highly recommend it!

http://theshedfitness.com/bodyshed-boot-camp/

Please follow my progress, and feel free to leave encouragement/questions/comments/quips over the next six weeks.

More to follow, just wanted to introduce myself to everyone!

J

♫ I hate this part right here. ♫

Heard this lyric on one of the songs Katie played during our workout last week.   It truly describes how I feel about getting back in shape again.

I can honestly say that I was in the best shape of my life a few years ago.  I was working out every morning in a boot camp, playing soccer 3-4 days a week on the side, and close to my goal weight.  Slowly I began to cut back on my gym workouts,  eating regime, and soccer playing.  A few years go by, and next thing I know, I am out of shape and packed on the lbs again! So frustrating.

So I hate this part right here.  The getting back in shape part.  The part where I have to get up at 4:45 AM and get in a cold car to drive to the gym and get my butt kicked for an hour. I hate this part right here, because getting in shape is not easy.  It is not enjoyable or fun.

The fun part comes later. When I don’t feel like my body is 80 years old. When I get to pull out my “skinny clothes” from the back of the closet and have a whole new wardrobe again. The fun part comes later when I see people I haven’t seen in awhile, and they exclaim on how much weight I have lost.  That’s the fun part.

The fun part is driving home from the gym, endorphins flowing, shirt drenched in sweat – knowing that my workout is done for the day, and most people are just getting out of bed.

Nothing good in life comes easy.

J

I used to drink regular soda. Loved me some Cherry Coke. I remember my father and I having a conversation back around 2001 about diet versus regular soda. My dad explained how switching to diet soda would result in a decrease in 250 calories a day (on average), which would result in a decrease of approximately 91,000 calories per year, which should translate into 26 pounds lost over the course of one year. Don’t quote me on that math, all from memory!

So I switched to diet soda. Took some getting used to, but over time I learned to love diet soda. Nothing better than an ice cold Diet Mountain Dew (fountain preferred) on a hot summer day.

Years went by, and I started to hear murmuring that diet soda wasn’t good for the body. “It can cause cancer”. Everything causes cancer these days. “Your body doesn’t know how to handle all the chemicals in diet soda”. Still not a good enough reason for me to stop drinking diet soda. I am stubborn, and sometimes need a lot of convincing.

Last January Mrs. Neal and I decided to drop soda (me diet, her regular) altogether and switch to coffee. Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla became our favorite, with two creams and two sugars to take the bitter away. We both still had a few sodas each week, but had mostly switched over to coffee. Lower calories, all natural, only one ingredient, high in antioxidants; lots of great health benefits as long as taken in moderation (two cups a day recommended). We have since switched to just straight black coffee sans cream and sugar. Doesn’t taste as great as it used to, but I choke it down just fine each morning.

I had my first diet cherry coke yesterday in around a month. Actually I had three diet cherry cokes in fifteen minutes. The family and I were at Perkins, and the waitress kept bringing me free refills. She seemed like she was on a mission. Every time my glass was half empty she would magically reappear with more diet cherry coke in hand.

Within an hour of leaving Perkins, I was complaining of massive headaches. “Maybe you are dehydrated” said Mrs. Neal. Negative on that, I had weighed on at The Shed that morning, and had been drinking nearly a gallon of water each day all week to help register a low weight (down almost 2 lbs this week!). “Maybe too much/not enough caffeine today” suggested Mrs. Neal? Nope, had my usual two cups of coffee today. Nothing different there.

The only thing different was that I consumed a decent amount of diet soda after not having any for a month. I jumped on the internet, and learned about the side affects of aspartame, the artificial sweetener found in diet coke. There is much controversy around the side effects of aspartame. Here some of the common side effects that have been reported after consumption of aspartame:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Sudden, unexplainable mood swings
• Vomiting and Nausea
• Abdominal cramps
• Vision problems
• Diarrhea
• Memory loss
• Fatigue
• Rash or hives
• Sleep disturbances
• Changes in heart rate

There are also many websites on the internet that report a lot of aspartame side effects, but the above are the ones that have actually been identified by the FDA.

Mrs. Neal (who is a nurse) pointed out that there are actually many side affects to lots of things we use everyday, even aspirin. We both agreed that people take aspirin for a medical reason. There is zero benefit to having aspartame in my body.

I went through a period of time a few years ago where I was getting massive headaches at work each day. I visited a doctor many times, but we couldn’t find the cause of the headaches. Tried over-the-counter allergy medicine, large amounts of excedrin – nothing seemed to work. Now I look back and wonder if it was due to the large amount of diet mountain dew I was consuming at the time (aspartame is the artificial sweetener of choice in diet dew).

I am not sure if my recent headache or previous headaches were caused by aspartame. I DO know that I don’t think I will be drinking diet soda again anytime soon.

I have known Katie (co-owner of The Shed) for around two years. The biggest “take away” I have learned from her is to always be aware of what you are putting in your body.

The title of this blog is the refrain from one of my favorite Beastie Boys songs, which I heard during one of our HIIT workouts last week.

I am not gonna lie to you, week two of BodySHED was tough.  The above are snapshots of my heart rate monitor after class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Burning 1000 calories in an hour is a beautiful thing I tell ya. Doing it before the sun comes up is even better. Makes me feel like my body is a fat burning machine all day long.

I have taken a number of different workout classes at a number of different gyms over the years.  BodySHED is my favorite, because there is really nowhere to hide.

For a more detailed description of what the BodySHED workout is like, see my previous blog posts on Theshedfitness.com. In a nutshell, we spend the first 30 minutes doing HIIT training on stationary bikes, and the next 30 minutes lifting weights. I have heard many debates about which is better for weight loss – lifting weights or cardio. BodySHED accomplishes both.

During the HIIT portion, you are pushing your body into uncomfortable territory. Each BodyShedder has a personalized specific max target heart rate target. My target heart rate is 172. My body wants to quit usually at around 160.  Katie (co-owner) and Leah (instructor) both walk around checking our heart rate monitors and encouraging us to push ourselves. As I mentioned earlier, there really isn’t anywhere to hide during HIIT training.  It is easy to look like you are giving 110% on a stationary bike if you have zero resistance and pedal your brains out.  Your heart rate tells the true story. I have discovered the best way for me to get my heart rate up to 172 is to crank up the resistance until the wheel barely turns. Pushing against nearly 100% resistance makes my heart rate skyrocket!

I really don’t enjoy working out this hard at 6:00 AM, but it is the best time for me to get a workout in. Few things can get in the way of a morning workout.  I tried noon workouts, but things at work always seem to get in the way.  Evenings are out completely.  For me, it works best to just get it out of the way first thing in the morning.  I think I actually make better food choices throughout the day, as I don’t want to ruin all the hard work I put in.

Once in awhile, Katie has us take a break from the above routine and workout in “stations” instead. Two people to each station, and you just do the prescribed activity until the whistle blows, and then on to the next station.  Stuff like push ups, squats with dumbbells, tossing a medicine ball back and forth while shuffling sideways (harder than it sounds when you are tuckered), workout with a speed ladder. I keep suggesting to Katie that she incorporate one station where we just sit on the couch for a minute.  She doesn’t even acknowledge the suggestion.

I like the stations workout because it is a wide variety of activities packed into a short window of time. It is also a heck of a workout, because Katie doesn’t let you linger between stations.  Any hope of a slow stroll to the next station is dashed by Katie loudly counting down the seconds until you are supposed to be up and running at the next activity.  Again, the theme here is that there really isn’t any way for your brain to get you out of the workout.  Your partner keeps you working hard during the activity, and Katie and Leah keep you moving between stations.

And best of all, I like seeing my watch blinking >1000 kcal when I am done!

Peace,

J

The hardest part of HIIT training (or working out in general) is keeping my brain from talking me out of working hard. Two childhood experiences help me with this.

Childhood experience #1
I spent two summers on long distance bike trips. The first summer we biked around the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, the second summer was across northern Minnesota. I had never spent any time in backwoods country type settings before, the terrain was beautiful. The bike trips were offered through our local YMCA youth camp. We carried all of our supplies with us on these trips: tents, sleeping bags, clothes, cooking supplies etc. We would bike by day, and camp at night. Often times we would bike 50-70 miles a day. Just like BodySHED bootcamp, there was nowhere to hide on these trips. We all biked together as a group, in a single file line alongside the highway. You had to keep up with the group, or you were left behind. Didn’t feel like biking that particular day? Not really an option. Ready for a break? Had to wait until the group was ready to take a break.

Childhood experience #2
Every fall my father would have a few cords of wood delivered to our house in preparation for winter. We lived in the city, but he liked to have a roaring fire at all times in the living room fireplace. My job was to transport all the wood from the driveway to the side of the house… around 20 yards away. Neatly stacked of course. This usually took me all day. Again, it did no good to stop and look at the woodpile. The only way to get through the job was move from point A to point B as fast as possible, take short breaks when needed, and then get moving as fast as possible again.

These experiences taught me that sometimes in life you just have to put your head down and work hard. You don’t ask the bike trip leader how many miles left to go. You don’t count how many logs are left to move. It doesn’t matter what the answer is. I am often tempted to ask Katie how many HIIT intervals we have left, but I don’t… because I know that it is out of my control. It is what it is.

I am certainly not the fastest moving person working out at The Shed these days. But I find I burn more calories when I just put my head down and try not to think about how much time in the class is left, or how many reps we have already done. In the end, it doesn’t matter. Good things happen when you work hard!

I usually try to avoid buffets. Too many temptations, too many chances to make bad decisions. I  try my best to keep myself out of situations where I can make a bad decision.  I don’t bring my ATM or credit cards to the casino with me.  I don’t test drive new expensive cars for fun.

Previous co-workers and I used to frequent a Chinese buffet in St. Paul once a week for lunch.  We had a ball – laughing and eating and joking and eating and telling tall tales… and eating.  Many good memories of these lunches, but I am sure my waistline didn’t benefit from all the fun we were having.

Over the Christmas holidays, I was fortunate enough to find myself at a breakfast buffet at a luxury resort in the Virgin Islands. The food spread was truly amazing, the view of the ocean spectacular; all systems go towards heavy eating.  All the usual excuses were prepped and ready to go in my mind.  They included, but were not limited to:

1. “I am on vacation”
2. “It’s the holidays”
3. “I haven’t been to a buffet in like a year”
4. “I deserve it”

I sat down at our table, got my plate, and prepared to set “Operation Gorge” in motion.  Looking around, I suddenly noticed an annoying trend.  All the “skinny” people in the restaurant had plates heaping with good decisions.  All others who were “not at their optional weight” had plates heaping full of bad decisions.

An older gentleman sitting to my left looked to be in his 60’s and height/weight proportionate. He was powering through a delicious-looking plate of fruit.  Fresh mango, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, and pineapple.   I decided to follow suit, and went and got myself the exact same plate.  It went down easy, but was not exactly as tasty as my original planned first plate of french toast, sausage links, and an oversized gooey cinnamon roll.

By now my neighbor had moved on to his second plate.  I carefully inspected it in my peripheral vision – small serving of scrambled eggs, one sausage link, and a slice of wheat toast.  Sigh.  I followed suit and got the same.  Still delicious, but not as good as I had planned my second plate to be.

At this point, I had discreetly inspected most other nearby diners (and their plates), and saw the same trend.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but unlikely.

Breakfast concluded, and we made our way back to our car.  It was sort of nice to not have that “I am sooo stuffed, I can barely breathe” feeling.

I guess my lesson learned is that all different types of people make all different types of food choices throughout each day.

I have met people in my life that are in their 40’s, but still have the metabolism of a 20 year old.  Unfortunately, that is not me. I have learned the hard way that I will need to watch what I eat forevermore.  Even at buffets.

J