Weekly Update 10/21/09

Shrink for Good Challenge - The Finale

Today, on Pubsgal's "Wide World of Cans":

"The thrill of victory..."

"...and the agony of defeat" (background image from Wikipedia Commons)

I lost a net of 2.2 pounds during the challenge. I'd hoped for more, but on the other hand, I'm relieved that I experienced a net loss. Overall, there was a 14.8 pound fluctuation over the course of the challenge! So I think that would be a fitting donation. I gained a total of 6.4 pounds, and lost a total of 8.4 pounds. Wow. So I guess that if I hadn't tried at all, I would be back at 195.2; but on the other hand, if I'd tried harder, I could have been at 180.2.

In Other News...

Got my recent lab results. Holding steady with a 5.3% a1c! Woo hoo! And my cholesterol panel was terrific...triglycerides and cholesterol have never been lower, and I finally got my LDLs below 100, but my HDLs are way too low. The doctor has recommended 4 grams of omega 3 (fish oil) and aerobic exercise. (I couldn't help but snicker a little...she doesn't know I'd been training for a triathlon.) My previous doctor had mentioned the possibility of niacin, but I'm hoping we don't have to go there. So it looks like upping the fiber and the triathlon training helped with the rest of the panel. We'll see in a few months what happens with those HDLs.

Progress last week

7-day blood glucose average: 98 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 99 (met goal of less than 120)

Food goals:
- Got in 4 meatless meals and 1 fish meal. (Met meatless, missed fish by 1)
- Fiber: at least 5/7 days were over 30.

Exercise goals: Not bad....The Friday and Monday rest days weren't exactly planned, but I think they helped. I felt good for the race and wonderful during and after spin class (mostly!). My legs are still a little sore.
- Wednesday: 60 minutes BodyPump
- Thursday: 60 minutes walk.
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: 5K race, about 8 miles of biking to and from town twice, 4 hour shift in the booth at the festival.
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 60 minutes spin class (When I looked back over my logs, I noticed that I'd gone 5 weeks without spin class! Note to self: Do not go more than 2 weeks without spin class if you want to avoid having to, er, get used to mashed girly bits again.)

Goals for this week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
- Keep tracking.
- 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
- Track fiber. Minimum 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
Minimum of 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week. Prepare for the Theta Breakers 5K run on 11/8.

Misc. goals:
- 7 or more hours sleep/night.

Weekly Update, 10/14/09

What's New?

Well, it was a lack-luster week for exercise, a so-so week for nutrition, but a good week in life. We helped out at the Things' school by clearing a bunch of tree branches and leaf piles behind the school buildings with a group of other parent volunteers, then took a scenic drive, and we tried a restaurant we hadn't been to in awhile (the kids enjoyed it; my dish was so-so, but Mr. Handsome-and-Handy's was quite tasty).

On Sunday, we went to Swanton Pacific Ranch for their annual Cal Poly Day event. There's a great tri-tip BBQ lunch, and train rides on the Swanton Pacific Railroad, a 1/3 scale hobby railroad created by the gentleman who bequeathed the ranch to Cal Poly. They were running the little steam trains used for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco and a little diesel switcher. I was happy that this part of the ranch was spared the Lockheed fire that ravaged the area over the summertime. (Thank you, firefighters!!!)

Pubsgal and Things 1&2 with one of the little trains. Speaking of little trains, if your kids love trains, Lois Lensky's "The Little Train" is an excellent choice.

We also took a detour to the ranch's apple orchard, and we had a great time picking their delicious, organically-grown apples! It was a little late in the season, so the good pickings were up kind of high for the kids to reach them, but we managed to find 7 pounds of good apples. Mr. H&H was a little uncertain about going--apple picking in Michigan typically involved long hikes to the trees--but this small orchard was located right on the road back to the highway.

Thing 2 with her apple...

...and Thing 1 with his. (And no, Mom isn't the only one enjoying these.)

The pictures remind me of what Thing 2 said on our way back. She was tired in the car, but reluctant to nap. "I don't want to wake up and have you say, 'Burp!' and an empty bag!"

Shrink for Good Challenge

Well, I'm up +.4 this week. Guess one of the good little cans got jealous that the others went to Paris last week....

Progress last week

7-day blood glucose average: 98 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 102 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goal: Up .4 this week.

Food goals:
- Got in 4 meatless meals and 0 fish meal. (Met meatless, did not meet fish)
- Fiber: at least 4/7 days were over 30.

Exercise goals: Weird, busy week. I felt somewhat derailed, but got something in most days.
- Wednesday: 40 minutes walk.
- Thursday: 20 minutes walk.
- Friday: 40 minutes walk.
- Saturday: 90 minutes yard work at the Things' school
- Sunday: Nothing. (Some walking around, but that's about it.)
- Monday: 60 minutes at gym - 40 minutes treadmill run, 10 minutes upper-body strength
- Tuesday: Nothing. (I wanted to do the belly dancing class again, but we had a big storm and I wanted to get home before dark even more.)

Goals for this week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
- Keep tracking.
- 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
- Track fiber. Minimum 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
Minimum of 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week. Prepare for the Pumpkin Run 5K on 10/18 and the Theta Breakers on 11/8.

Misc. goals:
- 7 or more hours sleep/night.

Shakin' the Post-tri Blues

Well, I had a fun time at the belly dancing class at my gym yesterday evening. It was great for the core and I got slightly sweaty, which was good. I amused my classmates and instructor with my "Unapologetically Myself" t-shirt. Being my first time trying this, I did feel quite a bit awkward at first, but it was fun after awhile. It was a brain challenge, too, to move one's feet in the right way while simultaneously shaking isolated segments of one's body. I would have preferred that the instructor explain the motions first; rather, she had us try to follow along, and then she broke it down. Maybe she was trying to assess where the newbies were at. (There were a few of us, identifiable by our lack of bangles.) I liked the energy of it, and I could see where one could really get into the flow of it. What I liked the most? It didn't feel like a workout, yet it was a good hour of gentle moving and working on developing abdominal strength. I'm still learning to trust that every exercise session does not need to be at spin class intensity levels to meet my health objectives (although intensity does have its rightful place).

Shrink for Good Challenge Update

Well, it was a "no change" week, and I'm feeling grateful. I'm still down for the challenge a net of 3.2, which means that I'm maintaining. After years of seeing my weight go steadily up-up-up, having it hold steady at a weight I'm feeling good and healthy at is pretty darn nice for a change.

Good Little Cans

So...why go for more? I don't think it's so much the scale number I'm chasing, it's health, so I have been looking for cross-referencing health indicators to help me know when I've "arrived" at the right shape for me. I've been doing a bit of reading about visceral body fat. According to the Mayo Clinic article, over 35" in the waist is not good, and I'm 38" right now. But the medical web sites also mention a waist-to-hip ratio of .85 or less. I've noticed, since I've been keeping measurements, that I've consistently had a 5" difference between my waist and hips, from the very start of my taking measurements. So I'm not sure that I'd ever be able to get both to a point at which there would be .85 or less. So I guess I'll do my best at targeting the coveted 35" and let the ratio fall where it will (even though--sigh--it's supposed to be the better indicator, according to this Harvard Health article). Which makes me also wonder where they came up with this formula; I haven't been able to dig up anything about that.

I did get a little postcard this week...looks like I'm not the only one shakin' it!

Underlying image credit (and apologies to): "Moulin rouge Paris Cancan 1890," Jules Chéret (from Wikimedia Commons)

Progress last week

7-day blood glucose average: 103 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 103 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goal: No change this week. Still 5.7 away from breaking into the 170s.

Food goals:
- Got in 3 meatless meals and 0 fish meal. (Not met)
- Fiber: at least 5/7 days were over 30.

Exercise goals: Well, not exactly what I had planned, but it worked for me this week.
- Wednesday: 60 minutes BodyPump class.
- Thursday: 20 minutes strolling
- Friday: Nothing
- Saturday: 60 minutes "playout" at park with Thing 2
- Sunday: 35 minute run and 45 minutes "playout" with the kids at the park
- Monday: 45 minutes at gym - 35 run, 10 arms & abs with weights
- Tuesday: 60 minutes belly dancing class

Goals for this week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
- Keep tracking.
- 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
- Track fiber. Minimum 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
Minimum of 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week. Prepare for the Pumpkin Run 5K on 10/18 and the Theta Breakers on 11/8.

Misc. goals:
- 7 or more hours sleep/night.