Sleep. And Zumba!

Sleep. In case you didn’t know, it’s kind of a big deal.

No really, EVERY single ‘Top # Ways to Get Healthy/Lose Weight/Feel Great’ article lists it. And when they list it, they add the caveat that you have to get enough sleep.

So, imagine my dismay at the slow deterioration of my sleep over the last week.

It started out simple, like taking longer to fall asleep, and then waking up before my alarm because the sun is up. Those nights, I still got around 6.5 or so hours of sleep. But, through the magic of social obligations, my bedtime has been pushed back little by little. It used to be that I’d fall asleep easily around 9:30, and now I’m struggling to get to sleep at 10:30.

Last night, I’d be lucky if I got 3 hours of sleep. I kept tossing and turning all night until I finally plucked up the courage to look at the clock and see that it was 3:30 AM, 3 hours before my alarm goes off. *sigh*

The weirdest thing: this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, and, in hindsight, I should have done this sooner. Since I’ve been more conservative with my water intake (making sure not to drink much at meals and allowing time before and after meals without water), I’ve noticed that it is a lot more difficult for me to stay hydrated. It used to be that I had a very ‘laaa-dee-daa’ approach about drinking water, so drinking was essentially a reflex. I was hydrating constantly!! Now, I oftentimes forget to drink water, and (though most times this is okay) when I work out really hard, I sometimes forget to rehydrate or don’t rehydrate enough. This manifests as me overheating when I’m trying to sleep.

So, sometimes I can’t sleep because my body doesn’t have enough water. All I need to do is drink 16 oz of cool water and I can typically fall asleep right away. Weird…

Last night, I didn’t realize that this was the case until 3:30 in the morning. I drank some water and was finally able to go to sleep. Though, the word ‘sleep’ is a bit exaggerated; I’d describe it more as a nighttime nap!

Overall, I feel okay today, which surprises me. I’m definitely tired, but I’m functional. I think I’m going to need to put more focus on getting to bed EARLY in the future. I wish it was that easy, but when the love of your life gets off of work at 10pm and wants to see you for the first time in a week, you learn to make exceptions!

On a lighter note, I tried out zumba for the first time yesterday!! The local community center offers classes daily, and I finally plucked up the courage to give it a try! I’m so glad I did, because it was an absolute blast! I think I’m going to have to consider getting a membership so that I can attend classes more often! I don’t think it is a suitable replacement for pole dancing (which I’d consider more of a strength workout than cardio, and zumba is all cardio), which is a shame because pole is SO expensive. But I think it would do wonders for reducing my levels of stress and would be a great complement to pole!

Thanks for reading my sleepy brain induced ramblings! I hope everyone has a great week, and stay healthy, friends!

Another Meeting with Naturopath!

I’m scheduled for another meeting with my Naturopath, Donna, again today, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I’ve been pretty regular since starting her diet regimen, have lost a few pounds, and can see some of the swelling reducing in my body. On the other hand, I’m still tired all of the time.

One thing I’ve got to say about a low sugar diet is that I am very rarely not full after a meal. My tastes have changed (after that first week, which sucked for a few days), and I find that I actually crave things like salad and lean meats. My attempts to move every day have also been going pretty well, and I am sore as hell today. I haven’t been this sore in a while, and I know it’s because of the pole class I took on Tuesday. Since I’m Level 2 now, my instructor is really kicking it up a notch, and I left that class more sore and tired than ever. It also taught me that if I really want to improve my dancing, I’m going to need to set up my pole and dance at home at least once more in the week. At the minimum, it will help with my grip strength, which is part of why I’m falling and slipping in class. After this past class, my hands were so sore from the friction I’d induced on them!

I’m not sure how to approach my exhaustion in my meeting with Donna. I know I haven’t been sleeping the greatest lately (though I don’t wake up to go to the bathroom anymore, which is nice – but I still wake up early or in the middle of the night for no reason), which could definitely lead to me being tired, but I’d like to ask her advice as to WHY I can’t sleep well. I know I’m adjusting to a new mattress, but I’ve been sleeping on it for about a week now, and I don’t think it’s an uncomfortable mattress at all. I’ve also been eating right, exercising, and taking my supplements. I’m hoping she’ll have some advice as to the piece of the puzzle I may be missing.

I could also be tired because I’m fighting something off, though. Almost everyone I know (at home and at work) has been sick within the last two weeks, and, though my immune system is much better than it once was, it certainly isn’t bulletproof. I’ve been having off and on symptoms of having a cold for the past few days – occasional dry coughing, sneezing fits, and yesterday I felt like I had a really bad head cold for a few hours. But I keep waking up just tired, and not sick, so I’m hoping that I stay healthy!

I also already have tested my new years resolution, and I passed – with some help from the boyfriend. I was thinking part of the reason why I’m so tired when I wake up is because it’s so dark in the morning, so I was looking into getting a natural light alarm clock. I found one for sale on craigslist for about 60% off the list price because it was used for about $50. I was really tempted to buy it, because it was such a good deal, but my boyfriend pointed out, “If you get this and it doesn’t help with your tiredness, you’re just going to move on to the next thing and you’ve wasted $50.” That sounds exactly like me, and that’s the kind of behavior I want to stop, so I withdrew my offer for the alarm. I still have a lot of debt to pay off this month, and I can’t afford to just buy that stuff willy nilly, so I’m glad I didn’t. I’m thinking I’ll pick one up at the end of this summer, and will use it next winter, because by the time I can afford one this season, winter will be practically over!

I’m trying to plan out my purchases better too. Preventing myself from purchasing things right away is really helping me to learn how to prioritize what I want from what I need. For example, I was trying to figure out what my indulgence is going to be for the next month, and I was torn between a pillow protector/new pillowcase for my new natural latex pillow, a kneeling ergonomic chair, a comforter/duvet cover set (probably extended over two months), and the sunlight alarm clock. Because I had to wait, I realized that the ergonomic chair is not really necessary right now, and I don’t really need a comforter/duvet set right away since I have a comforter (and there are so many options that I need to make up my mind about color, material, organic/not, etc.). So it was down to the clock vs. the pillowcase. After sleeping on the new pillow, I absolutely love it, but my pillow protector doesn’t fit and my pillowcase is too short. This means that sometimes I’m sleeping on the decorative ripples on the end of the pillowcase. Therefore, a new pillowcase was a priority for me.

Having to prioritize what I’m spending my money on is really freeing too and is helping my stress. By thinking really hard about every purchase, I can say with confidence that my spending has been greatly reduced over the last week. It helps me to know that I can pay off my credit card bills better (because they will be smaller) and save more money! And saving is a good feeling 😀

I hope everyone is having a great week, and stay healthy friends!

Moved in!

Wow, what a weekend! Moving to a new place is always exciting, and it feels so nice to be in control of my environment. I’ve loaded up my apartment with natural cleaners, a decent amount of furniture, and I’m loving it! I ended up taking Friday off from work, because by Thursday, I was dead tired already and knew that I would not want to have to work on Friday before moving again.

Sylvia came up Friday morning to help me move most of my stuff. I have to admit, I didn’t take the best care of myself this weekend, oftentimes forgetting to eat and not getting enough sleep. I was in the go go go type of mood, so we got a lot done, but we kept forgetting to eat! By Friday evening, I was probably 95% unpacked, with the last few things being assembly of various bits of furniture and finishing touches.

By the end of Saturday, I was exhausted, and my boyfriend came over to spend the night. I slept surprisingly well, but still woke up a few times in the middle of the night. We went to breakfast, and had a great morning, and then something happened. I don’t want to go into the details, but I had to go to the doctors but I didn’t want to. Basically, it was a financial reason. Like one of those you need stitches, but you don’t want to pay to have to go to the doctors to have them stitch you up. I was not a happy camper.

My boyfriend knew I needed to go to the doctor, and he was able to convince his boss to give him the day off to take care of me. We went to the doctors and everything was fine, and he made sure I was comfortable the rest of the day. It was the first time we’d spent a full day together in ages, and it was wonderful!

I slept like the dead last night, and when my alarm went off, I REALLY didn’t want to get up. It has been a long weekend of lifting heavy things up two flights of stairs, unpacking, and doctor’s office stress. Tonight, I’m just going to take the night OFF. I don’t have anything planned, and I’m going to probably pop in a movie and work on crocheting my sweater some more 🙂

And going to bed EARLY. That’s going to happen too!

Despite the stress of this weekend, things are really looking up! Thanks for reading, and stay healthy, friends!

Primal 21 Day Challenge and Measurement Updates!

Hello Everyone! So, today I’m beginning the Primal Blueprint 21 Day challenge! Over the next three weeks, Sylvia and I are going grain and sugar free together and incorporating the Primal lifestyle of going to bed early, working out like a caveman, and eating like a caveman! For more information on the Primal Blueprint, check out Mark’s Daily Apple!

I’m starting the 21 day challenge after coming off of three weeks of high stress, little diet control, and almost zero working out (except for the occasional walk, that is). All things considered, I was pleasantly surprised when I took my measurements today. Everything went up a little bit (except my waist, which went up a couple of inches – I could feel that expanding), but not as much as I thought it would. I think it will all come off really quickly once I start this whole Primal thing!!

So, without further ado, here are my measurements!

Weight: 195.2

Waist: 35.75

Hips: 44.75

Bust: 39.5

Under Bust: 35.5

Right Arm: 13.1

Left Arm: 12.25

Right Thigh: 23.5

Left Thigh: 23.25

Body Fat %: 41.3%

I’m back over the 40% body fat mark, but I’m not that worried. Since I gained the weight quickly, it should come off quickly once I start eating right and exercising like a caveman!

I moved in with Sylvia two days ago, so I’m still not sleeping quite right as I get used to things. I’m a little tired today, but I’m hoping that will pass with time! I look forward to having some time to regularly update this now!

That’s all for today! I’ll try to keep everyone updated on my Primal experience! Have a great day, and stay healthy!

Results – Focus T25, Walk Week?

This is both my 50th post, and the 3 month anniversary of starting my blog! Ironically, this is the week where everything I knew about fitness was thrown out the window.

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that this past week was stressful for me, since there was a lot of pressure to work on my thesis, as well as the anticipation of meeting a boy that I care very much about for the first time. During this time, Sylvia was also experiencing a similar amount of stress. Both of us were tired pretty much all week, and I didn’t get a full night’s sleep until Saturday night, due to either nerves or excitement.

When I’m sleep deprived and tired, my desire to work out is virtually zero, and my self control on my eating habits tends to go right out the window. Sylvia was often busy, and because she normally does the cooking (and I was too tired to cook for myself), I ordered in a lot of food, and not all of it was good. I also went out to eat frequently due to this craving or that craving, or so and so wanted to go out to eat and they didn’t want to go alone. So, basically, the only healthy thing I would eat every day was Shakeology and MAYBE a healthy breakfast.

Granted, when I went out to eat, I generally tried to order veggies as sides, or would work with Sylvia so that I would order fruit and she would order fries and we would split both. I tried to stick to lean proteins, and the french fries that did arrive on my plate were mostly left unattended (the most fries I ate was half a serving, but I mostly ate only around a 1/3 or 1/4 of the fries I was served). Therefore, the dining out choices I’d made were not terrible, generally, but they weren’t the Focus T25 meals I was used to either. By the end of the week, I was really starting to feel the junk I’d been eating was starting to pile up, and I couldn’t wait to get back to normal.

What’s worse is that I only did ONE Focus T25 workout last week: Core Speed on Monday. Every day, when I’d write my blog entry, I’d have the best intentions to work out. Then, nerves or fatigue would hit (or both!), and Sylvia and I would opt to take a walk instead. That being said, I walked a LOT every day. I generally would walk at least 3.5 miles, if not more like 5 or 6 in a day. Sometimes, the walks were more leisurely, and other times I would try to walk faster. On Saturday, I walked most of the 3.2 for 32 and ran the last quarter of a mile or so to finish strong, but I walked at a faster pace than I normally would. Most of the time, the weather was gorgeous, and Sylvia and I would just go out and walk, talking about whatever was new in our lives and enjoying the sunshine.

To summarize: Last week, I ate crap, slept poorly, and did nothing but walking. With that in mind, here are my results:

Weight: 194 (-2)

Waist: 34.25 (-0.25)

Hips: 44.2 (-0.3)

Bust: 39.2 (-0)

Under Bust: 34.5 (+0.25) (My waist is slimmer than the ribs under my bust!)

Right Arm: 13.25 (+0.15) (How did I GAIN inches here??)

Left Arm: 12.5 (-0)

Right Thigh: 23.7 (-0.05)

Left Thigh: 23.25 (-0.15)

Body Fat: 39.1% (-0.6%) (I LOST OVER HALF A PERCENT OF BODY FAT – the entire two pounds I lost was pure fat!)

I know what you’re thinking: I’d like to see some pictures to prove it. I would be happy to post some pictures later in the week! I have them, but I have not had time to edit them yet, so I will post them as soon as they’re ready! I will say this, my legs have shrunk considerably this week, I don’t seem to have lost any ab or upper body muscle mass, and I look even better than I did last week!

I spent a greater part of Sunday morning (when I took measurements due to the race Saturday morning) scratching my head. I had accepted the fact that I was probably going to gain a little weight, but it would come off as soon as I got back to my routine next week. I wasn’t prepared to find out that not only had I lost weight, but I’d lost MORE weight than I did on average with T25! And all the weight lost was body fat!!

This went against everything I thought I knew about fitness. I’ve been reading some articles on Mark’s Daily Apple and learning about the Primal Lifestyle after a suggestion from Bantam Balance to check it out. Mark mentions that humans of yore walked a TON, so he suggests that everyone following the Primal Blueprint should walk a lot as a part of their daily activity. I read the articles thinking, ‘yeah, this lifestyle plan would probably work if you perform all of the steps and changes to your lifestyle. But I bet it doesn’t work if you only change one thing, especially if that one thing is just walking more.’

Boy was I wrong. Not only do I personally have two weeks worth of personal evidence to prove that walking more daily can dramatically increase your results, but Sylvia has noticed a dramatic change in her results as well! She’s lost inches in her waist, hips, legs, and arms (?), and the fat under her skin looked like it was literally melting off in her pictures. Granted, our metabolisms have been fired up by Focus T25 for about 3 months, so I’m sure that that helped with our results this week, but my mind was still blown!

So, what does this mean? Am I going to quit T25 and just walk? Absolutely not! Instead, I’m going to keep experimenting, making small changes and monitoring my results. After seeing the results that walking can deliver on its own, Sylvia and I are really curious about the kinds of changes that walking can deliver when combined with Focus T25 and eating right. Since we will essentially be doing a double workout every day, it is paramount that I eat enough calories every day to make sure I don’t lose any muscle mass!

Also, during the 3.2 for 32 race this weekend, I think I might have strained my ankle a bit, so I will be doing the modified moves during the workouts to make sure it gets the opportunity to heal for good! It hurts on occasion, but it doesn’t feel sprained, so I hope I just worked the muscle and it is sore because it was worked!

Well, this was a long post, but thank you for reading it! As a bonus, here are some more milestones I met this week!

• Have lost over 9% Body Fat from where I was at my heaviest!
• Have lost over 30 lbs of Body Fat (gained 4.4 lbs of lean mass!)
• Have lost over 25 lbs total (26.2 lbs lost!)
• Have lost over 20 inches total (20.2 inches lost!)
• I’m over 35% of the way to my weight goal (37.3% of the way there!)

I hope everyone is having a great day! Remember to stay healthy friends!

Tired… So Tired….

So, this week has kind of been shot to pieces when it comes to working out. With Sylvia being tired from a visit from her boyfriend in the early part of the week, me being anxious about my boyfriend coming to visit in the middle part of the week, and me being tired from not sleeping well AGAIN, we’ve only worked out on Monday, and walked every other day. Yesterday, we went for an extra long walk for about 3 miles to blow off some steam, but I can already tell that I’m going to go on a walk again today. I got maybe two hours of sleep last night, which means I’ve slept poorly for 4 nights in a row. For the most part, my diet has been fine, and it’s just been nerves and excitement keeping me awake.

Regardless, I’m taking some Zzzquil tonight.

If I gain some inches or pounds this week, I’m not too concerned though, since, now that I’ve met my boyfriend in person (and he’s even better than I imagined), a lot of my worries have been put to rest and I can go back to normal. Dating is stressful!! Hahaha…

It’s supposed to be an absolutely gorgeous day here in Blacksburg, VA, and I hope it’s beautiful out where everyone else is! I’m going to walk (maybe jog?) the 3.2 for 32 race tomorrow morning, so wish me luck! have a great day, and stay healthy, friends!

Prepping for the Weekend!

Wow, I’m feeling kind of tired today! Yesterday, as a reward for coming all the way through Alpha phase of Focus T25, Sylvia and I went to get massages! They were amaaaaazing! But for some reason, I always feel tired after a massage, and it’s probably due to the fact that massages are about as strenuous on your muscles as a workout is.

I don’t really have high hopes for tomorrow’s weigh in, since I’ve been feeling bloated all week and haven’t been eating 100% healthy food like I normally do, but I’m hoping to at least lose a little bit, inches wise! Losing a pound or two would be nice as well, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t. I know that I’ll be better off next week so that’s good!

I’m looking forward to some well deserved R&R! I hope you all have a restful and healthy weekend! Stay healthy, my friends!