Wall and Exercise Ball Workout!

This morning while lying in my nice warm bed I began my morning ritual of checking out Pintrest.  Cruising through all the pins of caramel brownie bacon cakes with extra bacon added, Chevron painting Ideas (I thought that was a gas company), and R2D2 Mittens (I totally want a pair) I discovered this little gem!  I looked at the clock and thought….hmm 5:30 a.m.? Not too early to get up and get moving.  I can do a quick, easy workout and take a shower and have plenty of time to shower, put on makeup, throw in my contacts, do my hair, make breakfast and be a super mom!  Or I can turn off my phone, roll over, and go back to sleep in my nice warm bed.  My newly blown up exercise ball was calling my name from the bathtub (don’t ask!) and so at last I got out of bed.

Exercise ball back stretch

My exercise ball was nice and cold from its overnight stay in the bathtub.  I warmed up with a 1 minute back stretches, mostly because I wasn’t quiet awake.

 

Push ups with exercise ball

As the cold began to seep into my back, I rolled over and 20 push ups with the exercise ball.  Starting with your bell on the ball, walk yourself out with your arms until your lower legs are supported.  Take a moment to balance yourself.  Lower yourself down, bending your elbows.  Return to the start position by straightening your arms.  I love these because you have to use your core muscles to maintain your balance on the ball.  Thus, I find myself squeezing those core muscles as I lower myself towards the ground.

Leg Lifts

I finished the exercise ball routine off with a leg lift move I think I may have invented this morning (after searching for an image to share I found out I am not that cleaver).  Basically after my push ups I rolled back onto my belly, lowered my arms onto the floor.  With my weight resting on my forearms and the ball under my belly I raised both legs.  I kept them raised for 30 seconds and then returned to a start position.  I did three reps of these.

 

Wall Bridge

Then I moved on to the exercises I discovered on Pintrest.  After looking at the pictures and reading the description of these wall exercise that do NOT involve squats, I said piece of cake!  Well that piece of cake will really show you how you really should stop eating so much cake!  These compose five exercises. You do 10 slow, CONTROLLED reps of each move.  Start the wall bridge.  Lie on back with butt against wall, arms at sides, knees bent, and feet planted 3 to 4 feet up wall. Exhale and peel lower and mid back off floor, keeping shoulder blades down, so body forms a nearly straight line from chest to knees.  Hold for a deep inhale, then exhale and slowly roll back down.

 

Windshield wipers

Next is the Windshield Wiper position.  From Wall Bridge starting position, extend legs straight up against wall so body forms an L. Inhale and slowly lower left leg down wall like a clock arm toward 9 o’clock; exhale and return to start. Repeat with right leg, sweeping toward 3 o’clock. Continue to alternate legs until you’ve completed all reps.

Toe Reaches

The third exercise utilizes the Windshield Wiper position.  These are toe reaches Return to Windshield Wipers starting position, hands on belly. Keeping abs tight and chin tucked slightly toward chest, lift head, shoulders, and upper back, reaching right hand toward left foot. Lower and repeat reaching left hand to right foot. Continue to alternate until you’ve completed all reps.

 

 

Wall Scissor

Next comes the Wall Scissor.  From Toe Reaches start position, bend knees to plant feet on wall. Peel back off floor, keeping shoulder blades down, and step feet up wall so body forms a diagonal line from feet to chest. Bend elbows and support lower back with hands; keep shoulder blades, upper arms, and head on floor. Lower left leg toward head as far as you can, keeping both legs straight and abs tight. Return to wall and lower right leg. Continue to alternate until you’ve completed all reps.

 

Knee Presses

Finish up with Knee Presses. Lie on back, butt against wall, knees bent, and feet planted 3 to 4 feet up wall. Peel lower and mid back off floor and cross left ankle over right knee. Squeeze butt and front of thigh to press left knee toward wall. Do 20 pulses, then lower body and repeat on opposite side.

After I was done I felt pretty proud of myself!  When I got up I realized just how much these work your legs, abs, and lower body!  For more advanced or easier ways to perform these wall exercises and for video, check out the original website here!

Weight Loss Challenge Update

I am happy to report that despite everything that has been happening over the past week, I have still managed to drop 4 pounds!  My daughter has contracted some type of plague and has been running a fever, vomiting, and have nuclear green, glow-in-the-dark snot coming out of her nose!  It hasn’t been fun to deal with and since she has been home from school, I am totally off track with my exercise.  We won’t go into the fact that the past three or four nights I have resorted to “fend for yourself” dinners.  However, I am drinking a lot more….water and tea….and I am taking my vitamins regularly.  I have noticed a major improvement with my cravings and my energy level is much higher!

So that is why the blog has been a little quite this past week, but never fear.  Starting next week you will see more recipes, motivational quotes, and much, much more!! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week!!

If you haven’t had a chance to check out my Personal Trainer’s webpage, go!!  She is amazing!! For only $30 a month you get 24/7 access to a personal trainer, personalized training and meal plans, and someone to be accountable to while still being flexible and working out at your own pace!!  Make sure to tell them that Kimberly Mangan referred you!!

http://www.fitandflourishing.com/2013_HEALTHY_REVOLUTION_.html

Black Bean Brownies: High in fiber, low in fat….Bet you didn’t know that!!

“I love Beans” puts it best I love beans!!  I love brownies!! Most people wouldn’t suggest combining the two, UNTIL NOW!! Pureed black beans are fantastic substitute for the water, egg, and oil in most brownie recipes!  This recipe makes the brownies fudgey and not cake like.

Black Bean Brownies:

1 can of black beans (DO NOT DRAIN)

1 box of brownie mix (family size 9X13)

Puree black beans with liquid (you will still have some skins, but that is ok).  Mix with brownie mix.  Bake according to the box!  I have found that I usually have to bake it for an extra 3-5 minutes, but check it at the time listed on the box as oven temps vary.

Fast food in your fridge?

We, as busy Americans, love how easy it is to go to the drive-thru for food.  I know I do!  On the days that the kiddo has an afternoon activity, it is so easy to just say “aww we will just pick something up.  We don’t do it THAT often…”  But then it gets more and more often and suddenly you realize that the reason your child can sight read words like “bell, pizza, taco, and McDonald’s” is because you are going through the drive-thru WAY too often!!  (You also know you shop too much when your child tells you that something is on sale when you tell her no she cannot have anything, but alas that is for another blog!!)    Even when I try to eat healthy by ordering, say, a salad from Wendy’s, I have to ask myself how healthy is this?  My favorite salad is the Baja Salad which comes with chili!  This salad has a whopping 470 calories and that is in the half size portion.  Now granted, I also get additional salad dressing because as much as I love salad, I hate the taste of lettuce (one of many eccentricities)  so that adds additional calories.  Now the good news is that this salad has 18 grams of protein!!  Oh but it also has 31 grams of fat and carbs with 8 of those being sugar and 10 grams being saturated fat.  You get my point.  Obviously this is a better choice than the Bacon Deluxe Double which has 890 calories in just the sandwich, 56 grams of fat (24 saturated fat), and 42 grams of carbs.  Even something as small of french fries pack a punch! (Medium fry from Wendy’s 420 calories, 21 grams of fat, 55 grams of carbs) When I started looking at the calories that I am consuming, I was amazed.  I thought I was making better choices at the drive-thru and honestly compared to other menu items I am, but those calories/fat/carbs/etc add up!

My problem was with my thought process.  It isn’t easy after working all day, running errands, or whatever to come home and cook a healthy mean.  It IS easy to have someone else do all the work!  However, we are paying for  it via our waist sizes and with our health.  I know that everyone knows this, it isn’t breaking news!  However I know that I needed a wake up call.  So I am done preaching, and now on to the segment better know as “Duh! I should have known that”!  What if that someone who does all the work is you, but a past you? No I am not talking time travel (even though that would be AWESOME!)  but rather having stuff in the fridge that is easy to grab and throw together.  (I am going to work harder on this because I am notorious for forgetting to pull something out of the freezer!) One thing I am going to start doing is to have “grab and go” foods ready for those moments that I feel like I need to nibble.  I am talking things like mini carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, etc, that will be washed and bagged into snack size portions.  On those busy nights, I am going to work harder on planning ahead and having something in the slow cooker so dinner is ready when I get home.  This has the added benefit of not heating up the house when it is 120 degrees outside!!

So that takes care of dinner.  Lunches are usually a sandwich made in a tortilla.  I also am going to start having things like egg salad and salad toppings ready to go in containers. I mentioned in an earlier post that we are going down a more whole food path.  I cannot go vegan, well I could I chose not to, because my kiddo lives off cheese and won’t eat peanut butter.  I want to make sure that we have protein options open to her and I have already blogged about my view on soy.

So then there is breakfast.  I hate breakfast.  I have this issue with eggs, which would be one of the few options we have for breakfast.  I can cook them as long I don’t have to eat

Not my muffins!

them or see them again.  This probably goes back to when I had first had my surgery and it was one of the few foods I could tolerate in my pureed food stage.  Pancakes would be awesome, minus the fact we eat them with a ton of butter and they are all carbs and very little protein.  (I have dumping syndrome if I don’t eat protein before a sugar source).  Cereal is an option, but again sugar and a lack of protein.  So we are going to try green smoothies, but these are not a quick fix meal.  Then I remember a long lost recipe that my mother had for bran muffins.  This recipe makes a huge batch of muffin mix that can be kept in the fridge for up to 6 weeks!  So last night I made up the mix.  This morning I woke up and made 6 muffins!  It took all of 20 minutes which included preheating the oven, waking up enough to find the muffin wrappers and the muffin pan!!  And tad-da breakfast that my kiddo would eat!!!

So I will leave you with the well guarded secret of my muffin success and the promise that tomorrow I will take a picture of my muffins…

 

Bran Refrigerated Muffin Mix

Combine 15 oz raisin bran cereal (I used plain bran cereal for less sugar), 5c of flour, 3c white sugar*, 5tsp baking soda, and 2 tsp salt in a large (LARGE!) bowl.

Beat 4 eggs well.  Add 1 cup salad oil and 1 quart buttermilk.  Mix well and then add to the dry ingredients.  Mix well BUT ONLY UNTIL BLENDED.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.  Bake in muffin tins at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes

*I replaced the white sugar with 2 cups of Agave syrup for a less processed product.  I added this to the liquid ingredients instead of to the dry ingredients.

 

Still kicking…

Sorry for the lag in posting lately! I have had a sick kiddo and school started back up. Plus, I have been battling a little bit a depression over some recent weight gain. Today however, I got back on the scale and was back down to 213 from 217. I am hoping that is all that new muscle forming that is causing the weight gain.

 

I have started doing water aerobics twice a week and I love it!! Granted I am one of a handful of participants that still have pigment left in their hair, but it such an amazing low impact workout! Last Monday I tried a different class and while in the pool I didn’t feel like I was getting much of a workout, but after exiting the pool…..yeah! In addition to this I have been swimming with fins and water mitts for added resistance. Hopefully I will be ready for Warrior Dash in a few more weeks!

 

I have noticed a difference since I started working out more, I am constantly hungry!! This has been exceptionally scary for me because I am so afraid of gaining back all my lost weight. This fear doesn’t stop me from eating, if anything I literally feed my fear. I am working on a.) making better food choices and b.) increasing my protein consumption. I am learning, or relearning, that I must live with whatever food choices I make, good or bad. However, I cannot focus all my energy on a bad decision. I have to learn from that mistake (repetition is key??) and take steps to not let that happen again. For example, I love pop tarts, correction I love brown sugar and maple pop tarts. I know that if I buy a box, I am going to eat 75% of them given the opportunity. Do you know how to not have the opportunity? DON’T BUY THE DAMN THINGS!! Like I said, repetition is key sometimes!!

 

Hopefully tonight I can get some decent sleep and tomorrow write an amazing post about something. Let me know what you’d like to hear about!! I need some suggestions to help stay motivated!!!

Why I do what I do…

One tough Warrior

I was reading another bloggers post (<—read it) this morning and it was talking about misguided adventures and family time.  I get what they are trying to say.  I know that I am not a pro athlete, nor am I trying to be.  I don’t even think I am a weekend warrior, more like the towel girl for the fat guy in the kilt who brings up the rear of the onslaught!  (Sorry I think of all my warriors as men in kilts like in “Braveheart”)  But they have a point when they say “Our lives are fleeting: You are born and you will die someday.  The path between points A and B is so exciting and fulfilling, enjoy it.”  I also somewhat agree to their statement of “Explaining to your 7-year-old Son that you can’t play catch due to the fact that your close minded, harsh abuse to your body (all in the pursuit of some “vain” race bib) has left you crippled?!?  No way to live life A to B.”

My take and $0.02:

I agree with these statements to a point.  I personally don’t want to cripple myself trying to get a race bib.  (If you want to get technical, you get the race bib before the race so assuming that you didn’t injure yourself prior to the race, the only way that you would cripple yourself while getting the race bib is to trip down the stairs on the way to the expo, which in my case is highly possible!)  But I also want to show my daughter that if she puts her mind to it, she achieve any goal!  I think that doing Warrior Dash and these mud runs is making going down the path between points A and B exciting and fulfilling.

Enough quotes of someone else’s hard work, here is a little insight into my life… 

Growing up, I was fat.  I was the tallest kid in my class every year.  I was one of the heaviest kids in my class every year.  I went to

My go to food!

Catholic school for grades K-8th grade.  In 7th grade my dad died.  My dad was my whole world!  Looking back I realize how much that broke my mom and I totally get it, but she had a responsibility to take care of me.  I was told by people instead that I needed to take care of my mom.  I was told not to cry in front of her.  So you know what, I didn’t.  I stayed “strong” and I would cry in the shower and stuff my face when no one was looking.  Then in the 8th grade the guy I liked was paid $5 to go out with me by people I thought were my friends.  When I found out what did I do? Cried and ate.  Freshman year in high school I played percussion in the school band (huge school of 25 kids) and one day they locked the band room door since we had no teacher and made fat jokes about for an hour.  I didn’t cry or yell or scream while they did it.  I wasn’t even going to say anything, but the school director happened to see some of the pictures they drew on the chalkboard and they were busted.  You know what I did that night? I went home and I cried and I ate.

This is me at my heaviest! I hate this picture but it is my reminder of where I don't want to go again!

This isn’t meant to be a feel sorry for me story.  Sorry if it is coming out that way.  The point I am trying to make is that I have always comforted myself with food.  I have this love hate relationship with food. When I would gorge on food to try to make me feel better, I always felt better at first and then I would feel guilty and almost dirty for eating as much as I did.  I know why I was fat.  I know where my weight came from.  But the more I ate, the worse I felt, the more I ate to feel better, the bigger I got, the worse I felt….it was a vicious cycle.  I tried every diet out there, Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, heck even prescription weight loss medication.  I would some weight and think I had it all figured out and then something would happen and I would gain it all back plus another 10 pounds.  Then I had the kiddo and my whole life changed.  I now had this person whose life and livelihood literally depended on me!  Things had to change.

I had been advised to have gastric bypass a couple of times, but kept telling myself it was the easy way out.  I knew I could do it on my own.  When I saw my cardiologist almost two years ago, he warned me that if I didn’t do something soon, I wasn’t going to see my daughter grow up.  I went to the next information session about weight loss surgery.  I called the doctor’s office the next day and I started the process. I took control of my life!!

I have lost about 160 pounds to date.  I have gone from a size 28/3xl, which was a little snug, to a size 14 and a medium or large depending on the style. (except for those damn race shirts!!!!) I can now run!  I can walk to the mailbox and not get tired!  I can play tennis and swim!  I love the way I look!  I am willing to wear neon pink tennis shoes in public and not worry that people are going to think I look like a walking blimp.  (Yes, I do know those shoes make my feel look big!) My ability to enjoy life has gone up exponentially!  This is why I get so upset at idiots like that personal trainer at the gym who make it seem like my surgery is something to be ashamed of.  I don’t feel the need to whisper the word, hell I want to shout it from the roof top! (in my neon pink shoes and matching sports bra!)

So back on track:

So my whole point of this blog was to tell you why I do what I do.  My daughter is my life.  I don’t want her to have to go through the pain of poor self esteem.  I want her to be proud of herself.  This is why if she wants to wear neon pink (I am seeing a pattern here) striped leggings with an olive green and purple plaid dress and sea star converse shoes, damn right I am going to tell her “that is the perfect style!”  I am going to take time out of my day to make sure that we go to the park or for a walk or put together puzzles.  I am going to entertain the idea of reading one more book at bedtime.  I am going to stop whatever I am doing so she can tell me how her day was, even though I spent every minute of it with her.  I will wake up from my wonderful dream about warriors in kilts to scare away monsters and spray monster spray in her room.  It also means that I will prove that anything she sets her

No More Monster Spray from Fizz Bath Shop....it really works!

mind to (except practicing mountain climbing on my counters or running with knives) is possible.  I will complete my goals so that I can set a good example for her.

She is telling us that she now wants to be an astronomer.  This means that I will rearrange my schedule to take her to the planetarium and the observatory.  I will let her go to bed 10 minutes late so that she can run outside and see Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn in the sky!

I cannot promise to be the perfect parent! I will make mistakes, but that in it self is a lesson!  It shows my kiddo that just because we make a mistake, it is not the end of the world!  It shows that we can dust ourselves off and get back to what we were doing.  So in response to the statement about broken bodies over a vain attempt at a race bib.  I don’t think that is selfish! I think it is setting the right example!

Swimming…Not just for fish!

Today I went into the gym and had an interesting session with an uneducated personal trainer.  He didn’t know much about gastric bypass and made stupid comments like “I wish I would have gotten a hold of you before you had surgery.”  Anyway, after some weight work, I swam about 300 meters, which isn’t a big swim, but it felt amazing to get back into the water.

After spending some quality time with the jacuzzi, I got dressed and headed home.  Oh my goodness!  My arms felt like jelly!!  I forgot how great of a workout swimming can be.  It is a total workout, low impact, and fun!!    Below is one of the workouts I plan on doing frequently.  I got it from Women’s Health online.  This also has some additional exercises to make it a total body workout.

Swimming can burn 500-700 calories per hour!  Water is 800 times denser than air and so it gives you a total body work out!  It is great for the core, hips, arms, legs, and butt!!  Read the whole article here!

MIX MASTER WORKOUT
	STROKE	LENGTH (yards or meters)*	SETS	REST (seconds)	EFFORT
WARM-UP	Any	200	1	10-30	3
MAIN SET (for a longer workout, repeat the main set)	Rotate: breast, free, back, free	50	4	10-20	5-6
	Rotate: breast, free, back, free	50	4	10-20	6-7
	Free	100	1	20-30	5-6
	Any (except free)	50	1	10-30	7-8
	Kick (on your side or back, or using a kickboard)	25	2	5-10	6
COOLDOWN	Any	100	1		3
* Most lap pools are 25 yards or meters long, while Olympic-size pools are 50 meters. If you’re unsure, ask the pool manager or lifeguard.

WoW!! Where has the time gone?

It has been ages since I posted and all I can say to my many readers is I apologize!!  I will attempt to do better!

Since August (Really August?) things have been pretty steady!  The biggest hurdle I’ve had to overcome weight wise is that I had surgery on my foot and I have not gotten back to my running schedule!  Surgery was a lot rougher than I imagined, and recovery time was twice as long as originally anticipated. I guess I have bones of steel (per the doctor) and the pins they needed to insert did not want to go into the bone.  The process, which should have taken about 15 minutes, took over an hour and increased the pain and swelling. But, me and the toes are back up and running, literally!

Well…we were until I had to have semi-emergency surgery to removed an 11 cm (think newborn size head) cyst from my left ovary.  Luckily, the pain has been manageable and I have not lost a lot of training time for the half marathon relay in January.  I think I will still be able to run the 6.1 miles necessary not to let my partner down!

I don’t have all the measurements, but I am down to an even 200 pounds as of yesterday!  I never thought I would ever get to this weight.  I believe this brings the total weight loss total to around 160 pounds since my heaviest weight 18 months ago.  I had pretty much leveled out until this latest loss, but an 11cm cyst weighs a lot!!

August Update

I love how I always make the promise to update my blog more often and then it seems like months go by before I post again! Anyway, I am making that promise yet again.

I haven’t been posting much lately other than measurements because it seems like that is all I have had time for. In March we moved to Tucson and I have taken that opportunity for a much desired fresh start. I am now down to around 210 pounds, from 350 pounds this time last year. That is literally a person!! I have a whole new wardrobe since none of my other clothes fit. However, I am still having a hard time seeing myself as a “skinny person”. I still see my old fat self in e mirror when I look at in the morning.

I am seeing the health benefits of this surgery though. For those who don’t know, I made the final decision to have gastric bypass when I saw the cardiologist a year ago. I had an echocardiogram that came back with thickening (strengthening) of the left ventricle and two valve issues. I went in for my latest echocardiogram at the beginning of the month and I am excited to say that I questioned the doctor about the findings. They told me, and I quote, “you have a perfectly healthy 29 year old heart.”.

In addition to the heart issues having resolved, I have also not used my inhaler since I had surgery with the rare exception of when I had an upper respiratory infection in March and eating of corn on the cob last week. Everyone also comments on how slow my pulse is, not too slow, but healthy enough they comment.

I also received my latest blood work and my cholesterol is finally within normal range. Even my good cholesterol is only low by one point! My A1C level is well within normal range and that is a great relief as well!

On the opposite side of the spectrum I am constantly reminded of how overweight I was. I have been having knee issues since June. It is very frustrating since I am not obese anymore. However, this is cause from years and years of being over weight. I learned that for every pound you lose, you take four pounds off your joints. I have been walking around with almost half a ton of extra weight on my joints. No wonder they are shot!! I have learned that it is going to take some time to strengthen my surrounding muscles to help support my knees.

There have been major ups and downs with this surgery. I don’t get to eat an entire cake anymore, but I realize now that I was eating the cake because I hated the way I looked because I was fat and unhealthy. Self esteem is a vicious cycle and it is something everyone struggles with. I don’t care if you are supermodel skinny or the heaviest man alive, everyone has something they want to change. It is how we deal with these feelings that we have the ability to change. I no longer turn to food for comfort. I have broken my cycle.

I have lost friends along the way, which is my biggest regret. I have changed and I have a high respect for myself now. I won’t let people walk all over me. I am highly outspoken and I love myself. I am open and honest and I am not hiding behind my body anymore. Some people haven’t been able to accept the new me and with some we just don’t have the same things in common anymore. I miss my lost friends but I have accepted that sometimes we have to travel on separate paths.

I have started to allow myself some indulgences. I have lost the weight that the doctors have said I will lose. I have hit goal!! The best thing about hitting a goal is the opportunity to set a new goal. I still want to lose about 30 more pounds. I treat myself, however I have learned not to over indulge. I might have a cupcake one night but not every night with every meal. I will also account for it during the week by an extra workout or cutting out carbs the next meal. I am not perfect in this, but I am viewing food differently. I realize now that it isn’t something to fear but something to respect.

Needless to say, I do not regret this decision. This has been the greatest choice I have ever made. It has been an exhilarating adventure and I am so happy that I made it!!

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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