Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Summer Health Challenge – Week 2 Plan

June 9, 2014

I sat down before bed Saturday night and decided to come up with a plan for the rest of the month. It goes something like this:

Week 1 – Pffft (That’s why I forced myself to come up with a plan)
Week 2 – 10 minutes of exercise, 6 glasses of water (6oz each), vitamin
Week 3 – All of the above plus – 2 glasses of fruit juice, 3 servings of veg
Week 4 – All of the above plus – protein of some type at each meal

I haven’t gone beyond that because I think making goals for one month at a time is more sustainable for me personally. And as you can see Week 1 was a washout. Well, not a total washout – I did drink a lot of water which resulted in a one pound weight loss. Go me!

I decided this week my exercise will be marching in place for a minute 10 times each day. It’s not all at once but it is 10 minutes of exercise. My hope is the bursts of movement will help keep my energy up throughout the day too.

So, that’s the plan for the week. Let’s go!

5 comments
Comments

On June 10, 2014 at 2:43 PM, Val said:

I am just now getting caught up with your blog posts, but I wanted to let you know that I started some diet changes myself recently. I had been taking statins for high cholesterol for years but really wanted to stop doing that. I had been hearing lately that too much sugar in the diet can put you at risk for heart disease, so I decided that is where I need to start. As a lifelong sugar lover, though, the prospect was daunting. However, while the transition was a bit painful (love that sweet tea and ice cream!), it has become much easier. Here are the major diet changes I have made: unsweetened tea, handful of almonds every day, whole wheat pasta and brown rice, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes (and fewer potatoes in general), fresh or frozen fruit every day (usually blueberries on oatmeal or a fruit smoothie made with fruit, plain yogurt, and whole milk), and (best of all) two squares of dark chocolate (70%) and a handful of dark chocolate covered almonds every day. Apparently dark chocolate is a health food (yay!!) and it also satisfies my sugar cravings. I have an actual dessert about once a week. I don't drink fruit juice since it is (apparently) like drinking a glass of sugar. I eat the whole fruit instead. The rest of my diet is pretty much the same as it always was. (Which means that Greg cooks from scratch every day, nothing from a box. We usually have a meat and at least one vegetable and maybe a whole grain starch of some kind.) I also take a probiotic and fiber capsules every day. So I started this "diet" in order to improve my heart health (which I did) but also lost almost 10 pounds just by accident. By the way, recent research suggests that low fat dairy is associated with higher weight rather than lower weight so I switched to whole milk and I still lost weight. I have been doing this new diet since about November, and it has pretty much become a way of life now. I also exercise regularly (and get a good night's sleep). During the school year I go to classes at Drury, but this summer I started a circuit training regimen I can do at home. I like it because I do one exercise for 30 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and move on to the next exercise. The entire sequence takes about 8 minutes. You can then repeat the sequence 2 or 3 times, which is what I am working up to. It doesn't get tedious because you are always moving on to the next exercise after 30 seconds. I have done it about 5 times now and it is already getting easier. Here is the link (scroll to the bottom third of the page): http://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/Fulltext/2013/05000/HIGH_INTENSITY_CIRCUIT_TRAINING_USING_BODY_WEIGHT_.5.aspx
Anyway, good for you for being motivated to improve your health! Maybe we can inspire each other!

On June 11, 2014 at 12:04 PM, java_queen said:

Hey Val - nice to see you! :-) Thanks for sharing your plan for getting your cholesterol under control and, I assume, off the meds? That's my plan too - well, not getting on cholesterol meds in the first place, and getting off the blood pressure meds in the second place.
I do allow myself dark chocolate once in awhile because I know it's better for you, but I have to be really careful because chocolate was my best friend for a long time and it can quickly escalate to that if I'm not careful. Although the darker chox is harder to do that with. I love almonds too! So the choco almond thing might be something I can add to my plan.
Congratulations also on losing weight - that is awesome! I have to keep reminding myself that I am 20 pounds lighter so I have not as far to go to reach my goal weight, but mentally it is still difficult to find my motivation to keep going. How long did it take for the changes to stick and become habit? Was it a one step forward two steps back or was it fairly easy for you to make the changes?
Yogurt is supposed to be a magical food too so I also eat it as often as I can (need to make it daily) and I like both the plain fat free as well as Fage's total 0% Greek.
You are lucky to have someone cook for you though. That is my hardest thing - having to cook two meals a day every day that will be to everyone's liking (and it doesn't always happen). I'm looking forward to when I can stop the lunch wagon and make what I want for me. :-)
I like your exercise plan too and will look at that link later. Sounds very interesting! It's good that you also have found a way to get exercise in that is doable for you. I think that's the key because not everyone can do or wants to do the gym thing. I'll admit here - not my thing.
Yes - inspiring each other - I like that and I would like that. :-) Thanks again for dropping by and letting me know how you're doing and keep me posted on your progress!

On June 11, 2014 at 12:48 PM, java_queen said:

And I forgot - OATMEAL - I started eating oatmeal for breakfast every day and I think that really helped too. I either make it from scratch or I have Rachael Ray's instant. Processed? Yes, but much fewer ingredients and less sugar than the other stuff. It's an instant I can live with and the kids love it too - bonus!

On June 11, 2014 at 1:47 PM, Val said:

It was actually easier than I thought it would be. I think it took about a month for it to become routine and for me to stop missing the sugar in my tea. Now that I eat so little sugar, many desserts taste TOO sweet to me, so they aren't as appetizing. I am going to a wedding on Saturday; normally I love wedding cake so we will see if I still do!
Yes, I am lucky to have a cook in the house! And also lucky that Greg is okay with the diet changes I have made. It would be much harder if I had to accommodate everyone's preferences and keep things in the house that I shouldn't eat.
I also eat a lot of oatmeal and have been for years. Recently I found a recipe for whole wheat pancakes that I really like. Instead of syrup, I put scrambled eggs on top! Or if I do want something sweet, I spread Simply Fruit on top. But I usually prefer the eggs. Once again, the syrup tastes too sweet to me. So I am clearly making progress in the sugar area! I should also note that I do not eat artificial sweeteners of any kind. First of all, I really don't like the taste. And second of all, the sweet taste wouldn't help me to lose my sweet tooth so I never would have the made the progress I have made if I continued to eat "sweet" things.

On June 16, 2014 at 1:40 AM, java_queen said:

I'm not much on artificial sweetners either - they taste bad and are bad for you - so I avoid them. I'm glad that it was easy for you to make the changes - it will be probably take me longer...much longer. But, I'm trying.

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» Summer Health Challenge – Week 2 Plan » Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Summer Health Challenge – Week 2 Plan

June 9, 2014

Comments

On June 10, 2014 at 2:43 PM, Val said:

On June 11, 2014 at 12:04 PM, java_queen said:

On June 11, 2014 at 12:48 PM, java_queen said:

On June 11, 2014 at 1:47 PM, Val said:

On June 16, 2014 at 1:40 AM, java_queen said:

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