Operation: Lose My Ass

There's Hope Yet

2009-07-11T18:38:00.004-04:00

Some updated stats about my progress with OLMA (which C has deemed a failure of a project, and yet, I can't quite give up on it yet). (And speaking of C, check him out over at "Run, Fatboy, Run!" and help hold him accountable for working out and reaching his marathon goal!)

Anyway, back to my accountability.

Weight gained during pregnancy: 30 lbs.
Weight lost during pregnancy: 8 lbs.
Net weight gain at the point of giving birth: 22 lbs.
Daughter born: June 25, 2009
Days since giving birth: 16
Weight lost since giving birth: 25.5 lbs.
Pounds under pre-pregnancy weight: 3.5 lbs.
Pounds to go to reach lowest weight during pregnancy. 2.5 lbs
Pounds to go to reach 10% goal weight: (Yeah right, I'm not telling cause the math isn't that hard to do.)
Pounds to go to reach final goal weight: Too many to think about right now.

So I'm just going to keep on doing what I'm doing. And I'm celebrating losing the baby weight already by eating an apple. Even though I really really want that Twix I have stashed away in my fridge instead. Sometimes, there are hard choices to be made, I guess.

Up your nose with a rubber hose...

2009-01-29T16:11:00.002-05:00

Originally posted on my workout blog, Run, Fatboy! Run!

That's my way of saying that today, I'm a sweat hog. No work the last two days. The northeast was hit with a snow and ice storm yesterday. Though most school districts had off yesterday, they went back today after a 90-minute delay. My delay was dramatically turned to a cancellation. That allowed me to get in the workout I missed yesterday (though, I did shovel for over an hour, which is 400 calories for a 150 pound person...so it should be more for me...but I'd settle on 400). Today's workout felt great, I've got to say. I haven't felt this good after a workout in a long time. I'm actually quite pumped.

Monday's workout was good. I did a circuit workout on the machines, then ran 2.5. Today, was much better. After doing the "gut buster" routine, I ran 30 minutes and walked another 10. Just the running was great. I've toned down the pace (averaging around 6.4 mph (9:30 mile or so), and I'm getting a lot more out of it. Plus, my mileage has increased a considerable amount...though I did do the last 4 minutes over 7.2 mph (around an 8:15 mile). All told, I did 40 minutes, and went 4.2 miles...even if I didn't factor in the walking from the cool down, that's an average of exactly 6.3 mph. So, the cool down was even faster than normal. Though I'm not seeing much of an improvement with my weight, I'd have to say my fitness level has increased a lot. Big weigh in tomorrow, but today, I'm happy.

Today's run playlist (I listened to Bill Simmons' BS Report podcast while I did the first part of the workout) :

St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)-John Parr
A Million Ways to Be Cruel-OK Go
I Want to Break Free-Queen
Do What you Want-OK Go
I'm Still Standing-Elton John
This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race-Fall Out Boy
The Middle-Jimmy Eat World
I'm Shipping Up to Boston-Dropkick Murphys
Smooth Criminal-Michael Jackson
All These Things I've Done-The Killers (Quite possibly my favorite mid-run song, it really has gotten to me since this Nike Commercial from the 2008 Beijing Olympics...it may be the shot of Pre's mustache. Then again, the cowboy at the start of the original video is pretty B.A. too.)
Run Away-Bon Jovi
Tessie-Dropkick Murphys (Tessie always carries me away)
Mr. Jones-Counting Crows
My Hero-Foo Fighters
Pain-Jimmy Eat World
Bright Future In Sales-Fountains of Wayne

Hiatus or No Hiatus? That is my question.

2008-12-11T17:09:00.004-05:00

I quite literally just posted on my main personal blog that I'm pregnant. By default, that means I am on OLMA hiatus cause, well, rumor has it you're not supposed to diet when you're pregnant.

See, the problem is though, I'm already overweight. If I gain 35 lbs of "healthy" pregnancy weight, I will be completely UNhealthy. I mean, let's face it, I'm not healthy now.

So what does the expectant mom do when she wants to diet but isn't really supposed to?

No, seriously, what do I do?

While I wait for an answer, I think I need to go to the kitchen and eat some red seedless grapes. Hey, at least it's a fruit.

Baby Steps, or "Yes I Can"

2008-11-10T23:33:00.005-05:00

Ok, this is a week late, but I made a good OLMA move last week when I WALKED to my voting place. Granted, it was only about 1/4 mile away from my house, but in the old days, anyone who knows me knows that I would've hopped in my car and totally never even considered the possiblity of using those nicely provided sidewalks.

Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Not quitting

2008-07-09T12:08:00.001-04:00

I didn't quit...I just went on writing hiatus.

The best two sites for me are WWW.MAPMYRUN.COM and WWW.CALORIE-COUNT.COM .
They both help me track what I've been up to...

A Pretty Plie' Goes a Long Way

2008-06-12T09:45:00.009-04:00

And I so didn't even mean to rhyme!

As some (or all) may know, I'm a former non-professional, but seriously active dancer. I worked at it for 13 years (starting just before my 4th birthday), and stopped when I went off to college. Just under 2 years ago, I went back to dance classes for the first time in about 5 years. And about 2-3 months after that, I hurt my right foot. I had X-rays done to see if it was broken. It wasn't. I went to a rheumatologist to see if it was arthritis. It wasn't. To this day, they still don't know exactly what happened to my foot. The closest they've even come is telling me that I contracted Lyme disease, but here's the kicker -- all blood work shows that I do NOT actually have Lyme disease, which, in my mind, shoots that theory in the foot. No pun intended. All I know is that it was painful to walk, let alone dance. And so my dancing days were done.

The interesting fact was that when I started dancing, I was on a roll with losing weight, too. In fact, I JUST finally got my weight down to the weight I was at when I STARTED that dance class almost 2 years ago. In that 2-3 month period that I had been active, I lost just shy of 20 pounds. Definitely not shabby. (Hey, I will never snub losing approximately 1-1/2 pounds a week!) And I'm feeling good about myself and would love to see some results like that again.

Thanks to this week's 5 celebrity fitness tips from People.com (what can I say? I'm a sucker for celeb gossip...it's my guilty pleasure!), I followed a link and came across "Dance-Inspired Exercises for Shapely Legs." Now, even when I was at my peak of dancing (around age 16-17), I still had pretty big thighs and butt. (I'm not criticizing myself -- I'm just being honest.) That's honestly where I have always carried the bulk of my weight. So this article is EXACTLY what I've been looking for, especially for the days when I just can't find the time to make it to the gym. These exercises are something simple I can do right in my family room, when I've got a free 15-30 minutes.

And as an added bonus, since I'm also a bride-to-be, and every bride wants pretty, toned arms on her wedding day (especially when she's got a strapless or at least sleeveless dress), so I thought I'd throw this article for "No More Jiggly Arms" in, too.

Just a Little Maintenance

2008-05-30T18:11:00.003-04:00

I've added many many links that I've been collecting for months to the sidebar. Dieting, exercise, and combo articles. It's chock full of awesome stuff!

And on a personal front, I'm officially down 22 lbs. since the start of OLMA. Here's hoping there's 80 more where those came from!

What OLMA Isn't...Part #2

2008-05-06T12:07:00.003-04:00

OLMA is not going for a 5-mile fundraising walk for a non-profit organization, and then sabotaging all your good efforts by eating the following (all within the next 8 hours):

A Boston Creme Donut
An Eggplant Grinder
Chicken Nuggets
Potato Salad
Chips & Dip
Doritos
Pizza
Birthday Cake with Ice Cream

Yeah, that's definitely NOT OLMA!

But I'm back on the wagon again!

Truly an Inspiration

2008-04-16T10:03:00.003-04:00

I'm not even kidding when I say that Ali, Mark, and Bernie have been such inspirations to me over the past several weeks. I doubt I would have gotten on the floor to do crunches and leg-lifts without them. And half my gym visits since January can be credited to them too.

So thanks! I hope to be like you someday...

Past the Point of Giving Up

2008-04-10T13:50:00.003-04:00

I think it's finally happened.

I think most of us here at OLMA have reached the Point of Giving Up. It's a dark and scary place, where you fear that your dreams will never come true, that it's just too strict, too painful, too HARD! The gym seems like it's a million miles away. All those so-called diet foods that you claimed were "not so bad" at the beginning now taste like wallpaper. (And not the good wallpaper, where the snozzberries taste like snozzberries, either.) All you want to do is sit on the couch, watch crappy daytime TV, eat [insert guilty pleasure food here -- mine are cheeseburgers and fries], and forget that the entire concept of OLMA ever existed!

But deep down, in that place that we've been trying to ignore for so long, we know that we can't give up. We're not ready yet. Losing 10 pounds wasn't in the plan. The plan was to lose multiples of that. I remember how good it felt when I tried on my bridesmaid dress for my brother's wedding, and how I put it on over my jeans. And when I go for my official fitting to get it taken in at the end of May, I want that seamstress to alter till her fingers fall off. Ok, she can keep her fingers. But I want to feel that immense pride I felt that day.

And so I eat my SmartOnes lunch with a pear for a snack, and I push through. Maybe I'll even get up the guts to put on my exercise clothes and head on over to the gym today. I don't know yet. In this dark and scary place, it's hard to keep all the good behaviors we established early on. But as long as you keep some, you can hopefully work your way back. I'm working my way back. And I WILL get through this. I'm on my way right now.

The Second Point of Giving Up looms in the distance. This is the point when you feel you've lost enough weight, gotten healthy enough, to give up. Your long-term goal isn't that important is it? But it is. It's far enough off, but I can see it right here on my map already. It doesn't seem as dark and scary, but don't let it fool you. And when we get to that point, we'll push through it together, just like we are pushing through now.

damn

2008-03-25T18:07:00.004-04:00

I hate when you got bogged down with all crap, and end up doing jack crap for a few weeks. It doesn't help that you TRY to lose weight, and are doing a crappy job. St. Patrick's Day, Family lasagna day (aka Palm Sunday), and Easter in one week?! JESUS (quite actually!). Still, there's been some progress.

I'm just getting a bunch of pink days.

At least I didn't rear-end somebody.

A Healthy Weight Loss Goal

2008-03-12T11:20:00.005-04:00

Maybe it's cause I've been watching the Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights, or maybe I'm very weight-conscious on Wednesdays, but I seem to find the best online articles about weight loss during the middle of the week.

I found a particularly interesting article today while surfing around the Million Pound Matchup site. (And by the way, if you haven't gone there yet, take a visit and enter your total weight loss so far for 2008. It's labeled "Help America reach its goal!" just below the center of the webpage. I would be so impressed if I saw that number go over 1,000,000 pounds lost!) I was searching for my optimal calorie intake in order to lose the 75+ lbs. I need to lose to reach my goal weight (yes, I know that is a VERY high number, but it's sadly a legit number). And I see this comment:

"The recommended average weight loss is 1 pound per week. Find out why."

What? What does this mean, "1 pound"? That's it? That's all I am expected to lose even though I've got to make it all the way to 75+?! It'll take me FOREVER* to get there!

So I clicked the "Find out why" part cause, in my head, I've been thinking that I need to lose about 2-3 lbs. a week in order to look even remotely decent at my wedding in just over 6 months (I'm not even going to try to fathom losing 75 lbs in 6 months...that will have to be a slightly longer term goal). So I read.

Surprisingly, the author of the article made a lot of sense of things I never realized before. (Seriously, how many times have I realized something "new" about an old concept in my posts? It's getting a bit old now. I wish I knew something already!) Here was the phrase that caught my eye:

"If you don’t have the time or motivation for an all-out effort, you may make a feeble attempt and then quit—and feel less motivated than ever."

That's me. That's me in a total nutshell. Three times in the last five years, I have attempted weight loss. And three times in the last five years, I have quit my weight loss regimen after three months of what I thought to be an "unsuccessful" weightloss of 15 lbs. Except, according to the whole "1 pound a week, slow & steady wins the race" theory that seems to be presented here, 15 lbs was not only good, it was actually damn fine.

Tortoise. Hare. Tortoise. Hare. There are times I wish I were the hare. But in the long run, I need to be the tortoise. Ok, hopefully I can keep myself from getting disappointed from "small" weight loss from here on out.

*According to the calculator, forever officially ends on August 19, 2009, if I follow the "1 pound a week" thing.

The Other "I Have a Dream" Speech

2008-03-07T21:40:00.004-05:00

I have a dream that someday my hand will be larger than my thigh.

That's all for now.

How Old Are You?

2008-02-20T14:12:00.002-05:00

It's Women's Heart Health Month. Ok, I don't know if that's the official name, but I know that's what it is right now.

Because of this, my office just had an hour-long seminar on heart disease prevention. And while I could go into all of that with you right now, I am going to share one thing that I got out of it. It's a website (shock!).

Realage.com

In the last few hours, here's what I've found that I like about it:

It's free sign-up (though, I assume you should expect SPAM).
It's very comprehensive (not just about diet and exercise, but other factors in your life).
It has a plan. For those who don't like the "lack of structure" approach of OLMA, it provides a specially formulated plan, based on your answers to the short (10-minutes max) quiz.

So get started. You'll have results in no time at all to get started toward a healthier you.

Accountability

2008-02-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

As I've said before, my real difficulty in the whole diet & exercise game is the exercise part.* I can eat healthy if I want to. I know if I order a cheeseburger for lunch that I'll pay for it later, so maybe I'll get a turkey sandwich on light whole wheat bread instead. I'm not counting points anymore, but it's still kind of a no-brainer to know if I've eaten too much. So it is just a matter of monitoring the exercise. I needed to hold myself accountable.

Several months ago, I made an extremely simple system. I printed out a calendar from the Microsoft website. A simple, 3-page, no-frills calendar that covers the entire year. I keep it in my desk drawer at work. And I have 3 highlighters -- Pink, Blue, and Green. After each day, I cross off the day in one of the colors. Pink means I didn't exercise at all (it was the closest to Red that I had). Blue means I did short exercises ( e.g. crunches, leg lifts, and push ups in front of the TV), but didn't do anything too vigorous (in retrospect, I should've chosen Yellow). Green means I did a full-blown workout -- running, lifting weights, toning, etc. for over 30 minutes.

It only takes about 5 seconds each day -- pick out the appropriate color highlighter, and make a mark. It's a bit anal-retentive, this I know. But trust me, when I open my desk drawer and see a month full of Pinks (maybe with a Blue scattered here or there), I know I better get to work.

Use this technique, modify it, make it your own. Or share any other accountability ideas. God knows I need them.

*Don't get me wrong -- the diet part's no picnic for me. But I feel like I'm better at doing that than exercising regularly.

Super FAT Tuesday

2008-02-05T21:23:00.001-05:00

Happy Super Tuesday, everyone! I hope you all went out to vote in your respective primaries (providing your state was having one today). And of course, Happy Mardi Gras!

Seriously, I don't think the name could be any better. Fat Tuesday.

I was on a personal high this past Saturday because I totally exceeded all my goals for the elliptical. Now, I don't run fast. Doesn't matter what machine I'm on -- I just can't do it. I usually die out. Very fast. Lately, I've been averaging 3 miles in 32-37 minutes. So on Saturday morning, I set the goal -- complete 1 mile in under 10 minutes. And I did. In 8:45, I ran my first mile. So I thought, "Hey, for once I'm not tired. Maybe I'll keep up my pace and run 2 miles in under 20 minutes!" And I did. I ran 2 miles in 18:25. I couldn't believe how awesome I was. So I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be amazing if I ran 3 miles in under 30 minutes? That'd be a miracle for me!" And I did. I seriously was beside myself when I finished the 3rd mile at 29:35. Barely under 30 minutes, but I still did it! And because I still wasn't totally tired, I ran a 4th mile. I took my time with the 4th, and finished running in about 43 minutes. And according to the machine, I burned 503 calories.

Freaking sweet!

And then Super Bowl Sunday happened. Don't ask me how, but I went the entire day without eating. Honestly, my only calorie intake was a glass of juice. I know that's not healthy, but I didn't do it on purpose. Anyway, by the time the game rolled around, I was starving. I made myself a huge sandwich, ate chips and dip, and carrots and dip. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the brownie bites. By the end of the night, it was bad news. So much for my wicked awesome day on Saturday.

Yesterday, I worked from home. And I am ashamed in myself to admit that I snacked on some of those leftovers. Thankfully, I ate a rather bland salad for dinner. That was a pretty good thing. About the only good thing I've done since Saturday.

So today, on Fat Tuesday, what's a girl to do? I was doing so well. Until my father called me on my way home from work and informed me that there were Italian pastries on the counter. Seriously, temptation is EVERYWHERE!

Needless to say, I ate tonight. I didn't exercise. And I can honestly say that I feel pretty disgusted with myself right now.

So here's the deal -- Fat Tuesday is over. Right now. Ok, it's not really over for another 2 hours and 25 minutes, but in my head, it's over. Once my food baby gets smaller, I'm going to sit on the floor and do situps.

Fat Tuesday is over. Let the season of fasting (within reason) begin.

Introducting Wetsel

2008-02-02T19:32:00.001-05:00

On account of being a long-time reader of S's main blog, I was immediately intrigued by this new companion forum because a lot of us (with me certainly included) need a little encouragement and love to want to make a few little modifications in their diet/lifestyle. What I mean is that for all of my adolescent and adult life, I've always been a little Pillsbury Dough Boy (and yes, if you poke me in my tummy, I will say "woo hoo!") and I realize that with my mid-twenties almost over, it's time to stop making excuses and saying that I'll lose those extra pounds "eventually." So it was to my delight that S asked me to be a contributor to the OLMA blog and to get on board!

So anyway, as my display name indicates, my name is Wetsel (my first name is so darn common, one of those typical guy names that begins with an "M", so I figured that my last name makes more sense to go by), I'm 5'3" and as of the last time that I weighed myself on a standard scale, I'm 164 pounds (I definitely like my mom's home scale better, it somehow automatically reduces your weight by about seven pounds, but unfortunately the doctor's scale doesn't agree with that!). My physician would like me to drop down to about 130, but I think that goals are best reached when they're realistic and can actually be accomplished, so I think that a better target to shoot for is to try and shed fifteen pounds for now. If I over-achieve this initial benchmark, than yeah, we'll talk about the next half! :)

My current exercise/diet situation is rather Jekyll and Hyde, to be quite honest. In one sense I'm probably a little odd because I actually do enjoy going to the neighborhood "Y" to pedal on the stationary bike (when I'm not bitten by the lazy bug, that is!), I look forward to warmer weather to go bike riding and rollerblading, and one of my favorite fast food items to get is a grilled chicken salad, preferably with a light or Vinagerette-style dressing. The Mr. Hyde part, however, absolutely adores chocolate (it comes in all lovely varieties such as ice cream, candy, cookies, and more!), deep dish pizza (I was horrified to find out that an individual-sized Uno's pie has something like 2,000 calories), and lots of sedentary activities like playing on my Nintendo Game Cube and watching Harry Potter movies repeatedly. Sounds like an unbalanced current situation? Yup. However, here's my new game plan and I hope I really stick to it this time and adhere to it. Fortunately I have all of you to keep me accountable :)

During my four years of college, one of the not-too-bright habits that I devloped was the ritual of a late night meal. Yeah, surprisingly, my tummy didn't want to accomodate entire calzones, huge slices of greasy pizza, and the occasional chicken wing at 1 am or later! In light of that, my personal rule number one should be to cut out all eating after dinner, with the exception of a genuinely light snack like fresh fruit. This strategy worked great for a temporary period of time about four years ago. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it better now.

Rule number two is to incorporate more movement in my everyday activities. I love the entry that S wrote recently when she mentioned that exrcise doesn't have to be formal, you can find ways to take more steps simply by taking extra trips up and down the stairs or skipping the elevator. So even if I can't necessarily hit the Y everyday, it doesn't mean that I can't take frequent brief walks or find other ways to move.

Rule number three is to be more aware of what I eat. I think that what really gets me into trouble are those "invisible" calories that magically add up. A cookie here, a brownie there, a Hershey Kiss after dinner....hey, that's like four or five hundred calories without even knowing!
So I guess the thing to do is to enjoy an occasional dessert (maybe once or twice a week), but make a point to really acknowledge that I'm eating it and to stay away from junk at other times. A trick that I picked up on recently is to substitute healthy yogurt or fresh fruit when I'm having a sugar craving.

Finally, the last rule is to RELAX!!! When I get stressed out because of work or whatever, one of the first things I look for is fatty comfort food (usually comes in the shape of a Ben and Jerry's container, but it magically transforms into other vessels, too!). If the best solution is a good prevention, than I need to quit making food my "quick fix."

Ok, I think that's enough for an inaugural entry. Anyway, in closing, I just want to say thanks to S and to everyone else here at OLMA for letting me tag along. To sum up my philosophy/contribution, I'll leave you with this gem that Vince Vaughn says in Dodgeball; "Hi. I'm Peter La Fleur, owner and operator of Average Joe's Gym. And I'm here to tell you, you're perfect just the way you are. But if you feel like losing a few pounds, gettin' healthier, and making some good friends in the process... then Joe's is the place for you."

A Hard Habit to Break

2008-01-30T13:54:00.001-05:00

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like we're focused an awful lot on the exercise. But it's just that exercise is so obvious. When you do it, you're working at it for a long time, you're incredibly "in the zone," and if you do it right, you can probably feel the burn for quite a while afterward.

So I just want to take this time to switch gears a little bit. But before I do, I think I need to give a teeny tiny little background about what inspired me to write this.

For years, LoC has made random references to the Biggest Loser. The concept of this show fascinated me, but I had two problems with it. 1) What happens when contestants have to go back to real life, with work, family, and all the other distractions that make it impossible to workout for 10 hours a day? (This still slightly concerns me.) 2) In a nutshell, I HATE reality TV. So I never watched. Until two weeks ago, when strangely enough, I was waiting for LoC to call me with a time to leave for that night's gym excursion. With the writers' strike going on, I didn't really have anything better to do until the phone call came. And I got hooked. It was like OLMA on speed or something. I mean, I'm not even remotely trying to suggest that what we're doing here is going to the great lengths that they're going to...but why can't it? Anyway, that's a discussion for a different time. My point is I love the show now. (I'm slow to catch on to these things.)

Before watching, I was always under the impression that Jillian Michaels was a total hardass. And, ok, she totally is, but I'd take her as my trainer any day of the week (even Wednesday). And I'd probably cry a lot and sweat even more, but hey, that's water weight going right out the window.

So yesterday morning, the local radio show interviewed Jillian about her new book "Making the Cut." (Sidenote: This might be a good book for some OLMA participants, if you're only looking to kick the last 20 lbs. or less. For me, not so much -- this is a "go big or go home" situation.) As soon as I heard they were interviewing her, I did my best to pay close attention. If she said anything profound, I was going to be ready to take it all in.

And to my surprise, she said something really simple, and yet, in all my years of being overweight, it never even occurred to me that this could be a problem for me. So backtracking a little -- have you ever been dieting, and just broken your diet, saying that it would be ok, you'd start again? And in your head, you thought it was. I think I've done this a million times.

Because of the balance of diet and exercise, guess what? It's not really ok. Well, not if you're not exercising. See, this is what Jillian had to say -- you can only cheat if you've worked out. Your body can account for a couple hundred extra calories when you have burned a couple hundred extra calories. Jillian admitted to "cheating" everyday, mainly cause she works out everyday. She "indulges" herself in an extra 200 calories EVERY SINGLE DAY. And I think that's important to note as well -- when you indulge, how often is it 200 calories or less? Isn't it more likely that you're indulging with 400, 500, even 600 calories that you just shouldn't be having? If you indulge this high, even when working out, you completely negate all the work you just did. (No wonder why I have just maintained a steady weight the last two weeks!)

I think from right now, I want to make a conscious effort NOT to do this. So here's my pledge to myself (with you as my witness): I will only allow myself an indulgence on the days when I do a full-blown workout. And my indulgence will be small -- a couple pieces of chocolate, or tea/coffee with actual sugar in it (gosh, how i miss that!). And I encourage you all to make a similar pledge to yourselves.

Oh, and do me a favor? Don't spoil last night's episode. It's on the DVR for me to finish watching tonight!

Cuteness

2008-01-27T01:01:00.000-05:00

On behalf of all the contributors of OLMA (and as his sister), I want to be the first to congratulate C on becoming a NEW DADDY!!!!!

C's wife gave birth to a wonderful, healthy baby girl on Saturday afternoon!

Wish him congratulations, and a whole lot of luck!

(Cause as we know so well, girls like to give their daddies a run for their money!)

The Wednesday Challenge

2008-01-23T09:19:00.000-05:00

As if OLMA isn't enough of a challenge, I think it's important to realize that we all fall into a routine. We find the healthy foods that we can tolerate eating instead of a 1/4 pound burger and fries, and we learn how to use those select 3 to 6 machines at the gym. And that's EXCELLENT! It's certainly nothing to look down on.

On Wednesday night last week, Weezie, Mr. T, and I went to the gym, where we were planning to meet LoC. Weezie and Mr. T settled on the treadmills, which I despise because they kill the arch of my foot (someday I will conquer the treadmill, though). I didn't see LoC anywhere, so I got on the elliptical machine. Two fluid movements of the legs, and I spotted LoC across the gym on what I refer to as the "Sweat Machine" and she lovingly calls "Hell."

I got off the elliptical and walked over because we were going to workout together.

S: "You're not seriously going to make me get on that thing, are you?"
LoC: "Let's just finish a 1/2 mile [so that I could go a 1/2 mile and she could finish her full mile], and then we can go on something different."

In my head, this seemed totally doable and easy. It wasn't until I was already on the Sweat Machine for 2 minutes when I remembered that the reason I call it the Sweat Machine (and she calls it Hell) is because it takes between 10 and 15 minutes to cover a 1/2 mile (depending on the amount of resistance you program), but you burn about 200 to 300 calories, all by dripping sweat, in that time as well.

It was a challenge. But in a very good way, it was something different. LoC and I dawned on a new idea that day -- the Wednesday Challenge. It's okay to have your routine of machines that you workout on, to follow the same workout tape at home, or to walk the same route around your neighborhood. But pick one day each week (for us, it's obviously Wednesday), and find a machine that you've either never used before or hardly ever used, and get on it for a milestone! For those without gym memberships, look up new workouts (the internet is a powerful tool). For those who walk outdoors, take a different path that might be a little more challenging (read: hilly).

You'll surprise yourself. You'll work muscles that you might have been unintentionally (or maybe intentionally) ignoring. And you might find that on Thursday, you want to do it again!

What OLMA isn't...

2008-01-22T08:20:00.001-05:00

Our Lady of Mercy Academy
Founded in 1928 as a Catholic College preparatory school for young women, Our Lady of Mercy Academy is dedicated to providing a comprehensive education ...www.olma.org/ - 40k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Ontario Lumber Manufacturers' Association
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But I Don't Wanna Go!

2008-01-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

I didn't want to get out of bed today, much less go to the gym.

As LoC can attest, it takes an army to get me to exercise. If left to my own devices, I will, 9 times out of 10, choose to do something other than workout. Do bills need to be paid? I can do that. Laundry must be done? I'll squeeze that in. Running on an elliptical for an hour? Sorry, no, I'm unavailable. LoC and Mr. T basically have to drag me out the door or threaten bodily harm if I don't go.

And even though I typically feel great after I get there, there are days when I cannot be talked into it. I put my foot down. I refuse. And I can't believe I'm admitting this, but one time, I even cried. (Not my finest hour.)

So what do I do?

Although there's no specific exercise plan with OLMA, it really doesn't work for me unless I do this in moderation. Call it a lack of willpower, but seriously, if I worked out for 1 to 1-1/2 hours a day, 7 days a week, I would stop going to the gym by day 5 of week 1. I know because it's happened before. LoC or C -- I think they could just go and go and go and never be phased by it. But I don't work that way.

I have weak moments, weak days. And I like to think that I'm not the only one who goes through them. Although this is still pretty new to me, I think I'm learning a few tricks. Because even though I may not work out for hours at a time, there are ways to get in a little more exercise than just normal, everyday movement. Here are just a few suggestions:

Take the stairs at work instead of the elevator. If you work on a super high floor (like I used to) and you can't even fathom walking up the whole way, then make sure to use the stairs when you're moving 1-2 floors up or down. Or get off 2 floors below where you normally would and take the stairs the rest of the way up.
Walk around your neighborhood after dinner. Don't want to go alone? Take a friend or your pet with you.
Get on the floor and do crunches during the commercial break of the TV show you're watching (or, gasp, even while the show is on). Maybe you'll do 20, or maybe you'll do 200. But my philosophy is that 20 crunches are better than no crunches at all. (And if your abs are fine, maybe you'll do deep lunges or something else that doesn't require any sort of fancy equipment.)
This one kind of makes me giggle (mostly cause I imagine someone getting caught doing this). While sitting at your desk or on the couch, raise your arms up like you're "King of the World!". Make 20 circles going in one direction, then switch. If it doesn't hurt, do more. But you'll work your arms more than you might realize.
Take 2-3 trips to do something that you might be able to do in 1. Example: My bedroom's on the 2nd floor of our condo. The laundry room's in the basement. Instead of taking all the dirty clothes down (or clean clothes up) at one time, maybe I'll take the darks first, then go back for the lights/whites.

Got any other tips? Please leave a comment. I can use all the help I can get! And I'm sure others could, too.

The Plateau

2008-01-18T12:11:00.001-05:00

Probably the worst aspect of any diet is the plateau. For some of us, the first 5 pounds are the hardest. For others, the first ten are the easiest. That rare individual is out there for whom the first 35 pounds are the easiest, but the next 10 are a knock-down, drag-out, slobber-knocker. No matter who you are, or what stage of OLMA you have reached, there is no denying: The Plateau does exist.

Personally, it is the worst part of it all. It often leads to quitting. But everyone faces it, especially if you've inherited the family trait of obesity. Quitting shouldn't be an option. Besides, let's face it, NOBODY likes a quitter.

Diets aren't meant to be one time deals, and OLMA isn't just a movement, it's a lifestyle. Eventually, the L can go from LOSE to LOST. The lifestyle change must be permanent...permanent...Permanent?...PERMANENT?!@?! What the #$%*?!

PERMANENT.

Now that is a scary word. You know as well as any other, the scariest thing that something can be is permanent. Permanently scarred...on your permanent record.

But seriously, the secret to changing the L to LOST is to make PERMANENT more flexible. You know, like using WordArt on a certain copyrighted program for word processing. Take that word, and make it flexible.

Vegetables are your friends. They go nicely with your good friend meat. But you've got to invite vegetables when having meat over, because meat slimmed down, and now they're a couple. This will all help in the beginning. Take it from somebody that ONCE lost a small nine year old from his butt, just by introducing vegetables (and her sister, fruit) to meat and potato. Roughly seventy pounds, and there were 2 distinct plateaus. One around 250, and another around 225. Plateaus bite. Worse, once you break past them, they sneak back into your world.

Flexibility is the key to overcoming the dreaded plateau. Flexibility is how you avoid quitting. Taking a day off is not going to kill you. However, taking a week off, often leads to a month, which leads to a year (much in the same way that an A- is close to a B, which is close to a C, which is practically failing, and will get you locked in the basement). Therefore, if one day you DO indulge, be sure to be smart about it the next day...make that the next few days. Taking a break every now and then allows for clarity. If you know you have to go to your parents, because it's time for your father's birthday, eat a light lunch. Mom will over-feed you, despite her own OLMA efforts. Then there will be cake, which you can ONLY hope will actually be an apple pie...but we all know better. Eat the light lunch. Trust me. If you feel the need to snack, a good suggestion is to ALWAYS have golden raisins on hand. Those little boxes make great snacks (HOWEVER, beware, grapes and raisins are as poisonous to dogs as if they drank a bottle of Drain-O).

Additionally, if your amazing Super Spy Wonder Dog eats your raisins before you can, and then you have a harrowing adventure of inducing vomiting, and digging through it all, then spending $285 so poison control and the vet can take care of what YOU ALREADY DID, do NOT use it as an excuse to sit on the couch for 3 afternoons, as you "monitor the dog's health," even if the vet TOLD you to do so for the next 48-72 hours, in case of kidney failure.

This is a mistake...Take it from me my friend, you will ONLY feel bad about it by the 3rd day, and end up sitting there on the couch for the 3rd consecutive afternoon. Only on day 3, you'll feel bad about doing so for the past two days, get into a funk, and find yourself eating half a bag of kettle cooked, buffalo sauce flavored chips.

The monitoring was supposed to be to see if the dog was lethargic. HELLO, take the dog for a walk...c'mon Fat-ass! Ooops, sorry...I recently fell off the wagon, due to a family crisis, involving a brush with death for the dog.

But really, if you do plateau OR find yourself inactive for a few days...take a rest from dieting, and regroup on the following day. It'll help, and it's OKAY.

Feeling Alright

2008-01-16T11:26:00.000-05:00

There are some very obvious superficial reasons why we decide to participate in OLMA. I mean, come on, who doesn't want a smaller butt (or waist or hips or thighs or arms or...)? We live in a media age, where imagery is everything, and when you're not a size 4 (or God forbid, even a size 8), you can't help but wonder exactly how those models can manage a size 00 to 2. So we try. We diet and exercise time and time again, trying to achieve the right look. For some people, getting the look is enough motivation. But for a lot of others (and I include myself in this group), it's nice, but it's not enough. It doesn't seem to get the job done.

While being thin is all well and good, there is something else going on here. Looking good is one thing, but feeling good is something entirely different. And yet, the two can be achieved at the same time, in the same way.

For those who know me, you know my family (especially on my father's side) has a long line of some serious illnesses. Heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes. Seriously, the list goes on and on. These problems are (not shockingly) related to being overweight. And from what I've seen, it seems standard in the average Italian-American family that gorging -- not just regular old eating -- is a good thing. You know that scene in "Big Daddy," when Layla and Sonny go the restaurant in Little Italy, and the obese man is being fed by the pretty woman? Yeah, in a not-quite-so-disgusting way, it's kind of like that.

I'm only 24 years old, but I huff and puff walking up a flight of stairs. I get winded and sweaty after only 30 seconds on a treadmill. My feet often hurt and swell. Prime of my life? I think not. This part is not so fun.

So it's time for me to retrain my brain. It's time to start making smart decisions about what I do and what I eat so that I can live a longer, healthier life than those who have come before me. And expect the sidebar to be updated often because I think it's important for me to share these decisions and any other important information I find with you. Everyone should be able to benefit.

Because as my aunt once said, "Obesity is one family trait you don't want to inherit."

The OLMA Dictionary

2008-01-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

Every now and then, the contributors of OLMA like to make up words or use acronyms. Sometimes, there just isn't a word to describe what we're trying to say. And sometimes, we just give old words new (though usually related) meanings. So periodically, we will update the OLMA Dictionary, providing our definition of what the heck it is we're trying to say.

milestone: A certain number of reps; a set number of miles; a particular amount of calories burned. A personal goal you set for yourself on one particular machine. The goal should increase over time.
OLMA: Operation Lose My Ass. Our individual diet and exercise challenge.
WW: Weight Watchers. A diet plan that we cannot take credit for, but often gets referenced since so many known OLMA members have tried it at one time or another.