Weight Update for May 31

Alright, I'm excited:

weight: 205.8 lbs
fat percentage: 43.9%
hydration: 38.5%
muscle: 27.6%
bone: 10.8%
cal: 2322

What's so exciting about these numbers is that my period is due to start within the next few days - and I'm down a full percentage point of fat since last week!  (Also the weight - slightly more than a pound since last week).  Usually right before your period you gain a bit of weight, so it looks like between the workouts and watching my calories, I am now starting to see a bit of progress on the scale.  

Of course, the last time I saw a bit of movement on the scale, on April 22, a few days later that progress had disappeared.  So we'll see what happens from here.

For fun I decided to take another progress pic, too.

Calorie Average for May 28

I have successfully counted calories for the last 8 days!  I thought it would be a good idea to look at my week to see how I've been doing.

Over the last 8 days I ate a total of 14,958 calories.  Divided by 8, that works out to approximately 1870 a day.  According to my last weight update, I should be eating about 2300 calories a day to maintain my weight.  So I'm on average eating about 430 calories a day less than that amount. 

According to that article I linked to about eating to meet your needs, you should eat approximately 400-500 calories less per day if you want to sustainably lose weight (we're talking losing 1lb a week).  So according to the last week, I've done that!  I think that's pretty exciting. :)

And I have to say, I've been way more conscious of what I'm eating since I started counting calories.  It hasn't stopped me from enjoying a glass of wine or anything, but I successfully said no to candy at a friend's house.  So that's great, too! :)

First Bike Ride of the Season + Freestyle Libre is Here!

This evening I went on my first bike ride of the summer!  Last summer I biked a little bit but apparently forgot to blog about it or note it in my workout calendar where I keep track of such things. I did note it in my log book though: looks like my first bike ride last year was on July 22.  So I'm like two months ahead of last year!

For my first bike ride, I planned a circle route that should have taken me 30 minutes (but for some reason ended up taking me 45 instead).  I used approximately the same insulin strategy as I use for skiing (although I think I did a 35% basal instead of 25-30), and it worked beautifully!  Even taking the extra 15 minutes, my glucose was 7.1 mmol/L at the end of it all!  :D

I was also really excited that I had no trouble lifting my bike back onto the hooks I store it on.  That 30 Day Challenge really did make me stronger!!!

Also today: my brand new Freestyle Libre arrived!  I waited until after biking to try it out (I wanted to shower before attempting to insert the sensor).  It's counting down right now before the first use.  I can't wait!!!

Weight Update for May 24 + Counting Calories

I weighed myself yesterday and forgot to post the numbers:

weight: 207.0 lbs
fat percentage: 44.9%
hydration: 37.8%
muscle: 27.1%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2328

So I also started counting calories this week.  I've been logging the food I eat with My Fitness Pal, which is doing all the calorie counting for me (I just pay attention to the end results). I've never really cared about counting calories because of having to carbohydrate count - I didn't want to be worrying about counting ANOTHER thing.  But then I stumbled on this article about eating to meet your daily needs, and realized that I have absolutely no idea if I'm eating sufficiently for my body (or too much?).  I tried tracking one day with the Fitbit app, but didn't really like it because it only seemed to remember a few foods for later.  My Fitness Pal is a lot better - it's got options to cruise through your recent foods, you can add frequent foods easily, plus I've added some recipes into it, so I can easily add those, too (even if you're not planning on counting calories, adding recipes to My Fitness Pal is great because it will analyze the nutrition and give you the carbs!).  Plus My Fitness Pal has a fantastic database of foods (Fitbit's seemed pretty good too, but I'll admit I haven't looked into it nearly as much as the My Fitness Pal database).  And I've put it on my phone (it has its own app) so I can easily record my food while I'm on the go.

I will admit though, I've actually cheated on a few days and put the food I'm going to eat, say for dinner while at work, into the app ahead of time.  So I have even less to worry about on my work break. ;)

Since I've been tracking calories over the last few days, I've found that even with correcting for low blood sugars, I've been staying in the right calorie range.  I actually had one day where I wouldn't have eaten nearly enough food if I had not been tracking my calories.  

So if you ever decide you want to count your calories, use an app like My Fitness Pal.  It's really easy to use and has a fantastic database of foods.  And being able to program in recipes that you make a lot ahead of time is an excellent resource to have, whether or not you're counting calories or just carbs.

Post 30 Day Challenge

So earlier I posted the script Betty Rocker suggested for completing the 30 Day Challenge.  Here's a bit more of a follow up to that post:

First, a challenge completed pic!

Lol, I was dressed quite colourfully today. 

I wanted to actually see what progress I'd made (since I don't really feel like it's been that much).  So here's my pre-30 Day Challenge pic next to this one:

Wow!  I'm actually a bit more toned in the mid section and bum area.  That's super exciting to see!  I think my arms have a bit more definition too (you can't really see it, but I know I'm stronger - at the beginning of this I couldn't hold a plank).

I also weighed myself after the workout:

weight: 209.8 lbs
fat percentage: 45.1%
hydration: 37.7%
muscle: 27.0%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2344
It's interesting that my weight, fat percentages, and muscle percentages haven't really changed through this whole month - the fat and muscle percentages are both the same as the day I started. 

I also completely failed at taking measurements.  Here's what I got this time:

Waist: 35.25
Hips: 44.5 or 43.75
Left Thigh: 23.25 or 22.75
Left Arm: 14

Like during my halfway measurements, these are all over the place.  I was thinking this would be a good way to measure progress, but I guess not.

Oh, and a note about that Challenge Completed statement: I got to fill in a couple of blanks.  I was the one who added in that I "find it easy to fit a 15 minute workout in on most days and what workouts I like."  Adding in a 15 minute workout on most days has been surprisingly easy.  I have a harder time on days where I work 9-5, so going forward those will be rest days in my schedule.  The second part of that statement, that I found out what workouts I like, was also interesting: I absolutely hated the cardio ladders and the tabata workouts.  I talked about the cardio ladders when I checked in about day 27, so I won't repeat that mini-rant.  But it was during a tabata workout that I hurt my knee at the end of April, so I've been very leery of them since then.  I find that because you're going so fast, you end up sacrificing form for speed, which leads to injury.  So I wasn't very enthused by the Day 30 Workout (it was a tabata), but I made a point of going slower so I could do the movements correctly. 

So that's been my progress over the last 30 Days!  I haven't seen numbers on the scale move in any significant way, but looking at the pictures side by side, you can totally see the difference in my body! :)

30 Day Challenge Completed!

I, Type1Chick, just COMPLETED the 30-Day Bodyweight Shred Challenge! I showed up, did my personal best, and was a model of what being healthy and fit means to me to the people in my life.

I learned a couple things about myself during this journey - including that I find it easy to fit a 15 minute workout in on most days and what workouts I like, and I’m taking them with me moving forward. I will NEVER stop working toward my goals because I am WORTH IT, I am AWESOME and I am in CONTROL OF MY LIFE!

30 Day Challenge Day 27 Complete!

For a variety of reasons yesterday (chief of which was my legs were right sore from walking to work through the week), I took the day off from the 30 Day Challenge.  So I completed Day 27 today instead. 

I have to say, today's workout sucked.  It was a countdown cardio ladder, where you do 10 reps of one move, then 10 reps of a second move, 9 reps of the first move, etc.  Those are really not my style of workout at all.  Last time it came up, I was lucky to get through half of the reps before Betty Rocker moved onto the next move.  This time, I paused the video and worked through most of the workout at my own pace, just so that I knew I actually got the reps in. I would have been much happier doing some other style of cardio; I'll have to keep that in mind for once I finish the 30 Day Challenge.

That's something I've been thinking about lately too: what's next once I finish this?  I love the fact that the Challenge has gotten me up and fitting a workout in first thing (that only works on the days when I don't work at 9 or 10 in the morning).  On most days I get myself out of bed, do my workout, have a shower, then go to work.  If I have to work a morning shift, I'll go to work then come home and do my workout then.  The only days I've consistently failed to do a workout are the ones where I work a full day (like a 9-5).  So I think that once I'm done the Challenge, I'll try to build those days into my week as rest days.

And really, there's no reason why this can't continue.  I have a library of workout DVDs at my disposal.  I can very easily get up and pick two Ten Minute Solution segments to do before having a shower.  On days when I have a little more time, I can do a longer workout if I want, too (like a Crunch dvd).  I'll probably have to come up with a rough weekly plan of which day to do which kind of activity (like cardio day, abs day, etc), just to make sure I'm working out my entire body (and that'll make it easier to decide on a workout first thing in the morning!)

Since starting the 30 Day Challenge, I also haven't done any fasting days.  I've found that after a workout, I'm way too hungry to not eat a nutritious meal.  So I'm considering trying to fit in some fasting days too, which will necessarily also have to be rests from working out.  But I'll have to see how well that will fit into my week.

Weight Update for May 5 + Week 4 Pics

Today would have been the end of the 30 Day Challenge if I hadn't taken those breaks.  So here's my weight:

weight: 209.8 lbs
fat percentage: 45.6%
hydration: 37.4%
muscle: 26.8%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2344
And here's what I look like:

So now it's time for the Day 26 Workout! I've only got 5 workouts left to go including this one, then I'm done the Challenge!!!

Fitbit Stats for April

I'm not going to lie: I've sort of lost interest in counting my steps since I've started the 30 Day Challenge.  Not that that is a bad thing.  I've heard that step counters may not actually make you healthier (I don't know specifically where I heard that, but here's an article I found that gives the reasons why).  And I have to say, I missed doing things like yoga, plus I feel fitter than I have in a really long time. 

But I'm still wearing my Fitbit everyday, so here are my stats for April:

131,646 steps taken, 30 days tracked, 4,388 steps on average.

This is quite a bit less than in March of this year (and April of last year).  But that's okay.  Like I said, I'm feeling stronger than I have in a really long time.  And I am continuing to walk to work when I can, so that's a good thing, too.

While the step goal for the year is sort of going out the window, my third goal of 60 minutes a week of non-walking exercise is suddenly happening!  Since starting the 30 Day Challenge, I've had four weeks in a row where I've exceeded that goal!  (I've hit 105 minutes, 90, and 75 over the last three weeks, and as of today I've hit 60 minutes, but the week isn't over yet!) So that's pretty exciting. :)

Weight Update for May 6

It's the tail end of my period, so I decided to weigh myself today:

weight: 209.8 lbs
fat percentage: 45.4%
hydration: 37.5%
muscle: 26.9%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2344

I'm not sure what's up with this.  I know that I am stronger - I can hold a plank way longer than I could before, plus I was able to carry a stupid amount of groceries (far more than I could before).  But my scale is still telling me my muscle percentage hasn't really changed (it was 27.1% on April 29, 26.9% on April 26, 27.3% on April 22, 27.0% on April 19, 26.8% on April 15, and 27.0% on April 10th, the day I started the 30 Day Challenge - it's hovering around the same place).  Same with my fat percentage (which was 45.0% on April 29, 45.4% on April 26, 44.5% on April 22, 45.0% on April 19, 45.6% on April 15, and 45.1% on April 10th, the day I started the 30 Day Challenge).

I should also note that while I walked to work yesterday, I took another break from the Challenge.  I can get myself up and going no problem if I work in the afternoon.  And on the few days where I just work mornings, I can come home and fit my workout in then.  But yesterday I worked all day, then had plans in the evening, so it wasn't happening (I really did try to get up earlier in the morning to do the workout, but yeah, just didn't happen).

So today I'm doing Day 22: the Side Body Burn!  I can't believe that after today, there's just 8 days of workouts left!!! I can't wait to see how I look by the end of this Challenge. :)

Third 30 Day Challenge Break

I'm taking another break from the 30 Day Challenge today.  I should have taken the break yesterday.  Before the workout, I'd been thinking that I really should be doing some yoga, but I opened the Day 20 email and got to it.  The workout was a cardio ladder (that's where you do like 9 reps of one move, do 9 reps of a second move, then do 8 reps of the first move, etc). Well I was moving so slowly that I was lucky to get half the reps in before Betty Rocker switched to the next move.  So I'll definitely have to listen to my body more next time.

My knee continues to bother me a little after workouts (I've had to ice it every time I'm done), so hopefully the day off will help with that, too.

But hey, here's my Week 3 picture:

Is it just me, or is my stomach a little bit thinner? :)

Today is normally the day I do a weight update too.  But that's not happening today because it's my period (and one of the heavy days of my period).  So no weight updates until my period is over!

Oh, and in exciting news, I found some weights in the basement (well, I knew they were there because they came with the house, but I didn't pay any attention to them before yesterday).  I was thinking I needed to go and buy new hand weights because the ones I have are only 2lb, and I need something heavier.  Well the ones that were in the basement are customizable! So I cleaned them up, brought them upstairs.  I'll be needing to set them to like 5lbs (I wasn't thinking about it, but right now they're set to 10lbs, with 2 5lb weights on each one).