Posts tagged ‘health’

Weight Loss Plan: To Lose 25 Pounds

12 January, 2010 | dcfemella | Comments

Erica - fitness model

Yesterday I headed to the doctor’s office. The first thing they always want you to do is jump on the scale. I felt lighter and was confident that I had lost weight. To my surprise, I was ten pounds heavier than I was last year. It was a major downer for me, and I couldn’t help but obsess with it the rest of the day.

I know one of the reasons why is that I didn’t exercise much this past Fall due to the project I am on. It was deadline after deadline, so I never had time to head to the gym. Also, my ex became more MIA, so I couldn’t go do outdoor activities because the kids were with me all the time. However, there is no excuse because you can always do something at home.

I planned on losing 15 pounds, but now I’m upping it to 25 pounds. Before I head to Las Vegas and Panama in March, I want to have a tone and sleek body. Here is what I’m doing, so I can reach my goal:

Food Intake

I will lower my food consumption. Due to the holidays, I have definitely been eating way too much. It’s time to stop. I used the About.com’s Calorie Counter to figure out how much I should be consuming:

  • If you reduce your current caloric intake to 1605.7 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.
  • If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2496 calories per day.

Water consumption is something that I have not been very good at. I definitely need to start drinking 8-10 glasses of water. Lately I have been drinking so much coffee, and I need to stop. I will also start drinking a cup of green tea.

Exercise

I only want to lose 1-2 pounds a week because any more weight than that, and it is not very healthy. I will exercise 5 times a week. On April 11th, I am doing the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, so it gives me motivation to do this because I have to be ready to run ten miles. I want to have a faster time than the Army Ten Miler, so I know that this will help keep me on track.

MyFitnessPal

I’m going to start using MyFitnessPal, a fitness site. I’ve tried others like it before, but they are kind of hard to navigate. This one is easy to use, and I prefer it. I do need friends, so I hope others are using it.  Here is a link to my profile, http://www.myfitnesspal.com/dcfemella, and my weight loss badge:

Calorie Counter



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My Health Goals for 2010

4 January, 2010 | dcfemella | Comments

Army Ten-Miler 09

Exercising is one of my greatest passions. Without the endorphins that I receive from it not pumping through my body, I usually become irritable, “mad at the world,” and overanalyze to a fault. It’s one of the only reasons that I am glad that the holiday season is over, so I can get back to basics.

My 2010 short-term health goals are:

  1. Run three marathons
  2. Do a century ride
  3. Participate in the Air Force Cycling Challenge
  4. Drink more water
  5. Meditate

I already signed up for the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler coming up in March, and I am ready to start training again.

The best way to get motivated is to do it with a bunch of friends. Luckily, I have found a great group of friends who are all about running, biking, outdoor activities, etc., so I can always find some healthy-type of activity to do. Even when I don’t want to run anymore, I have someone pushing me to keep going. It’s one of the reasons that I can now run for miles on end without stopping. Great motivation.

My long-term goal is to lose 15 pounds. Before Christmas, I went to buy some new jeans, and was disappointed when I couldn’t fit into my size. It made me determined than ever to get some willpower to stop eating so much. Food is my other passion. Luckily, I have always been a lover of healthy foods, but it still doesn’t mean that I can eat all the time. Due to work, illness, and having the tendency to not eat when I’m at home, I dropped some weight, but it’s due to muscle loss, so I am kind of upset about that. However, I have a muscular body, so I know that I will get it back in no time.

What are some of your health goals for 2010?

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Sleep Sleep Sleep Makes Everything Better

8 December, 2009 | dcfemella | Comments

sleeping eight hours a day

I’ve been sleeping eight hours a night lately, and I must say that I feel a whole lot better. I’m not struggling to get up, I’m not yawning during the day, and I am smiling more. It really is true that you need a certain amount of sleep in order to feel better. Not everyone is the same. Some people only need six; others seven, but whatever that predetermined time is, you should make sure that you take it. I’ve noticed that people, who are depressed, on the Internet or workaholics, usually suffer from insomnia.

Last year, when I was severely depressed, I barely slept. From June til December, I was sleeping two hours or less. At first, it started affecting my mood. If you looked at me wrong, I was ready to take your head off. Then, I started getting debilitating headaches. From the time I woke til I went to sleep, I had to deal with excruciating migraines. In December, I dealt with severe blows in my life, and I started sleeping even less. While at a store, Isabelle jumped on my back, and I dealt with a month of not being able to walk cause my back felt as though it was going to break. Any other time, I would have been fine. However, because my body was shutting down, it couldn’t recover from it. It’s something that I never want to feel again.

I noticed that around Thanksgiving, I was sleeping less and less. The reason is that I remember how hard this time of year was for me last time, so I fear that it will happen again. However, I realized that I was fearing something that I would never allow to happen again. The mind is the most powerful part of a person, and it can help make things better or worse. I decided that this time, I want things to be better.


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Shoulder Pain is Getting Worse

7 December, 2009 | dcfemella | Comments

 182.365 i haven't got time for the pain

For the past six months, I have been having trouble with my left shoulder.  It’s tight and painful.  I try doing circular movements and pulling it back to see if it’s dislodged. Nothing.

Today, more than ever, it is really bothering me. I don’t know if it’s the way I was sleeping or what, but the pain is constant now. I know that I should head to the doctor, but I have to be suffering enough for me to go. I know that isn’t good, but that is how I’ve always been.

I went three weeks with pneumonia before I finally got pushed to go to the doctor. The doctor said that if I would have waited a few more days, I probably would have been hospitalized.   Due to that, I coughed like a smoker for two years because my lungs were scarred.

Has anyone had similar issues with his/her shoulder? It started getting worse when I started actively running, but I don’t understand why that would be an issue. I guess maybe it’s time that I stop being such a wimp and head to the doctor’s.

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Ready for Army Ten-Miler

2 October, 2009 | dcfemella | Comments

Runners in Paris Marathon

The Army Ten-Miler is this Sunday, and I am excited. I don’t have that dread that I had the entire time after signing up for it. My mental block against this race is gone, and I feel that by pacing myself, I can run the majority (or even all) of the ten miles. Last Sunday, I ran seven miles and walked one, so I am more than prepared.

I remember in March, when I went to Panama with my family, I couldn’t run half a mile. My sister, who is in the Air Force and can run 26 miles without thinking about it, would take me running with her in the mornings. It was over 90 degrees already, and I struggled to keep up with her. She literally ran circles around me while I gasped for air. The entire time I wondered why the hell I signed up for the Army Ten-Miler.

She told me not to worry. She said that she hated running, but she had to learn to love it because she was in the military.

“If you keep practicing, you will be able to do it in no time,” she said.

On top of that, I got some good running shoes that helped tremendously.

I would run in Burke Lake Park, which is almost five miles, and I couldn’t even do half. During my walks, I would see people running with no issues, and I wondered how in the world they were doing it. I knew half of it was my mental block.

When I was a kid, I had Scoliosis and walked like a duck. I could barely run due to this, and always had people make fun of me. It got worse when I had to wear braces. This caused me to never want to run anything.

In July, I told my parents that I was doing the Army Ten-Miler. My dad laughed and said, “You won’t be able to do it.”

“Why?”

“You’re not a runner,” he replied.

“I did a century ride, so why can’t I?”

“Running and biking are not the same thing.”

This is the motivation that I needed. I am a very competitive person, and I don’t like when someone says I can’t do something.

I kept trying, but I still had problems with breathing, mental block, and getting this painful side cramps whenever I ran. I finally started asking for advice and reading as many articles as I could. I also got some great running shoes that lessened the pounding on the trails.

Last month, I ran the entire Burke Lark Park without stopping. I slowly started to add more and more. I realized two weeks ago that the run was coming up. I panicked. I texted message my friend, who is doing it with me.”

“Girl, I don’t think I can do it.”

She responded, “Yes, you can. Come on. You’ll be ok.”

She gave me an awesome pep talk, and I got my confidence back. This evening I am going to a runner’s store, so I can get the perfect running shoes. I don’t know what it is but I always have my feet cave outwards. Therefore, I want shoes that can help me with that.

My sister has been a great support, and I love her for that. When doing something new, you should always have people who encourage you to continue forward. My dad has finally come around and is supporting me now. He is even going to go with me to cheer me on. I am ready to take on the Army Ten-Miler and no one is going to stop me.

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