Giving up on myself

Sandra Ahten's blog post this past week was all about not giving up on yourself. I have been listening to the podcast post (free on iTunes in Reasonable Diet podcast.) over and over again on my hike/walk/jogs. I don't want to give up. I am so ready to be back in the game. I'm doing the AM cardio, I even started weighing in again. For some reason, that particular part of the accountability is critical for me. I'm not ready to give up. I think I might have given up a little bit inside this year. I wasn't seeing the loss I had expected. But you know what? I wasn't doing every little thing I could possibly think of, I was doing my workouts and I was calorie cycling. I wasn't getting 60 min. in my THR 6 days/week. I wasn't weighing/measuring my eats. I was allowing more sweets. Maybe, at my age (a birthday looms large in the coming week.) it takes everything not just most of it. I don't want to give up. I want to make progress or at the very least, point in the right direction.

Today's Songs to run to!

Of course, how could I go for two whole days without a run or posting my songs to run to? I'm still in a chill kind of run mood but I'm also throwing in some pop and a couple of soundtrack. I'm working the one minute intervals, they just make the time fly. Its true, try it!

Today's list, not in any particular order:

1. If I had you by Adam Lambert (confessional listing here.)

2. Violin by Amos Lee (today's free iTune download)

3. 1,000 faces by Randy Montana (see, I like it free.)

4. Ultra Curve by Cosmic Gate

5. Hold it Against me by Britney Spears (another confessional, ear candy at least isn't fattening.)

6. Marilyn by Larsen B

7. 1973 by James Blunt (I like it, so what if I played it on Monday too.)

8. The Game has Changed by Daft Punk from the Tron soundtrack.

9. End of Line by Daft Punk from the Tron soundtrack.

The podcasts:

1. IronBrandon Show 129

2. Running Stupid

3. B-Had Running

4. Fdip262

5. RVR- Epi80

I don't really listen to everything, it depends on my mood.

Today's Music to run to!

A la the Two Gomers, here is today's music to run to list. I really like the freebies from iTunes.

Btw, I am terribly sorry that Steve Jobs is not feeling well, I will be keeping him in my thoughts, I hope that he feels better soon. In the meantime, here is my list:

(Track then artist)

Norway by Beach House

The High Road by Broken Bells

Around my Head by Cage the Elephant

Viva la Vida by Coldplay

Sing me to Sleep by Fran Healy

I am not a Robot by Marina and the Diamonds

Break Me Out by The Rescues

Something Good Can work out by Two Door Cinema

Marilyn by Larsen B

Tron Legacy soundtrack

and for the cool down: Titaptawa by Gandalf

My podcasts:

The Fitness Boost with Scott Smith

Two Gomers

Fdip261: Running Terroir: by Steve Runner

This Running Life with Gordon

IronBrandon Show: 127 by Brandon Wood

Hey, I love the podcasts. I had been an avid listener of Nigel and I'm sorry that he is no longer casting due to a very busy lifestyle. I will miss reports about Foxy.

Inspired by Penny, I'm up on my soap box.

The challenge presented was the quickest, easiest, and most entertaining way to lose weight. And it must be free. Thanks to the internet, many tools are now very inexpensive or even free. In my mind there are several parts to an effective weight loss plan. What you eat, how you choose to add movement and importantly, what you use to help motivate yourself throughout the process. I believe that each aspect can be addressed for a minimal cost thanks in large part to giving podcasters, the internet, and ultimately to Steve Jobs who insisted on something better than the walkman (remember those?)

It has been found that 80% of your success with weight loss is garnered from your diet. What you put in your mouth is pretty much the thing that determines success or failure to lose weight. The trick is discovering what causes you (not your friend) to lose weight, gain weight or prevents weight loss. I, personally, gain weight from fried chicken, Chinese take out, pizza, donuts, and ice cream. Fitday or Spark can help you make the connection from what you are eating to what happens with your body. Even without purchasing measuring cups and a food scale, just writing down what you ate can help you understand what is going on with your body. Also, make a note of when you feel good and when you feel bad. Does eating certain foods give you headaches or indigestion? Does alcohol always make you gain weight, no matter how little calories you ate? Does eating soy slow down your weight loss? Does protein powder make you gain weight? I always put on weight with those foods. You may notice similar kinds of issues but with foods that bother your body, that may be an entirely different list from my list.

Often people whine and complain about the cost of healthy food. After all, Top Ramen is like 10 cents! Well, you just found a very cheap source of calories. The question is, what did it do for you? It filled your belly. How long after that were you hungry again? Did you have to add something to it? Look, I'm not saying top ramen is evil, but consider those inexpensive veggies you can add to your diet, improve the nutrition going into your body, and still not break the bank. Be honest, how much did you spend on coffee? Those fancy coffee drinks are not cheap. But, guess what, cabbage, carrots, and fruit in season is cheap. And, what little money you spend now is much less than the price of doctor visits when you have poor health from being undernourished and obese at the same time. Visit Sandra Ahten's podcast the Reasonable diet or 6 minutes of sanity to learn more about inexpensive diet options. (I'm not paid by her for the 'endorsement', it was free.)

Last night I bought a head of lettuce for $1.29. Its a beautiful red leaf lettuce packed full of nutrition and flavor. If you buy your nuts on sale like I do at Raley's, you can get almonds in bulk for $3.99 a pound. Its not always that cheap, but their nuts are good and fresh. Thats a whole pound! Thats 16 servings. Do the math. Its 25 cents per serving. For the lettuce its about 4 servings which is about 32 cents a serving. (I'm rounding) Add lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper, guess what you just had lunch. You can add protein if you want. Thats up to you.

Exercise: walking or jogging. In theory you can just go out the front door. But, we all know there are potential issues that can crop up. I do have a small kit of things that help me with my walking, hiking and jogging. Other inexpensive options are jump rope or calisthenics. Netflix is an excellent source for workout dvds. Yoga Today.com is a free streaming source for new yoga workouts off the internet. I'm assuming that you have internet access because you are reading this.

Meditation, while more relaxation than activity, helps tremendously with your mental outlook and health. We all need a mood boost and when we aren't using food for emotional support we must get it elsewhere.

My favorite podcasts for motivation are Inside Out Weight Loss with Renee Stephens, The Reasonable Diet with Sandra Ahten, Motivation to Move with Scott Smith and Joy, Pheddipidations, and The Two Gomers run a marathon. All are free. Yippee! I love the free. Well, except you do need a mp3 player, computer, and internet access. So, in a way its free. The content is free. I find motivation on Spark people reading other people's blogs. Those are free!

The tools I use most of the time that are not free:
1. Digital food scale. I got mine on sale, it was $30 at Target. The price varies.
2. iPod Shuffle. Mine says "rapid breath" because thats what I do in yoga. Cool, right?
3. Wrap around ear buds are awesome because your buds don't fly out of your ears when you are jogging.
4. Sweat band (dollar store). I really hate sweat in my eyes.
5. cuddl-dudz workout pants ($15 Target for two pair.)
6. sunglasses (Dollar store)
7. Trainers: shoes from Ross or Sports Authority on sale. I have several pair for different activities.
8. Digital Bathroom scale
9. DVD player for my videos.
10. My circuit step for aerobics.
11 Lots of workout dvds. I may be a Cathe Friedrich addict, I'm not sure.

Maybe the most important things are the ones I don't buy. I don't have a gym membership. I don't have a personal trainer. I don't buy the super expensive name brand shoes. I do buy nice socks. Those matter. But, the truth is if you watch what you eat, journal, and do simple exercise like walking and stretching, the weight will probably come off if the macronutrients are in check. The exercise is just there to buoy your metabolism up and to keep you from being in a plateau. It helps with mood and most people experience a dip in mood during dieting/weight loss. I do.

Thats all for now, tune in next time for the EDH Diet Soap Box!

Motivation to Move

Is a podcast that I am subscribed to on iTunes.  I like both Scott and Joy.  I listen to them when I'm on my morning jog.  I haven't signed up yet for their pay to play service.  I'm still in the job market.  However, I really like what they have to say.  Scott emphasises (spl?) doing your home work and what he means by that is checking in with your self to find out how am I doing?  This is a powerful tool because you do it at least once a week.  You look back on last week and review your performance, how you felt, and what you would like to have achieved but didn't.  Then you look at the following week and decide how you would like to feel and what you would like to achieve or get done.  This is a powerful tool because it is invoking the power of setting your intent.  There has been a lot of research about how setting your intent has a dramatic effect on the outcome of any situation.  I learned about intent setting from Sandra Ahten.  I highly recommend listening to both of these podcasts, they are a wealth of knowledge.  I realize that phrase sounds like a cliche, however, in these cases, its really true.  

A link to Sandra 

A link to Motivation To Move 

I'm about to go on my second workout from week 6 of the couch to 5k program.  I'm almost all geared up.  Its gotten warm enough that I'm forgoing my college sweatshirt.  I'm all decked out in pink.  Its going to be a scorcher by the end of the week.  We expect to see triple digits by the end of the week.  I am going out earlier to avoid complete and total melt down lol!