Under the Weather

Last week was one of my best weeks in a while, despite two fast food blow outs. I stayed under my points 5 days out of 7, which also corresponded with getting my minimum 5 servings of fruit and veg, did 5 days cardio and all my scheduled TT and pilates workouts. Still going to bed too late though.

Despite all this, weigh day was a bit disappointing yesterday as I was up 2 pounds on the week before. This turned out to be a blip as I am back down to 15 stone 5.6 and 45% body fat this morning, roughly the same as last week.

Am a bit under the weather though. Sore throat, ear ache, headachy. I’ll try and get a doctor’s appointment this morning, but not sure whether I will be going in to work later. On the health and fitness side, it means that yesterday I stuck to comfort food. Soft comfort food. And didn’t get any exercise. But I’m not going to beat myself up over it. I’ll just try and keep my fluids up and get plenty of rest.

International Fitness Showcase

I spent the day in Blackpool (UK) at the 4th annual International Fitness Showcase. I worked the 3-day event last year as a steward, which meant that I got to go for free, attend a few classes, and sit in on all the lectures. Very cool. This year though I couldn’t do all 3 days so I couldn’t steward. Went as a paying customer and spent all day doing pilates workshops and master classes. I will no doubt pay for this tomorrow. But it was good fun. Had my first session on a reformer. Two sessions actually, and signed up for a Stott reformer instructor training course in the summer. I also got to cross something off my 101 in 1001 list, which I haven’t done in a little while now.

I also had my gait analysed at the event. Asics had a stand there. No surprises…I pronate a bit. But bought a pair of proper running shoes. So far I’ve only walked so have always bought dedicated walking shoes (yes, they are different). But if I’m going to be doing a bit of jogging (OK, only 6×45 seconds at the moment, but it’s a start), I figured I needed extra cushioning and proper running shoes. All in all, it was a bit of an expensive day!

Ran into a few old friends, and a couple of familiar faces, and I made a good professional contact too. So it was a day well spent. I did wake up with a bit of a sore throat this morning, and now feel really rather rough, but I think it’s been coming on for a few days. Slept for three hours when I got home. I may take a fitness day-off tomorrow. But all in all, it’s been a really good week this week. Two take-aways (including one tonight), but otherwise, have been sticking to my points, getting in my fruit and veg, and done practically all my scheduled exercise this week. Missed cardio 2 days of 7, one of which was today. Will post my Joe’s Goals scorecard tomorrow, along with my official weekly weigh-in.

Chin-ups here I come

Did the second workout from my Turbulence Training beginner/intermediate level No Bulk-up workout for Women today, and if I wasn’t British and if I wouldn’t feel foolish and self-conscious, I would have to say that it kicked my butt. But I am and I would, so I’ll just settle for, gosh, it was hard.

The whole thing only took 20 minutes but I was trembling all over by the end of it. And I did my first inverted rows today, the first step on my journey to doing a full pull-up. I will post a ‘how to do a pull up’ article at some time in the future. But my new (OK, not so new, sitting in a box under the hall table for quite some time now) pull up bar is fixed at hip height and off I went. My hands kept slipping off the bar! Even with leather training gloves on. Perhaps I should get hubby to tie me to the bar. It could only help. I managed six reps my first set, five my second, and three my third. Don’t think the bar will be moving up to chin height any time soon!

For those of you who haven’t come across Turbulence Training before, TT is a high-intensity training programme that helps you to burn loads of fat, build tons of muscle and feel fantastic in 3 workouts per week, each lasting under 45 minutes. It’s in e-book form and comes with loads of workouts suitable for different fitness levels, different goals, for men and women, and so on. Even the workouts that do use equipment only use the type of stuff you might have at home, dumbells, fitballs, that kind of thing. You don’t need to belong to a gym to do TT. Fantastic stuff. For more about Turbulence Training, click here.

Nutrition Tip of the Week no. 14

Tip #14
Protein for Fat Burning
by Dr. John Berardi

Protein is by far the most thermogenic of the macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, and fat). Due to the high metabolic costs of processing it, protein provides fewer storable kcal. The thermic effect of a mixed meal is about 10% of intake, while the thermic effect of protein per se is more like 25-30%. That could mean reving up your metabolism by 200 kcal just from your 200-gram (800 kcal) protein intake.

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Look out for another nutrition tip next week.

New goals

I dropped 3 pounds this week, despite a couple of ordered in fast food meals (Chinese and pizza) and only managing 75 minutes of exercise. Check out the tally on my Joe’s Goals score card:

I haven’t been getting all my fruit and veg servings in this week. Under five servings five days out of seven. So my main goals this week are a) stay within my WW points allowance, and b) get at least five servings of fruit and veg every day. I’m going to add that to my Joe’s Goals score card and take off the flossing, which has now become a habit. I’ve also change the weightings to reflect my priorities. Also this week, starting my new TT 4-week workout plan.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

This is from a comment I posted on a friend’s site (Cynthia’s blog), and I thought it’d be a good tip for my own blog.

After intense exercise, you often get Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS between 24–48 hours later. It hurts like **** and can make a grown man whimper like a baby. So here is my foolproof way of dealing with DOMS. You’ll need some Tiger Balm. You can probably get it from a pharmacy or a good supermarket. This works well before bed.

If you suspect you’ve overdone it, or at the first onset of soreness, have a bath, as hot as you can stand. Then slather Tiger Balm on to muscles. Cover up, eg. pyjama, leggings and t-shirt. Sleep. The Tiger Balm feels hot then cold and tingly. Takes a bit of getting used to, but not unpleasant. Be sure to wash your hands after applying and before rubbing eyes! If you do get it in your eyes, don’t panic, relax, and the watering will stop in a few minutes. Won’t do you any permanent harm but a bit scary the first time.

You should wake up in the morning good as new. Repeat if necessary, but once usually does it for me. Train hard

Answering Your Questions 2

This post is a little different to usual. On my blog statistics page, I get to see the search engine words and phrases that people have typed in to bring them to my blog, and I often think, ooh, they won’t have found the answer on my posts so far but I could have helped them with that. So from time to time, I’m going to address the questions that people seem to be asking. I hope this is some help.

1. For people wanting to know the number of calories, fat grams, etc. in [whatever]….. the absolutely best free online resource is Calorie King. It has loads of whole foods, branded products, and combinations, with breakdowns, pie charts, the number of minutes exercise you’d need to burn it off, and tons of other resources. For basic foods (eg. chicken, apricots) or grocery products available in the US, or if you want the full nutritional breakdown, including micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, composition of fatty acids, you name it…), the USDA Nutrient Database is a good bet.

2. Somebody wanted to know what size ball to use during a Turbulence Training workout. I’m assuming you mean the big fit ball/Swiss ball/stability ball. Stability balls range from 45 cm to 75 cm. Generally speaking, a 75 cm ball would suit somebody 5′11″ or over (1.78 m); a 65 cm ball would suit somebody 5′6″ to 5′ 10″ (1.65 to 1.77 m); a 55 cm ball would suit somebody 5′4″ or under (1.64). Smaller balls would suit children. This system works for most people. I’m 5′4″ and use a 55 cm ball. But if you’re legs take up a disproportionately large or small percent of your height, it might not work, you may get the wrong size based on this. Really, the best way to choose the correct ball for your size is to sit on it, and your thighs should be parallel to the ground. If they are sloping down, the ball is too big. If your bum is lower than your knees then the ball is too small.

3. For the person who typed in “working up to interval training”: no need. It doesn’t matter how unfit you are, you will still benefit from interval training. Because the intervals are based on the ‘rate of perceived exertion’ (RPE) scale, you are always working at your own level. So for example, a brain-numbing RPE 9–10 for a very fit person might be a 12 mph run, whereas a couch potato might feel they were getting an intense workout by walking at 3 mph (this is where I started). The brilliant thing about using the RPE scale is that both of these exercisers are getting essentially the same workout. They’re both exercising at the limits of their capabilities and their hearts are pumping away for all they are worth. So don’t worry about being fit enough to do interval training. Just jump right in. For more info on interval training, check out this post.

Itchy & Scratchy

I’m so excited. Craig Ballantyne himself, creator of Turbulence Training, visited my site and left me a message of support. Very much appreciated, as was yours Cynthia too. I am certainly feeling much better about myself this week, and the depression has lifted, although I am still having stress-related problems. In particular, my IBS is still in full swing, and my eczema has gotten so bad on my hands that even typing causes it to crack and bleed.

Consequently, I haven’t been able to start my TT programme yet, but I have printed it off all ready to go. I’m going to do the TT for Women No Bulk Up Beginner/Intermediate 4-week Programme. I bought a chin-up bar from Amazon for £5 ($10), and will get my hubby to fix it at thigh height to begin with for the beginner inverted row which is the first step in working up to a full chin-up.

In the meantime, I am gloving up with moisturisers at night, and hope to be back in the swing of things by the long Easter weekend. To make up for this, I did do one of the TT high-intensity interval workouts tonight. Five minutes warm up, then six intervals of 45 seconds at RPE 9 plus 90 seconds at RPE 3, finishing with a 3 minute cool down. For my RPE 9 high-intensity intervals I jogged at 7 kph. Feels fantastic. I would never have been able to do this before I started Turbulence Training, and I still couldn’t do much more than 45 seconds or six sets, but it’s a start, and it makes me feel that if I just stick with it, I can achieve anything.

To find out more about interval training and how to use the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale, click here. To find out more about Turbulence Training, click here, or visit the Turbulence Training website.

Very down

To all my regular readers, I apologise for not posting in a couple of weeks. I have been very down – IBS, depression, generally miserable all round. I’ve even been ‘considering my future’. Uh oh. What I haven’t been doing is taking care of myself. I haven’t exercised at all, outside of taking my pilates class. And I’ve been living off takeaways and junk food; chocolate every day; cakes, muffins, crisps. And fried food. Lots of it.

Basically, I’ve been in self-destruct mode. And I haven’t been near a set of scales in ages. So it was with some trepidation that I crept on to my trusty Tanitas this morning. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. Don’t get me wrong, it was bad. But I’d expected even worse. I’ve put on half a stone since my last official weigh day, and I’m 3 pounds heavier than my highest weight in the last 8 months.

The good news is I’m feeling stronger, I haven’t made any rash decisions about my future, and I’m full of a renewed desire to be good to myself. So it’s back to counting points, and I think I will start another round of Turbulence Training workouts this week. More on this tomorrow.

Walking off a persimmon

Not much news really, but I had a bit of time so thought I would post. It’s only half way through the week, but so far I am sticking to my points allowance. Yesterday, I was hungry before bed and wanted some fruit but I was up to my food allowance limit. So I hopped on the treadmill until I’d racked up a bonus point so I could have my persimmon, just over 10 minutes at a good clip.

In case you’ve never tried one, persimmons (Sharon fruits) are absolutely delicious. You can just bite right into them, no need to peel. I prefer mine a bit firm, but when they get soft they are exceptionally sweet and juicy. Just pop ‘em in your bag and you’re good to go. One WW point each. Try one the next time you see them in the produce aisle.