End of Week 7: Holding Steady!

Strong and Steady!

My favorite swim top with my favorite lounging around pants.



Stats:

Starting Weight: 79.5 kg
Weight loss week 7: 75.9 kg
Total Weight Loss: -4.4 kg

Summary Week7:

It's been a very busy week, as usual. The weather has been mostly hot and summery, and work has been action-packed. I was able to change my work schedule so that I can start getting more sleep, but I have to start staying later one day a week to cover a gap left by a colleague who suddenly departed. My work schedule is still extreme, but I've been able to organize my time and my energy better. That translates to better sleep, more fitness time, and a more positive outlook. Plus, my sister's awesome husband was in town for work, and we got to spend a day visiting and playing tourist, which was totally uplifting. All in all, I'm feeling energized and optimistic, and looking forward to the next two weeks.

Feeling triumphant after jogging to the top of the hill to get a better view of the Olympic Park in Munich.

Highlights:

The boss finally understood my cries for more support and fewer hours, and we actually got a replacement part-time employee this week to take some of my duties. I started training her, and by Friday, she was already doing her whole job on her own without supervision. That left me with more time for my other core duties, and it was a great relief. Also, the boss told me to come in an hour and a half later in the mornings, which made more time for sleep, personal maintenance, and chores at home. On top of that, I was SOOOO happy to see family from home and have a day to just enjoy the beautiful summer and fascinating sights of our community here. I got in lots of time with the bicycle and walking, and one good weight training workout at the gym.

What was hard this week:

Emotional eating and mood management have been hard. I've been feeling very moody and anxious, and I've found myself eating more sweets and bread. I have a hard time with anger and frustration, and these emotions can easily trigger an emotional eating episode. I've found myself thinking negatively about my body and weight and sometimes engaging in negative self-talk.

Goals for week 8:

Plan and pack foods for the day.
3x cardio, 3x weights.
Daily walking and/or cycling.
Focus on good stress management and sleep management.
Have fun!

Visuals from week 7:

Healthy noms: organic whole wheat pasta with green beans, broccoli, bell pepper, and veggie protein meal. Made with extra cayenne and black pepper for a spicy kick.

This isn't the best lighting for showing muscle development in the back, but I'm pretty happy with the changes in my back muscles. The shape is starting to come together.

Start week 7: Current Stats and Modified Goal

Stats Update and Modified Goal for Weeks 7 - 10:

Keepin it real. This is hard, y'all!

Stats:

Starting weight: 79.5 kg

Current weight: 76.5 kg

Total lost: -3.0 kg

Initial goal: -10 kg in 10 weeks

*In order to respect my body's need for more rest and a more gentle pace, I have decided to modify my goal. This means that I have more time for much needed sleep, and more energy to meet the demands of a challenging time in my life. ...This is still a very ambitious and challenging goal, and it will still take a lot of work! But I feel very happy with this modified goal, and very confident that I can make it happen!

MODIFIED GOAL: -6 kg total in 10 weeks! That means 3 more kg in 3 more weeks!

Fun photos to kick off week 7:

It's funny to do these shameless selfie updates. ...I'm actually very self conscious about showing these pics, but they're to help illustrate and document my journey. No photo can truly show our state of health or wellness, nor can words truly speak to the complexity of our human journey to a more empowered life. But I am sharing my story and my photos in hopes that I can somehow help bring hope and encouragement to others.

See?! I've got some muscles and shape under there! A few fumbled weeks of training and crummy eating don't wreck the WHOLE FITNESS TRAIN! 

...still fighting the burnout...

End of Week 6: Not much progress, but I'm still here! 

"What's a blog? Can I chew on it or chase it around?"

Brief update:

I'm still here. Yes, I'm still trudging my way through the rough days of too much work, stress, conflicting priorities, personal issues. You know, modern life, really. But in an intense form. I'm over my head in so many ways, and I am frustrated that I can't just DO IT ALL and BE IT ALL all the time. But bear with me, I'm still fighting for my big comeback and strong finish, haha. (That's my specialty!)

Letting Go of "Perfect" and Asking for Help:

I'm trying to give myself permission to make mistakes, make messes, make noise, ask for help. It's amazingly hard to admit that I actually NEED HELP sometimes, and EVEN HARDER to actually ask for that help in an effective way. I am terrified to show my weaknesses, and even more terrified to lean on others... (What if I lean too hard and they decide I'm too much of a hassle? What if they really WANT to help, but they're not strong enough to catch me when I fall down? What if the only one who can ultimately help me is ME?)

Doggie says he'll help me to relax and unwind more. He knows that the key to stress management is lots of play and naps and quality time with his family and friends.

Learning to ask for and get help when we need it is an ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILL that I am not so good at. I find it embarrassing and awkward to ask others for support. I am always glad to give help to others, to listen when they're sad or stressed or emotionally vulnerable. But when it comes to me, I HATE feeling like a big black hole. I HATE that I need to ask for help from other people.

But this is the real trick: the most successful people in the world didn't get to the top of their game ALONE! They did it by creating and nurturing incredible networks of brilliant helpers and problem solvers. If I want to WIN at anything in life, I need to build the lifestyle that makes winning a natural outcome of my daily practices... That means, BUILD A TEAM to support my goals in life. This includes fitness goals, as well as all other areas of my life.

A true friend is a treasure indeed! <3

Goals for week 7:

• Make gym time a priority.
• Delegate and/or delay other tasks/projects.
• Reduce the number of choices I have to make in the day.
• Take very good care of my emotions and my body.

Back to WORK! (End of Week 5)

OK: Brief check-in after an unplanned PAUSE in my fitness challenge. 

Girl, you'd better WORK!

SICK:

...I was sick for about a week with a cold, and even though the cold symptoms are gone, I'm still feeling run-down two weeks later. I've been hitting BURNOUT, so I made the smart choice to back off of my strenuous physical activity and just take it very easy for as long as it takes to get back to feeling healthy and energetic.

BURNOUT:

I'm feeling MUCH BETTER after a little two week pause in the program. I am starting to feel a little more motivated to workout and I'm not feeling so grumpy and moody. BURNOUT is when our bodies are trying to tell our minds that it's time to STOP. Too much work, too much stress, too much activity, too much wear-and-tear on the body, too much emotional stress-- it all adds up, and the body starts to give us some pretty serious signals that it needs a little more TLC and rest to handle these demands.

RECOVERY:

For me, that means backing off of the cardio and weights and switching to long, slow, mellow activities (relaxing bike rides and walks in the park). It also means relaxing my diet (ie, eating what I FEEL like for a few days, even if it means that my weight will go up on the scale... It's about RECOVERY and BALANCE, not about restriction at this point.) I am trying to focus on understanding my moods and signals better, giving myself permission to FEEL the FEELINGS, FOLLOW my IMPULSES, EXPRESS my EMOTIONS, and HAVE A LITTLE FUN.

WEIGHT GAIN? (NO PROB):

...Naturally, I'm anxious about the scale (ugh, always that darned scale), and I am quite certain that the weight loss part of my fitness goal has taken a big leap in the wrong direction. But I'm less concerned about the numbers than about my HEALTH, HAPPINESS, and WELL-BEING. Sometimes weight goes up and sometimes it goes down and sometimes it isn't a good indicator of our health and balance as a person. 

Kisses! Hang in there, it's gonna get better!

MOVING FORWARD:

Goals for weeks 6-10: 

• Get back to "blue cooler bag" eating (ie, pack meals for the day, and if it's not in the bag, don't eat it).
• Daily fitness activity: put my stress and difficult emotions into ACTION and don't just let stress build up or turn into mindless eating.
• Weight loss goal: focus on 0.5 to 1 kg per week (SLOW IT DOWN, GET IT RIGHT!)
• FOCUS = HEALTHY and HAPPY and FIT!

Week 3 Report: Rough week. Still moving forward.

Week 3 finished. Hard week at work, but staying strong.

Here's my attempt at "confident and happy face."

Stats:

Starting weight: 79.5 kg

Current weight: 75.5 kg

Week 3 lost: -0.5 kg

Total lost: -4 kg

Highlights:

Week 3 Summary: I'll keep this week's update pretty simple because I'm trying to keep my "extra work" to a minimum at the moment. I've been pulling lots of extra hours and taking on more responsibilities at my full-time job, and my coworker has been out due to illness. I am afraid I feel some cold symptoms coming on, so I'm playing it safe and taking a mellow, warm, indoor rest-day. My diet has been great this week, and I'm feeling overall energetic and healthy and steady. Even though my weight-loss on the scale was only 0.5 kg, I am very happy with the progress I'm making. I'm building up a bit of my muscle mass, so that's a very positive number, and I can see and feel the difference in my clothes and appearance. The BEST part of rebuilding a fitness lifestyle is that I FEEL so much better about myself and my abilities. I am starting to feel more like my ideal self: STRONG, CAPABLE, CONFIDENT, and WORTHY. It's easy to let my own needs and goals come last, but when I make it a point to take very good care of myself, I feel better and I can DO MORE in all areas of my life. The problem with selflessness is that we break down, and then we can't work at our fullest potential in any area of our lives. To offset the intensity at work, and try to stave off a probable cold virus, this weekend was all about naps and silly 1990's Kung Fu movies and light reading.

Thoughts: I'm focusing on building-up my CONFIDENCE and SELF-WORTH. Those words are easy to say, but it's so hard to really stand strong and know my own value. I believe strongly that the path to a truly meaningful and valuable life is through building HAPPINESS and DIGNITY for self and others. This comes through the difficult work of understanding ourselves and the REALITY of our lives, and working through the messy bits until we can create a LASTING PEACE. This is the opposite of being "weak" or "soft"; it's the exquisitely sensitive work of honoring our values and our vulnerabilities and not letting anything dismiss our damage us in the process of building ourselves STRONG. So often, I find myself pounding away at my work, ignoring my own stress or signals of physical or emotional pain. I can fight until I break, but I'm learning that being FIT is not about breaking myself. Being FIT is about BUILDING an UNBREAKABLE SPIRIT and a LIFE that supports our DREAMS and GOALS.  

"When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time."
Saint Francis de Sales

Stuff that was hard for me this week:

Work-Life Balance: Simply put, I WORK TOO MUCH! I need to find ways to balance my time, and maybe reduce my private clients. This is hard, because I LOVE MY CLIENTS! But I need to put my health in focus, and that means setting limits.

Healthy noms: lowfat stirfried veggies with tofu, and a snack with cucumbers and green olives.
I always make sure I have water and a bit of chewing gum around in case I need a fresh taste. Sometimes the drive to "munch" is just to have a different flavor or feeling in the mouth. 

Goals for next week:

• Workouts: cardio 3x medium-to-high intensity; daily long walks; strength 2x 
• Nutrition: packing foods for the day and using protein supplements (It's WORKING!)
• Work-Life Balance: reduce overtime at work ("Light and quick" work)
• Time/Routine: get at least 6 hours of sleep a night.
• Weight-loss goal for week 3: 1 kg

Visuals for the week:

Faking it at figure poses.

My beloved Bianchi! This beast and I have done thousands of kilometers of travel together. Waiting for the train for a light ride in the countryside.

Chilly summer weather. Rocking my home colors! (Go, Seahawks!)

Week 2 Report: Steady and Strong

Week 2 complete. Stronger = ready for more.

Goofy is glamorous. Seriously.

Stats:

Starting weight: 79.5 kg

Current weight: 76.0 kg

Week 2 lost: -0.5 kg

Total lost: -3.5 kg

Highlights:

Week 2 Summary: Week two has brought more challenges with time-management and planning, but has been an overall successful week. I made it through two running workous in spite of rainy weather and/or hot weather, and I managed to get into the fitness center once this week. For a special treat, we went to the rock climbing gym to play... My work schedule has been very busy (about 55 hours between my full-time job and other clients), and we were blessed by a visit from a beloved family member from the States. I wanted so much to make everything perfect for everyone, and that meant loosening up a bit on my own training/diet schedule. ...Naturally, that showed up on the scale this week. I'm not disappointed by my smaller weight-loss for week 2, but I am determined to make week 3 stronger in terms of performance. The only way to break through is to push harder and tighten up on my diet. Overall, it was a great week, and I'm feeling fitter and stronger. I can already see a very positive difference in my mobility and strength and range of motion, and it is amazing to be able to run again. (Yes, I can RUN again!!!)

Rocking the pink this week.

Thoughts: Building a fit lifestyle is a process of balancing and integrating our values and responsibilities to make a life that WORKS. For me, this means incorporating activity into my daily life as much as possible, and building social events around fitness. It means ordering the salad and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It means going to the rock climbing gym with our out-of-town guest, and making it a fun time to share fitness tips. The work we invest in our fitness is something that brings value not only to ourselves, but to everyone we meet. It's important to really focus on a holistic approach to fitness, and not get lost in the details. We can count the reps and sets, the calories, the distance and times... We can measure food and weight and bodyfat and circumferences. But we can't quantify the value of moving our bodies thought strenous activities without pain, or the incredible feeling of overcoming an obstacle. True fitness isn't about restriction and regimentation, but about expanding ourselves and our abilities so that we can live more fully. 

holistic

həʊˈlɪstɪk,hɒ-/

adjective

PHILOSOPHY

1. 
   
   

   characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.

   
   

Stuff that was hard for me this week:

Time-management: This is a recurring theme for me, and I think it's something most of us really struggle with. I tend to take on too many responsibilities, and then I end up losing out on important parts of my own self-maintenance (sleep, personal enrichment, relaxation, household management, leisure)... Organization is going to be a huge key to achieving more.

Setting Limits: This is another tough one. I have such a heart for others, and I absolutely hate to inconvenience or disappoint anyone. When I look at my schedule, I wonder how I manage to get everything done and still have a smile on my face. True, I have a huge amount of energy to give and a natural inclination to help and be of service to the well-being and happiness of others. But the reality is that I need to find ways to create limits, activate my support network, and delegate. I don't know how to ask for help, but it is absolutely essential to my health and my success in life. This seems to be a very common theme for most of us who struggle with weight-management. We put our own needs last, and we don't know how to say "no" or "help" or "I need more time." This is a fundamental skill-set to expand and develop for lifelong health and well-being.

Goals for next week:

• Workouts: cardio 5x; weights 2x 
• Nutrition: continue to pack all foods in the cooler (Prepare for Success!)
• Life Skills/Interpersonal: set limits and find ways to reduce commitments
• Time/Routine: get at least 6 hours of sleep a night.
• Weight-loss goal for week 3: 1 kg

Visuals for the week:

The light isn't great, but the upper back muscles are starting to come in.



Week 1 Report: A good start to the challenge... Much more to come!

Week 1 complete. Time to level up!

I'm a gym poser. A totally sweaty, tired gym poser.

Stats:

Starting weight: 79.5 kg

Current weight: 76.5 kg

Week 1 lost: -3 kg

Total lost: -3 kg

Highlights:

Week 1 Summary: We have been blessed with gorgeous summer weather this week, so I did a lot of outdoor activities. I managed two jogging/running workouts; lots of long walks; a functional fitness workout in the park; and a bicycle ride. I hit the gym twice, and found that I still have good strength and decent muscle endurance. I've been really loving salads and herbal tea and fresh fruits this week, and drinking tons of delicious, cool, refreshing WATER. Also, anything with spice is amazing! I've eaten so many hot chilis and hot sauces this week. Overall, it's been a great week, and I've been working at balancing my priorities so I can make fitness an integral part of my lifestyle. 

Thoughts: If we feel like we must choose between fitness and other important things in our life, we need to shift that perspective. It's not a question of "fitness VS my life"; it's about living a fit life. Don't just think of fitness as a short-term goal, or something you have to do in addition to all of your other responsibilities and priorities in life. Fitness is about making a better life for ourselves and everyone we interact with. Why not try to make social events active and healthy? When you go out for a meal with friends, enjoy the company and eat lighter options. Improvise activities that include other people and/or pets, so that everyone can share in an active lifestyle. Encourage others to get involved, and make it more fun to share a fit life with everyone. 

This is my stash of treats: fresh oranges, tomatoes, and nectarines, and a selection of sweet herbal teas. I have a sweet tooth, and it's important to have healthy treats on-hand.

Stuff that was hard for me this week:

Food: I haven't been able to plan/carry my meals with me everywhere, and when I'm out with friends, I have to balance the "party vibe" with my goals. Visiting a fun Bierfest with friends was a super fun experience, but my diet took a few big hits. 

Workouts: Because it's been a crazy-busy week, my workouts haven't quite hit the mark as I had planned. I was still very active, but had to modify my approach a bit to accomodate all of the other goings-on this week. I know that if I want to reach my time-specific goal, I have to stick to the plan. 

Mood/attitude: It's frustrating when I see an unflattering reflection in the mirror or photo of myself, and think "Gaaah, is that really me? I have SOOOO far to go to reach my goal!" It's tricky to stay out of negative self-talk and toxic body-image territory. I have to stay humble and real, but not let old negative ideas dominate my energy and my thinking. I can decide RIGHT NOW that I FEEL GREAT about myself, that I'm doing a GREAT JOB, and that I AM LOVELY JUST AS I AM. (Talk back to negative self-talk!) 

Goals for next week:

• Make a workout plan for the week and STICK TO IT. Skipping workouts is not an option.
• Pack/carry food for the day. If it's not in my blue cooler-bag, it's not for me.
• Focus on a healthy schedule. Sleeping, eating, exercising, and relaxing are all equally important to health and successful weight management. Routine is key.
• Weight-loss goal for week 2: 1 kg

Visuals for the week:

Power breakfast: Oats, banana, fat-free quark, cinnamon, vanilla flavor packet.

Champion's lunch: gloriously colorful veggie salad with spicy vinegar dressing, veggie burger, a small portion of whole wheat pasta with lowfat yogurt, fresh orange slices, and lots of fresh water.

Refreshing dinner: colorful veggie salad with spicy garlic vinegar dressing, stirfry veggies and tofu (with very little added oil), apple slices, and quark for dessert. Of course, lots of water throughout the day and with every meal.

Visualize a day's nutrition: This is what my day's intake plan looks like for Week 2. In order to reduce the number of decisions I have to make throughout the day, the best practice is to PLAN, PREP, and PACK the whole day's foods/supplements. PREPARE FOR SUCCESS!

Finishing up a legs/back/chest/abs workout. Time to get back on the bicycle for the second half of cardio: another 30 minutes ride home. I love that I can do cardio and commute at the same time.

See you next Monday for another exciting update!