Downsizing that Waist - Tips and Tricks 3

It is incredibly overwhelming to jump in with both feet into a completely new, healthier lifestyle. I'm ready to admit my weight issues can partially be attributed to a lazy attitude coupled with a love for food that wasn't all good for me. Since this business with a healthy lifestyle is two-pronged - diet and exercise - it can be a fairly drastic change to make.

I found it easier to take it in steps and take on the diet aspect first. I'm a complete foody so this is a daily challenge for me still, but since having started the whole healthy eating business I've found it's not that hard to keep up with.

The first step I took was to measure my BMI and my basal caloric requirements based on daily activities. Then I researched what caloric content of various foods to see what my healthiest options were. It was really good to see how many different and options there were and how many of them I was already incorporating into my diet.

Actually, I guess the first step is to recognize that the word 'diet' doesn't mean a drastic alteration in your food consumption where you're limiting yourself to certain foods or cutting something out 100%. Diet just refers to the types and amounts of food you consume. I'm not at all into diets that say I can only eat cabbage or have to cut out all carbs from my life. Med School has taught me enough to recognize that every food group is essential for the human body, it's just that the intake amount of each thing varies for every person.

It took a few days to get into the habit of getting healthier. It only took a week for my body to get used to consuming fewer simple carbs and limiting my intake of complex carbs to what my body needs. Now, when I deviate, my body gets very uncomfortable. I'm not going to lecture you on what to eat and what not to eat. That's something you have to do some research on and figure out for yourself because every body's requirements are different. Remember, it only takes 3 weeks (21 days) to develop a habit and get comfortable with it.

Once you get a handle on your eating habits, it becomes easier to jump into an exercise routine. Your body should start feeling healthier from the change in diet. As you pick up an exercise routine, you can adjust your dietary needs more easily.

Bottom line. Don't overwhelm yourself with a complete regime change. It's perfectly alright to go at it one thing at a time. Heck, I recommend it.

Downsizing Day 12 ... my waist size, that is.

I've been a bad girl. I skipped Day 11's workout. It was yoga day. I don't like yoga day.

Justification (excuse) ... my sleep cycle runs per a different time zone, as opposed to my physical location. Most people wake up at 6am; I hit the bed at that time. This leaves me disconcerted for part of the day. And I lose a lot of productive "business hours." I've tried changing my sleeping/waking times but I keep reverting to this odd schedule. Basically that leaves me tired and harried (still gotta focus on my studying too, after all). That and it's my birthday week. I'm allowed some leniency. So I am trying to convince myself anyway.

I also indulged in Chinese buffet for lunch - it was a birthday celebration with friends. I stuck to the soup, veggies, proteins and only had a tiny bit of the noodles. Ever since I've started P90X I've been even more conscientious about my carb intake and such. That tiny amount of noodles (2-3 forkfuls) left me feeling disgusting for most of the evening.

All in all, Wednesday was not conducive to working out, particularly yoga for one and a half hours.

Day 12, however, I brought it to Leg and Back and enjoyed getting back to exercising. I'll try to make up on the yoga on Saturday, which is rest/stretch day. I'll stick to the lighter moves. Curse the guilty conscience!

I didn't bring it to Ab Ripper X since I had to get ready for ... HARRY POTTER! Yes, I'm two weeks late, but I have a friend to blame for that. Anyway. The movie was AMAZING! Go watch it if you haven't.

Tomorrow is my birthday. And tomorrow is Kenpo day. I will do justice to both tomorrow :)

Downsizing Day 10 ... my waist size, that is.

I think it's time to invest in resistance bands. I don't feel the burn as much with most of the moves. Amazing. It only took a week for my muscles to say I can do more. Yay!

I'm able to do more and more as the days go by and that's exciting me.

So a week after P90X, I'm proud to say I've dropped 3.5lbs! I know water weight is the first to go, but it's progress so yay! Also, I've been drinking a lot more water (healthier choice!) so it's not exactly water weight that I've lost necessarily. Basically, I'm very happy to see the needle move down on the scale.

I'm really getting into P90X now. Sadly, my friend couldn't keep up, so I'll be doing Yoga solo again, but I'll try to get through the whole video this week.

Downsizing Day 9 ... my waist size, that is.

Exhausted, in a good way. As much as I hate it, Plyometrics is a great workout. I sweat the most on Plyo and Kenpo days.

I took my inhaler before starting the workout today, and boy am I glad I did.

My right hip continued to be a problem today, limiting me in range of motion on some of the exercises. My knees are also flaring up again, making squats a literal pain. These are the same problems I had back in the TKD days - ironically, I believe these problems developed because of TKD. The aggressive demands on these joints has led them to be worn down and out (not that any of the x-rays and MRIs support my understanding...my poor docs can't figure me out). I know there are people reading this blog (google stats tells me so), so if any of you have any suggestions as to what I can do to make it less painful as I try to maximize my range of motion, I would really appreciate it.

For now, I'm sticking to the low impact variations that Pam from the video demonstrates. Definitely helps keep the pain at bay, but I'd love to get more depth in my squats and lunges to max the muscle workout.

ps - I think I see a slightly slimmer face - the chin being one of the first places to show weight loss/gain. fingers crossed! I hope to have more visible results by the time I get home in 3 weeks (that'll be a month after having started p90x).

Downsizing Day 8 ... my waist size, that is.

It's almost funny when I realize it's another Ab Ripper X day. Almost. I need another week or so before I'll be comfortable with that realization. For now, a slight feeling of dread persists.

Chest and Back session 2 went well enough - a few more reps, some improvement in my form. If the first 30 days are to be a struggle, I'm happy with my progress in the first week. Of course, a part of me is anxious to see some physical change and disappointed when the same figure looks back at me. I just remind myself that this is no overnight miracle cure and that beauty is pain.

I'm doing P90X for my health (and some obvious, aesthetic enhancement), not because I'm into working out and building muscle. If the latter had been true, I wouldn't be in the position I am in today to begin with. Once I drop to my goal weight and size (not necessarily mutually inclusive) I will switch to a lighter workout. I'll have to fiddle around with what works best, but I'm guessing it will be daily 30 minute walks and 3-4 days/week of exercise, relying on what I have picked up through P90X.

But for now...still chugging away. Oh no! Tomorrow is Pylometrics. *cringe*

Downsizing Day 6/7 ... my waist size, that is.

Phew! That was another red-in-the-face, sweat-inducing work out. Take your inhaler!

Kenpo X really makes you work it. This workout was a throwback to my Tae Kwon Do days. The forms are very different and I found myself reverting to the "correct way" with my punches and blocks. Kicks were tough to keep up with - my right hip was in pain 15 minutes into the workout, which made kicks on either side that much more difficult. I've been saying it all week, so here it is again... that was hard and my muscles feel it. I'm sure my noodle arms and sore legs will be even grumpier tomorrow, but it's well worth it.

I'm skipping rest/stretch day. I'd rather stick to the program and get back on track than take a day off right now.

Time to get back into it with Chest, Back and Ab tomorrow... 1 week down, 12 to go!

Downsizing Day 5 ... my waist size, that is.

I missed a day of P90X yesterday. I blame it on Thanksgiving and the coma it put me in.

Today was Legs, Back and Ab Ripper X. I'm proud to say I was able to keep going through the whole thing, never pausing (I haven't for any of the days, though I do lighter versions of some of the workouts in order to keep up) and keeping up at almost the same pace.

I'm still doing the exercises weights-free, but I'm feeling the burn on my pull ups and other exercises (I model my arm movements for the resistance bands since that's what I'll be getting). I think I'll be ready for resistance bands in another week.

I hate Ab Ripper X because it's 15 minutes of intense workout and I still can't do half the moves properly. But I've noticed a drastic improvement since Day 1 so I'm loving that something, whatever it may be, is working.

Since I missed a day, I'll be skipping the rest/stretch day or combining it with Day 6 of Kenpo (Kenpo in the morning, stretch in the evening) and I'll jump right into week two after that.

Thank God I started when I did. All other holidays fall on rest/stretch days - karmic coincidence!

Looking forward to tomorrow's Kenpo; it'll be nice to get some martial arts related exercise going.

Downsizing Day 4 ... my waist size, that is.

I have to admit I gave up today. To be fair to myself, I quit half-way through today's Yoga session, which is still 45 minutes of sweat inducing exercise.

The Yoga portion of P90X is harder than I anticipated. I got frustrated because I couldn't even get into half the poses, let alone maintain them. I struggled with what should have been easy. I just have to keep reminding myself that this was my first day and it will get better with time and more effort. But Yoga is definitely one of the sections where I need a buddy doing it next to me to keep me motivated and going.

Boo to me on this one. Hopefully I'll have better luck next week. My friend will be joining me, so at the very least we can laugh at/with each other as we struggle through the poses.

Edit: Turns out there is an ab portion in the second half of the Yoga session. Guess I should have at least kept watching. Serves me right. Well, definitely something to look forward to next week.

Downsizing Day 3 ... my waist size, that is.

I really, badly did not want to do today's workout. I almost said forget it. Between the sore arms and abs from Day 1 and the burning thighs from Day 2 I didn't think I was up for an Arms & Shoulders workout. But I didn't want to quit two days into the program, especially after having 'gone public' about it.

So I did it. And it wasn't so bad. Day 3 consists of an arms and shoulders workout which was less intense and difficult on my body, when compared to the high-impact workout Pylometrics had wrung out of me the day before. I definitely need to invest in a set of resistance bands (easier to pack since I travel regularly) soon!

Day 3 involved the Ab Ripper X again, and it was as intense as Day 1. But I found myself able to do more, so there is hope for the future.

Overall, today's workout actually helped wring out some of the soreness and pain from the past two days. I feel better about both having done the workout and having accomplished more on my third day.

Onwards and downwards!

Downsizing Day 2 ... my waist size, that is.

Holy flippin' shit! Day 2 is not for the faint of heart...literally. If you're an asthmatic, take a couple of pumps of your inhaler before you start this one!

Ah! This one was hard! I mean muscle-burning, sweat-inducing, lung-working hard. It's all about jumping and squatting and lunging. My leg muscles haven't been worked this hard since Tae Kwon Do. In fact, after this workout, I know I can't even consider going back to Tae Kwon Do any time soon ... my muscles have gone soft and don't remember or appreciate the movements Day 2 of P90X (Pylometrics) demands of them.

Today had me doubting if I can go on at all with P90X. Fortunately I have a few big incentives in my head (health and better body included) that I really want to achieve, so I'm going to push myself to keep at it. But man did today have my questioning if I could ever get to the level that the people in the video are at. I want to see how much I can better myself. I'm just wondering where that's going to come from. Wooh!

Keep a towel, your inhaler and a bottle of water at the ready for this one; Day 2 is TOUGH!

I gave it as much as I could, but busted knees/hips and muscles that had forgotten these moves had me at a slower and shallower pace. I gave up a few times in between, just doing a slow jog to fill up the space while I cursed at the trainer. I just had to keep reminding myself that this was my first day with Pylometrics and the trainer's bazillionth. It's okay not to be nearly as good as the people in the video, you just have to keep trying and keep working.

Now, please excuse me. I need a hose and a trough. Or maybe I'll just fall into the trough.

Downsizing Day 1 ... my waist size, that is.

I've got weight issues. That is, I weigh too much. I don't speak from a fashion and beauty point of view (though the boost of confidence I would get from a slimmer waist-line would be incredible). Rather, I'm coming at this from a health concern point of view. Genetically speaking I'm already at risk for developing diabetes, heart diseases and some other health problems. The environment has only added to the potential health risks in my future. As a doctor-to-be I want to be the fittest I possibly can, in order to avoid and escape as many health problems as possible. Diet and exercise truly are the key towards a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Trust me, I've researched every plausible alternative so that I can feel less guilty about a slice of cake or a day of bumming on the couch. Sadly, there isn't one.

So I started with diet. It's not that hard or bad to switch to healthy; there are actually a lot of tasty alternatives out there. I'll blog more about that later.

For me, the hardest thing was getting my butt moving and sticking to a real exercise regime. The evening walks and half-arsed yoga/basic work outs weren't doing anything for me. One late night of infomercials later, I was sold on an exercise regime known as P90X. I won't bore you with the details of the program. If you're interested, you can go out and read about it yourself. Instead, I'll be blogging about my 90 days, the struggles and strategies involved and the results I get.

Going from couch potato straight into P90X is a bit like jumping from fridge straight into the fire, completely bypassing the frying pan. It's an intense workout, as Day 1 proved to me. The P90X program starts with Chest and Back and Ab Ripper X. I haven't bothered to invest in weights, bands, etc. but today I didn't need them. Going through the motions for the various exercises was more than enough for my muscles. I'm embarrassed by how little I was able to do today. The really great thing about the P90X videos is that it let's you go at your own pace but also keeps encouraging you to push harder. Since each section repeats through the videos cycle, you have many opportunities to improve.

I didn't give my 100% today but I still felt the burn. Sadly, I felt the burn 5 minutes into the 1 hour 15 minute routine. It was a wake up call regarding just how badly out of shape I am. So, even though my arms and legs feel like overcooked noodles and I'm going to have very sore ab muscles tomorrow, I'm motivated to keep at it. Tomorrow is pylometrics. I have no clue what to look forward to. I believe a lot of jumping is involved. Thankfully, my downstairs neighbors don't hear anything.

Keep up with me as I go through the next 90 days of tough exercise and towards my weight-loss goals.