Week Four: Diet, exercise, and inspiration

I’m into week four of my diet and exercise program. I got completely knocked off my schedule and diet for over 10 days by the Nero Stomach Virus. When I say this is the worst flu I’ve had since the 70’s, I’m completely serious. It really sucked.

I lost 5lbs with the flu, but put back on at least 3lbs of weight since I was able to start to eat regular meals. I don’t count this week for any weight loss for that reason. Not taking in any food, including liquids for days is extremely unhealthy way to lose weight. My immune system was already compromised with the flu. Rapid weight loss on top of it can weaken the system even more. The weight gain that came back after something like this is important to rebuilding strength against catching something else and being reinfected. When I was able to eat, I ate my regular healthy diet. It took a while for my stomach to be able to figure what I wanted it to do. My whole body did that, for a couple of days it protested by feeling like I was getting sick all over again. I finally settled down and things are back to normal.  I’m still struggling with my energy levels, with sudden dips.

Getting back to exercise was the most frustrating for me. I don’t take lying around watching television on the couch well. Sick or not, I wanted to be outside and moving. When I had the energy to start to actually move, I started with walking. Prior to the flu, I was running 3miles, preparing for a 5K. The reality of it, I had to start over again. I’m back up to 3 miles, so I gained it back much faster than I expected. The key was to listen to my body. It told me what it could start to do and didn’t have the energy to do.

This whole adventure into illness was very disappointing for me. What got me going and inspired me was when I was walking stairs at the mall, I ran into an inmate I use to work around in law enforcement. He was at the mall for the same reason I was, running the big numerous staircases.

The Shirt. Hoping I'll look better in it than I do now.

I was surprised he recognized me. We chatted for just a moment. Running the stairs in the mall, was what he called his non-workout day. When I knew him he was a pretty bad drug addict in and out of jail. Now he’s clean and returned to his one great love, boxing. He’s too old to compete, but now trains troubled youths, going down his old path. He works out 5 days a week, has non-workout in the mall. Then one day of rest, when he actually doesn’t do any type of workout. He told me he’s on a high protein diet, and eats very clean. He looked great! Clean from his drugs, healthy and focused. He inspired me to keep going. The day I saw him, I was on a low energy day, thinking of just going home. I kept going figuring if he could recover from a really bad drug addiction that was threatening to end his life early. I could recover from the flu, and run those stairs.

I’m always looking for things to inspire my workouts, to keep me on a diet. Right now its clothes I want to fit into and look good for The Romantic Times conference. I hung a top on my closet door that is a bit snug, I’m determined to wear, and wear well. I see it every day reminding of my goal. It’s about this time in our diet that is the dividing line of going forward or quitting. 80% of dieters who started on January 1st will quit before Valentines. I’m determined not to be one of them.  

Light beef Stew

This recipe is taken from a common French Stew, Boeuf Bourguignon. It's very light, and easy to make and it's very tasty and my take on it. French cooking is actually very easy if you stick to the rustic country dishes.It's not the prettiest dish, but it is tasty.

You can use large cut of beef or beef stew meat. 

1lb beef or more depending on how many people you are serving
5 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of rosemary
6 gloves of garlic
1/2 yellow onion (slice)
1/2 red bell pepper (slice)
1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 cup of baby carrots
3/4 cup of red wine
1/2 cup of water
flour
salt and pepper to taste

Keep meat in large pieces and dredge in flour and brown in olive oil, like common stews. 
In the bottom of crock pot or Dutch oven, lay down the sprigs, rosemary, and garlic. Lay meat over the top. Lay sliced onion and peppers over the top of the meat. Pour wine and water over the top. Cook on high in Crock pot all day or at least 5hrs. In Dutch oven heat over to 275 degrees for 3hrs. The last hour of crock pot add the carrots and mushrooms. The last 1/2hr of dutch oven add carrots and mushrooms. 

If preparing in a crock pot in the morning, cook on low heat for all day. 

When you serve this dish, don't thicken the juices. This is a thin stew. Serve with bread for dipping in juices. The meat should fall apart with a fork.

Racing towards the RWA Conference

I’ll be leaving for the RWA conference a week from today. I’m excited as I make plans with friends and hope to see many others I haven’t seen in a couple of years. I’ve done pretty good on my diet. I’ve lost 11lbs. I was hoping to lose more, but like all of us, I’ve had my good days and a few bad. On the bad days, I just do my little u-turn and work to do better.

My goal was 15lbs by this date. It is only halfway to my full blown goal of 30lbs overall. To lose the final 4lbs in the coming week, I’ve beefed up my exercise and tightened up my diet. I’d love to lose a lot of weight very quietly. Since I started this process too close to the conference, (just out of pure laziness) I’ve had to live with the reality of the situation.

Like everyone, I’d love to lose a lot of weight over night. It is possible to lose weight very quickly with a lot of craziness and strict dieting. I’m against that, as much as I’d love the results. The reason being, losing a large amount of weight quickly means one thing, to stray from the diet will mean very rapid weight gain. To lose 1 or 2lbs a week is reasonable and healthy. It’s easy to maintain and do a little u-turn when those bad days or weeks occur. And they will happen, because life happens.

I watch a lot of weight loss programs, such as the new program ‘Body Make-over’. I study what they are doing to lose so much weight so quickly and safely. For one thing, those individuals such as on the Biggest Loser, are obese. They often lose a whole person in weight. Does it make losing weigh easier for them? Not really. They are doing grueling workouts daily. They burn as many calories as they take in. So if they have a diet of 1,500 calories, with those workouts they are easily burning that much or more. It equals losing 10lbs or more a week, at least in the early stages of the program. Once they start to gain muscle, the weight loss slows way down, but they continue to grow smaller.

When I said I beefed up my exercise, what I’ve done is add an extra hour to my regular workout. I’m retired and have the time, especially this week with my grandkids away on vacation. I’m also trying to mix things up. For example, this morning instead of a run and swim, I road my bike for two hours. I hit the streets and road as hard as I could around my small town taking as many hills as possible. My estimated burn was around 1,000 calories. Tomorrow, it will be a short half hour run on the treadmill, at 5.0spd, with three sprints at 6.0spd, holding it for one minute. I’ll ride my bike to the pool to swim laps for a 1hr. When I’m finished I ride for an hour around town. That is a lot, but I’m determined. I do have to be mindful of injury while I ‘beef’ things up. Which is why my run is shorter right now, and my non-impact exercises are longer. I’m no spring chicken. Fortunately, I’ve been active my entire life, which helps with my muscle memory.

There is a downfall to all this exercise, I get very hungry. I have increased my caloric intake with healthy foods, like fruits. The natural sugars in fruit help to keep my body’s sugar levels even without spiking while I burn energy and hopefully fat. I’ve had too, so I can maintain this amount of exercise.

I’m also writing a lot these days, which has me in my chair in front of the computer for hours as I push to finish my next book. This in itself makes me crazy. I want to be active. I like to be active and moving around. To help with the feelings of caginess, I take a break and have been lifting light weights in front of the television for an hour.

My diet over these weeks has been very clean. I don’t eat processed foods. I’ve cut out anything that is processed or out of a can. My hubs and I have also limited eating out. I can’t tell you the last time I ate fast food. I make everything from scratch. It is more time consuming, but all those chemicals and crap in those types of food encourages the body’s metabolism to slow, which particularly for women keeps the weight clinging to us. By taking the time to make healthy foods, is so much better. You know what is going into your body. And the food taste so much better.

By Thursday I hope to have a report on how all this is working. Then on Thursday how to survive National and the all the foods especially chocolate and alcohol.

The Writer's Guide to Exercising while at the RWA Conference

If there is one thing you count on while at the RWA National conference, there will be a gym and/or a pool in your hotel of choice. One of beauties of modern hotels these days, they have gyms and almost always have a pool. While at the conference, use them! If you’re doing great on your diet and losing weight, as you incorporate exercise into your life, take advantage of the gyms in the hotels during vacations and summer travel. 

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of conferences. There is a lot of stress radiating through the air. I’m one of those personalities that absorbs the stress and emotions of other’s like a sponge. I feel the desperation filtering through the air, as writers all juggle for that magic moment of acceptance from peers and requests from a dream agent. To deal with the stress, exercise is my best remedy.

My plan to keep on my exercise schedule is to rise early, run or swim before breakfast. That’s easy for me, since my eyes open with sunrise. I’m going to try not to stay up too late. Drinking alcohol won’t be a problem, since I’m not staying at the hotel and will be driving back and forth. Need I say more.

To take extra time in the morning to either run or swim, will help wake up the body for the day. Both can burn a lot of calories ingested the day before. Swimming for 1hr can burn up to 600 calories. Yes, just an easy breaststroke will burn calories, because of the pull of the body through the water. It’s the best resistance training there is.

Running for 1hr at an easy pace can burn up to 600 calories. Just make sure you break a sweat. If the gym is busy and the equipement full, run around the building outside a few times. L.A’s air quality is notoriously bad. Just keep that in mind.

While at the conference, scope out ways to burn calories. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Go for walks outside in between workshops. Give yourself a little me time to de-stress. You might not lose weight, but may not gain any either.

Next week is the last week prior to conference. How to eat without over indulging, especially in all that chocolate!   

The Writer's Guide to adding Exercise to your diet regiment

In the past few months I’ve fallen completely off my exercise routine. I was editing She Cried Wolf, making it my whole focus. When the book was released, then it was blogging, guest blogging, promoting and just dealing with life. I got lazy.  

It is unusual for me to ignore regular exercise, such as riding my bike, running or hiking. I did do some, but not seriously or on a regular routine. When I was recently in Trinidad in Northern California I was surprised how well I kept up my nieces, nephews and grandkids on hikes. But- I know if I don’t get back into it soon, that won’t be the case.

I’ve been on my Caveman or Paleo diet for over a week. I’ve lost another 4lbs on top of the 5lbs I dropped preparing for the diet. I believe the first 5lbs was simply water weight. Something to consider, the first weight you lose will be the easiest and most likely water weight as the body naturally detoxes as you ingest healthier foods. The body will react positively to the lack of the usual fatty and toxic foods.

Now that you’ve started to eat healthier and have hopefully lost a couple pounds, it’s time to step things up with exercise. Since I haven’t run seriously since May, I’m currently walking to build up to running. In one hour of brisk walking you can burn over 300 calories. Running or jogging of course burns more in the same amount of time, up to 600 calories, depending on the length of time and speed. This is why long distant runners are skin and bones.

When starting an exercise routine, take a good look at it, and examine how realistic it is for your conditioning. If you haven’t exercised in years, take it very slow. I suggest starting with walking a couple of times a day, slowly adding light weights and an exercise ball. You want to build up to a 1hr exercise program 5 to 6 days a week, for weight loss.And you've got to SWEAT in order to burn fat.

I’m not big on joining a gym right away. Gyms can be intimidating, noisy, and discouraging. You walk in and the first thing you see is a cute little girl behind the counter who is in perfect shape. Depending on the gym, there is the body builders, big, noisy and hog machines and equipment. All the classes offered are fun, but again, it is awkward, when you’re stumbling around the Zumba class feeling foolish.  

There are smaller gyms geared towards just women. Those can be much less intimidating, but can be just as expensive.

It is easy enough to start a program at home, with CD’s, walking and an inexpensive workout ball. If you have a treadmill, clean off the clothes hung there, and walk it. Once you have gotten into a regular routine, and are losing weight at a steady healthy rate, and feel better about your body, a gym might be the way to go. Make sure it’s something you’re really going to use. They usually require a contract for a year or two.

One thing I don’t advice, is push too hard in the beginning. I’m a regular fan of the Biggest Loser and am in awe of the contestants and how hard they workout. But-they are under constant doctor monitoring, with trainers, with a regular specialized diet. They lose large amounts of weight in a week, like up to 10lbs. In the real world that is unrealistic, those individuals workout up to three or four hours a day. In the real world, we have to work, deal with family, plus write, without the benefit of a luxury ranch where we’re locked away from life, and live and breathe diet and exercise.

Either find a calorie counting book, or use an app for a smart phone. The apps can be free and update regularly for products and restaurants. If you are counting calories, depending on your weight, taking in between 1000-1200 of healthy calories is considered the way to lose about 1-2lbs a week. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s considered the healthiest reasonable weight loss. The faster you lose weight, the faster it will come back on if you fall off the wagon. Think Oprah, when she went on a liquid diet, within months she was bigger than when she started the diet.   

If you are counting calories, and considering calories burned in exercise, my advice is not to consider the burned calories. What can happen is, “Oh, I burned 300 cals on that walk, so I can eat 300 extra cals.”

What happens, you’ll start to just maintain your weight, rather than lose it. Just consider the intact, not the burn.

Take your exercise easy, build up, let your body adjust before hitting it harder and you'll lose weight. Exercise should be part of a healthy lifestyle. All the way around it's good for you in moderation until you can handle more difficulty. 

Next week, what to do when weight loss slows to a stop.