Not pumping iron....

Not pumping iron, swallowing iron.

The post of a few weeks ago reflected a moment in time. One hopes the worst period on this program for me.

It's been getting better again. I'm on my 2nd week of adding an iron supplement to my program and it really seems to be making a difference.

Palafer CF is my drug of choice for now. Hopefully it'll bounce my often low iron back up. It had dropped more than 50% from week 1 blood work to week 6.

Maybe this will start my energy levels in the right direction.

What is Partners for a Healthier Weight?

To quote some of their welcome package, Partners for a Healthier Weight is a "medically and psychologically supervised" program that "uses a meal replacement called Optifast which provides 900 calories per day.  The meal replacement is 12 weeks in duration and is followed by a 6 week transition to food.  Regular physician/nurse assessments and blood work are all a mandatory part of the medical monitoring.


The meal replacement will certainly help you lose weight; however it is the weekly facilitator-guided sessions that are essential to your long-term success!"

Before the program starts there needs to be a referral from your family doctor, an initial fasting blood work, and an extended online survey.  The results from the blood work and survey are the basis for the meetings with the nurse, dietician, and psychologist.  They all assess you for your likely success, review the survey and have some questions of their own.  Plus there's a bit of a physical with the nurse.

Week 1 was a welcome and introduction where the nurse, dietician, psychologist and physiotherapist are all present.  Because of the pre-work I'd already met the nurse, dietician and psychologist.  There was a meet and greet to get to know some of the other participants.  Once we'd done the meet and greet the group was divided in half with half starting with a walk test and half starting with weighs and measures.

The weighs and measures were much what you'd expect.  Waist measurement, a body comp analysis and an extended blood pressure test.  I've forgotten the waist measure and blood pressure, but I have the Tanita Body Composition Analyzer TBF-310 results.

Height 5'5"
Weight 226.0
BMI 37.6
Impedance 422
Fat % 45.8
Fat Mass 103.5 lbs
FFM 122.5 lbs

The walk test was a bit of a surprise to me.  They suggested comfortable clothes and sneakers.  It turned out to be the 10 M Shuttle Walk Test.  I was kicked out at level 11 for not making the time.  After it was over I regretted not wearing my sports bra - it was nearing a full out run for me.  Unfortunately my course was shared with another who went even farther than I did.  I probably went out because of the pressure on my back and hip of always having to turn left and the dizziness.  Wish it could be done again and there would be an option to turn left or right on demand!

Most of the rest of the night was caught up in signing away waivers, quick talks and getting an intro to week 1.

Week 1 was a 1200 calorie diet with a strict measure of tracking.  Each day there were:

• 5 70 cal servings of grains and starches (only 2 could be bread, corn, potato, turnip, squash)
• 3-4 65 cal servings of fruit
• unlimited vegetables
• 2-3 90 cal servings of milk or alternatives (milk, yogurt)
• 6-7 75 cal servings of meat or alternatives (1 oz) includes cheese, eggs, peanut butter, legumes
• 3 45 cal servings of fats
• 2-4 condiment servings of 20 cal

The first few days I struggled to get to 1200 calories.  I was out and about and didn't have the reference with me.  By the end of the weekend, knowing it was your last time in a long time to chew food, it was really hard to stick to the program.  There is a cupcake splurge I must admit to being the lone participant in.  There were also many of my favorite healthier foods - spinach, corn, raspberries, and apples.

The first week had a high level of anxiety for me.  The idea of not eating was just so far out of my realm of possibility it was stressful.  There were nightmares and random feelings of being completely overwhelmed.

It's actually been less challenging to be on the liquid diet than to think about being on the liquid diet.

Veggies gone wild!

The challenge for April was about upping the veggie intake, but now the challenge got bigger. I've signed up for a program at the gym. It was supposed to be just a workout program, or so I thought.

But it's everything. And I'm now eating the Canadian Food Guide. For me that means:

• Vegetables & Fruit - 7 to 8 servings
  
• Grain Products - 6 to 7 servings
  
• Milk & Alternatives - 2 servings
  
• Meat & Alternatives - 2 servings
  

7 to 8 servings seems crazy. But I've mostly gotten it in since Saturday. Pretty proud of that. A little heavy on the fruit, but still, much better then my usual day. I'm ready for something to work for me. The trainer I'm working with lost 100lbs using the Canada Food Guide and exercise. This is the something to help me smash though the 220lb range down to below 210lbs. Think how much easier running will be when there's 10lbs gone!

Next I need to fill you in on how much water he has me drinking.

Running - Slow, Fat and (sometimes) in Pain

As promised in the bio this is a blog about a return to running. This month I made good on an early part of my plan. If I can't do it on my own, I need to get help.

So I've returned to the Running Room's Learn to Run program. It's what got me running outside last time. It's also where I met my running partner. My first night back I called speed dating. Only if there was someone as slow as me was I going to stick around. It was successful. And I was relatively fast!

We're three weeks in now and I'm not fast. At all. Not sure why I did so well the first night. Waiting for the magic to happen again.
The program to date is:

March 27th - Run 1 minute, Walk 2 minutes
April 3rd - Run 1 minute, Walk 1 minute x 10
April 10th - Run 2 minutes, Walk 1 minute x 7

You do your first at the time with the group on Saturday. Two more runs during the week on your own or with the Running Club at the Running Room. I've made it out to most Wednesday night runs at 6pm. Even made a Sunday morning.

This morning we tackle 3 min runs and 1 min walks. Wish me luck! I follow that up with a weigh and measure appointment for the Biggest Loser contest I've entered. It's going to be a big day.

OK2010A! Challenge #3 - Squat Challenge

Let's skip to #4. Since March is now over, it's official, the squat challenge was a failure. But here's the blog post I SHOULD have put up.


Operation Kick 2010's Ass is commencing part III. Every month gives you another chance to start fresh.

For the third challenge I want you to sit your way to success. We'll be taking on the 200 Squat Challenge. It's well documented at http://www.twohundredsquats.com. There's even an iPhone & iPod Touch app.

Your commitment to the Squat challenge will count toward the 30 minutes of activity a day you're doing for the January challenge. The recommend time for you to a lot to the program is 30 min week over 3 days/week.

Why squats?

1. They're a functional exercise. They develop muscles and motions that we use ever day.
   
2. You can attempt the challenge to suit yourself. If 200 is too easy you can ramp it up with bicep curls. Too hard and you can repeat a week.
   
3. Squats don't require a special place. You can do them anywhere. No need to find a piece of floor to lay on. If need be you can lock yourself in a bathroom to get your squats done!
   
4. Low cost. The only costs for the squat challenge is your time. No need to buy equipment or join a gym.
   
5. Long-term commitment to health and fitness. The challenge will take as long as 6 weeks, taking us into the middle or April.
   
6. Long-term success. Next time you take a core class, stability ball class or other fitness class you'll be laughing at the request for two sets of 12 squats. That's just over 10% of what you can do!
   

To recap:
January was about doing 30 minutes of activity everyday. You're still committed to getting'er done.
February created the habit of writing down your food each day. Keep it up!
March is about adding a functional exercise to make us all stronger at everyday tasks.

On your mark, get set, SQUAT!

Singapore Noodles Recipe

A go-to meal for me and the husband. Add in wonton soup and dumplings and sauce for the kids and it's a take-out cooked at home.

Singapore Noodles
Ingredients

• 1 T sesame oil
  
• 1 T peanut or canola or vegetable oil
  
• 4-6 tsp minced garlic
  
• 2 T slivered fresh ginger
  
  
• 1 cup cooked match stick sliced protein of choice (chicken, pork, egg white)
  
• 1 slivered onion
  
• 1 slivered green pepper
  
• 1 slivered red pepper
  
• 2-3 carrots turned into strips with peeler
  
• 1 sm zucchini turned into strips with peeler
  
• add other veggies as desired peas, beans, green onions, etc
  
  
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
  
• 3 T curry powder
  
• 2 tsp soy sauce
  
  
• package of rice vermicelli
  
• boiling water
  

Instructions

1. Heat cooking oil in wok. Cook garlic, ginger and onion until tender.
   
2. Start water boiling.
   
3. Stir fry protein until hot. Add veggies as desired and cooked to desired tenderness.
   
4. Make sauce with oyster sauce, curry powder, soy sauce. Add to veggies and protein.
   
5. Follow directions for rice vermicelli. Add cooked vermicelli to wok with sauce and protein. Stir.
   
6. Sit back and enjoy!
   

Would spaghetti squash noodles work instead of rice noodles? Let me know if you try it.

Slow Cooker Challenge

Taking on more than reasonable seems to be my regular plan. School, sick kids, running and the gym keep me pretty busy. But a desire to be a real 'blogger' had me jumping up yelling, "Pick me! Pick me!" when Ali of Fat to Fit was looking for volunteers for the Health Slow Cooker Challenge. (She even has a pretty image that I don't know how to include.)

I did it! I did! My day was Sunday and I cranked up the crockpot just after midnight with my oatmeal for breakfast. But my excuses are almost as good for exercise as they are for blogging. It's almost the end of Wednesday and I'm just writing it up now.

So breakfast was a grand success. Inspired by Steve Dinn's success at losing 101 lbs in less than a year I have followed his breakfast habit of steel cut oats.




Guess what? Steel cut oats are even better in the crockpot. I threw in a cup of PC steel cut oats and 3 1/2 cups of water and let it go all night. In the morning I dressed it up with a bit of sweetened cocoa and milk. Delicious!

Following that success I tackled an evening meal. I made my famous refrigerator soup. The recipe has many steps. Enough to write them in a loop.

if fridge is not empty:
---remove item from fridge
---if item is a soup ingredient
------put item in pot
---else place item on counter


Sundays soup was the result of a full fridge. It was full of wonderful health goodness. The ingredients included:
8 cup turkey stock
1 cup diced turkey
1/2 bag of frozen thai veggies
thinly cut spinach
onion
celery
salt
pepper
roasted herbs
OXO beef package
prosciutto
left over roast veggies (onion, carrots, celery potato & sweet potato)
summer savory
bay leaves

It was delicious. From the one spoonful I ate I can tell you that.

But I'm tired. And stupid. And I make mistakes. So I tasted it. We went out for supper. I came back and FORGOT TO PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE. Found it the next morning. So it's deliciousness is now hanging out in my compost. So sad.


Thank you to Ali for letting me take part in the Slow Cooker Challenge. You can find more great Slow Cooker Challenge recipes at:
One Day at a Time
Fat to Fit
La Fuji Mama
Happiness is a Journey for Janna
Shari Rocks a Lot
Embracing Balance

OK2010A!

This year has a theme for me.  It's about embracing the whole of my life and living large.

My theme for the year, Operation Kick 2010's Ass (OK2010A!), started January 4, 2010.

You're welcome to be part of it. You're welcome to ignore it. This is part of how I'm going to face 2010, because 2010 is about generally maximizing fun for me, my husband and the kids.

Want to join me?  You are officially challenged to 30 minutes of new activity every day for 30 days.

We're all busy. Some of us are parenting a number of kids, some of us have stressful jobs, some of us are in the middle of profound life changes. But your goal is to take on another 30 minutes of activity. Include your kids, do it at your desk, on the Wii, 3 sets of 10 minutes, 6 sets of 5 minutes; whatever it takes to get it done.

Walks, squats at the bus stop, a class, a swim, a run, a video... if you're struggling with how to get it done, ask for help. We've all got ideas and we've all got excuses. (I can help with coming up with excuses, too!)

There is no weigh-in. No need to point to a before and after. This is about feeling better and having more energy. About creating good habits and modeling good behaviour for others in our lives. The pride of accomplishment is your reward.

Eating better

Obesity Boot Camp taught me that the little things count. That I shouldn't be trying to change everything at once. That I shouldn't be focused on losing big amounts of weight over a little amount of time.

Since Canadians can't get on Biggest Loser, I kind of have to agree.

I think it was Health Psychologist Michael Vallis that spoke about a theoretical weight loss of 50lbs. That most of us would see success as losing 50lbs in 6 months and keeping it off for 5 years. According to him, long term success would look more like losing 10lbs over 3 months and keeping it off for a year. Then losing another 10lbs. Rinse and repeat until the last 9 months of year 5 you are at goal weight.

To do that? You make small changes and stick with him.

My small change last week was to drink 64oz of water everyday. To help me make it happen I've been putting a container of water (just for me) in the fridge each night to chill. (No more foot stomping and childish behaviour when the kids and husband use up all the cold water in the family pitcher).

It worked. I lost a 2.6 pounds.

This week my goal is high fibre cereal (Fibre 1 Honey Clusters) 5 mornings a week.

On Thursday I'll know if it worked.

Fibre1 Honey Clusters has the following nutritional information per 1 cup.
Calories 200
Fat 1.5g
Sodium 300g
Carb 43g (Fibre 13g)
Protein 5g

Plus it has 50% of my daily iron (something I need).

Running fat: Checking in

Still not running. Still not walking.
But! I did drop a couple of pounds in a week.
Running is still part of the equation, but here's a new interim goal. Losing 15 lbs by Thursday, December 17. So to keep track of where I was and where I'm going my starting measurements on October 8, 2009 were:

Weight - 224.4
Waist - 43
Left Arm - 14
Right Arm - 13.5
Left Leg - 26
Right Leg - 26
Hips - 52
Chest - 46

Running Advice on Weight Watchers

Just a couple of articles that Weight Watchers pushed out to me. Thought they might be helpful to others.

How do I move from running to walking? actually has some good advice. I think starting at two minutes would be too long for me, but everyone is different.

The bottom of Running 101 includes some suggestions on nice runs in Canada. I also liked this piece of advice, "Running is not sprinting. It is not done at a breathless, my-heart-is-going-to-explode-at-any-minute pace". So slow down and enjoy learning to run.

Advice for novice runners

A reasonably good article about getting back to running, or starting, while staying injury free from CTVNews.ca.
Advice for novice runners

I really liked their plan for starting. It's nice and easy. Nice and slow. Something just about anyone can do.

Week 1 - 1 minute run, 4 minute walk x 5 times
Week 2 - 2 minute run, 3 minute walk x 5 times
Week 3 - 3 minute run, 2 minute walk x 5 times
Week 4 - 4 minute run, 1 minute walk x 5 times
Week 5 - 5 minute run, 1 minute walk x 5 times

Maybe that's the plan for you.

Weekly goals to help get back to slow running: Water

The long term goal of this blog is to motivate me to get back to running. Since I've been mostly sedentary for about a month now, I've decided to set a simple goal each week. Hopefully all this prep will have me ready to hit my running circuit just a couple weeks after this baby arrives.

Facing down the 250lb mark again, after having been below it for 3 years might be a motivator, too. (For the record, my all time high weigh-in was 270lbs+).

This week I'm going to increase my water intake. I've fallen off the wagon in terms of healthy eating and drinking, so this is a simple step back.

Once upon a time I took a class about project management and the importance of having a plan to succeed. It's a good approach to accomplishing anything. Paraphrasing an excellent professor, a solid plan has at least:

1. A stated objective
2. The tasks required to complete the objective
3. A time frame to complete the tasks
4. A person assigned responsibility for the task
5. An estimate of required resources
6. Deliverable/Outcome

Finally there's a need to always look ahead to make sure that dependencies are accounted for and there are some contingency plans.

Drinking more water is probably more of a task, but I'll take it out a little further.

The objective:

• Drink more water

The tasks:

• Drink two cups of water before each meal & snack
• Take a travel mug of water when on the road
• Actually measure how much water goes in my standard drinking classes

The time frame:

• Drink at least 8 cups of water/day and keep it up for at least 3 weeks

Responsibility:

• That has to be me!

Required resources:

• Mug at work
• Ice cube tray at work
  

Outcome:

• A lot more time in the bathroom.
• Less last minute purchases of hot chocolate, juice, diet soda because there's no nearby cold water.
• More satisfied feeling from my meals and less likely to over eat.

The dependencies:

• Can't think of any.
  

The contingencies:

• Traveling this weekend might be a problem. I'll be sure to drag around a travel mug so I don't have to waste money and environmental resources on bottled water.
• Around the house I'll add a second jug of water to the fridge.
• Make it part of my nightly routine to fill the ice cube tray.
  

Wish me luck!
I know from experience that simple adjustments can cause big changes. I lost my first 5 lbs (in about 1999?) just by giving up Coca-Cola. Maybe this will help hold my weight for the next couple of weeks.