Ten Things to ponder for Tuesday

My friend Lauren posted this to Facebook yesterday and it just struck a chord with me. At one point in my life (not too long ago) I was doing all of these things. Now I would say my biggest problems are #1, #2 and #4. I have been making progress with  #1 thanks to the “Nice Girls Finish Fat” book – but it’s been tougher than I imagined!

What do you need to give up in order to move forward in life? Maybe it’s someone, maybe it’s something, maybe it’s the image of how things were supposed to be. One of my favorite song lines is from Matt Kearney’s “Annie” : “Maybe the hardest things are the dreams that we’ve been given”.  I love the line, but I can’t relate personally. My parents didn’t give me dreams – they pushed me to create my own. Now, I need to push myself to execute those dreams. I have been big time procrastinating lately, and it needs to stop.

My pal Jess blogged about not being able to relax – yeaaaa I have the opposite problem. I made a 12-point to do list this weekend and accomplished 1 thing. No lie. ONE! Insane. I need to get my butt in gear! Today is November 13th. I have 48 days until New Years and 78 days until I turn 31!  Time is slipping through my hands, while I sit on the couch relaxing. HELLO? Earth to Samantha? Let’s go!

So, in hopes of keeping myself accountable I have made a schedule for the next 3 weeks. Did I mention I have crazy (fun) travel coming up? I am in LA from Dec 3rd until Dec 15th for work visits and an upgrade. I’m excited because I have lots of LA friends to visit, lots of healthy food choices and a barre at my hotel gym! I’m nervous because I know myself and the temptation to drink every night and have dessert will be high. I need to keep up my gusto….which means I need to get my gusto going before I go. Capisce?

Here’s the plan from now until I leave. Color-coded (red = Danvers barre n9ne, purple = Andover bare n9ne, black = Zumba DVD). It might sound crazy but I am supposed to get 10,000 steps a day and Zumba accounts for 6,000. In my average day I get about 4,000 so I do hit my number, just not in the traditional fashion.

Now the challenge of “Can I stick to this?” sets in. I hope so! I do have pager, I do have friends in town but I can’t use those as excuses to fail! Write it down, make it happen!

Oh and Saturday if you’re looking for something fun to do come to Zumbathon hosted by my pal Stefanie Sweeney! She is the only Zumba instructor I like, and teaches one of my favorite barre classes (lean and tone).

You don’t have to be coordinated to have a good time (trust me)!

There we have my new mantras (let go, get moving, stop comparing) and my hopeful schedule. Please help me stick to it will ya?

Eating On Zee Road

En route from Boston to Los Angeles last night I had a great convo about eating while traveling. I was sitting in the waiting area next to a man in his late thirties/early forties reading Runner’s Digest (or something to that effect). I had packed a ton of healthy snacks for the plane and I was munching while waiting to board. On the roster was hard-boiled eggs, Greek yogurt bars from Rickland Orchards (love these!), cocoa almonds and Healthy Bites. What are Healthy Bites? I got turned onto them by Jess and Jo a few weeks ago. They are little protein bites in AMAZING flavors that keep you full for only 50 calories a pop. I ordered pineapple rum, cookie dough and toffee PB. All three were super yummy. More deets here.

So I bust out my snacks and Mister Runners Digest inquires about my choices. I explain my MO when I travel is to try to stick to what I normally eat within reason.

If I fly out in the morning, I eat something small before I fly then I have “breakfast” on the plane. A bagel slim with cream cheese or peanut butter, a banana or some other fruit and a granola bar as a snack etc.

If I fly out in the afternoon I usually try to have lunch before I go. If it’s not possible I will pack a wrap or stop someplace with wraps (au bon pain for instance) where I can also get the nutritional value.

If I fly out in the evening, like I did yesterday I will opt for a late lunch + some planned snacks. I never like having a heavy meal before flying.

So, I’m sharing my Healthy Bites and chatting about traveling and eating and Mister RD says “Oh I eat total crap when I travel” and points to a bag from au bon pain with 3 different croissants. I can’t lie – for someone in such great shape I’m pretty shocked he’s eating that kind of stuff!

But, I can totally relate. Traveling used to be a free-for-all where I would eat anything I wanted and calories didn’t count. However, when I would get dressed on day 3 or 4 of the trip and felt like a bloated mess I knew I had made bad decisions. Now, I do a LOT of planning (and contingency planning).

Flight to LA is uneventful. I avoid snacks beyond those I brought (though I will say, JetBlue has great snack offerings compared to other airlines. Especially their snack boxes. For under 500 calories you get a lot of food! Beef Up and Shape Up are my two favorites). I never drink soda in air carbonation generally does not sit well with me, add in 35,000 feet and you have the recipe for a stomach ache. Oh same goes for alcohol. I never drink and fly.

I get my luggage, get on the bus to get my rental car and suddenly I am bowled over by hunger. I do a quick tally in My Fitness Pal and I am under my goal by 400 calories. That explains the hunger pains! I get my rental car and quickly assess my options: 1. Stop someplace en route to the hotel to get a snack (though this will likely be fast food which I am very against). 2. Suck it up and drink water. 3. Wait until I reach the hotel and order room service.

I opted for door #3. I was thinking “If you’re really still hungry once we get there – then we’ll address it”.

I arrived at my favorite hotel, Hotel Palomar (its super cute inside, conveniently located to everywhere I have to be and best of all I love their restaurant!) and guess what? I’m still famished. The overnight menu is small,  but has some good choices including a cheddar/egg white omelet with arugula. I opted for that, ate about 3/4 of it and promptly fell asleep.

This morning I was excited for room service (be honest, it’s the best part of traveling!) and even more excited to see they had chilaquiles (Mexican tortilla strips baked with spices and peppers, topped with an egg over easy). 450 calories and AMAZING. Not to mention “stick to your ribs” hearty. I think that’s important in a breakfast – it needs to last you until whenever you eat next because snacking may not be an option.

I’m heading onsite to see my clients now and I know we will do 1 of 4 places for lunch. Luckily all have really healthy options. After the site visit I am hitting up the hotel gym and doing a 30 min Zumba workout. Did I mention I bought this? Love it!

Then tonight I’m seeing Rachel and Kelly (two gals I used to work with, both sweethearts) for dinner at a wine/tapas place I’ve been to before with Rach. They have lots of options, some healthy and some a splurge. All in all I know I rocked today and will start preparing for tomorrow’s adventures!

What tips do you guys ave for traveling? How do you adjust to time differences and eating?

P.S. – My flight from Boston departed at 7:22 so I got to watch the sunset all the way across the country as I reached LA. Pretty freaking cool! I snuck a shot with my camera phone. Please don’t tell TSA!

 

Just Breathe.

Sometimes life is so overwhelming that you log in 17 times to blog and all you come up with is:

 

 

breathe.

 

 

Yup, that’s it.

I’m crazy right now – with emails and phone calls flying at me from all angles. I have deadlines looming and friends I haven’t called in so long it’s not funny and trips I need to book. But overall, I need to stop for a second and BREATHE.

So work is nuts (but honestly when is it not???). I’ve got a bazillion projects floating around me ~ I need to start implementing the to-do list to keep track of what’s next!

I’ve been rocking my food intake – sticking to my number like glue while still having the occasion amazing treat (currently in the roster: Talenti gelato. OMG a little goes a LONG way and it is DELICIOUS!). Best of all it’s made with real ingredients that you can pronounce!

I’ve been rocking my exercise (hello Zumba, I love you! hello barre, I love you too!). I have a lot of travel coming up and my priority has been finding a hotel with a good gym + finding things I can take with me to spice up my workouts. I’m heading to LA next week and I’m bringing Zumba DVDs and a barre DVD. Nothing competes with a class ~ but doing *something* is better than doing *nothing*.

Sleep? Yeah well, that’s not happening much these days. I need to disconnect. I need to turn my brain off. I need to find my sound machine – that seemed to help last time I wasn’t deprived of Z’s!

Most of all – I need to breathe.

Mumbo #5 Monday!

This morning I have this song stuck in my head and I swear it makes me want to Zumba! It was the catchiest freaking song back in 1999! (Sidenote: I was always sad he didn’t say Samantha in his little homage to the ladies!).

So last Monday I went with my friend Layne to Stefanie’s Zumba class and I LOVED it! Holy tomato it was hard!! (thank you Julianna for that cute phrase!). I literally was a WRECK when I left – but it was great! I found out my gym offers Zumba 4 nights a week so I’ve arranged this week’s schedule to add in some of those classes. I needed a cardio I liked doing and I think I FINALLY found it. An hour on the dreadmill is just that, DREADful. An hour of Zumba literally flies by! I had considered this back in my bellydance days and I thought it wouldn’t be up my alley. Now my goals and preferences have changed. I need something sweaty and fast-paced ~ Zumba fulfills that need.

Wanna come Zumba with Stefanie? barre n9ne is hosting a Zumba dance party on September 07, 2012 @ 6:30pm. Register here: http://www.barren9ne.com

So how did my last week go? I was in NYC from Tues-Fri. I was emailing with FitBit tech support Friday because my 67 total blocks (5.3 miles!!)  of walking WERE NOT REGISTERED on my device!!! Booo! But, I did it. I wore my old school pedometer and I walked my butt off AND I went to the fancy gym at my hotel to get a little impromptu 55 min circuit in before work one morning. I was proud of my food choices – but disappointed in the number of cocktails I drank. That’s not me. I’m not someone who drinks every night….and I drank Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! Granted I counted those calories (thank you Jess + Jo for calories on wine/shots – I saved that post in my phone). White wine = 150 cals a glass. Tanqueray and tonic w/ lime also = 150 calories. But, I need to remember that just because I’m traveling doesn’t mean I can go off my normal program.

I realized during this trip that I am NOT a city mouse. I like the city….but I am a country mouse at heart. I like trees. I like driving. I like fresh air and open spaces. NYC doesn’t have any of those.

Sunday morning I decided to try barre n9ne cardio w/ my fabulous friend Stasia. Holy TOMTATO ~ it was brutal. I sweat through my clothes + my hair was drenched. I’d call that a success! FitBit (still acting a fool and not displaying correctly unless synced) says I burned 1400 calories and got 4200 steps. SCORE!

This morning I faltered – I set 3 alarms and still managed to sleep until 6:45 – missing barre method. Alas, I had a backup plan. Tonight I will do Zumba @ the gym + a 30 min circuit set with light weights. It’s not the same, but I will still get a good calorie burn. Tomorrow I will do barre fusion in the evening. Wednesday is Zumba + circuits. Thursday is barre method with Jo (and Jess!) and Friday is TFFR and cardio sweat-fest at night. BAM!

I feel like I’m back. I have a plan for the week ~ I have some back-up options built-in just in case….I’m on point. I will kick August’s ass!

Negativity, next steps and “now”….

First and foremost thank you all so much for the comments, emails and love after my mini-meltdown last week. It really means a lot to me to have so many wonderful people in my life (and in my corner) who support me and want to see me succeed! You guys are the best!

Second,  I feel compelled to say this because I think my frustration with my body and my weight was taken out of context by some. I love barre n9ne – but I am not sponsored by them nor am I affiliated with them in any role other than as a paying client. I buy classes or challenge packs just like everyone else who attends. When I say I’m upset that I’m coming 5 times a week and not seeing a difference I am NOT saying “barre doesn’t work”.  It is a great form of exercise with great people, otherwise I wouldn’t patronize it. That said, I cannot give it or anything sole credit for my failure or success. At the end of the day I am responsible for my body. My food intake, my steps, my exercise are all dependent on me and my level of effort at that given moment. I’ve hit a plateau and barre isn’t “to blame”. I hope that’s clear. I will still be enjoying barre workouts at barre n9ne as a tool during this journey, I will just be supplementing it with some tweaks (see below).

Moving on I have accepted where I am (which I think is one of the hardest parts of this whole journey – accepting your state of mind/body at a moment in time…. especially when it’s not where you wanted to be or thought you’d be). Being jealous of people around me isn’t going to get me where I need to be. Neither is dwelling. Lying to myself only placate my mind, it doesn’t help my body or my spirit.

As Baz Lurhmann once said:

Don’t waste your time on jealousy;
Sometimes you’re ahead,
Sometimes You’re behind.
The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

In the end I am only accountable to myself and only I have to live with myself and my decisions. If I did give up I would disappoint a bunch of you – but I would devastate me. I didn’t come this far only to turn back now. I’m gotten over the hardest part! I lost my first 100 pounds, I’ve changed my lifestyle – now I just need to tweak in order to keep moving in the right direction. Fall down 7 times, get up eight.

So what is my new plan?

4 times a week: barre classes (3 classes of either TFFR, method, barre fusion or cardio and 1 class of legs/arms/mat fusion/lean and tone). I really want to pump up the barre. I think that will be where I see the most “bang for my buck” if you will.

2 days a week of circuit training + cardio at the gym. Once upon a time I had a personal trainer who advocated a 20 mins cardio, 20 min circuit, 20 min cardio set. I need to add that back in again.

2 days a week of pure cardio (trying ZUMBA! today with Stefanie!  ~ also lined up to try CrossFit and spinning. I’ll give anything that gets my heart rate up a go!)

I’m ready to kick it up. I know the next 30 days are going to be killer (especially with the aforementioned travel thrown in) but ya know what? That’s life! Life is never going to be this perfect linear progression. There will be hiccups and setbacks and changes, it’s not always going to work out as I plan.

Speaking of perfect, I wrote my last post and never even realized I used the word “perfect“. There is no such thing. My mom used to always joke “There was only one perfect person and they crucified him”. Region aside, NO ONE is perfect. I can’t expect that of myself. Not in work, not in fitness not in life. Life is not perfect.

I’m committed to kicking ass the next 30 days ~ so committed that I made myself a calendar inside Gmail with the aforementioned schedule.

In addition I will be eating my number + sticking to 10,000 steps a day. I sleep better and FEEL better when I get those steps in. Why stop a good thing!? I’m also excited  because for the next 30 days I have NO PAGER for work. Wooo! I will mot likely resume my responsibility in September – but this gives me a full 30 days to dedicate to myself after hours. I’m excited to see how it goes.

That’s where I am. Thank you all again for being real with me – for sharing your missteps and setbacks, it’s nice to know I’m not alone!

A good reminder:  You have to have a setback in order to have a comeback….otherwise you settle in your setback.