The Photographic Evidence

Every so often it's really easy to get down in the dumps about your fitness program. Like me, this week. I've been felled by the astronomically high mold levels and haven't worked out in a solid week. And I'm starting to feel guilty, pudgey, guilty, plump, guilty, chubby...yeah, you see where i'm going with this.

To cheer myself up I decided to check the photographic evidence. I found pictures from before my first bootcamp and compared them to more recent ones. WHEW!! I may be feeling guilty and squishy but thankfully I'm not looking like I'm either.

Do you do that? Take before, during and after pics? It's a fabulous way to tell you are making headway, especially because so often we are the last ones to realize it. We look in the mirror but our head tells us what we think is true instead of believing what our eyes are seeing.

I mean, really...how many times have you thought "ugh, I'm so fat!" when in reality you are average? Or disparaged your body because everyone else in the group was complaining that they hate their thighs or their booty or their flabby upper arms? We've learned that it's more normal to dislike what we see than to like or even love it.

But stop for a moment. Take a few minutes and really look at yourself. Don't be harsh. Just...look. And see the changes you're making by all your work, your dedication. Isn't it time to believe what you're seeing?

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or find it not."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Vote for Stephanie for "Fittest in Austin"!

Stephanie McDonald, the founder of Austin Adventure Boot Camp, has been nominated for the 2008 3rd Annual Fittest Issue of Austin Fit Magazine. You can vote for her online. As an added bonus, when you do, you'll be entered to win either a pair of running shoes, a massage, a month of unlimited yoga or a $50 gift certificate to Chuy's.

It's quick, it's easy and you could win a nifty prize. How cool is that? So take a moment and vote. And if you win the gift certificate to Chuy's, you can always work off the chips and queso at camp.

Getting back on the nutrition wagon.

I've been with Austin Adventure Boot Camp since October '06. I've lost weight and now I have officially plateaued. I'm about 25-30lb shy of my 'ideal' weight. I say 'ideal' because I've gotten incredibly comfortable in the size I am right now. Which is great! But when I think about the goal I set out to reach I wonder if my saying I'm comfortable here is just a way for me to avoid the stress of achieving my weight loss goal. Probably. So I must move forward.

But why the plateau!? Well, I have to say my attendance over the last few months has been less than stellar. But also I've stopped paying attention to what I am putting into my stomach.
Yup, that's me. Mindlessly eating.
And it has to stop.

But what do I eat? Ever since I found out that I was allergic to everything and revamped my eating I've been on a carb overload, not because of any reason except that I love carbs. Plus, now that I have lost the majority of the weight I don't even know how many calories I should be eating. I had done an online calculator and it said somewhere in the 1700-1800 calorie range. *shrug*
So I contacted Nanaz and set up an appointment for a RMR test.
During this test you lay still (without napping) and just breathe while you wear a little mask. This mask is connected to a tube and the tube is attached to a machine and based on your breathing and I'm sure some other science that includes a calculation of my height and weight and how active you are, it spits out (with some help from Nanez) the number of calories you need to survive and the number you need to maintain your current weight.

So how did the online calculator do? VERY POORLY. AT 1700 calories I was eating 300 calories less than my body needs to just run. Not moving. Just laying there. SO in essence I've plateaued because I'm not eating enough calories. My body thinks I've abandon it!!
So with this knowledge, the plan is more lean proteins! More leafy greens! And don't trust internet calculators!
Next week I am going in to have my Vo2 Max test to find my prime workout heart rate and I'm excited. I've been wearing my heart rate monitor during class but I've not been paying attention nor, do I know how to read into the percentage of fat burned. Knowledge is power!
I'm really looking forward to the new meal plan too. Nanaz is going to set me up with different choices so I can pick and choose what I want out of what I need.

All very scientific and very interesting. I am looking forward to getting off this plateau!
If you are like me and have no idea what to eat, contact Nanaz, She's got some specials just for Boot camper so let her know what you need!

Smiling, Satisfied and Feeling Sassy!

Every now and then a rare day comes along where I feel great during boot camp. Sure, those lying leg raises still aren't fun but I'm doing them faster and with correct form. Today was one of those magical days, an everything-feels-good-day, with my recovery coming quickly and even the mountain climbers failed to get me down.

Disclaimer: Indian run still kicks it for me. But that was at the beginning of camp and I'd mostly forgotten it by the time we were halfway through our session of Fit Deck. Fit Deck is always fun, since you never know what's coming next. And I kept surprising myself by plowing through the exercises. I was sweaty and often breathing hard but had good endurance, for a change.

I think I've turned a corner in my fitness quest. I even held side plank balanced on the palm of my hand instead of my forearm. I didn't think I could but with quiet encouragement from another repeater (you rock, Peggy!) I did it. Everything felt just a little different today. Most certainly it felt easier, which is not, I repeat not, an attempt to goad my instructor into coming down harder on us tomorrow. I'd like to enjoy a day or two of "easier" at least.

I left camp in high spirits, which is a marvelous start to any day. I feel clear headed and strong and so very alive. It's a good day and I'm smiling, satisfied and feeling sassy. I feel like I look good, like the work I've done is paying off big time. I'm certain that it shows.

"This I do know beyond any reasonable doubt. Regardless of what you are doing, if you pump long enough, hard enough and enthusiastically enough, sooner or later the effort will bring forth the reward."

~Zig Ziglar~

The President's Challenge

I remember back in elementary school a certain time of year would roll around and our class would be given a national physical fitness test, the President's Challenge. I remember doing sit ups and push ups and some weird stretching exercise where they measured how far we could stretch. I hated it.

I was always the kid picked last for team sports. I was a nerdy bookworm, not an athlete. I sat on top of the monkey bars instead of swinging from them. So testing my "ability" and measuring me against everyone else was All American Grade A misery.

Now I can seek my revenge. The President's Challenge Program has been expanded to include adults. You can go on the website and download the test instructions and a form to fill in how you did. And when you go back and enter your information you'll receive an evaluation. You can even get the certificate! I never got the certificate. Yes, I may be a total geek for doing this when I know I'm healthier than I've been in a while, but I am soooo getting the certificate.

Vote for Us on Citysearch! "Best Alternative Workout"

Yes, the boot camp you love even when you're so sore you have to use the handicap stall in the office restroom has been nominated for the Best of Citysearch as Austin's best alternative workout.

Please help out by voting on the Citysearch site. You can vote once per day. All you have to do is click here and then click on the Vote button for Austin Adventure Boot Camp. Easy peasy! And you get to tell the city that your boot camp is awesome.

If you are a registered user of Citysearch, or take the time to sign up, you can leave your personal review of camp on the site. So not only do you get to vote but you can share why you believe we're the best!

I Have to Do What???

I'm not afraid to admit that I haven't been very diligent in my food choices in the last few weeks. It's difficult to walk away from the queso, you know? But queso, one of my favorite things, is not waistline friendly. Did you know that a serving of queso is supposed to be 3 ounces? Do you know how much 3 ounces is? It's two shot glasses of queso. I don't know about you but the bowl of queso that I usually dive into, umm, let's just say far exceeds one serving. And since I found out that I have to walk for 51 minutes or jog for 21 minutes just to burn off one serving of queso (not counting the chips) it is easier to not order it.

When I think about food in terms of how much activity it takes to burn that "fuel" I find that I'm less apt to cheat and eat unhealthy items. I have to eat better if I'm going to keep melting off my pudge and get down to that skinny chick that I just know lives inside me.

I'm not even going to get started on all my comfort foods. All I needed to know was that a Kentucky Fried Chicken's Original Recipe breast means an hour and 40 minutes of walking and 41 minutes of jogging. O.M.G. And mashed potatoes and gravy! ::::sigh::::

So how do you eat right but avoid bland food? I'm making out a menu for the next two weeks and on it are things like a grilled chicken breast salad with baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, red onion and a light drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. I have spaghetti made with lean ground turkey and whole wheat pasta on for lunch tomorrow. And you know I'm going to enjoy my seafood, too. I'll broil a filet of steelhead trout that's been seasoned with garlic, freshly ground pepper, a dusting of smoked paprika and a kiss of salt. I'll be eating well and enjoying every bite. What are some of your favorite great tasting and good-for-you meals?

"Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork."

~English proverb~

Exciting Times!

The end of a camp session and the weekend preceeding the start of a new one are always exciting times. You've seen how you can impact your fitness level in a small amount of time. Evaluations and measurements have been made and you're either satisfied or already planning to push yourself more come Monday.

I think it's amazing how devoting an hour a day even for as little as three days a week can change my body, slowly alter it. Slimming down, tightening up and showing off toned muscle is such a great reward for time spent sweating and pushing yourself to your limit. Or finding out that your limit has been raised and you can do much more than before, hey now that's rewarding!

So go try on those "skinny jeans" every woman has shoved in the back of her closet. Or that clingy dress or the mini skirt that shows off your legs. We all do that, set a goal for a piece of clothing we own. "I'm going to go to camp until I can wear the blue dress I bought for April's wedding last year but never got to show off." I moved recently, so you know I was trying on a ton of clothes and tossing them into piles. One pile was the giveaway mountain and the other was the save-it-until-you-can-fit-in-it hill. So back to camp I go.

A big congratulations to those who met their goals for camp. And for those of us still working toward our's I offer a heartfelt You Can Do It! I've had some setbacks in the past month and know what it means to feel like I've been treading water instead of moving forward. Come Monday morning I'll be at camp pretending that I'm a newbie and that's why I'm out of breath. :-) It's gonna be a wonderful boot camp!

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning...”

~Joseph Priestly~

Gearin' Up

Before I ever started out on my journey to fitness, I had athletic friends. Lean & tan cyclists, hardcore marathoners and triathletes have one thing in common: get them in a room and unless they're talking about their favorite post workout alcoholic beverage then they're discussing gear. Specifically, talk will turn to technical fabric clothing and proper foot attire.

You may not think that an hour of bootcamp necesitates a trip to REI, Academy or another sporting goods store but my fit and fab friends would say otherwise. Wearing the right clothes and shoes to camp will benefit you more than you realize.

Cotton tee shirts are fine to get dirty in but don't wick moisture away from your skin. Technical fabrics used in running, cycling and other sport clothing are manufactured to pull dampness away from your skin and to the outer fabric so that it can better evaporate. Your skin feels cooler and your clothes feel looser. Sweaty cotton tees have a tendency to grip your skin and leave you feeling as if you're wearing a wet blanket. Trust me, once you start wearing active wear made with technical material you'll never work out in a cotton tee shirt again.

Wicking socks are great, too. Drier toes mean less chance of blisters. It also means less stinky pinkies...if you suffer from odorous feet. There are different thicknesses of socks to choose from, some that are thicker and more well padded and others that are thinner. I like the thicker and more warmer socks in the winter and the thin ones for summer.

Running shoes are expensive. It's true. It's difficult to find a good fitting shoe for an inexpensive price. If you run often, keep track of your mileage. Running shoes should be replaced about every 300-500 miles, depending on a few factors. Serious runners will replace their shoes once every six months. But running shoes are essential for boot camp. The support and tread is exactly what you need to get you through the drills and runs.

Equipping ourselves correctly may seem like a small factor in the whole grand scheme of things but think of it this way: we're out there bustin' it, working toward our goals. Why not invest in the little things that will help us out, make us more comfortable and keep us at our best?

"Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action."

~Napolean Hill~