Weight Loss: Doctor’s Orders

Was at the doctors for my yearly check-up. Verdict was, loose weight or get on 4-6 different medications. I chose weight loss. Therefore, Weight Loss: Doctor’s Orders. Therefore, I am going to give this blog another try. I thought I was ready last year but I still had fears and honestly with 80-100 hour work weeks, I just did not have the energy.

Getting Past The Fear

My fears have always been the fear of failure, however, I have failed more times than I can count so just another bad excuse. I think, I need to learn that as long as I am being true to myself and can stand by my actions, failure is simply part of the process.

Weight loss has ups and downs but mine has been more downs than ups. I kept telling myself, that it was ok if I did not loose the weight as long as I worked out. However, I went to the doctor as I had been feeling awful lately. My body was aching, I felt a burning painful feeling on my chest (right between my breasts) and my energy was less than 0. I had days where getting out of bed in the morning was a struggle. Not because of depression but simply because my body was tired. I had been feeling like this for a while but I kept pushing off going to the doctor. I kept telling myself:  “I was just being a wimp” or “I am just overworked, it will get better”.

Working With My Doctor

One day, I was headed home from work with my husband. We were walking up the stairs and he asked “why are you weezing and breathing so heavily?”. I thought to myself “gosh, have I become this overweight that I am out of breath just walking up the stairs?”. I thought it strange as I was still working out several times each week so my overall cardio should still be the same. Then the burning sensation started, it got worse and worse to which point I finally went to see the doctor. This was over a 3 month period.

It turns out my weezing was not from my weight but that my asthma had come back. Doctor thought it might have been triggered by stress. The burning sensation was from too much gastric acid, most likely due to both the food I was eating and stress. We did a bit more tests as I had not gone to a doctor in years. I still had high cholesterol and it was even higher. My blood pressure was on the cusp of being too high and my vitamin D levels were at a record low for me. All 3 signs of me being overweight taking its toll on me.

Another Option

I am not a fan of medication, if I can avoid it I will, but I accept if there are no other option. I had gotten my asthma medication and my medication for my gastric acid. Both were helping. However, when the doctor started talking about more medication for my cholesterol and my heart, I immediately said, no there has to be other options. The doctor of course candidly told me I needed to lose the weight and cut out as many carbs as I could. I agreed that I would do this and come back 3 months later. So weight loss, doctor’s orders.

My appointment is June 18th. I am now roughly a month in. I have lost 13.2lb (6kg), I have cut all carbs except for fruit. So I am not doing a full Keto diet (only berries allowed), but I am weighing everything, turning my squash into my alternative spaghetti option and eating only lean protein.

Right now it is 1 day at a time but I am ok with that.

Xoxo

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Training – Motivation at the Gym

I have always been of the mindset that, if I am going to the gym, I might as well make the most of it as the hard part is getting out the door. That is still the case for me but not in the sense you might think.

The past week I have gone 11 days out of 14. This does not mean that I give it my all every single time. It is about being smart when going to the gym. I do the full workout 3-4 times a week and the rest I do a simple walk or elliptical for 30-45 minutes. Those minutes are to help my joints not get completely stiff after a tough workout and it really helps. There is nothing worse than the day after a tough day at the gym and it hurts when you are trying to sit down. The walk the next morning, is the solution but never forget to stretch after a workout.

I was doing a bit of research online to find out how I could make the most of my workouts and most research agreed with what I am already doing. Whew! What a relief, cause I like my routine.

If you are looking to learn how to run longer or faster, most suggest 3 days of actual running and 3 days of some other exercise with 1 day of rest. Military.com, Runnersworld.com and Active.com vary slightly so all in all it depends on your motivational level. Military.com is what you would suspect. Hardcore with no resting days until you get to a pretty high level but they are starting you off slow to avoid injuries. Runnersworld.com has you set at 5 days of training and 2 resting days while Active.com has you average out at also 5 times per week but you can get away with 4 times per week but they do not specify if you need rest in between.

I know these are simple articles and perhaps not as trusted as medical advice or university research but when I do a simple google search for university level research, the results are not too dissimilar. John MacKenzie at Delaware University, also, suggests 5-6 days of training with 1-2 days of rest in alternating weeks. Although, his take, is slightly different from the articles I first found. He has you running all of the days but in different speeds, styles and levels. The Mayo clinic is similar to John MacKenzie’s style with 5-6 days of training but they are adding in more walking in between. This has been my primary style, when I have been training for a run.

I had never really done proper research on how I should be running or training for a run but it looks like, I was not too far off. Although, I am not training for a run (although I have one coming up next week), I am using the same principles for my workouts. And why will come in my next article about training, which will be about the balance between cardio and weight training.

I would not suggest that you start off with a 5-6 day training routine per week as for any starter that will be too much and you will lose your motivation. If you are a newly starter or you have a hectic schedule, go for a more manageable training schedule of 3 days per week but if you have a sedentary job, think about taking a couple of smaller walks during the day. Personally, I try to get to roughly 10,000 steps per day as that will add roughly 500 calorie burn per day. That is 1 pound per week, in weight loss or more of the delicious food that you like to eat. Mind you, this is for me and my current size, the smaller you get (are) the farther you need to walk to burn the same amount of calories.

I am no doctor or training expert but I have done my fair share of research and I have tested it all out on my own body. With minimal injuries, I would say, my recommendations are not too off. However, it is always important to listen to your body and seek medical advice if you are unsure or over the age of 40.

Let me know if you want to work out with me. I couple of you have already signed up to be a support 😀 Love it!

XOXO

 

 

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