Breaking down the basics...

Sidenote

I had my blog all written out for this morning, but I had to add this...  I was at the allergist this morning to get a shot.  Once you get a shot, it is protocol to sit in the lobby for 20-30 minutes prior to leaving (just to make sure you don't go into shock from the allergens that were just pumped into your body.)  Anyway, I was there sitting as far from the door as possible in the small lobby near the front desk.  Two men were in the lobby, one within 2 seats of the door and the other within 3 seats of the door. 

An elderly lady with a walker started coming through the door and was visibly having trouble trying to get the door open and her walker through it.  I hesitated because SURELY one of the men by the door would help.  But no.  They just sat there watching her.  So I got up, but by the time I got through the room, she was mostly finished.  To me, it doesn't have anything to do with being a man or a woman...if someone is having trouble, get up and help them.  For Pete's sake!  Now back to the regularly scheduled post...

I'm not sure if you can break down basics, since they are well...basic.  But if I'm going to go back to them, leave it to me (the Accountant) to break them down.  So far, so good as the scale is creeping down.  But I'm at the point now where throughout the past few months, I have started to sabotage my success.  I don't think I do it consciously, but now that I'm focusing, I think that as I start going down, I start making more bad choices.  It is my goal to break that cycle.

Food

Yesterday, I feel like I made decent choices.  For lunch, I had my leftover salmon from the prior day.  It was DELICIOUS and I'm so going back to that place.  About 2 hours after lunch, I had some leftover watermelon salad.  About 2 hours after that, I had a granola bar.  Oh wait, I had 2 granola bars...that wasn't a good choice.  Oops. 

For dinner, I attempted to grill cod.  I massively overcooked it.  I'm going to have to work on that a bit more.  For those of you that recommended the foil cooking...about how long do you keep it on the grill and do you have the grill set on high?  I think I need specific tips.  Ha!

So, I only ended up eating a few bites...I think if it would have been cooked correctly, it would have been great.  And I ate a cucumber.  But I was still hungry, so I had popcorn.  Not the best choice, but really, not horrible.  For dessert, I had a sugar free pudding snack.

All in all, I would say it was okay.  I feel sure I would have had a calorie deficit for the day, but I still have work to do.

Exercise

One thing I have found interesting is the changing limitations I find with my body.  At the beginning of my fitness focus, I was at least 50 pounds heavier than I am now.  As long as I moved, I would burn a crapload of calories.  I was mostly doing Jazzercise at first and I would burn at least 600 calories in an hour.  Well, you do that 3-4 times a week and the weight really goes off.  Of course, I wasn't doing most of the moves correctly, but I was still burning calories at the highest rate, so it didn't matter.

Then I started running and again, I wasn't able to run fast, but I would burn TONS of calories.  As I started to lose weight, I noticed that it would take more to keep my heart rate up.  But I could do more things.  For instance, I could do more high impact aerobics, so I could get my heart rate going.

But as I got more in shape cardio-vascularly (is that a word?), my body just didn't keep up.  Running would make my knees hurt.  High impact aerobics would make my feet hurt.  I would get frustrated because I just couldn't make my body do what my heart wanted.

Enter CrossFit, I think that if I make myself stronger, I will be able to do more.  Plus, CrossFit targets things differently than Jazzercise, so I'm not beating down the same body parts.  Last night, I felt great at Jazzercise and I think CF is helping me do it BETTER.  I was able to lunge lower last night than I think I ever have.  It didn't hurt my knees at all.  I think that since I can execute more proper form, I can do the moves more effectively. 

I'm not sure if this all makes sense, but my point is that there are always limitations.  Either your cardio limits what your body can do...i.e. for me that is running OR your body limits what kind of cardio you get....i.e. right now that includes Jazzercise moves that hurt my feet.  Regardless of where you are in your fitness life, there are limitations, there are obstacles and there are millions of excuses.  You just have to figure out your motivation to break through the limitations, overcome the obstacles and drop the excuses. 

Even though I LOVE Jazzercise and I would not give it up, I needed something to help me from another direction.  I think I have found that, at least for now.  I am extremely fortunate that I'm in a position where I CAN do both. 

I was going to post a picture of the gigantic bruise on my knee.  It is a doozy!  But the picture didn't turn out, so you will just have to imagine it.  Gotta get better at that lunge walking!!  :)

HUGS!!