Would you fall in love too?

I was flipping through the channels on TV the other night when I came across Ge.orge Stroumbo.ulopoulos' show on CBC (A Canadian channel that is broadcasted to us near the border folks). That particular night he was interviewing Rubi.n "Hurri.cane" Ca.rter, a former boxer who was wrongly convicted and imprisoned from 1966 to 1985. Many of you may be familiar with this story if you're a big Den.zel Washin.gton fan because De.nzel played Rubin's character in the 1999 movie "The Hur.ricane". In the interview Ru.bin describes going to prison under the circumstances he did as the best thing that ever happened to him because it gave him the opportunity to get back to who he really was. George then asked if after he stripped down and saw the guy that he really was, did he like him. Ru.bin promptly responded that he loved him. He then began to tell the story of casting Den.zel to play his character, an experience he describes as "falling in love." That statement got me wondering exactly where he was going with this story. He said that during their first meeting he left the table to go to the bathroom and when he returned, Den.zel had also left the table. He feared that Den.zel had walked out on him. He looked around the restaurant and saw Den.zel near the front making strange gestures while looking in a mirror. After Den.zel returned to the table, and they began talking is when Ru.bin fell in love. He says, "I loved his vocabulary. I loved his attitude. I loved his stridency and I just loved his laughter." He adds that for a moment he began to wonder if all the years in prison had finally gotten to him then he realized that when Den.zel left the table he was clearing his canvas and preparing to portray him. When he returned to the table he was giving Ru.bin back to him and Ru.bin loved what he saw. You can watch the entire interview here.

While this was a very entertaining interview, it also got me thinking, therefore, I pose the question: If an actor or actress was sitting across from you playing you, would you fall in love too? Please share your thoughts below.

Now and Then

At the beginning of 2010 I decided that I wanted to be healthier. It was easier said than done but looking back I can see that I made a great deal of progress. I started out with a goal weight of 165 (which I later changed to 150). In mid-January I went for a health screen and wrote this post about knowing your numbers. I also took some physical measurement around that time. I recently went back for another health screen appointment. Let's compare -these measurements were taken a year apart almost to the day:

Weight: Then- 234.5, Now- 212 (I actually weight quite a bit less than this. I got on the scale in full winter gear- jeans, double layers of clothing and winter boots.)
Non-fasting Blood Sugar: Then- 106, Now- 85 (ideal is <140)
Cholesterol: Then- 165, Now- 151 (ideal <200)

Blood Pressure: Then 132/78, Now- 120/84 (ideal <120/80)
Waist Circumference: Then 42.5 inches, Now- 37 inches (ideal <35 inches)

In summary, I've lost > 10% of my body weight, my cholesterol went down 14 pts., systolic blood pressure dropped 12 pts., blood glucose dropped 21 pts and I lost 5 1/2 inches from my waist. Small changes can make a big difference. This is an excerpt from You on a Diet, one of the first books I read when I began my journey. I had highlighted this section:

"Losing 10 percent of the weight you've gained since you were eighteen (that's only four pounds if you've gained forty) can result in a decrease of 7 mmHg (stands for millimeters of mercury to measure the partial pressure of a gas) from your systolic number and 4 mmHG from your diastolic one. The message is clear: Drop your waist and you'll drop your BP."

And:

"Simply being overweight, especially have a waist greater than 37 inches (85 centimeters) for women and 40 inches (100 centimeters) for men, makes your body less sensitive to insulin..."

The nurse that I met with asked what I did to lose weight and the answer is actually really boring. I did all the things that we hear that we should do... exercise, eat more fruits and vegtables, decrease how much you eat, eat less fast food, switch from white to wheat, drink more water... She also asked whether I just knew what to do or if I did research. My answer to her was that I did research and not just a little, a whole lot of it. Going from knowing generally what I needed to do i.e. eating better and exercising to implementing it did not happen overnight. I did not use a weight loss program so I had to figure it out along the way. In retrospect, it took a lot of "brain washing" to get me to this point. I have read countless articles on eating healthier and exercising and sure enough, the things I read about daily began showing up in my habits. I didn't just get up one day and say "I'm gonna eat vegetables everyday." and then it just happened. It took a lot of trial and error to find healthy food and methods of preparation that worked for me. I am always looking for new recipes to add to my collection especially since this is not how I grew up eating.

Even though I made the decision to become healthier in January, I actually didn't start working out until February and it was very sporadic. As March approached, I was up to about four days a week and I kept that up until about May when the workouts became sporadic again. In June I started over and began working out five days a week, then I moved up to six days in November (something I never thought I could do). My food and exercise diary has days and weeks here and there of missing information before I became consistent. Even now I am still tempted to skip workouts or writing down what I eat but it occurs much less frequently than before.

The point I am making with these examples is that striving to be better today than I was yesterday is what really worked for me. I've had to recommit to this process many times since I began and today, a little over a year later, I am much closer to my reaching goals.

The Power of One Challenge- Week Four Recap

A day late... actually more like three. I just wanted to share how last week's weigh in went. I lost 2.4 lbs making it a total of 2.8 lbs down for the challenge. Yeah!!! Tomorrow is my last day of month three in the TurboFire/Chalean Extreme hybrid and those HIIT workouts are no joke! Last week I mostly cooked and ate at home so I was able to limit the amount of processed food in my diet. This week is a totally different story (more on that in this week's update). This week's project is to be the CEO of your life and plan your week out. My exercise plan is easy because I am following a schedule but I didn't plan meals for this week. Since it's time for grocery shopping, I am gonna go ahead and plan my meals for next week before I go shopping. I am also trying to be strategic and see how much I can save on groceries by shopping in my kitchen cupboards first and also clipping coupons. I am not much of a short term planner so hopefully this goes well :-)

My 2011 Goals

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wrote down these goals on New Year's Eve and fine-tuned them over the following couple of days. I will revisit these goals at least every three months and share updates whenever possible.

Fitness- This is the area I was most compelled to change last year so I will be continuing with it until I reach my goals.

-lose 55 lbs

-run a 5k, 10k, and poss 1/2 marathon (Unofficially completed the 5k)

-complete TurboFire/Chalean Extreme hybrid schedule (On month 3 of 5 currently)

-drink 64+ oz water daily

-plan meals for the week and eat healthy consistently

-do more Bikram yoga (I went back for my first class of the year last week. I also bought a one month unlimited deal on Living Social.)
-exercise in the morning (I am trying to become an early riser and it has not been easy. I would love to exercise first thing in the morning and know that that priority is out of the way as I go through the rest of the day.)

Finance- This year I feel most compelled to change this area. The ultimate goal is to become debt free.

-6 month debt diet (I won't be buying hair, skin or makeup products. I think I have enough to get me through 6 months. Plus I need to use up all this extra product around here. I am also limiting purchasing clothing to only when I change sizes and there is nothing in my closet that fits.)

-use coupons for grocery shopping and bargain hunt (I found some great online resources so now I just have to plan my meals for the week before grocery shopping and only buy what I need.)

-start investing (I opened a Sharebuilder account and bought some stock so I am on my way with this one.)
-pay off my car (I sent in the payoff amount so this one is done.)

-pay off at least 1 credit card

-be more fiscally responsible (I created a budget and began tracking my finances on Mint.com. I love it so far.)

Fun - Because balance is important...

-One vacation in June and mini-vacation for Christmas (weekend trip?). Spring break will be a staycation with maybe a day trip.

-date and socialize more - at least 2x/month (I was really bad with this last year so I will make more of an effort to be balanced this year.)

Other areas

-Be more organized at home (clean weekly, laundry biweekly, shred weekly, dust biweekly, get rid of clutter - as a med student this stuff piles up fast! I need to go paperless with my bills like yesterday!)

-Prepare for the next day the night before (I have never been one to prepare ahead for the next day  but I think this habit would serve me well and make my mornings smoother.)

-Have a more structured schedule daily ( I think I operate based on how I feel too often so I would like to have a little more structure.)
-Grow spiritually and serve more (I made a decent amount of progress in this area last year and plan to continue this year as well.)

What are your goals for the year?

The Power of One Challenge- Week Three Recap

Another week had flown by oh so quickly. Things have been pretty busy around here these days hence my missing last week's recap but I have been keeping up with my workouts and trying to stay on track with my eating. Last week I weighed in up 1.2 lbs from the previous week and up a total of 1.8 for the challenge. This week, thankfully, things have normalized a little and I am down 2.2 lbs from last week and 0.4 from my starting weight. Last Monday, I am not sure what possessed me to take home left over pizza from a meeting at school and in true self saboteur fashion I began craving it right before bed Tuesday night (the night before weighing in!). I caved in and had not one, but two slices. That might have something to do with those number for last week. Lesson learned. Someone else can take the leftover pizza in the future.

This week's Monday project was the same as last week's which is to write down your goals. I actually did this on New Year's Eve so I will finish up that post and share them when I get a chance. In other news, chocolate came back into my life after a brief hiatus. Life just wasn't the same without my post workout lowfat chocolate milk. I also went back to Bikram on Monday and it was as good as the first time. I left feeling rejuvenated. Today is rest day and as usual, it is well needed because I am sore!

How is your week going?

Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans Virtual 5K

I ran the Sisterhood's Annual Virtual 5k today and even though it wasn't a race, I am very happy with how I did. My two goals were to do the 5k in about 45 minutes and to run the entire way. The last time I timed a 5k I did it in 51:36. The Sisterhood used C25k to train for this 5k. Ya'll know I love C25k but I didn't follow the training schedule because of time conflicts with my current routine and I also wanted to give my shins a chance to heal properly. I did two thirty minute runs in December so my body wouldn't be in total shock. Here's my recap of today's run:

Mile1: speed 4.2, feeling good

Mile 2: starting to get tired, slowed down to 4.0

Mile 3: Woohoo, I can do it! Back to 4.2 mph and counting the tenths of a mile...

Mile 3.1: Yessss! Finally!

Six whole minutes faster than last time! I can't believe I ran the whole way (minus walking about 45 secs when I first got on the treadmill). I was dead tired when I finished and had a ridiculous runner's high. I was aiming for sub 45 minutes but I'll take 45:38! Next up: refuel and get in some core work and stretching.

Eggs, Spinach and Salsa with a whole wheat English Muffin and Cashew Butter

The Power of One Challenge- Week One Recap

Happy New Year! This week was pretty much uneventful- more of a getting back in the groove week. When I returned home on Saturday and hopped on my scale at home, I was 3.8 or so pounds higher than my Wednesday weigh in number from last week. I immediately began to fight the bloating from holiday eating by drinking lots and lots of water and cleaning up my diet. I got in my first TurboFire workout yesterday evening and weighed in today only .6 lbs heavier than last week. I was prepared for the higher number on the scale when I came home because I tend to weigh more on my scale at home than on others.

One lesson I did learn last Friday is that a fast food powered run = a bad run (for me). I had some chicken selects from McDonalds on part one of my trip home then went for a run an hour or so later. Oh lord! Indigestion plus the combination of little over a week of relative inactivity---> me struggling to keep going for the entire 35 minutes. It reminded me that there is a reason why athletes eat clean - seems to work out better.

I will be doing the Weekly Project for this week which is to write a letter to my "current self" from my "future self" in January 2012. In the letter I will detail my accomplishments and anything else that I would like my current self to know then tuck it away to read next January. I think this is a good way to set the tone of your upcoming year (we all know the power of positive thinking). Will be back with a post on my New Year goals in the near future :-).