Tag: weight

Health, Journal

Doctor Day! My Results Are In!

brendanolen

After 10 years, I am still med free and can officially say I no longer have type 2 diabetes!
A few months back, I went into the doctor weighing 207 with an A1C of 6.9 (normal is 5.6 and below). Keep in mind, I hadn’t been to the doctor in over 5 years and had been eating just about anything I wanted. His instructions were to lose 20 pounds and fix my diet.
So, I pretty much gave up all carbs during the day and ate whatever I wanted for dinner (but stopped eating almost all sweets of any kind, including sugar-free). The first thing I noticed was my desire for food began to lessen. I am now at the point where I may eat a meal and a half to two meals per day. I am just not hungry during the day but I eat something so I don’t get ravenous (and start shoveling any food into my mouth).
Today was my follow-up visit and I managed to lose 17 of the 20 pounds and brought my A1C down to 5.8! Do you see that? I am .2 above normal! It was so funny: he was reading through my blood test results, “kidney function is good, liver function is good, no diabetes … ” and I yelled, “WHAT?” (I think I scared him a little). The rest of the results were perfect. This time, his instructions were to keep doing what I am doing and mostly focus on my weight (I will mostly focus on what I put in my mouth and maybe incorporate some actual exercise if it ever cools off here in Central California).
There is one issue that it turns out I have had since I was 18: gallbladder. I had a CT scan in July and there was a gallstone. He asked about pain, I described the intermittent pain I get, and we came to the conclusion that I have had a messed up gallbladder for 30 years. I have gone to multiple doctors over the years for the pain but they all said there was nothing wrong (even went to the Emergency Room out at County about 15 years ago and after doing no tests, the doctor told me my pain was an ulcer). So, I am waiting for a referral to a surgeon. If I can get this taken care of, I will be even more unstoppable! 🙂

Fitness, Health, Journal

A Year Today – Cancer and Kettlebell Swings

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It has been a year today since my husband’s surgery to remove a polyp that turned into a cancer diagnosis. It has been one heck of a roller coaster ride. I spend my days alone, while he is at work, yet when he was in the hospital I was like a little child, lonely and weepy, eating everything I could get my hands on, drowning my sorrows in food. It was awful!

Then, when he got home, it was time to play “What can he eat?” It has taken a year for him to be able to eat the fattier cuts of meat without pain or it running right through him. With that year of food uncertainty, I let myself go. It didn’t click how bad it was until I stepped on the scale and it lied to me, telling me I was 201 pounds. I tried it three more times before I realized it was correct. June 3, 2015 (15 days before his surgery) I weighed 176. That was the last time I weighed myself until this month.
I am happy to say that not only is he STILL cancer free but he has decided to begin exercising to build up his strength! So, while we slowly figure out how low carb/keto he can go, I am taking it slow. Very low/possibly keto during the day, then a normal dinner together (which is much better now that there are no children in the house again). And this is my current favorite exercise (which I have already posted on my Facebook page, so sorry about the duplicate):


Kettle Bell Swings

I actually read about them in the “4 Hour Body” by Tim Ferris. I knew what a kettlebell looked like. Heck, I even carried one into the house when my son was moving but I had never looked into exercising with it. So, I stole it from him (well, borrowed it). I began lowering my carbs and exercising March 29th. Day one, I managed to do 20 kettlebell swings. That was it for the week. I was wobbly and sore. The next week, I did 26 swings. This week, I have done 30 on Monday and 48 today. Since March 29th, I have lost a whopping 2 pounds according to the scale but I have lost 10 inches all over my body!!!!

My goal is to work up to 3 times per week with as many as I can do while still keeping good form. I can truly feel this all over my body (in a good way) so this is the exercise I am having hubby do. Thanks to the work he currently does, it won’t be too long until we will have to purchase a heavier kettlebell (since his first day he did 50, which was Wednesday … I need to write that down).

This exercise has not aggravated my carpal tunnel (which decided to flare a bit, thanks to writing a book) or a gem of a gangleon cyst that formed at the base of my right middle finger (no, I didn’t get it from overuse) OR my still-slightly-tweaky shoulder. I am hoping to take almost-before pictures tomorrow (kinda hard when I am alone). Not sure if I will post those or hold onto them to include with “progress” pictures.

Fitness, Health

Four Things Nobody Tells You About Successful Weight Loss

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I know I just told someone that this way of eating was like a marathon but I was wrong (and Dick Talens was right). You need to read this article.
Four Things Nobody Tells You About Successful Weight Loss

Here’s a preview of the article:

  • #1: It’s More Like Learning a Language Than Training For a Marathon
  • #2: You Will Face Numerous Crushing Setbacks
  • #3: Other People Will Annoy the S#!t Out of You
  • #4: Your Journey Is Never Over
Journal, Level 1, Levels 2 And Above

Carb Reloading

brendanolen

I’m not sure how “normal” my thinking is. I’ve always been a “what if” kind of person. If you have looked at my website (wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t … it’s still pretty pathetic) or my other blog, you can probably see a ‘theme’ of what ifs: What if you lose your job? What if there’s a natural disaster? What if, for some reason, you can’t purchase what you need at a store? I believe in food storage. Over the years, I can think of at least 3 times when, if it hadn’t been for my food hording … I mean food storage, we would have starved (extended unemployment). So, when I began this Keto journey, it was a blessing and a curse at the same time. What kinds of foods do I have stored? Nothing I can currently eat! If we were in a true survival situation, there would be no way for me to get in the fats and protein that I currently live off of and that makes me angry at my body. I’m also currently “stuck” at this weight and have been playing around with my carb amounts, so when I read this article this morning, I actually let out a sigh of relief. I know that what she is saying is basically what Dr. Atkins himself suggested, even in his original book. In his books, you start out really low in carbs, then slowly bump them up as you get closer to your goal weight. My issue is, I feel like I’m in this delicate balance, since I don’t really have a goal weight. I have a goal fitness level/clothing size/blood sugar/measurements/etc. As much as I love this way of eating, I don’t want to HAVE to eat this low of a carb amount all my life (nor go back to my pasta with a little meat diet). Just knowing that someone (though a generally healthy non-diabetic someone) was able to transition into a much higher carbohydrate consumption while remaining fit, cut, and healthy has eased my mind quite a bit!
http://robbwolf.com/2014/03/21/carb-reloading/

Fitness, Journal

New Weight Training Program

brendanolen

I’ve added a new weight training program to my Physical Training page. So, why am I doing this? Well, because I’m bored. I’m bored and tired of having to remove exercises from my training because of my shoulders. So, while I was trying to work myself into training mode this morning, I stumbled on an article posted on Fitocracy. I have enjoyed every article I have read on T Nation but this one got me really excited. Why? Well, let me tell you. 🙂


Bodybuilders have always held a special place in my heart. I have never sat there, looking at Arnold, thinking, “I want a man like that”. I have always thought, “I want to look like that!” Not really (I LIKE looking like a female) but I love muscles. I always have. I read Muscle and Fitness, watched Pumping Iron (and Pumping Iron 2), read up on supplements, etc. and that was all in high school, when women in the weight room were frowned upon by all those manly football/P.E. coaches (fast forward 30+ years and almost 100+ pounds and I finally began weight training). So, when I started seriously thinking (that’s the key term) about implementing weight training, I ran across Arnold’s book, “Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding” at a thrift store. What luck! I paid $4 for this massive book! I read it cover to cover, then wrote down all the exercises I needed to do, … that was in August of 2012 (remember, I didn’t actually start any weight training until August of 2013)!


In August of 2013, I took another look at the exercises and training schedule and knew I would burn myself out (or hurt myself) if I went from absolutely no movement whatsoever to that. That’s when I found Omar Isuf on You Tube. His basic program was perfect, and still is despite my shoulders. I am much stronger and more fit than I can remember being. Now I feel like I need to step it up a notch.


So, I found this article today: Reg Park’s Three Phase 5×5 Program. So, who is Reg Park, you may ask? Well, not only was he the hunky Hercules throughout the 1960’s (check out this picture from Hercules In The Haunted World from 1961)


BUT he was Arnold’s inspiration for becoming a bodybuilder. AND, if I can’t yet workout like Arnold, then why not work out like his mentor? So, beginning today, I am beginning Phase One of Reg Park’s Three Phase 5×5 Program (if you are interested in reading the article or checking out phases two and three, please visit this link).


Reg Park’s Three Phase 5×5 Program
Phase One
45-degree back extension 3×10
Back squat 5×5
Bench press 5×5
Deadlift 5×5
Rest 3-5 minutes between the last 3 sets of each exercise.
Train three days per week for three months.
The only special equipment I do not have is anything to do the 45-degree back extension on but I will! Remember that first video I posted regarding my shoulder stretches/exercises? Remember the stool he made? I will use that and hook my feet underneath either the drawers or bottom of the desk we have in the garage (It’s a big, metal, heavy 1960’s behemoth). So, now that I’ve spent the entire morning on this, it’s time to get busy! I’ll post updated stats tomorrow morning.

Fitness

6 Habits of Highly Effective Lifters from Muscle and Fitness

brendanolen

Most of the time, I toss these things aside (well, I read them first, say to myself, “Yeah, right” then forget them). This one, I actually agree with (all of it). They even talk about the benefits of fat in your diet! The first slide talks about carrying exercises. I am no fitness guru so I had to look some of the exercises up (thank you, Google). One was called a farmer’s walk. It showed the guy with special handles on barbells that you lift, then carry around. My first thought was, “Heck. Load up a wheel barrow with concrete blocks or bricks!” (which is what I was doing for the first few months after we moved in here). AND for all you who have been shoveling snow, you’ve all been getting quite a workout with no extra equipment required!
BUT what struck me was the carb cycling. I think that is what has changed my weight loss/fitness for the better. Since I finally got back on track (after the great Christmas cookie binge of 2013), I haven’t been consistent with my carbohydrate intake. One day I might get in 10 (at the most … I refuse to give up my dairy in my coffee) and the next I’m right there around 20.
I’ve also started basically doing this with my exercise. I’m adding a little more weight until I can’t handle it, then dropping it down so I can complete my sets. Also, swapping my standard cardio for digging in the dirt (after the second day, I was amazed at how much my stomach, shoulders and biceps hurt from throwing those shovels of dirt) has actually lengthened my cardio times. I went from doing 20 minutes, then dying, to 30 to 40 minutes before my muscles give out BEFORE my lungs. I’m loving that aside from my added strength, I’m seeing physical progress in my yard. I know I have a before picture of that stupid mound of dirt somewhere … I’ll find it then do a video or just take an after picture when I’m ready to build the raised bed.
Anyway, take a look at their suggestions. I’m so surprised!
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/news-and-features/galleries/training/6-habits-highly-effective-lifters