Wellness Wish: "three outa five ain't bad"

Darn--I missed my goal! I planned to work out five days each week, and I only worked out three! However, I made progress!

I gave my valentine a Fitbit on Valentine's Day and liked it so much, I got one for myself! We've both been paying attention to our heart rates, exercise, sleep, diet, etc . . . it's been very educational! I'll be writing more about my Fitbit in future posts--I love it.

On Monday, I had planned on going to Sport and Health to work out, but the roads were icy, so I was stuck with the treadmill in our exercise room for the morning--hey, it works. 

Now that the snow is gone, I've had a chance to go to Sport and Health to work out. So far, I've had two dates with a cross-trainer. This one is different from the ones I've used in the past--it moves laterally. I liked it--my legs felt like jello when I was finished, but my heart rate didn't go too high. Perfect!

Now, I just need to build a habit of going to the gym . . . daily! I do have a lot on my plate, and it is hard to fit one more thing in, but it's so worth it. I'm worth it. The next challenge is making it to the gym at the proper time to be able to join a class!

Life is good--cheers!

Wellness Wish: metrics and establishing a baseline

Wow, it's been a busy week! Last week, I was in an Army course, the Enhanced Financial Management Training course (bootcamp for the CDFM certification exams), and I had the flu, so I wasn't able to fit in much exercise. However, I am back in the game. The week before last, I worked out at 0400 on a treadmill three times and established the following baseline: incline 5, speed 3 (to keep my heart rate below 145). I have a lot of room for improvement!

This Valentine weekend, I joined the Sport and Health near my home and learned that there is a discount for Booz Allen employees--how great is this?!

I'm excited about the variety of classes offered there--yoga, pilates, and something called bodyflow, which is a combination of yoga, tai chi, and pilates. I was hoping for a barre class, but I'm looking forward to getting off of the treadmill and trying something new! Unfortunately, it snowed today, so it was another treadmill day. My goal is to workout at least five days each week, with one day on the treadmill in order to measure my progress.

For those of you who are curious about your own target heart rate, the following chart is from the American Heart Association:

For Valentine fun, we went wine tasting at Trump Winery and Barboursville Winery (red wine is heart healthy!)--yum! 

Cheers!

Wellness Wish: another journey begins

In 2010, I began a fitness journey—a challenge. It was more than a challenge. I decided to run a half marathon and raise $2400 to find a cure for Leukemia and Lymphoma with Team in Training. It was a wonderful, life changing journey that led to three more half marathons. I blogged throughout that journey, sharing my trials, triumphs, and lessons with others.

I’m about to embark upon another journey. A year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with a thoracic aortic aneurism, and it has drastically affected my lifestyle. It is critical for me to watch my blood pressure, I’m not supposed to lift more than 40 pounds, and I’m not supposed to allow my heart rate to rise above 145 bpm when I exercise. This is difficult for a normally active person, and the result has been my turning into a much less active person.

In December, I entered a wellness wish challenge via my employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, and I was given a grant of $500 toward my wellness wish. What is my wish? In a nutshell, I want to find a way to improve my fitness in such a way that it doesn’t stress my heart and increase the size of the aneurism. I want to be able to enjoy activities like hiking, kayaking, and tennis, yet keep my heart rate low and not stress my heart.

I’m going to use this grant to pay for a health club membership that offers a variety classes such as yoga so I can gradually increase my activity levels while maintaining a low heart rate. I’m also going to learn about heart health and ways to lower my blood pressure and heart rate through my diet. As in 2010, I’m going to share this journey—trials, triumphs, and lessons—in a blog so that others may follow along with me. Please join me on my journey!

Fitness and Nutrition Tracker

As many of you know, I'm training for another event,  Nike Women's Half in DC. With my recent injury and the asthma treatments I've been undergoing, I've felt very "out-of-shape." So I've kicked it up a notch and have changed everything I'm doing to train--eating, rest, workouts . . . everything. My challenge was tracking everything.

Then a friend introduced me to LiveStrong's online tracker. It's amazing, and it's free. With it, I'm tracking my weight, food intake/calories, and workouts. The calorie tracker has a search function to make tracking easier. If you are having the same challenge, I encourage you to check it out!

I'm so motivated--bring it on!

NWM 2011: Reflections

Soaking our tired feet in the Pacific Ocean

1. There is nothing quite like good friends coming together for a common cause.

2. Overcoming a challenge is exhilarating.

3. Cancer sucks. 


4. Bag Balm works better than Vaseline to prevent blisters.

"Julie" for a day! (My race shirt is in Arizona)

5. Cold saltwater feels wonderful on blistered feet.

6. It is unwise to run in new shoes (even if they are Mizunos).

7. Check the hotel room one more time before leaving (or don't forget a bottle of good wine in the hotel room).

Cheers!

8. Good friends + Irish pub (The Chieftain in San Francisco) = Win!

9. Don't park in a bad neighborhood (especially in a large city).

10. Remember to train before the next race. Really.

Attack of the allergens!

This plant is trying to kill me. OK, it may not be THIS plant . . . but some plant out here is trying to kill me--I'm sure of it! If you are planning to spend time at Ft. Huachuca, come prepared with allergy medication!

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Family Visit

Tyler and my parents came for a visit recently during Tyler's winter break. It was great to take a few days away from the Army and focus on family. It was windy while they were here, but I took them to see the San Pedro River, then we wandered around Tombstone and watched a gun fight.

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Leaving Ft. Huachuca

Remember when I had pneumonia? And pushed myself a little farther than necessary while I was ill (Warrior Dash)? Well, I need some time to recover from my previous illness . . . But I've learned my lesson. I will listen to my body moving forward--I realize now that I am not superwoman (shhhhh, don't tell my kids!). Don't worry--I'm OK. But my immune system was compromised, and the elevation and allergens here are taking advantage of the situation!

Darn, I really wanted to be superwoman. At least I'm still Mary Poppins . . .  ; )

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Travel

What am I doing now that I'm leaving Ft. Huachuca? In December, I finished the contract I was working on in California, so I'm looking for another contract. I'm planning a trip to Washington, D.C. in May--I'd love to live there again! I'm also planning trips to Hawaii and London in the near future . . .  Life is good!

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Tyler took this picture of the desert sunset--beautiful!

Split Pea Soup--Who knew?

In my last post, I wrote about P90X and training for my APFT. Well, along with the training comes the nutrition piece. Not only have I changed my work out, but I've also drastically changed my diet, and it hasn't been easy.

I'm accustomed to eating whatever I feel like eating--pasta with rich, cream sauce, tirimisu, yummy red wines (not all of those together) . . . Yes, I do like to eat! And I'm active enough to get away with eating whatever I want to eat.

But I'm changing my ways to get as fit as I possibly can. Seriously. I've given up my favorite red wines (actually I gave up all alcohol, but I mostly drink red wine), sugar, and caffeine. I'm also moving away from dairy and gluten, and I'm paying close attention to everything I put into my body. I want everything to count. It's been difficult.

The P90X program has a three stage nutrition plan, starting with low carbs, then adding carbs in the next two stages so you can learn how carbs affect energy levels. I'm not really sticking to their program, but rather trying to eat the best foods possible, and eating carbs when I need the energy most.

I've been eating a lot of raw veggies, but that is getting old. So I was shopping the other day and saw a bag of split peas. I always loved my mom's split pea soup--it's comfort food! She makes it with a ham hock, and it's yummy! So I looked up the nutrition facts and learned that 1 cup of split pea soup has 29.9 grams of carbs (4.8 g fiber), 2.3 grams of fat, and 9.7 grams of protein credit. Not too bad! And I feel like I've eaten something substantial when I'm finished--not that I'm trying to lose weight. It just seems that everything healthy appears to be diet food!

I'll have to admit that my split pea soup is not my mother's split pea soup. I leave out the ham hock (ham hock adds a lot of flavor), and I barely add enough salt to taste it, but it's still good. Now I just need to find some other tasty, nutritional things to eat!