Fitness Update - Changes - Challenges.

 The Spring Fitness of 2022 has turned into a HOT one as Oklahoma has seen temperatures flirting with triple digits for two weeks and it's only May 19. We had a 92 degrees day in the middle of April! I'm not a fan, let me tell you -- I've probably already said that. I need a t-shirt that says "Not a Fan" with a big fat smiling Sun right in the middle of an Oklahoma wheat field or something. Just not fun at all.  Here, we have four seasons: hot, cold, storm, and football.  I like football. 

    I decided in August 2020 to change my life style and to change the way I see and eat food. I didn't do the Noom method, but I understand it. Their basic philosophy is that food is your friend and it can be your enemy if it's used or taken wrong. It's a good method, but I don't need the motivation that perhaps others seek. I saw myself and became really disappointed that I couldn't move and function the way I wanted to. I couldn't ride my horse the way I used to, and that was enough to set me on the mission to lose enough weight to do that; which happened, but I'm not finished with me yet.

    It's been nearly two years since that August morning when I set my mind to making things happen. There's no turning back when I do that. I am my own motivator. I am my own gladiator. I make myself listen to me even if no one else decides to do so. I have kept all of the weight off that I initially lost from August 2020 to February 2021, which was about 42 pounds. I still have about 30 more pounds to go, and I've decided to call them POINTS rather than pounds because my body need something to aim for, something to work with.  Pounds are pounds and they'll come off with the right amount of exercise and good diet. I haven't been as diligent as I need to be, so I still have those same 30 pounds just sitting right where they were 15 months ago (in the middle). That must change.

    One of the challenges with me has been my knees. I won't say it's been my age because age is a number, but my injured knee is an injured knee.  I was a gymnast, then a barrel racer, and then I walked and climbed a bunch, and after that I got old, but the knee has been bashed around, knocked around, slammed and just put through it. I have another knee on the left side that didn't seem to be as abused as the right one. I have no idea how that happened, but it did. Both knees, if you can believe it, are the same age, but one is older than the other in terms of working correctly. This is something that needs to be remedied and not by having the good knee go bad - - nope! It's time my muscles put in a few more work outs to support said bad knee. This is where the points come into play.

    We all know that to lose a solid pound of fat from a body, that body has to have a deficiency of 3500 calories and it doesn't matter if it happens in a day, a week, or a month, the deficiency is about points and numbers, not time.  If I work on the calorie intake and the exercise to have a calorie output, I will create the needed deficiency to earn a point!  One point = on pound obviously. This is a better method for my brain than trying or hoping to drop inches and pounds. I'll know I've dropped enough when I can't wear my shorts because they fall off and I need to order smaller t-shirts from Tee Public!

It's the same dance and it's the same song, but I'm willing to spice it up a bit using a more head-in-the-game technique. I will meet my personal goals and this is how I will do it. 

• 8 hours of sleep
• 12,000+ steps 5 days a week
• 1500 calories intake
• 100+ ounces of water
• limited sugar / carbs (by limited I mean LIMITED)
• Battle Rope 3x a week
• Weight training 3x a week
• Vibration plate 15 minutes EVERY DAY with weights
• Box 2x a week

The calorie intake may seem light for some, but it's not. You can pack a lot of low calorie foods into a good meal if you plan it. Red meat is a no-go really, but I think tonight I have taco salads planned. I can start the no-red meat thing tomorrow. I can do eggs over meat anyway, and I can eat a heck of a lot more grapes than I do trail mix. I was really into that great and so very awesome trail mix, but yeah it's higher in calories and I don't need that. Grapes have a bunch too, but it's a better type of calorie -- did you know they had degrees? Truth.

    

    There you go - - for the most part it's the same thing as before but with a bit of organization and accountability to myself. I owe it to me to be the best I can be. I am the only one I'm going to get! Walking is the only real exercise I can do that my knee won't protest.  It doesn't like me boxing, jumping rope, jogging or climbing.  The pool will open soon enough and that will be a daily thing. I don't swim, I run in place and try to make as many waves as I can. I'm a wave maker.  By this time in August, just two years from the day I decided to make it happen, I should be really close to the goal. I may not hit the full 30 by then, as it's only 10 weeks away, but I can give it my best! I can see to it that I keep my goals in place and work toward them.  Who needs a social life, right? I'm good.

Hydrate!  (It's Oklahoma baby, HYDRATE!)

Photo Credit: All American Swim