Tag Archives: health & fitness

Feb26

Here We Go … Again!

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And so it begins. Post C-section Project Slim Down, that is. My doctor cleared me to start walking 4 weeks ago as I wanted to start 3 days after I got out of the hospital. However, I never actually got around to it. And, I don’t have any excuse since Pops Wei is at home helping, he takes night shift so that I get plenty of sleep, AND we have an angel baby who sleeps 1-2 hour stretches easy. However, I’m not beating myself up because … ya know … new baby. LOL! I know that there is still a new, dependent little person in the house and a new routine is needed. And, since hers is the most important, everything else needs to be worked around it.

All that being said, it is definitely time to start getting it together as I’ve putting weight on after having dropped all but 3 of the 25-26 pounds I gained. In full disclosure, I’ve also been eating horribly, so I’m up 10 pounds from my weight prior to pregnancy. My current weight is 147 lbs at 5’1″.

So, at my 6 week post-op appointment yesterday, I got the all clear to resume working out, albiet with the caveat that I need to start slowly.

My goal is to get at least 10 minutes of exercise daily, to regain my fitness and flexibility levels, and to get rid of the excess weight, of course. Hopefully, this stomach and back fat will go as I’ve never carried too much weight in my upper body (I’ve also been wearing a Bellefit corset and lubricating my stomach daily as I know the skin and abs needs assistance retracting).

That being said, today was Day 1 of another 10 Minutes A Day for 28 Days of Fitness! How apropos that my starting weight is only one pound less than it was when I did this in 2013 and turned it into 365 Days of Fitness. Hence the title of this post, “Here We Go…Again!”

Lata Gatas!

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Aug22

Sodium and Weight Loss

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As some of you may know, I am not a fan of cooking and rely on Lean Cuisines and Healthy Choice frozen meals for lunch and dinner when I am “counting calories” in order to lose or maintain weight. I’ve posted this in the past, but as a refresher, my “Lazy Woman’s Diet” typically looks like this:

  • Breakfast: 1/2 oatmeal or 1/2 cup cooked Grapenuts with 1/2 cup blueberries (Dole frozen/thawed) and 1/2 c. plain almond milk; cup of instant coffee w/2 packs of Truvia, 1 tsp Agave and a little powdered skim milk.
  • Snack: Fage yogurt (fruit variety/2% or 0% fat)
  • Lunch: Lean Cuisine (chicken turkey or fish with rice, potatoes, whole wheat or orzo pasta) and added vegetables (spinach, broccoli or sugar snap snow peas) and a piece of fruit
  • Snack: Organic baby food
  • Dinner: Lean Cuisine (chicken turkey or fish w/rice, potatoes, whole wheat or orzo pasta) w/added vegetables (spinach, broccoli or sugar snap snow peas); fruit (apple, navel orange, cherries, banana) on occasion.
  • Post work-out: Whey Protein Shake (Nectar Strawberry Mousse); w/banana if after hot yoga

Now, I often hear healthcare professionals like Dr. Oz indicate that “light” frozen meals aren’t good choices because of the high sodium levels. In fact, everyone has heard this so much, I’m often questioned about it.

However, I’ve never been concerned about it as the other food in my diet has little to no sodium and provides a decent amount of fiber. Regardless, back in Jan/Feb, when I was tracking my calories and nutrients with the app, Lose It! (which I posted about here), I decided to do a little research about sodium and weight loss. I then compared the recommendations to my average daily sodium intake following the above “diet plan.”

via Livestrong.com

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that individuals younger than 51 consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. On average, Americans consume about 3,400 mg of sodium per day. In order to lose weight, it is recommended that you consume less than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.

How Sodium Affects Weight Loss
Excess sodium in the body leads to sodium buildup and water retention. A high level of sodium in the body causes the kidneys to work harder and hold onto extra water in order to excrete the sodium. Those who reduce the amount of sodium in their diet will notice weight loss because the kidneys are able to process sodium without the help from extra water.

When I reviewed my average daily sodium intake for the three weeks that I tracked my meals on the Lose It! app. It was as follows:

Week 1: 1547.2 mg
Week 2: 1576.2 mg
Week 3: 1994.9 mg

And, that week three? I believe I had a Greek salad at a diner and only tracked my meals for a few days that week. So, that caused my average sodium intake to increase to an average of almost 2000 mg. However, in general, it seems that with my sodium intake is pretty well-controlled and close enough to the recommended 1500 mg or less a day that is needed to support weight loss.

So, if you were wondering about incorporating frozen meals into your diet in order to lose weight and wondered how sodium affected weight loss, there you go! Hope that you found it helpful!!

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Do you consider and monitor your sodium intake when attempting to lose weight?

Aug2

Women – Strength Training (SociallyFit)

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Ladies, take heed. REAL weight training is imperative if you want a toned, sleek body. Take it from me, women don’t naturally have the testosterone necessary to build huge muscles … steroids are what make the women you see in professional bodybuilding huge. When I competed, I could deadlift and squat over 200 pounds … and I weighed 105 lbs. I was the skinniest I ever was in my life.

The reason I am toned when I lose weight is because I always incorporate resistance and increase the weight when it becomes too easy. You need to burn out the muscle … if you can do 20 reps for 3 sets … time to up the weight … significantly. Shoot, I’m trying to write my own post on this! LOL!! Check this out … it’s great information!

Socially Fit

We Are What We Lift

Progressive resistance is crucial to any women’s strength-training program. Once your muscles adapt to a given exercise, you need to increase either the resistance or the number of repetitions to promote future gains. Begin with a weight that allows you to do a minimum of eight repetitions of a particular exercise. Once you are able to complete 12 repetitions with that weight, you should increase the weight by about five percent. At this point, drop back to eight repetitions with the heavier weight. Once you’ve worked up to 12 repetitions with the heavier weight, you increase it by another five percent.

The recovery process between training sessions takes at least 48 hours. Because of this, your strength -training sessions should be scheduled no more frequently than every other day. If you enjoy training more frequently, avoid hitting the same muscle group on consecutive days.

Here…

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