Jill Beat - Progress through Simplicity

[Jill Beat]

This is my second NF challenge.  The first one went great for the first 1-4 weeks, then I had a really hard time keeping up with it.  If you read that first post of mine, it talks about how I joined up here because I have a hard time following through with weight loss changes (and apparently that time wasn't too much different).  During a rant with a friend I think I figured out why I have a hard time sticking with it.  I'm already fairly fit and have a lot of good health practices.  If a lot of people did what I currently do, they'd see incredible results immediately.  For me losing weight is extremely f*%#ing hard.  I get frustrated because other people make small changes and see great results.  I know I shouldn't be comparing myself to others, and I don't want to take away from their successes.  But for me it's not as easy as "oh, maybe I should stop eating 20 cheese burgers a week" (exaggeration, obviously).  Basically the common "small changes" don't seem to work for me.

 

My real main objective is to reduce my body fat percentage.  I don't really care what the scale says, I care more about how I look and feel.  I've changed my main quest for this mission:

 

YOUR MAIN QUEST - Be more boring. 

For myself, I think right now it's about simplifying, and creating more routine.  I was really inspired by this article of Steve's here:http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/11/15/are-you-boring/   Saint/Staci/Joe - those are all some pretty sexy examples of boring

 

3 GOALS

1.  Sleep - create a consistent bed time routine (brush teeth, wash face, stretching, meditation)! 

               - get up at the same time every day (no snooze button)

               - set a light on a timer for 15 minutes before alarm goes off (light helps the body wake up)

   The reason for this goal, is because I really think that lack of sleep and too much stress is hindering my progress. 

 

2. Stretching - I want to increase my flexibility, largely hip/leg/back flexibility.  This is my only "fitness-based" goal but I chose this because it has very measureable results.  I'm someone who's motivated by the result, and the progress that I will be able to see with this will motivate me through the challenge.

 

3. Simplify food! I know that what I eat will be my biggest determining factor and also my toughest challenge!  I want to get back to very basics, forget fancy paleo recipes (which I do enjoy making) it's time to focus!

    Breakfast - continuing on with my regular breakfast of egg(s), spinach, and homemade pork/turkey sausage patties (usually any 2 of those 3)

    Lunch - something simple - soup or salad with protein, raw veggies to snack on, or occasionally nuts

    Dinner - protein with 2 vegetable sides

 

SIDE QUESTS

 

Life Side Quest: I'm a part time fitness instructor and a full time engineer.  Eventually, one day down the road, I would like to transition into working full time in fitness. While I'm definitely not there yet, I currently have a website of my own that I really would like to continue to develop as a fitness blog/resource.  So my life side quest is to work on this, and put aside 2 hours a week to devote to it (not necessarily all at once).  If you want to stop by/follow it's www.fitnesswithjill.com.  It's currently fairly void of useful content, and I started re-designing it, so it's a bit of a shamble right now.  Just so ya know

 

 

DECLARE YOUR MOTIVATION - My motivation is my future goals to help others with fitness & health.  I feel like I need to get it figured out for myself to better help others. 

 

 

 

Progress Tracking - I saw this on Metalhead's challenge post and I really like it! 

Legend

Red - unbolded = not met yet, but week not done. Bolded = not achieved for the week.

Green = achieved

Blue are totals

 

Template for updates

1. Bedtime routine - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/42

3. Food - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/42 

 

Goal #2 is a little harder to measure in terms of a number, but weekly, I'll evaluate how close I am to getting my splits, bridge/wheel pose, cheerleading stretches (heel stretch, scorpion).  And maybe take photos as a visual measure.

 

Starting Stats (to come)

Height - 5'3"

Weight - just under 154lbs

[Raxie]

Hooray glad to see you're back for this challenge! Good luck :]

[ScoutSays]

Looks good!! Can't wait to see how you OWN this challenge!!!! 

[thepalv]

great goals jill. SImplicity is the best, and boring gets results. i know i have been too optimistic with my own goals but i am a little ocd and have to DO ALL THE THINGS. each to his own!! Good luck on this journey, can you believe it will be christmas when we finish this challenge? Santa may not recognize our new svelte figures and bendiness!

[Jill Beat]

Week 1 Tracking:

 

1. Bedtime routine - 4/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 4/42

3. Food - 3/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 3/42 

 

Wednesday

So far so good.  I really like adding in a bedtime routine.  By 10pm I stop what I'm doing, brush my teeth, wash my face, stretch (sun salutations as a warm-up, splits progressions), finishing with legs up the wall pose, and then go to bed.  As the weeks go by, I think  I want to try to tighten up my times (ie. start going to bed earlier, and making my morning routine quicker) to fit in more sleep!

 

After 2 nights I've found that the light on a timer hasn't seemed to make much of a difference "waking my body up" but it does make it a lot easier not to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep!

 

Yesterday after being super good all day, I was feeling super unsatisfied-food wise (aka I wanted to eat everything in the world!).  I think it came down to not eating enough fat during the day because after eating some cheese (even though I'm trying to eat fairly strict-paleo) I felt better! So I think I'm going to have to throw in some more nuts/avocado/etc. to keep me on track. It's also that time of month, so that doesn't really help.   

 

Resisted donuts today at work.  I find donuts are 5% enjoyable and then 95% regret.  I try to remember this BEFORE I pick one up!

 

Friday

So this week hasn't been easy but I definitely feel like I pushed through.  I've been putting in longer hours at work, plus had my period, and with the stricter paleo eating, my body has been detoxing hard.  I feel garbagy, but I know it'll get better.  On top of that, my massage therapist is on maternity leave until the beginning of December.  The weekend is going to be harder with keeping up the bedtime routine, but I'll try to do what I can, and maybe move my stretching to other times. 

 

I have a bad habit of eating out with one particular friend too often, so as a solution to that, I suggested I'd cook dinner tonight.  I figure most people can be tricked into eating paleo unknowingly if you add bacon.  Bacon fixes all, right? 

 

Also, I've started instagraming some of my food, so if you want to check it out, follow me @jbean86 

[Raxie]

Great job so far!  Yay no donuts!

 

Do you feel like doing a quick yoga routine before bed helps you fall asleep?  I've been debating incorporating that into my daily routines for exactly that reason but am not sure how successful it woult be.

[Jill Beat]

I'm really liking it so far.  What I find really helps unwind (and it's the last thing I do before climbing into bed) is a restorative yoga pose called legs up the wall.  I just about fell asleep like this last night! lol 

 

http://yourdailydoseofchi.com/2011/12/19/yoga-pose-of-the-week-legs-up-the-wall-viparita-karani/  

[Raxie]

Good to know.  I think I'm going to try that out tonight.  Thanks for the link!

[thepalv]

Looking good, nice progressions. I am loving doing yoa everyday now, and my back and shoulders are thanking me for it too! Will have to try that legs up the wall pose, I'd say it feels lovely!

[Jill Beat]

Week 1 Tracking:

1. Bedtime routine - 4/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 4/42

3. Food - 5/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 5/42 

 

My numbers for tracking this week don't look as good as I feel they should.  I did pretty good, and then life started to get in the way.  Friday/Saturday/Sunday nights I had adult sleepovers and that kinda got in the way of me being diligent about my bedtime routine.  

 

Saturday night a friend and I were on our way out for dinner and about 2 blocks away from my house I got in a car accident.  Me and my friend are okay, my car is not so okay.  So, after dealing with that, we walked to the Boston Pizza by my house, and we ordered pizza.  

 

After that I have pretty much gotten back on track.  I spent all yesterday in a Zumba Sentao training.  The class has such awesome potential - great opportunities for body weight exercises! I'm always a little disappointed with Zumba trainings though.  After taking many many fitness trainings, I feel like the Zumba trainings lack the fitness and safety focus and information that instructors need to be learning.  But, I'll definitely be able to create some good Zumba Sentao classes with the fitness background I already have.  Yesterday was good, lots of calories burned, not too many eaten during the day.  I went out for dinner again, and did not too bad.  I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, but didn't eat the bun (there was way too much food anyway!) and a beer (I couldn't help myself)! 

 

Stretching has been going well. It's easy enough to fit in, and I like working towards a goal like that! 

 

I'm looking forward to another good, but better week this week!   

[Raxie]

Silly life, always getting in the way. 

 

Looks like you still managed to have a pretty successful week! Great job :]

[TennisGeek]

Wednesday

So far so good.  I really like adding in a bedtime routine.  By 10pm I stop what I'm doing, brush my teeth, wash my face, stretch (sun salutations as a warm-up, splits progressions), finishing with legs up the wall pose, and then go to bed.  As the weeks go by, I think  I want to try to tighten up my times (ie. start going to bed earlier, and making my morning routine quicker) to fit in more sleep!

...

 

I have not been able to do much of bed time routine - which is one of my goals.

Keep it up! Good to know at least someone is working hard on it that makes me motivated.

[Jill Beat]

Week 2 Update:

 

1. Bedtime routine - 4/7 - 5/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 9/42

3. Food - 5/7 - 6/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 11/42 

 

I would have to say that this week my numbers were a little "made up".  I did pretty well during the week, but the weekends are a lot tougher.  For my first challenge I found that I'd update on my thread almost daily, but I would get sucked into checking out a million things and then be on my computer for an hour or more.  I really like spending time on the forum, but I hate the time that it can eat up.  I think for more accuracy and accountability I'm going to  start tracking my progress in a notebook, or maybe print off a calendar hard-hat challenge style.   

 

I'm really liking my bedtime routine. I look forward to it, and now I'm trying to get to bed earlier and get more sleep! 

 

I feel liker this week at work is going to get crazy again, so I'm going to need to try harder to stay on track! 

[Raxie]

Good luck this week with your crazy work stuff!!

[Jill Beat]

I'm doing really well with my food and other goals, but it's my life goal that seems to get neglected.  I've been working on a bit of a different path of life goal which is still somewhat related though.  I wanted to put more time into my fitness blog, which I haven't really done, but I just started following the Social Triggers blog, which I find immensely interesting, and implementing some of that with my current fitness class participants, which is going really well.  BUT what I would really like is to get a bit more done on my blog, and then convert my class participants into the base of my readership - for now! 

 

What I want to achieve this week on my website: finish post on "core" (post is written, I just need to take some photos to add) and create a disclaimer page.

 

Right now I'm car-less which is a really tough adjustment.  I live in a city that isn't designed for being without one, and neither is my lifestyle.  Relying on other people to drive you around means working with their schedules and less productive time for yourself.  Ex. Last night I had my pole dancing class at 7:30pm.  My mom was going to a performance of my cousin's rhythmic gymnastics at 6pm, so basically right after work I tagged along to that, then dropped her off at a candle party, scrambled to find something to eat (Tim Horton's chili - not the best, but also not the worst!), barely made it to my class on time, then went to go pick her up, and of course she wasn't ready to go, so then I got suckered into coming in and visiting, I ended up getting home, and starting on my bedtime routine shortly after 9:30pm.  Tonight I teach 7-9pm (muscle sculpt and then Zumba) so I'm not going to get much done tonight either.  *sigh*  It's an estimated 1.5 weeks still before my car parts get here. 

[Jill Beat]

Tonight I get to weigh in, which it has been over 2 weeks now.  Last time I was just under 154lbs, so I'm really hoping that number is lower tonight! I feel like I've been doing well, and I hope the scale agrees.   Even if it doesn't, I'm not going to get off track, but it would be nice to be "rewarded" and encouraged to keep working at it. 

[Jill Beat]

Down 2lbs!! For 2 weeks of work, I know a lot of people wouldn't think that's much but I'm pretty pumped.  I really haven't changed my activity level, so considering it's 2lbs of weight loss through diet alone, it's exciting. 

[TennisGeek]

Down 2lbs!! For 2 weeks of work, I know a lot of people wouldn't think that's much but I'm pretty pumped. I really haven't changed my activity level, so considering it's 2lbs of weight loss through diet alone, it's exciting.

A lot of people also think 2lbs loss in 2 weeks is impressive.

Great job!

[Jill Beat]

Had a great week last week!  I nailed pretty much all my goals.  Last night while stretching i decided to do some other yoga poses that I don't often do, and was surprised at my flexibility in those poses!! I was doing side angle, and was able to get a good hand-hand grip when binding which I was never able to do previously!  AND I was able to get into Bird of Paradise easily - my leg wasn't fully extended, but still pretty surprising to me.
 
So between a noticeable difference in my flexibility, and my 2 pound weight loss, I'm pretty motivated to continue!
 
I've been finding I crave sweets really bad lately and had been making a bunch of quick paleo desserts.  Not necessarily the best option.  I realized I had significantly cut down my sugar all around (including things like fruit).  I added some fruit back to my grocery list for that something sweet when the craving is there.    
 
Next weekend I'm visiting my sister in Vancouver, and slightly worried.  My sister is a larger girl, and has poor eating habits, plus when she has guests over, she likes to entertain, which is nice, but not always the best choices when you're finding success on the paleo diet!  She really doesn't understand my choices, and I've stopped trying to explain it to her. - it's just one of those things where it's easier not to.  She always just thinks I'm a health nut and being crazy.  She just doesn't get it.  I think what I might do is find some really delicious recipes that she would get behind making and say "let's try these!"  That's probably my best plan of attack!  
 
I hope all the Americans had a great Thanksgiving!  Next stop: Christmas!

[TennisGeek]

... 

Next weekend I'm visiting my sister in Vancouver, and slightly worried.  My sister is a larger girl, and has poor eating habits, plus when she has guests over, she likes to entertain, which is nice, but not always the best choices when you're finding success on the paleo diet!  She really doesn't understand my choices, and I've stopped trying to explain it to her. - it's just one of those things where it's easier not to.  She always just thinks I'm a health nut and being crazy.  She just doesn't get it.  I think what I might do is find some really delicious recipes that she would get behind making and say "let's try these!"  That's probably my best plan of attack!  

 

I hope all the Americans had a great Thanksgiving!  Next stop: Christmas!

 

For many people, food is comfort and love. I grew up that way too. 

I am lucky that when I go see my family in Japan, they make me a lot of veg and tofu, cuz they know that' what I like.

(Note that, good tofu in Japan is actually tasteful. It's not like tasteless white block you find in supermarket here.)

 

Sending a few recipes sounds a great idea.

[Raxie]

This is awesome!  Increasing flexibility takes so much time and patience -- that's a huge improvement!  Hope all goes well this weekend, good luck!

[Jill Beat]

So the weekend went about as planned.  Too much sugar, too much alcohol, but not as bad as it could have been.  Since I've been back I've been staying on track and I'm starting to reduce the amount of sugar in my coffee too (which was really my last source of refined sugar).   My house is so devoid of groceries right now...it's going to be an expensive shop tonight.  Last night's dinner was kale chips, 2 leftover meatballs and 1/4 of a baked sweet potato... pretty good considering that was just remnants of what I had in the house!  lol  This morning was 1/4 of a sweet potato with almond butter, because I'm even all out of eggs!!  I have plans to make roasted red pepper soup and cabbage rolls tonight! Yummy!

 

Stretching is going well - last night was the first time I ditched it without a good reason, so I'm definitely not going to let that happen again.

 

I'm done teaching all but one of my fitness classes until the middle of January.  I'm hoping to get to the gym (once I get my car back) and sneak in some workouts at home.  I have a ton of new Bellyfit and Zumba choreography to learn before my new classes start up, so I need to get onto that too!

[Raxie]

Mmm that roasted red pepper soup/cabbage roll meal sounds delicious. 

 

It's nice you're getting a break from the fitness classes -- now you can focus on the kind of work outs you have been wanting to do

[Jill Beat]

So with my first week of not teaching classes (except one tonight) I haven't gotten any workouts for me in.   I plan to do some intensive house cleaning tonight after I get home, so that half counts, right?! 

 

I got back into my stretching routine last night, I didn't want to do it but was so happy I did once I started.  This goal is going well, I feel like I'm getting closer to my splits too!

 

The only thing is I'm getting worse with getting to bed at a decent time.  So starting tonight I'll be fixing that too!  I've started resorting to using my snooze button, and I stopped using a light on a timer.  The light stopped because I changed the time I started getting up because my car is still waiting to get fixed, and with my mom driving me to work now, I don't leave as early as I would like to.  That's just me being lazy and not re-programming the timer!

 

Last night I went grocery shopping and made the roasted red pepper soup http://paleomg.com/roasted-red-pepper-and-avocado-soup-with-sausages/  if you wanna see how it turned out, I post a lot of my food pics on instagram! @jbean86  I also made the breakfast sausages http://paleomg.com/homemade-pork-breakfast-sausage/ to have this week, and also with the soup.  I make these with a mix of ground pork and ground turkey. 

[Jill Beat]

Weighed in at the gym last night.  Up a pound.  Not too worried about it, because that kind of fluctuation isn't enough to get really worked up about, and I'm still down a pound.  Overall my goals don't concern the scale, mostly my bf %, so I'm going more by look than anything else. 

 

Last night I made it to bed earlier and took a good long chunk of time to sneak in more yoga.  I've finally gotten to the point where I really enjoy it now.  I may not want to start, but once I do I'm loving it.