Ellena’s BodyBlog

Hey all,

 A little while back I wrote a post that I started a mini challenge at the gym with a few peeps. I dropped the weight that I was supposed to pretty quick. The final date kept getting pushed because not all of us are there at the same time to weigh in together. 

 Tomorrow it finally ends, with the final day being pushed a couple of times.  The hardest part about it was keeping and maintaining the weight! That is always the hardest part. Even when I took off the 115lbs before the gym was introduced to my life, I tried to maintain that with the same eating habits I had to take off the weight, with moderate exercise.  Now I’m 140lbs down in total from the time I started way back. 

 I finally weigh in tomorrow. I just want to make sure that I’ve kept it off, and with the new plan that I’m on, a few more has been lost.

 Wish me luck!

So, just wanted to share that by fluke, I was let in on a conversation and mini private competition. At the gym, there are 5 of us, one being my trainer from last year, one of the girls that used to work there, another member, and the chiropractor.

 Started 2 weeks ago, and wasn’t sure if I could do it.  Just in case I fall of the wagon.  They asked me to ask myself if I could do it. After I asked them if they think I can.  I said to them that they have to tell me I can, cause I’m motivated when there are other people I cannot let down.  So, they said that I can.  13 weeks, May 1st 2009. In the last 2 weeks, 4lbs, with weight training.

I was told by my ex-trainer that  I cannot aim as high as them cause of my low red blood cell count and not being able to work out as hard as them—-doctors orders.  She knows and had to explain to 2 of the other competitors that it will be twice as hard for me. 

 She laughed at me  when she noticed I was ahead. I said that if I loose what I initially said in a short amount of time, I will up my weight loss goal and stick to it.

Reason I’m telling you all, is there’s money involved. LOL! $100 to start. Weekly weigh in, stay steady or lose, you’re ok. Gain weight, $10 up! End of it, the one who hits their target  or higher gets the cash. If we all win, then u get ur money back and have lost weight.

 I’ve been pretty steady at this weight for a while, but I guess this is my kick in the ass to see if I can lose a little more.

Wish me luck!

Hope everyone is doing great on BB! 

Hey all,

 Just wanted to say that I hope you are all having wonderful holidays!

First of all let me explain.  I’ve been pretty steady with my weight and training. I have to get my red blood cell count (ferenate) back up so I’m limited to 1hr a day 4-5days a week until the doc says I’m up to par.

Now, I’ll fully admit that I haven’t had my hands tied back over the holidays. I am a binge eater, not a closet eater and sometimes my mind doesn’t register with my stomach to tell me to stop. If it tastes good, I keep going. And I don’t even get embarrased in front of anyone because I’m concentrating so hard on what I’m eating, I’m not noticing anyone looking at me. Or even if they are. LOL!  And I’m not afraid to admit it.

Good thing, I don’t have much around me in my own home. I do have and have made baked goods for the holidays, but have taken most of them to work or have given them away.  But it still doesn’t stop me from eating.

Now, it was bad Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and boxing day. Today I’ve cut way back but will fully admit that I’ve had some treats.  Tomorrow back at work, eat clean. I know I might slack during New year’s Eve or day not both.

My question is, how do I stop? I’ve been told that when I crave the sugar to just drink plenty of water. That’s pretty easy when sweets are not around. I’ve done it and know that it takes up to 3 days to get that out of your system.

How do I get through the 3 days?

I could wear my retainer to work, but I don’t think my clients will understand my slurring. LOL!

Need some help….

I’ve been eating pretty clean.  I make sure that I’ve been havin my 5-6 smaller meals a day.  My only problem is that once I finish eating my breakfast lunch and dinner meals, my stomach tends to hurt and feel bloated. I hate the feeling and seeing my stomach puff out. 

I do stretch out my meals/snacks every 3hrs. Please understand that I’m not eating like a fitness model or bodybuilder but try to eat a consistent "pretty clean diet" of proteins/carbs/fats.

And they are small portions!

 My day would consist of:

Breakfast: eggwhites/piece of lowfat cheese/ oatmeal with 2 walnuts

Snack:1/2 apple with almonds

Lunch: chicken, broccoli-raw/cabbage/or cucumber (one of the three) and sunflower seeds-raw.—-

Snack: other 1/2 apple with piece of chicken/cheese/almonds/turkey one of the three.

meal 5: 1/2 whole wheat english muffin or small flax wrap with raw sunflower seeds and all natural peanut butter.  b4 i go to the gym. or have a scoop of Super Pump in 8oz water

meal 6: protein drink/ or chicken with cucumber

 Note*This was yesterdays plan. 

 My foods I eat are maybe 1-2 pieces of flax wrap/whole wheat bread/oatmeal

Veggies-Broccoli/ cucumber/leafy greens/spinach/red&green peppers/cabbage/

Proteins/combo complex carbs—lentils/beans or mixed beans/chicken/tuna/turkey

Fats-olive oil or flax oil

Seeds/nuts all raw-sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts

Dairy-skim milk/lowfat cheese.

No juice or pop.

3litres of water daily.

Just as reference

 Can you help on how or why I’m feeling this way and if there’s anything I can take for digestion if you think that’s whats causing it?

Hey all,

 Needin’ some help please.  I got really sick over the Christmas holidays. To find out my red blood cell count is low.  Much happened in Feb and for about 5wks i was back at the gym-strong. Till I started to feel wiped out andwould be so tired.  Went in for blood work to find out my Ferrous–red blood cell formation got to an all time low of 8.2. I am anemic as well but this is way too bad for someone with that trait. 

 I went on ferrous gluconate for a month and got to a 10.4.  I was ordered to stay off the gym for about 6wks in order to form some blood cells so i have something to start with when I go back. Since you burn your red blood cells during activity.

 I went back to the gym and did two 6week routines of a full body circuit just to get back in.  I had to stay on the ferrous for 3months everyday.

I’ve done my blood work and found out that in 3months I finally hit 20. 

The normal range in 10-280.  Most people sit at 50-60. My norm being anemic is 29-30. I have been ordered to stay on it for another 3 months everyday.  Which means in my diet i have to take into consideration not just my carbs/protiens/fats, but iron and vitamin c as well.  It’s hard.

 Also, Last week here in Toronto, Canada we had an explosion of a propane depot that i ran through and also had to take chest exams and xrays.  I was ordered to take off a week.

 I’m back in and really serious now. I was able to drop a few pounds and lean out with a change of my diet over the last few months. I Haven’t updated my profile but notice a differece. And been able to keep up with some muscle formation and seeing definition.

I am a pear shape so I’m bottom heavy.  It’s easy to work on my upper body, it’s smaller and easy to see results.

I NEED HELP WITH a lower body leg routine. My thighs are down to 26 inches. They were up at 28.  Can someone help me out? 

I also need something reasonable for a diet routine and easy things to put together. I’m a hairdresser who is busy and has few moments to eat. So i need something easy to put together. Please some suggestions! 

Thanks so much!

Hey all,

 A little cry for help, motivation, reassurance or whatever you want to call it.

 I wrote a post a while back about getting back into the swing of things.  That was easy compared to this.

 I haven’t been to the gym I would say in a month.  I threw my back out for a week and a half from shovelling snow and got a pinched nerve.  Finally one night (Thursday that wk), I decided to go work on legs and give my back even another few days to recoup, and I still had a pinched nerve in the upper back.  I kicked out legs so hard that I couldn’t walk for 4 days and still had my glutes hurt until the following Tuesday. 

I’m a hairdresser, as I’ve stated and had pulled holiday hrs, 10-12hrs over the next few days. As I finally got through the weekend, I shoveled heavy snow again on the Sunday, which kicked out my back for another week.  During that week I also felt really tired, dizzy, didn’t want to stomach food etc. By Friday that wk, I was taking blood tests and left work early in the afternoon to almost falling asleep at the wheel 4x’s and having some of my joints and bones hurt.  I woke up the next morning to all of my joints, muscles and bones in severe pain and feeling very faint like.  I spent the day in the hospital to find out I had a viral flu that has taken a week and a half to get through, my joints back to normal by that Thursday, and now finally have got enough energy to go back to the gym. 

I have not gained any weight but have felt like I have "flubbed" out. That time frame has been the longest time ever away from the gym since I started there last Jan.  I can’t believe at how bad I feel.  As much as my health is important, I can’t begin to tell you that I felt like I’ve lost myself somewhere.  My life has changed this past year and don’t like the fact that I have to end 2007 like this. 

I have had my bag packed in my Jeep for a couple of days and am finally off to the gym. They have had holiday hrs and I haven’t been able to go since they’ve closed at 10 and I get off at 9. 

I feel I need support to go back. Not because I don’t want to but because I’m afraid about having to step back a little and can’t kick into full force like I used to.  To even know that I might not be able to pull the last weight I did will discourage me.

 The other thing is that I don’t actually feel comfortable going into the main gym.  I usually work out with everyone and I know many people.  I feel like I want to lock myself up on the women’s only side until I gear up again.  I don’t like the insecure feeling that I’ve now gotten.  I only worked out in there for the first couple of months, for one, I didn’t know anyone on the other side yet and second, my circuits that I was set up with, were only set up for that side.

 I don’t know why I’m feeling like this but it saddens me. 

A few years ago when I was in the middle of losing 115lbs, I was told to keep a Food Diary, of everything I ate.  I started doing it and I came to a point where I resented doing it. Not because I hated myself for indulging in something I shouldn’t have and felt bad, but the fact that my list looked long. 

In my list being long, meant that I felt like I was eating too much and I should start eliminating food from my list so it would look shorter.  In other words, I wasn’t eating bad things but  make it look like I was eating less.

 The sad part of it that it didn’t matter what was on the list, it was the length of it that made it look scary.  It came to a point that I wouldn’t eat something just so I wouldn’t have to write it down so the list didn’t look long.  It was playing tricks with my mind.

 The list would look like this:

Egg whites and Oatmeal.

Protein drink or bar

Tuna and salad

8 almonds and 1/2 an apple

Chicken, salad and palm size serving of long grain rice

1 cofee

2 litres of water.

Even if I tried writing it on one line so it would decieve my eyes, it didn’t work.  I would start cutting things out.  How much more simple can one person get?  It’s not like I was trying to eat that clean, let’s face it, I’m not training for anything, I’m just trying to eat just as normal as I can since it’s a lifetime commitment.  

That is a list from some of the stuff I eat now. I didn’t even eat that clean and still lost my weight.  It was just the fact that my list looked long and started eliminating foods, which in turn, almost started starving myself without noticing.

So I stopped.  People always said that I should stick with it but I felt different by relying on writing in a book.  I knew I did something wrong when I did it.  I wouldn’t feel that much worse writing it down. I knew my fault.

Now, some years have passed, started a great exercise program that has weights and cardio combined and decided I would give it another chance.  I want to be able to write things down, since my eating habits changed and working my body differently requires me to fuel it differently.

Wish me luck.  Hopefully I won’t fall into that rutt again.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.