What's being a Woman got to do with working out???

As you know, I have had to battle with Hormones and being super sensitive to them, as well as water retention. I decided to some research about it maybe having to do with “Being a Woman”, and how that maybe affects the way we need to work out. I found this great site that seemed to explain things in a way that makes sense.

It divides the month into two sections Day 1- Day 14 and Day 15- Day 28. With each section (they are called Follicular and Luteal, in that order) there need to be different eating habits and work out routines.  Day 1 is the start of the Follicular Phase, or “Time of the month” and thus your body does better with muscle building and fat burning. The Second Section, which is Day 15- 28^th and the Luteal stage, Start when you “ovulate” until, well, Day 1 and is more of a “sugar burning” stage due to Progesterone being more present.  Read the Two articles HERE and HERE, but I did take the snap shot of the “main” bullet points for you underneath this. The first part is a diet and training schedule and the second is a more informed Training schedule. I added a picture of what my September Calendar looks like so far ;)

So the training and diet schedule may look something like this:

Follicular phase:

·         3 Times weekly full body weight training.

·         3 Times weekly long-duration moderate intensity training.

·         Normal calorie and carbohydrate intake at most meals with most timed after exercise to enhance training adaptations and muscle growth.

Luteal Phase:

·         3-5 times weekly short duration high intensity metabolic conditioning, HIIT, and sprint training.

·         Normal calorie intake with carbohydrate kept low, using exercise to create the correct hormonal environment and caloric deficit to burn fat and minimize any muscle loss.

·         Plenty of relaxing restorative exercise like leisure walking, sauna, tai chi, etc.

Protocol Overview

So the female phase training protocol looks like this:

·                     Follicular phase (Days 1-14): 30:40:30 macronutrient intake (carbs:protein:fat). 3 times weekly full body traditional weight training (squat, bench press, back row, shoulder press), 4 sets of 10 using a 8-12 rep max. 5 days per week steady state moderate intensity cardio (40-60 minutes).

·                     Luteal phase (Days 14-28): 20:40:40 or 10:45:45 macronutrient intake (carbs:protein:fat). 4-5 days per week metabolic conditioning (mixed weight & cardio interval training). Daily leisure walking (as much as able)

·                     Repeat next month

• The follicular phase is shown to be a more anabolic time overall allowing women to engage in more cardio based exercise with less chance of losing muscle as well as derive enhanced lean tissue gains from weight training.
• The luteal phase is more of a catabolic time for muscle tissue making long-duration cardio less beneficial and higher protein diets more prudent. There is some evidence the luteal phase has a greater EPOC and afterburn effect associated with it.

I am going to try it for a month and see if it makes a difference, and if it helps with my weight loss. I mean the concept makes sense, so why not? I have to work out anyway lol!

OH! On a side-note!!! I have a metabolic problem that we have been trying to figure out, and I was NEVER able to get my average heart rate up above 130, even when running! WELL yesterday  was able to!!! OMG my average was 141!!! I felt so good, so that means my thyroid meds must be doing the trick! 

Finally an answer!

     

DAYS LEFT 455

       The craziest thing happened on the way to Rome….. just kidding. The craziest thing happened with me. So, I have had all of these problems since like forever and especially since Lena has been born. Heart problems, cant lose weight problems, fluid in brain problems, water retention problems etc. If you look them up in WebMD I am either pregnant or have Stage 4 Cancer. I am an episode of House, truly. My friends laugh about it! However for 2 years I have been going to different doctors and have been trying to figure out what is going on, they send me to more doctors, who all say “are you sure you don’t have a thyroid problem?”, then they test for it, and say “no, your levels are fine!”

        So finally long story short after having a neurologist, kidney specialist, cardiologist, countless blood draws and finally one of my doctors NP’s read my Thyroid number right and diagnosed me with hypothyroidism. Finally! Let me tell you, all of my symptoms, except for raging headaches have gone away literally the second day I took the medicine! I am so excited to feel normal, and I have been sleeping like a baby! I feel so good, and have so much energy. I started working out again and logging my food. Hopefully this will finally all create a more positive situation. Wish me luck!!

500 Days - and an Update!

500 Days- that how many days I give myself to reach my Goal! It seemed like a good round number and about a year and a half. Which is kind of when we wanted to get pregnant again, or try. I might not blog everyday, but I will try and work on it everyday that’s for sure!

I know I have not blogged lately, and I do feel bad that I have not been writing lately. A lot has been going on in my life that I didn’t know if I wanted to share ore not. I walked a 5K with my friend Liz this weekend, and was telling her everything that was going on, and she suggested I share as a therapeutic situation as well as something to read and maybe learn from. So here it goes… again.

The last 4 months or so I have not been feeling well and in a real funk, have been working out regularly and eating very well. I was retaining 6-7 pounds of water weight on any given day, which was so uncomfortable and I could tell it was happening. My lips were swollen and I started having anxiety attacks with heart pain. It felt like a 5 year old was sitting on my chest and all I wanted to do was rip my clothes off. I would cry, yell (imagine your husband and daughter having to watch), I would have to leave places or rooms or anywhere I was and go somewhere I felt ok. I went to the doctor and he said I should take the anxiety meds, which ended up making me tired and not making the pain or swelling go away.  I went back, he then ordered a kidney check, or was it my neurologist that did….eh I cant remember, my Kidneys are great. (that’s a plus right?) Well mister Kidney Doctor said that he thinks it is my heart. Excuse me? yes. My heart, doesn't know what, but could be heart.  He thinks that because my heart rate is super low and normal blood pressure is 80/45 (they triple checked since I am over weight and joked they thought my heart and arm fell asleep), that I am retaining water , which is probably also around my heart and thus causing part of the attacks. Sweet! So then my doctor made a call to the cardiologist, who pretty much said the same things and scheduled another appointment for  a stress test and Echo-cardiogram and some other crap.  Ironically they said it is not my weight or eating habits, because I showed her my log and she saw my weight fluctuations, and was not happy. She said otherwise I am super healthy and hopefully it will just be a metabolic issue, and maybe upping my diuretic dosage I am already taking.  Fingers crossed x (those are two fingers)

People who really know me know I tend to over exaggerate or under exaggerate to deflect issues or what is really going on, but I can assure you I have been in pain. Just not saying anything, Rob has known, some people have been supportive some people have rolled their eyes, whatever. All I know is that I am 29 years old and I am scared and have a little girl to be around for. So I will try and use this as an outlet.

I am glad Liz talked me into it, especially after what happened. The 5k I mentioned…. Well we started running and .25 into it I started getting pain and burning in my heart and lungs and started having blood come up ¾ of the whole 5k. She is awesome because she walked it with me. It was amazing having her there as support and not feeling awkward and someone to talk to. I just kept spitting up or swallowing that crap, it was an amazing taste as you can imagine. It still hurts and I still don’t feel well, so I am glad I am going next week.

Mulligan ….. for the last 30 days

I feel like these last t30 days have been a total disaster, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was sick the whole month of February, Lena was getting all of her 2 year molars in at once, and to really top it off, we thought we had to put Lexi (one of our amazing dogs) down yesterday. It has been a roller-caster of emotions and so many times I just wanted this nightmare to just stop. A lot of other things just kept pilling up and adding to the stress, but those were the sprinkles on the Sunday.  So many times I just wanted to throw in the Towel and say “eff it” and wanted to just run away. I know everyone gets those moments, especially when you are sleep deprived and are not happy the way your life is going.

It started a few days before my birthday, when Lexi just started looking down and stopped eating. At first it was just the dry food and cookies, but then it became the wet food and eventually chicken breast. It has been like this the last 3 weeks. My dog lost 11 pounds in 5 days one week. We had been taking her to the vet twice a week to figure out what was wrong, and she got diagnosed with a Thyroid issue, low grade Valley Fever and some bacterial thing. Well the eating did not come back. Yesterday I took her to the vet because she didn’t even want to walk and was so weak, I was fully thinking we would have to put her down. The doctor toyed with the Idea as well, but first wanted to do an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed what could either be a bleeding ulcer or stomach cancer. Right now we are hoping for the Ulcer and are treating her for it. The thing that gets me is that if she has stomach cancer it would be the EXACT same my dad had, and died from. I just want my little big Lexi to get better and be happy again, she is after all our “muffin”.

With all the sickness, stress, sleepless nights (thanks Lena ;)) I have found ZERO motivation to workout or lose weight. Actually I gained like 2 pounds, and I know it is all stress and water related. This week I will get back on the bandwagon and work out, especially since I just signed Rob and myself up for Pat’s Run!

The next 30 days, I promise to make them better and not get so down and really work on the life we deserve and not create. 

The Mind is a powerful Adversary!

ad·ver·sar·y

n. pl. ad·ver·sar·ies

1. An opponent; an enemy.

2. Adversary The Devil; Satan. Often used with the.

Yesterday on the way home I called my husband and cried! I cried because I needed to; I cried because I was emotional; I cried because my mind wanted to give up, but my heart didn't. I told him that I was so frustrated and down that I have been trying so hard and not seeing the results that I wanted , and I know I have to give myself time, but I am sad! He understood and said that we will try to do two workouts a day, one light one in the morning and one at night, but at least one a day! He said he was proud of me and that I could do this! I still felt so defeated, so exhausted from trying and feeling like I was failing.
This morning I woke up and weight myself and saw I had gained the 2 pounds I worked so hard to get off! I WAS PISSED! All I kept saying was that this was bullshit and why am I even doing this. I am just going to be fat and look like shit forever! The one thing that was different about this morning was however, that while I was saying all these things, I was getting my workout clothes on, tying my shoes, getting my farming and heart rate monitor on and filling water. All because my body was fighting back and my mind was WANTING AND NEEDING this workout! Screw my head and what it was saying! I pushed myself and did a good job today!
The most important thing that I noticed , while both of us were working out, was that Lena was watching us and even said "Go mama go go!" That made me keep going! My almost 2 year old (in may) was cheering me on and it meant the world to me! This is the role model I want to be for her and want her to see that this is good and normal!

P.S. i added a widget to the bottom so you can see my Daily Mile Logs!  Also, please follow my blog =)

One of those days!

As much as I want to be strong and upbeat, I think we all have one of those days, where we feel defeated.Today is that day! I stepped on the scale, and no matter how many times I told myself "the number does not matter", today it did. I feel discouraged because it have not moved in two weeks. Not even a smidge. It is hard because I am working so hard to eat the right things, and exercise , but nothing is happening. Maybe one morning I will wake up and 10 pounds will be gone, and then I will wake up from the dream. The scale has to move! It would be different if I wasn't as heavy as I am right now, because of the plateau factor. However, that is not the case because I see so many heavy people doing the same thing I am and it is melting off.
I know what kind of a funk I can get into, I just hope I can pull myself out. Le sigh........