Spring has sprung!

It's the first full day of spring, and although the weather has been typically Seattle springlike (cool and wet, but not reliably wet, so you never know if you will really need that raincoat when you head out for work in the morning), many happier signs of spring abound.

One of the things I love about spring is the element of change. Every time I take a walk, whether around my garden or around my 'hood, something is blooming, sprouting or opening that wasn't the day before. Never a dull moment.

Even though the weather was bleh on Sunday, we got lots o' planting done at the homestead.

• 30 bareroot coneflowers
• 17 bareroot Nootka roses
• 12 forget-me-nots
• A 4-foot row of edible peas
• A 3-foot row of sweet peas
• 10 bunchberries (groundcover dogwoods)
• 10 Kinnickinnick
• 12 assorted gallon-size perennials from Costco
• 5 Camas (a NW native bulb)
• 1 maidenhair fern
• 1 hosta
• 24 assorted oriental lily bulbs
• 7 assorted dahlia bulbs

Whew!

The weather on Saturday is supposed to be respectable, so I will hopefully get the rest of my ferns (5) and hostas (11) planted, along with my annual fuchsia starts (20), one hellebore and two clematis that are still in their black plastic pots from last year.

Now that I'm starting to plant spring veggies, I need to yank out the last of the fall-winter holdouts. I feel guilty that I didn't eat more kale over the winter, but since it is still in great shape, I have plans to use up about eight cups of the nutritious greens in a fritatta and a turkey chili verde.

I've been entering everything I eat into the free nutrition calculator on Fitday, and it's been very educational to see the results. Given that many foods I eat appear on my menu repeatedly (eggs, sprouted grain bread, turkey breast, broccoli, salad greens, peppers, skim milk, cottage cheese, bananas, apples, avocados, whey protein powder, energy bars, frozen berries, whole grain cereal, nuts, olive oil, yogurt), it's interesting that some days I nearly hit the mark on all of the various important nutrients, and other days I'm way down on a few. Also, some days I seem to hit the 30-40-30 protein-carb-fat ratio effortlessly (within a percentage point or two) and on others I have to struggle to keep the carbs in check.

I figure that once I have a few more weeks of consistent food reportage logged, I can really start tweaking my menus. I'm aiming to have my weight lifting days a bit higher in calories and carbs, and my non-lifting days less on both. Once I start logging one high-mileage walking day on the weekend (for half-marathon training), I can have a higher-carb meal afterwards, too.

Tuesday's workouts:
Morning: Suhaila Salimpour's Bellydance Fitness Fusion Pilates DVD (40 minutes); Darshan's Bellydance Tribal Fusion NYC DVD (drills section, 30 minutes)
Lunch: 4-mile walk

Tuesday's food overview:
1786 calories (33% protein, 32% carbs, 31% fat, 5% alcohol)

Wednesday's workouts:
Morning: Rachel Brice's Yoga, Isolations and Drills DVD (30-minute workout)
After work: NROWLFW "A" workout with kickboxing warmup
Evening: Bellydance choreography class

Wednesday's food overview:
1842 calories (26% protein, 45% carbs, 29% fat)

Hitting my stride

Yesterday began Week 2 of my new workout agenda, and while I still feel a bit of next-day soreness, I am spared the mind-numbing ab pain of Week 1.

This is a "BAB" week, with the "B" workouts on Monday and Wednesday. Here's an overview:

• Deadlift (2 sets of 15 reps)
• Superset: Shoulder press (2 sets of 15) and assisted pull-ups (2 sets of 15)
• Superset: Lunges (2 sets of 15 on each leg) and stability ball crunches (2 sets of 8...although I do more)

What was supposed to be one cheat meal last week turned into a smattering of cheat meals and snacks from Thursday evening through the weekend. I kind of rolled with it, since I was grieving, but I'm firmly back on track now.

Monday's workouts:
Lunchtime: 2-mile walk
After work: NROWLFW Stage 1, Workout B, with a nice little punching bag warmup

Monday's food overview:
2062 calories (21% protein, 42% carbs, 31% fat, 6% alcohol)

Kickin' my own butt

I started a new weight lifting routine yesterday, courtesy of my new bible, The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess.

You wouldn't think that a workout with only five exercises could leave a person whimpering the next day, yet begging for more. But I'm telling you it can.

The premise of the workout plan is that you work all the muscles in your body three days a week (alternating days). You won't find a bicep curl, calf raise or tricep extension in the bunch. Instead, you do big moves that work multiple muscles.

Here's an overview of the "A" workout from Stage 1:

• Squat (2 sets of 15 reps)
• Superset: Pushups (2 sets of 15 reps) and bent barbell row (2 sets of 15)
• Superset: Lunges (2 sets of 15) and a wicked stability ball ab exercise (2 sets of 8)

Oh, how my abs and chest are complaining this morning. In a good way, of course.

The book offers 6 months of workouts, changing things every several weeks to keep the muscles guessing. I'm also following the nutrition guidance in the book, since building a better body has perhaps more to do with good nutrition than it does with exercise.

Although I'm at a weight I am OK with, I want to build muscle and reduce body fat. I took a big leap of faith yesterday and had J photograph me in a bikini, front, side and back views. Much better than it would have been 48 pounds ago, but there is still work to be done. And having a series of photographs as a visual tracker will be valuable.

Monday's workouts:
Morning: Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance (30 minute practice)
After work: NROWLFW Stage 1, Workout A

Monday's food overview (aiming for 30% protein, 40% carbs, 30% fat):
2126 calories (26% protein, 38% carbs, 32% fat, 4% alcohol)

Tuesday's workouts:
Morning: Disc 1 of Sacred Bellydance (90 minutes)
Noon: 4-mile brisk walk

Tuesday's food overview:
1888 calories (31% protein, 26% carbs. 32% fat, 11% alcohol)
Should not have had that pre-dinner cocktail...

Bellydance goodness

It was with some regret that I let three great bellydance workshops pass me by so far this year, so I was extra excited for today's workshop with Kami Liddle of the Bellydance Superstars. (Photo of Kami below is from the BDSS Web site, fyi.)

About half of the three-hour workshop was movement drills, and I picked up a few bits of very valuable information.

One was the correct muscles to be contracting to tip the pelvis backwards (the gluteus medius, which are, in basic terms, located above the large gluteus maximus muscles but below the lower back). Her attention to good form and posture was excellent, in both example and explanation of why it is so important (so we can all still be dancing when we're 110 years old!).

The other is something she learned from Carolena Nerricio (creator of American Tribal Style Belly Dance (ATS) and director of Fat Chance Belly Dance), which is that it takes eight minutes of drilling a certain movement to create "muscle memory" for that movement. Dancers want muscle memory because once you have it, you can use proper technique while performing without consciously thinking about what muscles to contract. This will definitely change the way I do movement drills at home.

After drills, she taught us an advanced-level combo from a choreography she did for Bellydance Superstars (and one that they are currently performing on tour). I can't say I nailed it perfectly on every run-through, but I kept up pretty darn well. Yay me!

Back to the books

Even though I've reached a number on the scale that I can totally live with, I've decided it's time to buckle down and really clean up my eating. I don't care if I lose another pound, but I can tell where I have muscle and where I still have excess body fat. I do care about gaining the former and losing the latter.

One important tool that helped me kick almost 50 pounds to the curb last year was The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person. It's not a diet; rather, it works with any eating plan you choose (healthy, please).

Some of the daily assignments made me think "duh, I already know this," but let me tell you, there were many that made me open my eyes and see the light bulb going off over my head. Finally I got it: hunger is NOT an emergency and mindless eating is bad, bad, BAD!

Some things in the book were totally new and revolutionary to me. Others were nothing new, but something about the way they were explained finally broke through my mental barriers. I formed some great, healthy new habits and didn't feel much pain doing it.

However, I've noticed in the last month or so that I'm slipping into that sense of complacency that comes once the weight is lost. That feeling that I don't have to watch what I eat so carefully. Fortunately, this time I was prepared for it. That feeling came around every time I've lost weight in the past, why would this time be any different. What is different, is I've got Dr. Beck's book on my side. I probably won't work through every daily exercise (six weeks worth), but I will review the ones that I know are sticking points.

The only women's fitness magazine I regularly enjoy is Oxygen. While I don't like all the ads for fat-burning supplements and whatnot, Oxygen is heavy on the fitness and nutrition content, light on beauty and fashion (which I get from Vogue, thank you very much). Well, Oxygen wouldn't be Oxygen without regular contributing editor Tosca Reno, who has a small list of books to her name, including two recent books on clean eating. I just added one title, The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook: Great-Tasting Recipes That Keep you Lean, to my personal cookbook library (which I really need to inventory one of these days...).

I started cooking from it last night, preparing the Crock-Pot Porridge. It was nice to have a hot breakfast ready and waiting for me after my morning workout. Adding unsweetened applesauce instead of brown sugar will take a little getting used to, but it was tasty. And totally healthy. Tonight's dinner will be Country Style Beef Soup, which I picked mainly because I can use one of the packages of soup bones from the 100 pounds of grass-fed steer we have in our freezer. Oddly, I've had a hard time finding recipes that call for beef soup bones. I can also use up the rest of the cubed butternut squash in the freezer, as well as one pack of the frozen edamame from Costco and a few of the turnips still braving the cold in my garden.

Really, this is one of the few cookbooks from which I will probably make every single recipe. I'll just have to be a bit sneaky with the tofu recipes (sorry, J!).

Full disclosure

I shun most (ahem) reality shows, as I feel they are as addictive and unhealthy as any drug. So it was a big decision for me to start watching the new season of “The Biggest Loser.” I don’t really know why I decided to watch; it just felt like a natural thing to do. I don’t regret that decision, because, let me tell ya, it’s been a kick in the pants. I’ve never walked in the shoes of these contestants, but I’ve been close. Too close.

May 2003: Weight 224 pounds. At a height of 5-feet-7, that translates to a body mass index of 35.1. Otherwise known as obese. My intentions to “do something” about those excess pounds meant little until I truly had an “enough is enough” moment. I join Gold’s Gym. Five mornings a week I lift weights and power through 45-60 minutes on the elliptical trainer. I clean up my eating habits a bit, too. 40 pounds slip off. At 184 pounds, my BMI is 28.8. Straddling the fine line between obese and overweight.

March 2004: I move away from the ‘burbs and the gym, to the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle. I use my apartment building’s gym sporadically, walk our golden retriever daily, and manage to keep off most of those 40 pounds (in spite of nine months in pastry school).

October 2006. In a moment of stupidity, I do a bang up job of breaking my left ankle in our house of six months. My orthopedic surgeon informs me that during my recovery (six weeks on crutches, then six more in a walking cast) I will gain weight and lose fitness. How ironic that I was once again “gearing up” to lose weight when my little accident occurred.

Losing fitness I couldn’t argue about (I mean, I couldn’t even MOVE much). But I was NOT going to gain a bunch of weight. My OS said that his patients think they will just eat less to compensate for their decreased physical activity but end up eating more…because they have nothing else to do.

At this point let me mention that my crutches and I did not get along. At all. During that six weeks, I only left the house for doctor’s appointments and for Thanksgiving (I telecommuted). I developed a revolving set of muscle and joint pains from hauling myself up and down the stairs (on my butt, mind you).

What a blessing in disguise. If you can’t cope with crutches, you really can’t cope with carrying anything while on crutches. Including food. That helped prevent my weight from ballooning. I also realized if I was having that hard of a time getting around, what would happen if a similar situation occurred 10 years down the road?

I believe now, more than ever, that most people won’t make a serious change in their life unless they hit some kind of rock bottom. My rock bottom came in two phases: 2003, and 2006, when I literally hit the bottom of the stairs!

I made a serious plan. I started eating better immediately (with help from J, since I wasn’t up to cooking). I began exercising as soon and as much as I could. I installed a basic home gym in the basement (well, J did the heavy lifting). I read diet and nutrition books to help build an eating plan designed for both health and weight loss. I studied up on the psychology of eating and weight loss. I was ready.

February 2007: Less than a month out of my walking cast, I buy a scale. 192 pounds. Back to obese. I clock the mileage on what I thought was a “long” walk. Just over two miles. Not long enough. Not even close. I decide to walk a half-marathon in November. I choose a training plan from Walking Magazine The Complete Guide To Walking: for Health, Fitness, and Weight Loss. My mileage increases weekly (peaking at 30 miles/week). I steadily lose weight (about 1.5 pounds per week average).

January 2008: I have been in the 143-145 range for the last three months. BMI of 22.6, mid-range in the “normal weight” category. My doctor tells me not to lose more weight (which I think is insane, but more on this later…)

The funny thing is that, for me, losing the weight wasn’t hard. Sure, sometimes it’s hard to find the time or motivation to exercise, sometimes it’s hard to say no to free office donuts. But I never starved myself, never worked out to the point of exhaustion. I never worked hard at the weight loss. I worked smart. I worked steadily. I wish I had done it sooner, but I don’t dwell on that, because this time I know it is for keeps. It’s not just about looking better in clothes. It’s about being as fit and healthy as I can possibly be.

Business as usual

This is the first week in about a month and a half when my fitness routine is running like clockwork. Honestly, it feels great. I was pretty good about keeping up with workouts in the month leading up to the holidays, but let's be frank, there was some slippage.

In case you're curious, here's a basic rundown of my weekly exercise schedule.

Monday
5:30 a.m.: Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance OR yoga on my own
Noon: Casual 2-mile walk
5:30 p.m.: Weight training (legs, lower back, abs)

Tuesday
5:30 a.m.: Bellydance for Beginners with Suhaila: Fitness Fusion Pilates and weight training (Deltoids, trapezius, biceps, triceps. I skip abs, because the DVD has an abs segment.)
Noon: 4-mile training walk
5 p.m.: Bellydance - Tribal Fusion NYC OR Tribal Fusion Bellydance with Sharon Kihara

Wednesday
5:30 a.m.: Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance or yoga on my own
Noon: Casual 2-mile walk
Evening: Bellydance class du jour

Thursday
5:30 a.m.: Bellydance for Beginners with Suhaila: Fitness Fusion Buns and weight training (chest, back, rear deltoids, abs)
Noon: 4-mile training walk
5 p.m.: Contemporary Bellydance and Yoga Conditioning with Ariellah OR Rachel Brice: Bellydance Arms and Posture

Friday
5:30 a.m.: Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance or yoga on my own
Noon: Casual 2-mile walk
5:30 p.m.: Weight training (legs, lower back, abs)

Saturday
5+ mile training walk
Weight training (deltoids, trapezius, biceps, triceps, abs)

Sunday
4-mile training walk
Weight training (chest, back, rear deltoids, abs)

Extras
I usually fit in at least one additional DVD from my bellydance library in the course of the weekend.

Six in six

2008 will be the first year in a looong time that one of my New Year resolutions will not need to be "lose weight." Which, really, is freaking amazing. However, because "weight loss maintenance" is such a boring and static idea, I am challenging myself to become fitter than ever in 2008.

I will of course continue to do the activities that helped me get to where I am today. That would be walking (20 miles a week minimum), weight lifting (mixing up my exact routine every 6-8 weeks to keep my muscles guessing), bellydancing (live classes and DVDs) and yoga (which I want to actually do more of).

Each of these activities is fantastic, and I love all of them enough to spend many hours a week doing them. But my personal idea of fitness means having the strength, endurance and flexibility to move any which way with relative confidence and little-or-no delayed-onset muscle soreness the next day.

I arrived at this notion gradually over the summer and fall. We did a heavy renovation of our garden, which involved digging and hoeing a lot of heavily compacted soil. Let's just say that traditional ab workouts have got nothing on sustained shoveling. Then this fall, when I had been weight lifting for several months and was looking and feeling pretty darn good, I was humbled by the load of Zoo Doo we shoveled into, then out of, the back of a pickup truck. This time it was my shoulders. No injuries, but lots of the kind of pain that says "you got a serious workout."

At first, I thought I might have trouble coming up with six activities (I chose that number because it meant an average of one new activity per month). I ended up needing to cull a few (although I might do them anyway). Here are my winners:

Snowshoeing. I can't cross-country ski without falling on my behind continuously, so I think this winter activity might be more up my alley. I've read that "if you can walk, you can snowshoe." We'll see about that.

Hooping. A woman I watched hoop at an event last month was fit and toned and sleekly muscular. Plus, you can make your own hoops and decorate them with pretty, sparkly tape. A hot bod and DIY possiblities? Sign me up!

Shadowboxing. I use this term because I have no interest in actually sparring with another person. I bought an 80-pound heavy bag a few months ago on sale, and J finally installed it in the basement for me yesterday. I tried out some basic punches and kicks (with two books for guidance on form). Fun, fun, fun.

American Tribal Style bellydance. This is one area where my bellydance education has been lacking. Now that there is an officially certified ATS instructor near my neighborhood, I figure I have no more excuses.

Shovelglove. This set of exercises, created at home by a guy who was itching for a non-gym workout, uses a sledgehammer for weight, working muscles in a way that traditional weightlifting exercises won't. I think working these into my routine will pay off next time I have to unload Zoo Doo.

Kayaking. When I'm walking along the shore of Lake Washington during pleasant weather, I always envy the glide of the kayakers across the water. Plus, I figure it will be a killer arm workout.

It was a very good year

I know it's not Thanksgiving, but 2007 has been a significant year for me. So, as it draws to a close, it seems fitting to declare my thanks for what I'll call my Top 10 Events of 2007. In rough chronological order, they are:

1. Successfully rehabilitated my broken ankle (broken 10/12/06, lots o' metal installed on 10/14/06).

2. Set up home gym in basement with free weights and benches purchased inexpensively on Craigslist. Renewed my commitment to serious weight lifting...as all women should!

3. Resumed weekly bellydance class, this time from a fantastic new (to me) teacher. I feel blessed that both of my long-term teachers (to date) have been top-notch.

4. Completely landscaped our previously boring front yard. Thanks to He Who Puts Up With Me (who I will refer to as "J." from this point forward) for doing the heavy lifting on that one. We're talking rock walls, et al.

5. Reconnected with my long-lost high school-to-college best friend at my 20th high school reunion. (Also: Discovered that high school-to-college boyfriend was not aging particularly well.)

6. Lost 47 pounds since February (when I could start going for proper walks again), and am now at a healthy size 8.

7. Took an amazing workshop from Amy Sigil of Unmata. Marveled at the complicated ways in which the human body can move.

8. Welcomed a healthy (albeit a bit premature) niece into the world.

9. Walked a half-marathon for the first time, and saw my months of dedicated training pay off with a good finish time.

10. Discovered my next avenue for fitness fun, after a chance encounter with a visiting hooper named Spiral.