Operation Get Fit No Excuses: Week 2 Summary

As the second week of Operation Get Fit No Excuses closes, I have learned many things. The main thing is that I am definitely committed and determined to continue my new healthier lifestyle. As many times as I’ve started and stopped exercising and diets, I completely surprised myself so far. (Even Padrone is surprised but proud of me sticking with it.) I did have a couple of days this week in which my determination was flagging, but I repeated to myself a couple of times and got up and went.

My biggest accomplishment was finishing 6 kilometers in under an hour but then the next day I barely made it 2 kilometers. I have stretched every single day before and after both walks, but it felt like I just couldn’t recover completely.

I started looking for advice and suggestions on time/length/pace for walking beginners and many of their suggestions were completely impossible to obtain. The parts I do agree with is that you try to walk 30 minuets a day. Until you get used to it, don’t worry to much about pace (how fast you walk) or length. Just concentrate on time. If you can’t make it for 30 minutes, break it up into 3 10 minutes intervals. Do what you can while pushing yourself a little but remember to listen to your body.

I have been using the natural sweetener called Stevia and it’s taken some getting used to. But, now after a week, I’m loving it. My blood sugar has been almost textbook perfect between the exercise and watching my sugar and carbohydrate intake.

Now, I haven’t stopped eating mostly what I want to. I’ve cut out sweets, refined sugars and most breads. When I want a sandwich, I use a tortilla to make a chicken and cheese wrap versus 2 pieces of white bread. All of these little changes have made huge differences.

Today, after my walk, I came home and stretched for about 10 minutes then did a 20 minutes Beginners Yoga class. I was thinking I would be doing really weird poses and stretches, but surprisingly, I didn’t. It really was a video for basically anyone that’s mobile, no matter your age or body stiffness. Afterwards, I felt so relaxed and my leg and butt muscles finally stopped hurting! I had heard so many good things about Yoga for many years but haven’t ever gotten off my lazy butt to actually try it. I did today and am so happy. I don’t have the fancy mats or anything. It was just me on my living room rug and my computer watching the Yoga video.

So remember this:

1. Listen to your body and go at your own pace, but do push yourself a little.
2. Keep things fresh by choosing different walking routes and scenery so you don’t get bored.
3. Watch what you eat but don’t go completely crazy on some crash diet. Make small changes in your food choices and stick with those.
4. Take vitamins, especially if you don’t eat enough vegetables or fruits.
5. Try Yoga to help you stretch stiff muscles. I will swear by it now!
6. Don’t let a scale be your guide! Measurements are a better way to judge your progress than numbers on a scale.

If you want to watch me daily, I post videos on my YouTube channel. You can subscribe and watch at https://youtube.com/channel/UCLjTpeHjOIqlsU1S6yxfaJA  . Thank you all for the encouragement and staying with me on this journey!

Week 3, here I come!

Operation Get Fit No Excuses: Week 1 Summary

Well, if you follow me on Facebook or Google+, you have seen that I started a new lifestyle change. And by Lifestyle, I don’t mean BDSM this time. I have been very sedentary for the past several years and have not walked or done basically any form of exercise. My body started to let me know it didn’t like this a few months ago. Here’s the breakdown of what started me on this journey to get in better shape.

First, my sugar level went crazy. Normally I have low blood sugar, but it decided to go from one extreme to another several times a day. I would develop dizzy spells, have trouble balancing, and get headaches. My eyes wouldn’t focus, even with my glasses on. At first, I chalked it up to some weird Epilepsy symptoms because I do tend to get weird side affects, other than seizures, with my type of epilepsy. I then developed cobweb or shadowy lines in my left eye. That scared me. Padrone wanted me to go to the doctor, but being stubborn, I wanted to try to resolve the issue myself. So we’re waiting to see if my eye gets better with the changes I’m making.

I had my gallbladder taken out over 10 years ago, so I don’t eat spicy food or very greasy food. I also try to avoid tons of caffeine and most fried foods. During the past couple of years, my reflux and heartburn would literally activate at all times of the day and night, no matter if I ate anything or not. Water could give me heartburn. We tried prescription medicine and found out that most of them wouldn’t work on me and the ones that did work broke me out in a rash. Talk about aggravating!

A few weeks ago, I developed eczema on my face. I have never had any form of this before in my life, and I’m 44 years old now. I found a treatment to get it under control, but am afraid it will come back.

I’ve dealt with all these things while having to deal with seizures and all the stuff that goes along with them. It hasn’t been fun. I know that there are many people with much worse and more debilitating conditions than I have, but for me, all of it together was the last straw. It felt like I could almost literally see and feel my body crying out to me to start living better. I like to think my body was giving me a preview of what would happen if I didn’t start to make a change.

So, now you know the back story as to why I got motivated to start exercising, here are some rules I’ve set up for myself.

1. Numbers don’t matter! I don’t weigh myself nor do I care if I actually loose weight or not.
2. No more refined sugar. I did a lot of research and found that many sweetners make the body act the same or worse when used. I need my glucose numbers to be somewhat stable. I found out the best and least harmful sweetner to use is called Stevia.
3. No more normal white bread. I am actually using flour tortillas to make sandwich wraps versus a normal bread sandwich. They have less carbs.
4. I really don’t eat fruits or vegetables so I started taking a multivitamin that actually gives me a large amount of the recommended daily allowance. I also take Vitamins C and D in 1000 mg capsules a day. (Note: just because I take these doesn’t mean I’m recommending you do the same. Listen to your own body’s needs and maybe see a doctor or nutritionist.)
5. Do not make any excuses for not going out and walking. If I have a seizure but am able to walk later that day, I will. I even got waterproof shoes and a jacket to ensure I really don’t have excuses now.

So, that’s why first weekly recap. I do a daily video on my YouTube channel also. Please take a look and subscribe!

Thanks for following!