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The Isagenix Cleanse is Over!

Angela C. — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:29:26 +0000

Well, folks!

I did it my way, and it’s done… at least for the month of January. I started the Isagenix Pre-Cleanse on January 15th and already felt like a failure by the 16th.

I scooped myself back up (or actually, scooped some more chocolate shake up into my plastic shaker) and made my own plan. It went something like this:

* Coffee first thing in the morning, with non-fat milk and splenda
* Cleanse drink at work
* Nuts or apple slices as a snack
* Coffee break
* Chocolate shake on the drive home
* Snack-sized dinner or chocolate shake for dinner

Sometimes the nuts or apple slices turned into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat. Usually those were workout days. Sometimes the snack-sized dinner wasn’t that small. But I did avoid all desserts, sodas and meaningless munching.

I actually began to enjoy my routine and am considering implementing some sort of “cleanse” activity into every week. Stay tuned for that.

From Amy Mac's website

Here is an interesting digitally-enhanced picture I saw at www.withamymac.com. It shows a woman at size 16 and at a size 4.

When I started this journey, I was wearing a size 16W. And that was in designer clothing. I’m comfortably wearing size 14s now.

I have no desire to be a size 4, but this does give me a good visual representation of what I can achieve with effort, exercise, and everything in moderation!

When I get down to half my former size (that would be size 8), maybe I can do this pic for real!

Leave me a comment, and see you soon!

Isagenix Cleanse Days 2 – 8: Happy Medium

Angela C. — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:08:52 +0000

I’ve completed 8 days of the 9-day Isagenix cleanse, and I’m happy with my results thus far. That’s saying a lot, since I tend to have a lot of negative thoughts running around.

I think the key to staying upbeat and making progress is that I modified the cleanse to meet my needs, versus modifying my needs to meet the cleanse.

Some purists may disagree with my approach; but it works for me.

Basically, I stuck to the 2 -days of cleanse and 5-days of shake + 1 meal model, with one major modification. I snacked.

If you recall from my last post, having a snack left me feeling guilty and almost like a failure. I decided to keep going anyway.

Then I resolved to have a small, healthy snack in between every shake or cleanse. The result was that I was eating or drinking something throughout the day.

My only slip-up was when I broke that pattern one night to have dinner with my family. I over-indulged, and you can see it in my weigh-ins:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A7MYgLiCPw

I’m happy to report, though, I’m close to my end-of -January goal:

How are you doing with your goals? Please, leave me a message!

Starting anew in 2010

Angela C. — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:00:29 +0000

Well, kettleviewers… so far, I’m starting 2010 off with a clean slate. Like many, the new year brings a sense of “I can do it!” to everything I’m taking on.

I think 2010 is going to teach me discipline. My health and overall fitness goals are just part of the whole picture. In every aspect, I’m learning to tackle a little bit each and every day, consistently.

I could focus on nutrition, exercise, saving money, connecting with friends, or even my business goals, and keep myself motivated by doing something — even just a little — every single day.

It’s like the adage of saving for a rainy day. If I put aside a dollar for every day this year, I’d have $365 on December 31st that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I know, some of you would like to put aside TEN dollars a day — and if you have it, by all means, do it — however, for me, taking bite-sized pieces really works.

I find that setting my sights on a realistic goal, like “get some physical activity in,” or “no sugary sweets today,” allows me to focus on a small choice or activity that will pay off over time. Check it out:

I think that my scale(s) are a little off, so let’s not get excited about losing 5.5 pounds in one week, people. I didn’t starve myself, and I haven’t started my cleanse yet.

What I am really tracking here are the inches on my body. Last week, I dragged myself into training, pretty upset. My clothes weren’t fitting the way they were, even a month ago.

My trainer challenged me and my partner again — lose a pound a week, or pay up! Jerk!

I mean, here’s a picture of him teaching us how to do “the jerk.”

So my workout partner, Ty, and I decided to keep eachother accountable over e-mail/text/harrassing phone calls:

“Eat healthy today?”
“What did you do to workout?” ”
“Put that mini Reeses’ Peanut Butter cup down! Two pounds a week!”

Jerk!

Just kidding! Every little bit helps, really.

I’m keeping my eye on my one year goal– to have lost 80 pounds, and over 12 inches in my waistline — through discipline, consistency, and a sense of humor.

Not to mention, I have an even bigger goal; that is, to be a healthy mom.

Happy New Year, everybody! Leave me a comment!

P.S. I’ll be tracking my progress starting from January 2010. Feel free to look at past blogs under the category “Measurements” to see how I’ve fared since May 2009.

My Hips Don't Lie

Angela C. — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:58:38 +0000

Hey, kettlefolks! Have any of you heard of Shakira? The Lebanese, Spanish, Italian Grammy award winner had a pop song called, “Hips Don’t Lie,” with a sexy video to match.

While I bear no resemblance to Shakira, her song has been resonating in my head ever since I took my measurements this morning:

“My Hips Don’t Lie…”

I’ve been pretty static lately, both in terms of my workout and my measurements. But my hips measurement had gone up a couple of weeks ago.

My weight soon followed:

I’ve noticed that my bust can vary an inch or two but that won’t necessarily correlate with my weight. My waist is… strange, to put it nicely. I’m sure other big girls can relate to what I’m insinuating.

My hips, though, they don’t lie!

The only way I’ll reach my Thanksgiving goal at this point is to do a major cleanse. I don’t think that’s the “right” reason to conduct a cleanse. I also don’t want to be the Grinch with the caffeine withdrawal headache and hunger pangs while working at the mall for the holidays!

So, back to basics! The 3 Ps: Practice with kettlebells, Plan my meals, and Portion control!

How are you doing on your journey? Drop me a line!

Sunday Stats

Angela C. — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:23:58 +0000

Hey folks!

It’s been a strange week. I either had the stomach flu or food poisoning. I didn’t work out all week. I counted calories every single day, using my blackberry. And I ended up with the exact same measurements as the week before, but a pound less:

I’ll do a video progress update soon. For now, I’m just happy that some of my clothes are fitting me loosely!

Thanks for following! Be sure to subscribe to my e-mail list with the link above, or just by sending an e-mail to subscribe@kettletell.com — you’ll get updates whenever I send one! (And remember, kettletell does not spam!)

Calorie Counting and Kettlebells

Angela C. — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:35:45 +0000

Folks, I’m on a quest. I’m looking for the magic balance between food taken in and energy expended that will equal pounds and inches shed.

If you recall, last week Tuesdaay my trainer challenged me to lose a minimum of one pound every week. (I’m assuming, that is, until I hit one of my goals!) He’s threatened — I mean, motivated — us with an extra dollar added permanently to our session rate. I don’t like paying late fees, bank fees and parking tickets, so this is actually a good technique!

I started using a food diary and have meticulously entered everything in into it. This weekend, I’m looking up my favorite places, such as Yogurtland, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and, yes, McDonald’s grilled chipotle bbq snack wrap (no cheese) and entering all of the nutritional info.

According to the website, at a sedentary level of activity, my calorie intake should be 1900 kcals per day in order to lose one pound a week. At a moderate level of activity, my calorie intake should be 2200 kcals a day to lose one pound a week.

There’s also an “exercise diary,” where I can log in my activity and number of minutes. Unfortunately, there’s no “kettlebells” in the options. Kettlebell workouts are part weight lifting, but not 100%.

To solve this problem, I’m just using the “weight lifting” category and foregoing any rewards from the extra work done in my kettlebell workouts.

The same issue is occurring in my food diary. What if, for example, I put a cup of food down but don’t end up finishing it? Or I share with my son? Oh well. Again, it’s better to over-estimate my consumption and under-estimate my activity at this point in the game.

Here’s how everything’s looking so far (Tuesday and Wednesday were erased):

I have tracked my food issues down to the snacks I’m choosing. Yesterday, I went to a potluck, and tried to pick the healthiest options… which still left me feeling hungry and over in calories. The solution? Bring my own healthy food with me!

I’ve been staying up pretty late, too! What does that mean? I’m hungry at, oh, midnight. I’ve never been a midnight snacker, but lately, I’ve been dipping into these World Gourmet Veggie Garden Straws, 2 servings at a time. Sabotage!

I guess a trip to the store and pre-packing my snacks in appropriate portions will help.

Here are my actual stats for the week:

I’ve never been happier to weigh 191.2 pounds! Wheeeeeeee!

Thanks for visiting!

More video blogs will be posted here, and on you tube soon. Leave me a comment. : )

Sunday Stats: I'm bringing nerdy back

Angela C. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:01:51 +0000

Nothing to see here, folks, keep on moving!

Okay, you’re still reading, so I’ll share my latest progress (or lack thereof) with you:

Here’s what that looks like as a line graph:

Since I’m a nerd, I thought to look at the data and see if I could find any trends. Do you see anything?

The only correlation I could see clearly is… higher weight, wider measurements. Usually, when I increase in weight, even slightly, one of my measurements increases.

The other factor that is making this unclear for me is that I did a 9-day cleanse with a 2-day pre-cleanse in the middle of July. If you recall, I lost about 6 pounds, endured some serious caffeine withdrawals and had all kinds of interesting things happen, like breakouts, hair loss and moss (okay, not moss, but some white substance that looked gross) on my tongue.

Hypothesis #1
The “cleanse days” aside, I think that the difference in my weight and measurements is directly linked to the other major cycle. You know what I’m talking about.

I haven’t collected data on that, specifically, but I do know that my eating is impacted because my cravings are pretty intense, which I am almost 100% sure is due to hormonal changes.

Hypothesis #2
Then there’s the other hypothesis: I gain weight and my measurements go up when I don’t work out regularly and I’m not counting fat, calories and fiber.

Hm. What do you think?

Please leave me a comment- especially if you have tracked or are tracking your stats, and have some light to shine on this!

Have a great Labor Day, America!

Stressful Snacking?

Angela C. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:38:40 +0000

Hey kettlefolks!

For the past week, I’ve been in various coffee houses around Honolulu, working to a deadline. One of the joys of working for yourself is that you get to work anywhere! (Conversely, you don’t have an office or regular workspace.)

Lately, I’ve been looking at this: And this has been looking at me:

What’s that in your hand, Angela?

I’m glad you asked!

It’s an Ice blended mocha, no sugar added, extreme.

What does extreme mean?

More coffee.

I’m running on less sleep than usual, my eyes are tired and bloodshot, and I just want to complete this project so that I can move on to the next. (Not that I’m complaining– I do love working in the field of education– albeit, independently!)

In the past few days, I had not worked out, had not eaten healthy and nutritious meals, and for a second I thought I was back in finals week during my undergraduate college career.

As I’m sitting here sipping this bittersweet drink, I started to review the other things I’ve been putting into my system. Everything that I’ve had a craving for falls into one of four categories: salty or sweet, crunchy or creamy. Sometimes, it’s two of the four, like crunchy and salty — popcorn, or those veggie tubes we got at COSTCO. But usually, I have a very clear idea of what I want, and I when I’m working up to the last minute, like now, I’ll go and get it.

I think this is stressful snacking; an insidious form of emotional eating. It’s insidious because I almost don’t realize I’m doing it.

For example, the graham cracker I was snacking on with my son. (Sweet and crunchy.) I didn’t have a whole cracker… or wait, did I? I can’t remember, because I wasn’t paying attention. What about the salty barbecue chicken I had for lunch? I usually can’t finish the mini-plate. Today, I ate the whole thing.

About the only thing saving me so far this week is the fact that I did get into the FitPro Hawaii gym today. After swings and suitcase squats with the 16kg kettlebells, Bill busted out the benches. Liz and I did presses and various weight bearing activities with two 12kgs. I’ve been typing all week– my shoulders are taut and my wrists are thrashed! I’m so glad I got in there!

We also got homework for the next four days– complete a total of 200 clean and presses (the long cycle) with two 8 kgs. I can do 100 over two days (yeah, right) or 50 each day. We also have to continue our cardio on our own.

I’ll keep in touch! In the meantime, can you please let me know what kind of healthy snacks you eat that are satisfying?

kettaloha!

Just the stats, ma'am

Angela C. — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:14:39 +0000

Hi, people! After a good experience with the cleanse a month ago (during the week of 7/15), here I am:

As you can see, I pretty much look the same. Heck, I even feel the same– except when I’m working out. I know that I’ve gotten stronger. Today, I brought home a 16kg iron kettlebell to see if I am strong enough to at least swing with 1 pood.

Whether or not I hit my goal by my birthday remains to be seen. At this point, I feel like I won’t make it… but I can come closer than I ever thought possible!

This week, it’s all about vegetables. I haven’t been eating a salad a day like I was in the beginning of this quest. Sure, I’m getting fiber, but I’m not filling up on the nutritious leafy greens. So, I started yesterday and so far, I’m 2 salads for 2 days. Anyone out there want to join me? Who breaks the salad a day challenge first– me or you?

Facebook me, comment on youtube, or send me a tweet! It’s on!

Sunday stats! Am I Headed for a Relapse?

Angela C. — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:02:18 +0000

Hey, Kettlepeeps! It’s late Sunday night… and I have yet to write my blog!

I was reviewing my past blogs and wanted to show you again how the “average” American is sizing up. About 10,000 people were digitally scanned to get these average figures:

When I started this blog, I told myself that enough was enough. Rather than continuing to increase my weight and size, I wanted to put a stop to my unhealthy eating and lack of exercise, and transform myself. My main motivator is my 2-year old son. I’d like to stay healthy and be able to watch him grow up, even as I grow older.

Kettlebell training was a natural choice-- it was different, which piqued my curiosity. Working out with kettlebells seemed manageable, so I wasn’t afraid to give it a shot. Not to mention, a good friend of mine was in training, and having her as my partner with a personal trainer helped immensely.

Fifteen weeks into this process, here are my results:

As you can see, although not by much, my stats are increasing! This week has been tough on two fronts. Check out the video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2L7naJJHHE

In addition to the bacterial infection which worsened by the end of the week, I’ve also had family visiting from “the mainland.” There’s been no stop to the parade of treats and sweets darkening my doorstep.

Don’t worry, though, I’m positive that I’m not headed for a full-blown relapse. I plan on getting a good workout in tomorrow, and already have put supports in place during the week that my personal trainer is gone.

And of course, kettlepeople, I have you.

Mahalo for visiting! Leave a comment or two!