Well Woman Fitness (1) - Becoming a 'Running' Woman

Weightloss was my main reason for embarking on this so-called "Well Woman" journey of mine and obviously excercising/fitness is a big part of losing weight.

  

- Like I said in my last post, I started exercising in August last year. Walking/running was what I started with because 1) it was how I could burn the most calories in the shortest time, 2) it works for all parts of the body and 3) it was what I had observed one of my weight-loss motivators (Tayo Badejo of FADD) do over a few months in order to drop the kgs (in combination with healthier eating, of course).

I am not new to exercises, far from it. Through adolescent - adulthood, I've always been on the quest to lose weight/get fit, from high school to college to Uni and so on, I have acquired many exercise gadgets (stationary bike, lateral thigh trainer, several DVDs, etc..), I registered and signed membership contracts at gyms (which I hardly ever used but paid for nonetheless!), attempted playing football/tennis with my brothers and even once participated in a 5km run for Cancer research UK. SO you see, I've "been around" quite a bit but I never stuck to one thing long enough for it to have a lasting effect.

After the birth of my 1st child, I started to use the treadmill and Nintendo Wii at home but barely 2months after I started, I got knocked up again (Well Women should use Birth control - a topic for another day!!!) and with the way I carry on during my pregnancies, fitness was the last thing on my mind, LoL.

Saw this on FB and it just spoke to me....

ANYWAY! Fast forward to 2012, 2 babies, 88kg and so on later, I embarked on a "lifestyle adjustment" approach. Being a wife, mother of two kids and an aspiring entrepreneur, it was NOT easy 1) finding the "right" time to work out, 2) getting into the right frame of mind. I had a lot of excuses but as we all know, those [excuses] burn very little calories. I wanted to do it in the most cost-effective manner so registering with a gym was out of it for me as Gyms had collected ENOUGH of my hard-earned cash in the past.

So, after plenty pep talks from my dear Tayo (including opression from her numerous BBM updates), Bisi and co..., I ordered the shoes I needed, downloaded the necessary Apps to track my progress, set my alarm (which I snoozed/turned off a few times before giving in) and hit the road.  In the beginning (before I got wiser), I felt it was the only way I could eat whatever I wanted to eat and still lose weight/not gain any more weight so that motivated me.  (LoL! How wrong I was! Read about my 'wake up call' here). 

Used this wallpaper on my phone, laptop & iPad

I started with walking, aimed for 5km distance the first few times but didn't quite achieve it. Took 2 trips before I started doing a full 5km. As time went on, I started jogging intermittently after I read up on High Impact Interval Training (HIIT), which is better for people working out with the primary goal of losing weight - I would walk briskly for the first 5minutes then I would jog for 30 secs, brisk walk for 30secs and just improved from there till I was running for 3mins and brisk walking for 30secs-1minute.

One of the challenges I had in the beginning was BREATHING, which a lot of people I have 'coached' complained about. That feeling of being out of breath and nearly collapsing makes you feel tired quite quickly and discourages you from attempting to jog/run again for fear of passing out. Getting the breathing right is something that requires focus and training. Once mastered, your stamina improves greatly and you are able to go longer with jogging and actually start enjoying it! 

My tip - I breathe in through my nose and blow out through my mouth (as I normally tell my labouring women to do. LOL!). I also take occassional deep breaths whilst jogging whilst thinking about the supply of enough oxygen to my muscles, bla, bla...It kept me going anyway.

That is how I developed a love for running outdoors. Doing it on a treadmill indoors does not compare at all. The time I spend outdoors running is 'ME' time; I reflect on events/issues, I listen to good music, I pray or worship sometimes, listen to recorded messages from inspiraitonal speakers (depending on my mood) and just enjoy the view and fresh hair.

Time spent exercising & calories burnt

I am a supporter of 'progress monitoring', because it enables you to see how well you are doing and how you improve as time goes on. I used a watch (with pulse function) to keep track of my timing and calories burn. In the beginning, it took me 50-55mins to walk 5km and these days, I do it in 31-35mins. I gradually improved on distance too and now, I can do 7km, 8km during the weekdays and 10-13km on a Saturday morning before work.

It isn't easy (I say again) waking up super early (5am) to go out to run before coming back to bathe, feed the kids, prepare lunch, etc....Having support from my husband helped A LOT as through the period we had no nanny, he would start sorting the kids out if they wake up before my return. There is a way around that situation that is holding you back, find it!

My running experience has taught me a lot about myself, things that I am able to apply to other areas of my life. I love it and for now, I am enjoying it, it has been nearly a year now and I am planning (God willing) to run half a marathon (21km) in September at the Accra International Marathon event. Wish me luck!

Tayo Badejo of FADD

I hope sharing this would motivate 1 or 2 people to get started. Leave comments! Ask questions too....!

Well Woman - Food

Food! Food! Food! 

Yes, I love food! So it is no wonder that I found myself close to 90kg. 

When I started my 'Well Woman' journey, I knew my love for food would have to be controlled sooner or later but took me a while to fully accept that fact. Last year August at 85kg, 6 months after having my baby girl, I said to myself, "I'm going to lose weight by just exercising, I love food too much to control it" .

At 85kg

So I started jogging everyday....I would go jogging like 5km then return home and tell the help to fry 2 big plaintains for me then I would proceed to fry 2 eggs with sardines, baked beans and frankfurters. I had been good with exercise afterall, why should I not indulge/reward myself? Then for lunch, I would go my fave white rice and fried stew with enough meat and chicken and perhaps a little beans or boiled egg for "protein", For dinner, I would have something "light", maybe garri then have a huge serving of different fruits #epicfail!!!

A month later, I went to the gynaecologist's to get my birth control fitted (story for another day), I stepped on the scales feeling really cool with myself and to my "surprise", I had gained 3kg (88kg!!). I was livid! "How did that happen?" I've been running 4-5 times a week, doing aerobics, swimming and many workout dvds! I left the clinic that day and branched at a nearby restaurant to buy some good food to lift my mood. LOOOL!

Needless to say, that little voice that had been telling me all along got louder and louder in my head til I couldn't stand it. So, I sat on my PC, carried out enough research to support what I already knew, made a list of foods I needed to buy and drew a Food timetable (like the one I have for my son) and so it began. 

It was HARD! I gave up Fanta (tough one), Maryland cookies, Twix obsession and many others. I got a lot of support from my friends who had started their weightloss journey and were making progress. Tolu, Tayo and Bisi gave me tips on cooking without oil. I didn't want to be so drastic so I started off measuring the oil I use til I actually started  cooking some foods with no oil whatsoever (beans, vegetable soups..). Bisi was my mentor from day 1 and she pinged me daily to ask what I was eating.

Measuring cups and a food scale

So, as suggested by my friends, Tolu and Bisi, I needed to weigh/measure everything I put into my mouth. So, I dug out these measuring cups and food scale. It was a drag at first but I soon got used to it and I was surprised at how much I had been consuming and expecting not to gain weight. I cross checked the foods I weighwith 'myfitnesspal' - an app i downloaded on my smart phone to get a calorie estimate.

106g of pineapple

I was shocked at how little some foods were at 100g . For example, 106g was a mere 4 small wedges of pineapple which was 50calories & contained 15g of sugar! My daily sugar allowance according to 'myfitnesspal' was 24g. Also, a serving of weetabix minis (40g) had 155calories (without milk) but was so small. LOOL, I suffered small, I wont lie.

40g Weetabix minis

It was an eye-opening experience. I'm glad I went through it. I learnt a lot, I wasn't perfect, had many falls along the way (the occassional sneaky sugar indulgence) but I made it up by working out and cutting down on subsequent meals/days. I just never gave up. In October, I lost 3kg and by 1st november, I was 85kg once again and armed with plenty information, knowledge and will power to carry on.

Some of My 'Well Woman' Food Tips

1. Calculate what your BMR is (that is, the require calorie intake for your current weight/height, gender, age and level of activity) and decided how much you want to cut off your BMR in order to lose weight (If you consume your BMR daily, you would stay the same, consume more, you gain weight, consume less and lose weight - add exercise to it and you lose even more as you burn calories). Find out your BMR via this link http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

2. Portion control! - Learn to measure all meals (using measuring cups, scales, tablespoons, teaspoons) and check their calorie content (usually just estimates) using google, myfitnesspal and so on. Most foods have a serving of 100g, u can use this as a guide in the beginning like 100g of rice/beans/cereal + 1-2 tbsp of stew and so on...

- A friend of mine, Bisi was not into calorie assessments at all, she focused on reducing her portions and worked out doing a lot of cardio and lost a lot of weight. However, I felt this method makes it difficult to lose fat around our most common problem areas, e.g. tummies. This is because white/processed carbs/sugar tend to be stored in this region. So I recommend cutting out certain foods and using substitutions. After losing a significant amount of weight then you can become a bit more lax and use portion control to maintain or lose more weight.

3. Substitutions - I made efforts to substitute. Wholegrain to replace white carbs (oats, whole wheat, brown bread, pasta, etc..). I grilled/boiled my plaintain (I'm a big dodo lover) instead of frying it. Used spray oil to cook instead of pouring from a bottle, sweet potatoes (now my favourite food) instead of yam, and many others...

4. Water! I learnt all over again how to drink plain unsweetened, non-carbonated water! Hard for many people I know but it is a weight-loser's vice. Many times we think we are hungry or "peckish", we are actually thirsty and it is amazing how water can give you plenty energy and satisfy you between meals. Aim to drink at least 2litres a day. Carry one bottle around and refill from water dispensers if you have to.

5. Snack! It may be hard at first but learn to love snacking on healthy snacks. Almond nuts, I love! apple and peanut butter (measure!), carrots (weigh!), crackers and so on are some of the snacks that are sweet and crunchy and may satisfy those cravings. Snacking is important to avoid overeating at the next meal and to just sort of 'console' me. However, remember that just because something is 'healthy' does not mean it doesnt have calories. Even fruits! So don't pig out. Moderation is key!

Finally, get SUPPORT! Through groups, a friend who has been there before, or just plain making noise about it. I got my motivation from all these. On my bbm, facebook and all, everyone knew I was trying to lose weight. It helped keep me accountable as I knew they would be expecting a trimmer me when they see me so that thought kept me on the straight and narrow whenever I was tempted to grab a packet of cookies. I would grab an apple instead. I joined 'The Shrinkers', 'FADD' on my BBM and 'WeW' on Facebook. Reading about others on the same path, sharing challenges, logging in meals and exercise was a great help.

So, there it is. I am now fluctuating between 68-70kg (65kg is my target), I've relaxed a bit and I indulge every now and again, I don't measure my foods as much as I used to as I can now assess by just looking at a portion. I will blog more about food as time goes on, just thought I'd reminisce a bit and share what worked for me. I have many people asking for tips so it's easier to have this place to refer people to.

Please leave comments if you find this helpful.