I had another phone call with John Pierre and he helped me considerably. We adjusted the diet plan a little bit to include less fat and more protein sources that are high in fiber, which gave me much better satiety than I was getting before. I did much better this week in terms of what I ate. Adjusting my mindset this week was very important to my progress. I concentrated on eating the foods that were best for me instead of the ones I was craving. What I did was basically isolate which foods would nourish me and then choose the ones that would also satisfy me. In the past, I would do things the other way around and find the items that tasted best and then find the healthiest one of the bunch. This new way is much better.
Steve and I got a chance to go to the gym together for the first time in a long time. Usually Steve goes at 5am and then I go at 6:30am because we have small children who can’t stay home alone. But this weekend my parents were staying with us so we capitalized on the opportunity to go to the gym together. What I learned there was extremely eye-opening to say the least. Steve caught a glimpse of my elliptical work out and realized my intensity was very low. My heart rate would soar to a whopping 110. No wonder I could easily maintain that for an hour. I was barely breaking a sweat. So he had me up my intensity to a point where my heart rate was between 130 and 140. Oh man, what a difference. I could sustain that for about 12 and a half minutes before I was unable to continue. But this is great information because now I can improve in this area and get a more effective work out.
Next Steve took me to the weight section of the gym to show me how to use the machines. On Saturday we worked on biceps, my back, and the triceps (is that the back of the arm?). Then we went and stretched for a while, which is something else I’ve never done during my workouts. On Sunday we did legs, abs, and calves. Oh my holy God. I couldn’t even do one proper sit up. Steve and I both got a laugh out of my efforts. It was pretty funny really. But again, this is great, because I can only improve from here. We went to an ab cruncher machine and that helped a lot because the machine assisted me in doing a crunch. I think I got to about 7 crunches using the machine. Next we did some stretching on the mats, and honestly that felt so good I can’t believe I ever avoided it.
So I’m going to start weight training and keeping track of my progress so I can move up steadily and progressively. That’s definitely something that’s been keeping me at this plateau. I’m not exactly looking forward to the soreness my protesting muscles are about to bestow upon me, but I’ll take my lumps and keep right on going.
My biggest gain this week was in identifying an area where I could improve, so I’m really happy about that. My second big gain was in identifying food which is good for weight loss and also tasty to me.
I’m trying to decide if I should keep posting weekly updates. I may switch to every other Monday so I can put in some other articles. I know my health goals aren’t going to be of keen interest to everyone so I’m not sure I need 4 per month. We’ll see.
And now a request. Please refrain from sending me information about other diet plans. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, it’s that I am seriously inundated with every plan under the sun (including sungazing!) and I’ve heard it all already. I’m sticking to my current diet plan that John Pierre has set up for me. I’m going to add in the weight work outs, and just keep right on going. Please feel free to send supportive and encouraging feedback, and you can also post in my forum about your own successes this week. That would be fab!
Weight remained the same this week. Considering the birthday weekend for my daughter which included 2 buffets, some pie, and some vegan ice cream, I feel lucky. With the more intense exercise and the weight work-outs, I’m expecting this week to go really well.
