Stephany Writes

Categories: Healthy Living

Points Plus

I haven’t mentioned it on this blog, but in October, I went back to Weight Watchers. My mom and I made a pact to weigh in every week, even if we had a bad week. And recently, a new Weight Watchers opened up in our area where we can come and weigh in at any time. (Usually, Weight Watcher locations are only open during meeting times so this is very helpful on weeks we can’t make a meeting and can hop over during our lunch to weigh in.)

This week, WW unveiled a brand-new program called Points Plus. It is a completely new program so I thought I would take the time to outline the major changes for people curious about starting WW or long-ago members who want to know what’s changed.

  • Fruits and vegetables are now 0 points
    This is one of the biggest changes and I am so happy to see this! On Momentum, a large apple was 3 points and for me, it just didn’t seem worth it to “waste” 3 points on an apple. So I barely ever ate fresh apples. This plan allows for fresh fruit and veggies to be 0 points, giving members ample ways to fit in their F&V servings! This opens up a whole new world to me and I even bought my first fresh pineapple this week! There are exclusions, mainly for starchy veggies like potatoes and corn. And it has to be fresh fruit so those fruit cups are not free. I’m really excited to see how much more fruits and veggies I will begin to eat now that they have a 0 points value!
  • So long calories, fat, and fiber! Hello, protein, carbs, fat, and fiber!
    There is a completely new Points system in town. No longer will you be calculating the calories, fat, and fiber of a food. WW has taken away calories and added in protein and carbs. I’m really excited about this change because I think it gives a more accurate value to the food. Most food values have changed. My 2-point oatmeal is now 3 points. A SmartOnes meal that used to be 4 points is now 6 points. I had to buy a new Points calculator, although they were on sale for $6. I believe the only way you can calculate your Points now is through eTools, the calculator, and the iPhone app. (I may be wrong, so please correct me if there are more ways!)
  • With new Points values comes a new Daily Points Target, as well as more Extra Points
    Say goodbye to the old way of calculating your Daily Points Target, there is a brand-new scientific way that WW now calculates it. I get 29 Daily Points and that’s the lowest it can be. When I weighed in and got my sticker to put in my book, it showed my DPT on the sticker. And let’s welcome in the 49 Extra Points we now get with open arms! I use those extra points like they’re going out of style so I’m super excited about having 14 more. While it does all even out since Points are now more, it’s still nice to have more Points to work with!
  • Exercise is different
    At your meeting, you’ll receive a big guide to the program, as well as a new Pocket Guide. In the Pocket Guide, there’s a new way to figure out your exercise points. The way to calculate is the same (time, weight, and intensity) but it’s not exactly the same. (Also, it’s more cut and dry than the slider so I can’t tell myself the pointer looks closer to the 3 than the 2. Dang.) Also, you can now earn up to 6 extra points, instead of the usual 4. Awesome!

I’m sure I’m missing something, but these are the biggest changes that are going to affect members. It’s been an adjustment, but I think I’m going to really love the new program! I love how fruits and veggies are now 0 points because it’ll definitely help me to get in the five servings I need, and hopefully more.

Tell me what you think of the new program, new or current WW members. And if you’re not on WW, I’d love to know what you think of the program in general – good and bad. If you have any questions on WW itself, leave them in the comments!

Categories: Healthy Living

Race Recap: Turkey Trot 5K Wingding

I know I said I wasn’t going to blog until Tuesday, but I lied. In the month of December, I’m participating in reverb10, where I’ll be using prompts to reflect on the year I’ve had and prepare for the one coming up. I’m really excited about it so check it out!

Anyway, I’ve decided to blog today (and tomorrow, and I’ll be posting another letter to that elusive future husband of mine on Monday) so I have time to write everything I need to write before December rolls around.

Onto today’s post! Today, I ran my fifth Turkey Trot and when I say “ran,” I do mean RAN!

My alarm went off at 5am, which is such a godawful hour for your first day of vacation, but get up I did. I tried eating a granola bar beforehand but I was just too nervous. Luckily, my race was at 7am so I knew I would be OK. I managed to drink a little water, though. That’s something!

My mom and I made our way over to the race start around 6:30am. I realized while making our way over that a) I was starving and b) I had to pee. Luckily, there were Porta-Potties by the race start! Score! And the lines weren’t too bad! Double score!

The race began a little after 7am and we were pretty far back from where the race actually began so I kept my eye on the clock as I passed it to know when I actually started the 3.1 miles.

Here’s my mileage breakdown, thanks to my mom’s fancy Garmin:

Mile 1 – 12:11
Mile 2 – 14:20 <—3 minute walking break
Mile 3 – 14:26 <—3 minute walking break
Mile .1 – 2:38

The first mile was by far the toughest. It’s always hard for me to find my groove in the beginning, but I was determined to make it to the first mile marker. I have to say, I loved how crowded it was. Call me weird, but it’s just fun to race with all these people and my last race wasn’t crowded at all and I was walking by myself for 90% of it. The pushing and shoving is a little annoying, but it was tame this year thankfully. Still, check out that pace for my first mile! I am a rockstar.

I took two 3-minute walking breaks that felt more like 30 seconds. But they were much needed and helped me catch my breath. The only thing that sucks about walking breaks is finding your groove again when you start running.

But I ran most of this race, finishing with a new PR at 43:35. I am extremely proud of that time, even though it may seem like a super slow pace for some runners. I hope to become faster in time but right now, I’m just focusing on running my best race and doing just a little bit better each time.

After running the 5K with me, my mom went and ran the 10K, finishing in 1:18, which meant she ran for two hours today. (She’s also run 26 miles since Sunday – simply crazy!)

It was one of my best runs to date and I’m signed up for two 5K’s in December, one on the 5th and one on the 8th. I think I’ve caught the running bug.

Categories: Healthy Living

Race Recap: X-Country 5K Trail Run

I’m not going to lie, I was nervous about this race. I’ve never done a trail run before and I normally run on pretty flat paths. The last hilly race I ran took me 50 minutes to complete. I was hoping to do good and push through the pain, even though I had a few bad runs leading up to this day.

My mom was running the half-marathon, which started a half-hour before mine, so I had to say goodbye to her and wait in anxious anticipation for my race to start. I was incredibly nervous about disappointing myself.

My goals to begin the race were:

  • Run in under 40 minutes
  • Run each mile, letting myself have 2-3 minute breaks in between
  • Enjoy the course and scenery
I’m sad to report, I made none of these goals. I didn’t have a good race and didn’t enjoy myself in the least. I hated the trail. I had to dodge roots, uneven terrain, and horse poop. For a good mile, I was shuffling hay under my feet. And due to the fact the race didn’t start until 8:30am and I had no food in my body, I became weak almost instantly. I really need to work on fueling and hydrating better for my runs, especially on race day. I was also still dealing with some chest congestion, which meant a lot of yucky coughing and clearing my throat.
The first mile of the race was relatively easy. It was on a flat road and while most of the runners were ahead of me, I felt like I had a good pace. As much as I wanted to catch up to the other runners, I know I had to keep my own pace. I have this competitive nature that doesn’t really match up to my running ability. It’s a problem.
I took a break once I got past the first mile, but then we started running on the trail and it was tough. My ankles began hurting immediately, due to the uneven terrain and having to watch my step for overgrown roots and horse poop. I never feel like I got my groove back after that.
It was a tough race and I’m trying to find solace in the fact that it was my first trail run and there were a lot of serious runners. I’m talking zero body fat, running 6-minute-mile-marathon serious runners. It was the first time I had ever felt intimidated at a race. I’m used to fun races like the Turkey Trot with more first-time runners and lots of walkers. I was out of my league at this race, shown with the fact I was quickly at the back of the pack within the first 15 seconds.
I started running again probably half a mile towards the end and really started hauling when I turned a corner and saw just 44:00 on the clock. It was a horrible, awful, miserable race but I WAS GOING TO PR! I was scared to look at my iPod Touch to see the time so I waited until I hit the finish line. My final time was 44:13, which is a good 41 seconds ahead of my previous PR. It makes me wonder what damage I could do to my PR on a flat, easy course. (Also, this course was more like 3.3 miles.)
I’m probably never going to do a trail run again. I didn’t enjoy the trail at all, and couldn’t even take in the scenery because I was so annoyed with all the mess. I know it was partly because I had never even walked on a trail like this and partly because I hadn’t fueled correctly. Trail running is hard. And it’s not for everyone.
My next race is on Thanksgiving, which will be my fifth Turkey Trot. Originally, we weren’t going to do it but we have a sentimental value tied to this race. It’s a nice way to get some activity in before a day of gorging. And I know the course by heart. I know that it’s well-organized, with each mile marked, and plenty of spectator support (they even have bands playing through the course!). I never realized how much I love spectator support until the past few races I’ve run which has had barely any. And since I managed to PR on my first trail run, I’m pretty determined to hit below the 40-minute mark on this next one.
Have you ever run a trail run? If you have, did you like it? If not, would you ever (after my scary recap!)?
Categories: Healthy Living

Exercising While Sick

Yesterday, I woke up feeling pretty crummy. I had a swollen throat (which is different from a scratchy throat, an egg throat, or a swallowing-feels-like-knives-slicing-my-throat. You know what I mean.) Shortness of breath, which is something I’ve been dealing with more and more, convincing me I have congenital heart failure. Or something like that. And a terrible, hacking couch that makes me sound like a smoker with a two-pack-a-day habit. The cough also makes my chest feel like it’s going to explode. And a low-grade temperature, although I never really took my temperature but trust me, I felt hot.

I felt a little bit better after taking a hot shower and moving around, but I was still functioning at 75%. And I spent the entire day wondering whether or not I should exercise.

You see, I’m not addicted to exercise. (Yet?) I can make up a million excuses of why I can’t exercise. I’m tired. I have too much homework. I’m sick. I’m having women problems. I need to spend some quality time with my dog. Anything and everything.

After my 10-hour day, the only thing I wanted to do was go home, cuddle with my dog, and take a nap. I was exhausted, my eyes were burning (which made me believe the culprit for this sickness was allergies. Yay.), and just felt crummy. But I researched about it and came to a disappointing conclusion: it is OK to exercise while sick.

I knew beforehand that the rule of thumb is anything involving the head means you can exercise. Anything involving the chest means no. (And yes, you can exercise when you have cramps. But I never do. Because cramps hurt and make you feel horrible. The end.) And since I was feeling slightly better, and perhaps because I wanted to write a blog post on exercising while sick, I went for a run. (Side note: it’s also important to tone down the intensity when exercising while sick. Since my runs have the intensity of a knitting class, I decided to do a regular workout.)

I completed Week 6, Day 1 of Couch to 5K which was a horrible run. I got a side stitch almost immediately and only finished the intervals because my mom was running with me and giving me pep talks, such as “Unless you faint, puke, or die, keep running,” and “Stand up and finish what you started!” It took a lot for me not to punch her in the face.

The result was a fairly awful run which made me doubt that I will ever have a natural love for the sport, as I do for napping. (Which is a sport, because you burn calories while doing so. Fact.) I was happy I finished it, but it really made me feel worse. I think I pushed myself too much and I’ll probably do something much less strenuous tomorrow. (Like napping.)

What about you? What’s your rule of thumb for exercising while sick?


Sources: x and x

Categories: Healthy Living

Living Healthy

Healthy living has become the biggest part of my life lately. I’m on a constant tug-of-war with my weight, never hitting my happy weight nor coming to a place where I feel I am at my healthiest.

Hello, my name is Stephany, and I’m a yo-yo dieter.

Oh, those shoulders!

I would say I was at my “healthiest” (using that term loosely) in the Spring-Summer of 2007. I was living on my own at college, going to the gym most mornings, and using Sparkpeople to plug in my calories. My college had a Subway on campus and I would usually head on over there after spending a morning working out at the gym. By the time May rolled around, I was down 10 pounds. And by August, I was a svelte 125 pounds. I still felt like I had about ten more pounds to lose but then Fall came. It was my first time working while having a full load of classes. I also had my first teaching experience, working one day a week in a first-grade classroom. Needless to say, healthy living took a back burner to life. I didn’t gain a lot, but also didn’t lose anything.

2008 was the year it all fell apart. I started another teaching experience (twice a week in a fourth-grade class) that was hell, ended up quitting my job in March, and gained almost all my weight back. It was a rough year for me, especially since I was realizing I was pretty awful at this teaching thing. It wasn’t a great year for me and I think gaining my weight back (and slipping back into old patterns) was just the icing on the cake.

2009 was a year of new beginnings for me: new job, new major, and a new way of living. Yet the weight stayed on. Every once in a while, I’d rejoin Weight Watchers and lose some weight, but fall back to old habits and gain it all back. It’s been a constant cycle for the past two years.

Sometimes, I think to myself, “Maybe I’m just not ready. I haven’t hit rock bottom yet.” My mom? She was ready. She had a medical scare and realized she needed to do something quickly before she was put on medication because of her weight. So she did. She lost 80 pounds and has kept it off for over two years. While I don’t feel like I have hit rock bottom yet or gotten a health scare that snaps my butt into gear, that is such a scary statement to make. What do I mean by “I’m not ready”? When will I be ready? When I have a heart attack? When I can only fit into plus-sized clothing? When I get put on diabetes medication?

If I start now, I only have 35 pounds to lose. I can turn my life around when I’m young and not wind up 200+ pounds at age 25. (And for someone who’s five-foot-two, that’s a lot of weight to lug around.) It doesn’t matter whether or not I’m “ready”, it matters that I start fighting for my health now.

Completely changing your life is not easy and for me, I’m holding onto my old life with tight fists. It’s a little terrifying to think of how much my life needs to change and there’s a big part of me that doesn’t think I can do it. And that’s the part that’s holding me back the most: that little voice inside my head, telling me I’ll always be fat. And while I’m trying to accept myself as I am (i.e., being skinny will not solve all of my problems), I know that finding my happy weight and living a healthy lifestyle will do wonders for my self-esteem, confidence, and overall outlook on life.