6 Week Barbie Body Challenge

The class at the YMCA which I attend 2x/ week is called "Body Challenge," or more affectionately called "The Barbies." Our fearless leader, Amy, set up the name because we show "Barbies and Kens what a real workout is like!" When one joins the class, a Barbie nickname is bestowed upon you. Mine is Hammer Barbie. No, not like MC Hammer (though I can be, at times, too legit to quit), more like I-look-like-I-want-to-hit-people-when-focusing-on-a-workout kind of hammer. Apparently I look pretty intense when I'm concentrating.

But I digress.

Our instructor decided to dedicate this 6-week session to getting our energy levels up while keeping us focused on our fitness goals. The plan, in its simplest form, is as follows:

1) Come to class.

2) Write down ALL foods consumed- don't worry about counting calories or logging nutritional values, just write down what you eat/drink. I already use MyFitnessPal daily so food tracking won't be too hard.

3) Eat less carbohydrates and NO refined carbohydrates. Time to eliminate the following:

• packaged cereals
• white bread
• white rice
• pasta
• cakes
• biscuits
• sweets
• candy
• pastries
• pies
• white flour
• beer (I'm going to allow myself some beer, but it's going to be light and low-carb)
• sweet white wine

4) No eating refined sugars- but natural sugars are fine. Natural sugars are the following:

• found in fruit
• found in dairy (galactose and lactose) 
• raw honey
• maple syrup
• agave nectar
• molasses.

5) Limit fruit intake to 2x/day.

6) Eat a "crap ton" of vegetables- green and leafy are best, but eat 'em all. Seeing that my garden is starting to explode with cucumbers, zucchini, tomato, green beans, and peppers, I think I'll be ok here.

7) Eat more protein than I think I can handle. The CDC recommends 46 grams of protein/day for a woman aged 19+. Protein sources that I can (rather, will) eat are:

• Lean cuts (or ground) of beef, ham, lamb, pork, veal
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Eggs
• Beans (black-eyed peas, chickpeas, falafel, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, split peas, black beans)
• Bean burgers
• Nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, mixed nuts, peanuts, peanut butter- natural!, pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts)
• Fish (crab, lobster, tuna, salmon)
  

This all harkens back to my doctor's suggestion a few weeks back. I've done this before- for 2 weeks. But for 6?! Holy hell, and right after I went grocery shopping, too!

She took my weight (EEK), BMI, body fat percentage, muscle percentage (which she said was actually pretty good!), body age (58-- ARE YOU KIDDING ME), and visceral fat numbers. I recorded the numbers in my journal and, in 6 weeks, we will reevaluate the numbers and see if there was any progress made.

I asked for a little extra assistance- like recipe/snack ideas, to take my numbers again in 3 weeks as a "midpoint check," that kind of stuff. Amy was more than happy to oblige (I'm really lucky to have her around).

Then, I texted the man of the house to let him know this was happening, since the poor guy had to suffer the brunt of this last time around, and because, well, he's going to be eating what I'm eating. His words, "Bring it."

I had to look up refined carbohydrates v. regular carbohydrates, have to find more interesting protein combinations, but it's worth a shot...

Like the man said, bring it.

100 days

I log into Twitter this morning, and what do I see? This scary ass update:

Holy. Shit.

I mean, I've panicked before this date, but 100 DAYS. That's not much time, and I'm only running about 5.5 miles/week right now! I have to work up to 13 miles IN ONE DAY.  Is this even possible?

THIS IS NOT A FUN FACT, Free Press. That kind of update should come with a warning label.

I'm training like I'm supposed to. I'm starting to develop my core muscles, since apparently needing to be in an upright position is important while running. I could be doing more, but I'm making progress.

This girl shaved 30 seconds off of her 1-mile time, and 1 minute 10 seconds off of her 5K time. That's progress- right? Then how come it feels like it's not? That the 13 miles is going to really mess with me?

On top of the 100 day mark, I'm headed out camping for the week with the boy and his family. I have to schedule some runs in there while doing other camping stuff- like eating s'mores. I've already laid out the condition that I'm not allowed to have more than 2- a night. I could eat a box of graham crackers like they're going out of style, and don't get me started on the chocolate and marshmallows.

I'll just keep repeating my calming mantra- 1 mile in 20 minutes, and you'll finish. 1 mile, 20 minutes. 1 mile, 20 minutes...