Ouch.
That’s the best way to describe how I felt on Friday morning. Major ouch. The fact that I hurt all over from my first 80 Day Obsession workout is still seriously irksome. I mean, honestly. I just ran the Dopey Challenge … all 48.6 miles, in January. How is it possible for me to be so out of shape? And I know. I whined talked about this in my first Beachbody post. But as a woman who’s nearing 50, it’s terrifying how fast you can lose your conditioning in a matter of weeks. Tales of older folks breaking a hip and never being the same are haunting and yes, I know. The two can’t be compared. I’m just rambling, here. There’s going to be a lot of that in these workout updates.
Back to the ouch.Btw, this post is going up late because we lost power and internet here at the beach! Doing some major catch-up today.
I woke at 4:30am on Friday feeling sore and tired and exhausted and wondering how in the world I’d find the energy to do another 60 minute workout. This concern poked the back of my mind as Bob and I packed our bags and headed to our beach house for the weekend. After the 3.5 hour drive and a Wal-Mart run, (more on that later,) I just wanted a nap. Plus I couldn’t shake away the notion that maybe I should postpone this challenge until I’m better prepared, seeing as how I don’t have a yoga mat or weights at the beach house and I forgot to pack my Vega protein powder. Perhaps I should restart the program on Monday, after my resistance loops and strength sliders arrive from Amazon.
Plus, one of my biggest problem areas is my arms.
I hate every inch of them, from my cellulite dimpled biceps and saggy bat wings, to the wrinkled skin above my elbows. Based off the description, 80 Day Obsession focuses on your core and booty … both of which do need some major work, but what about arms? Maybe I should do some more research and see if there is a better program out there for me, one that I would start on Monday.
Of course, we all know what was really happening. I was resisting and procrastinating due to fear and laziness.
Resistance + procrastination + fear + laziness = failure.
I’ve done enough failing for a lifetime and I have a hefty collection of dusty workout tapes and DVD’s in my basement to prove it. I’m tired of failing. I want to finally make it to the end and instead of dusty DVD’s, have a killer before/after photo to prove it.
Besides, I’ve already announced my intention on social media so it’s too late, there’s no going back now.
With that in mind, I put on my workout clothes, grabbed a rug to use as a yoga mat and started the Day 2 booty workout, using a tied resistance strap as a loop replacement. The workout was pretty solid and hit a lot of my trouble spot, such as my outer thigh and quads. I can see how this would improve my running as well. Plus, Autumn gave another awesome quotable:
“Success trains; failure complains.” Autumn Calabrese
Oh my. Yep, that’s me, alright, so after the workout, I felt pretty good about myself and happy I didn’t cave. My puppy certainly applauded my efforts by her constant show of attention. 😉
There’s something else that I need to focus on, though. The meal plan.
Ugh. I hate meal plans.
And I must admit, in nearly all of my previous Beachbody or other workout attempts, I’ve never followed the meal plans. They’re frustrating and take too much time, so this non-foodie would rather just open the fridge or pantry and grab something quick. Besides, I’m basically a healthy eater to begin with, although it wouldn’t hurt me to eat some more vegetables. Plus, after suffering from an eating disorder for most of my life … I don’t want to obsess about food any more. It’s exhausting and quite frankly, I don’t have the energy for it any more.
When it comes to food, I just want to be left alone and be free to eat my damn occasional fries in peace.
This is why I love running. Training for my first half marathon was what finally freed me from my eating disorder. For the first time since fifth grade, I stopped obsessing about calorie counting. I stopped purging and began to view food as fuel rather than the enemy. There were times during heavy training that I actually had to eat MORE to keep from gaining weight.
Imagine that. Eating MORE to keep from GAINING WEIGHT.
This concept caught up with me, however, when I was injured for nine months. I kept eating like I’ve become accustomed to, gaining a total of nine pounds. I’ve lost five, but the remaining four refuse to budge. And yes, I know four isn’t a lot, but like I said before … I don’t feel good. That is my end goal, to feel good again, not to only lose weight.
Not following the meal plan is also most likely the reason why I’ve failed at every single workout program I’ve tried. (Well, that and laziness.) And if I’m going to do this program, y’all, I’m going to do it RIGHT and follow all the steps.
So hello, eating plan, let’s go.
Now, 80 Day Obsession first asks to use the Calorie Calculator in the Starter Guide to figure your daily caloric needs. This multiplies your weight by 11 for a baseline, and then you add 600 to maintain due to exercise, then subtract 750 for weight loss. Using my current weight of 120.4, this leaves me with 1,174.4.
I don’t think that’s enough, especially since I plan on running three times a week as well as hopping on a bike occasionally and doing PiYo Lower Body to loosen my stiff calves. Autumn’s Plan A does go up to 1,499 calories, so I’ll start with that and then increase if it’s not enough. As for the colored portion-control containers … yes, they’re very pretty, but for now, I’m sticking with measurements from this cheat sheet although I most likely will be ordering them because they’re pretty. 😉
Now onto the food.
While driving to the beach, I did make a grocery list for our customary Wal-Mart run and loaded our cart with fruit, vegetables, tuna, brown rice, yogurt, cottage cheese, frozen broccoli, and chicken … stuff that for the most part, I eat a lot of anyway. So maybe the food list part won’t be that much of a stretch for me. I could also use the Weekly Food Log that’s part of my Happy Planner Fitness Extension Pack (affiliate link,) plus one of my favorite apps, My Fitness Pal, to track my calories.
But Bob and I eat out a lot now that our boys are in college. How’s that going to work? And what about the recommended timed eating plan? That just seems like more work. And what about alcohol, must I truly give up beer for 80 days? Then there’s the dicey topic of supplements, which I’m saving for tomorrow’s post.
But no. I really need to succeed at this and putting together this recommended meal was super easy, although I’m imaging the processed food might be a no-no.
My resolve was tested when Bob and I went to Dead Freddie’s for early happy hour since out power went out due to heavy winds. I failed by giving in and ordering a beer. Yes, this is bad, but I’m not perfect, folks, although I am making a rule that I can only indulge on weekends. Then it came time to order our dinner. I’m a Maryland gal who loves her crab cakes and … oh my gosh … those fries were looking super awesome. Bob even said that I should just enjoy life and eat what I love.
But no.
If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this right by following the meal plan, figuring out the timed meals, and if necessary …. sniff, giving up beer for a while. I want results. I want to finally push myself beyond the mediocre and be able to share before/after photos in three months that make even me say, damn. You did good, girl. So I ordered shrimp and a garden salad with oil and vinegar which wasn’t exactly crab cakes and fries, but tasted pretty good.
I also ordered another beer, though.
Sigh.
Work in progress, folks. I’m just a work in progress.
