The Double-D Workout Challenge!

Greetings!

A great big hello to any new readers out there. I got a ton of traffic yesterday because the Everyday Health column about me was featured on the AOL Homepage – what a wonderful surprise to wake up to! So… I welcome any new readers that are sticking around (and I hope you do!) – and don’t forgot to follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

Last week, during my weigh-in post, I mentioned that I’ve been communicating with my two sisters in an ongoing text message stream as a way to stay accountable and check in about how we’re doing. I find it very helpful and fun, but it’s just one of two things that I’ve started in the past couple weeks to help with accountability. The other is…

…The Double-D Workout Challenge!

Check It Out: New Everyday Health Article!

About a month ago, I got contacted by an editor at Everyday Health, a big health and wellness website. And by ‘big,’ I mean ‘gigantic’ – they get 20 million unique visitors a month. They were starting a new column featuring weight loss success stories, and the editor was curious if I’d be interested in being featured. Heck yea! I provided some photos and answered a bunch of questions and woke up today to an email saying that my column was published. Happy Friday to me! Check out my Everyday Health column by clicking here.

I filled out the questionnaire before I had my most recent weigh-in and before I fessed up to the troubles I’ve been having this month, but I just reread what I wrote, and it all rings true, and is all good advice for the situation I find myself in now. So nice that the me of the past is looking out for the me of the future!

In other news, today marks the end of the first week of getting back on track. 

A Tight Squeeze

Things are still going pretty well, ladies and gentlemen. I’m now on Day 5 of getting back on track, which means 5 days of making good food choices and 5 days of exercise (I haven’t worked out yet today, but I will).  On Sunday, I made a big crockpot of chicken and veggie soup, so I’ve been enjoying that for my lunches. I’ve brought workout clothes to work, so I can get my exercise in after I’m done in the office.

While it’s a big improvement from how I was eating last week, I haven’t been perfect.

Q: How Did Day One Go? A: It Was A Success!

Hey folks, I have a quick little update.

First, I don’t need more reasons to get back on track – a 15-pound weight gain is enough, thankyouverymuch – but another one presented itself midway through my Friday when I popped a button on my pants. Ugh.

I’m handy enough with a needle and thread to reattach this, but it does not feel good to literally break an article of clothing. I’m thankful those pants also had a decorative drawstring that lasted me throughout the rest of my day!

As I mentioned in my last post (read it here if you missed it), I set two healthy living goals for Friday, and

1,393 Steps From the Sidewalk TO THE ROOF!

It’s been a rather triumphant weekend, and I’m so proud to share it here. On Saturday, I competed in my second stair climb race, up the stairwell of the Aon Center in downtown Los Angeles, and it was a fantastically excruciating, wonderfully brutal morning. Grab your favorite hot beverage… and I’ll tell you all about it!

The event was the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Stair Climb 2013. I did the same event last year (read about it here), and while I was nervous, I wasn’t nervous for the same reasons. Last year, I didn’t really know what to expect when I made my way up that stairwell, but now that I’ve done it before, I wasn’t so nervous about that. I was more nervous about how I’d do.

I was significantly less prepared than I was last year. Last year, I spent months and months training for this thing, and this time around, I only really started training in earnest a few weeks ago. Plus, I’d been battling a cold that kept me home from work one day last week and messed up my exercise regimen. Prior to the event on Saturday, the last time I had worked out was way back on Monday.

Then, of course, there was the realization that the Aon Center is still a big ass tall fucking building. I was reminded of that when I saw it looming in the distance as I drove downtown.

It only gets taller as you get closer.

Oh, Crap… Fifteen Days Away?

It turns out that this post is months and months in the making. Way back in 2012, I decided I would sign up for the American Lung Association 2013 Fight For Air Climb. It’s a charity event that involves racing up the stairwell of the 63-story Aon Center in downtown Los Angeles. If this rings a bell, it’s because I participated last year (read all about it here), so when I heard there was an early bird discounted registration for this year’s event, I bit the bullet and signed up. I honestly didn’t know if I would participate or not, but I figured I could sort that minor detail out later, and, in the meantime, I saved $10 or $15 dollars. Of course, I never got around to figuring out if I would actually participate… because I kinda forgot all about it.  

A Change of Plans at the Gym

I had an experience at the gym recently that I’m trying to hold on to as a teaching experience. Basically, things weren’t gong my way, but I turned things around, and I’m proud of myself for doing so. Here’s what went down:

I got a guest pass at a new (to me) gym a few weeks ago. I’m not really in the market to switch gyms, but it’s fun to try new facilities and switch things up a bit. The first time I went to the gym, I had a good, if not standard, workout. But I noticed the gym had a pool, which was very exciting news. I like swimming, but I’ve never had a gym with a pool, so I swim in public pools in various parks. I like the outdoor public pools I’ve discovered around town (including my favorite pool EVER), but the hours are crappy (they’re only open 3 hours each day on the weekend), so having an indoor pool available on an expanded schedule was very enticing. I made plans to bring my swimsuit next time I visited that gym, three days later.

Those three days couldn’t come fast enough. I started hyping up this workout in my head: “I can’t wait to get in the water. It’s been MONTHS since I went swimming. It’s gonna feel great, and I’m gonna feel great. Maybe I’ll start swimming every week! Maybe even EVERY DAY!”

Finally, the day arrived, and I went to the gym after work, changed into my swimsuit, grabbed my goggles, and headed to the pool deck. I was ready to go. And then, I started noticing things…

St. Andrews Stairway (x4) PLUS Weigh-In Update

My legs are still sore from last night’s workout. It was the best workout I’ve had in a while, partly because I pushed myself, and partly because it happened in a very cool new location. That location is called the St. Andrews Stairway, and it’s actually not very new at all.

Back in the 1920s, a public stairway was built up the side of the Hollywood Hills, to allow residents on higher streets an easy way to come down to catch the streetcars that used to zip around Los Angeles (hard to believe, but back in the day LA used to have one of the largest public transportation networks in the country). The stairway is cleverly called the St. Andrews Stairway, as it starts at the end of St. Andrews road. Despite it being there for nearly 100 years, I didn’t know it existed, even though last fall, I ran right past it during an evening run. It didn’t catch my eye during that run because it wasn’t lit at night, but that changed last month.

I read online a few weeks ago that some 8 or 9 decades after initial construction, the city of Los Angeles finally made good on their promise to install streetlights on the St. Andrews Stairway, and I realized that it was relatively close to my office. So last night, I laced up my running shoes and went for a run. And even though I’ve only been twice (once last night, and again today to take some photos to share here), I’ll come out and say it: I love the St. Andrews Stairway!

There are 153 stairs (I counted myself). That’s basically a 10-story building! Here’s what they look like from the bottom. The arrow is pointing to the wall at the very top of the stairs, all the way up on Tryon Drive.

2012 Year-End Progress Report

We’re already halfway through January? 2013 is just flying by! At the moment, I feel like I’m finally free and clear of the cold that I’ve been fighting for about 2 weeks now, but I won’t feel that way in the morning. Every morning I wake up stuffed up and snotty, and by the end of the day, I feel much better. Then, I wake up the next day feeling stuffed up and snotty again, and the cycle resumes. I’m tired of it.

I haven’t been letting my cold affect my routine too much. I’ve still been working out 3-4 times a week, which has become my norm, including a workout today, and another one yesterday, too. And I’m still logging all my workouts in my calendar (8 so far in January), and brings me to the focus of today’s post:

My 2012 Year-End Progress Report! Even though I haven’t posted a monthly report since July, I’ve still been tracking everything, and it’s time to summarize my year in exercise.

Christmas and New Years Recap 2012

Howdy folks. I don’t think I’m 100% better yet, but I’m feeling like this cold is definitely on its way out. Time to fill you in on my holiday adventures! As I mentioned in my last post (with much excitement and perhaps an exclamation point or two), I managed to make it through my holiday travels without gaining any weight. I made a concerted effort to make healthy choices and stay active, while still enjoying some of the pleasures of the season.

I’ll start with exercise. No, on second thought, I’ll start with what I was most hoping for: A white Christmas! There wasn’t a speck of snow on the ground when I landed in Michigan on the 23rd, but it started snowing in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve, and by Christmas morning, there was a nice white blanket covering everything in sight.

It snowed more the next couple days, and I loved being back in winter weather, if only for a little while!

Moving on to exercise!