BE REAL

I know it has been awhile since I last wrote. I wasn't feeling very real and there were a multitude of things in my life that were throwing me off. So this is my second attempt of writing here... and this time I plan to do so with as much honesty as I can.

I'm just your average American. Overweight and tired of it. I am ready to take control of my life and my health. I'm not sure if I am still looking to pursue a personal training certificate... but who knows, it may make it into my "to do" list.

I most definitely am looking to improve my health. I will be actively seeking information and keeping my eyes open for health topics and the like. Currently... this is my goal.

So that is that.

In other news... today I am making minestrone soup for dinner with rolls and salad. I was feeling super proud of myself earlier when I was in the kitchen chopping up actual vegetables. It is funny what a high you can get from that sort of thing. Plus the colors were just amazing. I'm not quite sure why I was so excited... but I guess that is good.



Like many Americans, one of my downfalls has been the fact that I eat out WAY too much. So much so that I feel that it has stifled some of my creativity. It has made me just a bit helpess... and I am so over that. Therefore,for the past week I have been actively fighting back.

Nothing complicated. In fact, today's slow cooker recipe is probably the most complicated I've gotten. I figure pretty much anything I make at home will most likely still be better than what I would buy in a restaurant.

So yeah... eat at home. That's my message for the day. Oh yeah, and it will save you big bucks! ;)

Tummy Troubles and Nutrition

This Saturday finds me up at an early hour... probably earlier than I have been up in awhile. Although my eyes are begging to shut and my brain is slow to function this morning, I can't help but notice the spring morning burgeouning over the horizon. The birds are singing and I can smell the green and fresh air coming through the window. I have found that fresh air is key to happiness. Whenever I am feeling stifled if I can just get outside and enjoy the day my mood increases ten-fold.

Anyways, this morning I thought I would talk about the epidemic of tummy troubles in the United States. Our society not only has troubles with obesity but this also brings about the all too often presence of tummy troubles. And let's face it, no one likes them! Tummy troubles are one of the most annoying and irritating problems there are out there! How can you feel good when you are stuck running to the bathroom frequently?

I feel that a lot of these troubles come from the way that we eat. It is not normal to have the amount of stomach troubles that we in America have. I would say that a big reason for this is our diet and the amount of processed food that we eat. It is crazy that we in America no longer know how to eat. Something that is so basic to our lives we are not in control of. We are now at the mercy of all the big food companies and random pundits who are telling us what to eat and why. We can't tell anymore! Because of this I encourage you to take control of your life and your health and do some research to empower yourself!

To get you pumped and motivated, here is a small segment from the Today Show on how to prevent the tummy troubles!

Take control of your life and get educated! You will be amazed at what you find!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Have a great day everyone! Eat to your health!

Spring and Leaping in Small Bounds

Today was one of those days where you can start to actually feel summer descending slowly on the people around you. In Wisconsin it is hard not to notice when the weather starts to warm up and when things start to get really nice.

When I woke up this morning I was ready to go. But my body started to rebel shortly thereafter. I spent the next 5 hours in bed sleeping... because my body insisted on it. When I woke up from my unanticipated super nap I thought it was over. I thought for sure it would be another day of saying "maybe tomorrow". But as I sat on the couch with my spaghetti noodles and Diet Coke I started to think. Every time we say "maybe tomorrow" we are hurting ourselves, because instead of saying "maybe tomorrow" we could be doing it today.

I think we pressure ourselves too much to be perfect right away. Getting healthy is a process, so don't feel bad if you can't step out the door and run a mile straight or for 30 minutes without stopping. That is just not going to happen, and chances are if you try to do that you will defeat yourself before you have even had a chance to try. Remember that when you step foot out the door and start on that journey we call "getting healthy", first and foremost you are doing it for you. Not for your coworkers, not for that guy at the corner, not for those people who you think are looking at you as you exercise, but for you. For YOU! It doesn't matter how long it takes or how little you can do at first, what matters is that you persevere and continue. Then when you look back a year from now you will say wow, I did this, and I did it for me!

So do it for you. Not for anyone else. Don't worry about getting it all perfect at once! Time and perseverance will show just how strong you can be!

This is the Plump Trainer, signing off for the evening!

Fueling Workouts

As I went out today for my much procrastinated run, I felt my body giving way much earlier than I intended. Not only was I not there mentally to fuel my workout, but my body was protesting immensely. After a less than stellar attempt at overcoming it, I came to the conclusion that the reason why my body was rebelling so greatly (mind included) was that I wasn't taking the time to fuel my workout.

First of all, I have been sick for the past couple of days. This has caused me to lose much of the food that I have put in my body, leaving myself deficient and unprepared for the run. How is a body supposed to work off no fuel? It can't.

Second, I have not fueled my body with energy, primarily, from sleep. Being sick my sleep schedule for the last couple of days has been worse than usual. If I am really going to commit to being healthy and active I have to give myself the time for my body to recover. This means going to sleep and waking at a decent hour.

My goal for the next week is going to be as follows. I will be eating breakfast every day... because I feel without it I am cheating my body of much needed energy and nutrients. I will also be forcing myself to get 8 full hours of sleep a night. I will let you know how the progress goes.

Don't forget to fuel your workouts people! :)

Signing off,
The Plump Trainer

All Apologies

I must admit that today and really this entire past weekend have been pretty awful on terms of working out. I also haven't been doing my duty in blogging to you all. I just wanted to apologize and let you know that tomorrow I will be back on my game. Stay tuned for the continuing journey of the plump trainer!

STRENGTH

At the moment I am VERY proud of myself. After the previous blog (if you read it) I was feeling pretty down. I decided instead of feeling crappy about it I would do something about it. I searched my apartment for solutions to the little annoyances that made my previous running experience bad. I took the time to prepare for my running, and I feel that made all the difference!

I found some exercise pants my sister had given to me a couple of weeks ago as a hand me down! Then I found my Puma jacket that I never wear which is... SURPRISE... meant for exercising! Then I went in the bathroom and took the time to put my hair up and pin all the annoying little strands that would be flying everywhere. Lastly, I got some earphones out of my drawer that were NOT earbuds so that they wouldn't be falling out every two seconds!

Suited up, I went for attempt two! And I DID it! I'll tell you, there is no better high than thinking you can't do something and then going above and beyond that. It proves to yourself that you are capable of anything that you put your mind to... you just have to get your mind there.

This is one of my favorite videos with Will Smith. He makes very good points!



Running and reading... my loves.

Defeated

At the moment I don't know how I am going to do this. Have I set my sights too high this time? I mean, trainers are human beings too... and a good majority of them talk about how they had weight problems when they were younger and then started working out. Then that led them to want to help other people and thus they became trainers. But sometimes I really question my ability to do this.

Today was frustrating. I didn't make it out for my run yesterday so I was already starting out on a down note. I got ready and tried to play some pump up music but my Zune didn't seem to want to cooperate... playing the most unmotivational music possible. Whatever, I was going to keep at it. I put on the last t-shirt and pants I have that are clean and dragged myself outside. It was freezing. I lasted 8 minutes outside before I had to come back in just because I was too cold. I don't have work out gear for cold weather running and since it is supposed to be spring soon and I am low on money, it doesn't seem like the greatest idea to invest in that.

I just feel pretty crappy right now. I'm tired. It's getting late. I could go down to the gym and run on the treadmill, but honestly I just don't feel like it. It is as if all my motivation has flown out the window. I think I am going to resort to a workout video. I refuse to let today end without working out... I just don't know if I can pull the energy to go try and run again after the vast failure my outdoors adventure was.

I wish I could find more people on blogs here. I have tried but for some reason I can't find a search feature. It would be nice to have that support system. Right now I feel like and am pretty sure I am talking to myself.

To Admit Defeat

Okay, so yesterday wasn't the greatest of all days. After my interview I came home with the full intention of going out for my run... but as I sat there the option became less and less enticing. The weather felt nice when I was outside... but sitting on the couch with the window open all I could feel was this cool draft of air wafting in and making goose pimples rise on my arms. I kept trying to tell myself that once I got out there it would feel nice... that once I started running I would get warmed up... but it seems my lazy side won out that time.

I am not going to beat myself up about this too much as long as I don't make it a habit. It is only week two and I have been doing pretty well in terms of exercise if I do say so myself. I am planning on giving myself 2 days off this week... so yesterday is just one of those days. Today I am going to work out... even more, today I am going to go running. Whether that be outside (if the weather permits) or on the treadmill, I am going to do it. It is all for the best, anyhow.

I do have some news that I am rather proud of. Yesterday when my significant other came home he was begging for some fast food. Not just your small beg, the big whiney type beg. I told him that he was more than welcome to get that food but that I, on the contrary, would be eating at home. This is the second time this week that the bf has wanted fast food and I have refused to get it. This is the second time that he has eaten it while I ate something healthy. It feels pretty good. It also feels empowering to know that I can make my own decisions even when I am with another person. For awhile there I have used our cohabitation as an excuse not to eat healthy. This last week I realized, though, that in order to change things I would have to take control and stick to my guns. Not to say that I am never going to eat out or indulge in those things... but during the week I am strictly eating at home. This is also week 2 for eating at home, which I must mention is quite a feat. Previous to that me and the bf were eating out pretty much every single night. Can you imagine the calories and harm that did to our health? He has the metabolism of a 16 year old boy though so of course he doesn't show it. Not that it is good for him.

So that is the run down. I will continue to eat healthy and slowly but surely it will start to rub off on the boyfriend. In addition, I will be working out today. More on that later.

Obesity Research and Personal Training Certification

Today is my running day. I am planning on going running after part 2 of my interview today to blow off some steam. How I don't want to go to the interview let me count the ways... running even sounds better.

One thing about running... once you start doing it you feel like you can do anything. I mean, what more is there after running? Running is the age old exercise that people dread... so once you conquer your fear of it going to work out is nothing!

In other news, I have been flittering around twitter this morning and have come across two interesting articles. The first was about high fructose corn syrup. I don't know if any of you have seen the commercial by the Corn Refiners Association, but it basically is trying to put everyone's fear of HFCS as myth. They basically make it seem as if there is nothing wrong with eating HFCS as long as you have it in moderation. True, you can probably have HFCS once in awhile... but that doesn't change the fact that it is not good for you. And now studies have shown that HFCS is worse for you than real sugar... so you might as well just go with the real sugar. Here is the article if you feel like checking it out for yourself. http://bit.ly/c0fVll

The other article that I read I just found humorous. Basically someone decided to do a study on the painting The Last Supper by Leonardo DaVinci and compare the portion sizes in the painting to the people eating it. My first thought on this was, how is this relevant to obesity studies? I don't know what these people were inspired by but it seems a strange thing to do. I find it funny that at the end of the article a scientist basically says himself that there really is no relevance to the study. Who knew, right? ;)http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_med_last_supper_obesity

In other news, last night when I couldn't sleep I decided to try and do some research on programs to get my personal training certification. You wouldn't believe the amount of places there are. It is extremely confusing and no one really has a definitive answer as to which one is the best. Basically it looks like I am going to want to find one that is NCCA-accredited. The National Academy of Sports Medicine is looking promising... but it is expensive. I figure for the time being I will work on motivating myself and getting myself into shape. Then once I have raised enough money to fund it and have figured out where I am going to get my personal trainer certification, I will go for it.

This blog is no lie people! I am the plump trainer and I will get there! :)

Well, I should get some lunch. Eventually I am going to try and figure out a way to record visually and textually in some type of grid format what I am eating. For now, though, we will stick with the blogs!

Stats and History

Today I thought I would take the time to list my stats, so that you and I know what we are dealing with! ;)

Stats:
Height-5'2"
Weight-177.5 pounds
BMI-32.62

That would put me in the obese category. Let me just tell you being categorized obese was a horrible day for me. I went to the doctor because I was depressed and sick... a lovely start, right? As I am sitting there I see her circling things on a sheet. I peek over and see a big fat circle around the "obese" category. This broke my heart. I didn't think I was THAT out of shape... but it is funny how we tend to rationalize our shape in this day and age. American's are constantly fighting with obesity. Childhood obesity is on the rise. It is a serious problem.

But we also have to be cautious. I feel that we have 2 extremes... obesity and anorexic thin. The body ideals in the media are unrealistic. I'd like nothing better than to somehow get women everywhere to love their bodies, including myself. But then there is also the very real realization that at some point you have to admit to yourself that you need to lose weight. Being obese is one of those times, because it is detrimentally affecting your health.

I have been fighting my weight all my life. When I was younger I used to do extreme calorie restriction. I look back at pictures from that time and am frightened because I was so thin and didn't even think I was. I don't want to return to that. But I also don't want to remain at my current weight, which is obese and unhealthy. I feel that being a personal trainer will allow me to be healthy while helping others to be healthy. I would like to work with women and body image in hopes of trying to combat all the negative portrayals of women that there are in the media.

So there are my stats, laid out on the table. I am hoping to lose about a pound a week. I will keep you all updated.

My Mission: To make my plump self a trainer

This whole idea occurred to me as I was on my second week of running... sweating and feeling like I was about to die.

Trainer? Me? Could it be? It was as if a light turned on in my brain and all of a sudden I realized that I TOO could be a trainer.

Now you can all see the problematic situation that arises... you can't have a plump trainer. It just doesn't work. Would you want to entrust your wish and desire to be fit and pumped with the plump lady next door? I don't think so.

So I have decided that in order to help myself on the way to "trainer" status, I would write a blog. A blog about the trials and tribulations of getting in shape. A blog chronicaling the fact that getting in shape isn't easy, no matter what all those people try to tell you. You can't just eat vegetables and water. Nor can you try the cookie diet. These things will not bring profit to your body in the long run. It takes work. Hard work. And that is what I am gearing up to do. With the ultimate goal of becoming a personal trainer.

Am I crazy? Perhaps. Will people laugh? I hope so. I would like this blog to not only show that what seems impossible to all us out of shape people out there is possible... but also pay attention to the humor that exists in everyday with the whole "we must be in shape" movement.

So here we go. To health, happiness, a nice butt, some firm abs, and hopefully a personal training career!

-The Plump Trainer