1-2-2

new eating habit: 1-2-2

1 large glass of water (16 oz) and 1 cup of fruits/veg before breakfast
2 large glasses of water (16 oz) and 2 cups of fruits/veg before lunch
2 large glasses of water (16 oz) and 2 cups of fruits/veg before dinner

Total: At least 6 cups of water and 5 cups of fruits/veg a day (near typical recommendation of 8 cups per day and beats typical recommendation of nine 1/2 cup servings per day)

Whirlwind Year of Food, Exercise, and Sleep Habits

Image from http://www.twinsplusone.com/2011/04/cute-bunny-blog-hop.html. 

It has been a whirlwind of diet, exercise, and sleep habits since February of last year...

During two rounds of Insanity with a break in between, from March to August, I slept extremely well, and ate fewer calories and then also healthier foods with constant tracking on myfitnesspal.com.

Slept well, but did not track calories during an intensely physical two-week kayak trip to the Grand Canyon in September.

In October and November, I opted for some low-impact interval training, and 5 cups of fruits and veggies a day without tracking calories.  [For more info on low-impact (and weight-losing) interval training, check out the Immortality Edge book.]

Over the holidays, I became pregnant, and during the first trimester ate "whatever" and did not exercise besides some occasional walking because I was trying to be careful during the first trimester, plus I was super tired and sleeping a lot. However, I was told that mild exercise was allowed: yoga, swimming, dancing, etc.

After two days of painful cramping and bloating and a little bleeding in January, I was instructed to hold off on all exercise except walking. Worried about a 4x4x4 cm fibroid that had to be "monitored",  lest it grew from increased hormones and thereby affected the style of delivery, I took it upon myself to "naturally shrink" the fibroid according to blogs that were not meant for pregnant women specifically, and avoided dairy, white sugar, refined carbs, red meat, and soy in January and February.

After much fatigue and probable iron deficiency by March, I was told the fibroid either stayed the same or shrunk, but that it had become darker -- something undesirable during pregnancy would be if necrosis of the fibroid would lead to excretions that cause pain or premature contractions.  It couldn't be too big or too small.  While below-average baby size could have been due to food habits, it may have been because of my small frame or my ethnicity, but with the smaller baby size and atrioventricular septal defect (heart valve not fully developed), I decided to "eat whatever" again for a month. No bleeding for awhile, so mild exercise became allowed again, but I still did not exercise, which probably was why I wasn't sleeping well.

In April, after first organic deer meat and then all kinds of meat and increased energy, it seemed the ice cream and pasta and lack of exercise led to failing the 1-hour glucose test by "2 points".

In May, I have started walking 30-60 minutes a day (3000-6000 steps) at 1.0 or 1.3 speed on LifeSpan walking treadmill desk, my energy levels are more stable, while I avoid sugar and refined carbs and get sleep when I can. I also started listening to HypBirth to help with breathing and visualizing -- sort of meditative and aware hypnosis -- and will soon start prenatal yoga.  (I miss biking and harder, more efficient interval workouts, but at least I can shave a 3-hour daily plan of walking, yoga, and hypnosis to 2 hours with working/surfing/reading at the treadmill desk.)

Tomorrow is my 3-hour test for gestational diabetes.  I am not overweight by any means, but it will still be good to make sure I do or don't have gestational diabetes, or to have more resolve in exercising and eating sensibly and not so strictly in the next few months before birth.

After birth, I hope to follow traditional Chinese confinement herbal recipes and rest at home for the first post-partum month.  Sleep will probably be intermittent, but I might find a night nurse or nanny to help.

THEN, hopefully I can start to re-examine my food and exercise habits.  Think: sushi and some caffeine and eventually back to interval training.  We'll see how the sleeping goes, but hopefully some exercise, night nursing, books on baby sleep and advice from friends will help.

5 cups

Image from http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/02/eat-rainbow-colorful-fruits-and-veggies.html.

Before Thanksgiving, I experimented for 2 days with consuming 5 cups of veggies and fruits, for low-calorie and fibrous nutrition. The reason for five cups? A typical serving size of fruits or veggies is half of a cup, it is suggested to have 5-9 servings per day, and 5 cups yields 10 servings. 'Turns out that all the water and fiber from the fruits and veggies filled me up, so that together with other carbs and protein, I ended up consuming less than half of my usual calories for each day. So I've taken a break from daily calorie tracking (since February), and instead have had as my daily goal to eat 5 cups of fruits or veggies each day. It certainly saves time without all that recording and trying to plan calories ahead of time, and now all I have to think about in the mornings is how I'm going to get my five throughout the day, i.e. frozen blueberries, spinach, oranges, apples, celery, etc. The other carbs and protein will fill in as desired, i.e. peanut butter, whey powder, chicken, bread, etc. Between constant calorie counting and the just 5 method, the just 5 method is much easier, less time-consuming, and does not create the urge to consume more calories as does the calorie counting method. I might test out this method sometime and see over time how I'm stacking up in the calories using this method... ahem, after the holiday season. unfortunately, the acceptance of sweets and fats are probably pushing me over the edge.

Getting Organized

Magna Visual porcelain magnetic calendar from MagnaVisual

I love my Magna Visual porcelain magnetic calendars and I use one of them to track exercise by week. I'll indicate the date of the month, time of activity (H:MM), and type of activity ("C" for cardio, "F" for flexibility, and "S" for strength).

I don't use all the magnets that come with it, nor their markers. I love the magnetic markers with built-in erasers by Board Dudes (see the colorful set below).

Insanity Fit Test, Rounds 1 and 2

Insanity Fit Test, Round 1

Insanity Fit Test, Round 2

It's been a couple of months since my last round of Insanity. To round out my low-impact routine, I've added the following DVDs: P90X Core Synergistics (for core strength and some stretching, without any of the jumping; I record it in myfitnesspal as "Stretching, hatha yoga, 57 minutes"), P90X Yoga (first 50 minutes), and P90X Ab Ripper X (15 minutes).

Resolution

Cute bunny pic from here.

Resolution

A few days ago, my husband and I toasted, "To doin' it all, while maintaining balance." Last night, we finally shared the business plans with a select few, and they loved them. I may be very busy in 3 related businesses: a product (which I have contemplated for years, but am only this year focusing on), distribution (a complementary business), and servicing (our newest and most exciting enterprise). The latter business would be very labor-intensive and capital-intensive... Since we've returned from kayaking the Grand Canyon and are now okay with starting a family, I would need to keep priorities in check, delegate, and learn to relax so I can get precious and necessary sleep.

Other News...

I did my first chin-up without a head-start jump!

I am taking a break from high-impact Insanity cardio. Mixing up the workouts:

1) Stationary bike sprinting intervals, with core/back/arm/leg strength and flexibility floor work

2) Stationary biking with moderate effort over a longer period of time (while watching Netflix)

3) Strength and flexibility exercises using the Insanity Cardio Recovery DVD or Insanity Max Cardio Recovery DVD

Using a wall calendar to record the workouts and workout days. 'Have challenged the Bryan (even though we are on different levels of ability). :)

Searching...

They're real! Image from here.

Random Links on Diet, Exercise & Sleep

Many Insanity grads go on to CrossFit cults and paleo diets. After two rounds of Insanity, now I'm leaning more towards combining low-impact cardio workouts & some high intensity interval training with strength & flexibility exercises. Still, I found some interesting links after searching for these terms...

"CrossFit vs. Insanity" led me to a general blog entry about sleep:

http://whole9life.com/2009/08/the-serious-business-of-sleep/

"low impact max interval training" led me to a blog of a woman whose ideas on diet & exercise remind me of my own (except for butter on her shopping list!):

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uVXVXLPlhj8J:www.lovingfit.com/fitness/interval-training-beginner-to-advanced/+low+impact+max+interval+training&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Limbo week for me, but hopeful for a resolution soon...

I have a product whose process I was thinking of patenting, but found out this week that there is now a company that produces something very similar and is following the same business model that I would have followed... My heart sunk when I found them... I don't think they pursued a patent, which negates the main way I would have pursued mine (the invention is no longer "new, non-obvious, and functional"). In some ways, the fact this company now exists 1) makes things easier in terms of a liability standpoint, and 2) shows there may be a growing market in this product area since I'm not the only one who thought of it and I've seen several blogs mention a need for it. However, it has me 1) re-thinking my business plan (how to compete with this competitor and possible future competitors, or how to develop a complementary service vs. competitive product), and 2) whether I want to go into a new business at all. I know that if I do proceed, I would like to keep my faith, family, and health as priorities. It is important to me that my home and family life stay stable as we may be starting a family soon, I am disciplined with sleep (I've seen the lack of it catch up with the health and lives of a several entrepreneurial and hardworking friends and colleagues), and keep what I do multi-purposeful and meaningful.