Tag Archives: heat

Weight Loss Update (or Why I’m Trying Not To Get Frustrated)

Posted on July 23, 2014 | 3 comments

So I’ve completed 3 weeks of my Orangetheory challenge so far. I’ve been working out 3 days a week (and burning about 500 each workout) and I’m trying to eat below my calorie goals (which seems to happen about 6 out of 7 days).

You’d think that I would have lost a good amount of weight so far. Maybe even in the double digits. That’s what I thought I would have done by now.

But instead, I am currently down 6 pounds from where I started at the beginning of the challenge.

I should be happy with those 6 pounds. They say that you should lose 2 pounds a week to have a maintainable weight loss and that’s exactly what I’m doing. And I know that my body composition is changing and I’m gaining muscle so that could also cause my weight loss to stall a little.

But I still keep thinking about how when I did the RFO diet I would lose about 6-10 pounds a week (my first week I lost 14). And I’m aware that that was a medically supervised starvation diet and that the weight loss was not maintainable. But I still miss those days when I lost a pound a day.

It doesn’t help that all over the media there are people losing weight at a rapid fire pace. On Extreme Weight Loss, people lose 100 pounds in 90 days. And yes, almost all of those people have more weight to lose than I do, but it’s still a message that sticks in my head. It’s possible to lose more than I am right now.

So why am I stalled?

Besides the reasons that I’ve already listed, I know that the weather is affecting me as well. It’s very hot right now, and with my house having horrible insulation, it’s very hot even when I go to bed (averaging at 90 degrees when I go to sleep each night). I have a fan next to my bed, so that helps, but I’m still overheated. And when I’m overheated, my body swells up. So my clothes feeling tighter is an illusion. It’s a frustrating illusion, but I know that I haven’t gained weight.

Right now, there’s not much I can do to make myself lose weight faster. I’m thinking of cutting my calories back a little (maybe from 1600 to 1450), but I’m not going to do anything drastic.

I just have to keep pushing along and eventually my body will catch up to all the hard work I’m putting in. I just have to make sure that I don’t give up before that happens.

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Loving Air Conditioning (or A Bonus To Babysitting And Working)

Posted on May 5, 2014 | Comments Off on Loving Air Conditioning (or A Bonus To Babysitting And Working)

So, on Friday I complained about the heat. I know I probably sounded whiney (even in text form), but I was honestly miserable. On Friday night, I got my pjs soaked before going to bed so when my fan blew over them I cooled down (my bedroom was in the high 80s when I went to bed).

Fortunately, this weekend was much better.

First of all, on Saturday I went to spin class. Somehow, the steamy studio still felt cooler than my house. But not only that, I got in a good workout and it really made me feel better. I hadn’t been to spin for about a week, and I really did miss it. It’s feeling more and more like a place I want to be all the time (and yes, I have applied for a job there).

The only thing that frustrated me at spin was after class when I checked out the new shirts that were for sale. Each month, SoulCycle does a new collection of workout clothes. The larges tend to sell out super quickly so I normally can’t find a tank top in my size. I figured since the month had just started, I should be able to find one. But nope, all the larges were sold out in 2 days. I might wait for them to restock in the studio because I’d rather try it on first before buying it, so buying it off their website isn’t really the best option for me.

Then, on Saturday evening, my friend Erin asked me to babysit. I’m always happy to babysit her kids so I was excited to say yes. And when I’m going over there to babysit, I always ask Erin if I can do laundry at her house. It saves me money and I always bring my own detergent so I don’t take too much advantage of her. And this Saturday, besides getting to do free laundry, there was another bonus to babysitting! Erin’s house has central air conditioning!! It was so great being able to relax in a nice cool house.

Babysitting was relatively easy. Erin’s daughter and I get along super great. We watched a movie and she tried multiple hair styles on me. Erin’s daughter recently broke her leg and has a cast from foot to hip, but she’s doing awesome! And Erin’s son isn’t the biggest fan of mine (he knows that usually when I come over that means that his mom and dad are leaving), but he was pretty easy to watch as well. He just chilled and watched his own tv show and went to bed. Easy peasy.

While the weather did finally start to cool down on Sunday, I had another opportunity to enjoy air conditioning yesterday. I worked a 4 hour box office shift. It was a pretty standard box office shift so nothing too stressful. And this might be my last shift there for a while. After the season ends this week, there won’t really be any evening or weekend shifts for me to work. So I might not have too much work until the new season starts in the fall. But I’m not trying to stress out about that (yet).

Overall, even though I technically worked both days this weekend, just the air conditioning alone made it totally worth it!

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff, Work

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Hating The Heat (or Again, My Body Is Lying)

Posted on May 2, 2014 | 1 comment

I’ve mentioned before how I don’t like when it’s really hot out because my body feels like it’s gained a ton of weight. Well, with the current heat wave in Los Angeles, I’m having the same problem again.

First of all, let me say that I know that the heat here is temporary and I’m grateful for that. And that most of the country has much worse heat waves that last for a lot longer than this will (it should be normal again here by next week).

But it doesn’t help the feeling of annoyance that I feel whenever I try to get dressed in the morning. Lots of clothes in my closet don’t fit right right now. I spent the past few days in yoga capris and tank tops since those have a lot of stretch in them.

And I’m sure my annoyance isn’t helped by the fact that the past few nights I haven’t slept well since it’s very hot in my bedroom at night. I have a fan on full blast next to my bed, but it only blows hot air around.

This heat wave is one of the first times I’ve missed having to go into a job every day. At least when I had to go somewhere else for work there was air conditioning. Working at my house is pretty warm. But staying in yoga clothes helps a little (since those clothes are pretty breathable).

But the most important thing for me to remember in this heat wave is not to give up on trying to lose weight while it feels like everything is suddenly 2 sizes too small. I’m avoiding my scale until the temperature goes back into the 80’s (or lower) and I’m going to live in my yoga clothes unless I have to go out dressed differently for some reason (like when I went to work last night at my box office job).

Sorry to have a rant on here after having 2 really fun posts the last few days. Since getting back from Disneyland all I’ve done is work from home and try to survive the heat the best that I could. If I had something more interesting to share, I would. But this has taken over my life the rest of this week.

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Posted in Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Another Disney Day (or Making Disneyland A Book Nerd’s Dream)

Posted on July 1, 2013 | Comments Off on Another Disney Day (or Making Disneyland A Book Nerd’s Dream)

Despite the crazy heat wave that LA is going through right now, this past Friday I had another outing at Disneyland. But this time was pretty special for a few reasons. First of all, this was pretty much the last time I could go until the summer was over due to my pass having so many blackout days. But the second (and more important) reason why this trip to Disneyland was so special was because of who came with me.

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Do you recognize this person who is over the moon excited to be on It’s A Small World? It’s Lindsey Kelk!! When we had our lunch a while back, we discussed our mutual love of Disneyland. So when she knew she was coming back to LA, we made plans to go down to Anaheim and have an awesome day!

I wore a new Disney shirt to the park that day. I found this one while getting some workout clothes from Old Navy, and it was perfect for a hot day.

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We went on a ton of rides while we were there. Inside the rides was one of the few places that were air-conditioned, so that was pretty nice. The only ride that Lindsey insisted that we go on was It’s A Small World. She had always wanted to go on it, and the only other time she was at Disneyland it was closed. Since I normally don’t go on that ride, the song wasn’t as annoying as you’d think it would be. And again, I was enjoying the air conditioning too much to mind (I actually wouldn’t have hated it if we got stuck inside just to stay cool).

I didn’t bring a hat with me to the park because I really wanted to buy a Disneyland hat. I don’t have one, and even though I don’t wear hats all the time, it’s nice to have a couple of options. At the same hat store, Lindsey bought a few gifts and got herself these really cute Minnie Mouse ear hair clips!

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We also had to get a character picture. Lindsey has a new book coming out this week and her publishers wanted her to take some photos of her book traveling the country. We looked for Mickey, but he was hiding, so we stalked Pluto to get some photos.

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And then I jumped in for one.

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We did make it into California Adventure for a few rides, but only stayed there for about an hour before heading back to LA.

I had an amazing time! Not only was it Disneyland (which I pretty much always love), but I got to hang out with a pretty awesome person as well! And since it was so hot, Lindsey and I have already made plans to go to Disneyland in the winter. It will be a lot cooler then, plus the Haunted Mansion and It’s A Small World will have their holiday overlays on the rides.

I know that I’m totally getting my money’s worth out of my Disneyland pass. It was a good investment for me this year. And I know that I’ll be going a few more times after the summer is over.

Seriously, mixing Disneyland and one of my favorite authors really did make things amazingly awesome! Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I’m so lucky!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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I’m Tired (or The Day to Day Struggles)

Posted on August 21, 2012 | 1 comment

I’m really tired. Physically tired, emotionally tired, and mentally tired.

I’m physically tired for a few reasons. One is that I haven’t slept well in a few weeks. I had previously posted this picture of my alarm clock in my bedroom:

Little did I know that that would be one of the cooler nights in my room. Since the 10th, it has not been below 86 degrees in my bedroom when I have gone to bed. Most days, it’s in the low 90s. I know that by being heavier I get warm easier, but I don’t know too many people who can sleep soundly in a room that is 90 degrees. I don’t have a good solution for this problem. My house is locked up all day when I’m at work and I don’t want to stay up too long trying to cool it down. I’m just hoping the heat wave is over soon.

I’m emotionally tired because I’ve had a few ups and downs over the past few weeks. I was so excited for my birthday, and then I get into the car accident. I was happy to get my car back, and now I’m stressed out more than I should be about going to the dentist and dealing with my new dental insurance (if anyone uses the standalone SAG-AFTRA Guardian dental insurance and has advice, please let me know). I have a horrible fear of the dentist. I make myself so nervous that he’s going to tell me that all my teeth are in horrible condition and they all have to have crowns or be replaced. I’m normally ok when I just go to see the dental hygienist (she’s very nice and understands my fear), but on Thursday, I have the double whammy appointment: see both the dentist and the hygienist. I’m getting x-rays, an exam, and a cleaning. And then I have to calm down somehow after that to go to work.

And my work is another thing that is making me tired. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so incredibly grateful for my job. It got me out of a job situation that wasn’t working for me anymore and I’m making 2 to 3 times what I made at my old job. But working 6 days a week is starting to get to me a bit. At first, I didn’t really notice it. Fridays and Saturdays are half days, so I have all afternoon to get stuff done. But only having one full day off is starting to be tough. I pretty much always have to do laundry and grocery shopping that day. And I try to work out that day too. And after all the cleaning, shopping, and working out; it seems like my Sunday is over. I’ll have some 2 day weekends soon. I believe we get Labor Day off and in late September my dad is coming to visit me so I’m taking a Monday off of work. There is an off season for this job, but it’s unknown when it will start. Originally, the job took a hiatus in November and then again after the new year, but now we might go straight until January or February.

I know I sound like I’m complaining, and I am. But sometimes you have to just put this stuff out there in order for it to be out of your head. I’m really trying to focus on all the positives in the tired situations. Even though it’s hot in my room now, the heat wave in LA is ending soon. Even though I’ve had a bunch of emotional ups and downs, I have my car back now and by about this time on Thursday the dentist visit will be over. And even though working 6 days a week is tough, I have an awesome job that is allowing me to pay down my debt much faster than I previously had.

Hopefully these ideas will keep me feeling energized and not tired soon.

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It’s Hot Outside (or Why the Heat Makes My Body Lie to Me)

Posted on August 13, 2012 | Comments Off on It’s Hot Outside (or Why the Heat Makes My Body Lie to Me)

It’s summer. It’s hot. And I know that living in LA isn’t as bad as living in Arizona or Las Vegas, but everyone I know who lives in those places has air conditioning. I don’t have it at my house.

And when you are gone all day working, you come home to a house that is like an oven. Some days, it’s over 90 degrees in my bedroom (I have a thermometer on my alarm clock). And despite my best efforts to cool down my house by opening the windows or using a fan, I seem to still go to bed in a hot room.

It’s difficult to sleep, so I’ve been exhausted the past few days. And since I live in such an old house, the fuses in my house might not be able to handle the power of an air conditioner. I’m looking into getting a box fan that fits in a window, but for now, I’m dealing with it.

One of my least favorite things about the heat (besides always being sweaty), is that my body swells up in the heat. I remember learning that this happens to most people in one of my adventures in eating disorder group therapy. I was in that group for about 3 years, and each summer the therapist would remind us that our clothes might fit a lot tighter during the summer and not to stress about it.

But my pants feel like I’ve gained 50 pounds and it’s hard not to stress about it. Every morning, I’m almost scared to try to put on my jeans. I hate the feeling of them being so tight, because all I can think is that I’m gaining weight. And I can’t even make myself step on the scale. Because all I can think is what if it’s not my body swelling up in the heat but me gaining weight. The thought of going on the scale right now almost brings me to a panic attack.

So for now, I put on my super tight jeans, head to work where fortunately there is air conditioning, and wait for it to cool down a bit.

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