Motivators for a New Year of Fitness

So maybe you're starting (or restarting) a fit lifestyle for the new year. Or maybe you just want to use the changing of the date as a way to push yourself to reach fitness goals with renewed energy.

Either way, January is always chock full of new TV shows, books, websites, blogs and more that could motivate you to live healthier. Here are a few that Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit are excited about:

TV to watch on the stationary bike

The new Biggest Loser: Couples Edition: We weren't so hot on the fall '08 season, mainly because of the participants. We just couldn't get into them. But after watching this sneak preview of the '09 season, I am hopeful this season will be inspiring and good for us to watch. Premieres on NBC, Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 8pm/7c.

DietTribe, a new Lifetime show about a group of friends who lose together: I like the non-competitive, relationship orientation of this show, at least what I saw on the previews. This women have all enabled each other's weight gain and now are using that same influence to get fit--just like Mr. and I did! I hope they all can shed some pounds and learn how to be fit friends together instead of fat ones. Premieres on Lifetime, Monday, Jan. 5, at 10pm/9c.

Oprah's Best Life Series: We all know Oprah fell off the fit wagon. Who hasn't? Well, she's getting back on and inviting her loyal viewers to join her, starting the new year with a weeklong "Best Life" series of shows. The Monday, Jan. 5 show focuses on weight, followed by health, spirituality, money and relationships. Yep, that pretty much covers the biggies. In January, she's also doing more Best Life content on her Oprah & Friends satellite radio show and on Oprah.com. Premieres on your Oprah channel (channels and times vary by city), Monday, Jan. 5.



Books to check out
Every new year, tons of new "this is the one diet that will change your life!!!" books come out. We're not fans. We all know deep-down that diets don't last, so why start something you can't finish? Instead, we like books that inspire or motivate us to work on our fitness.

• Earlier in 2008, I talked about Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World, which is a great guide to eating tasty but also healthy foods when you're trying to be fit.
• I also loved Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, a very motivating and brutally honest book about one of my favorite blogger's 200-lb weight loss. Read it on the treadmill and I swear you'll go faster!
• One book I haven't talked about, but have been wanting to mention, is fellow blogger Janice Taylor's All Is Forgiven, Move On: Our Lady of Weight Loss's 101 Fat-Burning Steps on Your Journey to Sveltesville. I met Janice at BlogHer '08 in San Francisco, and she's just a delightful lady. Her book is just as delightful, full of fun little stories and advice that don't shame you or pound you in the head or tell you to eat more carrots and fewer brownies. I think you'll like it.
• Here are some books I haven't read but would like to: Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp by Stephanie Klein; The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl by Shauna Reid; and Thin Is the New Happy by Valerie Frankel.

Websites/Blogs to Bookmark

I hope you have checked "Our Favorite Fit Blogs" listed in the lower right column. These are blogs we read nearly every day, for inspiration, ideas, empathy and laughter. As we discover new blogs in '09, we'll add them to the list.

Other sites you might like:

• My Fitness Pal: Helps you keep track of what you eat and your exercise--the basics of calorie intake/burning that can lead to sustainable weight loss.
• Gaiam Life: This is a great online guide to better living, from the folks who make cool yoga and fitness products.
• Fitness Magazine: Even if you don't subscribe to the magazine, you can get lots of good tips and tools from the website. Free of charge.
• MSN Health & Fitness: News, tips and tools that are frequently updated for fitness fans.

We hope these resources get you pumped up about fitness in 2009. Do you have one you'd like to share? Please post a comment--we can all use extra motivation for the months ahead!

A Healthy Milestone

Some of you who have followed our blog since we started know that in 2007 I was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Syndrome.

In the simplest terms, Fatty Liver Syndrome (like the name suggests) is a condition where the body’s liver starts accumulating dangerous amounts of fat. According to the most recent information, the number of Americans living with Fatty Liver Syndrome are between 10 and 20 percent. While it might sound normal to have a large build-up of fat on your liver if you're overweight, it isn't. In the liver of a patient with Fatty Liver Syndrome, the liver cells accumulate large droplets of fat that consist of mostly triglycerides. These large fat accumulations result in an increase in liver enzymes and inflammation. This inflammation causes scarring and hardening of the liver (cirrhosis) and results in decreased liver function or even complete liver failure.

This was one of the main reasons Mrs. and I decided to get fit in 2008, and I received some surprising news today from my doctor. I had some blood work done just before Christmas and my doctor wanted to speak with me over the phone to discuss my test results. After months of eating better and exercising regularly, my liver enzymes are ... NORMAL.

If someone looked at my liver enzyme test results today, there's absolutely no reason to believe that I have Fatty Liver Syndrome. This is fantastic news because many doctors and nutritionists say it's possible to completely reverse the effects of Fatty Liver Syndrome with diet and exercise ... and I'm living proof that it's possible!

As you can imagine, Susan and I are extremely happy about the news and we feel a renewed sense of commitment to getting even more fit in 2009.

Weekly Weigh-in #52: A Whole Year of Gettin' Fit

Wow, that's weigh-in #52. We weighed in every week for an entire year. Some weeks were better than others (and some were a bit late), but the general trend was down, down, down. And we're still at it. I'd say that's a pretty successful year of gettin' fit!


Jay
Starting weight: 301 pounds
Current weight: 262 pounds
Pounds lost this week: 1 pound
Total pounds lost: 39 pounds

Susan
Starting weight: 238 pounds
Current weight: 179.5 pounds
Pounds lost this week: (.5) pound
Total pounds lost: 58.5 pounds

I'm happy Jay was able to take off a bit of what he gained during the holidays. And I don't feel terrible about a .5 pound gain. It could've been worse! In previous years, I'm sure I gained 5 or more pounds over the holidays--and that was on top of a whole bunch more excess weight.

But the best news is to come. I will let Mr. share in his own post and reap his own glory. You will be inspired! Amazed! Proud! That's all I can tell you for now.

Weekly Weigh-in #51: Yep, It's the Holidays

There's something about the holidays that gives people license to eat way too much. It's like, "Hey, 'tis the season for cookies and baked goods and egg nog and excessive calories! Weeeee!" Couple that with a general desire to cuddle, be cozy and snuggle in for a long winter's night (i.e., less exercise), and you've got a recipe for weight gain.

You can see where I'm going with this.

Jay
Starting weight: 301 pounds
Current weight: 263 pounds
Pounds lost this week: (3) pounds
Total pounds lost: 38 pounds

Susan
Starting weight: 238 pounds
Current weight: 179 pounds
Pounds lost this week: 1 pound
Total pounds lost: 59 pounds

As you can see, Mr. had a significant gain this week, despite going religiously to his personal training sessions. And I, by some miracle, lost a pound. I don't know how. Last week at work, I gave in more than once to tasty homemade treats brought in by coworkers, even when I wasn't hungry--perhaps the worst eating sin of all. I only exercised twice.

Nonetheless, we still have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day before us, and we're being realistic about the remainder of 2008. We are going to try not to let the season of caloric overload erase months of effort. But we're also looking to the New Year as a fresh inspiration to keep us motivated, remind us of how far we've come and how far we still need to go.

We hope all of our dear readers and supporters have a lovely holiday and hold the line against temptation. Let's all look forward to 2009!

Crazy 'bout Clementines

Just a quick post to share a healthy food Mr. and I are addicted to right now: Clementines.

They must be in season, because the shipments coming into Trader Joe's are absolutely perfect. These juicy little oranges are so easy to peel, have very little of the white junk and taste divine! I think Mr. ate about four of them after I got home from the store last night.

The nutritional breakdown: 35-50 calories per clementine, 1g each of fiber and protein and 60% of your daily vitamin C. I guess that means we're on vitamin C overload right now! (And loving every minute of it.)

Weekly Weigh-in #50: Back on Schedule

Nothing has changed since our last weigh-in a few days ago. Not that we're surprised -- it's only been a couple of days. But we wanted to get back on track with our Tuesday morning weigh-ins. No more delaying the inevitable when we fear the numbers.

Jay
Starting weight: 301 pounds
Current weight: 260 pounds
Pounds lost this week: 0 pounds
Total pounds lost: 41 pounds

Susan
Starting weight: 238 pounds
Current weight: 180 pounds
Pounds lost this week: 0 pounds
Total pounds lost: 58 pounds

Also, we wanted to share a quick meal idea that we thought was pretty good on Saturday night. Mr. grilled some fresh tilapia coated in Andy's fish breading (very low calorie, very tasty seasoning), along with steamed broccoli and carrots and Zatarain's reduced sodium red beans and rice. Not only was this meal hot, delicious and nutritious, it was lovely (lots of different colors) and very filling.

It's too cold to be outdoors for more than 2 seconds these days, so we'll be exercising indoors this week. I plan to get reacquainted with the Y after a couple of weeks away. Jay continues to be whipped into shape by his personal trainer. You can really see (and feel, if you're me!) the difference.

Belated Weekly Weigh-in #49: Setbacks

The past couple of weeks haven't been the best, fitness-wise, for Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit. That's why our weigh-in post is late. I'm posting it today mostly to get my mom off my back. She has bugged me every single day since Tuesday, urging me not to give up and get fat again. (I'm not, Mom!)

First, the numbers:

Jay
Starting weight: 301 pounds
Current weight: 260 pounds
Pounds lost this week: (4) pounds
Total pounds lost: 41 pounds

Susan
Starting weight: 238 pounds
Current weight: 180 pounds
Pounds lost this week: (1) pounds
Total pounds lost: 58 pounds

We're not thrilled to see gains on the scale. But at least Mr. continues to build muscle mass and lose fat--according to the fancy body analyzer at his personal training facility. Still, he wants to lose even as he gains muscle, so he's going to do more cardio at home between his pump-you-up sessions. And watch his diet a little more closely.

I am actually glad I didn't gain more. I haven't been exercising due to a heavy workload and holiday-related activities taking up nearly all of my free time. I know, there's always time for exercise and I just have to prioritize it. My excuse: I've been so darned tired lately, that by the time I finish all the other stuff, I have nothing left to get my butt up for a workout.

So with the holidays fast-approaching, I realize temptations are only going to be more frequent and time even more limited. I simply have to find time to work out, and be as prepared as possible so I make the best nutritious choices. If I make it through the season without any more gains, I'll be happy.

Holiday Party Pics: 2007 vs. 2008

One year sure made a difference! Check out the photo of Mr. and Mrs. from last year's company holiday party (prior to getting fit) vs. last night's holiday party pic, courtesy of our babysitter Jesy.

And for you readers who love fancy hair-do's, check out the back view of last night's 'do. A true work of art by my hairdresser Vivianne (Mary's Hair Off the Square in Hyde Park/Norwood)!

Why Do Holidays Make Exercise So Hard?

I don't know about you, but ever since Thanksgiving, I've found it really hard to get exercise in. This week, in fact, I didn't exercise at all.

Last Sunday I went and lifted weights and was sore all week long. I must have pushed it a little too much! But between the death of my best friend's mom (which I wrote about on my other blog, if you want to read about it), a whole lot of work/extracurricular stuff, and getting ready for Christmas, I haven't been able to drag my butt into gear.

Mr.'s hip has pretty much recovered, so he went to his personal trainer Thursday afternoon, again on Friday, and he's even there right now (amidst heaps of fresh snow!) Go, Mr.! Perhaps I could use the extra motivation and discipline of a trainer right now. It's so easy to tell myself, "I'm too busy, tired, etc." and not go.

Tonight is my company's holiday party, so I'm going to get my hair done all fancy-like at noon. Before that, I hope to make it to the Y for a good old-fashioned sweat-a-thon, followed by a shower. At least I'll feel like the week wasn't a complete wash. Sunday and Saturday workouts -- better than none!

How do you motivate yourself to stay fit during the holidays? Any magic solutions?

Weekly Weigh-in #48: Some Pain, No Gain

When we weighed in today, I don't think either of us expected a Thanksgiving miracle. I mean, who loses weight during the week of Thanksgiving? Vegans, maybe?

But we were both glad we didn't gain.

Jay
Starting weight: 301 pounds
Current weight: 256 pounds
Pounds lost this week: 0 pounds
Total pounds lost: 45 pounds

Susan
Starting weight: 238 pounds
Current weight: 179 pounds
Pounds lost this week: 0 pounds
Total pounds lost: 59 pounds

I'm proud of us for not going crazy with the goodies, pies and many leftovers that come with Thanksgiving. We managed to be pretty conservative. And both of us worked out several times last week.

I've had the pleasure of using a free 10-day pass to a fancier workout place than the Y (TriHealth Fitness and Health Pavilion). Thanks, Mom! We went to a couple of water aerobics classes together, Mom and I. Water aerobics is an effective cardio and strength combo workout, plus very relaxing. I'm like a puddle of goo afterward, similar to after a nice massage. I also lifted weights a couple of times and I'm quite sore (in a good way).

Mr. unfortunately hurt himself during a personal training session -- this time, his hip. He's been limping around the house since Saturday, poor guy. We hope his hip will be good enough to go for another session this week, but he's been advised by Dr. Mrs. to take it easy!