OMG! Don't exercise on a full stomach

I'm visiting relatives in Houston, Texas for the holidays and it seems everything in Texas is big, big, big.  Cars are big, houses are big and food portions are BIG.  And so, I'm ashamed to say that confronted with a land of such boundless plenty, I failed to control myself again and went on a crazed food binge.

The day started out hopeful, I was munching on a healthy and yummy apple as my husband and I were heading out in the morning to my sister-in-law's house to spend the day with her family (she has three of the cutest little girls).    But then I got to her house, and I felt so hungry.  The big honey crisp apple was long forgotten and all that was left was thunderous grumbles in my tummy and a definite whiff of cupcakes in the air.  And low and behold a huge cupcake with creamy strawberry frosty was sitting on the dining room table.  The kids had made it for me!  How could I break their little hearts and forsake their efforts; so I had to eat it, didn't I?  So down went about 500 calories. Then my eyes caught sight of a bag of fresh cheese bagels; and you know, I just can't resist bread. So down went another 400 calories.  

The rest of the day was a blur of one feast after another.  First, we had lunch at a super delicious Vietnamese shop that served up the most flavourful chargrilled pork sandwiches.  The pork had the perfect balance of lean meat and fat to make the meat heavenly tender.

Vietnamese chargrilled pork sandwich, delicious!

Then in the afternoon (which was really only 1 hr after lunch), we went to a big block party.  Literally, the entire block was cordoned off with police patrolling the premises to keep out loiterers.  The party was like something out of Animal House but G-rated.  There was artificial snow that transformed the front yard into a winter wonderland (it was 78 degrees that day!) where countless little kids high on sugar rushes were screaming and squealing as they pounded each other with snowballs and wheezed down dangerously in snow tubes.   There were two pens with mechanical rodeos that were flinging more squealing kids off left and right; live reindeers roaming around in pens; a Santa Claus in cowboy boots and hat; and a real cowboy on stilts that made kids jump through his lasso (plain weird!).  

But most of all there was food!  There was a mobile food truck serving out platters of free burgers and fries.  Two huge chocolate fondue fountains (one milk, the other white chocolate) accompanied with a buffet of fruits and ahhhh so many bad things.  Another buffet of savoury finger foods next to the fondue buffet, I suppose the host wanted to make sure his guests got a "balanced" meal of both sweet and savoury.  A trolley serving 4 flavors of Italian ices close to another station that was turning out hot, greasy and powered-sugary funnel cakes!  But most of all, there were trays after trays after trays after trays of chocolate truffles and bonbons.  I thought I walked into a Godiva factory!  But one that allowed visitors to eat for free! And I certainly didn't pass up the chance.  

I gorged myself with nearly everything in sight: hamburgers, fries, chocolate fondue, finger foods, and I descended on the unsuspecting trays of chocolate truffles like a starved pterodactyl.  I had to try every flavour, then I had to retry everything again to make sure I didn't miss any flavour and then again just to be doubly sure.

Then we went to another party that featured another table laden with a buffet of food.  At this point, you would think that it's  physically impossible to fit anything more into my stomach, but the strength of willpower and the elasticity of the human stomach can shock you.  Too bad my willpower was in gorging myself to death.  I won't go into the gory details but lets just say that it involved lots of thick sausages, meatballs, sweet potato casserole, raviolis the size of saucers and generous portions of pecan pie blanketed in sweet gooey molasses (they sure know how to spoon out the hospitality in the South!).  

When I finally rolled myself home my conscience finally kicked in.  (Took it long enough!)  My guilty conscience thought to repent for all the tasty sins I committed that day by doing some hardcore aerobics workout.  And like a warrior, I strapped on my heart rate monitor and readied myself to do battle with Zumba Cardio.  I gave it my all.  I threw myself into it; I've never shook my booty soo hard or so high before, I nearly dislocated my hips.  My heart rate was sky-rocketing; 60%, 70%, 80% and then bam!  It all came tumbling down.  I felt nauseated; I was going to throw up; I couldn't breathe, the heart rate monitor felt like it was cutting off my circulation and air supply. My head was dizzy.  I paused the video.  I took a sip of water and I tried to shake it off.  I restarted the video and started to samba again like there was no tomorrow, but, "Ohhhh, I'm going to throw up!"  I was literally one burp away from vomiting all over my mother-in-law's plush-carpeted living room.  

I crashed, I couldn't go on any more; it was too much for my body.  My body was simply overloaded by the mountain of food, the exertion, and the added huge intake of water and air due to the exercise.  I ended up doing only 33 minutes out of 45 minutes of the Zumba video.    

But the good news was that I performed one of my best exercises ever.  My average heart rate was 149, the highest ever!  In the 33 minutes of doing Zumba I ended up burning 486 calories, which is close to being 15 calories per minute.  That means that if I had stuck with the entire video, I could have burned over 700 calories, a record in my books.  

But, what should be the take home lessons from today.  First, DON'T over-eat, (which I had already stated in another post.  I got to start listening to my own advice!)  Second, should you "accidentally" over-eat, never EVER combine it with hard exercise; it will only lead to sickness or disaster.

The only trouble now is remembering these lessons tomorrow when after a long, nice sleep I wake up feeling hungry all over again...sigh

An apple a day keeps the munchies away

Beautiful Granny Smith

  

I love apples because they're the perfect snack when the munchies attack. Apples are sweet, crunchy and you can eat soooo much of it guilt-free.   

Literally a huge apple, (we're talking about at least 3.5 inches in diameter, weighs about 400 grams) will only be around 200 calories.  That is a meal in itself.  And because they're so hard, you're not only chewing a lot (so it feels like you're getting a lot to eat) you really feel full afterwards. 

Recently, I've been obsessed with honey crisps and I'm eating a mega-sized one for breakfast everyday.  Forget about "keeping the doctors away," keep the munchies away instead!

Huge honey crisp, (3.5 inches in diameter but only about 200 calories)

My Stats

• My Daily Caloric Burn & Food Intake
• My Workout Stats

Lost the Battle with Food!

I ate sooo much today.  I knew it was coming, my cravings for sweets and all things fatty, but oh sooo good, had been building up these past few weeks and finally today the flood gates burst open.  The day started out as usual, I was sticking to my healthy low-calorie diet but I still felt so hungry, starved, empty.  I wanted more.  A deep craving was bubbling up inside of me which I quickly stomped on.  But a number of events this week have spiked up my stress-levels.  First, I'm in the middle of moving, so there's a lot of packing, cleaning and everything is a mind-boggling mess.  Second, I got my monthly "visitor" (my period), and oh, we girls know that it's never a good time during that time.  I get especially tired, grouchy and sore.  But most amazing of all, my appetite becomes like a bottomless pit.  I'm like a starved animal prowling; my one focus, FOOD, especially yummy sweet, carbo-rich foods.

All the junk I ate.

Now, I'm not justifying my food binge, instead I'm noting how stress-levels, physical fatigue, emotional distress, etc, can really make us vulnerable to our sneaky rationalizations, i.e., those thoughts that make us do things that sabotage our real goals.  And today, I was stressed-out, tired and emotionally feeling the disorder around me.

But I think how we crack on any diet is that your mind finally rebels against all the "self-denial".  The stress and fatigue, etc, are only triggers, like the spark that lights the canon, but the cannonball was already there.  In truth, my resolve had been cracking this whole week; sneaking a little bread here, peanut butter there, a spoonful of ice-cream here, but nothing serious.  But each time I "denied" myself, e.g., "no, no more ice-cream", "no, can't eat those cookies", "no, can't have pizza," the craving just became worse.  My cravings have been like an unruly teenager; each time I say "no" to her, she becomes even more unmanageable until one day she says, "hell, with you, I'm getting that tatoo on my ass!"

This whole week I've been like a famished women lost in the Sahara desert; I've been seeing hallucinations of oasis of ice-cream, of loaves of freshly baked bread, and clouds of cream-filled puffs.  I've been on a restrictive 1300-1400 calorie low-carb diet since starting P90X.  And the more restrictive it's gotten, the more obsessed I've become with food.  I daydream about lunch in the mornings, then I dream about breakfast at night.  Like a love-struck teenager, instead of scribbling the name of my future husband in my notebook, you'll find me scribbling my meal plans.  Ahhhh, pathetic.

And today, all the "self-denial", pent up yearning for food finally reached its limit.  I remember walking toward the kitchen, almost zombie-like; I no longer had any conscious control over myself.  My hand closed onto the fridge handle and pulled.  The light inside filled my eyes and there I saw it, the object of my deepest desire, the BREAD!  I reached for it, ohhhh, soo soft, soo cushiony to the touch.  Then I turned and saw the jar of peanut butter, extra creamy, extra smooth, droooool.  I cradled these two precious cargoes to the kitchen counter.  I think my hands were shaking with excitement when I twisted open the packaging on the bread.  A whiff of such heavenly buttery fragrance filled my senses.

I gently pulled off a small piece of bread and twisting open the jar of peanut butter, I spread a layer of creamy, velvety goodness on it.  Slowly, and quivering slightly, I put that small morsel into my mouth...I can only describe the experience of such blissful happiness that I could have fainted right there and then.  Then, without thinking I reached and tore off another piece, this time bigger and spread some more creamy peanut butter onto it.
"Oh, such paradise!"

Then I took out an entire slice, but I halved it first, and repeat.  "Oh, but there's the other half!", I exclaimed, and so repeat again.  And then again, and again.  And then, "Whoa, there's some Nutella.  I've never tasted Nutella and peanut butter together before.  Wonder what it tastes like?"  Uh oh, there goes the top off the Nutello jar. "Wooooo, so creamy and chocolaty.  Just a little now.  Oh! I need another slice of bread!"  Before I knew it I had scoffed down nearly half the loaf, ahhhhhh! Why do things happen so fast when you're having so much fun!

But this was only the beginning of the end.  I couldn't stop at just peanut butter and Nutella now.  I couldn't let this heavenly bliss stop.  I reached for the cupboard, my movements frantic now.  I scanned the shelves desperately, "Ah ha! the raison and oatmeal cookies, with chocolate chunks!" I grabbed for it, hugging them close to me less someone tries to wrestle them away.  I opened the package and once again I was enveloped in the sweetest, most buttery fragrance ever imagined.  I scoffed one down.  "Ahhh, such pleasure!"

I was a woman possessed.  I ran to the freezer and yanked it open.  A gallon tub of ice-cream sat there in the dark recesses of the freezer, almost forgotten.  I grabbed for it, a big tub of coconut ice-cream with blondie chunks and caramel swirls; I plied open the top.  Dug my spoon in deep and lifted; gooey caramel whirled around snowy white peaks and blonde rocky chunks.  There was no turning back now.  I closed my eyes and let destiny lead me. And, it led me to the bottom of that tub of ice-cream!

I was in a frenzy now, "Must have more, must have more."  I ran over to my forgotten pantry and opened the door, the hinges creaking.  I dug beneath a pile of dry goods and miscellaneous knick-knacks until I reached a mysterious bulky brown paper bag.  I reached for it with quivering hands and opened it.  Glittering like jewels, a pile of sweets, chocolate bars, candy, toffees, and all sorts of "sugar and spice and everything nice" filled my field of view.  This was my emergency stash; the bag of "food" that would save me should World War III or Armageddon break-out.  Well, today was my Armageddon; I reached inside and pulled out a Baby Ruth, slowly peeled off the wrapper and...."Oooo la la, you're certainly my baby!"  And then a Mars bar, "Wooo, turn me into a Martian now!"  And then I don't remember what happened next, perhaps my brain blacked-out from the surge of sugar entering my body.

When I finally came around from my "drunken" revelry I was half a loaf of bread gone, many tablespoonfuls of peanut butter and Nutella less, a tub of ice-cream cleaned out, and countless empty candy wrappers strewn all over the kitchen floor! (I only had one cookie at least).  I was dazed.  I was speechless.  I was mortified.  But at least I was finally full.

In the wake of this catastrophe, I asked myself, what lessons have I learned?  First, never eat so much in one go; I gave myself a huge tummy ache afterwards.  Second, dieting through denial will only spell-out disaster.  I remember when I was eating, especially the ice-cream, I was almost indignant.  I was spooning in each mouthful with such fire and heat; it was like I was venting all the pent up anger that I felt at being denied my "human right to stuff my face, damn it!"  And I think this demonstrates that when we put ourselves on a restricted diet of "no eating this, no eating that," that it is like being indignantly slighted.  It's the same "sting" that we feel when we're ordered by our supervisors to carry out idiotic assignments, or when an obnoxious jerk steals your parking space, or when you've been ripped off by false advertising.

Now I'm not saying to go out and vent your indignation by eating whatever you want, quite the contrary.  The point is that the battle with food has to be won up in your head first.  The key is your perception of the diet.  If you view your diet as a form of "suppression", then each time you say "no" to yourself, and each time you see your friends and family (Ahem, husband!) wolfing down everything you want to eat, then you're only building up resentment instead of resolve.  Sooner or later, you'll burst from all that pent up "suppression."

But, on the other hand, if you perceive your diet as the "vehicle" to your ultimate and glorious transformation, then it is actually your "saviour", your means of redemption.  But, it's necessary to first have a strong sense of the person you want to transform into; the kind of lifestyle you want to live and then to have a healthy diet that supports those goals.  Therefore, in the end, a successful diet has to be healthy, balanced and reasonable; trying to live on 1000 calories a day, or just cabbage soup ain't going to cut it; and if you're a "foodie" like me, you'll literally go temporarily insane.  The diet you adopt should be a diet that you would want to maintain for the rest of your life; your aim is not merely to change your physical body but to adopt a completely new lifestyle.

Workout Stats

Day	Date	Exercise	Duration (min)	Calorie burn	Max Heart Rate	Ave. Heart Rate	Light Zone (min.sec)	Moderate Zone (min.sec)	Hard Zone (min.sec)	Calorie Burn rate
89	Feb-5	Zumba Sculpt	43	560	165	140	8.1	17.16	17.03	13
		P90: Ab 200	16	58	102	90	6.42	0	0	4
88	Feb-4	Zumba Cardio	47	637	165	143	3.46	17.52	24.55	14
87	Feb-3	Zumba Cardio	47	638	164	142	4.13	20.16	22.34	14
86	Feb-2	P90X: Yoga	81	269	117	84	25.14	0	0	3
85	Feb-1	P90X: Chest & Back	83	775	1556	117	57.56	17.38	2.44	9
		P90: Ab 200	15	48	105	87	3.54	0	0	3
84	Jan-31	None	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
83	Jan-30	P90X: Plyometrics	61	869	172	147	8.21	11.4	41.09	14
82	Jan-29	Zumba Sculpt	48	702	170	149	4.19	13.49	30.06	15
		P90: Ab 200	13	80	116	100	13.01	0	0	6
81	Jan-28	None	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
80	Jan-27	None	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
79	Jan-26	None	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
78	Jan-25	Zumba Sculpt	45	658	169	150	3.11	11.03	30.26	15
		P90: Ab 200	13	70	107	97	11.42	0	0	5
77	Jan-24	None	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
76	Jan-23	P90X: Legs & Back	76	846	161	128	22.16	30.14	16.58	11
		P90: Ab 200	15	54	102	89	5.26	0	0	4
75	Jan-22	Zumba Cardio	49	698	169	146	4.04	13.13	32.04	14
74	Jan-21	None Lazy	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
73	Jan-20	Zumba Cardio	44	617	165	146	3.39	11.5	28.2	14
		P90: Ab 200	13	69	109	96	10.55	0	0	5
72	Jan-19	Zumba Cardio	28	366	162	141	2.48	11.18	13.08	13
71	Jan-18	P90X: Yoga	87	340	117	87	34.46	0	0	4
70	Jan-17	None Sick with cold	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
69	Jan-16	P90X: Chest & Back	80	814	158	121	50.45	23.46	3.20	10
		P90: Ab 200	15	57	105	90	13	0	0	4
68	Jan-15	P90X: Plyometrics	64	883	171	144	9.24	14.56	39.16	14
67	Jan-14	Zumba Sculpt	51	745	171	149	3.16	14.43	32.33	15
		P90: Ab 200	13	84	114	101	13	0	0	6
66	Jan-13	X-Stretch	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
65	Jan-12	P90X: Legs & Back	78	834	157	125	26.04	33.42	10.2	11
64	Jan-11	Zumba Cardio	53	748	166	146	5.11	12.34	35.21	14
		P90 Ab 200	13	76	110	98	13.09	0	0	6
63	Jan-10	P90X: Yoga	93	325	112	84	28.2	0	0	3
		P90: Ab 200	12	28	97	79	.44	0	0	2
62	Jan-9	P90X: Chest & Back	74	762	149	116	51.19	16.26	.56	10
61	Jan-8	Zumba Cardio	50	737	166	143	4.54	18.52	25.34	15
		P90: Ab 200	11	69	112	100	10.31	0	0	6
60	Jan-7	Zumba Sculpt	49	769	173	148	4.27	13	31.11	16
59	Jan-6	P90X: Plyometrics	64	984	172	145	10.41	12.25	41.07	15
		P90: Ab 200	11	74	113	100	10.47	0	0	7
58	Jan-5	Rest day	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
57	Jan-4	Zumba Cardio	50	748	166	144	5.4	19.27	25.51	15
56	Jan-3	P90X: X-Stretch	57	117	96	74	1.26	0	0	2
		P90: Ab 200	12	30	112	99	10.57	0	0	3
55	Jan-2	P90X: Legs & Back	78	872	152	122	35.15	34.41	4.06	11
54	Jan-1	Zumba Sculpt	47	723	167	145	4.19	16.44	26.07	15
53	Dec-31	Zumba Cardio	51	754	167	142	5.4	17.39	26.32	15
		P90: Ab 200	11	71	112	99	10.57	0	0	6
52	Dec-30	P90X: Yoga	91	310	109	83	27.52	0	0	3
51	Dec-29	P90X: Chest & Back	81	801	163	114	56.50	15.45	0.56	10
50	Dec-28	P90X: Plyometrics	67	941	167	138	14.17	17.4	33.06	14
		P90: Ab 200	14	100	119	102	13.36	0	0	7
49	Dec-27	Zumba Sculpt	30	433	164	140	7.26	8.45	13.54	14
48	Dec-26	Zumba Cardio	48	701	162	140	5.38	16.1	20.23	15
		P90 Ab200	14	100	119	102	13.36	0	0	7
47	Dec-25	P90X: Legs & Back	71	829	155	125	26.04	34.06	5.5	12
46	Dec-24	Zumba Cardio	48	708	165	141	6.48	16.1	25.07	15
45	Dec-23	Zumba Sculpt	45	670	166	143	4.31	18.22	21.31	15
		P90 Ab 200	12	67	108	97	10.28	0	0	6
44	Dec 21	P90X: Core Synergistics	64	609	154	113	36.56	16.26	1.12	10
43	Dec-20	Zumba Cardio	47	687	161	140	5.14	21.5	20.08	15
		P90: Ab 200	12	74	111	98	10.5	0	0	6
42	Dec-19	P90X: Chest & Back	71	686	151	113	51.06	12.54	0.32	10
41	Dec-18	P90X: Plyometrics	60	869	164	140	11.56	13.12	33.56	14
		P90: Ab 200	13	56	108	92	6.34	0	0	4
40	Dec-17	Zumba Cardio	49	626	196	138	6.56	25.56	15.02	13
39	Dec-15	Zumba Cardio	33	486	167	149	.3	6.41	25.1	15
38	Dec-14	Zumba Cardio	50	675	164	142	6.49	16.35	26.08	14
		P90 Ab 200	13	53	103	96	11.01	0	0	4
37	Dec-13	P90X: Plyometrics	65	853	167	139	11.5	18.02	33.2	13
36	Dec-12	Zumba Sculpt	46	616	163	140	5.22	20.36	19.32	13
		P90: Ab 200	14	53	105	94	10.46	0	0	4
35	Dec-11	P90X: Chest & Back	77	379	146	94	38	4.08	0	5
34	Dec-10	Zumba Sculpt	45	576	159	136	8.35	24.36	12.14	13
		P90: Ab 200	10	29	100	90	4.44	0	0	3
33	Dec-9	P90X: Leg & Back	76	676	149	113	46.1	20.52	.58	9
32	Dec-8	P90X: Kenpo	62	691	162	128	6.29	18.22	25.26	11
		P90: Ab200	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
31	Dec-7	Zumba Cardio	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
		P90X: X Stretch	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
30	Dec-5	P90X: Kenpo	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
29	Nov-30	Zumba Cardio	47	570	156	133	9.48	27.52	9.02	12
28	Nov-29	P90X: Core Synergistics	59	546	156	117	28.23	19.20	3.18	9
27	Nov-28	P90X: Plyometrics	62	753	165	133	14.48	18.16	26	12
26	Nov-27	Zumba Cardio	47	628	160	141	4.37	24.42	17.24	13
25	Nov-26	Rest day
24	Nov-25	P90X:    Leg & Back	72	651	152	116	NA	NA	NA	9
23	Nov-24	Zumba Cardio	48	591	154	130	NA	NA	NA	12
22	Nov-23	P90X: Kenpo	62	639	160	123	NA	NA	NA	10
		P90: Ab 200	15	44	99	89	NA	NA	NA	3
21	Nov-22	Zumba Cardio	48	605	162	136	NA	NA	NA	13
20	Nov-21	P90X: Chest & Back	79	621	151	110	NA	NA	NA	8
		P90: Ab 200	17	48	105	88	NA	NA	NA	3
19	Nov-20	P90X: Plyometrics	64	845	171	140	NA	NA	NA	13
18	Nov-19	Zumba Cardio	49	573	158	135	NA	NA	NA	12
17	Nov-18	Insanity: Plyometric Cardio Circuit	46	588	171	142	NA	NA	NA	13
16	Nov-17	P90X: Cardio X	47	456	165	124	NA	NA	NA	10
15	Nov-16	P90X: Core Synergistics	67	569	157	116	NA	NA	NA	8
14	Nov-15	P90X: X Stretch	60	121	102	76	NA	NA	NA	2
		P90: Ab 200	13	31	94	78	NA	NA	NA	2
13	Nov-14	P90X: Leg & Back	79	786	160	129	NA	NA	NA	10
12	Nov-13	P90X: Shoulders & Arms	78	321	130	90	NA	NA	NA	4
		P90X: Ab Ripper X	23	93	107	90	NA	NA	NA	4
11	Nov-12	P90X: Yoga X	99	367	118	86	NA	NA	NA	4
10	Nov-11	P90X: Kenpo	62	758	169	137	NA	NA	NA	12
9	Nov-10	P90X: Chest & Back	94	628	145	102	NA	NA	NA	7
		P90X: Ab Ripper X	23	120	118	95	NA	NA	NA	5
8	Nov-9	P90X: Plyometrics	68	894	171	142	NA	NA	NA	13
7	Nov-8	P90X: X Stretch	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
		P90X: Ab Ripper X	19	98	126	95	NA	NA	NA	5
6	Nov-7	P90X: Leg & back	74	786	159	126	NA	NA	NA	11
5	Nov-6	P90X: Yoga	85	405	125	94	NA	NA	NA	5
4	Nov-5	P90X: Shoulders & Arms	98	338	161	87	NA	NA	NA	3
		P90X: Ab Ripper X	NA	120	120	95	NA	NA	NA	NA
3	Nov-4	P90X: Kenpo	62	683	168	135	NA	NA	NA	11
2	Nov-3	P90X: Chest & Back	NA	527	161	100	NA	NA	NA	NA
		P90X: Ab Ripper X	NA	83	117	96	NA	NA	NA	NA
1	Nov-2	P90X: Plyometrics	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

·         Day: shows how many days since I’ve started on my journey of total-body transformation (Some stats are missing)

·         Light, Moderate, Hard Zones shows the amount of time my heart rate was in each respective zone

·         Calorie burn rate: is the amount of calories I burned per minute