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645am Spinning
Great class! My favorite instructor is back!
I am really proud of the way I worked out, stuck to the plan and ate pretty clean today.
Workout Log:
645am: Spinning
630pm: Karate
I love this pic (no, it isn’t me..yet!). Today was a GREAT day. Not that anything has changed good, bad or otherwise, but my attitude just seems to have adjusted back to positive after a couple of “blah” weeks.
I hit spin class today and it was a good workout. I now have to factor in de-icing my windows into my time frame for the 645am class, but today wasn’t too bad. The music was “off” again for me, lots of 80’s and 90’s rock type stuff, better than last time, but not inspirational. I guess you can’t have it all!
I felt invogorated after spin class but also sore from Sunday’s heavy lifting session. I can feel my biceps and triceps for sure. They’re buried under flab, but they are in there!
I had to force myself to go to karate. It is no longer “novel” its now “work” and I found my attention wandering the last two weeks also hard to motivate myself when “blah” but my goal is to make it through Christmas and if I don’t like it, then I’ll move on to something else or just fill in with spin/run/lift. Tonight was hard, the crunches, the calisthenics, the kata…but I still felt like I had pushed myself and learned something after class. That is what I have to remember on those days that I want it to be easy. I learned the first Konshin Kata and have 3 more to go. The good news is that the footwork for the next three are the same, it is the blocks/punches that change. I have a private lesson with one of my favorite Senpei on Friday night to go over the other piece that I’ve been working on.
I’m trying to decide if I want to do spin on Tuesday or Treadmill train. I need to be careful that I don’t overdo it and injur myself and end up back on the bench. I also need to work on doing more weight training on my lower body.
My goals for this week:
Sunday: cardio (done!) + lift (done!)
Monday: Spin (done!) + karate (done!)
Tuesday: Karate + Cardio
Weds: Spin + Lift
Thurs: Karate
Friday: Spin + Karate (private tutoring)
Saturday: Spin or Karate + Lift or Cardio
Food Log:
8am: Large Coffee w/ Skim
930 am: Large Coffee w/ Skim
10am: Fruit w/ little cottage Cheese
11am: Slimfast Shake
1240: Salad w/ Tuna + grilled chicken (one onion ring!)
2pm: 1 choc chip cookie (this was hard!)
545pm: turkey + broccoli (light, pre-karate)
845pm: small piece of steak + broccoli (not much)
I’ve been struggling lately to drink as much water as I should. I have been mostly good about not drinking soda, even diet soda. We don’t keep it at the house anymore here in NH and when I went home to VA I was disappointed (but ultimately glad) that there was NO soda at all in the house. I grabbed this article from here.
Why Drinking H2O is the key to Weight Loss by Maia Appleby
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Don’t roll your eyes! The potion for losing that excess body fat is all around you. It covers two thirds of the planet. If you eat right and exercise at the intensity, frequency and duration proper for you, but still can’t get rid of a little paunch here and there, you’re probably just not drinking enough water. No need to get defensive. You’re actually quite normal. Most people don’t drink enough water. Most people are also carrying around a few more pounds than they would be if they did drink enough water. If you can’t seem to get that weight off, try drowning your sorrows in nature’s magical weight-loss mineral. It works, and here’s why: “What on Earth is ‘metabolism’, anyway?” People use the term all the time, but ask them what it means and you’ll get all kinds of answers. Merriam Webster defines it as, “The process by which a substance is handled in the body.” A little vague, but that’s really all it means. |
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There are many forms of metabolism going on in your body right now, but the one everyone is talking about it the metabolism of fat. This is actually something that the liver does when it converts stored fat to energy. The liver has other functions, but this is one of its main jobs. Unfortunately, another of the liver’s duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their work along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can’t metabolize fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight. If you allow this to happen, not only are you being unfair to your liver, but you’re also setting yourself up to store fat. “I’ve tried it and I couldn’t stand it!” The problem is that, though many decide to increase their water intake, very few stick with it. It’s understandable. During the first few days of drinking more water than your body is accustomed to, you’re running to the bathroom constantly. This can be very discouraging, and it can certainly interfere with an otherwise normal day at work. It seems that the water is coming out just as fast as it’s going in, and many people decide that their new hydration habit is fruitless. Do take heed , though. What is really happening is that your body is flushing itself of the water it has been storing throughout all those years of “survival mode”. It takes a while, but this is a beautiful thing happening to you. As you continue to give your body all the water it could ask for, it gets rid of what it doesn’t need. It gets rid of the water it was holding onto in your ankles and your hips and thighs, maybe even around your belly. You are excreting much more than you realize. Your body figures it doesn’t need to save these stores anymore; it’s trusting that the water will keep coming, and if it does, eventually, the flushing (of both the body and the potty) will cease, allowing the human to return to a normal life. It’s true. This is called the “breakthrough point.” One recent finding, as irresponsible as it may be, that caffeine increases the body’s fat-burning potential has many people loading up on coffee before going to the gym. This finding may hold some degree of truth in it, but caffeine is, in essence, a diuretic, and diuretics dehydrate. Caffeine may increase the heart rate, causing a few more calories to be burned, but this is at the expense of the muscles, which need water to function properly. This isn’t doing your heart any favors, either. It’s already working hard enough during your workout. Never mix caffeine and exercise. In fact, your best bet is to stay away from caffeine all together. It’s a big bully that pushes your friend water out of your system. Water is the best beauty treatment. You’ve heard this since high school, and it’s true. Water will do wonders for your looks! It flushes out impurities in your skin, leaving you with a clear, glowing complexion. It also makes your skin look younger. Skin that is becoming saggy, either due to aging or weight loss, plumps up very nicely when the skin cells are hydrated. In addition, it improves muscle tone. You can lift weights until you’re blue in the face, but if your muscles are suffering from a drought, you won’t notice a pleasant difference in your appearance. Muscles that have all the water they need contract more easily, making your workout more effective, and you’ll look much nicer than if you had flabby muscles under sagging skin. “Eight glasses a day? Are you kidding?!” It’s really not that much. Eight 8-ounce glasses amount to about two quarts of water. This is okay for the average person, but if you’re overweight, you should drink another eight ounces for every 25 pounds of excess weight you carry. You should also up this if you live in a hot climate or exercise very intensely. This water consumption should be spread out throughout the day. It’s not healthy at all to drink too much water at one time. Try to pick three or four times a day when you can have a big glass of water, and then sip in between. Don’t let yourself get thirsty. If you feel thirsty, you’re already becoming dehydrated. Drink when you’re not thirsty yet. Do you think water is yucky? Drinking other fluids will certainly help hydrate your body, but the extra calories, sugar, additives and whatever else aren’t what you need. Try a slice of lemon or lime in the glass, or if you really think you hate water, try a flavored water. Just make sure you read the labels. Remember that you’re going to be consuming a lot of this fluid. It’s probably a good idea to stop drinking water a good three hours before you go to bed. You know why. “How cold should it be?” This is debatable. Most experts lean toward cold water, because the stomach absorbs it more quickly. There is also some evidence that cold water might enhance fat burning.On the other hand, warmer water is easier to drink in large quantities, and you might drink more of it without even realizing it. Do whatever suits you, here. Just drink it! When you drink all the water you need, you will very quickly notice a decrease in your appetite, possibly even on the first day! If you’re serious about becoming leaner and healthier, drinking water is an absolute must. If you’re doing everything else right and still not seeing results, this might just what’s missing. |
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lol. I don’t think I’ve not worked out this long in a while, which in itself is a bit of a milestone. Last week was just kind of “blah” all around. I did enjoy turkey day with the family, but two days of traveling (weds/sat) left two days of sitting around–for some reason totally unmotivated–and chowing down. The good news is that I never sat down and just went crazy. I did eat a lot, but I grazed all day. The biggest things were stuffing and sweets which I rarely have in my normal day to day.
I hit the gym today after getting back to NH at 10pm last night. I tried something different with the cardio circuit that I read in Muscle & Fitness HERS. Basically I took two exercises and did them back to back then did another 2, etc. I did 3 groups of exercises and 7 different forms altogether. This was tough and harder to push through than my circuit. Plus I added a couple of forms that I haven’t been doing. I can tell I’ve lost some stregnth ground, but I’m psyched up to get it back and keep moving. I’m still stronger than I was last month or 90 days ago. I have to remember to give myself my “star” lol.
The scale at home is holding in the 259/260 range, I’m hoping that I’ve been burning calories more efficiently due to my weightloss and muscles and that its not muscle atrophy + fat gain!
Workout Log: [I am liking the cardio split still, keeps my workout ADD in check!]
Treadmill: 32 mins 1.53 miles (3.0-3.4 at 3.0 incline)
Weights:
Bench Press 30lbs x 8 reps x 3 sets; 25lbs x 8 reps x 1 set
Bicep Curls (standing) 30lbs x 12 reps x 1 set; 40lbs x 8 reps x 2 sets, 30 lbs x 8 r x 1 set
Cable Pressdown 60lbs x 15 x 1 rep; 70 lbs x 10 reps x 2 sets; 70 lbs x 12 reps x 1 set
Skull Crushers 30 lbs x 12 x 1 set; 30lbs x 8 reps x x 3 sets
Close Grip Bench Press 30 lbs x 12 x 1 set; 30lbs x 8 reps x 3 sets
Dumbell Flye 12 lbs x 10 r x 2 sets; 8 lbs x 15 r x 1 set; 10 lbs x 10 r x 1 set
Lat Dumbell Raises 8 lbs x 10 r x 3 sets; 10 lbs x 10 r x 1 set
Treadmill: 22 mins: 1 mile
Food Log:
I didn’t eat pre-workout (not hungry) but at 11:15, about 3/4 of the way through my lifting I was running out of steam: Slimfast
1:30pm: small piece chilean sea bass + small serving of green beans + small scrambled eggs and 2 small pcs bacon (sounds like alot, but it all fit on one of those salad/dessert plates).
4:45pm: apple sauce cup + Dole fruit cocktail cup
6:50pm: mini bag of 94% fat free popcorn
I was feeling a bit “off” emotionally, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I wasn’t in the mood to hang out or talk to anyone so I just chilled out. I think I’m starting to wonder what I will do next. Will this contract last until May? Will I travel after that or stick around? Do I even want to travel long term again right away?
I think it is time for me to set some more concrete goals, as well as apply everything I’ve learned the last couple of years (or in a lifetime) to all the areas of my life but not sacrifice my number one goal of my physical health. I also came to a huge realization about how I approach tough situations and things that take a long time to manifest (i.e. weight loss) and I know I have to stick it out and try to make it as much fun as possible and make it a lifestyle change. I haven’t been 100% into karate in a few weeks and part of me is like “its taking away time from running/lifting” and part of me is like “uh, you haven’t been running/lifting more when you’re not at karate so….” My goal this week is to give karate my 100% attention while I’m there and just enjoy it. It isn’t a competition, I’m getting in shape, fellowshiping w/ cool people and getting more fit in general since it uses much different muscles and movements.
My goals for this week:
Sunday: cardio + lift (done!)
Monday: Spin + karate
Tuesday: Karate + Cardio
Weds: Spin + Lift
Thurs: Karate
Friday: Spin + Karate (private tutoring)
Saturday: Spin or Karate + Lift or Cardio
Whew. Damn I needed a good workout. I was not surprised that my lifting strength has decreased a little since it has been about 2 weeks; but I was surprised that my cardiovascular fitness is pretty good! Must be the spinning and karate! I hopped on the treadmill expecting to be huffing and puffing but jogged 16 out of 20 minutes at 3.0-3.3 pace at 2.0 incline. It felt great. My mood is definitely improved.
Stepmill: 30 minutes
Weight lifting:
Bench Press 20 lbs x 4 sets; 30 lbs x 1 set
Tri pulldown 40 lbs x 1 set; 50 lbs x 3 sets
Biceps curl: 30 lbs x 1 set; 40 lbs x 3 sets
Skull Crushers 30 lbs x 1 set; 40 lbs x 3 sets
Closed Grip Bench Press 30 lbs x 1 set; 40 lbsx x 3 sets
Lat Pulldown 50 lbs x 1 set; 60 lbs x 3 sets
Treadmill: 20 mins (nice jog at 3.0 w/ 2.0 incline)
Food Log:
10am: 1/2 Light & Fit Smoothie (70 calories)
1pm: Weight Control Oatmeal + 2 veggie sausage patties
145pm: 4 tortilla chips w/ salsa + 1 string cheese
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Goals for the Week (this will be interesting since its Thanksgiving week and I’ll be traveling!)
Sunday: Spin + Lift (legs)
Mon: Spin + Karate
Tues: Spin + Run
Weds: Spin or Run + Lift
Thurs: walk
Fri: walk
Yesterday was kind of up and down emotionally. The good news is that I didn’t overeat, the bad news is my heart is a little broken 
but I will be okay.
“There are no shortcuts in life or in love. This pain must be felt. The alternative is much worse. It’s what makes us special, what makes us beautiful, what makes us worthy; the pain of how we love. But that pain is accompanied by something else, isn’t it? Hope. With your pain, there is hope. And that is where you are. Somewhere between agony and optimism and prayer. So you’re human. You’re alive. And that is what we have.”
All that said, this was my horoscope today:
Aries March 21 – April 19
For Thursday, November 15 -As each day goes by, you have been learning a little more about someone you’ve recently met. Today you will get the final clue you need to evaluate your feelings. Do not be surprised if the road to romance takes a giant detour today — but it will be for the best, whatever happens. Your visions of the future are not always accurate, but they should always be hopeful. If you discover today that your hopes are not going to pan out, then get busy building up some new ones!
So, even though I’m disappointed and a little sad, I’m ready to consider what is next for me. What do I want to do? I still have 7 months of this contract which I love and probably 10 months that I’ll stick around in NH. What do I want to do with that time and what do I want to do after that?
Goals:
a. Lose 116 lbs (20 lbs down, 98 lbs to go!)
b. Deliver GREAT service to Tuck & MLT clients
c. Complete transition to highly active fitness lifestyle
d. Save $60,000
e. Leave NH in better physical, financial and emotion health than ever!
f. Relationship management: with clients, family and friends, but mostly with ME. Keep me #1.
I want to:
a) Love, love, love working out, lifting and increasing my fitness
b) Increase my self-confidence and self-esteem
c) Learn to play the Piano
d) Run 3-5 miles – 4x per week
e) Golf
f) Ride my motorcycle
g) Find Love
645am: Spin Class
Class was good from a sweat perspective today, but the music wasn’t great. Lots of folk and rock music. But I guess its hard to keep things mixed up and everyone happy!
I haven’t been eating very clean. But I am down another 2.8 lbs from last week per weight watchers meeting. I have been stumped by the 2 lb difference between my scale at the house and the WW scale at our meetings and yesterday I realized…duh…I weigh myself totally starkers at home, and with clothes on at WW!! So…mystery solved. For purposes of this blog I’m giving the 2 lb range and that is why (i.e. so far I’m down 9.2 lbs since joing weight watchers and down 18-20 lbs from May 21, 2007.
Part of me wants the weight to come off faster and another knows I am making a LIFESTYLE change and that takes time. I need to eat a bit cleaner. I’m starting to “sneak” in little things that aren’t healthy versus being consistently healthy w/ little “treats” occassionally. I’m also not as in love w/ karate as I am w/ spinning and trying to decide if I should keep spinning and piano and karate or finish karate?
wish me luck!
so, uhm, I didn’t work out yesterday. I was still fighting off something and decided to go to the gospel concert and get some other work done. This morning I woke up at like 415am and couldn’t go back to sleep! But I did get up and get moving.
645am: Spinning
Class was GREAT today. I really worked hard and sweated it out! I’m tired as hell now, my eyes feel like sandpaper, but I’m hanging in there. I’m even considering skipping karate to do the 6pm spin class at my OTHER gym and then lifting. I really am missing lifting, so I need to work it into my schedule to keep burning the fat. My neck is also not 100% better, but seems okay enough to workout for now.
I also went to the sporting good store and got:
8 pair new socks. I love the underarmour socks and mine keep getting eaten by the dryer or the sock monster?
1 long-sleeve underarmour dri-fit shirt (white)
1 dri-fit undertights (to go out in cold in under thin jog pants)
2 ear covers dri-fit
1 yoga mat for doing push-ups and crunches in my bedroom
this shite is NOT cheap. So I hope I like it or I’m taking it BACK! I also saw ice skates for $70.00 so yes, another damn thing to think about!
Food log
745am: X Large Coffee w/ Skim
10am: eggs w/ salsa and bacon + large coffee w/ half and half
Goal today:
karate or spin + lift
My Goals for this week:
Sun: Spin + Lift (x didn’t do either!)
Mon: Spinning (done)+ Karate + Lift
Tues: Spin + Karate
Weds: Spinning + Lift
Thurs: Spin + Karate
Fri: Spinning
Sat: Spin + Lift
Sun: Spin
Damn it felt good to work up a sweat today. I have truly missed working out. Wow. I guess I really am changing and becoming an athlete again. It’s like I’m craving being in shape now!
Step Mill Machine: 40 mins
Karate Class: 60 mins
I was feeling run down most of the week, but I decided to push myself this morning. My neck still hurts too, but I just can’t take being out of the gym and not being active anymore. The step mill felt great and karate was a lot of fun.
I also realized that my main gym has spinning classes 7 days a week! The class I’m taking now is at Dartmouth undergrad M, W, F and I’d love to do some spinning on the weekends! Yay!
I gave myself 2 stars today and I’m planning to hit the spin class and lift tomorrow.
Food log:
10am: Slimfast shake
1230pm: Bowl of Weight Watchers Oatmeal
I read an article yesterday that also confirmed what I was feeling, gotta cut those sodas out. I haven’t had much in the last few months but the last week I’ve been sucking them down. Even the diet ones aren’t good for you! Back to the H2O!
My Goals for this week:
Sun: Spin + Lift
Mon: Spinning + Karate
Tues: Spin + Karate
Weds: Spinning + Lift
Thurs: Spin + Karate
Fri: Spinning
Sat: Spin + Lift
Sun: Spin
