So today was Jazzercise, and an auditor was visiting (to make sure the instructors are instructing well). Having her watch was definitely good pressure to put even more oomph into the workout, since I was dragging a bit as I walked in to class.
Bunnie- yes, BunnIE- pulled aside me and three other girls after class and solicited us to consider becoming Jazzercise instructors, whilst expressing her happy surprise at the number of us that had potential in the class (I guess they don't frequently get young, energetic people in the classes). She also suggested that, if I were to become an instructor, that I could start classes up at grad school since they don't have them anywhere near there already.
I'll be honest, this is something I'd been thinking of trying to do for a while. Wouldn't it be so fun to earn money while working out?
The catch is that you have to "buy into the franchise" to be an instructor. So while in one respect, this would be a great time to go to training, and start Jazzercise at the gym at my school, in another respect, it's a terrible time. I don't think I really have the right amount to invest- if I COULD get the money, would I really have the time to make it all back?
Definitely something I'm going to keep considering! And I'm pretty flattered that she pulled me aside, that's for darn sure :-)
Yesterday: C25K, Week 2 Day 2- pretty decent, though my route was really messed up since I kept tripling back over stretches of the run to get more shade, which meant I didn't go as far. I decided to go over a bit with the calories yesterday because I really fancied one of my light Klondike bars, and now I'm accidentally pretty far under today, so that all worked out just fine!
Today's lesson: don't chop up your banana unless you're going to eat it immediately or unless you really want to eat a pile of brown mush.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Lazy Day Sunday
It was so hard to drag myself out of bed yesterday, after a busy weekend, but a bowl of fruit and a coffee woke me up nicely so I could go to Jazzercise!
It was definitely a kick-butt workout, and different than the songs we typically use since we had an instructor I'd never seen before. Some of the routines she used were boring, or I couldn't figure out how to make them more of a cardio workout, which I didn't really like... and I didn't really like the woman herself, she sort of rubbed me the wrong way somehow. I'll just hope that I get back one of the other five instructors I've had and really enjoyed on Tuesday!
I somehow stayed way under on calories, even with the pastieda for dinner (cheese-only lasagna- not sure how to spell it)- I guess I didn't really have a lunch because I had good, small snacks at good intervals (some chicken lunchmeat, some string cheese, more fruit). I also got to float around on a raft in a pool reading for a couple hours, which was fabulously relaxing.
I'm back up a pound again, which I really can't figure out. I've increased my exercise, been drinking loads of water, and my weekly net cals are well below the losing one pound a week rate - much closer to losing 1.5 pounds a week. People have been able to see a difference- one of my friends commented that I looked really good, and Dames has been seeing a noticeable difference, particularly in the shoulder area and back- but it's still so frustrating that I keep wobbling around 144/145 and don't go down! I started at 148, too, so it's not like I've even been able to enjoy hitting the 5 pound loss mark, let alone a ten or the 22 that I set as my initial goal to lose.
Ugh. Oh well, I'm going to keep at it, because even if the scale won't admit it, I know I am being about 200% healthier in the choices I'm making and the activities I'm doing, and feel better and thinner. I think I might give the scale a two-week break, and then see if there's any difference if I'm not constantly checking, hoping that finally, finally, another pound will have disappeared.
It was definitely a kick-butt workout, and different than the songs we typically use since we had an instructor I'd never seen before. Some of the routines she used were boring, or I couldn't figure out how to make them more of a cardio workout, which I didn't really like... and I didn't really like the woman herself, she sort of rubbed me the wrong way somehow. I'll just hope that I get back one of the other five instructors I've had and really enjoyed on Tuesday!
I somehow stayed way under on calories, even with the pastieda for dinner (cheese-only lasagna- not sure how to spell it)- I guess I didn't really have a lunch because I had good, small snacks at good intervals (some chicken lunchmeat, some string cheese, more fruit). I also got to float around on a raft in a pool reading for a couple hours, which was fabulously relaxing.
I'm back up a pound again, which I really can't figure out. I've increased my exercise, been drinking loads of water, and my weekly net cals are well below the losing one pound a week rate - much closer to losing 1.5 pounds a week. People have been able to see a difference- one of my friends commented that I looked really good, and Dames has been seeing a noticeable difference, particularly in the shoulder area and back- but it's still so frustrating that I keep wobbling around 144/145 and don't go down! I started at 148, too, so it's not like I've even been able to enjoy hitting the 5 pound loss mark, let alone a ten or the 22 that I set as my initial goal to lose.
Ugh. Oh well, I'm going to keep at it, because even if the scale won't admit it, I know I am being about 200% healthier in the choices I'm making and the activities I'm doing, and feel better and thinner. I think I might give the scale a two-week break, and then see if there's any difference if I'm not constantly checking, hoping that finally, finally, another pound will have disappeared.
Fun, fun, fun until the dessert plates get in your wa-a-ay.
Saturday was not so hot for my diet. I went up to a New Hampshire lake house for a yearly gathering one of my college friends hosts; it's always so fun, but being an Italian family, they always prepare a massive amount of delicious food (welcome to my holidays).
I started the day out reasonably, with low-cal waffles, strawberries, yogurt, and a coffee (330 calories total), figuring that I was full enough to make it until the late lunch/early dinner meal without starving and then gorging on the food. I had a bunch of grapes when I got there, then we all went swimming for an hour or two (I looked up the minimum calories I burned for the day just by gently treading water and talking- not even counting when I did swim or frolick more heavily- and it was a lot!).
Lunch/dinner also was reasonable- I had a hot dog and bun, half an ear of corn, some salad (with peaches and a little cheese in it), under a cup of mac and cheese, and a small chicken breast. Sounds like a lot, but I DID want to eat more real food so I wouldn't actually be hungry when the dessert meal rolled around.
We went swimming for another couple hours, and I also hopped in the kayak and went out, paddled around an island (I only ran into the island two times!! Three if you count the time I ran into the island forwards and then backwards as I tried to turn around separately). I logged a very small portion of all of my exercise though, putting it on the lightest setting possible and for a lot less time than I actually was active.
The dessert meal was the killer, as I knew it would be. There are always so many delicious, delicious things, so I decided to take very small portions of the things I really wanted to try, and then overcount (hopefully) by putting in a full portion size into LoseIt! Chocolate cake, ricotta cake, cream cheese brownies, a banana trifle, lemon squares, multi-chip cookies, apple turnovers... it all looked soooo good.
For honesty's sake: I took a small sliver of each of the two cakes, the smallest brownie on the plate, half of a piece of the turnover (already cut into reasonably small pieces), a half-size lemon square (which were maybe 1 inch by 2 inches originally), one of the cookies (130 cals each), split another small pink one in half with a friend (I was curious) and a third to a half cup of the banana trifle- and made sure my portion was mostly bananas and strawberries and less pudding, cool whip and whatever else. It sounds like a lot, but since the portions were very small of everything, it wasn't totally dreadful- I logged it all (including the naughty seconds of the brownies) at about 1300 calories, and that's definitely an overestimate.
And, shockingly, at the end of the day (I sometimes jump on again before bed out of curiosity) I only weighed one pound more than that morning, and the next morning I actually weighed half a pound less than Saturday morning. Yay for indulging wisely- and saying no to s'mores! I'm glad I could have a super fun day, and not feel like I was really sacrificing anything. In fact, I was overly full! Last summer, I'm sure I ate larger portions of everything and really wanted more.
I also was able to eat out twice on Friday and not go too far over (the bread with dinner was the killer, it was delicious and I had two pieces, oops!) by getting an Ahi Tuna Salad at dinner, and just a cup of broccoli cheddar soup from Panera (though I logged it as the larger portion, since I didn't trust that they actually gave me the cup; it looked like it, but I decided to be safe).
I started the day out reasonably, with low-cal waffles, strawberries, yogurt, and a coffee (330 calories total), figuring that I was full enough to make it until the late lunch/early dinner meal without starving and then gorging on the food. I had a bunch of grapes when I got there, then we all went swimming for an hour or two (I looked up the minimum calories I burned for the day just by gently treading water and talking- not even counting when I did swim or frolick more heavily- and it was a lot!).
Lunch/dinner also was reasonable- I had a hot dog and bun, half an ear of corn, some salad (with peaches and a little cheese in it), under a cup of mac and cheese, and a small chicken breast. Sounds like a lot, but I DID want to eat more real food so I wouldn't actually be hungry when the dessert meal rolled around.
We went swimming for another couple hours, and I also hopped in the kayak and went out, paddled around an island (I only ran into the island two times!! Three if you count the time I ran into the island forwards and then backwards as I tried to turn around separately). I logged a very small portion of all of my exercise though, putting it on the lightest setting possible and for a lot less time than I actually was active.
The dessert meal was the killer, as I knew it would be. There are always so many delicious, delicious things, so I decided to take very small portions of the things I really wanted to try, and then overcount (hopefully) by putting in a full portion size into LoseIt! Chocolate cake, ricotta cake, cream cheese brownies, a banana trifle, lemon squares, multi-chip cookies, apple turnovers... it all looked soooo good.
For honesty's sake: I took a small sliver of each of the two cakes, the smallest brownie on the plate, half of a piece of the turnover (already cut into reasonably small pieces), a half-size lemon square (which were maybe 1 inch by 2 inches originally), one of the cookies (130 cals each), split another small pink one in half with a friend (I was curious) and a third to a half cup of the banana trifle- and made sure my portion was mostly bananas and strawberries and less pudding, cool whip and whatever else. It sounds like a lot, but since the portions were very small of everything, it wasn't totally dreadful- I logged it all (including the naughty seconds of the brownies) at about 1300 calories, and that's definitely an overestimate.
And, shockingly, at the end of the day (I sometimes jump on again before bed out of curiosity) I only weighed one pound more than that morning, and the next morning I actually weighed half a pound less than Saturday morning. Yay for indulging wisely- and saying no to s'mores! I'm glad I could have a super fun day, and not feel like I was really sacrificing anything. In fact, I was overly full! Last summer, I'm sure I ate larger portions of everything and really wanted more.
I also was able to eat out twice on Friday and not go too far over (the bread with dinner was the killer, it was delicious and I had two pieces, oops!) by getting an Ahi Tuna Salad at dinner, and just a cup of broccoli cheddar soup from Panera (though I logged it as the larger portion, since I didn't trust that they actually gave me the cup; it looked like it, but I decided to be safe).
Friday, July 23, 2010
Early morning, ran the whole way...
I am going to be so tired tonight, but it was well worth it. Since I can't go running this evening and shouldn't go running tomorrow (I have a four hour round-trip drive to go swim and frolick for many hours, so I shouldn't tucker myself out too much!), I dragged myself out of bed at quarter of six this morning. I KNOW, right? Granted, I sat on my laptop for twenty minutes, considering going back to sleep, until I was awake enough to spring into action. I was so glad that I got my butt out of bed and into my running clothes, since it was so cool but nice out (65 degrees, nice light morning air, and so lovely and quiet!). The conditions definitely made week 2, day 1 of C25K so much nicer than week 1 was, trying to breathe all that heavy, humid air. It's too bad that I have to leave so early for work and that I'm such a night owl- this was deifnitely an infrequent occurrence.
I signed up for a 5K this morning; it's called 65 Roses and is a benefit for Cystic Fibrosis, in Portland. It's the first year that they're doing it, but it sounds lovely! I'm very excited, and hope that my sister will be able to do it with me. I decided I should sign up now, though, to keep myself going and ensure that I run, whether alone or with someone else! I decided I have to hold off on workout clothes (okay, I'll probably get another sports bra before then) until the week before the race, and then I'll allow myself to go buy a cute running outfit :-)
Jazzercise was excellent last night, I can tell I'm getting into better shape because I can put so much more energy into the routines now. I went straight from there (don't worry, I washed up in the bathroom quickly so I didn't smell too badly- wouldn't want to stink up my new car!) to pick up my friend Kaz for mini-golfing, which was super fun! I wasn't AS terrible at it as I used to be, but still am pretty crappy. Either that, or my ball had the same magnetization as the holes, since it dipped in and out an alarming amount of times.
I was goofing around on LoseIt! this morning, and realized that I "burned" 150 calories for the hour we spent there... I put it in as a half hour because I thought it was funny to have that listed as an "exercise."
I signed up for a 5K this morning; it's called 65 Roses and is a benefit for Cystic Fibrosis, in Portland. It's the first year that they're doing it, but it sounds lovely! I'm very excited, and hope that my sister will be able to do it with me. I decided I should sign up now, though, to keep myself going and ensure that I run, whether alone or with someone else! I decided I have to hold off on workout clothes (okay, I'll probably get another sports bra before then) until the week before the race, and then I'll allow myself to go buy a cute running outfit :-)
Jazzercise was excellent last night, I can tell I'm getting into better shape because I can put so much more energy into the routines now. I went straight from there (don't worry, I washed up in the bathroom quickly so I didn't smell too badly- wouldn't want to stink up my new car!) to pick up my friend Kaz for mini-golfing, which was super fun! I wasn't AS terrible at it as I used to be, but still am pretty crappy. Either that, or my ball had the same magnetization as the holes, since it dipped in and out an alarming amount of times.
I was goofing around on LoseIt! this morning, and realized that I "burned" 150 calories for the hour we spent there... I put it in as a half hour because I thought it was funny to have that listed as an "exercise."
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
My name is Emily, and I'm a chocoholic!
Today, I did not eat chocolate (unless you count my chocolate "flavored" coffee, which really just smells like chocolate). This is a HUGE shocker for me, and I'm surprised that I don't feel as if I'm missing something.... I have been kinda grumpy today, though THAT could be due to the fact that I have almost not made it out of bed the past two mornings.Or it could be withdrawals.
Ribs for dinner- even though I only took two- put me quite a bit over for today, but I at least had bought a bunch of fruit and yogurt yesterday, so I didn't really have any junk food today, which kept it a little more reasonable. I decided last night that I need to cut out the sweet snack I usually have at work, so I've replaced the usual bread product&coffee/fruit/sandwich/cookie breakfast and lunch combo with the following:
Toast or low-cal waffles, coffee
Yogurt
Sandwich, fruit
Fruit
So, as you can see, I'll get to eat more for the same amount of calories- and they're better calories. Look at me, learning to be all healthy and such ;-)
Jazzercise kicked my butt yesterday; there's this one abductor/adductor routine that is a killer, and of course we did that. My legs and abs and arms are still sore from that, and now I'm fully exhausted from doing W1D3 of C25K. I was going to work out a little more to make up for those ribs, but I decided that I should really just pass out instead.
For fun, this is what I expected when I went to Jazzercise; subtract out the pushups, add in better music, and it's not too far off!
80's Dance Aerobics Champs
Ribs for dinner- even though I only took two- put me quite a bit over for today, but I at least had bought a bunch of fruit and yogurt yesterday, so I didn't really have any junk food today, which kept it a little more reasonable. I decided last night that I need to cut out the sweet snack I usually have at work, so I've replaced the usual bread product&coffee/fruit/sandwich/cookie breakfast and lunch combo with the following:
Toast or low-cal waffles, coffee
Yogurt
Sandwich, fruit
Fruit
So, as you can see, I'll get to eat more for the same amount of calories- and they're better calories. Look at me, learning to be all healthy and such ;-)
Jazzercise kicked my butt yesterday; there's this one abductor/adductor routine that is a killer, and of course we did that. My legs and abs and arms are still sore from that, and now I'm fully exhausted from doing W1D3 of C25K. I was going to work out a little more to make up for those ribs, but I decided that I should really just pass out instead.
For fun, this is what I expected when I went to Jazzercise; subtract out the pushups, add in better music, and it's not too far off!
80's Dance Aerobics Champs
Monday, July 19, 2010
Does driving count as exercise?
I honestly used to feel as if driving home for the weekend should be a workout- sitting in traffic for an hour in the hot sun with my 16-year-old car with the sticky shifter and tough clutch left me tired, sweaty and sore. Don't worry, I never logged that as exercise in LoseIt, though I sometimes wish I could have!
Now it's sort of a moot point... I bought a new car on Saturday, and it's adorable!! Pretty little red Ford Focus. It shifts easily AND has AC, both completely winning points. While this might seem like another bout of shopaholism, it's actually been premeditated and well-discussed, and very necessary, that I get a new car. I'm lucky that I don't impulse buy with major purchases- it's mostly clothing that gets me.
I was supposed to do Jazzercise Express on Friday, but it was so sunny and hot out, and finding a spot to park at Jazzercise was beyond unappealing. I let myself sleep in a bit on Saturday, missing the Jazzercise class THAT morning, but was going to go for a run around 10 after I grabbed my armband. This endeavor failed thanks to car shopping and then yet more heat. This heat wave is totally bogging me down!
Fortunately, I got right back on the exercise horse bright and early Sunday, doing my first day of C25K. I was surprised the run intervals were only 60 seconds long, definitely very manageable for me, and I felt GREAT after. I had a ton of energy until a lot later in the day- after two hours of driving, an hour of hanging out, and four hours of beaching with my friends. Espresso helped a ton there ;-) I also resisted the urge to eat the entirety of my "Ploughman" sandwich I purchased for lunch- chicken salad, cheddar cheese, green apples and honey mustard on sourdough bread, of course in the giant sandwich-shop size. I ate half and figured I would eat more later in the afternoon if I was hungry enough, which of course I wasn't.
Today, I did week 1, day 2 of C25K... my shins were a little sore, they weren't used to running outside yet, but I pushed through and felt better once I'd finished- sweating buckets and breathing hard thanks to the heavy, humid air.
I have four more weeks of C25K and Jazzercise three times a week each, then two weeks where I really have to self-motivate before grad school starts and I can create a new routine.
Now it's sort of a moot point... I bought a new car on Saturday, and it's adorable!! Pretty little red Ford Focus. It shifts easily AND has AC, both completely winning points. While this might seem like another bout of shopaholism, it's actually been premeditated and well-discussed, and very necessary, that I get a new car. I'm lucky that I don't impulse buy with major purchases- it's mostly clothing that gets me.
I was supposed to do Jazzercise Express on Friday, but it was so sunny and hot out, and finding a spot to park at Jazzercise was beyond unappealing. I let myself sleep in a bit on Saturday, missing the Jazzercise class THAT morning, but was going to go for a run around 10 after I grabbed my armband. This endeavor failed thanks to car shopping and then yet more heat. This heat wave is totally bogging me down!
Fortunately, I got right back on the exercise horse bright and early Sunday, doing my first day of C25K. I was surprised the run intervals were only 60 seconds long, definitely very manageable for me, and I felt GREAT after. I had a ton of energy until a lot later in the day- after two hours of driving, an hour of hanging out, and four hours of beaching with my friends. Espresso helped a ton there ;-) I also resisted the urge to eat the entirety of my "Ploughman" sandwich I purchased for lunch- chicken salad, cheddar cheese, green apples and honey mustard on sourdough bread, of course in the giant sandwich-shop size. I ate half and figured I would eat more later in the afternoon if I was hungry enough, which of course I wasn't.
Today, I did week 1, day 2 of C25K... my shins were a little sore, they weren't used to running outside yet, but I pushed through and felt better once I'd finished- sweating buckets and breathing hard thanks to the heavy, humid air.
I have four more weeks of C25K and Jazzercise three times a week each, then two weeks where I really have to self-motivate before grad school starts and I can create a new routine.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Patience (or, Why Emily Would Fail at Being a Jedi)
I just graduated from a rather expensive college this May; couple that with being a shopaholic and a travelaholic, I'm broke. This is bad news for me, especially now that I'm trying to get back into a non-spherical shape.
I have this theory about myself: I only have a finite amount of patience. Patience is the same thing as willpower for me- it took me a while last summer when I was on DIET: ROUND ONE to figure this one out, but the more effort I had to put in to not eating chocolate and dragging myself on runs, the grumpier I would get with people. Contra-positively, the happier I was with people, the more likely I was to slack with diet and exercise.
Now let's look at a chart:
So as you can see, after everything else that's going on in my day, I really only have about 1% of my patience left to resist the siren call of malls, online shopping, and even the "as seen on TV" section that's suddenly appeared in CVS (evidence: my turbie, purchased last week whilst buying shampoo).
I face the very real dilemma of not really knowing if I should buy something every once in a while, to stay strong with my diet (because if I take more than my allotted share of patience for not shopping, it sure as heck is going to cut into the patience I have for not eating tons of chocolate), or realizing that I don't have money and giving in to a little more chocolate that evening.
Also, when I do get frustrated with the rate I'm losing weight (slowly, though it is progress), I usually decide to kick up my exercise a notch. But to motivate myself to do THAT, I usually need a cute workout tee, a new pair of sneakers, or a new sports bra. Thank goodness for Bob's on the shoe and shirt front, but sports bras are a whole other, expensive story.
I found this quote- not sure where it came from, but I liked it.
I have this theory about myself: I only have a finite amount of patience. Patience is the same thing as willpower for me- it took me a while last summer when I was on DIET: ROUND ONE to figure this one out, but the more effort I had to put in to not eating chocolate and dragging myself on runs, the grumpier I would get with people. Contra-positively, the happier I was with people, the more likely I was to slack with diet and exercise.
Now let's look at a chart:
I face the very real dilemma of not really knowing if I should buy something every once in a while, to stay strong with my diet (because if I take more than my allotted share of patience for not shopping, it sure as heck is going to cut into the patience I have for not eating tons of chocolate), or realizing that I don't have money and giving in to a little more chocolate that evening.
Also, when I do get frustrated with the rate I'm losing weight (slowly, though it is progress), I usually decide to kick up my exercise a notch. But to motivate myself to do THAT, I usually need a cute workout tee, a new pair of sneakers, or a new sports bra. Thank goodness for Bob's on the shoe and shirt front, but sports bras are a whole other, expensive story.
I found this quote- not sure where it came from, but I liked it.
Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Isn't Round a Shape?
I’ve always been a dancer… until a few months ago. Sure, I’ll still take classes for fun when I can, but it can no longer be my single source of exercise (plus it’s EXPENSIVE).
I’ve tried running, but that never really worked for me… it was always too easy to think it’s hot out, maybe tomorrow will be cooler or I’m tired, maybe I’ll have more energy tomorrow. I have the same issues with the gym, too. It’s too easy to just say “Eh, I’m not feeling it,” and sit at home with some ice cream and TLC.
So I know exactly what I need from a workout- it needs to be FUN and it needs to have a SCHEDULE that I can’t change. I’ve tried setting up “workout dates” with friends, either jogs or gym trips, but it’s not fair to force my friends into forcing me to go. They don’t need to deal with my whingey crap!
Jazzercise. That was a perfect solution for me this summer. I found out about classes in my area online, noted that I could make it to classes on four days, and saw that they were offering a free trial. So I went… and it was FUN and kicked my ASS. I loved it, from the bouncy cardio (with some dance steps thrown in, some kickboxing, some demonic never-stand-up-from-your-squat routines) to the arm weight routines to the ab workouts. Each routine tends to have three segments composed of a couple of moves, and you mix up the three segments through the entire song (good music, too!) to keep it interesting. It is as high-intensity as you want it to be, so if you’re legitimately overtired you can just put the energy you have into the workout, or if you’re really hyper you can bounce extra high and squat extra low.
I had printed off a coupon in case I decided I really wanted to go to classes regularly- a student deal for June, July and August. $75, unlimited classes for the three months. PERFECT.
Now I go on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and then one of either Saturday or Sunday (I HAVE to go Sunday if I don’t go Saturday); if I’m home for the weekend, there’s a Jazzercise location that has a Saturday morning class I can drag myself to (bright and early, 8:30 am and a half hour away from home). I schedule hanging out with friends around my workout times, so that life doesn’t get in the way of me working towards living comfortably.
As of right now, I use the elliptical or try to go for a little jog on some of the off days, but Monday night I downloaded the C25K application for my iPod Touch and uploaded a bunch of music.
C25K is a program that takes you from the couch to running a 5K, and can be repeated to improve your times. It’s a 9 week thing, with 3 half hour to forty minute runs (with some walk intervals at first) each week. This will work in perfectly with my Jazzercise schedule- Jazzercise three times a week, C25K three times a week, and a rest day. (I’ll also probably try to throw the Zumba and Bollywood Burn DVDs in every once in a while.)
To keep myself doing the C25K (again, what’s stopping me from just putting it off?), my sister and I are going to register to run a 5K in late September/early October, so I have a little bit of wiggle room in case I need to repeat a week of training or want to improve my time a bit before the race.
And to keep myself running even further than THAT… let’s just say, Disney World has some GREAT offerings, and someday, I would not be opposed to being crowned an honorary Disney Princess for finishing the Disney Princess Half Marathon.
I’ve tried running, but that never really worked for me… it was always too easy to think it’s hot out, maybe tomorrow will be cooler or I’m tired, maybe I’ll have more energy tomorrow. I have the same issues with the gym, too. It’s too easy to just say “Eh, I’m not feeling it,” and sit at home with some ice cream and TLC.
So I know exactly what I need from a workout- it needs to be FUN and it needs to have a SCHEDULE that I can’t change. I’ve tried setting up “workout dates” with friends, either jogs or gym trips, but it’s not fair to force my friends into forcing me to go. They don’t need to deal with my whingey crap!
Jazzercise. That was a perfect solution for me this summer. I found out about classes in my area online, noted that I could make it to classes on four days, and saw that they were offering a free trial. So I went… and it was FUN and kicked my ASS. I loved it, from the bouncy cardio (with some dance steps thrown in, some kickboxing, some demonic never-stand-up-from-your-squat routines) to the arm weight routines to the ab workouts. Each routine tends to have three segments composed of a couple of moves, and you mix up the three segments through the entire song (good music, too!) to keep it interesting. It is as high-intensity as you want it to be, so if you’re legitimately overtired you can just put the energy you have into the workout, or if you’re really hyper you can bounce extra high and squat extra low.
I had printed off a coupon in case I decided I really wanted to go to classes regularly- a student deal for June, July and August. $75, unlimited classes for the three months. PERFECT.
Now I go on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and then one of either Saturday or Sunday (I HAVE to go Sunday if I don’t go Saturday); if I’m home for the weekend, there’s a Jazzercise location that has a Saturday morning class I can drag myself to (bright and early, 8:30 am and a half hour away from home). I schedule hanging out with friends around my workout times, so that life doesn’t get in the way of me working towards living comfortably.
As of right now, I use the elliptical or try to go for a little jog on some of the off days, but Monday night I downloaded the C25K application for my iPod Touch and uploaded a bunch of music.
C25K is a program that takes you from the couch to running a 5K, and can be repeated to improve your times. It’s a 9 week thing, with 3 half hour to forty minute runs (with some walk intervals at first) each week. This will work in perfectly with my Jazzercise schedule- Jazzercise three times a week, C25K three times a week, and a rest day. (I’ll also probably try to throw the Zumba and Bollywood Burn DVDs in every once in a while.)
To keep myself doing the C25K (again, what’s stopping me from just putting it off?), my sister and I are going to register to run a 5K in late September/early October, so I have a little bit of wiggle room in case I need to repeat a week of training or want to improve my time a bit before the race.
And to keep myself running even further than THAT… let’s just say, Disney World has some GREAT offerings, and someday, I would not be opposed to being crowned an honorary Disney Princess for finishing the Disney Princess Half Marathon.
Llama Face!
I love chocolate. Really, there’s no way around it. I also am naturally lazy. So it’s no wonder that I gained a TON of weight after my seven to eight hours a week of dancing ended in February, and I was too tired or I didn’t feel well enough to go to the gym.
Since I’m trying to be all “honesty is the best policy, especially with myself” here, I’ll give the stats.
I’m 22. I’m 5 feet tall. And at the start of this summer, I weighed 148 pounds (NOT much muscle) and was a size 12. At five feet, that’s not HUGE, but it is definitely big, and I was definitely not happy about it.
This past month and a half, I downloaded the LoseIt! app for my iPod Touch; my first week, I was just honest with myself about what I was eating. Then, I got down to business- I set myself up to lose a pound a week (if I stuck to my budget) and start working out.
My progress report is that things are going pretty well- I’m down 3 pounds and my clothes are definitively baggy- but not as well as I would hope. I got super frustrated last week when my weight went UP a pound. WHAT IS THIS CRAP?! I thought. As D (my boyfriend) could attest, I was grouchy and whingey THAT night. But I decided to keep at it; I worked out extra hard the following day, and at the start of this week (yesterday; the app starts the week on Mondays) I decided to put my program down to losing 1.5 pounds a week, hoping the extra kick in the cals would help some weight come off.
I know, I know. I am very likely building muscle with my exercise, but of course that laziness of mine kicks in and I haven’t started taking measurements yet, so for now, I have to go by the fit of my clothes.
The good news: I lost that pound that I gained back again. Yay team!
Since I’m trying to be all “honesty is the best policy, especially with myself” here, I’ll give the stats.
I’m 22. I’m 5 feet tall. And at the start of this summer, I weighed 148 pounds (NOT much muscle) and was a size 12. At five feet, that’s not HUGE, but it is definitely big, and I was definitely not happy about it.
This past month and a half, I downloaded the LoseIt! app for my iPod Touch; my first week, I was just honest with myself about what I was eating. Then, I got down to business- I set myself up to lose a pound a week (if I stuck to my budget) and start working out.
My progress report is that things are going pretty well- I’m down 3 pounds and my clothes are definitively baggy- but not as well as I would hope. I got super frustrated last week when my weight went UP a pound. WHAT IS THIS CRAP?! I thought. As D (my boyfriend) could attest, I was grouchy and whingey THAT night. But I decided to keep at it; I worked out extra hard the following day, and at the start of this week (yesterday; the app starts the week on Mondays) I decided to put my program down to losing 1.5 pounds a week, hoping the extra kick in the cals would help some weight come off.
I know, I know. I am very likely building muscle with my exercise, but of course that laziness of mine kicks in and I haven’t started taking measurements yet, so for now, I have to go by the fit of my clothes.
The good news: I lost that pound that I gained back again. Yay team!
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