Half Way There (In A Manner Of Speaking…)

Today was another light workout.  I did 35 minutes on the treadmill, then two sets of 15 crunches with 15 leg lifts.  I’m feeling really good.

And, I’m 1/2 way through my two week absolute commitment.  Now, that of course doesn’t mean that I’ll stop working out at the end of the two weeks.  I’ll need to make a further commitment at that time, but for now I wanted to keep the first stretch short and manageable.

Not much else to say today.  I’m headed for NJ, so I’ll be back on Monday with more updates.

Related Posts:

• Personal Trainer Day!!!
• Only Three Days Left Of Week Two
• Getting There – Slogging Along
• Week Two – Going Strong
• Getting Really Sore

Getting Really Sore

Today was a very mild workout compared to the last two.  For today’s workout I did 25 minutes on the stationary bike, and didn’t push it too hard.

I had to drop one of the girls off this morning at 9, so I didn’t get into the gym until about quarter past.  Also I had stopped yesterday at the spin cycle for a few beers, then had a couple more after I got home.  I’m not sure how much either played into how I felt today, but I was also so sore in my shoulders last night that I could barely move them, and they weren’t much better this morning, so I knew it would be a lighter workout.

I’m not at all disappointed at all with this though.  My commitment was to get to the gym and work out without fail each of six days this week and next.  The plan was to take Sunday off in both weeks, so I’m still on target for meeting that commitment, which makes me very happy.

And even though my shoulders hurt, it still feels good.  I know that this soreness is a byproduct of the muscles getting worked, and I know that it means I’m working out hard enough to make it count.  I do need to stay aware and be sure I don’t go overboard, which today’s workout plays into perfectly.

Aside from the soreness, I also feel like I have more energy already, which makes me very happy.  I’m sure that is a product of not only working out but also eating better, so I’m definitely going to continue down that path too.

BTW – It appears that the post I wrote for yesterday is gone.  I did about 35 minutes on the elliptical and it was very intense.  I think that may have contributed to the shoulder pain.

Related Posts:

• Personal Trainer Day!!!
• Only Three Days Left Of Week Two
• Getting There – Slogging Along
• Week Two – Going Strong
• Half Way There (In A Manner Of Speaking…)

My Fitness Evaluation

OK, I may change my tune on this tomorrow, but today was awesome.  I went to get my complimentary fitness evaluation at the gym, which I already knew was a sales pitch for personal training.  I had forgotten how great it is to have a coach.

Today’s workout was the most strenuous workout I’ve had since I was in college, which was many moons ago.  Definitely the hardest I’ve pushed myself since I played organized team sports.  It felt awesome.  There I am, wanting to curl up into the fetal position and cry, and the trainer is telling me I only need to do 5 more…

Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that intense, but it was close.  And I absolutely loved every minute of it.

We worked the quads, glutes, abs, biceps and shoulders today.  Here is today’s workout:

3 sets of 3 reps up and down a flight of stairs with a 7 lbs medicine ball held at the top of my chest, followed by 15 seconds leaning against a wall in a squat position
3 sets of 15 arm curls with just the curl bar followed by 15 squats with the 7 lbs medicine ball
1 set of 15 straight leg crunches, followed by 15 bent leg crunches, followed by 15 lifted leg crunches
3 sets of 15 military presses with (I think) 10 lbs dumbbells (could have been 15 lbs) followed by 10 forward arm raises with the same dumbbells
1 set of 15 crunches with one bent leg and one raised on right side, followed by the same with left leg raised, followed by 15 crunches bringing legs up at the same time

It was positively excruciating, but in a really good way.  I’ve made the decision that I’m going to sign up for the personal training, because there is no way I’ll see as much progress on my own as I will going through this kind of training.  Did I mention how I’d forgotten how good it is to have a coach?

We also did an overall fitness evaluation, went over my goals, where I am now (body fat %, fitness level), talked about nutrition (only a little bit, not extensively – that’s part of the training package), and then at the end we went over the training packages they offer.  I don’t think it’s overly expensive for what they offer, so I’m going to need to cut back to make it work.  But make not mistake, I’ll make it work.

Because I seemed somewhat on the fence, he did offer me another free session on Friday, so I’m already excited to go in and get that workout going.

Has anyone else used a personal trainer?  I’d love to hear about what your experiences were – good or bad.  Please tell us all about it in the comments section below – but please don’t call anyone or any company out by name, OK?

Chris

Related Posts:

• Personal Trainer Day!!!
• Only Three Days Left Of Week Two
• Getting There – Slogging Along
• Week Two – Going Strong
• Half Way There (In A Manner Of Speaking…)

Day Two – So Far, So Good

OK, today is the second day of my commitment to get to the gym and get back into shape, and everything is going according to Hoyle.  Let’s look at yesterday after the gym first, and then we’ll get to where we are today.

So, yesterday, before I went to the gym, I had an English muffin with peanut butter for breakfast.   After I got back, I had an early lunch of a turkey meatloaf sandwich (leftovers from the other night), and then a snack of some beef jerky later in the afternoon.  Last night’s dinner was chicken picadillo, a recipe out of a healthy cookbook Donna purchased at work a while ago.  It was delicious, and we had it with rice and peas and a salad.

This morning, because the gym is going through renovations, I was afraid the weight room would be closed at 6:30 like it was yesterday, so I went early.  Because of this, I didn’t walk down there today, which bothers me a little because it is sunny day, though cold.  But I did get up an hour early so I could get there and get in a workout before they closed the room.

Unfortunately, it was unnecessary because they were not closing the weight room today, but since no one there seems to know the construction schedule it is better to play it safe.

No matter, because I got into the gym again!  Two days in a row, and I’m feeling really good.

Today’s workout was as follows (done in this order):

This workout took me about half an hour, which is what I expected.  Some of the exercises were definitely taxing, like the lunges and leg lifts, so I’ll continue to use the same weight, sets and reps.  The only one that felt too light was the bent rows, so I’ll up the weight on that next time to 25 lbs.

I didn’t eat before I went.  Breakfast was at about 7:30, and I had two egg and American cheese sandwiches on English muffins.

Alright, I know that’s a lot of detail about everything, but I’m hoping by being completely transparent about what I’m eating and my exercise routine I’ll catch anything that might sabotage my effort before it becomes a problem.  I’m also hoping that anyone else in a similar position (overweight, out of shape, and wanting to do something very physically demanding) might find this all useful as well.

Related Posts:

• Personal Trainer Day!!!
• Only Three Days Left Of Week Two
• Getting There – Slogging Along
• Week Two – Going Strong
• Half Way There (In A Manner Of Speaking…)

I Snapped (It’s A Good Thing…)

(NOTE: This is a repost and has been posted on the original post date.  The whole blog was lost in an upgrade, but I still had this in a text file on my computer.  If you want to know more about this, see the post titled “CRAP!”)

I’m feeling particularly good this morning.  Yesterday was kind of a gut check day, and today I’m following through with what I really want.  Let me explain.

Last week, we had a bit of a health scare here in the house.  I don’t want to go into details, but let’s just say it wasn’t good.  It was bad enough that I didn’t go to NJ to see my mother for mother’s day, and I missed the Eagle Scout ceremony for my cousin’s kid.  One good thing was that when I spoke to my mother on Sunday morning, everyone was there, so I spoke to my brother about our hike this year.

Last year, after I made the decision not to do the thru hike, I was determined to get out for a bunch of short hikes.  I didn’t get out much at all.  I don’t want to keep repeating this pattern.  Next year is really my last good chance to go on this hike, and I’m determined not to miss out on this chance.

So Mike and I decided that we will meet up on 22 June and he will hike with me for 5 days.  I’m going to add some days onto one end of that or the other (not sure which yet) and probably go for a total of 10 days.  I don’t have any other hikes planned yet, but I will get out a few more times this season.

Also, I’ve put on so much weight in the past few years it isn’t funny.  I stepped on the scale at the gym this morning and I weight 285 lbs.  I joined the gym yesterday because I do not want to keep going on like I’ve been.  Two years ago when Mike and I went for 7 days, I was around the 250 lbs. mark.

So this post is my official, public declaration.  I want to be in better shape so I can enjoy hiking and other activities more than I can now.  I want to have more energy and feel better.  I want to lose weight.  Those are my priorities, and I’m going to ensure I get there.  No more excuses!  No more crap!  I’m just going to do it, and it starts right now.

Today I walked the 1.5 miles to the gym, worked out on the elliptical machine for 25 minutes, then walked home.  It felt great!  I know it’s going to get more difficult before it feels this good again, so I am declaring that I will go to the gym 6 days this week (taking off on Sunday) and then 6 days again next week.  I’ll do three days on an aerobic machine like the elliptical, and three days with the weights each week.  This means absolutely no excuses, no reasons why I can’t go, nothing.  It’s only two weeks – I can do this.

I’ll probably walk on the nice days, especially because it really helps warm me up on the way there, and is a great cool down after, but if the weather gets nasty, I’m not going to give myself that as a possible excuse.

So, that’s it.  I’m only going to weigh myself at the gym once a week, on Mondays.  I’ll keep a running tab on that, and I’m going to post here daily about my progress.  The next two weeks will make all the difference.  Once I’ve gotten over that hurdle I’ll take it a day and/or a week at a time.  This is all about making a permanent change.

I’m also making changes to my diet.  I have about 6 weeks before my planned hike with my brother.  I know a conservative goal would be 2 lbs/week, so I won’t be unhappy if I lose only 12 lbs before we go.  However, I also know that when you begin dieting and exercising, weight loss is typically much faster, and while loosing too much too quickly can be unhealthy, my stretch goal is the 35 lbs it will take me to be back down to 250 by the 22nd of June.

I’d love to hear what you think.  Please leave a comment in the space below.

Related Posts:

• Personal Trainer Day!!!
• Only Three Days Left Of Week Two
• Getting There – Slogging Along
• Week Two – Going Strong
• Half Way There (In A Manner Of Speaking…)