45 minutes on the elliptical, followed by about 20 minutes of intense stretching. I really needed the stretching; my hips especially have been mad as hell at me for the last couple of weeks.
I'm very glad that I didn't feel as sick/nasty this morning as I did yesterday, but yesterday's case of the nasties was an interesting experience. I just was tired everywhere in my body, and couldn't focus worth a darn. Looking at a few days of eating records, I'm realizing that I'm not feeding myself nearly enough during the day, which is resulting both in feeling really nasty/useless all day and gorging myself on whatever's available and convenient in the evenings. Today was the first day of planning out what to eat, and I think I'm doing all right so far. My cereal and blueberries for breakfast, a couple of fresh rolls and a small iced coffee for 1st lunch (at 11am), and brown rice with steamed spinach, olives, cashews and a bit of Bragg's Liquid Aminos for 2nd lunch (at 3, when I become STARVING). I feel much better today.
Either tonight or tomorrow, I go for my second running session. I'm thinking about five PM I'll think about it.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Today's workout/progress
Today: 15 minutes of elliptical followed by 30 minutes of strength training and 15 minutes of stretching.
Normally, I flank my strength workouts with 15-minute jaunts on the elliptical, but last night's run has my legs and hips a bit tighter than normal, and I started feeling gentle pulls on my thighs as I did the first part of my strength workouts (front, side and back squats with a 4-kg medicine ball), so I felt it was probably best to rest and stretch after the workout.
All in all, though, it felt good - and my mood is much better now than it has been in the last couple of days. This, of course, indicates that I should work out more often, which is Fine by Me.
In terms of progress, I also weighed myself this afternoon - and I'm down to 186, from 189 last week. This is mostly water weight, I'm imagining, but still - that means that 185 is around the corner, which in turn means I'll be down 25 pounds total since the beginning of the year. Not too shabby!
Normally, I flank my strength workouts with 15-minute jaunts on the elliptical, but last night's run has my legs and hips a bit tighter than normal, and I started feeling gentle pulls on my thighs as I did the first part of my strength workouts (front, side and back squats with a 4-kg medicine ball), so I felt it was probably best to rest and stretch after the workout.
All in all, though, it felt good - and my mood is much better now than it has been in the last couple of days. This, of course, indicates that I should work out more often, which is Fine by Me.
In terms of progress, I also weighed myself this afternoon - and I'm down to 186, from 189 last week. This is mostly water weight, I'm imagining, but still - that means that 185 is around the corner, which in turn means I'll be down 25 pounds total since the beginning of the year. Not too shabby!
Couch Potato to 5K: Day 1
Last night was the start of my Couch Potato to 5k training program. I'm not a couch potato at this point by any means, but let me tell you - running's a whole different ballgame. There's another version (which I believe is the official version) here, but I'm doing the program I found on Marathon Training Schedule. It's a bit more doable, I find.
Day 1:
5 minutes brisk walk to start
25 minutes alternating running and walking (1-minute intervals)
10 minutes walking home from Shaw's (laden with vinegar because I'm making mustard and I forgot to get white wine vinegar)
Feeling pretty okay - the last 5-6 minutes of intervals were tough, but I got through them all right. Running for 60 seconds at a time is definitely doable, although 90 seconds would have been a bit too much. Also, it's important to bring water, and to run just around sunset or early in the morning; by the end of 20 minutes of intervals I was insanely thirsty and starting to get a bit weak.
Next week: bring intervals up to 30 minutes at a time, add one run to make 2 total sessions. See if I can bring intervals to 90 seconds-2 minutes at a time on second run.
One major stressor at the moment: I seem to have come down with a Sugar Issue the past couple of weeks. The caramels recently sent to me by a potential client, thankfully, are almost gone, but I can't have more than two of them without going into a sugar coma, and I also ate about a pint of Reese's Miniatures in three days last week. Have to get it under control STAT - it's so hard to get anything done with sugar in my system, and I don't want to derail my progress.
And now, I'm off to the gym for strength training and elliptical before I go see Mamma Mia.
Day 1:
5 minutes brisk walk to start
25 minutes alternating running and walking (1-minute intervals)
10 minutes walking home from Shaw's (laden with vinegar because I'm making mustard and I forgot to get white wine vinegar)
Feeling pretty okay - the last 5-6 minutes of intervals were tough, but I got through them all right. Running for 60 seconds at a time is definitely doable, although 90 seconds would have been a bit too much. Also, it's important to bring water, and to run just around sunset or early in the morning; by the end of 20 minutes of intervals I was insanely thirsty and starting to get a bit weak.
Next week: bring intervals up to 30 minutes at a time, add one run to make 2 total sessions. See if I can bring intervals to 90 seconds-2 minutes at a time on second run.
One major stressor at the moment: I seem to have come down with a Sugar Issue the past couple of weeks. The caramels recently sent to me by a potential client, thankfully, are almost gone, but I can't have more than two of them without going into a sugar coma, and I also ate about a pint of Reese's Miniatures in three days last week. Have to get it under control STAT - it's so hard to get anything done with sugar in my system, and I don't want to derail my progress.
And now, I'm off to the gym for strength training and elliptical before I go see Mamma Mia.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
So yeah... back again
Man, it's been a while since I've updated this blog.
Let's put it out there - last year got me stressed about my weight. Months of working out led to a 2-pound weight GAIN by the end of it, and after moving to Watertown, a 20-minute drive from my gym, I finally ended up giving up on the gym for a couple of months at the beginning of the year.
However, things have changed since February.
After a three-month hiatus from the gym, I finally made an appointment with a nutritionist and got myself back into the gym. Started off slow with 45 minutes of cardio 4-5 times a week, and moved my way up a month later to 45 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week and 2 days of strength training+cardio. Also, started cutting out most refined carbs and making carbs and cheese a much smaller portion of my overall caloric intake. And, I actually managed to break my fast food habit which, though minor, was a major contributing factor to keeping weight on.
The result? So far, I've lost 17 pounds in the last 3 months, and I'll likely lose another 3-4 this month.
Life is good.
Losing weight this time around has been a very different experience than it was the previous two times I lost weight. Both at 15 and at 25 (the two times that I'd gotten up to the level I was at last year), I switched my diet to a relatively carb-heavy vegetarian diet, high in beans and rice and pasta with maybe some eggs. This time around, I actually had to cut down my portions of rice and pasta to a much smaller portion of my overall meals, and while I'm still building my meals mostly around fresh vegetables (which makes me just so happy!), I'm finding that moderate amounts of meat and fish have become a necessity. Tofu just doesn't do for me what it used to.
All things considered, though, I feel loads better, and look a heck of a lot better than I have in a while. And personally, I can't wait until my size 14s are too big!
Let's put it out there - last year got me stressed about my weight. Months of working out led to a 2-pound weight GAIN by the end of it, and after moving to Watertown, a 20-minute drive from my gym, I finally ended up giving up on the gym for a couple of months at the beginning of the year.
However, things have changed since February.
After a three-month hiatus from the gym, I finally made an appointment with a nutritionist and got myself back into the gym. Started off slow with 45 minutes of cardio 4-5 times a week, and moved my way up a month later to 45 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week and 2 days of strength training+cardio. Also, started cutting out most refined carbs and making carbs and cheese a much smaller portion of my overall caloric intake. And, I actually managed to break my fast food habit which, though minor, was a major contributing factor to keeping weight on.
The result? So far, I've lost 17 pounds in the last 3 months, and I'll likely lose another 3-4 this month.
Life is good.
Losing weight this time around has been a very different experience than it was the previous two times I lost weight. Both at 15 and at 25 (the two times that I'd gotten up to the level I was at last year), I switched my diet to a relatively carb-heavy vegetarian diet, high in beans and rice and pasta with maybe some eggs. This time around, I actually had to cut down my portions of rice and pasta to a much smaller portion of my overall meals, and while I'm still building my meals mostly around fresh vegetables (which makes me just so happy!), I'm finding that moderate amounts of meat and fish have become a necessity. Tofu just doesn't do for me what it used to.
All things considered, though, I feel loads better, and look a heck of a lot better than I have in a while. And personally, I can't wait until my size 14s are too big!
Monday, July 23, 2007
It's about time I got to the gym again!
So, last week was a bit of a bust gym-wise. It was emotionally draining on a number of fronts (which I won't elaborate on), and frankly, I was just too TIRED - to the point where, when I visited my trainer on Tuesday, it knocked me out for the rest of the evening.
However, today I was back in the gym, and I did a full 30 minutes of upper-body work and crunches before doing about 40 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow, I have a trainer's appointment at 9am, which I will follow with another 30-40 minutes on the elliptical.
On the eating thing, I'm still working out a system - being so close to the move means no "real" cooking for me, so I got a bunch of prepared stuff at Whole Foods that I'm sustaining myself with for the week. First order of business once I'm in the new place: organize the Kitchen and the Office. Highest Priority.
For now, though, I read Harry Potter.
However, today I was back in the gym, and I did a full 30 minutes of upper-body work and crunches before doing about 40 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow, I have a trainer's appointment at 9am, which I will follow with another 30-40 minutes on the elliptical.
On the eating thing, I'm still working out a system - being so close to the move means no "real" cooking for me, so I got a bunch of prepared stuff at Whole Foods that I'm sustaining myself with for the week. First order of business once I'm in the new place: organize the Kitchen and the Office. Highest Priority.
For now, though, I read Harry Potter.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Morning Notices
It is a profound testiment to the effectiveness of my almost-daily workouts that, after two days of relative laziness and rampant overeating (hamburgers - I ate HAMBURGERS! AND pizza! What is it about 's house that brings about this profound laziness within me? ah well), my weight hasn't increased. It hasn't really DECREASED either, but I wasn't really expecting it to - it's been a week since I last weighed myself, and I've been adding some serious strength training to my workouts.
What I have noticed, though, is that the mound of flab that has been my stomach over the past several months has been calming down and moving on from me, and my clothes are fitting a bit better (although there's still some work to be done in this regard). Also, there's this glow of contentment and a smile that hasn't really been able to leave my face since starting the workouts, and this pleases me greatly. Plus - I'll say it - I look HOT while I'm working out. At least I did today. Not so much in the yoga classes, but I'm not worried about that. I'll still go, and I'll probably start adding more restorative and hip-opening/shoulder-opening stuff at home as the weeks pass.
I decided to splurge on 10 1/2-hour personal training sessions as a gift to myself. This is probably the last such gift for a while, as I want to start actually SAVING some money, and lately I've been far to spendy. But I don't judge.
Another quick notice: it's GORGEOUS lately. Today's walk to the gym was a delight - still some moisture on the ground, and it hadn't gotten over-hot yet. Today's shower will be good.
What I have noticed, though, is that the mound of flab that has been my stomach over the past several months has been calming down and moving on from me, and my clothes are fitting a bit better (although there's still some work to be done in this regard). Also, there's this glow of contentment and a smile that hasn't really been able to leave my face since starting the workouts, and this pleases me greatly. Plus - I'll say it - I look HOT while I'm working out. At least I did today. Not so much in the yoga classes, but I'm not worried about that. I'll still go, and I'll probably start adding more restorative and hip-opening/shoulder-opening stuff at home as the weeks pass.
I decided to splurge on 10 1/2-hour personal training sessions as a gift to myself. This is probably the last such gift for a while, as I want to start actually SAVING some money, and lately I've been far to spendy. But I don't judge.
Another quick notice: it's GORGEOUS lately. Today's walk to the gym was a delight - still some moisture on the ground, and it hadn't gotten over-hot yet. Today's shower will be good.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
On weekends and workouts
So, after nobly intending to head to Healthworks on the last two weekends, I have come to a temporary conclusion that it's just not going to work - I don't want to make time for the gym on Saturdays or Sundays.
This, however, doesn't mean that I don't want to work out. In fact, I spent most of yesterday walking around downtown Boston with my boyfriend; we went to Chinatown for dim sum followed by seeing Ratatouille at Park Street, and then walked from there through Beacon Hill to Nick's place on MIT campus - estimated time about an hour and a half of walkng. Today, I wandered down to Harvard Square to pick up some necessities (okay, so maybe they weren't NECESSITIES) and had lunch at Oxford Spa on Oxford Street in Cambridge. Estimated time: an hour and a half of walking. Not half bad, I must say. I'm probably going to fit in a fair bit of yoga as well, but I'm not sure what type, as I also am doing some work and packing today.
So, given everything, I think I'm okay with not going to HW on weekends - as long as I know that I'm exercising, and I'm getting there most days during the week, life is still quite good.
This, however, doesn't mean that I don't want to work out. In fact, I spent most of yesterday walking around downtown Boston with my boyfriend; we went to Chinatown for dim sum followed by seeing Ratatouille at Park Street, and then walked from there through Beacon Hill to Nick's place on MIT campus - estimated time about an hour and a half of walkng. Today, I wandered down to Harvard Square to pick up some necessities (okay, so maybe they weren't NECESSITIES) and had lunch at Oxford Spa on Oxford Street in Cambridge. Estimated time: an hour and a half of walking. Not half bad, I must say. I'm probably going to fit in a fair bit of yoga as well, but I'm not sure what type, as I also am doing some work and packing today.
So, given everything, I think I'm okay with not going to HW on weekends - as long as I know that I'm exercising, and I'm getting there most days during the week, life is still quite good.
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