What Was I Thinking?

The people have spoken. I will keep weighing in on Sundays. this will maintain consistency, but I may not like the number I get as much as a Friday number. Thanks for participating in my poll!

This week was another busy week between school and work and trying to squeeze time in for friends. Not to mention I got an FC Twin System that plays old Nintendo games that I of course put ahead of everything else. That thing is awesome! But I somehow managed to get in a lower body workout, and an upper body workout, and two running routings. The Body for Life workouts of course. I fit in four workouts! Phew! Goal achieved.

So here's what happened Thursday night. I'm running, and the Body for Life running routine is done in intervals, because interval training is more stressful and builds muscle. Well, I think it's time for me to ramp up my intervals, because I was on my last set of intervals, and I accidentally went over by one minute. I don't particularly enjoy running. This is a twenty minute exercise, and I ended up running for twenty-one minutes! I looked at the treadmill timer and thought to myself, "How did this happen?!?" When I'm running, I DON'T lose track of time! But I did this time, so I figured it must be time to step it up a notch.

So Saturday: It was upper body workout day. I hate the upper body workouts. It just takes a long time. It's five muscle groups versus three muscle groups on the lower body workouts. But I finished my upper body workout on Saturday and was for some reason feeling like a rock star. So I decided to do a running routine! Fourth workout of the week, but only the third time. Remember, it was time for me to step it up a notch. So I re-evaluated my intervals and set them up again at higher levels. It was pretty intense! It started out okay, but by the last five minutes, I WISHED FOR DEATH! The only thing that got me through it was this. I listened to it TWICE in the last five minutes because it's such a good pump up song! It wasn't until the second time that I listened to it that I realized what the song was called and thought about how funny it was. Seriously, what was I thinking? Stepping up the notch? I don't run! However, like I have said before, once I was done I realized it wasn't that bad and was excited for the next time. This new body of mine can handle more than it used to!

So things are going well on the exercise front, however, I ate really bad this week. I think I only had four days this week that I ate healthy the whole day. Everyone always wants to go out to eat for some reason. I was careful on portions for the most part...

The results: I weigh the same today that I did last Sunday. I did not lose weight, I did not gain weight. I could be upset about this, but I'm not gonna let it bum me out. I'm just gonna let it be a learning opportunity and eat better this week. I'm gonna concentrate on my fitness victories from this week.

Today I am grateful for my friends. I could talk all day about how uplifting my friends are. Each one has something in particular I am grateful for. I had a lot of fun this week, and I had a GREAT weekend. My friends are AWESOME!

Results Show

As you know by now, Sundays are my weigh in day. I have a very accurate scale. It calculates your Body Mass Index, your water weight, your body fat percentage, and it keeps track of your goals and everything. It's pretty cool, but today I was pretty annoyed with it. It told me that I had lost 1.8 pounds. Really?!? It couldn't just round up to 2? That's what I get for having a high tech scale.

As for this week's recap, it was a pretty good week. I started a new job this week, so I was pretty busy and I only exercised once (oops). I did the Body for Life running routine one time this week, which is always a killer exercise. This week should be less hectic, so hopefully I'll be able to get some more workouts in. I lost another pant size this week, which is always very exciting. I love the feeling of loose pants, even though it leads to the stress of wondering how I'm going to come up with the money to buy another pair.

So another 7-8 sticks of butter are missing from my body this week, and the total count is now at 44.2

This Week's Recap

This week I think went really well. I started exercising this week. In order to start exercising, I had to start eating more. I really wasn't eating enough to be able to have the metabolism to maintain an exercise program, and certain family members and friends were being annoyingly concerned, even though I TOLD them I was going to eat more. The problem was finding food that was cheap enough for me now that I am poor. It also had to be easy to prepare because I am lazy. It also had to be high energy food because I needed to eat more to start exercising. A lot of foods fit in this category, it turns out, but I am also a very picky eater. So I added oatmeal and eggs to my diet, and it worked out very well this week.

On Monday I did my first Body for Life running routine, and it couldn't have been a more positive experience. Tuesday I did the Body for Life upper body workout with free weights. Wednesday I did another running routine, and Friday I did the Body for Life lower body workout with free weights. Body for Life is killer. I'm ridiculously sore. I've done a whole Body for Life session in the past, which is 12 weeks of doing these routines six days a week. I'm not gonna do that. I felt four days this week was sufficient. My goal is going to be to do these Body for Life routines three to four times a week, depending on how hectic my school and work schedules are.

The results: Sundays are my official weigh in days. I lost another 0.6 pounds. They say muscle weighs more than fat, so maybe I gained a bunch of muscle this week??? Probably not quite yet. I always figured that was a load of bull. Anyways, things are going well. Another 2 sticks of butter are missing since last week. Yeah!

I've been asked to post some before and after pictures. I'm not done losing weight yet, but I guess I can do that here in a couple of days.

Maybe This Won’t Be So Bad After All

I’m gonna be honest. I had a really bad attitude about the whole exercise thing. But I knew I had to start exercising eventually, plus the whole conversation with my brother… So the question was what kind of exercise was I going to do? I’ve mentioned I’ve done all sorts of exercise in the past, and I decided that the most effective routine that I had done was the Body for Life routines. So I decided that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m not gonna do a whole Body for Life session, that is pretty intense, and I’m not eating enough to sustain that sort of regimen. But the Body for Life workouts are pretty amazing, and my first thought after my first workout on Monday was “Huh. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”

I was so encouraged on Monday when I was done! I had no idea my first workout would be such a positive experience! Don’t get me wrong, the workout was pretty intense. My abs were feeling it pretty hardcore, and the last five minutes I wanted to quit. But it was doable, and I felt good afterwards. I wanted to do it again the next day. I don’t remember ever feeling like that before. Apparently it’s a lot easier to drag your body along when its 42 pounds lighter.

One piece of advice when it comes to exercising: have a support system. I’ve mentioned my roommate who is super active before. She motivates me to want to exercise, and I get the feeling sometimes that I motivate her to eat healthier (although she doesn’t need to.) We made a bargain. She doesn’t like to run. But since I was going running (the Body for Life running routine) she decided she wanted to go running with her dog. We motivate each other. We both had really positive experiences. We both found out that we can do a lot more than we could before. I can do more because my body isn’t carrying around as much weight. She can do more because she is being treated for a thyroid problem she has had for years. It’s amazing what the body can accomplish that we never know it can until we try. Especially when you have your pump up music to keep you going!