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I always used to enjoy Madonna's Immaculate Collection for working out, but nowadays I just listen to the music you can plug into on the machines at the gym.
Lessee....I've been to the gym every day this week (Mon, Tue and Wed so far). I'm really trying to eat very lightly. too. I'm feeling really tired from it all right now, so tomorrow (Thur) I'm going to take it easy. I'll be working with a personal trainer on Friday, then attending a Fiesta that night, so I'll be sure to post how that day goes....
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So, last Friday, I met with the personal trainer and what we did was design a new workout regime for me. It includes a LOT more emphasis on free weights and doing cardio AFTER lifting. I've done the new workout a couple of times now and I do find it very challenging but I can tell it will make a difference.
I've been eating much lighter, overall, but I've also had a couple of bad meals. I still like to eat what I wanna eat....
The end of my company's fitness challenge is coming. I'll be retested on May 17th. I'll post what happens....
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Last night, I worked til 10ish, then ate Mexican food (Oixacan style...I'm sure I spelled it wrong, it's pronounced "wah-hock-un"). That food is so delicious and clean and lite and a lil spicy but not too much. Then, I went to karaoke and had 4 Bud Lites, which really are less filling. Got home pretty late, came to post here, then had a terrible night's sleep.
So, I rolled outta bed at the crack of noon and immediately began to talk myself out of going to the gym. The little red devil over one shoulder kept saying, "Don't go to the gym! You're tired. You deserve to rest." But the little white angel over the other shoulder said, "You know you should go. You need to make up for that naughty behavior."
The angel won and I gathered myself together to get to the gym before 1. (See, we have a limit on our membership, we can't use the gym between 1pm and 9pm. It kinda makes me feel like a second class citizen, but I get over it and just get myself there before 1 and try not to stir the pot....) I did my regular ellyptical machine warm up and then the free weights, but I skipped the leg exercises. I just couldn't keep going. Did my stretching and ab work.
I'm really feeling good about my fitness, but I'm even more annoyed with the fat that remains. It should be GONE now!!! (Wishful thinking....)
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I've been working everyday since that last post, so I've been very busy. I'm trying to remember what workouts I've done since.
Skip to yesterday....Two friends and I took a long walk in the sunshine (about 3 miles), then, after the walk, we went to where there's this stadium style seating which are pretty much bleachers made of concrete. I'd say there were about twenty five steps from top to bottom, but they're really big steps, so double it and call it 50. We proceeded to run up and down. I did it at a sprint and was able to go 6 times, then, I was shaking and getting dizzy, so I stopped. One friend went two more times than me and the other friend went 10 times! Whew!
In exactly one hour from now, I'm going to the gym to have my end-of-challenge fitness evaluation. I'm feeling pretty positive about it, but now that it's over, I'm wishing I'd tried harder than what I've posted here all these past few months. I wish I'd not given in to the temptations of bad foods, etc. Oh well, I'll definitely have an improvement.
quote:Originally posted by Sketch Lad: Just got back from the gym. My fitness assessment wasn't really as bad as I'd been fearing.
I weigh 195! Whew! I still haven't toppled over 200 yet. (I'm 5'9" btw)
After pinching the fat at my chest, stomach and thigh, it is determined that I have 24% body fat. Not as bad as I thought. I need to be between 12 and 20%.
I did 3 minutes on the stair stepper and my heartrate (cardio test) was 104 which is average. I need to be between 97 and 103 for good and below 83 for excellent.
I did 64 crunches in a minute. This rated excellent! Yay me!
I did 23 pushups in a minute. I need to do 45 or more to rate excellent.
I did a sitting reach for the flexibility test, I measured at 12 3/4" I need to reach 14- 18" in order to get an average rating, so good and excellent seem like a distant goal.
In the past, I've left these tests feeling terrible about myself and in big pain, but today I feel hopeful about my chances of improving!
So, after all these months of working out, eating okay sometimes and poorly others, I have to admit that I'm underwhelmed with the results of today's assessment.
Today, I weigh 194. A ONE pound loss. Hmph!
My three minute cardio step test resulted in a 92, which is a very good improvement over last time's 104.
I did 62 crunches in a minute....2 less than last time! Wha?
I did 35 push ups, 12 more than last time.
At "sit and reach" I went to 15 1/4". Last time I reached 12 3/4" so that was an improvement.
When they pinched me with the calipers (which hurt) my body fat figured to 23.5% I've lost half a percent of body fat!!! Big friggin deal!
I actually can't believe it. I've been trying all these months to improve. I look slimmer than before and feel better, but my testing just didn't show it....much. Makes me feel like it hasn't been worth it.
We don't know each other and so I don't know if it's my place to say this or not but:
You said you look slimmer and more importantly you feel better. A lot of these "TESTS" they give you are really nothing more than scare tacticts to get you to join up at their gym.
No one is perfect and this "IDEAL" that we are all force fed is only to make us feel bad about ourself and line the gym owners pockets.
At the end of the day are you happy with you? Do you feel better in yourself, both physically and personaly? You already said that you do. Take pride in that and in yourself. You are doing really well, keep feeling good about yourself and don't listen to the Steroid Squad. Do it in your own time, at your own pace, because YOU want to and you WILL get there.
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walkwithcrowds, Thank you for the words of encouragement! Believe me, almost everyone I know has heard my fitness challenge results and have offered me similar well wishes. I am not happy about it, and I'm the kind of person to say so.
Honestly, the testing done at my gym is by no means perfect, but they do the best they can. I'm not disputing their methods. There are a couple of things going on...
1. I just haven't been able to stick to a good healthy diet. I'll have days when I eat very clean lean foods only, but there are days when I'll eat the worst stuff you can imagine like McDonald's, etc. I also don't want to give up drinking alcohol. I like my wine and beer and cocktails. This lack of discipline with food is my #1 explanation. I should probably try Weight Watchers like Lash did.
2. I'm getting older. I'm 39. The human body wants to age now, not rejuventate. I'm working against the clock....which leads me to my next issue....
3. I'd have to work a lot harder if I want better results. There are people who were doing 3 hour workouts all season. I was talking with a friend who was doing such intense workouts, I would have fallen to pieces if I tried.
This whole thing has been an eye opener for me. I really did expect better results, but the thing that I know is that I did try. I began to make changes that are good for me. I just need to keep it up and not give in and continue doing the right things instead of the wrong things. It's not easy, but it's worth it.
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I know what you mean about the "How can they do that" factor. There was a show on the TMF Channel a while ago, it was another one of those "TOP 100..." shows. This one was the top 100 Best Bodies. There was a lot of the "usual suspects" from this kind of thing - Britney, Brad and the like, but there was a lot of atheletes and sport stars as well.
Watching it I'm thinking to myself "It would be really cool to look that good" and the glimmer of self motivation started up. But then I listened to them talking about their daily routine...
They would get up at, like, three in the morning, exercise for three hours, go running or jogging for an hour and THEN come back and exercise for ANOTHER HOUR to "cool down"??!!
I get up in the morning put the telly on and pick my nose for half an hour.
So while it WOULD be nice to have the perfect body and a rippling six pack I think I'll stay happy with my chicken legs and protruding rib cage.
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Yeah! I completely agree, walkwithcrowds. The effort it takes to look THAT good is something not everybody can afford. I mean, I certainly can't afford to spend half ym day exercising.
And you are making changes for the better, SL. That's what counts.
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Just thought I'd add a late night update. I haven't been back to the gym since I posted about my fitness evaluation results. I suppose there are some sour grapes involved.
I did go outside for a workout recently, though. I suppose I'm not giving up on exercise and eating right, entirely. The street I live on is on a hill, so it does take a bit of effort to walk up it. Recently, my 13 yo son and I went up the hill, then up even a steeper hill, then over a bit, then down some stairs back, but before leaving the stairs, we did some up and down reps on them. Then we did the same with some more steps. Then we walked home. He's quite athletic, so this workout was nothing to him, but it was very good and tiring for me.
Tomorrow, I'm going to the gym with 2 friends, so it should be pretty fun and beneficial.
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Aw, I didn't go to the gym. I've been doing the finishing touches on painting the house. If anyone recalls, I've posted that I've been painting my house. Yes, this is the third summer! BUT, in two days, I did some very important final coats in places that were extremely difficult to put a ladder. I have very little left to do...finally.
It's actually a really good workout. You use lots of different muscles in the brush strokes as well as keeping balance on a ladder.
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Since I last posted here, I haven't done ANY kind of exercise. In fact, I went ahead and did some GNARLY eating binges. I know that I like to eat when I'm tired.
So, after having enough of that, I decided to pull myself together. On Sunday I had a nice bike ride with my wife, then, that night I rode my bike to work. It took 20 minutes. It's something I should have been doing for a long time now, but I've finally decided to try and make it a regular thing. It means allowing extra time to dress and groom myself once I get to work, but otherwise it's very invigorating. The ride home was even quicker (at about 11pm) since there was no traffic.
My legs ache today, though. But I'm glad I did it.
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Good to here about you doing the Biking to work thing.
I did that for a while, though not for reasons of fitness but because I'm bloody lazy. I walk to work and I figured that if I got a bike I would be able to leave the house about ten minutes later - yay an extra ten minutes of sitting on my behind!
Saying that, I DEFINATELY did notice myself getting fitter. It's downhill going to work and (Duhh!!) uphill back. For the first few times I found it quite hard going coming back but after a few weeks I was doing it easily.
The main reason I stopped is because of other road users, in cars and vans. They are REALLY rude and aggressive. I constantly had cars revving their engines and swerving in towards me as they went past. I assure you this was not because of any bad road etiquette on my part - I kept to the side of the road, followed all traffic sign and regulations and I still had these morons thinking it was funny to terrorise me. So I stopped.
I also live in a slum area and would have to "run the gauntlet" of stones and bottles being thrown by neds and nutters. I think it's because you are a moving target so they see it as more of a challange.
Anyway, now I walk to work again.
I hope I didn't put you off. This was actually meant to be supportive - by me telling you that part of me being able to cycle uphill easier - I hope where you live other road users have more courtesy and the neds have less bottles and bricks.
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Wow, I'd be astonished if someone threw a rock at me while I was riding by! I wonder what my short temper would do in return? Don't know.
My ride to work isn't very hectic as far as traffic, etc. In fact, I use sidewalks most of the way because I'm not that confident on the street yet. Every now and then, my wife rides her bike to work, and I worry about her, not because of her skills/etiquette/etc, but because of those other morons, like you mentioned, out there.
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