improve my fitness

for 20 minutes again last night after doing my weights :)

I’ve been back in the gym for a while now (the date marks on these entries aren’t quite accurate I’ve noticed!) and I completed my ‘jog non-stop for 20 minutes goal’ so was quite pleased with that.

So far I’ve lost a lot of weight since I started and gained muscle definition in my arms and muscle mass in my legs which is good news for my knees. I’m toning the exercise routine down a little bit now, doing cardio one day and resistance training the next…could do with toning up my abs actually, still have tummy flab =P

has been really hard because I’ve had bad sciatica in my right leg and a painful knee preventing my exercise regime. I’ve had treatment for it but its slowness at recovery has been really getting me down (mind-sabotage was hard enough to overcome, let alone body sabotage!)

I’ve been aiming for at least being active everyday trying to go for a walk somewhere and went swimming once last Friday too. Tonight I tentatively went back in the gym and all seems to be well which is a HUGE relief. I’m going away for 6 days starting tomorrow so it’s a great comfort to know that when I come back I’ll be able to make the most of my summer membership, even if I have to change my routine in there a bit.

My college summer gym pass runs for a month, and I’ve slightly changed my routine to keep me interested with it. Now I’m doing:

5 minutes on the seated arm cycle
20 minutes on the bike
6 minutes on the step machine
20 minutes on the treadmill

The gym guy said I should see results from the step machine pretty quick which would be good since now I’ve lost a bit of weight I really want to focus on toning my glutes and thighs etc. Hopefully in a month’s time I’ll have something to show for it!

Hmmmm.

Basically I have two aspects of fitness: food and exercise. Being a bit of a dichotomous thinker, I can’t eat badly and exercise a lot, or eat well but do no exercise; the two have to be balanced so I’m doing well in both areas.

This leads to two critical points:

1. The first is with food- there comes a point when cravings for sweet things make me want to tip right over the edge and go completely over the top on them rather than just eat them in moderation. Of course, if I end up sucumbing and act on that, then the whole healthy routine is annhilated as soon as the first taste of sugar reaches my bloodstream.

(On a positive note, I just overcame one of those very same critical points recently, see the eat healthier goal.)

2. The second critical point usually kicks in about two months or so after exercising everyday. Almost all of a sudden I realise how much slimmer and fitter I am and begin to increase the level of resistance or intensity at the gym, and then also all of a sudden, it seems like I’m not making progess quickly enough. I start to worry that my current workout isn’t intense enough and that I won’t continue losing weight.

However, I have to remind myself that

• Losing weight isn’t my only goal, increasing all-round fitness and muscle tone is.

• Compared to 3 months ago I’m literally doing 90% more exercise. Something is waaay better than nothing.

• Working out everyday for 35-50 mins is quite an intense plan anyway. It makes sense that I’m going to feel tired sometimes or have days when I don’t fancy going to the gym!

• Change happens incrementally and has already occurred very quickly. When I was less healthy I wouldn’t check my weight for 3 weeks- it’s only because I’ve become so focussed on my fitness that I expect results in a week.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I hope to offset the anxiety about critical point number 2.

Yesterday I went on a hill walk (1115 ft) and really enjoyed it. The steep climb at the beginning was really hard-going but it was a great experience. This morning I really didn’t want to get down to the gym because my legs still felt tired from the walk and also today is Sunday, the alleged day of REST! I made it down there however and really suprised myself. I’ve only been going to the gym with any regularity for a month and already I can run faster and for much longer. I’ve also upped the reistance level on the arm rower and the bike too.

It’s a good feeling!

When I left college in May, I weighed about 12.5 stone (79 kg). I just weighed myself this morning and am just over 11 stone (71 kg)

Yay! The hard work is paying off!

With the next two months of summer before me, and Uni beckoning to me beyond that, I’m putting myself on an exercise schedule.

I could do with losing about 6 kilos give or take so I’m doing 30-45 mins of cardio a day at the gym. Any days when it’s not possible to go I walk briskly for an hour and do some yoga stretches, so I think that’s pretty reasonable. I know that really I should be doing some resistance training as well as the cardio but I don’t really feel comfortable doing that at my gym- I never know whether I am using the equipment properly, and if I ask they usually give me too much info all at once and I forget.

My aim is really to try and lose 4 kilos in 2 months and notice some improvements in endurance etc, whilst also feeling healthier and fitter.