Lose fat, gain muscle

Only a 30 min. elliptical session, but since I’ve been away for several months, that’s about all I could handle today. I am super-proud of myself just for GETTING there, though (and to be fair to myself, I did work up a good sweat throughout). This morning, I woke up at 4 and couldn’t get back to sleep – not terribly anxious, my brain is just filled with logistics for work and can’t shut down. PLUS work was crazy-busy of course, and I had to run an errand directly afterward.

BUT. I went to the gym! And it was just what I needed. The first 10 min. or so were not really fun, but it got 100% better after that. I also think going to the gym after work is a good plan, as long as I can keep my workouts short and intense (which is what my goal is anyhow). It was easy to find a parking space nearby.

Now it’s time for dinner – I’m STARVING!

I really need to do this, but I’m having a hard time getting motivated to go to the gym. I think what I may need to start doing is going right after work, as I just can’t seem to manage to get myself out of bed early enough to exercise. I can park for free on the street after 6 – if I dawdle a bit leaving work, I should be getting downtown right about then.

The only thing left to do is pack a bag! So I’m packing one tonight, and it’s coming with me to work tomorrow.

I’ve been looking for quick, no-equipment, yet challenging workouts that I can do from home on the days when I can’t bring myself to go to the gym. Last night I found some good ones! And this morning, I tried one out.

I did Workout A from this page . It didn’t take long at all and I DEFINITELY worked up a sweat! I only went 4 rounds and did at most 10 squats and 5 push-ups each time (except for the first round of squats, when I did 25)...but it was still a challenge. And it was actually kind of fun! I don’t think I’m going to do that whole plan, but it gives me a ton of options for things I can do away from the gym with zero equipment.

I’m starting to realize that I need to take advantage of the Y classes, if only because I need the motivation of fun and interaction. Strength training will probably have to be solitary still, but no reason to limit myself to the treadmill and other exercise machines.

Back on the horse! (FINALLY!!) Did the C25K Week 2 run today. Even after a month away, it wasn’t too bad.

A month away did not agree with me. Two weeks wasn’t terrible, but this week I felt largely out of sorts, emotionally and physically. It is a strain on the body and mind to not move much. And when I’m not exercising, I have no motivation to eat properly, either.

It feels incredibly good to be back. I set out a schedule for myself last month, and this week I’m going to try to stick to it. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I will have to change it up a bit next week because I’m making a quick trip to DC to see my sis…but…I’ll try.

If I can stick to my schedule for the whole month of May, I’m rewarding myself with a student clinic massage at the massage school. :)

Shoot. I haven’t been to the gym since I started my new job. Consequently, I’ve not been feeling all that good, physically or mentally, lately.

Bah! There is no good reason for not going. While my job is busy, I do have a decent amount of free time. It’s just that I’ve been filling it up with a lot of nothing.

started at 58kg, 55kg presently.
Want to lose 3kg of fat and gain 2kg of muscle
net result 53/54kg toned body !

Week 2 of Cto5K. It was a little tough to get through this today; I think this was largely due to the fact that I didn’t have coffee today. I’ve been kind of relying on a big surge of caffeine to get me through my workout.

I’ve not been exercising as frequently as I would like to be. Now that I’m going relatively regularly, I want to up the frequency. In order to do this, I’ve got to make an appointment for myself to be at the gym on certain days, doing certain things. Here is my plan for the week, then.

Sunday: Run
Monday: Strength training
Tuesday: Run
Wednesday: Yoga Class
Thursday: Strength Training
Friday: Run
Saturday: Walk/hike

Week 2 of Cto5K. Since running 90 sec. at a time is not a big challenge anymore, I’ve been upping my running/walking speed just a bit. I like the level of precision that I get from the treadmill in this regard.

Really thinking that I could use some better shoes, though. That will be one of the first things I think about purchasing when I start getting my paychecks from this new job.

Today I did Week 2 of C25K…plus. What happened is this: I accidentally hit “rewind” on my minidisc player about 15 min. into the workout. Since it’s all one track (and since my minidisc player is poorly designed in this regard), I could not skip back to the place I left off. I wasn’t sure how many rounds I had done at that point, nor did I know how many rounds I had yet to complete. I had two choices: guesstimate and risk not doing a complete workout, or just start from the beginning again.

The upshot is that I ran/walked for 43 or so minutes rather than 30. I won’t lie – I felt kind of tired at a few points. But then again, it wasn’t anywhere near torture, either.

Did some stretching after. As always, I feel good now! And as a bonus, I am not as from my strength workout today as I’ve been 2 days after past workouts. Score!

ETA: also, I ran/walked about 3.25 miles – that’s MORE than 5K! Woohoo! It’s totally doable (eventually)!

between two male patients with back/neck injuries about weight lifting. Both heavy lifters that can’t do it as much anymore due to injury…at least partially from lifting too heavy, incorrectly, or not balancing things out properly.

And yet they were kind of also bemoaning the fact that they can’t lift crazy weights for hours on end anymore!

What. (massive eyeroll)

Stuff like this makes me even more certain that I need to keep focusing on the functional goals of my workouts. Why am I lifting? So that I can help to move furniture without dying, and pick heavy stuff up off the floor correctly! Why am I running? So I can run fast when I feel like it, or when I need to run away from something!

I’m definitely not lifting to look cool, and I’m definitely not willing to injure myself while lifting. The whole point is to PREVENT injury. So what if I look wimpy when I start out.