Well, April is over. I've been working out regularly for 10 months, and I've recently started to seriously annoy my family and friends (but not strangers - yet) by asking them to feel my bicep. And I actually attended a bodybuilding competition on Saturday night. And I've rented (but not yet watched) Pumping Iron.
This was "strength building" month, and quite frankly I'm glad it's over. Although it was really cool to have leg-pressed 450 pounds last night!
Here are my final numbers:
19 workouts - 10 weight lifting, 9 cardio
Total calories burned - 20,704
Average calories burned per workout - 1,090
Average heart rate - 136
I'll get my measurements on Saturday. I don't know what my body fat percentage will be, but I don't expect the scale to have moved down (maybe up a couple of pounds). I only ate "clean" six days in April. But that's all about to change.
On Monday, I start a 12-week body transformation contest. More on that later.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Punchin' Judie
After 10 months of wanting to punch my trainer, I finally got my chance...tonight we did our first boxing session!
I. LOVED. IT.
I warmed up with jumping rope, and it didn't take long to remember how to do it right. Then he put the gloves on me and taught me the punches - jab...cross...hook...undercut...haymaker.
Then he had me kick...knee shots up to where he was holding the mitts in front of him. We did combos like jab-cross-hook-kick and jab-jab-hook and jab-cross-undercut-kick. His agility proved useful when I accidentally did "kick" at the wrong time and the mitts weren't there. Sorry about that!
I had to make sure to write about this tonight, as I suspect I won't be able to move my arms tomorrow.
What a blast!
I. LOVED. IT.
I warmed up with jumping rope, and it didn't take long to remember how to do it right. Then he put the gloves on me and taught me the punches - jab...cross...hook...undercut...haymaker.
Then he had me kick...knee shots up to where he was holding the mitts in front of him. We did combos like jab-cross-hook-kick and jab-jab-hook and jab-cross-undercut-kick. His agility proved useful when I accidentally did "kick" at the wrong time and the mitts weren't there. Sorry about that!
I had to make sure to write about this tonight, as I suspect I won't be able to move my arms tomorrow.
What a blast!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Regrets
Whenever I find myself feeling "regret" I am usually successful in talking myself out of the feeling. Regret is a waste of time. The past is gone. Learn from it, yes...let it ruin your present with negative feelings and "should have, could have" thinking...NO.
But when it hits your heart, sometimes you just have to have that good cry before you can let it go.
I was on my way home from an AWESOME workout yesterday afternoon. I was feeling so fabulous...my trainer has me in a "strength building" cycle, and we hit a couple of new highs on the weights I lifted. What I was feeling was the pride of accomplishment...working towards and achieving something I've never done before.
Then these words sang out from my radio:
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
(Because You Loved Me, words and music by Diane Warren, performed by Celine Dion)
The man I saw in my mind at that moment - my father - is not here to see me take these steps towards health and fitness. He also struggled with his weight, so he knew my struggle. Who knows what could have been? Had I done this ten or twenty years ago, perhaps he would have joined me. At the very least, it would have made him happy to see me do this.
I'm not saying I should have done this for him. Whenever you make a change in your life, you have to do it for yourself. Doing it for somebody else doesn't work.
The people who truly love you love you just as you are. My father loved me and was proud of everything I did. But I also know he suffered by seeing me suffer, especially because it was me hurting myself. And I regret causing him that pain.
I'll finish that cry now, then put this regret away and move on.
But when it hits your heart, sometimes you just have to have that good cry before you can let it go.
I was on my way home from an AWESOME workout yesterday afternoon. I was feeling so fabulous...my trainer has me in a "strength building" cycle, and we hit a couple of new highs on the weights I lifted. What I was feeling was the pride of accomplishment...working towards and achieving something I've never done before.
Then these words sang out from my radio:
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
(Because You Loved Me, words and music by Diane Warren, performed by Celine Dion)
The man I saw in my mind at that moment - my father - is not here to see me take these steps towards health and fitness. He also struggled with his weight, so he knew my struggle. Who knows what could have been? Had I done this ten or twenty years ago, perhaps he would have joined me. At the very least, it would have made him happy to see me do this.
I'm not saying I should have done this for him. Whenever you make a change in your life, you have to do it for yourself. Doing it for somebody else doesn't work.
The people who truly love you love you just as you are. My father loved me and was proud of everything I did. But I also know he suffered by seeing me suffer, especially because it was me hurting myself. And I regret causing him that pain.
I'll finish that cry now, then put this regret away and move on.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Well this is a first
I still can't tell you my news...but soon.
And today was a first. I've been instructed by my trainer to take at least a day off. He thinks I might be over-training. And I'm supposed to ice half my butt.
Don't ask.
And today was a first. I've been instructed by my trainer to take at least a day off. He thinks I might be over-training. And I'm supposed to ice half my butt.
Don't ask.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The cure for "quick fix" disease
I'm guessing I have read something in the range of 80-100 diet books in my lifetime, and have actually been on 20-30 diets that lasted more than one day. From each experience, I have learned something that I'm carrying with me now.
This year alone (yes, since January 1) I have read at least five books on fitness and nutrition (and there are three in the pile yet to be cracked open). The one I just started is called The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscle, Ending Emotional Eating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight by Tom Venuto.
I'm only on Page 17, and I've already found myself written about. The author talks about Brian Tracy, an expert in success psychology, describing "diseases" running rampant in America and much of the industrialized world today (emphasis mine):
One of them is called quick-fix disease. People with this affliction want to take a pill, go to sleep, and wake up skinny. [Note from AuntJ...I actually prayed for this several times.] They're suckers for the latest fat-burning cream or steroid-replacement scam. They impulsively buy "miracle" solutions...They search for instant cures...They look for overnight shortcuts... Saddest and most ironic, they often waste years of their lives on this fruitless quest, with no results to show for it.
Years? Try DECADES!
In 1985-86 I gained 100 pounds in about a year. During that year, I was an emotional trainwreck. To put it bluntly, I was a RAVING PSYCHO BITCH. When you're desperate, your intelligence and common sense fly out the window. I have some distinct memories from that period...I remember exactly where I was standing in the office when I practically screamed at a co-worker that I would not eat one more bite of food until I was under 200 pounds! (I think I was about 215 at the time.) She looked at me like the crazy person I was and calmly informed me that if I did that I would die. She got me to agree to at least eat some bananas (so a lack of potassium would not cause a heart attack).
Well, here I am at age 48 and I have yet to make it back to under 200 pounds. I would say that my average weight over these last 23-24 years has been around 285...let's say about 120 pounds overweight. At the generally-accepted ideal rate of weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week, had I started a sensible nutrition and exercise program at age 25 I could have been at a "normal" weight well before I hit 30 years old. Heck, even if I only lost one pound per month, I could have been at a normal weight by my mid-thirties!
Instead, I always wanted the quick fix. At least five of my dieting attempts were of the "fasting" variety - protein shakes and such. Almost all of my dieting attempts have resulted in more weight, which finally topped out at 330 pounds about 10 years ago.
The cure to quick fix disease is, of course, taking a long-term perspective:
Long-term perspective includes setting long-term goals, but also much more... Each goal is a stepping-stone, not an end point. Without a bigger vision and purpose for each area of your life, you won't have the motivational drive that keeps you going and you'll be more likely to fall for quick fixes...
Making decisions with the long term in mind often implies sacrifice...[which is] a misunderstood word. Many people think sacrifice means deprivation or giving something up. What sacrifice really means is giving up something of a lower nature in the present to receive something of a higher nature in the future.
Somebody asked me recently what finally got me onto the path of weight loss and fitness. There wasn't really a single event to point to, although the realization that I was approaching age 50 certainly had something to do with it. But it seems to have been more like reaching a "tipping point". My continuous search for knowledge (picking up something valuable from each book and dieting experience), my recent professional success with goal setting (the satisfaction of achieving those goals), my good fortune in finding excellent teachers (including my trainer) and my belief deep down that I would never give up the quest (even if there had been years without any attempts) have all combined to finally push me past the point of no return.
I still have days when either my nutrition or my exercise goes off the rails. Some days both my eating and fitness plan derail in a spectacular fashion! But I am (thank God) past the point of quitting, or returning to the "quick fix" mind set. I am striving for that "something of a higher nature".
This is the best time of my life.
This year alone (yes, since January 1) I have read at least five books on fitness and nutrition (and there are three in the pile yet to be cracked open). The one I just started is called The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscle, Ending Emotional Eating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight by Tom Venuto.
I'm only on Page 17, and I've already found myself written about. The author talks about Brian Tracy, an expert in success psychology, describing "diseases" running rampant in America and much of the industrialized world today (emphasis mine):
One of them is called quick-fix disease. People with this affliction want to take a pill, go to sleep, and wake up skinny. [Note from AuntJ...I actually prayed for this several times.] They're suckers for the latest fat-burning cream or steroid-replacement scam. They impulsively buy "miracle" solutions...They search for instant cures...They look for overnight shortcuts... Saddest and most ironic, they often waste years of their lives on this fruitless quest, with no results to show for it.
Years? Try DECADES!
In 1985-86 I gained 100 pounds in about a year. During that year, I was an emotional trainwreck. To put it bluntly, I was a RAVING PSYCHO BITCH. When you're desperate, your intelligence and common sense fly out the window. I have some distinct memories from that period...I remember exactly where I was standing in the office when I practically screamed at a co-worker that I would not eat one more bite of food until I was under 200 pounds! (I think I was about 215 at the time.) She looked at me like the crazy person I was and calmly informed me that if I did that I would die. She got me to agree to at least eat some bananas (so a lack of potassium would not cause a heart attack).
Well, here I am at age 48 and I have yet to make it back to under 200 pounds. I would say that my average weight over these last 23-24 years has been around 285...let's say about 120 pounds overweight. At the generally-accepted ideal rate of weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week, had I started a sensible nutrition and exercise program at age 25 I could have been at a "normal" weight well before I hit 30 years old. Heck, even if I only lost one pound per month, I could have been at a normal weight by my mid-thirties!
Instead, I always wanted the quick fix. At least five of my dieting attempts were of the "fasting" variety - protein shakes and such. Almost all of my dieting attempts have resulted in more weight, which finally topped out at 330 pounds about 10 years ago.
The cure to quick fix disease is, of course, taking a long-term perspective:
Long-term perspective includes setting long-term goals, but also much more... Each goal is a stepping-stone, not an end point. Without a bigger vision and purpose for each area of your life, you won't have the motivational drive that keeps you going and you'll be more likely to fall for quick fixes...
Making decisions with the long term in mind often implies sacrifice...[which is] a misunderstood word. Many people think sacrifice means deprivation or giving something up. What sacrifice really means is giving up something of a lower nature in the present to receive something of a higher nature in the future.
Somebody asked me recently what finally got me onto the path of weight loss and fitness. There wasn't really a single event to point to, although the realization that I was approaching age 50 certainly had something to do with it. But it seems to have been more like reaching a "tipping point". My continuous search for knowledge (picking up something valuable from each book and dieting experience), my recent professional success with goal setting (the satisfaction of achieving those goals), my good fortune in finding excellent teachers (including my trainer) and my belief deep down that I would never give up the quest (even if there had been years without any attempts) have all combined to finally push me past the point of no return.
I still have days when either my nutrition or my exercise goes off the rails. Some days both my eating and fitness plan derail in a spectacular fashion! But I am (thank God) past the point of quitting, or returning to the "quick fix" mind set. I am striving for that "something of a higher nature".
This is the best time of my life.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Final March Numbers
I'll get my new measurements (weight, body fat percentage, inches) from my trainer this week. But here are the final stats from my new monthly workout log for March:
Number of workouts: 22
Total calories burned: 27,260
Average calories/workout: 1,239
Average workout heart rate: 134
Plus...some exciting news coming very soon...stay tuned!
Number of workouts: 22
Total calories burned: 27,260
Average calories/workout: 1,239
Average workout heart rate: 134
Plus...some exciting news coming very soon...stay tuned!
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