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!

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.

March madness

20,214...my calories burned count so far for March.

My goal for the whole month was 20,000, and there are seven days to go.

Sweeeeeeet!

Picking up the pace

March is shaping up to be my most dedicated with regard to exercise. I set myself a goal of burning 20,000 calories for the month. It's the 18th, and I'm already up to 15,527! I told my trainer that I wanted to work out every day this week, and he gave me a specific training plan.

Last night was 90 minutes of interval cardio...working hard until my heart rate hit peak, then cooling off, then working it back up again. I did it multiple times on five different machines, then in the end ran out of gas on the bike. So the last ten minutes I just rode at a good pace until my watch showed 1:30.

I'm also starting to pay more attention to nutrition. I'm doing research and experimenting, and already I can tell you that eating decent food definitely helps provide the right fuel for working out.

So far it seems my progress has been slow (23 pounds lost in nine months), but who cares? I did it without dieting (I wasn't ready) and it sure beats gaining 23 pounds! And think about this...if I had lost one pound a month for the last 10 years I would be at my ideal weight now.

My advice for whatever endeavor you are considering - start today. Start every hour if you have to. Don't get mad at yourself if you have to keep starting over. You're not failing...you are learning.

Never, never, never give up.

Zumba

Now that was FUN!

Took my first Zumba class at the gym tonight. What a blast! The hour went by quickly, and I burned over 1,000 calories!

ZUMBA!

Setback, step forward

Last week I was visiting the family in Michigan, and had fully intended to work out every day. I didn't have a gym to go to, but I had equipment to use. Well, I worked out once in that week. And I ate too much. And I gained four pounds.

I got back with the trainer on Saturday, but our session was somewhat tame because of me having been essentially dormant for a week. And I had also strained my knee bowling, so we had to be careful there.

But last night - WOW - we stepped it up a BIG notch. We worked harder and faster and with heavier weights that I had ever used before. I was ready, having eaten well (lots of lean protein) and warmed up for a long time. It was amazing! And my trainer was thrilled. We both knew this day would come.

Don't ever quit. When you have a setback, it just might be a prelude to a huge advance.

Toot! Toot!

That's me tooting my own horn. A nice change from my little pity party* earlier this week, no?

Tonight I did a full body workout on my own. The trainer gave me the routine...and I did it. I might not have done as much as I could have because I wasn't sure what weight I had been doing before. But I did 50 reps of 10 exercises. Yep, that would be 500 reps!

Also, I used the heart rate monitor to take a "fitness test" this morning. It measures your resting heart rate and gives you a fitness score. Unfortunately, we didn't do this when I first started 10 weeks ago, so I don't know where I was then. But as of this morning's test (assuming I did it right), my fitness level is...

...drum roll please...

45 - Elite

Huh?

I don't know exactly what it means. But that sure sounds good, doesn't it?

*Everyone has bad days. The trick is to always remember that it will pass.

In case I forgot to say it tonight...

...thank you!

That's for my trainer, who coached me through an awesome workout tonight. I gave him a hard time (in my smart-ass way), but there is no doubt he is doing a great job with me. He knows just how far he can push me, and when I can do five more reps.

I was feeling a little blue today, but now I feel on top of the world!

Alert the media!

I, your humble Aunt Judie, have now worked out seven (SEVEN) freakin' days in a row!

Three personal training sessions, three hour-long cardio sessions (on the treadmill) and one Turbo Kick class. Total calories burned in those seven days - 2,961. Which, I think you will agree, makes up for my canoe weekend excesses.

Don't worry, I'm taking Friday off.

Know your stuff

"I beg to differ."

That's what my trainer said today when I told him he may not have worked me hard enough in our last session on Thursday. I had not felt worn out or super-sweaty afterwards, and I didn't have any soreness the next day. That's how I was judging the intensity of the workout.

He explained that the statistics from my heart rate monitor said I had indeed worked out hard enough. And he observes me as I work out. He watches how long I can do correct movements before I start to lose control, and monitors my breathing and the color of my face (which looks especially red when I'm not wearing makeup).

Today we worked a little differently, concentrating on my heart rate recovery after each set. And I'm not sure, but I think this was the first time he set one of the machines to 100 pounds. And seeing that made my heart rate go up before I even started the set!

Sometimes in life we base our conclusions on the wrong indicators, because they seem to make sense to us. But unless you really know what you're looking at, you can be way off base and not even know it.

You gotta know your stuff. And if you don't, you need to hire somebody who does. For me, getting professional help with my fitness has been worth every penny.

The fact that I am going into my eighth week is one very accurate indicator of that.

I have turned a corner

OK, so I went on a canoe trip last weekend. Went a little wild and crazy. Drank too much, ate too much, fell out of the canoe too much and smoked two cigars (which was two too much). Then I went on a short business trip. I really meant to exercise once I got to my hotel on Sunday, but my body (and more importantly my mind) just didn't want to cooperate. Neither did the hotel...their gym was closed for remodeling.

I ended up going three full days without exercising. When I got back to the gym last night, the best I could do was an hour on the treadmill at the breakneck speed of 2.5 mph. And today, knowing I was meeting the trainer, I came thisclose to cancelling because I was feeling so sluggish and gunky. Fortunately, I have friends at the office who work out regularly, and when I told them that I didn't want to go to the gym, they told me to go anyway and I would feel better. I hoped they were right.

From the first routine, my muscles sang for joy and my mind cleared! It was like my body was mad at me for NOT working it all those days. Seriously. I had been slightly afraid that I had lost my momentum and might not get it back. But it was awesome to get right back into it!

The trainer didn't exactly take it easy on me tonight, but I left there knowing that I could have done even more than I did. But now that I've told him about this blog, and he reads what I just wrote, I think I'm in for quite a workout on Saturday.

It's gonna be great!

Catching up

Wow...it's been a while since I posted. Since last Wednesday I have had three personal training sessions and one cardio session on the treadmill (for an hour again).

That treadmill session was a victory for me, as I had overdone it with pizza earlier in the day, left for the gym at 9:15 PM and had to turn around after a few blocks because I forgot part of my heart rate monitor. With that full stomach I took it easy, but still got an hour in.

On Saturday my trainer introduced this fun new device:


It's a balance trainer. It's like half a ball that you stand on and do exercises. Not as easy as it looks, let me tell you. We used it again tonight. I'm already a little better at keeping my balance.

I'll have my first set of new stats on Wednesday. I don't think I've lost any weight (I might have actually gained). But I know I've lost inches since I'm down a size already.

And I feel fantasic!

Yoga! Yoga! Yoga!

I took a yoga class tonight. First time. I couldn't do much, but what I could do felt SOOOOO good.

I'm still not getting to the gym as often as I would like.

50/50

I did lots of 50 pound/50 rep exercises tonight. Mostly my arms. I hope I can lift them tomorrow.

It really does feel good to push myself past where I thought I could go. It's a sense of accomplishment every time. How many things can you say that about in a day?

Exercise is like laundry

When you think about it, none of us really has to do anything. We are free and can make up our own minds. We don't have to go to work, or pay taxes, or wash the car or do anything we don't want to. We do things we want to do because they give us pleasure. We do things we don't want to do to avoid the consequences of not doing them.

Take the laundry (please). I dislike doing laundry. Always have. It doesn't matter that doing the laundry is a lot easier than it used to be. Growing up, the laundry machines were in the basement, and you had to go outside to walk down there. For many years, we were on the third floor and had to haul it up and down all those stairs in all kinds of weather! It's a lot easier for me now with the elevator. But even when the machines were right in my apartment or house, I still disliked it.

But I do it, because the consequences of not doing it would be quite unpleasant. I sometimes put it off until I have literally nothing left to wear, but I eventually do it. And you know what? It's never as bad as I imagine. It doesn't take long, I can get other things done while the machines do the work, and the feel of clean fresh clothes is very nice. I am constantly surprised at myself and wonder what the big deal was.

And exercise? I don't have to do that either. Until this morning, I had not been to the gym since Tuesday. I cancelled an appointment with my trainer. I didn't go to do the cardio workouts that I am supposed to do on my own between training sessions (which would make the training more effective). I wasn't in the mood, and I wasn't going to do it.

But this morning I realized that, just like the laundry, working out is never as bad as I imagine. As I left the gym after a 30-minute fast walk on the treadmill, I wondered why I was so hesitant to go. I still can't say I particularly like exercising. But I am starting to feel as if the consequences of not doing it are more unpleasant than the exercise itself.

I get by with a little help from...

...the big red ball.

It's called a "balance ball" or "stabilization ball". My personal trainer has been having me use it a lot for various exercises. And tonight - believe it or not - I did 10 pushups! I can't do them the normal way (on my toes) or the modified way (on my knees). But laying on the balance ball I can do 10! Hey, it's a start!

Here's a site that sells them - the Gaiam company.

They also sell this chair, which I am seriously thinking of purchasing:


The idea behind it is that you have to stay balanced and not slide around, so your muscles have to be working all the time as you sit. Plus I don't think you can slouch and stay on the thing.

Interesting.

Hurts so good

I didn't make it to the gym last night. I was cleaning my apartment because it really, really needed it. Tonight I had my third personal training session at the gym.

We worked mostly on my upper body...using lots of machines that I found myself grunting at to make 20 reps. It was like I was not going to let those machines beat me! (As if they care.) My trainer is very encouraging, and he watches my heart rate closely (I wear a heart rate monitor during every workout). I was sore after Tuesday's workout, but not too bad. And I know I'll be sore tomorrow.

But I am very much liking the feeling of getting stronger and more flexible.

There's this cool thing at the gym we refer to as the cage. It's almost just like it sounds, but the purpose of it is to support you as you stretch. There is nothing that feels so good than to gently stretch those muscles after a workout. Well, I suppose a deep tissue massage would feel good, but I haven't had one of those (yet).

There is something different about this latest attempt of mine to get fit. I did a round of personal training at another gym about six years ago, and I didn't enjoy it at all. Maybe it's different this time because I'm also watching what I eat (more on that later). Or maybe it is because I'm not afraid I'm going to die because my trainer is taking good care of me. Or maybe I am just at a place and time that is right for this.

Whatever it is, it feels great!

I'm going out of town for the weekend...and I'm taking my exercise gear. I'll report back Sunday night.

This might be a record

I'm pretty sure I have never in my lifetime worked out four days in a row. And I'm scheduled to do two more nights before my weekend out of town.

The really weird thing is, I am ENJOYING it!