New Season, New Goals

It is finally Spring in Buffalo. After what I hope is our last snow fall of the season, the sun is shining, the ice is melting and everyone in town is looking forward to spending more time outside.  We are expecting the high to be 61 degrees tomorrow. I frankly cannot wait!  I am tired of being cold and even more annoyed at being unable to do my walking.

My pants have been feeling tighter recently.  I can still wear them, but I noticed that there were some changes.  I know that I have not been keeping up with my ab exercises the way that I wanted and that I am not always consistent with my diet.  I have been working out significantly and have incorporated running into my routine.  Well, I finally got on the scale this morning and I was 12 pounds heavier than my lightest weight! Yikes!  As my friend/sister LaShekia would say, "That is not cute!"

Yesterday, I made a commitment to use MyFitnessPal the way it is intended.  I have only been half using it and the weight gain showed that.  This website exists to keep people in check and it is important that I hear what it is telling me.  If I don't use it efficiently, it won't be effective and I will gain weight.

While the weight gain is a bummer, I am excited about my involvement in running.  I ran a complete 5K on the treadmill yesterday and walked for about 45 seconds after I got to 3.11 miles and then I began running again.  I ran until I got to the 5 mile mark.  It felt incredible!  I am so excited with myself and it also tells me that I need to get on point with other things.

I was inspired to begin some serious Spring Cleaning yesterday and cleaned out a bunch of junk that I have been accumulating for nearly 4 years.  I was finding mail from 2010!  Just doing that task (it took about 3 hours) made me feel better.  There is still more to do, but I am ready to do it!

So, where am I now?  I made a goal several months ago to lose a total of 90 pounds.  With the 12 pound weight gain, I am now 29 pounds away from that goal.  This means it may take at least 15 weeks to get to my goal.  Am I disappointed?  Yes.  Am I going to give up?  Hell no!  I am now more focused than ever.

What about you?  Have you been derailed from a goal?  If so, how have you overcome this?  I'll leave you with one of my favorite "inspirational" songs.

Weight Lifting For Dummies

I have always considered myself a weight lifting dummy.  I have lifted weights on and off for years, but never seemed to get the results that others get.  Why?  Well, recently a friend of mine pointed out that I was not doing the full range of motion when it came to my exercises.  He was right.

I continued to add weight every month, but I was not really doing the exercises the way they were meant to be done.  Cutting a motion in half means I will only get half (or possibly less than half) of the benefit.  It was a sobering thought, but something I really considered.

I decided to reduce my weight this week and instead started working on doing the exercise properly.  I also listened to what my friend said and started watching the "muscle heads" around me.  They know how to get results, so it made sense to really watch them to see what they were doing.  It's been very eye opening and I am still working on figuring out the right routine to do.

I started using the bench press for the first time in my gym "career."  I was such a novice, that I did not realize that the bar probably weighed about 20 pounds.  I started out putting 10 pounds on each side, so I lifted a total of 40 pounds, but I thought I was lifting only 20!  When my other friend pointed that out, I was both embarrassed, but relieved.  I remember thinking that those 20 pounds felt hard.

I have certain goals when it comes to the weight lifting.  I am still looking to lose weight, but I am determined to replace the fat with muscle.  My body does not look like I want it to, but I know that if I continue to do these exercises and embrace the clean eating, things will change.

What do you all think?  Do lifting weights intimidate you?  What kind of tips do you have about weight lifting?

I leave you with one of my favorite dummies, Homer Simpson, and his quest to get fit.

First Day of New Workout

My last post spoke to wanting to change my workout.  I finally got to do that this week.  Most Mondays and Thursdays, I start my workout with nearly 90 minutes of cardio (the ellipitcal, rowing machine, and the stair climber) followed by 15 minutes on the circuit, doing mostly chest exercises.  That was fine, but it has been the same thing for nearly a year.  I realize that I am about to celebrate one year at LA Fitness and while my body has changed significantly, it is not where I want it.  So, now is the time to make the change.

Today, I started with the circuit, but instead of only doing chest exercises, I did a machine the utilized nearly every muscle group (with the exception of leg exercises) on the circuit.  I did 3 sets of 15 reps and the weight changed depending on the muscle group I was working.  It took approximately 40 minutes and then I went to do cardio.

I did 35 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes on the rowing machine and followed that up with 21 minutes (so I could burn over 300 calories) on the stair climber.  In the end, my workout totaled over 2 hours.  I felt re-energized and completely ready to take on the day.

Tomorrow, I will be doing nearly an hour of weight lifting followed by approximately 45 minutes running on the treadmill.  I am looking forward to seeing how I do with these workouts.  Weight lifting is something that is still somewhat scary to me, but I am getting more comfortable with it as time goes on.  I do wish that I had my online fitness friend and hero David with me for those dead lifts.  I have not tried those yet and I know he would encourage me to get on it.

The goal is to build more muscle and develop a more built look.  I also am still working on the fat loss and have also made major changes to the diet.  With it being Lent, and I am giving up sweets, it is a great time to clean up the diet to make the changes that are needed to break through the plateau.  Spring (and summer) will soon be here and I want to not only look good to feel my best during some of my favorite times of the year.

Have you made any recent changes to your workout?  If so, what were there?