The Slippery Slope

I got a big pile of work dumped on me last week. I worked over the weekend, including the evenings. I’m kinda freaking out because it’s just a LOT to get done. I don’t have any doubt I’ll be able to do it – just not sure what it’s going to cost me in terms of time and sanity.

Some people say they don’t know how they’d get anything done working from home – that there’s too many distractions. For me it’s the opposite. I have a hard time focusing on anything else when there’s a big to do list on my desk. So instead of taking the night off, I’ll just keep working. Or even if my brain is fried and I really can’t focus any more, I’m still at my computer, attempting to get some of the work done. (Of course, the problem is that there is always more work (a good thing and a bad thing) – so there is always a to-do list. It never really goes away. So I never really just stop stressing about it)

I was supposed to go to the gym last night and do the weights (which is hard to get motivated to do in the first place) but I didn’t go. I did run on Sunday, but the whole time I was running, I was stressing out about the work I could have been doing. This is the slippery slope that got me into trouble the last year – almost right around this same time. I stopped working out, and I stopped my diet – and BAM! 10lbs later… Some people go to workout to help them relax and “let go” of work – and if my to-do list isn’t too long, sure, I can do that too, somewhat. But right now? Working out is incredibly stressful.

Still, every day I don’t workout brings its own stress. Especially given the fact that this past weekend I wasn’t as on target as I could have been. (Yeah, there was that whole bottle of wine incident). So, there’s an Aqua aerobics class tomorrow – no better time to try something new than when I’m super stressed out and feeling very unmotivated to exercise!!

Learn to run: on hold

This is the second time I’ve tried to complete the week 3: session 1 run. (Run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes x 10) I don’t know if it’s that I’m getting dehydrated, or the heat is sticking around a little longer the last few weeks (or both), but I’m able to get to about 30minutes, and then my body just quits. I feel sick to my stomach and I know if I don’t stop, I won’t even be able to make the walk back home. I’m also wanting to try to work in a few new things too – so I can’t commit to running 3x a week. I want to try an aqua aerobic class, there’s a new dance/aerobic type class starting soon, and I need to squeeze that weight training in. I’m not giving up completely, but just going to change things up. I’m going to try to run at least once a week – and I’m going to keep trying to finish the full session. I’ll go for as long as I can and stop when I start to feel sick.

Some weight you don’t want to lose

I signed up for a few personal training sessions a few months ago. I’ve spaced them out with the idea that I could do some work on my own then check back with the trainer for futher advice. Unfortunately, I haven’t made the most of the last few months as far as strength training goes. I met with him anyway knowing that he was going to remind me why I really need to get the strength training back in.

As expected, I have lost a fair amount of weight since the last time I had my measurements taken. Inches came off everywhere (I’ll have to get and post the tally *see stats at bottom of post) but he told me that, without the resistance training, you can expect to lose between 2-3lbs of lean body mass (muscle) for every 10lbs of weight you lose. (Obviously you don’t want to do that. The idea is to be lean and mean – not lean and unhealthy.) And he was almost spot on. I’d lost 13lbs since the last time I was measured, and 2.3lbs of that was lean body mass. BOO! 🙁

So yes, I need to get the weights back into the routine. There’s so many obstacles – the biggest one being that right now, I’d rather be doing stuff outside; running, walking or biking. And of course there’s the issue that I’m just not into weight lifting. It’s not a whole lot of fun. But neither is losing muscle – so yeah, I know, I know. I’ve got to try and work it in, even just once a week is better than nothing.

* Here are the stats of # inches I’m down: (first number is how much from last time, second number is how much from the first time I was measure in February)
neck: .25″ (1.75″)
chest: 2.25″ (3.25″)
biceps: 1″ (2″)
forearm: .5″ (.5″)
waist: 1″ (1.25″)
hips: 1″ (2″)
thigh: 2″ (4.75″) (WOW! That is crazy.)
So a total of 8″ since last time, 15.5″ total.

Learn to run: Week 2 – Session 1

This week it’s running 2 mins, then walking 2 mins. Session 1 is doing that 11 times. (44 minutes total)

The short version: BRUTAL. Simply brutal.

The long version:
Running for one minute at a time was a stretch last week. (Stop laughing – yes, I know I need to get into better shape!) This week – two minutes at a time – wow. During the first lap, I looked at the timer about half way through the two min run and I just didn’t see how I was going to get through the whole 44 minutes of it all. During the running part, my heart rate got up to the high 160’s – and 170’s. During the 2 min walk, I was getting my heart rate back down to the 140’s. But towards the end, when my heart rate was still in the 160’s at the end of the two min walk – that’s when it REALLY hard.

To keep pushing myself to the end of  the two min run – I would focus on my breathing. Most of the time I’m panting – breathing all through my mouth. I just can’t help it. When I try to inhale through my nose, it doesn’t feel like I get enough air in. (Is that just me?) Either way, I tried to just take huge breaths in through my nose – exhale through my mouth – a few panting breaths – then big inhale through my nose again. Not sure if that’s the right way to do it – but it helped get me to the end. I also would try focusing on other muscles in my body – specifically my stomach muscles (which need help anyway). I would tighten them up and focus on that – trying to forget about how much I really just wanted to drop to my knees and gasp for air. LOL!

The other thing helping me through it – just repeating over and over in my head “You can do this. You can DO THIS.” I know it seems silly – but if you have an inner voice and it starts trying to convince you to quit – chances are you ARE going to quit. Make that inner voice your cheerleader and make it louder than any other negative energy. YOU CAN DO THIS!

So some lessons learned: Session 1 is always a push session. It’s the hardest session of the week. DO NOT EAT DINNER RIGHT BEFORE THIS SESSION. Probably can swing that on the other nights – but not this one.

So this asks the question – if I’m running at 7/8pm – I need to eat SOMETHING before I run – as eating dinner when I get back home at 9ish is just too late. I think on nights I exercise, I have to redefine what “dinner” is. I think the idea of a big meal at dinner time needs to go away – and save those for non-exercise nights. (Of which there may only be two or three at the most in a given week). And as healthy as I think eating a smaller – spaced out dinner is – it still presents other issues – specifically the kids. I have been a big believer in having dinner together. It’s the one meal we always have together – it may be the one time in the whole night that we’re all in the same room for a given period of time. So I still don’t have all the details worked out.

My love hate relationship with exercise

I have never been a gym-rat – nor have I even remotely liked exercise. Whenever I “feel the burn,” my instinct is to cry and quit and run home. However, I did want to live healthier – and you really can’t do that without fitting some level of exercise into the equation.

Last year, when I got serious, I joined Curves. That was fine for about 2 months. But it quickly got old. Yes, at least I was changing machines every 30 seconds or whatever it is – but it still got old. I tried bringing my own music or books on tape to listen to from my iPod. Didn’t help. At the time, I was doing Jenny Craig. I started Curves in April 2008, I started Jenny Craig in May. By September, I’d lost 15lbs. I was sick of Jenny Craig and couldn’t wait to get off the diet. Curves was boring me to tears. My work had gotten insanely busy – so it seemed like a good excuse at the time to just stop everything.

Of course I had intended to go back to Curves (and I thought I was “eating less”). By January, I hadn’t exercised again, and I’d gained 10 of the 15lbs I’d lost. (Well that was money (not) well spent on Jenny Craig!)

Don’t get me wrong – I think Jenny Craig is great and it does work. The problem isn’t the program. The problem is what do you do AFTER the program. Jenny Craig really didn’t teach me how to eat better. It taught me that if my meals came in a box, and I ate what they told me, I’d lose weight and keep it off.

Anyway – the diet is for another post.

So since January we’ve been members of 24 Hour Fitness. What I have learned since starting there:

1) While I liked how I looked when I was using the weights 2x a week – I really don’t enjoy it.
I think resistance training is important though. I haven’t done it in almost two months now and I’m feeling guilty about that fact. So we’re going to try, one day a week, that Sam and I use the weights together. Hopefully this will at least make it a little more interesting.

2) Exercise machines at the gym make me feel like a gerbil on a wheel.
So I try to use them as little as possible. I outright can not run on a treadmill. The bike machines makes my butt hurt. I’ve used the stair master a few times, but it’s not my favorite. The one machine I can somewhat tolerate (so long as it’s not more than 1x, MAX 2x, a week) is the elliptical machine. So what do I do at the gym? I’m trying to do classes. At the moment, my favorite so far has been the Zumba class. I love that class so much, I think I could do it everyday without getting bored. Unfortunately, it’s only offered a few times a week, and only one of those times works for me. I’m also going to try the Aqua class at some point.

3) Above all – in order for exercise to work – you have to find something you like or can tolerate.
This is the biggest thing, and it’s the reason I keep changing things up. Curves didn’t work, time for a change. I tried a bunch of machines at the gym until I found one I didn’t mind as much. Classes are fun and help on the “something different” front. There were a few I tried and didn’t care for – but the key is to keep trying different things.

Along that same line – I had never really tried running. But on a diet-related forum, a lot of people had been talking about their runs – so I thought I’d give it a try. That has turned out to be one of the things I’ve liked the most. I’m just beginning, so I can’t run for very long, so I’ve been switching off running and walking. And trying to work up to longer stretches. My goal right now with this is to work up to being able to run a 5k. I will say, though, that I’m kind of picky about running. Like I said before, I can’t run on a treadmill. (I feel like I’m going to go flying off the back of it) – so it has to be outside. But it can’t be too hot, or too cold. So this really limits how long I’ll be able to run. Right now, in the summer, I’ve been running a few times a week, in the evening, just before sundown – it’s cooled off by then and the temperature is perfect. We’ll have to see how long I can keep this up. By September/October, I may need to try the treadmill again if I want to keep the running going.

So my routine has been running 3x a week, Zumba class 1x a week, and if I need to fit in another day of exercise, I’ll add in an extra running day or I’ll use the elliptical machine. This extra day I’m going to try and swap out for an aqua class. My average calorie burn is about 300 calories. Zumba class usually has me burning between 400-500 calories.

I think one problem a lot of people have when trying to lose weight – is overestimating how many calories they’re burning when working out. If you’re using a machine and you go by the machine’s readout – you’re more than likely overestimating. This is the reason why I use a heart rate monitor. The one I use is this one: Polar F7

So these are a few things I’ve been doing and have learned. It’s all a journey.