exercise medley

week: -2.5
total: -69

I am not deliberately making posts only when I lose weight. Rather, this fall I have become a morning exerciser, at least on Tuesday/Thursday, which greatly inhibits my Tuesday weight-loss-saga posts. So, I endeavor to improve in this as in other areas of my life.

Sunday I made a new PR in pullups: 17 with 85 pounds offset (which means I'm lifting a fraction of my own weight, I know). So this morning, I knocked it down to offset 70 pounds and I was able to do about 7 reps (working from memory here, my notebook is in the gym bag still), which is a PR too for that weight level.

I tried a new machine called an Adaptive Motion Trainer. I felt like I was training to walk in a mechanical body armor suit. The machine allows the exerciser to use whatever stride is most comfortable, from vertical stair-climbing, to long horizontal cross-country skiing (I am guessing on that last part). Anyway, my ten-minute interval session plus five-minute cool-down about killed my thighs. My knees were really aching after too, but they were aching before, so I'm not sure how much to blame the AMT. In fact, I was supposed to do sprints on the track for intervals, but after my knees started screaming while climbing the stairs to the indoor track, I changed my mind and went looking for something low-impact. The AMT is quite low-impact, at least on the lowest setting, and I felt like I was springing on a trampoline or in the moonwalk bubble from my childhood. I won't use the AMT every time (because I never use the same interval type twice in a row), but I suppose I will put it into the mix.

Tang Soo Do testing is in four and a half weeks. I think I'll be ready, but I have to prepare myself for my breaks better than I did last time around (e dan ahp cha gi and tollyo chung dan kong kyuk).

tortoise v hare

I was just listening to an interview with Darin Steen (I'd put up a link, but the interviewer only makes it free for like 24hrs), who is a fitness and motivational coach in Chicago. One of the topics he touched on was the effectiveness of high-intensity intervals like sprints versus low-intensity steady-state jogging. Since we are in the midst of Olympics fever, he said something like: "Whose physique would you rather have, a sprinter's, or a marathoner's?" (Here are some pictures I found on the net to illustrate the point:)

<<<--SPRINTER

---

That marathon runner is slim and trim, but he's not solid like the sprinter. And I've always thought to myself: "When am I going to have to run 5k?" It's much more likely that I'll have to dash 100m -- to catch a child in the street or escape from an axe murderer. [Edited to add:] Or to dash across campus when I'm running late. [end addendum.] I've already been doing intervals based on my Abs Diet plan (I think it's in there), but it is always nice to vindication.

---

MARATHONER>>>

7 in 1 year

week: -2
total: -62

gym: Thursday, Sunday, today (Tuesday)= met goal!
tang soo do: last Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, missed Saturday's class for waking up late = 3/4 of goal

Almost exactly a year ago (I missed it by a few weeks here), I took my waist-to-hip ratio measurements for the first time. Since then, I have lost seven inches from both. I guess I have gained and lost weight proportionally for the most part. Nevertheless, I hadn't realized how much progress I'd made on that front, so, even though I haven't hit a WL record any time recently, I still have things to celebrate!

weekly checkin

week: +1
total: -59

Tang Soo Do on Tuesday and Friday last week. Gym on Sunday. Not the best workout week, but certainly not shabby. Why is the weight still up (and up and up)? Too much snacking maybe -- a perennial problem for me. Monthly cycle is coming around (TMI!), that usually wreaks havoc on my systems. Cheated on Wednesday at Macaroni Grill, although I still ordered the chicken marsala which is recommended in Eat This Not That, AND took home half ... and we shared a tiramisu for dessert. So.

Got up early to go to the farmers' market. Probably spent way too much money, but so far the things I've tasted are outstanding. Blueberries taste much better fresh than the ones from the frozen section. Saturn (a.k.a. donut) peaches were new to me, but I love them now -- tiny, bite-sized, plenty juicy but not messy. Looking forward to getting into the blackberries.

stuck

week: +2
total: -9.5

I've looked at my weight numbers for the last month, and I seem to be on a mighty plateau. That, or my body thinks it's happy where it is now -- and I might buy that, except that my body still has a LOT of jiggly jubbly bits that really do not belong. I guess I'm going to have to change some things, or else just wait it out.

I tried the "gym before work" thing on Monday. It wasn't altogether heinous, but one needs to be supremely well-organized. I almost accomplished that, but I forgot my shower-shoes and my comb. (I had a spare comb in the car, so the latter was minor, except for walking out of the gym looking like a crazy woman.) It isn't too late for me to try it again today, but I'll have to make up my mind fast.

get pumped for exercise

I have my motivations for getting exercise. I want to have and keep a healthy body; I like having muscles; I'm enjoying Tang Soo Do so much, I'm always excited to go back and learn something new. But there are people out there who have trouble getting the gear on and doing the deed. For those, the website Lifehack offers some tips.

My favorite from the list:

Reward Showing Up, Not Weight Loss - Some people have gotten the idea that they should reward themselves for losing weight or gaining muscle. I disagree. Instead, I think you should reward showing up to the gym and exercising regularly. There are many ways you can lose or gain weight in unhealthy fashions. Rewarding exercise is rewarding your commitment to health.

(Elsewhere the list does address the issue of showing up but then wandering around aimlessly without actually accomplishing anything. Remember to have goals and standards!)

Good luck!