I did not want to do chest, shoulders & triceps today. Did not want to with a stomp and pout! I am still somewhat sore from Saturday, I pushed myself yesterday to get my hour elliptical in then come home and do core synergistic that I missed from Monday..and I'm all around a big whiney hole. But...I did it. I got into it..I started to feel it and smile. I was able to increase my weight in a lot of the reps which surprised me and got me to push hard to the end!
This routine doesn't really have much to do with the hips, shins or abs so I didn't put extra strain on my sore spots and lot of the soreness I had going in dissipated as I went through the reps. Lesson learned that even though I thought I didn't want to complete the work out tonight, in the end, I really did enjoy it and I'm glad I stuck to my plan.
I've really been hitting the diet hard for the past couple of weeks. The Lose it app has really given me perspective on what I eat. The app has a Nutrition section that gives a break down of everything I put in this body of mine. I have a plan to get off as many medications as I can. Recently, I have been given the ok to quit taking one of my diabetes pills, glyburide. That's been a huge relief for me physically and mentally. I'm monitoring my blood sugar closely for spikes and am confident that I have made the right choice here! The only highs I have had is when I forgot to take the other pill :)
Next up- lisinopril. I'm really not a fan of this pill. Not only is it more artificial chemicals going in my body, but it makes me have a weird dry cough at night. This pill is for blood pressure. So.. I'm going to try to limit my salt intake as much as possible and get it under the recommended daily dose. This task has been harder than I thought it would be. What it's boiling down too is a diet full of fruits and vegetables. Anything canned- even organic- has a bunch of salt. Right now, my biggest canned culprit is beans. Beans are hard to cook on the daily.. they are going to just have to be one of those things I prepare on Sunday. That way, I can control the amount of sodium goes in them.. in fact, there's no reason for sodium at all. I would rather use hot sauce or herbs or get some Mrs Dash...something!
All this diet and exercise...my goal of being a sexy devil chick for Halloween is becoming a reality!
Showing posts with label Equipment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Equipment. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
gym's galore
I am now officially a member of three different gyms. It's amazing how the needs in a gym can change while your energy level and exercise route gradually increase. Just January I started going to Curves three times a week and now it's the least effective of my workouts. I had been going to Curves for lunch during the week day...until now.
My latest gym join is at the Everett Community College right across the street from work. It's closed to the public, they only let students and faculty in. Thankfully, since we are a state agency, we are able to get in for the faculty rate. This gym is brand new and pretty spectacular! There is a rock wall, track, state of the art cardio equipment, one impressive weight lifting circuit, free weights and one pretty Basketball court! There are even showers and locker rooms available.
Although the college gym is...so sweet, it's not Emerald City Athletic (gym #2). ECA has a pool for one thing! It also has a jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, and some pretty good equipment. It's a lot busier than the college but nothing feels better than a soak after a tough work out! So, why join the college at all? Easy.. location. ECA is clear across town. I would have to go there either before work (5:30am arrival time- choke!!) or take an additional 40 minutes at lunch for driving making my lunch hour around two hours. Starting work at 7am and leaving at 5:30 each day is just not appealing to me at all! So.. going to the college saves driving time. My new work schedule will be 7-4 and I get a 45 minute work out in. Now that's what I'm talking about!
When you look for a gym.. my advise, make location part of your decision! Time is the most valuable asset we have! Spending it in the most effective way should be a goal for everyone. Curves is on the way home from work, the college is a 2 minute walk..but ECA is only $19/mo, cheaper than any other gym! So, each place I'm a current member of has a purpose in my routine and budget. Now, if I could get the college to add on a pool/jacuzzi/steam room.. the choice would be simple! :) Bottom line though, it doesn't matter where you burn the calories, only matters that you do!
I will likely continue to go to Curves on the way home when I can to boost my calorie burn, and I'm still doing P90X when I arrive on the days I have it scheduled. P90X, although giving me much definition, is not a huge calorie burning routine. So the extra 500 or so burn during lunch is really going to improve my weight loss. I will still go to my ole ECA fav on Friday nights and the weekends and when time isn't limited by the stupid work thing! hehe
I think that when my contract is up at Curves I will cancel it. I'm only going there now because I'm paying for it but I can do the same circuit training I get there but with more weight so keeping up with my level at the college and ECA. Curves was a great beginning and I recommend it to ANYONE who wants to really start a solid program and change their lives, but for me.. I just don't need it anymore. It's a good feeling :)
I am now on week 4 of P90X. I'm happy with my progress so far and have been enjoying the routines. Its going to be exciting to start week 5 as there are new routines to try! I've made it farther in the program than two guys I work with. To me, that's saying something! :) I am committed to my goal. This week I found out that my Ha1c has gone from 8 three months ago to 5.6. That made me smile all night and all day today! I'm normal.. normal! It's a proven tested fact.. ha! My resting heart rate has also improved going from around 87 to 79. Wow! My poor heart is finally getting a break and not having to work so hard when I'm doing nothing and my blood sugar levels will only get better as the weight comes off. That outta add a few of the wrinkly years to my life! :)
My latest gym join is at the Everett Community College right across the street from work. It's closed to the public, they only let students and faculty in. Thankfully, since we are a state agency, we are able to get in for the faculty rate. This gym is brand new and pretty spectacular! There is a rock wall, track, state of the art cardio equipment, one impressive weight lifting circuit, free weights and one pretty Basketball court! There are even showers and locker rooms available.
Although the college gym is...so sweet, it's not Emerald City Athletic (gym #2). ECA has a pool for one thing! It also has a jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, and some pretty good equipment. It's a lot busier than the college but nothing feels better than a soak after a tough work out! So, why join the college at all? Easy.. location. ECA is clear across town. I would have to go there either before work (5:30am arrival time- choke!!) or take an additional 40 minutes at lunch for driving making my lunch hour around two hours. Starting work at 7am and leaving at 5:30 each day is just not appealing to me at all! So.. going to the college saves driving time. My new work schedule will be 7-4 and I get a 45 minute work out in. Now that's what I'm talking about!
When you look for a gym.. my advise, make location part of your decision! Time is the most valuable asset we have! Spending it in the most effective way should be a goal for everyone. Curves is on the way home from work, the college is a 2 minute walk..but ECA is only $19/mo, cheaper than any other gym! So, each place I'm a current member of has a purpose in my routine and budget. Now, if I could get the college to add on a pool/jacuzzi/steam room.. the choice would be simple! :) Bottom line though, it doesn't matter where you burn the calories, only matters that you do!
I will likely continue to go to Curves on the way home when I can to boost my calorie burn, and I'm still doing P90X when I arrive on the days I have it scheduled. P90X, although giving me much definition, is not a huge calorie burning routine. So the extra 500 or so burn during lunch is really going to improve my weight loss. I will still go to my ole ECA fav on Friday nights and the weekends and when time isn't limited by the stupid work thing! hehe
I think that when my contract is up at Curves I will cancel it. I'm only going there now because I'm paying for it but I can do the same circuit training I get there but with more weight so keeping up with my level at the college and ECA. Curves was a great beginning and I recommend it to ANYONE who wants to really start a solid program and change their lives, but for me.. I just don't need it anymore. It's a good feeling :)
I am now on week 4 of P90X. I'm happy with my progress so far and have been enjoying the routines. Its going to be exciting to start week 5 as there are new routines to try! I've made it farther in the program than two guys I work with. To me, that's saying something! :) I am committed to my goal. This week I found out that my Ha1c has gone from 8 three months ago to 5.6. That made me smile all night and all day today! I'm normal.. normal! It's a proven tested fact.. ha! My resting heart rate has also improved going from around 87 to 79. Wow! My poor heart is finally getting a break and not having to work so hard when I'm doing nothing and my blood sugar levels will only get better as the weight comes off. That outta add a few of the wrinkly years to my life! :)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Tools Part Deux
After getting a good idea of your calorie burn and intake throughout the day, it's time to adjust those numbers and get those sacks of potatoes (aka body fat) OFF! I touched on this subject a bit in the last post, but I think that having a heart rate monitor is worth mentioning more thoroughly!
Heart rate monitoring is the only way to know what zone you are achieving during a work out. Everyone's target zone is different based on what they are trying to accomplish. I was surprised to find that a less intense work out burns more fat than a "balls to the wall" one. For me, the zone I'm looking for is to have my heart rate fall between 135 and 145 bpm. When I'm on the elliptical, giving it all I've got, I can easily climb into the 156-162 bpm range. This puts me in an aerobic zone rather than fat burning. More about the different zones at Live Strong.
Although I am still burning fat in the aerobic zone, gaining muscle, and burning more calories than in the lower intensity zone, I am only burning about 50% of calories from fat. By maintaining a heart rate of 135-145 bpm, I am burning about 75% of my calories from fat. Since my goal during this training schedule is to burn as much fat as possible, I need to keep my work out in the proper zone and slow it down! There are lots of calculators on the web for determining your heart rate zone and once you know your rest rate, you can get your numbers pretty accurate. Rest rate is best taken first thing in the morning and averaged over a few days. There are many free heart rate apps out there. I use one called Heart Fitness on my iPhone.
Most of the machines available in the gym have a heart rate monitor built in. All you have to do is grip the handles and it will tell you where you are at. For a more constant monitor you can buy a heart rate monitor at any sports store. Sometimes you can even find them on sale! Again, be sure you get one with a strap! I have a BowFlex heart rate monitor and it is compatible with all the equipment at the gym. This means that I just strap it on and go. The display on the machine I'm using tells me where I'm at without handle gripping. Love it!
Heart rate monitoring is the only way to know what zone you are achieving during a work out. Everyone's target zone is different based on what they are trying to accomplish. I was surprised to find that a less intense work out burns more fat than a "balls to the wall" one. For me, the zone I'm looking for is to have my heart rate fall between 135 and 145 bpm. When I'm on the elliptical, giving it all I've got, I can easily climb into the 156-162 bpm range. This puts me in an aerobic zone rather than fat burning. More about the different zones at Live Strong.
Although I am still burning fat in the aerobic zone, gaining muscle, and burning more calories than in the lower intensity zone, I am only burning about 50% of calories from fat. By maintaining a heart rate of 135-145 bpm, I am burning about 75% of my calories from fat. Since my goal during this training schedule is to burn as much fat as possible, I need to keep my work out in the proper zone and slow it down! There are lots of calculators on the web for determining your heart rate zone and once you know your rest rate, you can get your numbers pretty accurate. Rest rate is best taken first thing in the morning and averaged over a few days. There are many free heart rate apps out there. I use one called Heart Fitness on my iPhone.
Most of the machines available in the gym have a heart rate monitor built in. All you have to do is grip the handles and it will tell you where you are at. For a more constant monitor you can buy a heart rate monitor at any sports store. Sometimes you can even find them on sale! Again, be sure you get one with a strap! I have a BowFlex heart rate monitor and it is compatible with all the equipment at the gym. This means that I just strap it on and go. The display on the machine I'm using tells me where I'm at without handle gripping. Love it!
Unrelated Inspirational Side Note:
SBF is running down a mountain tomorrow...27.7 hard miles full of roads, trails and mud. He is going to do this while carrying a 10 lb pack! He's amazing! Whenever I am exhausted, sore, ready to throw in the towel...I think about what he has accomplished and I press on. Today is just another day toward the goal. I just need to get through today and every tomorrow will be easier and easier. I have been working toward a better me for almost 6 months now and have made great progress...more than I expected! I can only imagine where I will be in another six months. It all starts with today. There is no limit to what I can achieve and pretty soon, I could be running down the mountain with him! :) GO ME!Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Tools
At the beginning of the year, I used a combination of tools to give me a better understanding of my calorie intake vs burn throughout the day. I thought someone out there might benefit from this info as to not waste time trying to figure it out.
The first tool I began using this year is an app called Calorie Counter. This app was instrumental in teaching me my calorie intake. It's one thing to think that you are eating a minimum number of calories, and quite another to see it add up all day long! I learned that I can stay pretty comfortable consuming between 1600-1800 calories per day. With a Shakeology breakfast, salad lunch, yogurt and/or protein bar snacks and a well balanced dinner it's a satisfying day. The less artificial foods you eat, the less cravings for them you have. Seriously, the only way a healthy diet will work is to cut out artificial processed foods completely.
After a while eating this way and using the app, I have gained a pretty good understanding of serving sizes and high calorie/carb/fat foods. I don't use the app much anymore but it gave me the building blocks of knowledge to really analyze my day.
The second must have tool is the BodyBugg. This thing is amazing! It calculates the users calorie burn by measuring your weight, heart rate, and perspiration rate. I wore the BodyBugg for about a month. It gave me a great understanding of how many calories I burn while doing different activities. I was able to determine that on average, without any kind of exercise, I burn about 2000-2200 calories. This is just in every day housework, shopping etc. That's a good number to know when you are trying to lose weight. Generally speaking...for every 3500 calories burned, you lose one pound of fat so knowing how many calories you take in is vital to knowing how many you need to burn.
Important tid bits of info I learned from BodyBugg: an hour at Curves burns about about 576 calories. An hour walking burns about 335 calories. It takes about 20 minutes of walking to raise your heart rate to a fat burning level. So, for all of you out there who walk for 20 minutes at a time...you're stopping before your burning fat! It's good for your overall health to walk so it's not necessarily a waste of time, it's just not an effective fat burning work out to walk...more like a good way to get in the habit of exercising as a routine and to maintain basic health. On the elliptical, I burn about 550 calories in an hour.
The difference between Curves and the elliptical is that I don't actually spend an hour at Curves. It takes about 25 minutes to complete the circuit. Even when I round the circle three times (which I do regularly), it's a total of 37 1/2 minutes. So that's about.. 360 calories for the work out. It's about the same as an hour walk but in less time. Less time is good! Less time means more burn for your effort.
So..taking the two important tools information into account, I can see that on an elliptical day, I burn about 2850 (2200 daily burn + 550 workout) calories. I'm eating about 1800 calories in a day giving me an surplus of about 900 calories on that day. If I do that three times a week, that's 2700 extra calories right there. A Curves day, I will burn about 2560 (2200 daily burn + 360 workout) calories. 2560-1800 intake of calories is a surplus of 760. If I do that twice a week, that's 1520 calories added to my weekly burn, now at 4220. One more day to account for: yoga day. I do not know how much calories I will burn doing yoga because I haven't done it yet with the BodyBugg. However, giving it a guess...I would say it should be about the same as a one hour walk. I calculated that to be about 335 calories in an hour. 2200 + 335=2535 daily calorie burn. 2535-1800=735 surplus.
SO...adding up the total surplus of calories for a week in my new schedule effective this week: Monday-735 + Tuesday-760 + Wednesday-900 + Thursday-760 + Friday-900 + Saturday-900=4955 surplus per week. 3500/4955 or about 1.42 lbs per week. That gives me a total poundage loss prediction over my current 8 week schedule of: 11.36 lbs. This is just a rough estimate but is my best guess.
More tools! A good heart rate monitor is essential to planning a fat burning specific workout! You can get them pretty much anywhere...you want the chest strap! It will usually be compatible with gym equipment to give you a constant monitor during your hardest workouts. My target heart rate for burning fat is 120-156. I can work out harder than that, but would start burning calorie from muscle, increasing my endurance but burning less fat.
There can also be variations in calorie burn based on body type, metabolism and diet, i.e., eat a high in fat diet, you will have more new fat to burn before you can get around to the excess fat in your body. Although I have some "hard data" figures here..it's really just an educated guess. Of course less calorie intake means more surplus/poundage loss as well. Since I did not account for the three weekly interval training sessions in my schedule as part of this calculation or the laps I swim after every work out.. I may lose even more, and so might you using the same schedule! Everyone is different! These tools allow you to figure out what works for you! Ahh.. the beauty of tools.
Anyhoo... if you are interested in checking out the Bodybugg click the link. For the Calorie counter app, just search for it in the app store. It's the one with the green apple logo. Questions/Comments? See below! And stay tuned to see if my weight loss prediction proves correct :)
The first tool I began using this year is an app called Calorie Counter. This app was instrumental in teaching me my calorie intake. It's one thing to think that you are eating a minimum number of calories, and quite another to see it add up all day long! I learned that I can stay pretty comfortable consuming between 1600-1800 calories per day. With a Shakeology breakfast, salad lunch, yogurt and/or protein bar snacks and a well balanced dinner it's a satisfying day. The less artificial foods you eat, the less cravings for them you have. Seriously, the only way a healthy diet will work is to cut out artificial processed foods completely.
After a while eating this way and using the app, I have gained a pretty good understanding of serving sizes and high calorie/carb/fat foods. I don't use the app much anymore but it gave me the building blocks of knowledge to really analyze my day.
The second must have tool is the BodyBugg. This thing is amazing! It calculates the users calorie burn by measuring your weight, heart rate, and perspiration rate. I wore the BodyBugg for about a month. It gave me a great understanding of how many calories I burn while doing different activities. I was able to determine that on average, without any kind of exercise, I burn about 2000-2200 calories. This is just in every day housework, shopping etc. That's a good number to know when you are trying to lose weight. Generally speaking...for every 3500 calories burned, you lose one pound of fat so knowing how many calories you take in is vital to knowing how many you need to burn.
Important tid bits of info I learned from BodyBugg: an hour at Curves burns about about 576 calories. An hour walking burns about 335 calories. It takes about 20 minutes of walking to raise your heart rate to a fat burning level. So, for all of you out there who walk for 20 minutes at a time...you're stopping before your burning fat! It's good for your overall health to walk so it's not necessarily a waste of time, it's just not an effective fat burning work out to walk...more like a good way to get in the habit of exercising as a routine and to maintain basic health. On the elliptical, I burn about 550 calories in an hour.
The difference between Curves and the elliptical is that I don't actually spend an hour at Curves. It takes about 25 minutes to complete the circuit. Even when I round the circle three times (which I do regularly), it's a total of 37 1/2 minutes. So that's about.. 360 calories for the work out. It's about the same as an hour walk but in less time. Less time is good! Less time means more burn for your effort.
So..taking the two important tools information into account, I can see that on an elliptical day, I burn about 2850 (2200 daily burn + 550 workout) calories. I'm eating about 1800 calories in a day giving me an surplus of about 900 calories on that day. If I do that three times a week, that's 2700 extra calories right there. A Curves day, I will burn about 2560 (2200 daily burn + 360 workout) calories. 2560-1800 intake of calories is a surplus of 760. If I do that twice a week, that's 1520 calories added to my weekly burn, now at 4220. One more day to account for: yoga day. I do not know how much calories I will burn doing yoga because I haven't done it yet with the BodyBugg. However, giving it a guess...I would say it should be about the same as a one hour walk. I calculated that to be about 335 calories in an hour. 2200 + 335=2535 daily calorie burn. 2535-1800=735 surplus.
SO...adding up the total surplus of calories for a week in my new schedule effective this week: Monday-735 + Tuesday-760 + Wednesday-900 + Thursday-760 + Friday-900 + Saturday-900=4955 surplus per week. 3500/4955 or about 1.42 lbs per week. That gives me a total poundage loss prediction over my current 8 week schedule of: 11.36 lbs. This is just a rough estimate but is my best guess.
More tools! A good heart rate monitor is essential to planning a fat burning specific workout! You can get them pretty much anywhere...you want the chest strap! It will usually be compatible with gym equipment to give you a constant monitor during your hardest workouts. My target heart rate for burning fat is 120-156. I can work out harder than that, but would start burning calorie from muscle, increasing my endurance but burning less fat.
There can also be variations in calorie burn based on body type, metabolism and diet, i.e., eat a high in fat diet, you will have more new fat to burn before you can get around to the excess fat in your body. Although I have some "hard data" figures here..it's really just an educated guess. Of course less calorie intake means more surplus/poundage loss as well. Since I did not account for the three weekly interval training sessions in my schedule as part of this calculation or the laps I swim after every work out.. I may lose even more, and so might you using the same schedule! Everyone is different! These tools allow you to figure out what works for you! Ahh.. the beauty of tools.
Anyhoo... if you are interested in checking out the Bodybugg click the link. For the Calorie counter app, just search for it in the app store. It's the one with the green apple logo. Questions/Comments? See below! And stay tuned to see if my weight loss prediction proves correct :)
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