Back into the groove

So last week was a wash regarding returning to training due to illness. I'm all better now and I've already gotten my week started off right by heading to the gym earlier today. I got in 50 minutes of cardio by completing 40 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the bike. It felt really good to be back in the gym after 6 days away. I thought it would be difficult to accomplish what I planned on doing, the 40 minutes, but it wasn't at all. Impressive!

My plan for this week will include weight training in the morning and running in the evening (if the weather cooperates *fingers crossed* I really don't want to run on the treadmill). I'm 4 weeks out from my 10K, and I need to step up the training. No half-stepping. It is likely I won't be able to run the entire 10K due to my lack of training, but I want to be able to run at least 4-5 miles. We'll see....

Timing at the gym, redux

Since I wrote this post, my timing has improved at the gym. I'm putting in 20 minutes of cardio then a weights workout. I've reduced my time between sets which helps to keep my heart rate up and reduces idle time. At present, I'm going 5 days per week. I'll do that this week so that I can finish out the month (I'm out of town next week).

Here's my routine:

Monday - biceps & triceps
Tuesday - legs
Wednesday - back & abs
Thursday - chest
Friday - shoulders & abs

I complete 20 minutes of cardio, the weights workout, and end with stretching.

Next week, I'm only in town Monday & Tuesday. I haven't decided if I want to do a full body workout each day or just cardio each day. We'll see how I feel come Monday.

Timing at the gym

I think I need to adjust my timing. Yesterday and today I put in 20 minutes on the treadmill then moved to the weight room. I then moved to the weightroom for 30 minutes. That seems like a lot of time, but when you consider the 15-30 seconds of rest time between sets, moving around the room, doing abs, and stretching - it's not a lot of time.

Yesterday I did 6 exercises and today I did 7 exercises. That seems like a fair amount, but I don't enough time to do abs and stretch. I either need to do less cardio or adjust to weights 3 days per week and cardio 2 days per week. I'm going to finish this week out as is so that I can become familiar with the machines in the room. I'll reevaluate at the end of the week.

January Plans

As stated over the weekend, I was successful with my cardio blitz in December and now it is time for a change. I'm going back into the weight room this month and will continue to cardio as well. Since I'm still at a new facility (today was first day in weight room), I still have to learn what's all available. I don't know what's in there and how to set-up my weights routine just yet. Therefore, this week I'll play it by ear until I learn what's there.

This month, I'm also going to get back into a regular routine of moving my body by walking/running. I've already started with the walking/running by putting in 3.6 miles on January 1st. Yay! This morning I put in some time on the treadmill and logged the miles with Nike+ GPS. I've never done that before, but decided why not since there's the treadmill option in that app.



I then moved to the weight and did an arms workout (biceps, triceps, & shoulders). I finished out with some abs, push-ups, and stretching. All in all a good workout.

I hit the pavement after work for some more miles:



By the numbers:

3.62 miles
25 minutes of weights (upper body), abs, push-ups, stretching

All in all, a good day!

Cardio Blitz

To combat holiday weight gain last year I did strictly cardio during the month of December. At the start of 2010, I hadn't gained any weight due to holiday eating, drinking, & gallivanting. I hoping for the same this year.

Starting today and concluding with the last week in December, my aim is 4 days of at least 40 minutes of cardio. I'll do a combination of the bike, elliptical, stairmaster, and arc trainer. I'm also going to include running as I'm going to do a 10K come February. So 2-3 days per week, I'll get out on the road to run 30-40 minutes at a time.

I'm also going to attempt to blog regularly (as I noticed I hadn't been in this space since late October!) over the next few weeks noting my progress. I probably should have stepped on the scale this morning, but I forgot. I'll try to do so tomorrow morning.

On track

Despite, changing my routine, I'm still on track to reach my goal of 40 miles for October. As you can see, from the image above, I'm 16 miles from 40 and I still have 2 weeks to go. My running goal is up to 12 miles during the weeks. So, I got this!

Changing it up

This past week I decided to change up my workout routine. Over the past few months, I've been going hard with workouts 5-6 days per week with double workouts 2-3 of those days. Generally, my schedule looked like this:

Sunday - 4 mile run/walk
Monday - gym (weights)
Tuesday - gym (cardio & weights); run/walk in the evening
Wednesday - gym (all cardio)
Thursday - gym (cardio & weights); run/walk in the evening
Friday - gym or rest day
Saturday - 4 mile run/walk

That was a lot and I could feel that I needed a change. So I did. Here's my new routine:

Sunday - 4 mile run/walk
Monday - gym (10 min cardio & weights)
Tuesday - 3-4 mile run/walk
Wednesday - gym (20 min cardio & weights)
Thursday - 3-4 mile run/walk
Friday - gym (10 min cardio & weights)
Saturday - rest

Thoughts after doing that routine this week: pretty good. It did feel funny not heading out for a run this AM, but I was determined to let my body rest. I'll follow this routine at least until the end of the year.

Planning

I'm already packed for my gym workout in the morning, and my lunch and snacks are packed for the day. My plan was to also get in, at least 2 miles, of running after work. Unfortunately, my car decided it wanted some attention so I need to take it in for some service after work. Then it hit me! Run while the car is being serviced.

So I packed another bag of clothes to change into at the end of the workday. I'll change at the office then head to the car place, which happens to be at the mall. I'll run the outskirts of the parking area while they work on the car. Score! I'll also take some water so I have some when I'm done.

Planning. Yay!

My weakness

Cookies!

I

Cookies!

They are my all time favorite snack item to consume.

While I like pie, cake, chips, candy, and other items that have an abundance of calories, I can limit myself with those items. I can turn them down without a second thought. I attended several dinners a few weeks back where everyone ordered desert except me. Why? Because the extra calories weren't worth it. Yes, the desert items appealed to me, but not enough. Now, if a warm cookie had been on the menu I would have succumbed. I guess that is a plus to that being my weakness....knowing that most places don't serve cookies for desert. :)

I'm kind like Cookie Monster.

I. Want. Cookies!!!!!

If they are there, I will consume. No doubt about it.

I reflected on how I ended up at a weight of 236 pounds and one of the reasons was cookies. I used to make cookies on a weekly basis, either from scratch or those break and bake ones from Nestle (those were just too easy). I would also purchase cookies from the bakery in the grocery store of they were sold on the counter at the place I was eating lunch. That would be my desert.

Suffice it to say, I knew I had a problem with cookies. And I still do. It didn't go away because I lost weight or began eating more healthy. What happened, was I became better able to control my impulse. Yes, it is still there and I do cave at times, but not as often.

I don't keep cookies in the house and I don't purchase those break & bake cookies anymore.

I do purchase those 100 calorie cookie packs to feed my desire. Yes, they are expensive, but they work. They give me my cookie fix in a limited quantity and limited caloric quantity. I do what I have to do!

What's your weakness?

What's your routine?

One day my nephew asked me, "Auntie, why do you come home and immediately make your lunch? Why don't you rest a little while and do that later?"

He's right. I come straight home and prepare my lunch & snacks for the next day. Then I immediately unpack my gym bag and repack it for the next day. My answer to my nephew was that if I do it as soon as I get home, then I'll have more time to rest later. I don't have to worry about doing it at 8:30 or later and pushing back the time that I want to go to bed. Basically, it is not a task that I have to do later.

Doing so keeps me on my toes and insures that I am going to make the gym the next day and eat healthy throughout the day.

What's your routine? How do you keep yourself accountable?