TouchedByMadness » Fitness Friday

No Fitness Friday Post This Week

TouchedByMadness — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:42:24 +0000

Too much on my mind.

Fitness Friday: Week 6

TouchedByMadness — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:13:38 +0000

I know, it seems like I just posted one of these, yet here we are again at another Fitness Friday. (Ok, it’s Saturday. So sue me.)

So, it’s been an interesting week. First of all, due to the eight gaping holes in my mouth, I’ve been more or less on a soup and pudding diet since last Friday. It’s difficult to make great nutritional choices when the hardest food I’ve been able to eat is pasta. God I miss steak.

Then there was the issue of exercise. I couldn’t even do yoga, my favorite, because the oral surgeon told me no being upside down (unless I wanted to make my sockets bleed, which, no thank you). Plus I had no energy to work out anyway since I hadn’t been able to eat much. I’ve been weak and tired whenever I’m not actually drugged and/or asleep.

Oh, and note to self: Pencilin makes you feel pukey.

Drama aside, let’s see how the week went:

Goal #1: Per my fitness fanatic friend’s advice, I will attempt to figure out what kind of food my metabolism requires to function properly. She seems to think my love of carbs could be to blame for my sleepiness.

In progress. I’m slowly reading through a book on metabolic typing. I’m going to have to actually pay attention to how my body reacts to different foods to be able to accurately determine what’s right for me. All I know is that the “healthier” I have been trying to make my diet, the worse I seem to feel. The book says that’s not unusual because each person’s dietary needs are unique and personal to them. I’m hoping my metabolism functions best on ice cream and doughnuts, but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

Goal #2: I will attempt to snack on protein-rich foods after my workouts. Above mentioned friend also informed me that this is necessary to keep my muscles happy.

N/A. My muscles didn’t need any rebuilding this week. They have gotten plenty of protein anyway since yogurt doesn’t require chewing.

Goal #3: If needed, I will cut myself some slack on the exercising and healthy eating because I’ll probably feel like hell for at least part of the week and won’t be able to eat anything much harder than pudding for awhile. I will not take the week off, however.

Achieved, I guess. I went for long walks twice during the week (when it wasn’t raining). Mostly I was forced to give myself time to heal. And somehow I managed not to eat loads of crap.

And now, onto my new baby steps to a kick ass body:

1. I will begin noting how different types of foods affect my energy level, mood, etc in an effort to determine why “healthy eating” makes me tired as hell.

2. I will get my butt back to the gym this week. At least twice.

3. I will do planks for 60 consecutive seconds every day. With minimal grumbling.

So, yeah, nothing too exciting to report here. If you’d really like to be inspired, Iasa biked 30 miles for one of her goals. And Jewelz? Well, she’s shifted gears from exercise goals to doing the Dr. Natura Colonix program. Good luck with that, Jewelz. I think I’ll stick with push ups.

Now I’m going to go watch it rain some more and remember the days back when the sun used to shine and I actually had the motivation for this fitness stuff. **sigh**

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Lao-tzu

Fitness Friday: Week 5

TouchedByMadness — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:15:32 +0000

How the time does fly when there are goals to reach. Somehow it is once again Fitness Friday.

(Actually it’s Thursday, but by the time you are reading this I will be all drugged up after having EIGHT teeth pulled, including my four wisdom teeth. Judging by the fact that two of the wisdom teeth are impacted, they want me UNCONSCIOUS for the extractions, and I need to pay for two rounds of anesthesia, I’m thinking I’m going to be seriously doped up tomorrow afternoon. I figured you’d prefer a coherent post. Ok, odds are you’d prefer the drugged out of mind post, but whatever. This is what you get.)

Anyway, it’s been a pretty low key week with all the preparations for the surgery. (My desk currently looks like a pharmacy. I’m beginning to feel a little freaked out.) Between coordinating a driver to safely transport me home from surgery (by the way friends and family, thanks for being all “Not it!” about it), making sure I have mush in the fridge to eat once I have no teeth, and figuring out which of these pills I’m supposed to be taking when, did I actually attempt any of my fitness goals?

Goal #1: I will change up my workout routine. Although I’ve recently added in the yoga, I’ve been doing the same stuff at the gym for over a year now. It’s time I put together a new routine to challenge my body.

Achieved? I guess technically not going to the gym at all counts, but that’s not what I had in mind when I set this goal. I have been looking at a few fitness sites to try to find a good overall body toning workout. I’ve also decided that it’s time to branch out from the elliptical machine to the treadmill and stationary bikes. But honestly, I’ve gone home and crashed every day this week. Sometimes sleep is more necessary than exercise.

(I did go running on Sunday and did Monday Night Yoga, so I wasn’t a total slug.)

Goal #2: I will attempt to better control portion sizes at meals. Thanks to my mom, whatever you put on my plate I feel obligated to finish and the Captain puts a lot of food on our plates. All that exercising isn’t going to do a damn bit of good if I’m always devouring dinner like it’s my last meal. If I’m really that hungry, then I can go back for seconds.

Achieved. I’ve been using smaller plates for lunch since I have a tendency to fill up whatever real estate is open. The Captain has been reducing portion size at dinner as well. Not too surprisingly, we aren’t still hungry when we finish what’s on our plates.

Goal #3: I will attempt to jog a mile. For reals. I do more distance than that any time I’m on the elliptical, so I’m hoping I can run around a track without fainting.

Achieved. Hell yeah.

Now, with all this eating healthy and exercising and drinking water and sleeping eight hours a night and taking my vitamins, you’d expect me to have tons of energy right? But no. I’m always freaken exhausted. It’s nothing medical (according to my recent blood tests), so I have to consider other possibilities. Which brings me to my goals for the coming week:

1. Per my fitness fanatic friend’s advice, I will attempt to figure out what kind of food my metabolism requires to function properly. She seems to think my love of carbs could be to blame for my sleepiness.

2. I will attempt to snack on protein-rich foods after my workouts. Above mentioned friend also informed me that this is necessary to keep my muscles happy.

3. If needed, I will cut myself some slack on the exercising and healthy eating because I’ll probably feel like hell for at least part of the week and won’t be able to eat anything much harder than pudding for awhile. I will not take the week off, however.

As always, anyone can pick up Fitness Fridays with me. If you plan to participate this week, here’s what to do:

First, choose three goals for yourself that are reasonably challenging, yet attainable. Goals can be anything from “taking the stairs instead of the elevator” to “completing this weekend’s marathon.” Whatever is right for you. Fitness goals can also include eating smarter or getting an adequate amount of sleep. Basically anything that makes you a healthier you.

Once you’ve thought of your goals, post them on your blog so you are accountable to work on them over the next week. If you don’t have a blog, write them down on paper and post them on your wall, fridge, etc.

Finally, let other participants know about your goals so we can offer encouragement and congrats as you make progress.

Current Fitness Fridays participants include:

Jewelz

Iasa

That’s it for me. I hope you are looking forward to a better week than mine. I wonder if shaking the instant pudding counts as exercise.

Until next week . . .

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Lao-tzu

Fitness Friday: Week 4

TouchedByMadness — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:30:19 +0000

Happy Friday everyone! Can you believe it’s June already? Hopefully you’re enjoying the warmer weather. I know a nice sunny day gets me in the mood to get moving. If only it would stop raining here in New England where April showers have brought May . . . showers. And June showers. But boy, the lawn is healthy.

Despite a number of dreary days, it was a pretty good week for me. So on this Fitness Friday #4, let’s take a look at how things have been going:

Goal #1: I will expand upon my three workouts a week pattern. Whether I add a little strength training at lunchtime or tack on a whole extra workout, I don’t want to have too many inactive days in a row.

Achieved! I exercised for 30-90 minutes on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and yesterday. On the weekend I fit in some long walks. During my lunch hour I squeezed in a few sets of lunges, squats, ballroom dancing, or whatever if I wasn’t sure I’d make it to the gym. I even dusted off my Wii Fit. (It’s still not nice to me.)

Goal #2: I will keep up with those damn push ups. When I finally reach this goal, I so deserve a prize.

A never-ending work in progress. I have resisted the urge to go back to doing push ups on my knees, but I don’t seem to be getting much stronger or better at doing them on my toes yet. I think I’ll give myself a month and then revist this goal to see if by then I’ve made progress.

Goal #3: I will fit in a yoga day. Lord knows I need to center myself. Due to appointments and the holiday, I haven’t done yoga in almost three weeks. This could potentially become my “extra” workout for the week.

Achieved. Actually, I fit in two yoga days. I did 35 minutes of yoga on Saturday as well as my usual 90 minute power yoga class on Monday. Yoga is fast becoming my favorite workout of the week.

Overall, I’m pretty proud of myself. If I can keep this up, I may actually have a nice beach body for our Fourth of July trip to the Cape. But before I bask in the glory of my achievements too much, it’s time to set this week’s baby steps to a kick ass body:

1. I will change up my workout routine. Although I’ve recently added in the yoga, I’ve been doing the same stuff at the gym for over a year now. It’s time I put together a new routine to challenge my body.

2. I will attempt to better control portion sizes at meals. Thanks to my mom, whatever you put on my plate I feel obligated to finish and the Captain puts a lot of food on our plates. All that exercising isn’t going to do a damn bit of good if I’m always devouring dinner like it’s my last meal. If I’m really that hungry, then I can go back for seconds.

3. I will attempt to jog a mile. For reals. I do more distance than that any time I’m on the elliptical, so I’m hoping I can run around a track without fainting.

As always, anyone can pick up Fitness Fridays with me. If you plan to participate this week, here’s what to do:

Finally, let other participants know about your goals so we can offer encouragement and congrats as you make progress.

Current Fitness Fridays participants include:
Jewelz
Iasa

Oh, and the Captain. Sort of. Since I started Fitness Fridays I notice he gets up earlier in the morning and goes for a jog. Well, if it’s not raining. Or a weekend. So really he exercises about 2 – 3 times a week, but that’s still pretty good.

All this talk about exercise has worn me out. I think it’s time to snuggle on the couch with the cats. And watch it rain. Again.

Until next week . . .

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Lao-tzu

Fitness Friday: Week 3

TouchedByMadness — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:25:32 +0000

Helloooooo weekend! Is it just me or do “short” weeks sometimes seem longer than regular weeks? Either way, it is once again Fitness Friday.

As I look back at my progress over the week, I’m a little disappointed in myself. I’ve been really out of sorts lately and it’s translated to lack of energy and enthusiasm for my fitness program. I hope that I can shake off the sleepiness and rev myself up for a better week this round.

So, did I meet my goals?

Goal #1: Despite the holiday weekend, I will keep up with my goal of exercising three or more times in the next week so getting fit becomes part of my regular routine.

Achieved. Just barely. I did make it to the gym Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday for 40 – 45 minute workouts, but boy are good habits hard to maintain.

Goal #2: I will work on those push ups and attempt to perfect my form to the Captain’s satisfaction.

Still in progress. The push ups are slow going. Getting my nose to the floor is something I’m apparently not strong enough to do. The Captain is focused on getting me to execute one perfect push up. I’m beginning to think I’m better off doing as many as I can going as low as I can now and I should try to get my nose to the floor as I get stronger. Isn’t it better to do ten almost there push ups instead of just one that meets the standard?

Goal #3: I will work on my abs for at least five minutes every day.

Achieved. Sort of. I did work on my abs every day, but I know I could have done way more than I did. It was a crampy kind of week so I didn’t push myself very hard. On a positive note, I have been much better about remembering to exercise my obliques. Love handles? What love handles?

Overall I wouldn’t give myself a grand huzzah, but I’m pleased that I’m trying to stick to my plan and haven’t blown off exercise altogether yet.

Which means it’s time for some new baby steps to a kick ass body:

1. I will expand upon my three workouts a week pattern. Whether I add a little strength training at lunchtime or tack on a whole extra workout, I don’t want to have too many inactive days in a row.

2. I will keep up with those damn push ups. When I finally reach this goal, I so deserve a prize.

3. I will fit in a yoga day. Lord knows I need to center myself. Due to appointments and the holiday, I haven’t done yoga in almost three weeks. This could potentially become my “extra” workout for the week.

As always, anyone can pick up Fitness Fridays with me. If you plan to participate this week, here’s what to do:

Finally, let other participants know about your goals so we can offer encouragement and congrats as you make progress. Last week Jewelz and Iasa got on the bandwagon. I can’t wait to see how they’re doing!

Now it’s about time I do something particularly important to my health and well being – RELAX.

Until next week . . .

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Lao-tzu

Fitness Friday: Week 2

TouchedByMadness — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:42:59 +0000

Believe it or not, it is once again Fitness Friday. For those of you just tuning in, the point of Fitness Friday is to baby step my (or your) way to a healthy, rockin’ body.

I’ve discovered that having lofty long term goals (e.g. being able to pass an Army physical fitness test, having the ass of a Brazilian supermodel, etc.) aren’t effective for me because I easily get discouraged and slack off. With Fitness Fridays, I set small short term goals that over time will hopefully get me big results.

So, how did my first week go?

Goal #1: I will exercise for at least 30 minutes three or more times in the next week.

Achieved. Sunday I did 45 minutes of strength training. Wednesday I did 30 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of strength training. Yesterday I did 20 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training. And I’ll admit, if I didn’t have this goal in place, I’d have skipped at least one of those days.

Goal #2: By next Friday I will be able to do five regulation push ups. Without crying.

In progress. I knew this one would be a huge challenge. I hate push ups and avoid them at all costs. Yesterday I was finally able to do a couple solid sets of “man-style” push ups. The Drill Sergeant Captain says I’m not lowering quite deep enough for Army standards. Adjusting for “Army standards” resulted in a face plant and the decision that I was done with push ups for the evening. I give myself half credit on this one.

Goal #3: I will stretch until I’m loose enough to bend over and touch my toes every day next week.

Achieved. I actually did my daily stretches and can now (most days) touch my toes without an extensive warm up routine. Eventually I’d love to get my palms on the floor, but I’m not going to rush it.

In general, I notice some parts of my body getting firmer, and when I work out I occasionally see evidence of muscles where I used to see a bit of chub. Go me!

Anyway, that was last week. Time to set some goals for this week. Today’s baby steps to a kick ass body are:

1. Despite the holiday weekend, I will keep up with my goal of exercising three or more times in the next week so getting fit becomes part of my regular routine.

2. I will work on those push ups and attempt to perfect my form to the Captain’s satisfaction.

3. I will work on my abs for at least five minutes every day.

If you plan to participate this week, here’s what to do:

Finally, let other participants know about your goals so we can offer encouragement and congrats as you make progress. Speaking of which, at some point Jewelz will be joining me (after she recovers a bit from her surgery). Make sure to drop by and show her some love.

Until next week . . .

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Lao-tzu

Fitness Friday: Inaugural Edition

TouchedByMadness — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:44:40 +0000

If you’ve been a reader for awhile, you are probably aware of my love/hate relationship with exercise. For years now I’ve been trying to become a healthier me. Somehow I always fall far short of attaining any sort of measurable results. Maybe because I cheat. A lot. (Being near the weights room is apparently not the same thing as lifting weights. Who knew?)

It occurred to me recently (when I wrote this post) that my blog can be a powerful tool to keep me on track. Once I post a promise to myself, it’s there for everyone to see. It’s real. Instant accountability!

So beginning today, on Fridays I will post three small, attainable fitness goals that I must attempt to accomplish in the subsequent seven days. This week’s baby steps to a kick ass body are:

1. I will exercise for at least thirty minutes three or more times in the next week.

2. By next Friday I will be able to do five regulation push ups. Without crying.

3. I will stretch until I’m loose enough to bend over and touch my toes every day next week.

If you’ve been trying to motivate yourself to get in shape as well, you can participate in Fitness Fridays too. Just come up with your own three goals based on what you think you can achieve in a week. Post them on your blog. Then let me know so I can drop by and offer words of encouragement!

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Lao-tzu