Where have I been?

I have had the hardest time getting back on a regular schedule. I was laying in bed last night just after midnight literally counting sheep. Then meditating, then other junk. I felt like when I was 8 and Dad told me to just not move and I would go to sleep. Urgh! Thankfully, amidst all that frustration I did fall asleep and got up around 8:30. Wow, I am almost like a normal adult... let's see if that lasts. Anywho, got Billie up and out the door right away. We went for a long stroll. And I do mean stroll, 2-3 miles an hour tops and no sweating. So what do you do when you go for such a long walk but don't know how long you went? Well, besides getting in your car and tracing your path - www.mapmyrun.com. I have used it a ton before and I just remembered what a great resource it is. So I am glad to say that we went just under 4 and a half miles today during our stroll.
Billie is a great metaphor for how not to run - first mile or so he is chomping at the bit, practically jumping as he digs his front paws out as if mushing the alaskan frontier. Then he foams at the mouth, panting like crazy and being constantly distracted by everything around him. In the middle of our walk he still pulls at the leash for the occasional squirrel, but mostly stays by my side. The last stretch I am dragging him along as he stops to sniff everything and walks very slowly behind me. Silly Billie Goat!!
Not really sore from my workout with Nikkie yesterday but, I am still going to hold myself back from doing any weights - don't want to strain myself ;) You should always have a rest day between weight training. If you want to do weight training every day just rotate from different muscle groups. I am going to do some supermans today though for my back ;)

"On the day of victory, no one is tired."

I did it....kinda

I woke up this morning and was laying in bed thinking about my day....and it dawned on me that my usual routine is to get on the computer, check email, surf the web for awhile and then play some games until I felt like getting ready for work. Usually more than an hour of stuff before I got really going.

so.....instead of picking up the computer, I got out of bed, put on some jeans, picked up my bathing suit and went to the Wellness Center for a swim.

Not a lot....I only did 10 laps, but that is 10 laps more than I did last week!

A Baby Step

ok...I took a first step. I joined the Riverside Wellness Center close to me. It costs more than the Y, but it's more convenient so I'm hoping I'll go more often.

So far, I've been once...to sign up....I have my bag in the car, but I didn't make it to the gym or pool yet....maybe tomorrow? (I have 5 client meetings tomorrow and then a church dinner in the evening so I doubt I'll make it) Is it true that the first step is the hardest? I'm thinking that the second step may be the one.

I had planned to set up appointments with a personal trainer, but he hasn't called yet (it's been just over 24 hours)...how long should I wait before I contact another trainer? (and I thought I was the patient one!)

I guess I need to stop making excuses and just do something. I should think about what sort of advice I'd give me if I were my mom. Oh yeah...just do it!

and I should take Amie's advice and get some vitamins (besides, the doctor called today and told me to take them too). And maybe I should get one of those PUR thingys too. I don't mind tap water, but the sink is upstairs at work, so it would probably be easier if I got a pitcher and kept it on my desk...I didn't realize how much I was drinking until I looked at the box of empty water bottles to go to the recycle place....at least I don't drink a lot of soda!

The Scoop

So my peeps at Fitness Plus gave me the scoop today. I asked Nikki and Sheila a ton of questions during my session. First, I have been mulling around this whole endo-, ecto- and mesomorph body types. You can look up a ton of stuff on these body types for your own enjoyment. The general consensus was that the descriptions themselves were scientific but the more people take those descriptions and add on other things like a particular diet and stuff the less scientific it becomes. For example, I (like most of you) am an endomorph. No matter how much weight I lose, as long as I am healthy (and not concentration camp skinny) I will have that shape. And yes, I have naturally strong legs and it is easier for me to gain muscle and fat. Does that mean I was destined to look like a linebacker? No, I look like a linebacker because for the majority of my life I ate like one. End of story. So, it was an interesting foray into body types, but I am not going to use it to figure out a different weight loss/excercise/weight training plan. You just can't get any better than calories in/calories out. Do you know that you need over 1800 calories a day to sustain 240? Did you know I use to think 1800 calories wasn't very much? I don't know about you, but I use to get in the rut of just thinking to eat at all I would be pushing 2000+ calories a day. That simply is not the case. My nutrisystem stuff (which is just the packaged items, not the prescribed add-ins) sticks around 700-850 calories a day. I will write a post later about how I use nutrisystem and why it seems to work for me....
Back to my training session with Nikki...I asked about my vitamins. I was reading this morning about how you shouldn't take vitamins right before bed, especially B Complex and E. Something about making you restless or not absorbing correctly. Not to worry, since vitamins contain no calories they also contain no energy (energy=calories, calories=energy) so happy me - I can keep doing the nighttime routine.
I'm sure I will have ample opportunity to gush about Nikki but today is just one reason that I love working with her. She truly is interested. I don't know about you but, I have been to a few places that when you ask any questions they stop you cold with, "oh we have a class for that. It's X amount of dollars..." Don't get me wrong, I am all about nutrition classes and I try not to take advantage of Nikki by constantly e-mailing or calling or bugging her about junk. I value the fact that she should be paid for her services. But there is a big difference between being genuinely interested in your clients and making a buck. That's the most important thing she does for me... oh and keeping count, lol!

"We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."

My Strategies - The Psychology of Soda

Hey, this is Mike. So why does blogspot think my name is Bovinus? Well, I'm also a contributor on the blogspot blog The End of Journalism. In an homage to the
Federalist Papers, in which the authors took the anonymous name Publius, I decided it would be fun to take on the pseudonym Bovinus. No connection between the health theme and the giant grinning cow on my profile.

I think this blog is a great idea, and I'd love to participate. I'll share some more of my strategies, but I would like to start with something simple I posted a couple of weeks ago.

What is soda? In its simplest form, it is a mixture of syrup and carbonated water. What role does it take in your life?

If you view soda a water-replacement, you are most likely more tired than you need to be, you struggle being outside on hot days, and your body has trouble getting rid of toxins in your body.

If you view soda as a dessert, something to be experienced in moderation and always accompanying water, then you have very little to fear from soda.

I recently tried a bottle of Pepsi Natural, which is made using real sugar (not high fructose corn syrup) and Kola nut extract. It’s amazing. It’s also close to five dollars for a pack of 4 bottles. Worth it, but probably not something I’ll be able to buy every time.

Research (like this) suggests that high fructose corn syrup decreases your ability to feel “full” and leads to obesity, among other problems. Of course, some of the replacements for high fructose corn syrup in diet beverages are also controversial. When possible, we should be drinking things with natural sugars like fruit juices.

What is soda to you?

Vitamins...

I think we all know how important vitamins are. Like most health related things, I bet Daddie is the best at being consistent in this area. I would like to be more consistent. So I have dusted off the bottles and refilled my weekly medicine dispenser for daily vitamins. If you are looking to add vitamins to your routine I highly suggest you purchase a weekly dispenser. That way you don't have to sit and open each bottle every morning or evening. I use to take them in the morning, now I take my vitamins at night, right before I brush my teeth. I doubt this makes a difference - I just have been working on a nighttime routine to relax...somehow taking my vitamins mellows me out ;) When I filled the dispenser I noticed I only had a few fish oil tablets left so I got a new bottle tonight at Meijer. Here are the vitamins I am taking:

Fish Oil (with Omega 3 - Heart and Circulatory health - we all have heart disease in our background)
Calcium (with vitamin D - I am a girl and would love to stay strong like grandma marse!)
Super B-Complex
Vitamin C (who wants to get sick?)
Vitamin E
Multi Vitamin

*To each his own on this one but, I get the generic labels of vitamins. Sometimes they are on major sale. For example tonight at Meijer, I got 100 softgels of Fish Oil for 8 dollars instead of 150 softgels of NatureMade Fish Oil for 24.55

I use to take Glucosamine when I was running regularly, but I am not convinced it actually does anything. If my knees hurt more than usual I might add them back in.

"Those who say it can't be done shouldn't interrupt those who are doing it" - Chinese Proverb

Week 2 of New Plan

Hey peoples ;)
So I started back with Nikki two weeks ago. Nikki was my personal trainer long ago and I have her back for one session a week. I love working out with her, I will surely gush later. For now however, I want to detail what I have been up to since our last session. I am on the ball, let's hope it keeps rolling.
I went to work out with Nikki last Tuesday at 2pm. As usual we did a full body workout with intermittent cardio. I especially loved this slanted fly move we did. Not really sure what it is actually called. I hold on to two ropes (one in each hand) as I lean back. Then as I spread the ropes apart I begin to stand up. Pretty awesome, I was definitely sore!
Tuesday night I went for a walk with Billie. Nothing too huge, maybe a couple miles at a moderate pace.
Wednesday was an off day. I was surprised how little sore I was. I honestly was only sore around my shoulders and that fleshy part between bra strap and shoulder.
Thursday I tried my new workout video. I get Netflix, so I orderd the Bravo TV show "Workout" workout video. It was a lot more tough then expected. I did the lower body section and I couldn't go on. Sweating like a boxer... I just turned in for the rest of the day :)
Friday I got up and was going to take Billie for a walk. We got less than half a mile before getting poured on. After getting home and dry I went back to the "Workout" workout video. I did both the upper body and core portions. Most of the core excercises were planks though, so I cheated on the majority of that!
Saturday I used the row machine I got from Dad this month and cleaned the house. I decided to clean the hallway bathroom - which is for my tennants and I don't know when it was last cleaned. So gross, lots of scrubbing. Actually brought me to sweating on a few occasions. I decided that was enough of that ;)
Sunday (today) I got up and did both the upper and lower body portions of the "Workout" workout video and did a little on the row machine.

My goal for this week is to find a good routine for daily core work. Tomorrow I just have the walk to and from my class. Roundtrip is 3 miles.

Smiles,
amie

I have tons of cool inspirational quotes, I will try to end my posts with them ;)

"You can have excuses or results, not both"

Perfect!

thanks Amie! That was a great intro post!

What are we doing here?

So mom calls me today about personal training. Evidently she found a new place to work out and wanted info on what sort of certification a personal trainer should have. Surely she will tell you all about her new place to work out.
Then I thought, why not have a blog for us all to talk about our excercise routines. This is an easy way to encourage everybody to keep going. We all know that I love to get excited and usually lose steam somewhere along the lines....so this can help us all stay motivated!
So please use this blog to keep everybody updated on your routines, diets, etc and please be upbeat toward others. I know that our typical language of love isn't so motivating.... but everybody can change ;)
Good luck everybody! Let's keep this blog all about excercise, diet and health related goals.

Smiles,
amie