Well, I posted recently about being re-energized for exercise. Which is true. And, even with the leg keeping me out of the exercise game for a week, I find I am still very motivated. Not only am I working out more, I'm trying to improve/hone the exercise routine and do more yoga.
The major improvement is I switched my gym membership to a new gym closer to my house (same club). Their equipment is the latest and they have weight machines by Hoist which involve the core as well as the muscle group being used. They're pretty cool. A big change, which is working nicely in the first couple of weeks, is that I do all my strength training at one time, rather than alternating days for arms and legs. This has cut down on the number of days I have to go to the gym (a major de-motivator for me as I hate packing the gym bag) and is giving me more nights to do yoga. And, this gym's pool (a salt water one) is not in plain view of the front door. I'm hoping to incorporate swimming once a week into the routine (start of this is dependent on when I get a swimsuit suitable for lap swimming).
In addition to this, about a month ago I got on the scales. Gasp! I knew why I felt like a beached whale - I was carrying around the weight of a whale! I checked out several options and finally decided on a free website called SparkPeople (SP). It's been 3 weeks now and I've lost seven pounds. So, I'm pleased. To put it in perspective though, I lost around 25 pounds about five years ago and kept it off for several years. Between Arkansas, the return move to Texas, and the loss of motivation to exercise these past few months, I gained all of it back and then some.
The SparkPeople site is aimed at helping you develop better, healthier eating habits. It also involves tracking what you eat, which in the past has not worked for me. Maybe it's because this is online or because it shows where the calories are coming from (fat, carbs, protein) and where you are falling in the recommended range. I'm a sucker for statistics. So far, no problems with the tracker or staying within my calorie range.
SP also has a fitness tracker, so I'll be moving a lot of my exercise chat to the SP site, but will post little updates here on occasion.
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Not my week....
Just when you think things are picking up, something always happens. For me, it's been muscle spasms and then some. About two weeks ago, I twisted wrong or something after I got home and my back wasn't happy. I figured low key muscle spasms, so I took Advil and took it easy. It worked, by Sunday, the back was fine. Then, Monday, it moved to my leg. Practically in the middle of the day. I'm re-energized for the exercise thing (more on that to come), but try to do yoga on Mondays as that is a busy day at the gym. Well, the DVD player wouldn't work. I finally did a bit in the study using the computer's DVD player, but the room really isn't quite together yet and I did not enjoy doing in there. Tuesday, the leg was still bothering me, but I went to the gym. I rode the bike and did arms, plus stretching. I was kind of hoping that the exercise would help. Ummm... it didn't. By the time I went to bed, I was in pain. Throbbing kind of pain. Then to top it off, something blew the circuit breaker in the master bedroom. I tried all kinds of ways to get it back and couldn't. Aargh! Finally, I just went to bed.
Next morning the leg wasn't any better. If fact, it was worse. Just standing was a problem. I did go into the office, but decided that as soon as I could see the doctor, I was out of there. Fortunately, I got in at 11:30. Diagnosis - severe muscle spasms. She gave me muscle relaxers and pain medicine (which I haven't used). Getting the Rx filled was exhausting as by this time my leg just hurt all the time and was much worse when standing. I finally made it home. Called the electrician and he was here in like five minutes (I'd talked with the builder in the morning). I felt so stupid. It was the circuit breaker, but he got it on where I couldn't. They said that they are just really sensitive and there is a process for getting it back on. Apparently, I didn't do it right. They also checked the outlets in the bedroom just in case. Shortly after I moved in the same thing happened in the guest bedroom. I've never had circuits this sensitive before and think it might be a tad of overkill. After the electrician left, I ate some lunch and crashed.
I thought the leg was better yesterday, but by the time I got home it was almost worse again. I tried heat, but that didn't really help. I was off today (comp time from being on a Search committee at work, something I will never do again). I had plans, but the leg was still not good, so I took it easy most of the day.
I hoping that by Monday it's better. I'm really missing exercising, but the Doctor advised against it until the leg is better. And, it's probably what made it worse to begin with. I guess I'm learning patience.
Next morning the leg wasn't any better. If fact, it was worse. Just standing was a problem. I did go into the office, but decided that as soon as I could see the doctor, I was out of there. Fortunately, I got in at 11:30. Diagnosis - severe muscle spasms. She gave me muscle relaxers and pain medicine (which I haven't used). Getting the Rx filled was exhausting as by this time my leg just hurt all the time and was much worse when standing. I finally made it home. Called the electrician and he was here in like five minutes (I'd talked with the builder in the morning). I felt so stupid. It was the circuit breaker, but he got it on where I couldn't. They said that they are just really sensitive and there is a process for getting it back on. Apparently, I didn't do it right. They also checked the outlets in the bedroom just in case. Shortly after I moved in the same thing happened in the guest bedroom. I've never had circuits this sensitive before and think it might be a tad of overkill. After the electrician left, I ate some lunch and crashed.
I thought the leg was better yesterday, but by the time I got home it was almost worse again. I tried heat, but that didn't really help. I was off today (comp time from being on a Search committee at work, something I will never do again). I had plans, but the leg was still not good, so I took it easy most of the day.
I hoping that by Monday it's better. I'm really missing exercising, but the Doctor advised against it until the leg is better. And, it's probably what made it worse to begin with. I guess I'm learning patience.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A lot of little things.....
Well, the past week and half have been full of little things. First, the AC guy, who was supposed to come to my house on a Friday, didn't. I left work early and even called them twice, at about 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm to verify that he was coming. At first I was told the ticket was closed... they left a note on my door. I said, no that would have been yesterday. I've been here since 2:00 pm (he was due after 3:00 pm) and no one has been here. Oops... he found it. He'll be there. Same conversation an hour and half later. No AC guy on Friday. However, he did come on Saturday, which really surprised me. Turns out that the way it was installed, it's vibrating something against the framing or something in the wall. Ya think? And, how do they fix this? The AC guy tried moving the pipe from the AC unit to the house a bit and oochied the AC unit over a bit on the it's concrete pad. The result - it's not as bad, but it's still there. I'm thinking that vibration in the wall can't be a good thing and will cause some type of problem eventually. And now the programmable thermostat changes settings 15 minutes ahead of what I programmed. I'm thinking they'll be back at my house some time soon.
The people who are supposed to fix the ding in my back door didn't show up either. I re-scheduled for last Friday. Left work early, but was still running behind. Called them to confirm I would definitely be there, but might be late. Their response. The tech is still in South neighboring city and probably won't make it today. I'll have him call you. He didn't show and he didn't call. I'm tempted to live with the darn ding, but it's the principle of the thing. I've been trying since I moved in in January to get the ding fixed.
So, several items still remain from this last round with the builder. I'm going to continue thinking the house itself is sound, but this builder's finish out work I'm not impressed with. I doubt I'd buy a house from them again or recommend them to anyone. Really a shame, since they are supposed to be one of the better builders in the area. Makes you wonder.
Then I spent a weekend killing spiders. I don't particularly mind small ones (don't really like them either), but after killing several large ones, I called the pest control company. I could do this, since the one repair that did get done on time was the sheet rocking for the window above the door. I have tubes in the wall of my house where they spray. But, for the first visit they come out and treat inside the house as well. Service still includes treating the yard and outside the doors and windows. I'm very bug phobic, so this is a very good thing. He also knocked out two wasps nest, one which was above my front door. This guy showed up on time and did an awesome job. You always run the risk of seeing more bugs before less. So far, not in my house, but, ugh... some really big, thankfully dead, spiders on the porches. Moths, too, which is kind of sad cause I don't mind those. Never seen this many moths, though.
Exercise. Ack... not so good for the past couple of weeks. Had to be home early three times to meet repair people, plus some not so good weather equals very little gym time. I think I went twice one week and three times the next. On the plus side, while I'm still having some joint problems, nothing like when I was doing step aerobics. I'm hoping once things settle down with the home repairs, I can get back to a more regular schedule.
Not that I haven't gotten exercise in other forms. I have finally organized my garage! Naturally, I chose a hot, humid Saturday to do it and naturally, the rain and cold front moved through after I was done, but I got it done! Probably not as good as my Dad would have done, but he had some mutated gene for organizing that I don't have. I think he was just born with that ability and alas, he did not pass it on. However, I now have some usable space in the garage and can start going through boxes that were in storage and getting rid of stuff. That's the goal at least.
The people who are supposed to fix the ding in my back door didn't show up either. I re-scheduled for last Friday. Left work early, but was still running behind. Called them to confirm I would definitely be there, but might be late. Their response. The tech is still in South neighboring city and probably won't make it today. I'll have him call you. He didn't show and he didn't call. I'm tempted to live with the darn ding, but it's the principle of the thing. I've been trying since I moved in in January to get the ding fixed.
So, several items still remain from this last round with the builder. I'm going to continue thinking the house itself is sound, but this builder's finish out work I'm not impressed with. I doubt I'd buy a house from them again or recommend them to anyone. Really a shame, since they are supposed to be one of the better builders in the area. Makes you wonder.
Then I spent a weekend killing spiders. I don't particularly mind small ones (don't really like them either), but after killing several large ones, I called the pest control company. I could do this, since the one repair that did get done on time was the sheet rocking for the window above the door. I have tubes in the wall of my house where they spray. But, for the first visit they come out and treat inside the house as well. Service still includes treating the yard and outside the doors and windows. I'm very bug phobic, so this is a very good thing. He also knocked out two wasps nest, one which was above my front door. This guy showed up on time and did an awesome job. You always run the risk of seeing more bugs before less. So far, not in my house, but, ugh... some really big, thankfully dead, spiders on the porches. Moths, too, which is kind of sad cause I don't mind those. Never seen this many moths, though.
Exercise. Ack... not so good for the past couple of weeks. Had to be home early three times to meet repair people, plus some not so good weather equals very little gym time. I think I went twice one week and three times the next. On the plus side, while I'm still having some joint problems, nothing like when I was doing step aerobics. I'm hoping once things settle down with the home repairs, I can get back to a more regular schedule.
Not that I haven't gotten exercise in other forms. I have finally organized my garage! Naturally, I chose a hot, humid Saturday to do it and naturally, the rain and cold front moved through after I was done, but I got it done! Probably not as good as my Dad would have done, but he had some mutated gene for organizing that I don't have. I think he was just born with that ability and alas, he did not pass it on. However, I now have some usable space in the garage and can start going through boxes that were in storage and getting rid of stuff. That's the goal at least.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Exercise and supermarkets
It's beautiful today. Sunny and breezy and mild. This is especially nice since Tuesday severe storms once again rolled through the area. Even though I left work late (by almost an hour), I still went to the gym. I have a lot to do tonight and tried to talk myself out of it, but then I thought I'd probably just come home and watch tv. What a slug. So, I went. I rode the bike and finished off with sit-ups. I didn't do the full workout, but I still went and I'm proud of that. Especially since I tried talking myself out of it.
Last week was different, but some hard lessons. I did yoga on Monday, the step class on Tuesday and Thursday (when it's a Step Jam class, basically more pepped up), and the bike and free weights on Wednesday. After each step class I did free weights, either leg or arms, and sit-ups. Thursday almost killed me - literally. I've been having problems with my hips and I was just in pain after that class. So, I took Friday and the weekend off and decided to play the aerobics by ear this week. Well, with the storms on Tuesday and not feeling really well anyway, I just headed home. However, I did exercise Monday, Wednesday and tonight. And, I'm pretty sure I'll go tomorrow. That's four days and it ain't bad. I'm also going to aim for Yoga sometime this weekend. I used to do that Sunday mornings, but if Church Search continues (see previous post), I'll either be doing it really early or later in the day. The two churches I'm considering though have 10:00 services, which is a nice time. So, if I'm particularly energetic I could do yoga before church. Wouldn't that be nice?
You're probably wondering why the supermarket part? Well, this past Saturday, co-worker LH and I went to Central Market. It was my first time to visit one even though there was one available where I lived (in TX) before. Oh my gosh. What a cool store! They had a great patio area to enjoy lunch. We just got sandwiches, but they were very good and very reasonably priced. The weather was nice, so we got to eat outside. Although, they don't anchor the umbrellas that are at some of the tables, so when the wind gusted, which it did several times, these umbrellas fell over the table. Thank goodness no one got hit, but it added an extra dimension to lunch keeping an out for a falling umbrella. After eating, we headed inside, first stopping to look at their plants. The had a very nice collection of herbs. I've always wanted to do an herb garden. Plants aside, this is just a grocery store, which I really liked. They weren't trying to hawk clothes or office supplies or electronics or anything else. Though they did have a very nice selection of organic personal care products (shower gel, bubble bath, make up, candles). I was happy to see the organic personal care products as several months ago I started using organic products for my facial cleanser hoping it would help with my extremely sensitive skin. So far, so good.
Grocery shopping was just as fun. An awesome veggie and fruit area, along with meats. If you're in to wine they had plenty of that, too. My favorite isle was probably the chocolate/candy isle. Oh, the selection they had! Also, European cookies, including Hit cookies, which brought back fond memories of my trip to Germany many years ago. And, I lucked into flavored water, without sugar. So far, I've sampled three flavors and like them all. Friend TW and I liked Le Nature, but it became very hard to find upon arrival in AR. Haven't seen it since I moved back to TX either. This was a bit more expensive, but it is also 20 oz as opposed to 16 oz for the Le Nature. I've been taking a bottle to work as I'm trying to increase my water intake and reduce my soda intake. I was very proud of myself this afternoon, when instead of getting another soda, I drank the water and didn't miss the soda. Hmmm... maybe that means it won't take me long to develop that habit. It'd be good for me.
Last week was different, but some hard lessons. I did yoga on Monday, the step class on Tuesday and Thursday (when it's a Step Jam class, basically more pepped up), and the bike and free weights on Wednesday. After each step class I did free weights, either leg or arms, and sit-ups. Thursday almost killed me - literally. I've been having problems with my hips and I was just in pain after that class. So, I took Friday and the weekend off and decided to play the aerobics by ear this week. Well, with the storms on Tuesday and not feeling really well anyway, I just headed home. However, I did exercise Monday, Wednesday and tonight. And, I'm pretty sure I'll go tomorrow. That's four days and it ain't bad. I'm also going to aim for Yoga sometime this weekend. I used to do that Sunday mornings, but if Church Search continues (see previous post), I'll either be doing it really early or later in the day. The two churches I'm considering though have 10:00 services, which is a nice time. So, if I'm particularly energetic I could do yoga before church. Wouldn't that be nice?
You're probably wondering why the supermarket part? Well, this past Saturday, co-worker LH and I went to Central Market. It was my first time to visit one even though there was one available where I lived (in TX) before. Oh my gosh. What a cool store! They had a great patio area to enjoy lunch. We just got sandwiches, but they were very good and very reasonably priced. The weather was nice, so we got to eat outside. Although, they don't anchor the umbrellas that are at some of the tables, so when the wind gusted, which it did several times, these umbrellas fell over the table. Thank goodness no one got hit, but it added an extra dimension to lunch keeping an out for a falling umbrella. After eating, we headed inside, first stopping to look at their plants. The had a very nice collection of herbs. I've always wanted to do an herb garden. Plants aside, this is just a grocery store, which I really liked. They weren't trying to hawk clothes or office supplies or electronics or anything else. Though they did have a very nice selection of organic personal care products (shower gel, bubble bath, make up, candles). I was happy to see the organic personal care products as several months ago I started using organic products for my facial cleanser hoping it would help with my extremely sensitive skin. So far, so good.
Grocery shopping was just as fun. An awesome veggie and fruit area, along with meats. If you're in to wine they had plenty of that, too. My favorite isle was probably the chocolate/candy isle. Oh, the selection they had! Also, European cookies, including Hit cookies, which brought back fond memories of my trip to Germany many years ago. And, I lucked into flavored water, without sugar. So far, I've sampled three flavors and like them all. Friend TW and I liked Le Nature, but it became very hard to find upon arrival in AR. Haven't seen it since I moved back to TX either. This was a bit more expensive, but it is also 20 oz as opposed to 16 oz for the Le Nature. I've been taking a bottle to work as I'm trying to increase my water intake and reduce my soda intake. I was very proud of myself this afternoon, when instead of getting another soda, I drank the water and didn't miss the soda. Hmmm... maybe that means it won't take me long to develop that habit. It'd be good for me.
Friday, March 23, 2007
It went down...
I met with the personal trainer last night. Allergies have been acting up, so I was dragging fanny a bit. Last night she re-did the initial measurements (they measure you at the start of your training). Since they were done the week before I started meeting with her, in about 4 weeks, my Body fat has gone down about 1 1/2 %. Woo hoo! Everything else remained the same. That's okay. I've just started back and it looks like I'm making progress. A little motivation to keep one going.
A side note...we did a balance exercise I'm not so fond of, basically because I have no balance! Just goes to show me that I need to continue to incorporate some type of balance exercise when our meetings are done with (I've got one more session). That what's I like about this gym's approach to training. It's not just about the weights, but also about balance and nutrition and a good combination of cardio and strength.
A side note...we did a balance exercise I'm not so fond of, basically because I have no balance! Just goes to show me that I need to continue to incorporate some type of balance exercise when our meetings are done with (I've got one more session). That what's I like about this gym's approach to training. It's not just about the weights, but also about balance and nutrition and a good combination of cardio and strength.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Exercise, Week 2
Well, this is week 2 of my return to a gym and exercising. My goal starting out was three days a week and I made that last week. Unfortunately, it was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and I'd really like not to do them all in a row but spread them out. Alas, I like not going on Friday. So, maybe Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I used to go Monday, Wednesday through Friday. Something will work out. I may also work in a Saturday or Sunday for a 4th day.
I did do one of their classes. It's a 30 minute class and was done on what amounts to a balance board. The thing rocks and swivels and some of the moves are unique to the board and some are similar to step, which is interesting since you have to have balance to do it! I was just happy to complete the class without falling and breaking any bones. I'm planning to give it another go this week. After all, after going for a bit, I should become somewhat of a pro, right?
I'd also like to get back to doing yoga on the weekend. I've gotten out of the habit and I'd really like to get that habit back. It's good for flexibility. Hmm... maybe I should set that goal for starting this weekend.
I did do one of their classes. It's a 30 minute class and was done on what amounts to a balance board. The thing rocks and swivels and some of the moves are unique to the board and some are similar to step, which is interesting since you have to have balance to do it! I was just happy to complete the class without falling and breaking any bones. I'm planning to give it another go this week. After all, after going for a bit, I should become somewhat of a pro, right?
I'd also like to get back to doing yoga on the weekend. I've gotten out of the habit and I'd really like to get that habit back. It's good for flexibility. Hmm... maybe I should set that goal for starting this weekend.
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