I completed one trip down the pool!

I started to say that I completed one lap. However, I believe that consistutes one trip down AND back. I most definitely did not do that!

I really wanted to be able to complete one trip down the pool without stopping and gasping for breath or choking on water. So, I made that my goal for today. I thought that if I could do it once I could do it from that point forward. Wrong. I did it once and I almost did it a second time, but then I got tired. Seriously, who would have thought that swimming is so hard! And exhausting! I spent almost an hour in the pool this morning. My arms are already tired, so we will see whether I can life my arms tomorrow or not.

It was one of those mornings that I reset my alarm and had every intention of sleeping in until 5:30 and skipping my workout. I'm so glad I didn't! I accomplished a goal that I had set for myself and made quite a bit of progress in learning how to swim. I still have a long way to go, but I don't feel like I inhaled as much water as usual.



Oh! I almost forgot. I tend to like healthier foods, but I also really, really, like dessert/sweets. I've been trying to eat better and decided to take a picture of my lunch yesterday.

It was tasty! I did pretty well yesterday. I had a candy bar as an afternoon snack, but I ordered a healthier dinner. Well, Jay talked me into the artichoke dip, but my sandwich was a Lo-Cal Cluck Lite from Scotty's with only 230 calories. And, I only had a handfull of the wedge fries. Hmmmm, maybe yesterday wasn't such a good eating day. I need to work on that.

I'm looking for quick and easy breakfast foods. I generally eat once I get to work, so I need something that I can make on Sunday and heat up each day of the week, or something I can make at work with only a microwave, toaster oven, and toaster. I hate fungus (mushrooms) and can do eggs, if I have something with them, but I'm not a huge fan. Any suggestions?

I'm getting there.

Well, I managed to get up on Monday and workout with Dale's group. We did legs. Dale showed me how to use a couple of machines that I hadn't used in the past, so that was good. I also informed Dale that he came in 1st in his group at the Warrior Dash, which he didn't know! They were all teasing him that he was probably the only one in his age group, but he was excited anyway. I also found out that he is only 69. Whoopsy. Have I mentioned that I'm really bad at guessing ages? So, technically he is the same age as my dad. Which is a weird comparison for me. My dad looks younger than he does, but I can promise you that my dad could not have completed the Warrior Dash. It's very interesting how people age. If I had to guess right now, I would say that I will definitely NOT be competing in a Warrior Dash when I am 69! So, way to go Dale!

Oh yeah, and Dale didn't complete the monkey bars either. He has made it his mission to make sure that both he and I make it across the monkey bars next year. We start training this week. That's probably about how long I'm going to need to train in order to cross those things. Why were the monkey bars to easy as a kid and so difficult now?!

Monday evening Jay and I met at the Y and we started the couch to 5k training program. I am signed up for three 5ks between now and mid-October. I'm not even going to try to run Hoosiers Outrun Cancer (I'm just going to outwalk cancer) or Wine at the Line. Both of those are fairly hilly. I can't run a 5k on a treadmill, I'm not delusional to think I can run on those hills! But, the final 5k is Get Your Rear in Gear and it is located in Noblesville (I think). I'm hoping the course is a little flatter than Bloomington terrain. I also have plenty of time between now and then to complete the 5k program.

Yesterday I swam with Dale's group. I did much better than the first time. I still felt like I swallowed a ton of water, but I was much better prepared. I had goggles and a swim cap this time. We were in the outside pool which is olympic length. I could make it about half way down the pool before I would need a break, but I'm getting there. I'm also getting more comfortable in the water and not freaking out at much about water in my ears. The girls really encouraged me and said I was doing well, and Dale gave me some pointers. Then he made me swim all the way down only using one arm, then all the way back only using the other arm. It was rough, but I did it.

Today, I. am. sore. I was supposed to get up and lift upper body, but I could hardly raise my arms, let alone try to lift weight. Aiden got up at three something and only wanted me. I reset my alarm and, of course, got very little sleep until I got up at 5:30. Since I was home this morning Aiden was all out of whack and wouldn't let go of me. It was nice to get the love and hugs and kisses, but it was sad to hear him crying as I left for work. Note to self, get your butt out of bed and go work out, no matter what!

We are going out to dinner tonight with Jay's sister, so we won't get our cardio in tonight, but I hope to get back in the pool tomorrow morning.

So, my goal for today is to stay within my calorie limit and be as active as possible (considering I sit at a desk all day for work). What are your goals for the day?

Colts Preseason 5k

I'm still trying to get into my groove of blogging. I'm trying to figure out what computer to use, whether to post in the morning or at the end of the day, how to post pictures so that people actually want to look at my blog, etc. Thanks for sticking around as I try to feel my way through this new world.

This past weekend I participated in the Colts Preseason 5k with a co-worker/friend of mine. It was early. The race started at 7:30 and I had to be downtown, parked, and ready to go around 6:30. Why on earth I felt that was so early is beyond me because every week day I get up at 4:30, workout, and get to work by 7am. I actually got to sleep in to participate in the 5k. But, as we lined up for the start of the race, I took this picture of the sun rising.

It wasn't until we were lining up that I really realized that the sun hadn't risen.

As we were waiting for our heat to start I took a picture of Lucas Oil Stadium and a selfie of Jamie (my co-worker/friend) and I.

We were both nursing minor injuries and hadn't trained appropriately, so we probably only ran half a mile or so and walked the rest. But, we still managed to finish in 42 minutes. Not the greatest, but we had a good time. I took a couple of pictures along the way.

The Monument on the circle.

Lucas Oil from West Street.

Lucas Oil as we were approaching to make our final 40 yard dash.

The final 40 yards was timed for a 40 yeard dash. Jamie finished about a second before me and I completed my dash in 9.47 seconds. I was by no means near the fastest dasher (is that a word?) but I was please. Plus, it was so much fun to dash across the football field! The ground was cushioned and it was neat to see the stadium from the point of view of a player. Below is a picture of the tunnel we ran through and the finish line.

Me with my finishers medal.

Jamie and I post race.

We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again next year!

It's been a bad week full of excuses

So, I was going to post my reasons for not working out much this week, but then I realized that they are just excuses. Then I remembered that this blog is to help me stay accountable to myself, so I am going to list them anyway.

Monday:
I was supposed to get up early and lift at the Y at 5:00am (legs day) then do cardio after work with Jay.

My knee was still hurting from the Warrior Dash and I was concerned I had actually hurt myself. So I didn't go in the morning. At this point I can't remember all the way back to Monday, but I'm 99% sure I cycled with Jay on Monday.

Tuesday:
I was supposed to get up early to swim.

Aiden was up from about 11:45pm until 4:10am. The last thing I wanted to do after 20 minutes of sleep was go swimming. I took clothes to work to get a workout in during lunch, but forgot that I was giving blood that morning. I skipped the lunchtime workout and hoped to get a workout in that evening. Of course I didn't workout that night. My evenings are full, that's why I work out while the rest of the world was awake. Who was I kidding? Oh, me, that's right. ::eyeroll::

Wednesday:
I was supposed to get up early and lift at the Y at 5:00 am (chest, shoulders, and back day) then do cardio after work with Jay.

At 3:30am someone turn on the faucet inside my nose. My shoulder had also started hurting pretty bad during the day on Tuesday. Holding Aiding Tuesday night was extremely painful. So, I decided that sleeping in until 5:30 (or trying to sleep with a runny nose) and not hurting my shoulder more was a better idea. After work I grabbed a handfull of tissues and still did cardio with Jay. It wasn't pretty, and I stuggled through, but I did it.

Thursday:
I was supposed to get up early to swim.

I decided that trying to blow air out of my nose and mouth while swimming would result in snot all over the pool thanks to this nasty cold I have. I figured that my fellow swimmers would appreciate it if I didn't share my cold and if they didn't have to swim in nastiness. I also really wanted some more sleep. I considered calling in sick to work, but sick days are reserved for the little guy these days. I did nothing last night but make dinner and go to the grocery store. I even went to bed early.

Friday:
I was supposed to get up early to lift at the Y at 5:00am (arms day) and then do cardio after work with Jay.

I didn't get up. I really, really, really wanted to sleep. It's dumb though. I set my alarm for 4:30, I reset it for 5:30. I never get good rest from 4:30 to 5:30. I don't know why I even try. Regardless, I still didn't get up and lift this morning. Aaaand, I have no intention of doing cardio after work today. I feel like crap. I was really hoping that going to bed early would help me feel better this morning, but I don't. This cold needs to go away!

The other reason I don't want to do cardio after work is that I am supposed to run a 5k tomorrow morning at 7:30. The likelihood of me running the entire thing is slim to none, but I will be completing the 5k regardless. So, I don't think it is a good idea to do cardio and then 12 hours later attempt to run a 5k, especially with as miserable as I feel.

I will be participating the the Colt's Preseason 5k tomorrow morning.
It should be a really good time. I'm actually looking forward to it and hope that I miraculously feel better tomorrow. :)

I know it isn't a workout, but I will be walking to Lucas Oil stadium during my lunch today to pick up my race packet. Since the first water stop is less than a block away from my office (the one mile mark), I'm going to guestimate that I will walk 2 miles during lunch todya. At least it is something. Plus, tomorrow I will run, and next week is a new week. No excuses!

Have a great weekend everyone! Will anyone else be at the Colts Preseason 5K?

Starvation mode

Sorry for the lack of posting; I've been feeling like crap and had virtually no access to a computer outside of work this week. Thanks for sticking around. :)

One of my recent frustrations is the fact that I haven't been losing weight recently and I'm starving all the time. I mentioned that I use to track my caloric intake on a daily basis. I used to be really bad about it and only track until I knew that I would be over my calorie allotment for the day and then stop. Obviously that is not a good game plan. So I started forcing myself to track all calories, no. matter. what. Well, there were days that were shockingly high, and others that were only over by a few calories. What I found was that the program said I should still be losing weight, but I wasn't. I mentioned this to my sister and some co-workers who suggested that maybe I wasn't eating enough. Not enough, that's silly! If you want to lose weight you make healthier choices and eat less. Duh!

So, after I finally went public with my blog earlier this week, a girl I did gymnastics with in High School contacted me. She had the best name, Kim, and trains people both regarding workouts and eating. Unfortunately, she is in Pennsylvania, so I won't be spending time with her, but she suggested that maybe my body was in starvation mode. So, clearly I listened to her. She suggested that I find my basal metabolic rate and use that number to determine the number of calories that I need to consume in a day. To my utter surprise, I found out that I need approximately 1,000 more calories a day. You read that right, 1,000! No wonder I was starving all the time. So, I have manually reset my fitness pal to my new calorie goal. I am already seeing results (very minor weight loss) but most importantly I am not hungry all day long. :D

So, I still love my fitness pal, but be sure to check out your own basal metabolic rate and determine the appropriate caloric intake for your body. I just googled basal metabolic rate and clicked on the first link. And a big THANK YOU to my sister, my co-workers, and to Kim for helping me help myself. Now I need to focus on making the right food choices on a more regular basis. Oh! If you are on my fitness pal, look for me, Ladybug7121.

Warrior Dash

Oh. My. Goodness! I survived. I didn't break anything, I think. Something in my knee popped at one point and it has hurt and been wobbly since, but I'm sure I'm fine, right? Pamala and Sarah kept promising that as soon as it was all over we would want to know when the next race is. They were wrong. We had to wait just a little bit longer, but by Saturday evening Jay and I were both ready to sign up again for next year with this fun group of people. Here is a picture of the ladies before the race started. Here is the first obstacle. Holy cow was that water frigid!!! When I first came upon this obstacle I thought, no big deal, it's like the beam. Wrong! Add mud and water and it becomes a little bit more challenging! A view from the top of a very tall wall that was straight up and down. No angle like many of the others. As we stood in line for 30 minutes to climb this wall we kept saying that it must be harder than it looks. For the record, it was. The sign after the wall. The final wall of the race. Again, looked less challenging that it actually was, but not horrible. The final challenge was gross, but not terribly difficult. Swimming through gross muddy water, under barbed wire. No big deal! Post race, pre-wash. Jay and I washed off before this picture was taken. I was ready for a shower! Enjoying our complimentary beer. Those who survive receive a medal. Be jealous! Oh, it's a beer bottle opener too, in case you couldn't tell. This is what our shoes looked like after cleaning them off! Finally, a really bad selfie of Jay and I. We aren't very good at these. I promise, we will try to improve. Man are we sore today! I didn't get up and meet the group for weight lifting this morning because my knee hurt too bad. However, I did go to the Y after work and rode the stationary bike. Tomorrow morning I try swimming again. Hopefully this time I'll leave some water in the pool for everyone else! I almost forgot! A huge thank you to Pamala Dunscombe for the pictures from the Warrior Dash! Have you ever done an adventure race like this before?

Rest Day

I'm really, really, really, bad about taking rest days. Especially since I have been working so hard to lose weight and eat healthy and the scale just does not want to budge. Very annoying! But yesterday I was exhausted from my first attempt at swimming, worked all day, then went to the fair until 9pm (my usual bedtime). I didn't get to bed until after 10pm. I made the decision last night that I was not going to get up this morning and workout. Jay and I also decided that we are not going to do a cardio workout at the Y tonight. Of course, on my way to work this morning I was thinking about how nice it would be to take a bike ride as a family. While I won't entirely take that off the table, I really should rest today. Tomorrow Jay and I, along with several friends, are running the Warrior Dash. I'm excited and nervous, but mostly nervous. I'm really not all that strong so I'm afraid I won't be able to complete the obstacles. On the other hand, I don't have anything to prove to anyone and when we signed up it was in the spirit of having a good time. The group of people that we are dashing with come from all age ranges and fitness levels, so hopefully I'll fit in nicely. Then, once we complete the race, we get a free beer. I don't really like beer, but if you are going to give it to me for free, I'm not going to turn it down. :) Then Sunday I will be back in the pool trying to figure out this whole breathing while swimming thing. Wish me luck!

Who drained the pool?!

Um, that would be me. I pretty much inhaled or swallowed every last drop in the pool this morning. I'm not sure if it is time for the staff at the Y to clean the pool, but now would be a good time. Seriously though, how do people swim regularly for exercise?

Not only did I look like I was drowning, I felt like I was drowning! I was taking a breath on every stroke and feeling like I was swallowing the pool. Dale then told me to try to wait every two strokes. Are you kidding me?! I can't hardly make it one, let alone two! After I finally got over the fact that I would be getting water in my ears (which is a HUGE issue for me), I could at least keep my head in the water. Well, kind of. I felt like I was keeping my head in the water, but they kept telling me that it was sticking up. My understanding is that I'm supposed to look at the bottom of the pool. Then every third or fourth stroke you turn your head to the side and take a breath. I don't know about you, but if my head is submerged under water and I turn my head from facing forward to facing the side my head is still. under. water. The biggest problem with that is that I forgot my air tank at home. Silly me! I also find the bottom of the pool boring, it's just white with large blue stripes down each lane. Someone needs to paint something fun, like fish. That would help me look at the bottom of the pool. Then I can look like this.....

So, now my neck hurts from trying to swim flat on my stomach but keep my head up in my attempt to breathe. We don't swim again until Tuesday, but I think I might try to find some goggles and go back on Sunday to see if I can get some practice breathing. Everyone in the group was super supportive and trying to help me, but I felt like I was holding up the ladies sharing a lane with me. Tomorrow we workout our arms, then I will attend the abs class. It looks like tomorrow is going to be another embarassing morning. But, everyone has to start somewhere at some time. I'm so grateful that I have joined up with Dale, the trainer, who is so patient with me, and the wonderfully supportive women (and one guy) that work out together each morning. Have you swam laps before? Any tips on how to leave a majority of the water in the pool?

The start of weight lifting.

Yesterday morning was a rough one. I started to leave my neighborhood and had to stop to check my tires because my car said that I had low tire pressure. None of my tires look low, but annoying none the less. Then I got stuck waiting on a train. By the time I got to the gym, I was running about 15 minutes late. I hopped on the elliptical and was able to get a pretty good 35 minute workout in. I really like to do a 45 minute workout, but sometimes time just won't allow for that to happen. The worst part was that I burned 300-350 calories and proceeded to the Hardee's drive through where I consumed two cinnamon raisin biscuits. At a measly 500+ calories, my day didn't start off well. Especially considering I knew I was going out to dinner last night. Oh well, today is a new day. Speaking of today, I worked out with Dale and the workout group this morning. Dale walked me through each exercise and introduced me to everyone. The group primarily consists of women, but one person's husband also lifts with them. Everyone was so nice. Dale even complimented me on my form. He was impressed with my ability to do a pull up. It was an assisted pull up, so I'm not sure why he was so impressed, but it made me smile. :) When we were finishing up several of the group was heading to Dale's cycling class. I had to head to work so no cycling class for me. Not to worry, I will be back at the Y this afternoon with Jay for my own cycling class. The group, lead by Dale, swims on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. They invited me to join. Actually, not only did Dale invite me, but two of the ladies also invited me. I guess tonight I will see if my old bathing suit fits.....

Improvise

This morning was supposed to be my first morning working out with Dale and the ladies at the Y. But, Aiden had different plans for me. Jay woke up at 2 something this morning because his toe was bothing him. He hit it on a shopping cart last night and tore the nail off and it was bleeding like crazy. He was struggling to find bandages and triple antibiotic ointment so I had to get up and help him with that. Afterward he decided to get a snack and while he was downstairs Aiden woke up crying. Jay is an amazing dad and loves to cuddle with Aiden, so I figured that Aiden would be joining us in bed when Jay returned. I was right. Unfortunately, Aiden wasn't really tired anymore. He kept moving and fidgeting and flopping. Needless to say, I got very little sleep after 2am. So when my alarm went off at 4:30 I wanted to keep sleeping, especially when I got up and Aiden followed me to the bathroom. I actually carried him back to bed, reset my alarm and laid down with him. And then he started moving, fidgeting, and kicking. I knew that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep. I also knew that it was too late to get to the Y. So, I improvised. I grabbed Aiden and went downstairs, set him up with some blueberries and milk and put Chuggington on TV for him. I searched through my pinterest workout boad for a leg workout and did it. Several times Aiden wanted to be held, so I did my squats and leg lifts with a little extra weight. Approximately 24 pounds of extra weight. But, I'm so glad I did it. It's so important to me that I stick with a workout plan, and improvise when plans change. After work I'll pick up Aiden and head to the Y to do some cardio with Jay. Well, I think I will do cardio with Jay. With the whole toe issue he isn't sure he wants to work out, but might try the stationary bike. I guess we will see.

This is the cute little guy who changed my plans this morning. Good thing he's so cute! What ways have you improvised to get a workout in when plans change?

I need to do more research!

I did my usual elliptical this morning. Next week I can return to the treadmill. I know the Drs don't want me running anymore, but I already signed up to run a 5K with a co-worker/friend of mine. I have a long way to go before then, and I really want to be able to say that I ran a 5k at some point in my life. I'm signed up for other 5ks, but I can walk those without feeling bad. I also joined the abs class this morning for 30 minutes. Just like last time, it was challenging! Feel the burn! Tonight we are taking Aiden to a firetrucks and ice cream event so we are going out to dinner. Nothing super exciting, but we plan to go to McAlister's Deli. Since I have been really bad on tracking my calories lately I decided to look up the nutrition menu ahead of time. Holy calories!!! Things that I thought weren't too bad calorie wise are horrible and some menu items surprised me with how few calories they have. Unfortunately, my beloved chocolate-loving spoon cake has over 700 calories. I'll need a hard core workout before I can even think about that tasty treat. So, I wrote down several "healthy" options and will take my list with me to dinner. I don't want too many calories, because I will eat ice cream. :) Oh, and Monday morning I am going to join the lifting group at the Y. Jay says he will start going in the afternoon after work, if I go as well. So, next week I will be going to the Y twice a day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and once a day the remainder of the week. Let's see how this goes!

Weight watcher friendly?!

I did NOT want to get up this morning. I wanted to keep sleeping, past my 4:30 alarm, and past the 5:30 alarm that I could have set my ipod to. The problem was that I knew that if I stayed in bed I would not get quality sleep for the next hour. I also knew that I would not get a good workout in today. I have a lunch meeting, so the cycle pump class is out, and I really need to get some stuff done around our house, so an evening workout is out. Not to mention the fact that I ate about 90% of an elephant ear last night, in addition to the prime rib meal and the best lemon shake up ever! I needed to get a workout in just so I didn't feel like the fair was walking around with me for two days. And I'm glad I did. I had a great workout. Elliptical. Intervals. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but man did I burn some calories. Then I headed to work and had some really amazing Umpqua Oats salted caramel meltdown oatmeal. Oh. My. Gosh. If you need oatmeal on the run, in a wide variety of flavors, Umpqua Oats is your gal (or guy, I'm not sure of the sex of oatmeal). I usually make my own at home, but I had planned on eating what I had at work and decided last minute that I really wanted oatmeal. Speaking of breakfast. I pinned a site of suggested weight watchers breakfasts. I don't follow weight watchers anymore, but have had good results in the past. I use myfitnesspal.com now, primarily because it is free, and I like that my workouts count for today's calories only, and not some random day down the road. I'm not a big egg fan so I'm always looking for something that tastes good and fills me up. So I decided to try whole wheat waffles with almond butter and a sliced banana on top. It is very tasty, I'll give you that. But at 460 calories, I'm not sure what is weight watcher friendly about it. I only get 1380 calories per day. That's one third of my calories out the door before the day has really begun. I eat every few hours, something that high in calories is just too much! The worst part is that I hate to waste food and money, so I am forcing myself to eat this horribly high calorie breakfast until it is gone. I have two days left. I think I can, I think I can. What do you eat for breakfast?

Sleep!

I went to bed at approximately 7:30 last night. I probably didn't fall asleep until 8 or so, but when I woke up this morning my sleep ap said that I got 100% sleep. Woohoo! I needed it. Especially after two days with a migraine. I got up this morning and headed to the Y to get my cardio in. I was planning on doing a C25K run, but I somehow forgot my earbuds even though I had my ipod. I figured that the other people at the Y didn't want to hear when I should and shouldn't be running, so I just did some fairly consistent cardio for 45 minutes. I am reading "The Secret Life of Bees" and really enjoying it. So, my morning run went quickly. A friend of mine from law school just joined the Y and goes early in the morning. We have talked about doing some classes together, so I'm excited to see what we can do. It's always nice to have someone to workout with but it is really hard to find someone who is willing to get up before the sun to workout. Now I just need to figure out how to get some weight lifting and/or toning in. Of course I still need to check out crossfit and the ballet fitness classes that I bought groupons for. Time to start looking at the calendar. But, we are going to the State Fair tonight, so that will wait. :)

Migraines, ugh!

I have a migraine. It's not unusual. Unfortunately I get them once a month, or more if I'm lucky (insert eyeroll here). I know what is causing them but I haven't found a doctor who can help me. Although I haven't looked very hard either. In addition to them making my head feel like it is going to explode, sometimes losing my vision, and making me nausious, it means I can't work out. I hate that. This one started just after lunch yesterday which means I didn't get to work out last night. I was glad that I at least could finish the laundry and clean up the kitchen from our house guests while taking several breaks to lay down, but not the workout I was hoping for. I set my alarm to get up this morning, but as soon as I opened my eyes I knew I wouldn't be workout out today. Hopefully I can take it easy today and get back to working out tomorrow. My migraines often last 2-3 days, but they are shorter if I don't work out while I have one. So, I'm crossing my fingers that it goes away today.

Cleaning as a workout

Yesterday was a crazy busy day and I didn't get in my typical workout, but I definitely burned quite a few calories while cleaning the house. I spent a good three house picking -up, cleaning, and doing laundry. Based one myfitnesspal.com I burned over 500 calories. Woohoo! I'll take it. Not only did I really need to clean the house but it helped me burn the calories that I usually burn during a workout (actually more than I usually burn during a workout). So now my house is kind of clean and today is a new day. Unfortunately, we had house guests over until after 10pm last night. I am usually in bed around 9 and asleep long before 10pm. After they left I didn't get to pick up our dinner dishes and clean off the table, counters, and stove. But, I will do that when I get home before I make dinner tonight. Then, at some point this evening I will have to do some kind of workout because there was no way I was going to be able to get up at 4:30 this morning. Funny enough I did wake up on my own at about 4:35. I considered getting up and workout out, but I didn't have my bag packed or clothes laid out, so I would have been scrambling. I decided to sleep in until 5:30 (I know, 5:30 is sleeping in?) and I will either ride my bike, go to the Y, or maybe even just do a workout video at home. Jay is taking Aiden to Bloomington tonight so I will have the house to myself. I need to finish the final loads of laundry so I'll probably break out an old workout video or two. I don't want to push it though, because I don't think I should workout hard tonight before tomorrow morning's 5:00am workout. How was your weekend?

New Cardio

I got up at 4:30 again this morning. Back to my routine. :) Or at least what is becoming a routine. I tried the new cardio that FG suggested. I did the elliptical for 50 minutes, but after the first 5 minutes I ran as fast as I could for 15 seconds and then normal speed for 45 second and repeated for a total of six times. I did the same thing again after 30 more minutes. It was much more difficult than I anticipated. I would like to work my way up to 30 seconds of really fast workout with 90 second of normal speed, but it will take a while. After the elliptical I joined an abs class put on by a guy who is probably in his 70s. He's in great shape though and leads a good abs class. I'm not sure why, but I was surprised that I was the only female in the class. The class wasn't very big anyway, but I was the only girl out of 4 participates and the instructor. It was a good workout regardless. The only thing I don't like is that it made me 30 minutes late to work. It's not a big deal and my employer doesn't mind at all, it just throws of the rest of my day. But, the good news is it is FRIRDAY!!!!! I've eaten my oatmeal and had an americano. Oh! This morning I mixed chocolate chips and cinnamon in my oatmeal. So good! I actually think that I put too many chocolate chips in there, so I will have to work on the mixture, but it was good.

Fitness Assessment

My employer has recently started a healthy living push. I call it a push because they previously provided a discounted membership at the YMCA, or reimbursement for fitness classes up to a certain amount. In May of this year they started offering discounted membership to the YMCA and another facility AND reimburse for fitness classes up to a certain amount. When they rolled out this new program they had a wellness fair and I signed up for a fitness assessment. I figured it would be your usual; hold this contraption and it will tell you how obese you are, let's discuss your eating habits and have you start eating rabbit food and taking supplements, and finally you should be doing this certain workout because that is what all of my clients are doing. However, it was free, so I signed up. We had to reschedule my first appointment due to a migraine, but last night we finally got together, and boy was I wrong about what this entailed. Not that I think anyone reads this blog, but I don't want to reveal my fitness guy's name without his permission, so I shall call him FG (for "fitness guy"). He sat down with me and asked me a bunch of questions about my health history, my exercise background, injuries (there was a lot to discuss here), diet, and goals. Then he had me do some basic stretches and just movements of my body while he watched and did some minor touching of joints and muscles. He was able to determine that my quads are really strong but that my glutes and hamstrings are most definitely not. He also gave me some exercises that will help my shoulders and posture. My shoulders partially sublexate anytime my arm is pulled on. In normal person language that means my arms come slightly out of socket when pulled on. So I now have stretches and exercised for my shoulders/back/chest and my hamstrings/glutes to do three times a day for the next several weeks. He suggested that I only have dessert twice a week. THAT is going to be challenging. I have a weakness for sweets. Primarily chocolate, but I won't discriminate. If someone offers me dessert, I pretty much always say yes. As a matter of fact, I track my calories through myfitnesspal.com and will eat less food to make room for dessert. I think I may have a problem! :) I'm going to try to cut back with the ultimate goal of having dessert twice a week, but I can't just quit cold turkey. Finally, he told me to stop running. My knees are bad, my back is bad, and I've given birth naturally. All of those things are reasons not to run. He said that running is horrible for women who have had children, but even more so based on my injury history. He suggested doing cardio on the elliptical, bicycling, or swimming. He was happy that I have been doing 45-50 minutes of cardio and that I tend to do intervals, but wanted to change it up a little bit. He suggested doing a 1 to 3 ratio of really hard core burst to consistent pace, but to only do 6-12 bursts. I was kind of surprised at this suggestion, but I am looking forward to trying it. Unfortunately, Aiden was up a ton last night and ended up in bed with us where he still didn't sleep well. We are trying to figure out what is going on and how to get our awesome sleeper to sleep again, in his own bed. So, for the first time in over a week, I did not get up and head to the gym. I'll probably regret not working out this morning, but I brought my workout clothes with me to work so I can go at lunchtime if I want to. Today is the cycle pump class I love, or I could try out the new cardio routine that FG suggested. I guess we will see what the day brings.