Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I'm sore

Today I did my alternate workout using the stability ball, hand weights, and the resistance bands and I sweated more and am more sore than any day working out on the weight machines! And I used lower weights! However, I also had my own body weight to figure in there, and let's face it, that is considerable! However, if I keep up this workout, that body weight should start to get smaller.

I tried to be more conscious of what I ate today and how much, but I'm not sure how I did. I downloaded an app on my phone that will keep track of my calories consumed and burned, so I will start using that tomorrow.

Next week we are going on vacation, so I have gone thru the stuff in the house and garage and found the resistance bands and hand weights, and I bought a balance disk. I thought I had a stability ball, but I couldn't find it. We may have sold it in our garage sale before we moved to Kansas. I'm going to see if Bailey still has the one she had and just borrow it while I'm over there instead of buying one. I know she has a pilates mat I can use. But I am determined to make sure I workout while I'm gone. I think the kids will get a kick out of it and want to workout with me. I will have to make sure to get some pictures of it if they do.

I have been carefully monitoring my blood pressure this week, too. On Monday I was feeling a little off and I took it and it was way low. I hadn't taken my meds yet, so that was a little surprising, and I'm not sure why it went so low. But today was the first day that I took anything because it was the first day that it was high enough to need anything. I've been keeping a log of my bp, too, and will continue to monitor it closely. If it continues to stay down, I'll need to go see the dr. and have my meds adjusted. I'm hoping that soon I will be able to get off of it completely! Even tho I haven't really lost any weight yet, I can tell that I'm starting to get a little stronger. And as soon as I get my eating under control, I should start to see a difference on the scale!

I was telling Terry today about my workout, and how I was doing wall sits and my thighs weren't very happy with me. Then I moved on to lunges and my knees were starting to rebel. Finally, came the ab workout and my entire body was like "did we sign up for this? I don't think so!" But I perservered and my body is in rebellion tonight, so I promised we would only do cardio tomorrow. (which was the plan all along, but shhh! Don't tell my calves!)

So, it's time for some Tylenol, then off to bed. I'm sore, but I'm also very proud of myself for sticking to this!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Monday, Monday.....

Today I met with Cierra for my final free session. It was a really good session. She helped me set up my nutrition page on MyMobileFit and then we went over some alternative exercises for my lower body and core. My abs are very sore tonight! My thighs are doing a little complaining tonight, too. But that's okay, because I needed to step it up a little bit.

The biggest thing now is to stay with the exercise program that Cierra and I have set up for me, and to add the nutritional portion we set up today. If I follow it and stick to it, I should be able to lose 2-3 pounds per week. If I do that, I will be at my goal weight by mid-November of this year! So, that would mean that for Christmas I would be asking everyone to give me clothes or gift cards to go shopping! :-)

I've taken my blood pressure several times today and it has been low. I didn't take my medicine today because my pressure was already so low. It wasn't too bad when I first took it, after my water class. After my workout, I was feeling a little light-headed, so I took it again and it was even lower. I need to get out and go to the store here in a little bit, so I'm going to check it again when I go out and see if it has come up any. I came home and ate some chips, hoping the salt would help it go up some. We'll see, tho. I still have a slight headache. But right now, Terry's home, so it's time to go spend some time with him!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I survived!

I went to the Zumba class and I made it thru the entire class! I couldn't do everything they did, but I did as much as I could. I forgot my water bottle, so that is a mistake I won't make again! Fortunately, there was a water fountain just outside the studio door.

And the class was huge! I didn't count to see how many people were there, but I bet there were 50 people easy! And I wasn't the only new person there tonight. There were about 5 others, so that made me feel better because they didn't know how to do everything either. And there was this one guy in the class that I was next to and he didn't do everything. He just did what he was able to do and he kept encouraging me and that really helped. One mistake I made, tho, was getting toward the back of the room so no one could see me, but the problem was I couldn't always see the instructor and what she was doing. So the next time I go, I'm going to move closer to the front and not let myself worry about what anyone thinks about me.

So, today was a good day for me, workout wise. I just hope that I'm not too sore in the morning. But even if I am, I'm going to keep going!

new, new, new

I met with Cierra, my trainer, yesterday and she showed me some alternative workouts if I don't, or can't, do the weight machines. We just covered upper body yesterday, altho several of the exercises also worked my core muscles, too! And my back can really feel it today! So that was new.

Terry is in Wisconsin this week, so it is just me and Colby here at the house all week. That is new, because usually I don't like to stay by myself and I go stay with the kids. But I wanted to do this and show myself that I could. The days aren't so bad because there's always something to do. It's the nights, when it's dark, that bothers me.

Another new thing is that I'm going to go try the Zumba class tonight! It's from 5:30-6:30, so I should get back in time for my show, The Biggest Loser. I'm looking forward to it, but of course, I'm a little nervous because it's something new. So I'm am trying very hard not to talk myself out of it!

So far I haven't lost any weight since I started this blog. I've probably even gained a few pounds. But yesterday I started keeping a food journal and keeping track of my calories in and calories burned. I knew that I would do better if I focused on getting started on one thing at a time. And now I'm going to workout regularly, so now it's time to address the diet. *SHUDDER* This is probably the part I have dreaded the most, which is why I addressed it last. But I have to get control of myself and what I eat. No more rebellion. It's time to learn self control!

I'm also getting ready to go out and go do shome shopping. I'm going to hit all the Goodwill stores in our area this afternoon and find me some shorts and some summer tops that are in my size. I'm tired of wearing the same 2 pairs of shorts and big sloppy t-shirts everyday. It's hard to stay motivated when I look so fat and sloppy. I think it would be easier to feel better about myself if I looked good. And when I feel better about myself, it's easier to workout and eat right, because I want to continue to look and feel good!

And as I leave, I'm taking my stuff with me for the Zumba class, that way I can't use that as an excuse not to go! So.....off I go, in search of "new" stuff!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

it's a beautiful day!

Having a really good day today! I got up early and got around in plenty of time to go to the Y this morning. So I didn't have to rush and that was nice. I went to my water class first, then showered and headed upstairs to do my weight maching workout. Day 2! I printed out my workout so I would have a sheet with the weights printed on it that my trainer and I had decided on, and then I went to work. It felt good, even tho it's still a little slow because I had to keep referring to my printout to see what I was supposed to do next. Also, had to go downstairs to use one machine because the one upstairs is out of order. Oh well, going up and down the stairs a few times is just a bonus to my workout!

I took my blood pressure after my first class and then again after my weight workout. It was right around where it should be and I only took 1 med this morning. So, hopefully this working out is helping with my blood pressure and I really wouldn't mind if I had to go see the dr. again soon to get my meds adjusted for that! My goal is to eventually not need to take blood pressure meds at all!

Right now, I take medications for ADD, bipolar disorder, asthma, acid reflux, and blood pressure, plus a magnesium supplement and a glucosimine/condroitant supplement. I would love to get rid of as many of these as possible! Realistically, tho, I probably will have to stay on at least the first 3. But that would still be better than the 7 things I take now! And it would be a whole lot cheaper!

I wasn't too sore after Monday's workout, so we'll see how it goes after this one. Mom and Daddy are coming for a visit tomorrow and staying for several days. I won't want to take time away from our visit, but I also don't want to miss my workouts. I think what I'll do is just go on MWF while they are here. I might see if they want to come with me one day, too. It's just so expensive for them to go! $10 for just one of them and $18 for both of them! Of course, that's probably good for all day, and it does mean that they have full use of the facilities, so that's probably actually a really good deal, but it's just too expensive to pay almost $20 for them to come with me 3 times. Plus, we want to go fishing and bowling while they are here, too, and that will take money. But I may get up early while they're here and go back to the 9:30 water class so that I can be done with my total workout by 11:30 and back at the house for the rest of the day.

I'm very excited about my parents coming for a visit. They've only been over here once since we moved here and that was just for the day. There's alot to do around Wichita, and I'm looking forward to showing them around!

And now, I'm going to get my book and head out into the backyard to sit in my hammock chair and enjoy the beautiful day!

Monday, May 2, 2011

I feel good....for now!

Met with the trainer today and we went over the workout routine for the weight machines that she had worked out for me with the mobilefit program. I did one set of reps with her so that she could explain the use of each machine and make sure that I was using proper technique. Then, after we went over a few other things, I went back and finished up the second set of reps. Tomorrow I just do my water workout as my cardio, then Wed. and Friday I repeat the routine we went over today. I can also go to mobilefit.com and print off an alternate routine, but I think I will just stick with this one for now. It's a total body workout, so I only need to repeat it 3 times a week. I'm feeling pretty good right now, but I know that tomorrow morning I'm going to be sore. The main thing will be to get thru these first couple of weeks of being sore and adjusting to a new routine.

I know that I'm going to be sore, but it's going to be worth it! Eventually I want to focus on losing weight, but right now my main focus is to start getting stonger. Especially my core muscles. But if I want to be able to do the workouts to lose weight, I have to be able to have the strength. I just need to keep reminding myself of the ultimate benefits....lower weight, lower blood pressure, possibly less meds, better health, and feeling better about myself.!