lessinayear

Last night my boyfriend and I had our gym date. Right after work we headed to the gym and did 35 minutes each on the elliptical, plus some stretching and a couple of cool down laps on the track. It was great — and I was really pleased: Despite like a week and a half with no cardio, I was still able to do an 11-minute mile without feeling overtaxed. (Yes, I realize that’s not super-fast, but for me, it’s a big improvement over what I used to be able to do, and I’m recommitting myself to celebrating the victories!) So anyway, I did just over 3 miles, burned about 450 calories (per the machine reading) and felt really great afterward.

My boyfriend did too, and on the way home, he told me he really wanted to start going to the gym more, but that he was going to need me to be the “instigator” of that — that he realized he didn’t have the motivation in himself, but if I’d suggest it and help him get into the habit, that would really make him happy.

THAT is exactly the motivation I need. It’s just my personality — I do my best when I’m doing something for someone else. I’m really “other-motivated.” So it can feel selfish if I go to the gym by myself and make that “me time” (even though I need “me time” and am trying to be better about giving myself some; it’s just hard for me), but if we go to the gym together and I know that he’s depending on me to lead in that endeavor… That will really help keep me on track.

So yay! I’m happy he’s willing to go with me, because it’s more fun to have someone there, even though we both have our iPods on and ignore each other for like 45 minutes or an hour. It’s just good to have the moral support! And I’m glad he’s willing to start taking better care of himself. We’re about to celebrate his 30th birthday… By the time we get married and have kids, we’ll both be in our mid-30s, and I want us to be as healthy and hearty as possible!

All of that is to say yesterday was good, and I think will start a trend for us. I’ll keep y’all posted!

This evening I have a date both with and at the gym. I have a “gym date” with myself — I am not happy with how I’ve scheduled my time lately, and my lack of time at the gym, so I need to remedy that. But I also have a “gym date” with my boyfriend, because he’s coming with me.

His mom recently quit smoking, which is a huge deal after decades of cigarettes. In the process, she has gained some weight, and she’s been complaining to him about that. I think it’s gotten him thinking a lot about weight and health and so forth… I hope so, at least! As much as it’s nice to have online support from folks, it’s incredibly more motivating for me to have someone here, in “real life,” who will get up and go to exercise with me.

I’ve made a big impact on the way he eats. In the BD era (Before Dating), he was a huge fast food eater. As in, every day, every meal. Now, we cook at home almost all the time. He’s been shocked at how much money he’s saving, and how much better he feels… Now, if I can just get him on the regular exercise train…

Anyway, if anyone has any tips on motivating the people around you to join you in your exercise and healthy lifestyle choices, I’d love to hear them. Happy Wednesday!

I got an e-mail last night about a special six-week Kundalini yoga class being offered by the new yoga studio in town. It’s every Monday from mid-July through mid-August. I just skimmed through it, because I thought it was going to interfere with a couple of trips we have planned, and I wasn’t sure when my fall grad school classes started back, but I thought that might overlap too…

But this morning I pulled out the calendar and took a look… And it works! I can still make all my trips, and grad school doesn’t start back till the week after the yoga class ends. I am SO excited! Kundalini is my favorite style of yoga, and of all the types I’ve done, it’s the style that most made the impact on my body in terms of both how I felt and how I looked.

Anyway, to join the class you have to register and pre-pay, and I did it this morning, as soon as I realized it would work with my schedule. I’m so excited! It doesn’t start till Monday after next (July 13); I can hardly wait! Will let y’all know how it is after I get started.

I’ve been a little quiet the past couple of days. No blogs, because I’ve been trying to get my work done for the conclusion of my summer class. THANK GOODNESS it’s over this coming Thursday, July 2. But, less cool is the fact that basically my entire grade in the course comes down to that day — I have to give my in-class presentation that day, as well as turn in a short and a long paper, all at once! So yes, I’ve been stressing. This weekend has been full of homework, and freaking out about homework, and more homework…

Anyway, I got up early this morning to get back to work on my long paper (the biggest source of stress) and decided a Sunday that begins at 6:30 a.m. can’t get much worse…might as well go ahead and weigh-in. I was nervous about this week. I’ve had a couple of maintain weeks in a row that have disappointed, and I didn’t get to the gym toward the end of the week like I’d hoped (partially school and partially an unexpected visit from an out-of-town friend Friday that changed my plans). I also had wine with said friend, so I figured those calories might have messed things up…

But I sucked it up, got on the scale, and… 200! I’m down 2 pounds! (OK, just between us, it was ACTUALLY 199.5, and a big part of me wants to just go with 199, but I’ve been rounding up, so I’m going to keep with that… Just SO CLOSE to the success of Onederland!)

So I was reflecting on how that was the case, and I have a few thoughts. First, one of my personal struggles with weight loss is portion control. If you put it in front of me, I’m GOING to eat it, whether I’m hungry or not, whether I want it or not… I’ve REALLY been working on that. For me, I think that’s almost a bigger deal than exercise — recognizing that if I’m not exercising as much, I don’t need to eat as much… And I DID think about that a lot this past week. I knew, for example, that I wasn’t going to be able to make the gym Wednesday because of some meetings and deadlines at work, so I adjusted my food intake accordingly. Even Friday, when my plans to go to the gym turned into a lunch with wine with a friend, since I knew I was drinking some calories, and not exercising, I adjusted what I ordered for my meal, how much of it I ate, and also what I had for dinner that night…

And holy crap! It worked!

I know this isn’t rocket science, but it’s a pretty powerful reflection for me this morning. I feel really re-motivated by seeing that scale movement, and I’m SO happy that I just have to make it through Thursday’s final summer class and then I can throw myself more wholeheartedly into my exercise without the distraction of grad school for more than a month. Anyway, hope everyone has an equally eye-opening, inspiring Sunday!

This past Friday a good friend got married. It was a sweet ceremony, very fitting of the two of them. Yay, A & J!

I went to the wedding with a mutual friend, as my boyfriend was out of town. Several other mutual friends were in attendance at the wedding, and of course we were all taking pictures… Was just looking through some of them, and while I actually look pretty decent in most, ARGH! My freaking double chin! I try to be conscious of how I hold my head in photos — I can usually ward it off — but there are two or three otherwise very cute photos with my big honking chin ruining them!

So yeah, I’m feeling a little self-conscious this afternoon.

That aside, it’s been a pretty good day, in terms of both food and exercise. Just got back from the gym. I did 1.75 miles on the elliptical, on the hilly setting, in 25 minutes. Considering I often do just barely over 2 miles in 30-35 minutes on the non-hill setting, I feel pretty good about it. My week, while busy, is not as out of control as last, so I should be able to hit the gym every day except possibly Wednesday — yay!

Much thanks for everyone’s continued support, btw. I really appreciate all the booster notes, messages, blog comments, etc. Y’all are inspiring — and just plain nice!

Over the weekend I was reading newspapers, and I wish I’d paid better attention to where I ready this, because I’d like to give more appropriate credit. But anyway, some newspaper had a small feature where they were asking everyday people to summarize their life/outlook in six words or less — a huge challenge, obviously. A lot of people had things to the effect of “I love my husband and kids” of course. Some people had funny and irreverent things. But one really struck me: “If he can exercise, I can.” And there was a note next to that one that said who the woman ws talking about… President Obama.

I refuse to talk politics with anyone, so this isn’t about whether you like or don’t like Obama, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, etc. But regardless of your politics, you have to recognize that, yes, President Obama is the leader of the nation — of “the free world,” as we like to say — and the man does take time to exercise and be healthy. It really hit home with me: “If he can exercise, I can.”

Today was one of those days where it would be easy to make excuses about why not to exercise. My boyfriend is sick. I had to take my car to the shop for repairs, and what was supposed to take one and a half hours took nearly six. I’m behind at work and had to spend the rest of my day (after the car mess) catching up on a project that’s due by the end of the week. I have homework for my class tomorrow.

But I’m not leading a nation, and “if he can exercise, I can.” So, even though I’m tired, even though I’d rather just sit here, yes — I just pulled out my hand weights and went through a few sets of lifting. And every time I want to whine about how busy I am, I’m going to remind myself one more time: “If he can exercise, I can.”

So cardio stuff at the gym I feel pretty good about. I want to increase my speed on the bike and elliptical, but I’ve got the hang of the equipment, my stamina is decent, etc. What I need some advice about is the weight equipment. I really need to tone up as much as anything, and we all know that muscle helps you burn fat faster… I’m just super-intimidated by the weights!

I’m planning on getting back into my yoga in June after my grad school classes start — I’m just building it into my overbooked schedule! — and I know that will help some. (Seriously, for those of you who haven’t ever done yoga, when I was doing it consistently 3-4 years ago, I saw the most change in my body with the least effort ever — not so much weight loss, but weight distribution, strength, tone…amazing!) But I feel like I need to get myself on some of  the weight equipment too. Especially to target my jiggly upper arms… My legs are pretty strong; lingering muscle from childhood/adolescent soccer, biking, and horseback riding. But my upper body is kind of poor (especially since I’ve let the yoga practice fall aside).

So, all this babbling is to say — HELP! What advice do you have about getting started on a weightlifting regimen? How easy-to-use are most of the machines? (I’m so intimidated by them, I’ve not even looked at them, I’m embarrassed to admit — I keep my distance from them in the gym!) How many reps should I do of each thing? How much weight should I use — is it better for it to be relatively easy and do more reps, or heavier and do less? Do you find the weight machines a good way to do it, or am I overcomplicating things? Should I just try to use free weights? Again: HELP!!!

Thanks, y’all!

I hate going to the gym, but I love leaving it. What I mean is, it’s hard to motivate myself to put on the workout clothes and drive over there and get started… And the first five minutes or so suck — I’m not going to lie. But after that point, after I kind of get in the “groove” of working out, it feels great. For me it’s kind of about getting over the 10-minute mark, and then I think I could do the elliptical or exercise bike forever (and I usually DO do it for 45 minutes to an hour). Afterward, I feel a little wobbly, and then I walk around the track a couple of times to cool down, and then stretch out… And I feel awesome! So energized and healthy and good!

That’s what I just have to keep reminding myself of — the immediate payoff of feeling great, even as the first few stubborn pounds are fighting me about falling off. Because it feels good to feel good!

Those are pretty much my plans for the long weekend.

The past several weeks have been very on-the-go. Work was really busy at the beginning of the month, and then I had several weekend things going on — a wedding, a fundraiser I helped organize, a couple short road trips… Next weekend we’re taking a long weekend trip with some friends to San Francisco. But THIS weekend we’re at home. And we have NO plans we’re obligated to! I’m so excited!

I should get off work early today (my boss is great about telling us to cut out early before a holiday). Then I’m meeting my boyfriend for lunch at a great sushi place downtown. Depending on the weather, after that we might go for a walk at the lake, or we might just have a quiet at-home-with-the-pets afternoon… The rest of the weekend, we’re playing mostly by ear, but we’ve discussed going to the mountains and hiking (REALLY hope the weather cooperates and we can do that!), making a batch of our homemade granola (seriously, SO good, and definitely less processed and preservatized than store-bought), and I’m planning to check out a brand-new yoga studio that’s opening in town on Sunday afternoon.

Should leave plenty of time for rest and relaxation… And also laundry and housecleaning, both of which also have to happen!

That said, happy Memorial Day to all!

Today during lunch I went to the gym for the first time in months–by which I mean, I think it was before the Christmas holidays. I don’t really “like” working out, but I don’t hate it. I hate the process of convincing myself to go, but after I get there, it’s actually not so bad. And I LOVE how I feel afterward.

I did just over half an hour on the “weight loss” setting on the elliptical machine. Kept my heart rate in the target area and all that jazz… Stretched out afterward, but can still feel how sluggish I’ve let myself become–a little tight in my lower back. I’m hoping that I can manage to get to the gym at least four days a week, and do some kind of moderate exercise at home at least two more days. I don’t plan to overdo it at all, but a good half-hour or so of sweating seems to be in order. And for me, the “routine” of things is extremely important.