I joined a gym last month. First time in over fifteen years. Over the last year, exercise has become my main form of stress reduction, so I decided it's time to kick it up a notch and start to reshape my body. Stop laughing. I'm serious.
But you've got to use the tools to get the results. There's always a catch!
We've been in budget season hell since just before the holidays. I am happy to say that today the agency's 2009 budget was given the green light by the Powers That Be. Thank God that mess is over (for now). And now my slug excuse is gone. I could tell my gym partner I couldn't make it because of budget meetings (true), I've got to stay late because of the budget (true), I'm eating lunch in because of the budget (also true), I've got to start from scratch, so I can't hang today (not so true). I'm now officially out of budget excuses for the next 9 months (budget season starts late October for us- the worst part is Dec/Jan).
So, I went to the gym and hit the treadmill for a two mile run. Not bad, right? WRONG! A half mile in, I was fine. When my Nike+ chimed that I was halfway there, I said a hooray in my head, until it hit me that I had another mile to go. It was all over from there. Sweat dripping every which way, shin starting to hurt, earphones coming out of my ear, huffing and puffing like nothing human. It was not pretty. This is what happens when you haven't run in a couple of weeks.
And then my theme song came on. Eminem told me to own it and to never let it go. Success is my only motherf*&^ing option, failure's not. I finished that mile, and then promptly read myself the riot act for giving in to temptation all the time- burgers, shakes, and fries- oh my.
I'll be back in the gym tomorrow- it's strength day. Eventually, I'm going to have to do something about the diet. Damn.
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- I'm a reader and a writer, mother to a Diva In Training, and a fledgling runner.
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2008
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Websites I Frequent
Blogs I Love
Books Read in 2008
- The Shadows by LA Banks
- One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell
- Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
- Mary, Mary by James Patterson
- Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Sometimes Quickly by Anne Laughlin
- Red River by Lalita Tademy
- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
- Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
- Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton
- Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
- Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
- The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
- The Art of Column Writing by Suzette Martinez Standring
- The Living Is Easy by Dorothy West
- Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
- How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
- Undead and Unpopular by MaryJanice Davidson
- Mine Are Spectacular by Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnumberger
- 72 Hour Hold by Bebe Moore Campbell
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Fever by Geneva Holiday
- Belong To Me by Marisa de los Santo
- Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
- Undead and Uneasy by MaryJanice Davidson
- Swapping Lives by Jane Green
- Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
- The Darkness by LA Banks
- The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
- Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
- A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
- Eat,Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
8 comments:
Okay...you're my motivation...I'm going to step up my plan to working out 4 times a week...even if it kills me...lol...hmmm and I hope it doesn't. 2008 is my year so I need to act like...losing 40 pounds slowly by working out and eating healthy might just be the ticket!
Hey Yas, nothing wrong with motivation but commitment is the key. I have done quite a bit of personal training over the years and have seen so many folks join a gym only to pay for $300-$500 key fob. Some people have said it's easier for me since I have been a college athlete etc but I'm really motivated to just sit on my ass. Instead, I have hit the gym 3-5times per week for the last 16 years. I love when people think I am 10 years younger than I really am. So commitment is the key. Why do you think the coach yells at his players at halftime? Didn't he just yell before the game to motivate them? The coach knows motivation only lasts for a very short time. Commitment gets us where we want to go in the gym and in everything else in life. I even think I read a blog somewhere telling us to "Step Into It". Commit yourself. You can do it!
Exercise and diet. Ugh!! These two words seem to come up in every conversation I have with friends, relatives, casual contacts, business meetings, etc. While I am glad that we are talking about it since we Americans seem to have a HUGE weight problem, and love to do things to the excess, I would love to move away from diet and exercise and start talking about having a healthy lifestyle and role modeling that for our children. Yeah... I exercise, not so motivated most of the time and yeah.... I try to eat healthy, but I don't always win out- that burger and fries I ate yesterday was the best! But I am committed to a healthy life style. I have to be. I have a medical condition that if I want to be around enjoying life and seeing my girls grow up- I better eat healthy and get the old ticker pumping. Commitment to living healthy results in feeling good, eating well, and looking good. Don't focus on the small goal of just losing a few pounds, or dieting until you reach that target weight and then going back to the same ole' eating habits that got us in the jam in the first place. Let's make a commitment to health and keep our eyes on the bigger picture!
I joined the gym in December and find myself using similar excuses...Interested to know your regimen. I usually try to do a 5k on the treadmill and then strengths on abdomen, legs and arms for 30 min. If I don't have that much time, I just run for 30 min and then do the strenghthening for 30 min. Since I can't go to the gym everyday, I do it all at once. Tell me what works for you.
Yas,
My secret exercise weapon (known to pretty much everyone-lol) is my iPod. I'm telling you. With the right music, you won't notice the time. Let your younguns load it up, and you will be good to go. LOL. But will be with you every step. HOLLA!
Hawk and Cha- I'm committed- shoot!!! LOL
Hey Lena,
Until now, my regime has been twenty to thirty minutes of cardio (running on the t-mill or the elliptical) and then an teaser of a strength routine that I could run through in about 20 minutes.
I'm stepping up my game now. This is my new regime that I kicked off this week:
Cardio: Sun, Tues, Thurs
2 miles minimum on the treadmill (building slowly to three 'cause I'm old, and my shins hate running), or 30 minutes on the elliptical.
Strength: Mon, Wed, Fri
Chest- dumbell presses cable crossovers
Back- wide grip pulldowns and seated rows
Delts- upright rows and cable extensions
Triceps- pushdowns and dumbell kickbacks
Biceps- barbell curls and hammer curls
Crunches- 50
This is to all be done in one day, three non-consecutive days per week. This was given to me by Hawk. He's got a great bod, so I'm listening to him. He swears that if I follow this routine, I will see results in the next six weeks. I'll keep you posted.
The strength training regimen I set up was specific to CD's requests and needs. I also need to say that she did a basic cookie cutter routine for about 6 weeks prior to this new routine. In another 6 weeks I will see how her body responds and adjust the routine accordingly. One thing she left out were the number of sets and reps which she can post for you since I don't have it on this pc. Commitment-burgers and fries=results. Well, have your burgers and fries on the weekends only, you shouldn't deprive yourself and rewards are necessary. Lastly, we all need different rountines as we are all different in so many ways. (height, weight, body type, fat percentage, age, etc) So using the same workouts isn't always the best. If you can, find someone who can assess you and adjust your workouts accordingly. If this isn't an option, get off your ass anyway and as always, do the best YOU can.
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