I squat, therefore I am

Still have a lingering cold but I popped some DayQuil this morning and made it to the gym this afternoon.

About a month ago I had a session with the trainer. He showed me how to do squats and put them in my weight training routine. Problem was, I couldn't do one. Not even one. So he showed me a modified one where I squat to sit on a bench except don't actually sit on the bench but stand back up right before touching it.

Well, today I did a squat! I was shocked. I tried to do one and voila! I went on to do 3 sets of 8. Amazing! I was so proud of myself, secretly grinning inside the entire time I was doing them. To be honest I don't know where the strength came from because this is the first time I did a lower body weight training day since he showed me the bench compromise. It must be from the bike riding. Lord knows that bike makes my thighs burn.

By the way, you know what's a good song for getting you pumped up? "U+ur hand" by Pink. Ok, maybe it only gets women pumped up, but the music and course of the song had me rocking out today while on the stationary upright.

I am so glad my cold is going away, it was zapping my energy and my motivation. There have been so many times in the past when a cold would be enough to throw me off my whole routine and I thought about that constantly over the last few days. Each day I made the decision not to work out was a neurotic mess of, "Am I not working out because I'm sick or because I'm falling off the wagon?". I asked anyone who had even a remote amount of fitness/health knowledge what I should do (and of course got varied answers from YES, workout! to NO, rest!). Yesterday I was really on the fence but when I felt pooped in the afternoon I decided to skip it. So far, I'm glad I did. The gym was great fun today and I was so happy to be there. That's the kind of association I want my mind to have with the gym.

I go to the gym because I want to, because it feels good, because I enjoy having a healthy, strong, functional body that allows me to do the things I want to do.

Under the Weather

I have a cold. It sucks. I lost two pounds this week. yay. That's a whimper of a yay because I feel crappy. But yay anyway!

Hiking on Christmas Day! @ Mt. Tamalpais State Park

I wanted to go hiking today, seemed like a nice idea on Christmas day. Plus it was a beautiful day here in Northern California. I picked a hike, 5.4 miles on Mt. Tamalpais. It was rated at 6 difficulty on a 1-10 scale with a 800' elevation gain. Seemed reasonable. But, whew! It KICKED MY A$$ during some parts. Plus, it took longer than we expected and we got back to the car at dark. That was a close call. One of the reasons I want to get in shape is to go on adventures, and this was one. We had a great day. Here's a picture.

Moving in the right direction.

I lost .4 pounds last week. Did you see the point just in front of the 4? Not much, but a loss. I know why it's not higher...holiday parties and alcohol! I think it was worth it. I also started TTOTM the day after I weighed in, so maybe I was a bit bloated too?

The best news is I went to the gym every day the rest of the week and reached my goal of going 5 times in a week! On Friday I worked late, until about 6:30pm, and was on my way home. I called Miguel and when he asked if I was going to the gym..."no, I'm tired and it's late." I realized a few miles from home being tired and it being late were no reasons to skip, and that I actually sort of felt up for a workout. I went and as I waltzed out to my car afterward I felt very good about my decision. Yesterday I also went, and that made 5 days. I'm sure going tomorrow because I hate starting the week with a gym deficit. Plus weekend gym visits are nice.

I'm back to the 5 minute intervals on the bike (between levels 2 & 3, in the event anyone is following my tedious explanations of my stationary bike tribulations). Today my heart rate barely got up to 160 when on level 3. I can't wait, cannot wait, until level 3 is as easy as level 2.

I need to get better at eating on the weekends though. I have a habit of having coffee and cereal and then don't eat for most of the day until dinner. Working out with so little fuel midday doens't work out so well (no pun intended).

I did weight training for the first time today. I did upper body and core work. It felt nice to be lifting weights again. I did 15 min on the elliptical and then weights and then 30 minutes on the bike. I don't like cardio after weights and I think I'll do all cardio and then weights, finishing up with stretching. Rest assured I'll keep you posted

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Change is Hard.

Yesterday in the afternoon at work I started feeling nauseous. I had a 7pm appt so I decided to skip my workout and go home until the appt. After the appt I felt better so I worked out.

Today, started feeling nauseous again. 100% not-pregnant if you were wondering. But who knows why? I don't.

Anyway, I was feeling really tired too, yawning all afternoon (then realized I never finished my morning coffee, so I think that's why I was so tired all day). I was trying to push myself to go to the gym, telling myself I had to go, etc. Then I asked a co-worker what she thought. She said, "you know, when I feel that way I don't go. I want the gym to be something I want to do, if I force myself to go when I'm feeling like you are I start to hate it."

That was the most perfect thing to hear. I'm trying so hard to change my attitude toward the gym and then I get this black & white thinking, like I have to go. I've missed one day this week (hangover on Sunday) and if I miss today but go the rest of the week I'll reach my goal of going 5 times this week. But I've also allowed that some weeks I will only go 4 times and that's okay.

I'm still working on that stationary bike. I'm up to 10 min sustained on level 3 two times in 30 minutes. But it's HARD. My heart-rate got up to 167. So I do 5 min Level 2, 10 min Level 3, 5 @ 2 and then 10 @ 3. I met with the trainer again. It went much better this time and he split my routine up into upper and lower body like I wanted.

Anyway, I want to feel good about my choices, and start to think differently, not this on-or-off mentality I've had for so many years. So, weigh-in tomorrow. Let's hope the three holiday parties don't stop me from losing at least a little this week.