Going Stronger

Well, this has been a great week so far, in terms of exercise. We really have made up our minds, IsraeliDad and myself and got into swimming, as well as gym workouts. Yesterday we even joined a spinning (indoor cycling) class! So far, so good. We've also switched to eating vegetable salad twice a day and opting for organic ones no less...

I even have two chunks of tofu in the fridge! They got there by mistake, but they do make our fridge look like it belongs to some health freaks lol.

Anyway, I started a new blog where I'll put all the actual notes, tips, ideas and stuff that I find online to help me with working out. Check it out - Fitness-Notes.com

Working Out Again - Swimming!

We are back to working out here... "We" this time, and not just me. IsraeliDad decided to join me in my weight loss/getting fit efforts. He will be working on the getting fit part mostly (he doesn't have a lot of excess weight to lose anyway). It's so much more fun working out together.

We go to the gym together essentially. Driving over, exercising for an hour and a half and then going back home.

We plan on adding swimming now, so we can alternate between the pool and the gym. One small obstacle in the way - I don't really know how to swim. I can paddle away pretty much, without sinking usually, but that's about it. So, today I took my first swimming lesson. It lasted for 45 minutes. My main achievement is slightly embarrassing... I can now put my head underwater and blow bubbles :p Ok, ok, I did a little more than that. I actually got the basics of swimming together, but still need a lot of practice and some more guidance.

I'm taking another lesson next week, but will be practicing tomorrow already. One thing I can already see is that I am exhausted! I am signing off for a nap now...

Pushing in some exercise

Had a bad weekend, eating-wise. Not only did we have an Italian style Bar Mitzva feast, but I also joined in on some of the mini-parties with all the guests around, essentially binging on chocolate and salted sunflower seeds. Smokers sometime mention social smoking as a problem, well, I had a social eating problem there.

The problem is that once I begin, it's hard to stop. In for a penny, in for a pound... unfortunately these are real pounds added on here :p Yesterday was slightly better, as I did go to the gym. I have to say, I find that sticking to a gym routine is the only thing that actually helps me keep my eating in order. I plan on going today as well.

The leg injury is still there and it is very limiting. Yesterday for example, I had my husband drive me to the gym, instead of walking. At the gym I did a 15 minutes walk on the treadmill. At that point the pain was increasing too much, so I stopped. I did manage to squeeze some hi-intensity uphill walking minutes, which was real nice. Then I went for some machine training, lifting and pushing some weights, arms workout with sit-ups for my tummy and finally some thigh exercise on some other machines. That took about 15 minutes. Next, I had 35 minutes on the bike, pedaling away and maintaining my target heartbeat rate through out (that's 135-140 bpm).

Now, today I wonder what to do. I think I'll go to the gym, but I realize that I might be aggravating things, exercising one day after the other. Now, I AM trying to get a hold of a sports physician and have a professional look at this. Until then, I will try to balance the pain with the pleasure ;)

Well, it's May already

I haven't blogged here in a long while. Depressing really, considering that when I last blogged I was writing about an injury which I still suffer from. My training routine has taken a major hit and I can see now how it's lasting for months and months. I'm not sure what to do at this point, really. I find it very hard to keep down the food intake when I'm not training, especially the sweets. It seems like sports balances out my sugar cravings or something. I do still go to the gym, but not as often, maybe 2-3 times a week. When I do go, I can't walk for more than 20 minutes without my calf hurting. It actually hurts before too, but then it gets bad enough to stop me from walking. I then switch to the bicycle, but I find it hard to do those for more than half an hour tops. I guess you could say that one hour of working out 2-3 times a week isn't bad. I think it is. It doesn't help me lose weight - it simply isn't enough for my needs.

I keep feeling like I have to be careful with it too, that it's borderline as it is with my leg and that the injury simply isn't getting better.

A depressing post, I guess, sorry about that. I really am frustrated about it all, sigh.

A setback

Things have been going fairly well up until a week ago. My exercise routine was fun, and quite effective too. We met with family this week, people whom I hadn't seen in a couple of months, and it was nice hearing the compliments lol. I finally noticed a change on the scale as well. Over the past 8 weeks I lose approximately 8 lbs. Now, that's not a lot, I know, but I am positive that I gained quite a lot of muscle mass too, so hopefully the actual fat loss is more than 8 lbs.

However, about a week and a half ago I got the flu and took a break from training for a few days. More importantly, just prior to that I managed to injure myself during training. I pushed things a bit too far on the elliptical and ended up with what I thought was a nasty spasm. But almost two weeks later, I finally realized I had actually have a proper calf muscle strain, the kind that all websites recommend the RICE treatment for, for a period of 2-4 weeks :(

At this point, I'm torn. The sensible part in me (yes, there is one!) tells me to follow the procedure and let the muscle heal. I did go to the gym this week, and probably made it all a bit worse, to the point where it suddenly hurt so bad I had to get off the treadmill altogether and call hubby to give me a ride back home. I couldn't walk without a very intense pain in my calf... Then again, I keep wondering, what if I go for a relatively mild workout, maybe use the bike more, and keep walking down to low pace, no uphill, kind of walking? I realize it won't rest the leg, but frankly, I am a bit weary of not working out for a few weeks. I am so much more fit now, it would be a shame to lose it all and get back to the start :(

Anyway, I think I'll take a break now, and go rest my leg on some ice for a bit. It's not fun at all, makes my foot freeze, but since I probably am taking the day off practice, I guess I might as well do the RICE thing properly :p

Starting a New Week of Working Out

Wow, been a lazy girl for two whole days! Didn't work out on the weekend (that's our Friday and Saturday). Planning on going in a couple of hours, start my week again.

I did plan on a walk on Friday, but it was raining. I am not going to the gym Friday mornings anymore. Don't laugh, but there's this trainer there that scares me away lol. He's this big Russian guy there that wants to throw me into a tough training regime. Now, I don't mind a training regime, in fact, I have one of my own, but this guy wanted to give me a weird one for "body sculpting". Plus, he was of the Chernobyl school of training, very Russian, very strict, no smiling policy. I don't like that one bit. He wrote down the plan for me, on a piece of paper, and I kept smiling (foolishly, there was no smile coming back) and nodding my head lol. My new regime from now on is to avoid him. Fortunately, he's never at the gym during the morning, which is my training time. Unfortunately, he's there on Fridays, so I'm thinking of staying away for a few Fridays at least.... Hence, the plan was for a walk on Friday, but it's raining so bad here these past few days, that I had to skip the Friday walk...

So... to keep a long story short, I skipped two days and now it's back to full time training. I better stick to it for the next five days... two hours a day at the very least... Good luck to me!

Happy Slim New Year!

Can't start a new year without a post in a weight loss blog, can ya? ;)

So, where am I? I weighed myself on Saturday. Promised myself I wouldn't weigh until I finish a whole month of the new 2 hours a day at the gym routine, but I did anyway. I only lost 3 measly pounds... but I can feel the extra muscle tissue and muscle is supposed to weigh more than fat, so maybe it's not that bad.

Still going strong with the gym sessions. Last couple of times I was getting sort of dizzy when on the treadmill. I'll see today if maybe I need to switch to doing bike more. I think it may just be some mild ear infection, but still not feeling like falling off the machine while "treading" ;)

Happy New Year to us all. May next New Year's Eve find less of me around! Going to the gym now... bye all!