So much better today. I drug my butt out of bed at the regular time - about 7:20 and sat in a semi-conscious state for half an hour nursing a coffee and chatting with husband. This is definitely the way I am meant to ease myself into the world each day. Screw running!
Tonight I opted to watch Oprah while getting in my 400 cals. It was an okay choice but I do prefer listening to music. I find there is a lot less clock watching and more actual enjoyment of the exercising this way - music makes it feel more like dancing and along with that comes a freedom of spirit that is quite nice indeed. Somehow it feels more like reaching for greater things rather than pushing myself to perform. I'd rather reach.
time on t-mill: 40:00
distance travelled: 2.955 miles or 4.728km
calories burned: 405.6
avg cal/min: 10.14
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
day 3
Today was terrible. Horrible. Awful. It completely sucked!
Something I know about myself and have known for a very long time is that I don't enjoy exercising in the morning. I never have and I'm pretty certain that is not going to change. So why then, I keep asking myself, did I consciously go against that which I already know? Apparently I'm an IDIOT!!!!!
Given that I'm back in the work week I thought I'd do myself a favor and split my 400 calories between morning and evening. All it did was cause me to NOT have time for my morning coffee and be late and irritable for the rest of the day. Seriously, it affected me for hours. I was tired all day, cranky and I just could not seem to suck it up and move on. I'm so NOT doing that tomorrow! Just thinking about it pisses me off. To think I stopped acting like a rational person over the 20 stupid minutes I spent on the treadmill. I sure hope at least some of this can be attributed to pms.
On top of this my left hip flexor is not very happy about the increased activity. I basically dragged my leg behind me wherever I went this afternoon. Tonight I took an Epsom salt soak as an appeasement to the hip flexor god - a lesser god that thinks its all about him at the moment.
None-the-less I did it. Day 3 is over and I pulled it out. It wasn't pretty by even the slightest stretch of the imagination. Whatever... I rock!
Time on t-mill: 40:27
Calories burned: 400.3
Distance traveled: 2.718 miles or 4.35 km
Avg cal/min: 9.88
Something I know about myself and have known for a very long time is that I don't enjoy exercising in the morning. I never have and I'm pretty certain that is not going to change. So why then, I keep asking myself, did I consciously go against that which I already know? Apparently I'm an IDIOT!!!!!
Given that I'm back in the work week I thought I'd do myself a favor and split my 400 calories between morning and evening. All it did was cause me to NOT have time for my morning coffee and be late and irritable for the rest of the day. Seriously, it affected me for hours. I was tired all day, cranky and I just could not seem to suck it up and move on. I'm so NOT doing that tomorrow! Just thinking about it pisses me off. To think I stopped acting like a rational person over the 20 stupid minutes I spent on the treadmill. I sure hope at least some of this can be attributed to pms.
On top of this my left hip flexor is not very happy about the increased activity. I basically dragged my leg behind me wherever I went this afternoon. Tonight I took an Epsom salt soak as an appeasement to the hip flexor god - a lesser god that thinks its all about him at the moment.
None-the-less I did it. Day 3 is over and I pulled it out. It wasn't pretty by even the slightest stretch of the imagination. Whatever... I rock!
Time on t-mill: 40:27
Calories burned: 400.3
Distance traveled: 2.718 miles or 4.35 km
Avg cal/min: 9.88
Sunday, February 22, 2009
challenge 1 - day 1 & 2
So I got a jump start on the treadmill challenge. I was in the mood yesterday and thought I should strike while the iron was hot (I wonder where that expression came from?).
Day 1 (Saturday)
Putting in the 400 calories was easier than I expected. For the most part I jogged at about 5 miles/hour. Apparently yoga has done a good job of expanding my lungs as the burning I was anticipating never happened - a pleasant surprise indeed. I accompanied my time by listening to some vintage 90's Savage Garden - which I might add ended up being excellent aerobic workout music.
Here is how it played out...
Time on t-mill: 40:16
Calories burned: 400.0
Distance gone: 2.789 miles or 4.46 km
Avg cal/min: 9.93
Day 2 (Sunday)
Today's run was great! This whole thing has given me an excuse to go through old cds - dance hits of 2001 was the flavour of the day. Not quite as good as Savage Garden but kept me moving none-the-less. I have heard that running to music is better than watching t.v. and exercising - this is probably true, especially if you really like the music and can sing along. Many times I found myself moving in rhythm with an entangled stride. Generally speaking, I talk myself out of running in favor of walking instead. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was seeking to burn 400 calories in the least amount of time possible(!) but whatever it was I certainly enjoyed the run.
Once again I didn't not experience any uncomfortable lung burn or side stitches. I really thought both would happen. Tonight however, my inner thighs are feeling some lactic acid soreness - I'm wondering if it will prove problematic for tomorrow.
Time on t-mill: 40:00
Calories burned: 414.3
Distance traveled: 2.900 miles or 4.64 km
Avg cal/min: 10.36
Day 1 (Saturday)
Putting in the 400 calories was easier than I expected. For the most part I jogged at about 5 miles/hour. Apparently yoga has done a good job of expanding my lungs as the burning I was anticipating never happened - a pleasant surprise indeed. I accompanied my time by listening to some vintage 90's Savage Garden - which I might add ended up being excellent aerobic workout music.
Here is how it played out...
Time on t-mill: 40:16
Calories burned: 400.0
Distance gone: 2.789 miles or 4.46 km
Avg cal/min: 9.93
Day 2 (Sunday)
Today's run was great! This whole thing has given me an excuse to go through old cds - dance hits of 2001 was the flavour of the day. Not quite as good as Savage Garden but kept me moving none-the-less. I have heard that running to music is better than watching t.v. and exercising - this is probably true, especially if you really like the music and can sing along. Many times I found myself moving in rhythm with an entangled stride. Generally speaking, I talk myself out of running in favor of walking instead. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was seeking to burn 400 calories in the least amount of time possible(!) but whatever it was I certainly enjoyed the run.
Once again I didn't not experience any uncomfortable lung burn or side stitches. I really thought both would happen. Tonight however, my inner thighs are feeling some lactic acid soreness - I'm wondering if it will prove problematic for tomorrow.
Time on t-mill: 40:00
Calories burned: 414.3
Distance traveled: 2.900 miles or 4.64 km
Avg cal/min: 10.36
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Challenge #1
So, after great deliberation we have made a decision! Our first challenge will combine calories burnt on the treadmill and water consumed during the day. Nothing too excited but tough enough, just the same.
Prior to Christmas I was doing a great job hammering it out on the treadmill - burning loads of calories and fitting nicely into any pair of pants I took out of the closet. Sadly I've been on a bit of a downward spiral since then. Performance on the t-mill has been sporadic at best. As for those pants... further comment is just depressing. Jeremy on the other hand should come through this challenge with ease - he is up every morning at 6 working it out with a good sweat! I must say, I'm more than pleased about this as his genetic heredity is inferior to mine - he comes from a long line of heart-disease and stroke - I do not.
So this is how it will work. We are each committed to burning 400 calories daily - as indicated by the machine and drinking 8 glasses of water before 7pm in the evening. For me, 400 calories equals somewhere between 35 and 50 minutes depending on how ambitious I'm feeling.
The whole things sounds much less exciting than I am acutally feeling about it! Probably because I'm brimming over with ideas for the coming weeks but feel this first one needs to get me off my butt and back into (hopefully) a more committed workout routine.
Have you been giving any thought to the idea of a 7 day challenge? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Perhaps we could be mutually encouraging.
Will keep you posted. :-)
Prior to Christmas I was doing a great job hammering it out on the treadmill - burning loads of calories and fitting nicely into any pair of pants I took out of the closet. Sadly I've been on a bit of a downward spiral since then. Performance on the t-mill has been sporadic at best. As for those pants... further comment is just depressing. Jeremy on the other hand should come through this challenge with ease - he is up every morning at 6 working it out with a good sweat! I must say, I'm more than pleased about this as his genetic heredity is inferior to mine - he comes from a long line of heart-disease and stroke - I do not.
So this is how it will work. We are each committed to burning 400 calories daily - as indicated by the machine and drinking 8 glasses of water before 7pm in the evening. For me, 400 calories equals somewhere between 35 and 50 minutes depending on how ambitious I'm feeling.
The whole things sounds much less exciting than I am acutally feeling about it! Probably because I'm brimming over with ideas for the coming weeks but feel this first one needs to get me off my butt and back into (hopefully) a more committed workout routine.
Have you been giving any thought to the idea of a 7 day challenge? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Perhaps we could be mutually encouraging.
Will keep you posted. :-)
Monday, February 16, 2009
7 days
We just got back from another marathon trip to the city. Eight hours there and eight hours back! Now most (sensible) people would consider this to be ludicrous. And admittedly there is a piece of me that does as well.
But, the most interesting things always seem to come out of these long rides. For one thing, you have lots of time to talk with your significant other. And not superficially - to really talk, discuss those things that either have been bothering you or to delve into ideas that you would like to become a reality. Some times the things that surface are a surprise to us both - at times we've stumbled onto some creative and well worth exploring stuff.
One question I always seem to be looking for the answer to is - how do you keep life an engaging experience? What are the qualities that separate the do'ers from the sit-backer's? I've always had an appetite for learning new things and trying on something different.
Which one of us actually initiated the idea I can't quite remember but after several back-n-forths about what it might look like, this is what we came up with: 7 day challenges of things we might not otherwise do. Now if you read Steve Pavlina with any regularity you know he is an advocate of the 30-day money back guarantee (so to speak) and proposes trying things for 30 days and letting the habit become embedded. If after 30 days you don't want to maintain the habit/lifestyle then you can let it go. I happen to suffer from ADHD (seriously, I do), 30 days seems like an eternity to me. But a week is quick. A week I can do.
So what might these 7 day challenges look like? Well, almost anything. And they could be combined. For instance one of the first ones we came up with was to burn 400 calories each on the treadmill for 7 straight days. Then we added along with that drinking 8 glasses of water per day. Or what about trying to eat for 7 days on $50 worth of groceries or going vegetarian? Not turning the tv on for a week? Or having sex every day (Jeremy was immediately on board with this one). We also thought we might try not using our vehicles for 7 days which would mean walking/biking to work and the grocery store. Perhaps getting up every morning at 6 am and going for a walk.
The more we talked the more ideas we came up with. I'm personally pretty pumped about the prospects. I think it could lend an interesting focus to life and spur us on to set some entertaining and outlandish goals. I really like the idea of starting on Sunday and going through until Saturday. At that point we could decide on taking a week off or choosing a new challenge and getting right on it. Not every week has to be hard, but the point is to do something everyday that is outside of our normal everyday experience.
Our plan is to start next Sunday, February 22nd. I'll keep you updated on what we decide and hopefully post regularly on our progress.
But, the most interesting things always seem to come out of these long rides. For one thing, you have lots of time to talk with your significant other. And not superficially - to really talk, discuss those things that either have been bothering you or to delve into ideas that you would like to become a reality. Some times the things that surface are a surprise to us both - at times we've stumbled onto some creative and well worth exploring stuff.
One question I always seem to be looking for the answer to is - how do you keep life an engaging experience? What are the qualities that separate the do'ers from the sit-backer's? I've always had an appetite for learning new things and trying on something different.
Which one of us actually initiated the idea I can't quite remember but after several back-n-forths about what it might look like, this is what we came up with: 7 day challenges of things we might not otherwise do. Now if you read Steve Pavlina with any regularity you know he is an advocate of the 30-day money back guarantee (so to speak) and proposes trying things for 30 days and letting the habit become embedded. If after 30 days you don't want to maintain the habit/lifestyle then you can let it go. I happen to suffer from ADHD (seriously, I do), 30 days seems like an eternity to me. But a week is quick. A week I can do.
So what might these 7 day challenges look like? Well, almost anything. And they could be combined. For instance one of the first ones we came up with was to burn 400 calories each on the treadmill for 7 straight days. Then we added along with that drinking 8 glasses of water per day. Or what about trying to eat for 7 days on $50 worth of groceries or going vegetarian? Not turning the tv on for a week? Or having sex every day (Jeremy was immediately on board with this one). We also thought we might try not using our vehicles for 7 days which would mean walking/biking to work and the grocery store. Perhaps getting up every morning at 6 am and going for a walk.
The more we talked the more ideas we came up with. I'm personally pretty pumped about the prospects. I think it could lend an interesting focus to life and spur us on to set some entertaining and outlandish goals. I really like the idea of starting on Sunday and going through until Saturday. At that point we could decide on taking a week off or choosing a new challenge and getting right on it. Not every week has to be hard, but the point is to do something everyday that is outside of our normal everyday experience.
Our plan is to start next Sunday, February 22nd. I'll keep you updated on what we decide and hopefully post regularly on our progress.
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