TGIF

This is one of those days I could easily skip the whole workout thing after work. Its the end of a long week and I am tired. Add to that, I feel a cold coming on (damn!) and I am a bit achy in the joints.

The old me would have gone home, changed into PJs, eaten an entire pizza, and then climbed under the comforters. That was the old me. The new me is determined to get healthy, so I am headed to the workout place for an hour of exercise despite just not feeling motivated to workout today.

I may still have a slice of pizza later tonight after working out, but it will only be a slice and it will be after the workout, not in lieu of the workout.

Off I go......

A Good Start

I am one week into my new health & fitness program (I'm not gonna use the word "diet") and I've lost 6 pounds. YAY!! I know that seems like a lot, but believe me, I started with a lot of poundage and I have a long way to go. But at least it is progress in the right direction.

Thoughts so far:

1) Why are bicycle seats so damn uncomfortable? My butt is the one really sore body part after 40 minutes of stationary bike riding the other day.

2) I don't think I can ween myself off the coke just yet. I am down to 1 coke a day which really is a accomplishment for me. However, the two days I went without coke at all, I severely struggled to get up the next morning. Like slept through my alarm struggled. Ugh!

3) Salad isn't half bad.

4) Still haven't developed that taste for water, but I am drinking a lot more of it than before.

5) I've found that I don't like being at home cause the fridge is just to tempting. I'd rather be at the gym after work than come home early to the temptation. I take that as a good thing.

6) Whoever invented that elliptical machine should be shot. That thing is torture (and I've only been able to survive 5 minutes on it).

7) Onward to the 2nd week......

So Far So Good

The new health program is going well so far. The first week was a tough transition, especially the one coke a day thing. Not that I was grumpy, but I found myself sooo tired during the week and struggling to get out of bed each day. But I got some good rest this weekend and Monday morning wasn't so bad.... only one snooze button.

I thought this weekend was gonna be difficult being at home with a tempting fridge full of food, but I did ok. I was able to cut the food calorie intake by roughly 500-1000 calories over the weekend. I did some grocery shopping and picked up a whole bunch of healthy foods with a lot of fruits and broccoli. There were a lot of tempting stuff I put back on the shelf after reading the nutrition panel on the item. Yikes, there are lots of calories out there in food. Even in so called "healthy" food, I found some very high calories. Like the Lean Cuisine pizza that had more calories than the Red Baron "regular" pizza. I was able to enjoy a Panera lunch and still stay relatively healthy with a 1/2 of Assagio Roastbeef sandwhich and some fat-free chicken noodle soup. Yum....

I overdid the Friday evening workout a bit (hips!), so I took it easy these past two days and will start back at the exercise today. I also haven't tried to pool thing out yet. I got the goggles and swim cap, but I need a new swim suit. I have swim gear, but they are the fancy, cute kind of suite that aren't really designed for swimming laps. Unfortunately, it is a little early in the season for the stores to stock the swim gear. I need to look around a bit more though.

I am also still looking for a good 30 minute aerobic workout that works your abs, back, and arms. Most of the machines are so geared towards you legs. I'll have to ask the fitness center staff about that.

But overall, things are going well. I am starting to feel better overall and even the pants had a bit of ease to them this morning.

Resolutions

To many, New Year Resolutions are dread. What am I gonna have to live without for the upcoming year... or month... or week for most folks.

I'm sure diets are the most popular resolution, and for me, this is my only resolution for 2008. Yes, I am headed for diet-land. After a lot of "I'm approaching my 40th birthday and I fell like crap everyday" soul-searching in December, I decided that this was gonna be the year I get into shape. I am not necessarily focused on "diet", but on just getting healthier and feeling better.

For me, this is a three-pronged approach.

1) Reducing the intake of Coke. Gasp! I know! I love coke and will readily admit I am addicted to the stuff. But there is no way that crap can be good for you. I don't think I can quite cold-turkey and I still need my morning does of caffeine (and I hate coffee), so I am limiting myself to 1 coke a day. Plus, I am not allowing myself to buy that case of coke for the home fridge.... just too tempting. I can get my one coke a day at the cafeteria at my work place.

2) Eating Healthier. Not necessarily a diet as in the traditional sense, but trying to cut the fatty, processed, & carbs food down. I started a food journal and now count calories. It is amazing to discover how many calories are in something as simple as 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing. By counting the calories of what I am eating, it certainly makes you re-think your food choices.

I am not putting myself on any kind of calorie limit per day, cause I just think that leads to a quick failure. Instead, I looked at my normal daily calorie intake back in December and am trying to work to cutting that down by 500 calories a day, especially in the fatty processed food department. My normal caloric intake was in the 2500-3500 range, so I think I can easily drop 500 calories a day without feeling deprived. It takes 3500 calories to equal one pound, so by cutting 500 calories per day, I could drop a pound a week.

3) The final step is to get in shape. I joined my companies activity center prior to the holidays and have also checked out the local indoor pool. I'm gonna start the exercising slow due to my arthritis, but I want to work up to working out 4-5 times a week for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. I started on Wednesday with about an hour of exercise; 30 minutes of treadmill and a 30 minute step class. I did pretty good and wasn't too sore the next day, so I will stick to an hour of exercise for a week or two before adding more.

I also found this website, which is a great resource for calorie-counting and calorie-burning. They have a nice large database on the calories in most foods and the calories you burn in exercising. I have found this site very helpful for my food journal.

So, three days into this, I am doing ok. First day was great, 2nd day was a struggle (due more to a bit of PMS than anything), and I am back on track today. I'll keep you posted as I progress.