I’m still going to the gym three times a week. More or less. Or less. And according to Shannon I’m not pushing myself hard enough and that’s why I’m not getting any skinnier. I wonder how that can be, considering the sweat that happens and the sore legs/arms/body in general. I think I must need a personal trainer to push me in the right direction.
I am getting better at running. Maybe I do like it?
Well, I do like my new gym clothes. I hate yoga pants, all droopy and floppy, they are no good at all for running or cycling.
I would maybe get an assessment to help assist you with the proper techniques you need perhaps.
Sometimes it depends on you as well, when I worked out I gained weight because muscle is heavier then fat. Although when I started working at the daycare as a chef and just making better food choices overall, I find that its easier to drop the extra poundage. Go figure :S
If you’re looking to lose fat, you definitely want to focus your efforts on strength training moreso than running (not to discourage you from running, which is my main thing too). I would suggest taking a gander at the book The New Rules of Lifting for Women, which completely changed the way I think about lifting weights and got me away from the sissy machines and into the free weight room with the ridiculous roid heads (they are HILARIOUSLY entertaining to watch).
Also, Crossfit is free and is worth a look (but I’ve found a lot of the equipment needed is not available in my gym). They post a different workout everyday for you to try (plus intermittent rest days).
Personal trainers are expensive and a lot of them really don’t have a whole heck of a lot of education beyond a Men’s Health subscription. Not that they all suck, but a lot of them do. Probably most of them. I would say the only reason to spend the money on one is if you want to learn good lifting technique, but a lot of that information can be found for free on youtube anyway.
Also, if you want to push yourself harder with running, there’s no better way to do that than signing up for a race. :)
Sarah, I am super happy when I hear from you, my first internet friend!
Here is what I’ve been doing lately at the gym: 10 minutes on the treadmill but I do 1 minute fast walk, 1 minute run (so, I think I set them at 3.8 and 7.2) with no incline. Often I am a suck, like today when my groin muscle was hurting, so I stopped early. Then I do ‘sissy’ weights (THANKS!) pull downs, fly thing, leg lifts, crunches, other stuff, 15 each and I do 2 rounds but sometimes 3. And then on the lazy bike for as much time as I have left with the fan blowing on me. It’s the best part.
I will look up Crossfit.
And I know my diet isn’t the best, that’s no secret. But I love fudge. I find that I am SO hungry all the time, now with the gym business, and often I’m hungry at inopportune moments, like at the mall or whatever which leads to unhealthy eating. I mean to bring fruit with me but that doesn’t really ever happen.
Crossfit=eek.
The other real problem with my workout is that we go to the gym when it’s technically closed. There is no one there to spot or to offer tips or help.
All you need to do is mention the geeky stuff I like, and here I am.
I would ditch the sissy machines and do some free weight stuff that works a couple of different muscle groups at once. Like, instead of doing the bicep curl machine, you can grab a pair of dumbbells and a stability ball, put the ball between your back and the wall, and do a squat into a curl, or a squat into a press. You get more done in less time.
If your gym has a smith machine, there’s a lot you can do with heavy weights that don’t require a spotter. I use one to do presses and back squats on my own. Plus you can do push ups off of it (so that you can keep your knees straight instead of bent, thereby engaging your core).
I would definitely check out New Rules of Lifting for Women if you get a chance — they have six months’ worth of strength training that you can do 2-3 times a week and see results from. I was doing it for awhile but fell out of it because of a new job, moving, blah blah, but I’m planning to start it up again this week. It really is fantastic and has a lot of great recipes and stuff too.
I eat like crap too. I refuse to give up sweets and booze. REFUSE.
Re: personal trainers, I have one, and have had him for a while now, seeing him two hours a week since August 2009 (I have probably mentioned this on here before). He’s good in terms of just forcing myself to get out of bed in the mornings, and I guess because he makes me do SO MUCH WEIGHTS I am a lot stronger as now I can do burpees easy-peasy and stuff, but I wouldn’t say he’s a necessary investment if you’re fine with motivation.
Re: running — from what I’ve been told by trainers I’ve had, that kind of running is really not enough to get your cardio up, you need to be running for a minimum of 20 minutes even if you’re doing intervals, and your “rest” intervals seem too long and too easy to me. For example, if I’m doing running intervals, the “rest” interval will be 9-10km/hour — fast walk won’t really cut it, even if it feels like hard work.
We have many different interval routines to keep it interesting for me, if you’d like some examples:
warm up walking briskly at 6km/h for 30secs, then running gently gradually increasing up to 9km/h, then:
1 min 9km/h
1 min 10km/h
1 min 11km/h
1 min 12km/h
1 min 10km/h
1 min 11km/h
1 min 12km/h
1 min 13km/h
1 min 11km/h
1 min 12km/h
etc.
developing an +1, +1, +1, -2, +1, +1, +1, -2 pattern.
Or if you like to play with the incline, stay at 9/10km/h, no incline for 2 minutes, then a hill of 4 for a minute, no incline for 2 minutes, hill of 6 for 1 minute, etc. and increasing till you reach your limit, then decreasing progressively.
Or even just keep increasing speed at a rate of +1km/h every minute up to the hardest you can do, then back down in one minute increments.
Also try not just doing intervals, but also having days where you do long distance runs. I find the first 20/30mins are the hardest, then after a while it becomes addictive and you don’t want to stop! that’s how I found out the machine turns itself off after an hour and a half, haha.
But all this… and I’m not really any the skinnier for it, because I am hungrier and eat more. I am leaner though…
Wow, Rosie, you are hardcore. I have to admit, I have not got a lot of interest in spending that much time on the treadmill.
Honestly, I haven’t got a ton of time at the gym anyway: usually the way it works is meet there at 2, get changed, do my workout, change back into street clothes, the end. In an hour. And often my boss is late so that cuts in too. Not that I want to make excuses, I’m sure I could stay later with her and not get paid but I don’t really want to set that precedent. I worry that working for no pay will turn into this slippery slope and I don’t work enough hours to make a living as it is.
I meant to join the gymnastics club around the corner but we were away on the first week so I slacked on that too.
I guess I have to also remind myself that I am a person who has never, as an adult, exercised and it’s all a new thing to me. And I wish we lived near Shannon’s brother who is-apparently-the king of crossfit. Mr.Armwrestling and all that…he’d be a fun gym partner!
It’s the carbs.
Weighed myself this morning.
159.6
I was at 206 when I started a year and a half ago. I’ve managed to keep off the weight since march of last year or so.
At 5’11″, 206 was borderline Obese if you follow BMI.
I never did any weights. Just lots of situps, crunches, pushups and Dips. Some reverse situps as well.
Everyone is different, but I went to a gym religiously and it never worked like changing my diet did.
I enjoyed Denise Austin as my not-so-personal trainer and would recommend her yoga, aerobics, strength training, body sculpting to anyone, including myself. (HINT, HINT, ELIZABETH!)
Also look into the metabolism quickening and toxin removing qualities of apple cider vinegar in water.
Anyway, you look great, probably have way more energy than you used to and are skinnier than me so that’s skinny aplenty. :P
That C-bag Jillian Michaels took a good 12 pounds off me in the privacy of my living room. Ha.
mm agreed, time is a pain, I have to go early in the morning before work or it just doesn’t happen! And I was thinking about it yesterday evening, you do look very slim to me already, so I’m not sure how much weight you really need to shift…
however I find exercise is a great mood enhancer, and I imagine things can get pretty stressful for you, so I would keep it up for the health benefits both physical and mental and try not to worry too much about weight loss <3
I try not to post pictures where I look lumpy. I’m not fat, not really at all, but slim is a stretch. I’m almost 38 and I abused myself with booze for a long time-and a very sedentary life. So I have problem areas and fat and that’s what I’d like to get rid of. Part of me just wants to get lipo and call it good-keep going to the gym and eating well.
I wear size 12 jeans-10 sometimes-medium/large shirts. I’m almost 5-10 and weigh less than 160. But I’d like to weigh 145.