Blue25’s BodyBlog

Another blogger’s post and a few other fitness folks have inspired me to take the steps that I’ve known I’ve needed to take for some time. I’m working hard but something’s not quite right. When I asked myself if I’m doing EVERYTHING I can to get to where I need to be the answer was NO.

Although I never claimed that I was doing everything or whined over lack of results, I did feel that I should be further along in my progress. With that, I realized my goals for my body and my dietary outlook had changed. As a matter of fact, my choice has made my physical goal even more of a challenge to obtain. So it was time to review some things and tighten the reins as there will be very little room for slacking.

I’ve been working at it for about a week now and it’s a tight schedule especially with my martial arts but my hope is that I can maintain for the next 6 weeks. Staying centered, organized, meditating, scheduling, and taking each day and task one at a time should help me get there.

I had a few days under the weather and several days of being swamped so I missed almost a week of working out. Maybe my body needed the break. My bruises definitely did. But I’m back at it and increased my weight on some upper body exercises. If only I felt this good about cardio.

Even though the year has just begun and I’ve barely been back to work after several short weeks for the last two months, I think I might be off-center.

How do I know? My life isn’t quite flowing the way it should or could. The cleaning is not getting done, I’ve strayed from my weekly schedule a few times, oversleeping, my appetite is still erratic and I’m not packing my breakfast and lunch as much as I should. Oh and I’ve meditated about twice this year so far.

Part of this is due to the fact that I’ve just been really busy lately. Perhaps I have too much on my plate altho I don’t think I do that much. There just aren’t enough hours in the day many which are now committed to sleeping. I’m also stressed because I MUST pass my real estate test. I’ve been studying but there’s always a small part of me that wonders if I’m studying enough; do I really know the material? The test is not hard… at least I didn’t think so but I didn’t pass it the first time so obviously I need to hit the books harder. I’m trying to keep a positive outlook but doubt keeps creeping in. If I fail again, I’ll be devastated. I’m running out of time and it’s delaying other plans, and taking my attention from other projects.

So I’m determined to pass so I can move on to other things but tracking food, exercise, thinking about and planning my meals… damn, if it’s not time consuming sometimes. And then to look in the mirror or step on the scale and cringe at what I see or don’t see. Ugh.

But I’ll get back on track. I just better do it before things get too out of control. Then it just gets sloppy and I need to take a day off to get right or just put everything down for a week or so and I don’t want that to happen. Even though it’s late, there’s no time like right now so I’m gonna get started with a quick workout and then map out the rest of my week. Oh, another social engagement has been added to my already full weekend. Hmm, maybe I do have a life outside of karate, weights and carbs after all.

There are days when it seems I can’t get enough food. I do pretty well when I stick to my program exactly–5 meals a day with proper macros. But then there are days when I’m just not hungry. I force myself to eat a few things but basically have no interest in food. Even knowing that I’m jeopardizing my program doesn’t make me want to eat anymore.

I had one of those days on Friday and had a cheat on Saturday at a social engagement. So it’s the straight and narrow for the rest of the week but I wonder what leads to loss of appetite seemingly out of the blue.

I’m still tweaking my nutrition plan.

Almost a month and no chips. Yes!

No cheats all week. I’m back to carrying an assortment of food to eat throughout the day. I’m measuring everything and journaling it all. Discovered a few errors and made changes.

Seems like every time I turn around I’m stopping at the market to get more food.

A few social events over the next few weeks. I’ll have to plan accordingly. Even for the movies, I make my own popcorn, pack my own beverage and snacks or sandwich. There’s nothing at the concession stand that doesn’t make me cringe (or sick) and a bottle of water should not cost 3 or 4 bucks, so I bring my own.

I hope by this time next month I’ll see significant changes.

I took Sunday off. I didn’t have to but I did. Just relaxed with my guy, watched movies and the Giants. My plan was to do cardio but since I worked out all week, I decided not to.

And I regretted it.

I just felt guilty about not taking advantage of a day free of responsibilities. I usually have to juggle between Wed and Sun as rest days depending on my schedule and what I’ve done throughout the week. Since I skipped Sunday, I tried to do cardio on Wed, the day after fight class and cardio kickboxing. My body felt like lead the night before and I didn’t get as much sleep as I should have but I could squeeze out 30 minutes of aerobic activity.

But I found it very hard to focus while on the bike. I kept stopping or getting distracted and eventually I began to feel slightly nauseated. I hopped off after 20 interrupted minutes. Next was weights. If cardio was a no-go, maybe I could do some lifting. Again, no focus and just didn’t feel right. I stopped after two exercises and called it a night. I don’t think I did anything any different than what I normally do so I couldn’t pinpoint why I didn’t feel so great, I just didn’t, but really felt bummed about missing my 2nd workout in 4 days.

Today was a different story. I did a full body workout for over an hour. I’m still a little sore from fight class… I’ve got a huge cut on the bottom of my big toe (ouch!) and a bad bruise on my shin from blocking. Even with guards on, the second block was enough to make me double over. Surprisingly, the pain went away after about 5 minutes. Maybe due to adrenaline or endorphins? Whatever the case, I continued on but later that evening the soreness settled in. Just brushing over the area hurts but oddly enough, I sorta feel good about it. My shins are (slowly) getting stronger and now I know that even if they get hit, I can fight through it. They’ve been such a weak spot for me I was worried I’d just collapse but I didn’t. A small victory for me.

I’m ready for bed as soon as I finish this post. I’m exhausted. 30m/cardio, 15m/abs, 3×12/chest/shoulders. My biceps feel weird right now. Not really sore but very fatigued. And I need some sleep but I want to vent about my home ‘gym’. I’m a bit frustrated with it right now.

I don’t have a room or an area designated for exercise. I have a large livingroom, a decent space to throw down a mat and bring out the weights.

But I’m in need of new weights. I need more variations in both DBs and plates. My adjustable bench hasn’t been very adjustable. I don’t know why. It just doesn’t click in place as easily as it should. I end up using my rest time between sets fiddling with it.

Aside from these issues, I desperately want some sort of lat tower. I love to do lat work and am not able to the way I’d like. I’ve looked at a few to buy but I’m afraid it may end up being much larger once I get it home. So I keep putting it off. I also miss the option of using cables and haven’t really put in the time to create or find suitable substitutions for certain exercises.

These things make me think it’s time to join a gym but right now is not the best time for another recreational expense. Also, I’m not very fond of gyms so the chances of me going are nil especially since there isn’t one close by. While I don’t have the best set up, working out at home allows me to exercise pretty much whenever. Last night I was behind schedule so I didn’t work out until 11:30. With no concern of travel time, I usually can squeeze in exercise where normally traveling would make it impossible to even consider. So let’s see…

Pros:
Never closed, unlimited access
No waiting for equipment
No sweaty benches or poor etiquette
No bad music
No unsightly nudity
No loiterers, TV watchers, grunters, talkers, posers
No temptation to tell others that they have incredibly poor form
No fee

Cons:
Limited equipment

Right now, this will have to do until I move and can dedicate a whole room or basement to fitness, where I can have a heavy bag and maybe a few other items. That may or may not be possible but it’s on my wish list.

My new profile pic was taken on New Year’s Day right after abs and cardio. This morning I woke up feeling like someone had repeatedly punched me in the back thanks to my last exercise of the year yesterday.

I don’t do new year’s resolutions because I’m always setting goals throughout the year. Other than my fitness goals, one thing I need to do is get my real estate license so I’ll be studying over the next several weeks for the exam.

I need to maintain my program with a few small adjustments… watching my portions, consistently journaling my food, and getting rid of some cheat foods. It’s been almost 15 days since I’ve had any sort of chips. That’s a big deal for me since I love tortilla chips but right now, I’m not even interested. Can I get through the month of January? We’ll see.