Heather’s BodyBlog

I went to the gym this morning and did 45 minutes on the elliptical.  I burned 495 calories over 4.25 miles.  That seems pretty consistant with what I did last time, if I remember correctly.  This time I had the resistance up to 5 but instead of just doing the regular manual program I did the interval one.  I think I was still pretty sore from the class that I went to on Saturday because about 15 minutes in I thought my legs were going to fall off, and I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to finish but somehow I did.  I was pretty proud of myself for not quitting when my legs felt like they were on fire.  I didn’t do much else after that, just hit the showers and went to work.  Then tonight I went to the CHISEL class again…it was pretty fun.  We did completely different supersets which was nice.  I really liked the lady.  But man, I sure am sore! and weak!  Tomorrow I can’t go in the morning because the dog has playtime but in the evening, Julie said she’d go to the gym with me.  I told her I wanted to do this core central class so maybe we’ll do that together.  That should be fun.  It’s only about 30 minutes so we could still do 30 minutes or so of cardio after that.  We’ll see how it goes.

Other than that, things are going well.  I had a lot of time at work today to do some inner reflection and I’m not sure if I have a problem as far as relationships go, or what the deal is (…or maybe it’s just ME).  It seems as though things could be going well for quite some time, and then all of a sudden there is nothing but arguments about the STUPIDEST things (this website being one of them…heh).  I don’t know where they come from or why we have them, but I sure wish I knew a way to stop them or fix them.

I was just looking at my control panel and I see that there are a lot of people that are going to my profile but not saying anything.  I’ll be honest, I first got started going to the gym with my ex-boyfriend.  He was the one that got me on this site and into the gym, and he was the one that read the magazines and told me what supplements I should be taking and what exercises I should be doing (and how many sets/reps, etc.)  I basically just did whatever he suggested.  When I left Las Vegas in October of last year I also left him behind.  I stopped going to the gym and put on a few (ahem) extra pounds.  Now I’ve joined a gym out here and I’m just doing cardio for now.  I’m not taking any supplements although I know I should be, although I’m not necessarily sure what I should be taking.  Starting July 1st I’m going to begin taking my daily vitamin everyday.  I also was taking this stuff called JetFuel which I liked quite a bit.  I may start taking that again.  Also, I’m going to start supplementing my lunch meal with a protein shake, or at least have one before/after I do my cardio and eventually my workout (which is better? help me out here!).  And as far as my workout goes, the workouts that I did before I stopped going to the gym in October are outlined on my profile page.  I’m not sure that that’s the best thing for me, but it’s a place to get started, right?  At least I know how to do those things, and then maybe with a little bit of guidance I can tweak and fine tune it, or even completely change it all together.  Who knows.

But please, if I have any ideas, thoughts, tips, motivational words, whatever it may be, please leave me a comment or send me a message.  Everything helps. :]  Thanks!

Those classes are NO JOKE man! I went to the CHISEL one which is basically a whole bunch of different supersets aimed to elevate your heart rate and isolate muscles.  Man! I didn’t realize how weak I’ve become!  I started with 25lbs on my bar.  First we did dead lifts and superset them with the ones where you rest on your elbow (sideways) and lift your butt in the air so your only touching the ground with your arm and your feet.  Those were…fun. Hah.  Then we did a superset of squats and rows, then Arnold presses and lunges using the aerobics step, then laying on the step we did bench press and overhead pulldowns, and lastly we did curls and overhead raises to work the triceps.  Man.  I was beat.  I had to take off 10lbs to do the Arnold presses and then I had to take off 5lbs more to finish after that.  It was rough! but I liked it.  I’m going to go back every Saturday.  I was initially going to do some cardio and start day A1 after the class but once I saw how I felt there was no way.  I feel exhausted! I just hope I’m not sore tomorrow.  We’ll see.  I was thinking about going to the gym tomorrow but we’ll see how it plays out.

Tonight I’m cooking dinner.  I was going to cook Thursday but Mike had bowling so he told me to save it for Friday.  But then yesterday he got home late and it wouldn’t have been done until 8:00 so he said skip it, make it tomorrow when there isn’t a time crunch so that’s what I’m going to do.  My mom and stepdad have enrolled the dog in a behavior class that is today at 1:30 and I was going to go to that…but I tried to call them to see what they were doing until then and I didn’t get an answer.  If they aren’t home, I can’t get into the house because Mike still has my house key.  ANNNNND!…I got my lip repierced so I wanted to warn her on the phone before I just showed up there.  That way she can deal with it before I get there and maybe she won’t lecture me so much about it.  The way I see it, is I’m only 22.  I’m an adult and I can do what I want.  It’s not like I’m 16 or 32…AND I never should have taken it out in the first place.  I wanted it for a really long time and I finally got it.  I loved it, but someone else didn’t, so I took it out, which was stupid on my part. I should have just said "It’s my body, I wanted it, I like it, so deal with it" but I was retarded so I took it out.  That person wasn’t really a big "fan favorite", if you will, so my "justification" is that I got it and I took it out for the wrong reasons.  I shouldn’t have been dating that "wrong reason" in the first place and if I wasn’t, I’d have never take it out in the first place, so just pretend I never took it out and that I’ve had it the whole time. :]  I’m sure that I’ll grow out of it and take it out when I get a "real" job but I definately don’t have a REAL job now…so, that’s that.

I woke up early this morning and I went to the gym, like usual.  I did 45 minutes on the elliptical.  I went 4.25 miles and I burned 495 calories.  My heartrate was about 177 the whole time, which seems kinda fast to me.  I used some little thing online to calculate my target heart rate and it says that it should be about 130 at the most (I think…it may not have been exactly that, but I know it definately wasn’t anywhere near 177 though.)  When I first started I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it the entire 45 minutes.  My legs felt like they were on fire! Maybe from the stepper and the stupid cross trekker thing from yesterday.  But I did it! It felt good.  I had a little bit of extra time so I finished my abs that I started yesterday.  I did all of the usual exercises.  Then this morning I tried to do the crunches using those rubber ball things…man I was tired!  I felt silly though so maybe I’ll just have to do those in the morning when nobody is there to watch me. :]

Starting this weekend, I think I am going to take a CORE sculpting class on Saturday mornings and do some cardio.  Then on the days that I go to the gym twice I’m going to cut down some of the cardio on one of those visits and do some lifting instead.  Gotta get back into my little spin-off of Dogcrapp routine.  We’ll see how that goes.  It might require me to go to the gym on Sundays, too, to make up for the time that I only go to the gym once on Wednesdays. But there are only 8 more weeks of bowling left.  Then I can start going to the gym twice on Wednesdays as well.

I decided not to go to the gym tonight because I’m STARVING and I’m tired.  I didn’t really sleep too well last night because my mind felt like it was racing! I’m not really sure what it was all about but I didn’t feel very refreshed in the morning.  The gym did it’s job to pump me up though.  I really do feel so much better now that I’m actually going to the gym and doing something to be active rather than just rushing home to sit around and eat and do nothing.  I feel more energetic and more awake during the day.  And I don’t know what it is, but in the morning when I first wake up and right after I exercise I feel like I look skinnier but then by the end of the day I feel just as fat as I think I am.  It’s strange.

CHISEL CORE class bright and early tomorrow at 8:30.  Fun times!

I left work a little early today and got right over to the gym.  When I went into the locker room there were like 10 ellipticals empty.  By the time I got out of the locker room they were ALL taken! WTF?! So I got on the stepper instead.  I busted out 30 minutes like it was nothing! I had it on level 7 and I burned 208 calories over 2.41 miles. I climbed 116 floors doing 62 steps a minute and had an average MET of 6.6.  Maybe next time I should put the level up higher.  I’m not sure why it felt so easy…maybe it’s because I didn’t go to the gym last night and it had been about a day and a half since I did cardio.  Who knows.  Then I went on the little cross trecker thing…it was…well, wierd.  I didn’t like it very much.  I had the incline up halfway (5) and I had the resistance up to 25 (out of 100).  I felt like I was FLYING! I looked over at these two other ladies that were doing it and they were doing slower…so I dunno if I just didn’t have the resistance up high enough or what…but I think I’ll stick to the elliptical.  I had planned on doing 30 minutes there, but I only did 15 so I didn’t write down my stats.  I think i went like 1.5 miles and burned about 100 calories.  Then I went over to the elliptical for the last 15 minutes and didn’t write down my stats there either.

I went over to do my abs. I did the little roller thing (middle, and both sides) and then I did the knee-ups, and the two other exercises I do.  I even did the one where you lay on your back and hold on, then lift your legs up.  Man, those suck, especially after you’ve already exhausted your poor little abs.  I started at 25 and I was going to go down like I always do, but some guy took my machine so I just did some more of the roller ones.  I was going to do 4 more sets of 25 on each side but then some guy came over and tried to talk to me.  I think I embarassed him though because I knew more about delayed onset muscle soreness than him.  Hah.  Oh well.  I’ve seen him around before but I’m not interested.  So, stranger man at the gym, if you’re reading this…take a hike! [I got a man…you got a what? I got a man…] :]

Now I’m gorging myself with food and totally cancelling out my efforts at the gym. Haha.  But it’s a good thing that Coke Zero tastes so good! :]

This morning I got to the gym and I did 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical.  I went 2.75 miles and burned 317 calories, which means that I increased both since the last time I did 30 minutes, on June 21st (my first day at the gym).  That’s a good sign!  Then after that, I went on the Treadclimber for 20 minutes.  I went 1.6 miles and burned 149 calories.  I climbed 76 floors and my average MET was 7.3.  Hooray for me!  The Treadclimber is kind of difficult though.  I felt like I had to keep watching where I was going or I was going to go too fast or not quickly enough.  And there were times when it felt like I was putting my foot too far foward…heh. Maybe reading and doing the treadclimber aren’t in my best interests.

However, sadly, I gained a lb. Haha.  Maybe it’s because of all the water I’ve been drinking (yea, right, I’ll keep my fingers crossed!) haha.  Um.  Strawberry Limeade from Sonics is pretty good, but I’m pretty disappointed that they don’t have Strawberry LEMONade anymore.  The guy tried to tell me that they NEVER had it, but I know that’s a lie.  I got it in Las Vegas multiple times.  The limeade is good, but it’s kinda carbonated…meh.

I got attacked by 2 wasps today, on two separate occasions.  Well, my car got attacked, but I was in it! It was scary.  Mike and I are going bowling now.  Hooray!

Peace.

I couldn’t go to the gym this morning because I had to take Abby to Playtime…so that was kind of a bummer.  Then this afternoon Jennifer was late to work so that cut into my gym time some more, because I had to pick Abby up from Playtime as my mom was running late getting home from work.  It kinda sucks that we live quite the distance from DC and they have to take the train home for their 1.5 hour commute…but hey, what can ya do? The gym, my house, and Mike’s house aren’t that far from each other (it took me like 15 minutes to get here) so it’s not that big of a deal.  I just wanted to get home and relax and watch a movie that we got from Blockbuster Online (we have to watch them because I talked Mike into getting a subscription and if we don’t, he’ll think he "won" and we can’t have THAT happen…haha). The day went by quickly.  I ended up doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and then I just did crunches for my abs.  I went 3.6 miles in 30 minutes and burned 360 calories on resistance level 7.  That’s okay…

Tomorrow I’ll wake up early and go to the gym for some cardio but I’m not sure that I’ll make it there in the afternoon since we have bowling…but that’s okay.  I’ll survive.

Have I mentioned how it breaks my heart to watch people work out with bad form and too much weight? I’m sure I have…but it also hurts to watch people do cardio half-assed…or do it for like 10 minutes then quit? It’s like, they want to lose the weight, or think that they should get into better shape, but they don’t really want to put the effort forth to get it done…that sucks.  Oh well.

Alright, Mike made dinner and it’s just about ready so it’s time to eat and watch the movie.  (He even cut the food into little pieces…how silly…but awfully cute.) :]

So.  I woke up early and went to the gym this morning.   I just took it a little easy for my first morning back and did 45 minutes of cardio on the elliptical.  I put the level up to 5 and burned about 450 calories over 4 miles.  I finished earlier than I thought I would so next time if I get there at the same time I can squeeze in an entire hour.

Then after work this evening I went back to the gym and did 30 minutes on the stepper on level 7 (program 1).  I burned about 220 calories, took 65 steps per minute and had my average MET at 7.  Also, I worked out my abs again.  I did my little ab "circuit" 4 times, starting at 25 reps and going down gradually by 5, to 10.  That was fun!

Tomorrow I have to take my dog to "Puppy Playtime" so I can’t go to the gym in the morning but I’ll definately be there in the afternoon and then again Wednesday morning.  I’m super pumped about it.  But it’s so hard when I go to the gym and see all of the people working out together…for example, this one chick, who was pretty in shape, was there with her friend who was trying to get into shape, and the in shape one kept trying to show the other one how to do the exercises on each machine.  I was just people watching between sets like I always do and I just happened to notice that she was using WAY too much weight, and she was jerking herself around.  They were doing Lat Pulldowns and she kept having to lift her butt off the seat to go up with the bar so it didn’t rip her shoulders out of their sockets.  I wanted to be like STOP! What are you doing?  You have awful form and you’re using too much weight and you are trying to show someone else how to use the machine! How awful!  Haha.  That frustrates me so much sometimes! But hey, what can you do.  I’ll just mind my own business.  Haha.

Oh, and it’s pretty fun watching Mike march around the kitchen to get plates for his pizza.  He’s so silly. :]

So.  I joined the gym.  I’m pretty excited about that.  Mike and I used to run a bit on the streets, but that was hard for me…especially since I’m out of shape.  And it made my stupid knee start to hurt (I know, I know…that damn knee again!).  So I would always say "We’re running everyday!" and then do it like twice and quit.  It was also sometimes discouraging for me because he is in much better shape than I am…so he could run the short distance like it was nothing and after barely a half-mile I had to quit or stop for a walk break.  That sucked but now that I joined the gym I have no excuses.  It’s the first time that I’ve set foot in the gym since October 2007…and since then I’ve gained like 12 lbs…I went from I think 117 at my lowest to a now 129.  That’s pretty disgusting if you ask me…but hey, I’m still a size 2 (barely!) haha.  I just want to get back on track.

So, I went to the gym and I did some cardio yesterday morning while Mike when to play Basketball at Quantico.  It was fun.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical (which was 2.5 miles and I burned 280 calories).  Then I had some extra time so I did my abs.  It felt great to be back there.  The gym is on my way to and from work so I figure that I don’t have any excuses not to go.  I’m definately going to go everyday after work…so what if I have to wait an extra 30 minutes to see Mike…he can get over it. :]  And since Abby (my puppy) is at the age where she doesn’t need me to let her out anymore in the mornings before I go to work, I can get up at 530/6:00 when Mike gets up to get ready for work (er, well, that’s when he sets his FIRST alarm…out of like 4 because he’s a snooze addict…haha) and then head out to the gym and do some cardio before work, too.  Julie, my coworker, is the one that recommended that gym to me, so she said that sometimes she’ll go with me and workout.  That should be fun.  The only day that might give me a little trouble in the evening is Wednesday since we have bowling…and because bowling lasts FOREVER when the other team is slow as shit or the lanes keep breaking every other turn…I may have some trouble getting up to go on Thursday mornings as well.  But maybe those days I’ll just do a little extra time when I do go that day to make up for it.

We’ll see.  I don’t want to get too ahead of myself but it sure does feel good to be back.  Once I get into the swing of things with the cardio, then I can maybe start my Rest Pause workouts again.  That should be fun.  And I have Mike to thank for getting me back on here to keep track of my stuff.  He’s so great. :]