Last week at the gym Caroline (my trainer, I'm not just talking to myself) convinced me to have a go at a spinning class. I've not done any kind of cyling before, let alone spinning but I've heard all the rumours of how tough it could be.
So, feeling brave, I took the plunge and turned up Friday night for the class. I got on the bike and wow, that was one hard seat! We're talking seriously uncomfortable. It felt like I was sitting on a piece of wood! I squirmed around a bit trying to get comfy but I just couldn't. After about five minutes I was just about ready to give up but of course the thing about spinning is that its not a solo activity - its a group thing with somebody running the session and encouraging everybody. Maria, who was running this session, knew it was my first time and at that moment she said to me "Caroline, I think you'll do great, you'll be able to get through this". So of course, I couldn't quit then could I?
For some of the session we stand up on the bike, lean forward and drive more with the legs. This makes the legs burn more and pumps up the heart rate but for me this was welcome releif from the pain in my a***!
About half way though I was going to quit again but Maria must have seen the look in my eye or something because she managed to come out with another comment that kinda forced me to stck with it. Well I did - I managed 45 minutes on that torture device. Never again!
Seriously, after a workout I expect my legs to ache, or my back to ache perhaps and after weight training then all sorts of things ache. What I do not expect is to spend the entire weekend nursing my seriously bruised nether regions and having to sit on extra cushions! I thought I had enough padding of my own down there but I guess not!
My second new experience of the weekend came Saturday night when I went round to some friends for a BBQ. One of my friends is a physiotherapist and she's just completed a course on accupuncture so of course she wanted to test out her new skills on everybody!
Now I'm not exactly a needle fan and the idea of somebody sticking a needle in my head (yup, head!) for a laugh just seemed a bit twisted to me. But what the hell, I grabbed a glass of wine and let her do it. "You wont feel it she said" and she spanked down on it. "OW, yes I felt that!". So when these people say you wont feel something, they LIE. Anyway it only hurt for about 0.2 seconds so I got over my wussiness eventually. It was actually really weird. I started to feel hot in my face and feel drowsy. It was just like a mild form of pethadine!
So that was my weekend, how was yours?
Monday, 30 April 2007
Good Results, but Keeping it Real
Good results for me this week, I lost more than 1lb last week to total 22lbs lost which finally brought me under 10st which is a big milestone for me. I also lost noticeable amounts around my waist and tummy and I am now able to comfortably wear my last pair of trousers that were previously too tight. I'm now in new territory. That the good news!
Now the reality! I've been here before. About 4 years ago I lost around a stone to get me to 10st and I went out and bought a whole bunch of new clothes which I am now wearing again. The trouble is that at the time I was so pleased with my new look that I was no longer dissatisfied enough to carry on - so I slacked off. Over the last few years the weight crept back on and brought another 7lbs with it.
This time it's different. I have been focussing really hard on what I want my *ultimate* goal to be. Yes I'm pleased that I'm thinner now and that I can wear some of my nice clothes again and its nice when friends that I've not seen for a while say "oh you've lost weight!" but I'm not yet where I want to be - far from it. Its easy to get disollusioned with good results while we're on the journey but we need to keep our eye on the ultimate goal or its too easy to slack off.
One thing that is really odd is that every few months I take some "fat photos" from several different angles. I compared the ones from today to the ones from a year ago before I started my current programme and when I was 22lbs heavier. I can see the difference in my face and neck immediately but the rest of my body looks exactly the same! I know that cannot be because inches have gone but my basic body shape is identical. The same football-belly and backside! I'm just becoming a smaller version of my fat self! And that is better than the big version, but not good enough. I'm looking for a total body tranformation - a change in shape.
So now I'm in a position where I can celebrate my results so far and yet look at the photos for a reality check. Good work but keep it up. I'll think of those photos when I hit the gym tomorrow morning.
Moral of the ramble - don't let partial results allow you to slack off. Keep going all the way.
Now the reality! I've been here before. About 4 years ago I lost around a stone to get me to 10st and I went out and bought a whole bunch of new clothes which I am now wearing again. The trouble is that at the time I was so pleased with my new look that I was no longer dissatisfied enough to carry on - so I slacked off. Over the last few years the weight crept back on and brought another 7lbs with it.
This time it's different. I have been focussing really hard on what I want my *ultimate* goal to be. Yes I'm pleased that I'm thinner now and that I can wear some of my nice clothes again and its nice when friends that I've not seen for a while say "oh you've lost weight!" but I'm not yet where I want to be - far from it. Its easy to get disollusioned with good results while we're on the journey but we need to keep our eye on the ultimate goal or its too easy to slack off.
One thing that is really odd is that every few months I take some "fat photos" from several different angles. I compared the ones from today to the ones from a year ago before I started my current programme and when I was 22lbs heavier. I can see the difference in my face and neck immediately but the rest of my body looks exactly the same! I know that cannot be because inches have gone but my basic body shape is identical. The same football-belly and backside! I'm just becoming a smaller version of my fat self! And that is better than the big version, but not good enough. I'm looking for a total body tranformation - a change in shape.
So now I'm in a position where I can celebrate my results so far and yet look at the photos for a reality check. Good work but keep it up. I'll think of those photos when I hit the gym tomorrow morning.
Moral of the ramble - don't let partial results allow you to slack off. Keep going all the way.
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Goal Setting
The first chapter of the fat loss book I'm reading talks about goal setting. I'm good at goal setting, I do it all the time. I have a list of 114 goals for all areas of my life written down which I reviewed on the 1st of this month and I have my current ones, 26 of them taped to my bathroom wall next to my mirror.
Still, despite having read this all before, I always manage to pick out something new every time I read it. I've had the same fat loss goal since I originally set it back on the 7th July 2006 - to reach 25% bodyfat without losing any LBM (96lbs at the time). So far I've lost 20lbs but my bodyfat is 32%, still way off. In the book, the author says to set both your long term and short term goals, and also to set BIG goals.
My deadline is 7th July this year, just 11 weeks away so long term and short term are now the same thing. But thats taught me a lesson the hard way. I never set myself 3-month goals along the way - I just did the yearly one and now I've got less than 3 months to go.
So lets have some fun with that... 25% body fat, pah, thats crap really isn't it? That was only supposed to be an interim goal. 20% should be a maximum really. At 25% I'd still just be average. Average is better than fat but who wants to be average? I'm working too damn hard just to be average! No, I've changed it so now my new goal is 20% body fat which is interesting because in order to reach that wilst maintaining 96lbs lbm, I'd need to lose a further 22 lbs - in 11 weeks - when I've never lost more than 1lb a week!
Well if the theory is correct then by aiming for 2lbs a week I may actually manage 1 which would just about get me to my original goal. I figure I can endure a lot more for just 11 weeks. After that I can relax a bit and take things slowly again. Ideally I'd like to lose a bunch of fat and then switch to a mucle building cycle to get a few more lbs of muscle to help my metabolism and then try to lose some more fat after that but the problem is that I want my first goal - NOW, this summer.
There are no more summers! For ten years I have said "NEXT summer I will look good in a bikini". No no no no no! No more summers!!! I have to do it this summer! I'm gettting all emotional now which is probably a good thing but I'll shut up and start on chapter 2 :)
Still, despite having read this all before, I always manage to pick out something new every time I read it. I've had the same fat loss goal since I originally set it back on the 7th July 2006 - to reach 25% bodyfat without losing any LBM (96lbs at the time). So far I've lost 20lbs but my bodyfat is 32%, still way off. In the book, the author says to set both your long term and short term goals, and also to set BIG goals.
My deadline is 7th July this year, just 11 weeks away so long term and short term are now the same thing. But thats taught me a lesson the hard way. I never set myself 3-month goals along the way - I just did the yearly one and now I've got less than 3 months to go.
So lets have some fun with that... 25% body fat, pah, thats crap really isn't it? That was only supposed to be an interim goal. 20% should be a maximum really. At 25% I'd still just be average. Average is better than fat but who wants to be average? I'm working too damn hard just to be average! No, I've changed it so now my new goal is 20% body fat which is interesting because in order to reach that wilst maintaining 96lbs lbm, I'd need to lose a further 22 lbs - in 11 weeks - when I've never lost more than 1lb a week!
Well if the theory is correct then by aiming for 2lbs a week I may actually manage 1 which would just about get me to my original goal. I figure I can endure a lot more for just 11 weeks. After that I can relax a bit and take things slowly again. Ideally I'd like to lose a bunch of fat and then switch to a mucle building cycle to get a few more lbs of muscle to help my metabolism and then try to lose some more fat after that but the problem is that I want my first goal - NOW, this summer.
There are no more summers! For ten years I have said "NEXT summer I will look good in a bikini". No no no no no! No more summers!!! I have to do it this summer! I'm gettting all emotional now which is probably a good thing but I'll shut up and start on chapter 2 :)
Denial = Bingeing, for me anyway!
A week or so ago I decided that I was going to just ban certain things from my diet because I couldn't be trusted to eat them in moderation. This list included chocolate, sweets, takeaways and so on.
Nice idea, didn't work :-)
I was doing okay for a few days then I got a bit of a chocolate craving and there in the fridge was an open, half-eaten easter egg. I had a nibble and then that chocolate feeling just took over and I devoured almost the whole thing. In fact the only thing that stopped me eating it all was that it wasn't my egg! My other half was not pleased lol!
So that idea didn't work so I guess I'll have to go back to allowing myself treats in moderation. As summer is approaching so is my deadline and I feel like it's slipping away and it's really making me desperate so I've started reading my fat loss book again and this time I'm really going to go for it and try to apply all the principles without compromise.
Lets see how that one goes!
Nice idea, didn't work :-)
I was doing okay for a few days then I got a bit of a chocolate craving and there in the fridge was an open, half-eaten easter egg. I had a nibble and then that chocolate feeling just took over and I devoured almost the whole thing. In fact the only thing that stopped me eating it all was that it wasn't my egg! My other half was not pleased lol!
So that idea didn't work so I guess I'll have to go back to allowing myself treats in moderation. As summer is approaching so is my deadline and I feel like it's slipping away and it's really making me desperate so I've started reading my fat loss book again and this time I'm really going to go for it and try to apply all the principles without compromise.
Lets see how that one goes!
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
New Gym, New Resolutions, and New Disappointments...
It's been all change this Easter weekend! A few weeks ago I started getting really good progress by doing cardio & weight training 5 times a week and by really sticking to my diet and then it all kind of went a bit pear shaped and I started sabotaging badly.
This weekend I had 4 days off work, and I ate a ton of chocolate and just over-indulged all over the place! Don't you ever get times like that? Where you kind of rebell against yourself and stuff yourself silly with whatever you can fit in your mouth? I figured I wouldn't beat myself up about it but I had to do something different if I was going to make a change.
The deadline for my fat loss goal is in July, just 3 months away. Seems like a long time but I set it last July and I'm nowhere near it so I feel like it's slipping away fast! I realised that there are certain foods that are real weaknesses for me and I can't seem to eat them in sensible amounts. Once I start, I just can't stop. Familiar for many people I'm sure. These foods include chocolate, sweets, savoury snacks, takeaways, ice cream, alcohol etc.
Until now I've always believed that you shouldn't ban foods because that instantly causes a sense of deprivation which will make you rebell. But it's just not working for me. I have something like this quite often and it takes me well over my calorie limit each time. So I made the decision that I would ban everything on that list - just until I reach my goal. Now what I figure is that if I can go that long (heck, if I can go just a week!) that I'll see the results I want and I just wont want to go back to eating them but we'll see what happens.
Also last week the company I worked for moved offices and as a result I changed gyms. I joined up today and had a quick nose around. It's great! This is a true bodybuilders gym unlike the hotel guest gym I was in before. It's full of people with real muscles lol! Its very inspiring and somebody helped me straight away to get started. I just can't wait to get back in there tomorrow. I actually WANT to get up at 5.30 so I can get a session in before work!
And now for the disappointment... Back in January I started running (on the treadmill) and after a few weeks I make quite good progress so I signed up for Race for Life which is a 5k race. A couple of weeks ago I was thrilled when I managed to run my first 5k, again on the treadmill. So I figured it was about time I got out of my comfort zone again and start running for real outdoors. Oh my, what a shock that was! I was right back where I started, barely able to run for two minutes before my legs (calves and shins) started screaming in agony. I went through all this on the treadmill so I know it goes away with time but damn, I don't want to have to go through all that pain again! It makes me sad but such is life, these things are sent to test us I think.
It would be easy to say that its just too hard and to give up but then I'd feel lousy. I've been able to push through it before, I can do it again. I just think about how great it will feel to actually cross the finish line on Race day - and thats over 3 months away so I have time to train for it.
This weekend I had 4 days off work, and I ate a ton of chocolate and just over-indulged all over the place! Don't you ever get times like that? Where you kind of rebell against yourself and stuff yourself silly with whatever you can fit in your mouth? I figured I wouldn't beat myself up about it but I had to do something different if I was going to make a change.
The deadline for my fat loss goal is in July, just 3 months away. Seems like a long time but I set it last July and I'm nowhere near it so I feel like it's slipping away fast! I realised that there are certain foods that are real weaknesses for me and I can't seem to eat them in sensible amounts. Once I start, I just can't stop. Familiar for many people I'm sure. These foods include chocolate, sweets, savoury snacks, takeaways, ice cream, alcohol etc.
Until now I've always believed that you shouldn't ban foods because that instantly causes a sense of deprivation which will make you rebell. But it's just not working for me. I have something like this quite often and it takes me well over my calorie limit each time. So I made the decision that I would ban everything on that list - just until I reach my goal. Now what I figure is that if I can go that long (heck, if I can go just a week!) that I'll see the results I want and I just wont want to go back to eating them but we'll see what happens.
Also last week the company I worked for moved offices and as a result I changed gyms. I joined up today and had a quick nose around. It's great! This is a true bodybuilders gym unlike the hotel guest gym I was in before. It's full of people with real muscles lol! Its very inspiring and somebody helped me straight away to get started. I just can't wait to get back in there tomorrow. I actually WANT to get up at 5.30 so I can get a session in before work!
And now for the disappointment... Back in January I started running (on the treadmill) and after a few weeks I make quite good progress so I signed up for Race for Life which is a 5k race. A couple of weeks ago I was thrilled when I managed to run my first 5k, again on the treadmill. So I figured it was about time I got out of my comfort zone again and start running for real outdoors. Oh my, what a shock that was! I was right back where I started, barely able to run for two minutes before my legs (calves and shins) started screaming in agony. I went through all this on the treadmill so I know it goes away with time but damn, I don't want to have to go through all that pain again! It makes me sad but such is life, these things are sent to test us I think.
It would be easy to say that its just too hard and to give up but then I'd feel lousy. I've been able to push through it before, I can do it again. I just think about how great it will feel to actually cross the finish line on Race day - and thats over 3 months away so I have time to train for it.
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