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Friday, March 12, 2010

Rule Number 1: Cardio



So I never reported in last week about my weigh-in.  I usually weigh myself on Friday mornings (you know, before the weekend pigout-fest).  I weighed in two weeks ago at 224.0 pounds.  I was excited because I had lost over 4 pounds in that week.  So last week rolled around.  I did an unofficial weigh in on Thursday and I weighed 223.6.  It wasn't much but it was a loss so I was excited.  Well, the next morning came and I was up to 224.8!!  Overnight!!  I was so pissed!  

This week, I've been monitoring my weight daily but today was my official "weigh day."  I'm up to 227.4!  Now, according to the calendar (and my grumpy mood lately), this is my PMS week, and therefore the week I would normally gain some water weight...usually between 3 and 8 pounds.  But STILL.  I don't want to gain, I want to LOSE!

I know what my problem is.  I need to do more cardio.  I already know that's what my problem is, so why don't I DO IT?!  Well, because it's boring.  I'm definitely getting toned from Twirly Girls (and please don't tell me I'm gaining because muscle weighs more than fat...I'm not THAT muscular!!), but I need to get my heart rate up and keep it there for awhile.  I definitely get out of breath and sweat during pole class, but I also stop and chat and take pictures, so I don't keep it up there long enough.  

I can sit around and make all the excuses in the world.  I commute three plus hours a day roundtrip, work a full-time job, need to fit in family/friends, etc., I have yoga, I have Twirly Girls, I have this, that or the other.  I mean, I really DO have those excuses.  I generally get up at 5:30 or 6 AM, try to get in a workout at home (working out too hard at night makes me not sleep so I HAVE to knock it out in the morning), shower, drive to work, work all day, drive home (or wherever I'm going next), blah blah blah.  Every day.  More often than not, I don't get home until 9 or 10 PM.  Just in time to go to bed and do it all over again.  This is also why I can't re-join the 5 AM crowd.  I only live 10 miles from the gym but with stoplights, it takes almost 30 minutes to get there.  So, I'd have to get up at the asscrack of dawn to go to the gym.  And it's not worth the gas to drive all the way home again to get ready for work, so I either have to work out for two and a half hours and then shower at the gym.  Or just sit there for a couple of hours talking to myself.  It's really a no-win situation right now.   Plus, in order for me to get up at 4 AM, I have to be in bed at 8 PM.  I only get home that early about one night a week.  Anyway, regardless of all of my "excuses," I still NEED to work out.  I just need to make sure my workouts are efficient. 


I need to get my chubby ass out there and SWEAT.  There's a funny line I cross between 200 pounds and 225 pounds.  At 200, I just look big.  Not fat.  Not skinny.  Just tall.  At 225, I've crossed the line to fat.  I have that chub going on that I don't want or need.


So this week, I recommit myself to doing cardio (I have a 5k tomorrow morning to start the week off right!).  No, I don't see myself getting up at 4 AM to drive all the way to Bally to rejoin the 5 AM crowd (although I miss you guys because you kept it interesting and fun!).  I also don't want to bother driving to the gym every day to workout alone at 6 or 7 AM (plus, I still hate showering there before work).  

However, I will plan on going to the gym most Tuesdays mornings to do the stairs (in case I feel crazy enough to try Half Dome again this year).  And I have a bike here at the house and can go jogging.  If I do that every morning, and then do my recently-devised toning routine, I know I can drop this weight.  I'm very frustrated.  I don't want to be fat anymore.  



13 comments:

  1. The weight thing sucks. Why is it so darn hard. All I can think is Dance, Dance, Dance. Do not stop. And maybe another Twirly Tuff Boot Kickin' your A** class. Remember, you are already beautiful.

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  2. Tell Rob to get to work keeping your heart rate up.

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  3. Thank you, Rita! Most of the time my weight doesn't bother me. But when I get swollen and feel like a sausage, it starts to bug. I'm sure you know the feeling. :-)

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  4. Hey Ms Lori =-) It really can be tough being self sufficient. You have to do everything that someone who has a partner (ideally! Have a chatw tih david, though, will ya? AHAHA) would get help with (grocery shopping, cleaning the house, maintenance for the car...)and all those things add up to really really long days. I gave up in going to the gym because I really couldn't fit it in my schedule. And so I just make myself miserable by restrciting what I eat EVERY day. I swear I should have been born catholic, the amount opf guilt I can put on one bite of food! AHAHAH!

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  5. AHahah you can tell that comment was from me beauce of the typing errors! AHAHAH That was me, Jill =-)

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  6. It's definitely hard to manage time! I mean, if I give myself 8 hours at work and 8 hours to sleep, that gives me 8 hours to do EVERYTHING ELSE (on a work day, of course). So if I'm driving 3 of those hours, then that leaves 5 hours...to work out, get ready for work, hang out with friends, do laundry, relax/re-charge, etc. It's very frustrating. But I know I can't do it with food alone. So I have to fit the exercise in. I just can't spend 3 hours at the gym...because I don't have time.

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  7. "Muscle weighs more than fat" is a misnomer, Lori. A pound is a pound, no matter what it's made of. What is your caloric intake per day? What kind of meals are you eating? Sometimes it's the type of food you eat, and the way your body metabolizes it that effect weight loss as well as the amount of calories in that food. I agree that cardio helps, and would recommend keeping it up. But I would also look at the whole picture. Which I believe you are already.

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  8. Kyle, I do agree, although I believe people should diet AND exercise. I think when people do only one or the other, that is a recipe for failure. Having said that, if I am exercising regularly, I don't have to watch my "diet" at all. Everything happily falls into place and I maintain my weight fine. :-) So, for me, exercise is the key.

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  9. And a pound IS a pound, however, I do understand the concept that muscle weighs more than fat, because the last time I weighed 230 pounds, I was a size 24. This time, I'm a 16. So I'm the same weight as I was 10 or so years ago, yet I'm several sizes smaller.

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  10. Menstrual weight is a pain, but it will go away. Just keep away from salty foods and soda. You're doing fantastic. I actually gained all my depression weight back. So I too need cardio and I want to start jogging again.

    P.S. you look GREAT!

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  11. I have the same problem. I cant get motivated becasue I start thinking about all the other damn things I should be doing. :( I never make time for me. I suck. I was supposed to start the couch to 5k thing today and here i sit...screw this...Im going running. Thanks Lori!
    smooches
    Lety

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  12. I've been pretty good. Getting up at 4:45 a.m. for the gym at least 4 out of 5 days. And trying to work out or hike one or both days on the weekend. This weight must come off!!!!

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