Bringing It

Now that I'm back in town, it's time to get back to work on improving my health. I have decided to kick it up a notch and do the impossible, which is to get into good enough shape to feel the way I did when I was young. What a challenge the aging body is. When I was young, I had to deal with the changes brought by puberty and hated the monthly bill when it came due. But now that menopause has claimed my body and nothing works the way it used to, I have been investigating ways of improving my health and quality of life.

Not being able to do my weight training during the winter (due to extreme cold in my gym... which is on my list of things to correct), I started walking at the campus near our house, got an ellyptical and a training program called P90X. Okayyyyyyyyyy... so maybe I bit off more than I could chew here. But I'm gonna try it. I'm on Day Four and hurt in places I never knew existed. I have worked out for years, and conventional programs don't even come close to what I'm doing now. This program is extremely intense (hence the "X" in the name) and is definitely not for anyone with any kind of chronic injuries or illnesses. I probably shouldn't be doing it either, but I figure if I don't try it, I may never progress beyond what I was able to do on my own. I'm learning how very difficult this is for someone my age and body composition.

So... this program is heavy on pull-ups. I can't do a single one. How embarrassing. Fortunately, I'm not failing in front of anyone I don't know. My boys are taking turns making sure I'm not doing something stupid and overdoing it. Case in point... on Day Two I decided to try the Ab Ripper workout. Jay sat down to babysit me, and after I started it, he got this look on his face that clearly said "This is not going to end well." Boy, oh boy... It's 15 minutes of pure rip and I could only do 10. Again, embarrassing. This particular session is scheduled to be done after an upper body session, which I had done the day before. Oh. You mean RIGHT after it. I couldn't even MOVE my arms after the upper body workout. How was I supposed to work the abs?

So I did what I could. I'm taking this first week or even two weeks to get familiar with the program and what kind of equipment to use, as well as familiarize myself with the nutrition aspect of the program. I have ordered a pull-up bar and some other necessities for this program, and can't wait until they arrive. For those of you who, like me, can't do a single pull-up, you can use a chair at first to get you up to the bar and steady you as you build the upper musculature necessary for this exercise. I am giving myself a drop-dead date of April 1 to begin the entire program in earnest.

Can I do it? I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes. I've come a very long way from where I was 18 months ago. At that time, I could barely walk and had a bodyfat composition of 44.89%. Today I'm not only walking, but pushing it, and bodyfat has gone down a whopping 11%. I've got a long way to go, but it's a journey. Do I have a goal? Sure. I want to be strong, healthy and flexible and at 20% bodyfat. Did I give myself a date to do it by? Nope. But I'll settle for a 1 or 2% drop in bodyfat per month. At that rate, in another year I will either have reached or almost reached that goal. Just gotta keep bringing it. Film at 11.

Nazdrowie'

Paczki Puta

A New Day and 4% Body Fat Loss

I was feeling pretty low about my body weight today because yesterday, a muscle between my shoulder blades decided to clench for absolutely no reason at all. Great. Just when I was starting to feel good about my exercise program. But then I remembered something from my training as a personal trainer and sports nutritionist. I hadn't taken my calipers in some time. So I got out my trusty body fat calculator program, calipers, measuring tape and blood pressure cuff and went to work.

First was the calipers. If you've never had your calipers taken, let me tell you that it can be an eye-opening experience. You come face to face with exactly what is going on in your body... the good, the bad and the ugly. What I saw today was not exactly ugly, and it showed progress. In comparing the calipers of today with the measurements I had taken last October, it was shown that I had lost 4% bodyfat since then. It stunned me to see that the last time I had taken my calipers was on the day my father died. It must have been before I got the news. I remember not really caring what happened to my body from that point until just before the holidays. I was pleased to see that the concentrated effort I have been putting forth since that time has borne fruit.

Tape measurements came next. I was pleased to note that my measurements had gone down. And by looking the history of these measurements, I was able to see exactly where I had gone off track. Between 2005 and 2008 I had put on 43 pounds! I think it's safe to say that I wasn't putting on muscle during that time. I had started working a horrible shift at a new place, and it was obviously taking its toll. I had the PE's in 2002, but was still on that horrible rat poison in 2005, and then shattered my foot in 2007, which didn't help my health any. I believe that was when my weight skyrocketed. I was stuck in bed for 6 months. The foot still isn't right, but I deal with it.

Blood pressure was the next stop on my list. I could plainly see that my blood pressure had gone from being healthy to being borderline hypertensive.

In view of all this, I am re-developing my program to kick myself into gear. I have a project coming up that has to be done at the client site, so will have to work around that. So far, I have been doing hatha yoga and vinyasa yoga, to help my body to adjust to the changes I am making. If that muscle in my back unclenches for tomorrow, I will begin the program I am outlining here.

Since I have about 130 pounds of lean body weight, I will need approximately 1700 calories to keep my basal metabolic rate working properly. That's the easy part. The hard part will be forcing myself to do cardio. So... I'm bringing in some dumbbells from the gym in my garage and going to use that to help my upper body strength. I wish I loved cardio. It would make this so much easier. But my lungs won't tolerate much right now, so I will have to increase my cardio slowly. I used to go walking for hours. I don't have anyone to walk with now (and the streets aren't safe), so I have to come up with an alternate plan. I have several different pieces of cardio equipment in my gym, and can work on those. I'm going to have to try and get a little cardio in every day. Strength training will have to be done on an increasing basis, 3 times per week. Yoga will continue to be done almost every day for balance and flexibility. So my tenative schedule looks like this:

Sunday - Saturday AM - Cardio
MWF - Strength training
Sunday - Saturday PM - Yoga

I have been used to getting my yoga done in the morning, because I feel that it is a good start to my day. I don't know how it's going to be, getting it in later in the day. Maybe it will help me to sleep better at night. If it gets to where I am unable to practice in the evenings, I will have to switch it back to the morning. Nope nope nope... already I am changing my mind. I can't do without yoga in the morning. So here's the revised plan.

Sunday through Saturday AM - Yoga
Sunday through Saturday PM - Cardio (I should have Steve and the dogs to walk with.)
MWF PM - Strength training

That should get me through. A bath after the workouts would be good, so I can wind down and get to sleep at a decent hour. Ugh... I hate to have to plan all this, but my progress will stop if I don't. I guess I'm going to have to go back to my weight training log as well. When is my deadline for starting all of this? There's no time like tomorrow (Friday) to start. With warm weather starting up, it should be easier for me to stay on track (literally).

The boys and I were just out in the gym, surveying what needs to be done so that we can use the gym again. A few things made their way into the attic, and my rebounder and 3 pound dumbbells came into the house, where I suspect, I will be doing most of my workouts until the weather turns warm enough for me to be outside. We have several space heaters for the cold, and an air conditioner for the hotter weather, but for now, I will start inside. Tomorrow we will make some strides in cleaning up the gym. On my list of to-do's includes oiling up the bikes and test riding them in the neighborhood before taking them on the greenway.

Ah yes... it's going to be a lovely spring.

Nazdrovie'

Paczki Puta