So my last post was all about why I've decided to start a blog, and my reasons behind actually getting off my ass and doing something about getting into shape. I suppose I should update on where I was a few months ago when I started, and what has happened since.
In December, a rep from Goodlife Fitness came into work to promote the new facility at Penhorn. They told us all about the company, what was offered, and gave us a pretty good introductory rate. I had been thinking about joining a gym somewhere for a while, so I figured, why not? I signed up that day, and the gym itself opened in January. I was shocked and horrified when, at my initial assessment, my blood pressure was through the roof and my resting heart rate was up - my blood pressure has always been on the low end of normal, and my heart rate normal. I was a little discouraged as well, by the fact that the trainer was really forceful and basically told me there was no way I could succeed without paying $9000 for an intense training package. I left the gym in tears, and did not return for my 4-week follow up appointment.
Though discouraging, I didn't let that trainer keep me from the gym; I started off that evening with a BodyCombat class, and vowed to make this part of my weekly routine. I also decided then that 3 times a week was a good place for me to start with going to the gym. I kept this up for all of two weeks before things went to hell. First I got a sinus infection that moved into a chest cold, and anyone with half a brain knows that when you can't breathe, it's really hard to exercise. Then, as soon as I recovered from that I was into midterm papers and exams at school. Combine this with crap weather and having to bus around in the rain/snow/ice etc, then follow that up with 3 weeks of the worst cold of my life, and you hit mid-March, and a grand total of 3 trips to the gym in about 6 weeks. Suffice it to say, I fell off the horse.
I started back last week, with BodyCombat preceded by BodyFlow on Tuesday evening (they call it BodyBalance on the link, but it's the same class). This, at first, may seem like a very strange combination, but I loved it the first time I tried it. I find the BodyFlow class is a great warm-up to the more intense BodyCombat class, plus they work different parts of the body. I missed this past Tuesday night again because we had tickets for the Music As A Weapon V Tour, but I got up at 7:30 to go to a 9am BodyFlow class yesterday to make up for it, then we went bowling last night. I think that, on my weeks I don't work Fridays, I might make BodyFlow a twice-a-week thing. I already feel like my flexibility is improving after just 2 classes, and I'm definitely working muscles that were long-since forgotten (believe it or not, I once had a killer 6-pack!)
Another area that is a constant work-in-progress for me is healthy eating. I started off really well, then fell back into the vicious cycle of grabbing whatever is quick and edible, regardless of nutritional value. I went out and bought a bunch of groceries yesterday, all healthy stuff. I made a chicken pot pie last night, and though pastry is high in fat, I bought the kind made with all-vegetable shortening and used no-salt-added chicken broth for the gravy (2% of the daily recommended intake of sodium vs. 38% in the regular kind). I also made a few minor changes to some of the ingredients for things I like to eat and cook - skim milk instead of 1%, whole wheat macaroni and Low Fat cheese for homemade mac and cheese, ground turkey for burgers, and fruit instead of sugary treats. I've been drinking a lot more water and consuming less alcohol lately as well - not only do I not have the time or money to go out, but I find that I get too hungover the next day to make it worth it to drink much anymore.
So that is where I am at right now. I'm trying hard to manage stress - it's that time of year again where school gets busy and everyone has a million places they want me to be at once, plus some restructuring at work means a lot of changes to the type and quantity of my workload. I just finished my first exam this morning, and have 2 more and a presentation due next weekend. It's also the time of year when the weather gets better though, so there's more motivation to go outside and more things to go do.
Speaking of things to do and nice weather, it's about time I got off the computer!
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