I had the weirdest dream last night. It was something about riding on a train and traveling through Europe or whatever, but even weirder was sitting at a round table talking to someone while my mom dissected her father's torso like some bizarro scientific lab experiment. And even weirder than THAT? It didn't seem weird to me that she would be doing that. I would love to know what all that means. Ha!
I've been back to the gym now a couple times this week and so far so good. I hope I lose some of the visceral fat I've stored but I won't be holding my breath. Speaking of holding my breath, the past couple days I have noticed pain on the right side of my chest at the end of the inhalation when I breathe in very deeply. Eh. Hopefully it goes away. Anyway, I've got to keep exercising and get my circulation going. I'll do this for a few more weeks before I gauge how it might be helping the edema in my legs.
Christ, I sound 80.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully kiddo can come by and we can head over to BFF's house to watch "True Blood" together but I kinda doubt it since she's watching my exSIL's disabled dachshund. Maybe next week! speaking of, I really need to get together with exSIL over the summer. Not only am I her exSIL because I divorced her husband's brother, but she's soon to be divorced from her hub as well. What does that make us? Still exSILs? Hm. Yeah, I think that still works. She's a great lady and a lot of fun. She reminds me of Carrie on SATC so that's gonna be her nickname here. Carrie!
Still having loads of fun with 30b. He's my virtual boyfriend -- at least he's my char's BF and my FWB -- and I get all the great parts and none of the crap. Wow. Seriously, who needs to go get a real one?
((Song: "All I Have To Do Is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. Lyrics here:
http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_everly_brothers/all_i_have_to_do_is_dream.html ))
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Reality Check
I went to the gym today to do a short workout/introductory session with a personal trainer -- it's part of the package deal when you sign up. It wasn't a difficult workout but it did give me a bit of insight into some details.
First off, I weigh 137 now and I have a 36% BMI. That means I'm considered obese. Obese? GAHHHH!!!!! I have 49 lbs of body fat and 88 lbs of muscle/bones/lean tissue. He said he'd like to see me at 121 lbs with a 22% BMI, 27 lbs of body fat and 94 lbs of muscle/bones/lean tissue.
Ha. I haven't seen 121 lbs since I was 21 years old.
The trainer told me that it will easily take 8-10 months for that to happen. Currently he says I have about 77,000 calories to burn to reach the 121 lb goal, since each lb of body fat I now have will take a 3500 calorie burn to remove. 77,000/3500 = 22 lbs of fat that needs to be gone.
He also let me know that I need to EAT. The worst thing I could do, he said, is to tell my body to work harder yet deny it a steady supply of nourishment -- it will conserve by feeding off my muscle mass instead of my fat stores. He said that as we age, the body is losing muscle mass anyway and that lack of exercise only hastens the muscle atrophy. I have to admit that eating more has been a difficult thing for me even though I feel hungrier now. I've been on portion control for so long that it feels very "bad" of me to eat a lot. I've been maintaining 1000-1200 calories a day for a long time and he tells me that's placed my body in a long-term starvation mode, kicking my metabolism down even more from its naturally low starting point. Ack. I don't want that. I suspect that the dramatic weight loss I experienced in 2007 (approx 30 lbs in about 4 months) due to stress diminished my muscles stores rather than my fat stores.
I learned a lot from the session -- some that I knew already and was practicing, and other things that I knew in an abstract sense but had not done the connective thinking necessary to really understand it all.
I'm probably not doing enough and I will probably plateau at some point. I'll need to combat that by applying some muscle confusion techniques when that occurs. I'll also need to remember not to get frustrated and not give up. I'll be buying some resistance bands and using them at the house, and some dumbells too.
Good grief. I'm actually exercising! And liking it! Watch out people, the sky may just start falling any day now. Hee.
In other news, I'm heading out of town tomorrow afternoon to meet X. I haven't seen him since our trip to Las Vegas in December of '07 before my nasty bout of pneumonia. He's going to be in a big city about 3 hours away from me and called to ask if I could meet him (he didn't realize it was 3 hrs away, he thought it was only about 1 or 2 at most) and I told him sure. I said it was the least I could do since he treated me to Vegas! I managed to get a personal day off work and I don't have to drive back tomorrow night so we can both relax and go out to dinner and have a good time. My throat is a little sore right now and I've been feeling that for about 4 days since the weather changed. I've also had a headache off and on the last couple days too as well as an ache in my side near my right kidney that's tender. Here's hoping there's no replay of the meet X/get sick scenario of last time! Or (god forbid!) my kidney stones are moving!
Ehh, my life is just busybusybusy lately. Work, work, work. I haven't quite adjusted yet. I'll get there.
Time for bed. Must get my beauty sleep!
First off, I weigh 137 now and I have a 36% BMI. That means I'm considered obese. Obese? GAHHHH!!!!! I have 49 lbs of body fat and 88 lbs of muscle/bones/lean tissue. He said he'd like to see me at 121 lbs with a 22% BMI, 27 lbs of body fat and 94 lbs of muscle/bones/lean tissue.
Ha. I haven't seen 121 lbs since I was 21 years old.
The trainer told me that it will easily take 8-10 months for that to happen. Currently he says I have about 77,000 calories to burn to reach the 121 lb goal, since each lb of body fat I now have will take a 3500 calorie burn to remove. 77,000/3500 = 22 lbs of fat that needs to be gone.
He also let me know that I need to EAT. The worst thing I could do, he said, is to tell my body to work harder yet deny it a steady supply of nourishment -- it will conserve by feeding off my muscle mass instead of my fat stores. He said that as we age, the body is losing muscle mass anyway and that lack of exercise only hastens the muscle atrophy. I have to admit that eating more has been a difficult thing for me even though I feel hungrier now. I've been on portion control for so long that it feels very "bad" of me to eat a lot. I've been maintaining 1000-1200 calories a day for a long time and he tells me that's placed my body in a long-term starvation mode, kicking my metabolism down even more from its naturally low starting point. Ack. I don't want that. I suspect that the dramatic weight loss I experienced in 2007 (approx 30 lbs in about 4 months) due to stress diminished my muscles stores rather than my fat stores.
I learned a lot from the session -- some that I knew already and was practicing, and other things that I knew in an abstract sense but had not done the connective thinking necessary to really understand it all.
I'm probably not doing enough and I will probably plateau at some point. I'll need to combat that by applying some muscle confusion techniques when that occurs. I'll also need to remember not to get frustrated and not give up. I'll be buying some resistance bands and using them at the house, and some dumbells too.
Good grief. I'm actually exercising! And liking it! Watch out people, the sky may just start falling any day now. Hee.
In other news, I'm heading out of town tomorrow afternoon to meet X. I haven't seen him since our trip to Las Vegas in December of '07 before my nasty bout of pneumonia. He's going to be in a big city about 3 hours away from me and called to ask if I could meet him (he didn't realize it was 3 hrs away, he thought it was only about 1 or 2 at most) and I told him sure. I said it was the least I could do since he treated me to Vegas! I managed to get a personal day off work and I don't have to drive back tomorrow night so we can both relax and go out to dinner and have a good time. My throat is a little sore right now and I've been feeling that for about 4 days since the weather changed. I've also had a headache off and on the last couple days too as well as an ache in my side near my right kidney that's tender. Here's hoping there's no replay of the meet X/get sick scenario of last time! Or (god forbid!) my kidney stones are moving!
Ehh, my life is just busybusybusy lately. Work, work, work. I haven't quite adjusted yet. I'll get there.
Time for bed. Must get my beauty sleep!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Way Up Firm And High
I weighed myself on Friday and I weighed in at 135.5 lbs. I measured myself on Sunday night and I've lost 1 inch on my hips, waist and chest and a 1/2 inch on my thighs. I've gained a 1/2 inch around my biceps and calves.
Boo yah!
I'm a petite lady at 5' 0" but (other than in high school when I was thisbigaround) as I've matured I've developed into what I call barrel-shaped. Thank my German ancestors for that. Thicker middle, stick arms and stick legs. And yes, I'm also stacked. Thanks for nothing in that department, maternal German ancestry!
I've always wanted to reduce the "girls." I hate bras and it's the first thing I get rid of when I get home in the evening. I should have started wearing a bra in the sixth grade but it was the eighth before I finally started doing so. I just wore big jackets. I've wondered if I did some connective tissue damage since I was by no means small-busted. I say that because frankly, I look like a bushwoman when I don't wear a bra. Flat and to my navel. Bleh.
Anyway, I'd tried here and there over the years to look for something to give me a more rounded, perky look to no avail. I jiggle like a bowl of jello, I don't stay in the silly things when I lean over....you name it. No matter what I bought I'd constantly have to pull it down in the back because it rode up. To me, that translated into "it's not supportive enough to hold the weight" so I'd buy a bigger cup size to counter that problem. Nothing seemed to work, though, and finally I'd just given up and settled into wearing the matronly styles. Plus, I hated the idea of spending any more than $20 on a bra. Especially if they'd ride up and be a general pain in the ass. No way I was spending good money on that!
Over the past month my workout partner/co-worker BK kept telling me over and over that I wasn't wearing the right size bra. She told me that instead of the 36C/40D size range (depending on brand) that I'd been wearing for most of the last 20 years, I should be wearing a much smaller size, relatively speaking. She pegged me for a 32DDD. I admit I didn't buy it. I didn't buy it at all. ME? A 32? Come on! No way.
However, she did look great in her bras. So I turned myself over to her -- if for no other reason than to shut her up and prove her wrong -- and she and I spent this past weekend on a mission. We went to a big girl's store and the lady measured me. Now I've been measured before, and at Victoria's Secret no less! -- but not like this lady did. Talk about a thorough job. Anyway, she measured me at a......yes. A 32.
Um. Aw, bloody hell. BK's eyes were triumphant.
I hate being proved wrong.
So.......we went looking for a bra and exhausted all possibilities save for Dillard's since it was the only place that carried my size. As I was trying them on I heard BK in conversation with the salesladies saying that it was freakish, how such a small lady could be so severely stacked. She meant for me to hear it, evil woman. I chuckled wryly. Whatever. I told her she was just jealous.
So yeah, I bought one. $63! Holy crap, I haven't spent that much money on one article of clothing since 1998. Turns out I'm going to have to special order my size. Yeah, get ready for it. 32I. Not D or E or even G. An I. Sheeeeeeeesh.
But holy smokes, I look good in my shirts. I don't jiggle or bounce. I feel like I'm in a vise, so maybe that's why. Too many years of wearing bras that didn't fit have spoiled me. I'll get used to it, I'm sure. The thing doesn't ride up in the back, the straps don't move, the support is phenomenal. And I love the way I look in it both in AND out of shirts. Like I'm 20 again!
Who knew you could buy 20 years back for 60 bucks?
((Song: "Night Moves" by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. Lyrics here:
http://mysite.verizon.net/silverbulletfan/Nghtmvs-Nghtmvs.html ))
Boo yah!
I'm a petite lady at 5' 0" but (other than in high school when I was thisbigaround) as I've matured I've developed into what I call barrel-shaped. Thank my German ancestors for that. Thicker middle, stick arms and stick legs. And yes, I'm also stacked. Thanks for nothing in that department, maternal German ancestry!
I've always wanted to reduce the "girls." I hate bras and it's the first thing I get rid of when I get home in the evening. I should have started wearing a bra in the sixth grade but it was the eighth before I finally started doing so. I just wore big jackets. I've wondered if I did some connective tissue damage since I was by no means small-busted. I say that because frankly, I look like a bushwoman when I don't wear a bra. Flat and to my navel. Bleh.
Anyway, I'd tried here and there over the years to look for something to give me a more rounded, perky look to no avail. I jiggle like a bowl of jello, I don't stay in the silly things when I lean over....you name it. No matter what I bought I'd constantly have to pull it down in the back because it rode up. To me, that translated into "it's not supportive enough to hold the weight" so I'd buy a bigger cup size to counter that problem. Nothing seemed to work, though, and finally I'd just given up and settled into wearing the matronly styles. Plus, I hated the idea of spending any more than $20 on a bra. Especially if they'd ride up and be a general pain in the ass. No way I was spending good money on that!
Over the past month my workout partner/co-worker BK kept telling me over and over that I wasn't wearing the right size bra. She told me that instead of the 36C/40D size range (depending on brand) that I'd been wearing for most of the last 20 years, I should be wearing a much smaller size, relatively speaking. She pegged me for a 32DDD. I admit I didn't buy it. I didn't buy it at all. ME? A 32? Come on! No way.
However, she did look great in her bras. So I turned myself over to her -- if for no other reason than to shut her up and prove her wrong -- and she and I spent this past weekend on a mission. We went to a big girl's store and the lady measured me. Now I've been measured before, and at Victoria's Secret no less! -- but not like this lady did. Talk about a thorough job. Anyway, she measured me at a......yes. A 32.
Um. Aw, bloody hell. BK's eyes were triumphant.
I hate being proved wrong.
So.......we went looking for a bra and exhausted all possibilities save for Dillard's since it was the only place that carried my size. As I was trying them on I heard BK in conversation with the salesladies saying that it was freakish, how such a small lady could be so severely stacked. She meant for me to hear it, evil woman. I chuckled wryly. Whatever. I told her she was just jealous.
So yeah, I bought one. $63! Holy crap, I haven't spent that much money on one article of clothing since 1998. Turns out I'm going to have to special order my size. Yeah, get ready for it. 32I. Not D or E or even G. An I. Sheeeeeeeesh.
But holy smokes, I look good in my shirts. I don't jiggle or bounce. I feel like I'm in a vise, so maybe that's why. Too many years of wearing bras that didn't fit have spoiled me. I'll get used to it, I'm sure. The thing doesn't ride up in the back, the straps don't move, the support is phenomenal. And I love the way I look in it both in AND out of shirts. Like I'm 20 again!
Who knew you could buy 20 years back for 60 bucks?
((Song: "Night Moves" by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. Lyrics here:
http://mysite.verizon.net/silverbulletfan/Nghtmvs-Nghtmvs.html ))
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Whistle While You Work
I've been told there are many hidden benefits from going to the gym and I can tell you right now, I'm a believer. I know all about developing bone density, preventing cancer or diabetes or heart attacks. I know it keeps you younger and keeps you healthy longer.
I just didn't know it could also benefit you fiscally.
So fast forward. I go and I meet this very nice girl that works out at the same time as my friend and I. She and I talk while we're readying ourselves for the day. One day last week I happen to mention I have a paralegal certificate and have been having trouble getting the experience I need to make the certificate worthwhile. I say I wouldn't mind volunteering a few hours a day to get that experience.
She says she owns a real estate business and across the building from her is this great lawyer who's a super nice, talented guy. She says she'll speak to him and see if he'd be willing to take a volunteer. I say thank you and go on about my day, thinking that like most things, it was idle talk. Not so. That very day -- last Thursday -- I get an email from the lawyer asking me to contact him! Surprised, I do. He asks me to come in on Monday (yesterday). I do.
I get there at the appointed time. We speak briefly and get along really well. I get along equally well with his associate. The lawyer says, "There's a problem with your suggestion to volunteer. There are ethical issues with having a non-employee see confidental client files. So if you're agreeable, I'll hire you as a part time employee. You come in the few hours a day that you can after you get off your current job and learn as much as you can. When I expand my practice -- as I intend to do within the next year -- there's a real possibility there'll be a position for you if you fit in and you'd like to take it. Deal?"
DEAL? DEAL? Hell yes, it's a deal!
So I have a(nother) job! At a real honest to goodness law firm! With opportunity I didn't have even two weeks ago.
And all because I went to this stupid gym.
Not so stupid now, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm????
(And oh yeah, I've also lost some inches. Woooot!!!)
((Song: "Whistle While You Work" by the Seven Dwarves. Lyrics here:
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/snowwhiteandthesevendwarfs/whistlewhileyouwork.htm ))
I just didn't know it could also benefit you fiscally.
So fast forward. I go and I meet this very nice girl that works out at the same time as my friend and I. She and I talk while we're readying ourselves for the day. One day last week I happen to mention I have a paralegal certificate and have been having trouble getting the experience I need to make the certificate worthwhile. I say I wouldn't mind volunteering a few hours a day to get that experience.
She says she owns a real estate business and across the building from her is this great lawyer who's a super nice, talented guy. She says she'll speak to him and see if he'd be willing to take a volunteer. I say thank you and go on about my day, thinking that like most things, it was idle talk. Not so. That very day -- last Thursday -- I get an email from the lawyer asking me to contact him! Surprised, I do. He asks me to come in on Monday (yesterday). I do.
I get there at the appointed time. We speak briefly and get along really well. I get along equally well with his associate. The lawyer says, "There's a problem with your suggestion to volunteer. There are ethical issues with having a non-employee see confidental client files. So if you're agreeable, I'll hire you as a part time employee. You come in the few hours a day that you can after you get off your current job and learn as much as you can. When I expand my practice -- as I intend to do within the next year -- there's a real possibility there'll be a position for you if you fit in and you'd like to take it. Deal?"
DEAL? DEAL? Hell yes, it's a deal!
So I have a(nother) job! At a real honest to goodness law firm! With opportunity I didn't have even two weeks ago.
And all because I went to this stupid gym.
Not so stupid now, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm????
(And oh yeah, I've also lost some inches. Woooot!!!)
((Song: "Whistle While You Work" by the Seven Dwarves. Lyrics here:
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/snowwhiteandthesevendwarfs/whistlewhileyouwork.htm ))
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