Today’s Friday Five is dedicated to exercise. Moving, no matter how you do it, is critical to weight loss success regardless of how you choose to lose weight.The CDC recommends at least 150 minutes (2 and a half hours) of moderate aerobic activity plus 2 days of strength training per week for adults. These guidelines apply if one is trying to simply get health benefits from exercise. Obviously, if you increase the time you exercise, the more benefits you gain from doing the exercise.
My current schedule allows for me to squeeze in 4 hours a week, Friday-Monday. Because I know myself, I am NOT a morning gym rat. I tried that for a year. I would get up at the asscrack of dawn (ugly o’clock, also known as 4:45 am) and go to the gym 3 days a week, and on one of those days I worked with a personal trainer. I would go to the gym an additional 2 days a week in the evening to give myself a break from getting up so friggin’ early. My workouts usually consisted of a mix of cardio and weights, with a pretty even split with regard to time spent doing each. I was also doing Weight Watchers at the time.
For the year that I did that, I only lost about 20 pounds. My weight hit a serious plateau that I never got off of, and I was discouraged. I gave up.
That was 100 pounds ago.
Now, my workouts consist of roughly 40-45 minutes of cardio, followed by 20-30 minutes of strength training. I work a different set of muscles each time I lift weights. Tonight was chest and back. Tomorrow morning I’ll Zumba, and Sunday, I’ll use the dreadmill (which I hate) and do arms. Monday I’ll ride the bike again and do legs.
So here’s my Friday Five: Favorite Ways to Get Movin’
(in no particular order)
- Riding the recumbent bike
- Water aerobics (really want to take classes at the rec but the schedules are weird. Summer, though…it’s ON.)
- Walking the mall (then shopping, haha)
- Playing Wii Tennis (because I run around like a fool in my living room when I play–you’d think I was on an actual court)
- Lifting weights
No matter what you do, find something you like to do that literally moves you, and DO IT. Even if it is just 10 minutes at one time. Every little bit helps. And remember:
I know for me that is certainly true!
Today’s food was pretty okay. I had to fight the urge to eat Every. Freaking. Thing. In. Sight. I am PMSing something awful and today I was hungry ALL DAMN DAY even though every meal I ate today was packed with protein. I did eat a small piece of dark chocolate today and that satisfied an intense craving I had for it. The only time of the month that I really WANT sweets is when I’m in the middle of my cycle. I was like this pre-op too, but back then, it was not an unusual thing for me to down a pint of Ben and Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk. I wouldn’t think twice about it back then. Now…it is likely I will never eat that stuff again. I think it would make me really sick, and my palate has changed so that sweets are just that much more sweet tasting (ew).
One of my planned snacks was 2 cups of popcorn because I knew I was going to be working out this evening and I needed the carbs. I didn’t have a high carb day though. My protein today was 90 grams, carbs were 34 and fat was 49 grams. I need to dial back the fat. Time to look back at old MFP entries and look at days where my fat was under 35 grams and start introducing those foods again.
Today’s food choices, from upper right: 2 cups of 479 heirloom popcorn; multivitamin and calcium supplements x2, iron and B12 supplements; honey garlic marinated flank steak and steamed broccoli; scrambled eggs with cheese and turkey sausage; Jack Link’s beef jerky; mixed green salad with carrots, bacon, sunflower kernels, a little cheese, croutons and grilled shrimp. Not shown: a small Godiva dark chocolate truffle.
La Guerra de La Gorda 