Fitness Update

I started Week 6 (aka Level 6 -- it would be impossible to increase to the next level on a weekly basis as suggested) on Saturday. I'm really proud of this!

Week 6 is waaaay harder than Week 5.

It's funny, the stuff that is hardest for me is all chest -- mainly, being in a full plank and having to bring my knees to my chest (with my feet suspended in the straps)... so tough!

Whereas my brother finds the cardio hard -- the jumping jack sequences got much more challenging this week, with jumping both feet together side to side accompanied by traditional jumping jack arms, for example. These are challenging, no doubt about it, and my calves are aching by the end, but it's not nearly as unpleasant as the plank-based exercises.

I also tried a new work out that my cousin Tom suggested, called Tabatta. The basic gist is that you warm up for a few minutes on a piece of cardio equipment -- I use the elliptical -- then you alternate twenty seconds of 100% effort with ten seconds of rest. The goal is to get to eight sets. I tried this two days ago and did five sets.

The limiting factor for me was my lungs. I felt like I had knives in my chest. So painful!

My heart was racing, of course, and my legs burned, but that went away almost immediately. But my chest was still fiery pain ten minutes later. And about thirty minutes later, I suddenly started coughing up mucus. That lasted about 30-60 minutes, then disappeared again. I'm not sick, and I don't have allergies. But I was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, though I haven't had any symptoms in ages, so I'm wondering if that is the problem? If it happens again, I will call in prescription for myself for an asthma pump to use beforehand.

The weight stuff is not going so well. I was doing better, a bit, with eating, and wasn't gaining, and then, well, Christmas and cookie dough happened. But I haven't been able to get back to actually losing weight. And I'm quite a bit over where I was at my low point in October.

I'm trying not to beat myself up, and my goal now is to cut out the easy cardio on the elliptical and just do hard workouts 5-6 days a week, a mix of Rip 60 and Tabata. But it's frustrating. I see other folks that are trying to walk more and just eat healthy as a way to lose weight. Oh, how I wish that would work for me! I feel like I have to work so much harder than anyone I know. And the recent stall and subsequent weight gain makes me wonder if I will ever successfully lose weight and keep it off. It's like my metabolism wised up on me.

I'm trying to not get discouraged but it's not easy sometimes.

I read pat of a diet-oriented book the other day, and I think that has something to do with the cookie dough (which I have since thrown away) incidents. The very idea of restricting my diet puts me into "last supper eating" -- eating lots now to compensate for the diet that will be starting. That and also getting too damn hungry. So I have to back off on that, and hope that what I was doing before will somehow work again -- lots of sleep, lots of fat, moderate protein, limited but not too little carbohydrate. And making sure to not get too hungry.

And now, after a day of rest (if you can call potty training and being stuck at home, rest!), I'm off to work out again. Hoping that Rip 60 is easier today!