Back in October (when my 40th birthday was pending) I finally decided to get serious about getting in shape. I signed up for Weight Watchers because of their FitPoints program, which I thought would help me get motivated to exercise regularly. Well, WW users know that in December they scrapped FitPoint for some other dumb thing that leaves you with no “reward” for exercising. I was cranky. Very. Cranky. Plus I had just gotten used to WW itself and it was working! Why did they have to go and change it (penalizing chocolate so badly)???
If you are going to be joining to a fitness program, I recommend you to go here to learn about vitamins and minerals that can help you with your nutrition.
My goal was to stick with WW until April, knowing the exercise would not be a part of the program, so even though I was angry about the new program, I stuck it out. I’m glad I did. I hit my goal weight in March just before our trip to Europe, and I’ve stayed there or close so far. I’m now lifetime, and I still go to meetings, but I only weigh in the first week of each month. Jared is doing WW now, too, and he’s within 6lbs of his goal weight.
Anyway, after the WW activity thing was a bust, I knew that I still needed to work on my body and consume more protein powders. I was the right weight but in very bad shape. I figure I’ve got at least another 40 years on this body so I better get it in to shape! After some research and decided to try the new HICT workouts before I signed up for another gym membership that I don’t use. I ended up starting with Carrot’s Seven minute workout — HILARIOUS!!!!! — and ended up with Seven by Perigee. I love the zen master voice! I’ve done that 7 minute HICT workout 2-3x week since May now. It took me a while, but I’m now up to 3 circuits. I’ve not done 3 circuits 3x in one week yet, but I hope to next week.
For the record, Seven has changed the way my body looks significantly already. My legs are more cut, I’ve sprouted some abs, my triceps look awesome, and my butt has lifted noticeably. Al my major muscles are firmer. I’m pleased with those things, but I notice I’m not wobbly when I get up or down from the floor now and I certainly feel stronger — not like when I used to lift, but like things aren’t going to give out.
Did I mention I was in really bad shape?
Seriously, my step tracker showed that on an average day I only get 3000 steps. When I went to the park to walk 3 miles I still would only get 7-8000. It’s bad.
Most exercise isn’t good for weight loss, and Seven is no exception. While it isn’t going to help you loose weight, but it is GREAT for general fitness, and it does help with maintenance. But HICT is not good for everything. You still need cardio, which I hate. If you are considering adding green supplements to your diet, make sure to read this Athletic Greens AG1 Review: Is It Worth The Hype Or Superfood? Don’t Buy Until You Read This
So over the past few weeks I’ve been doing more research. It turns out that steady state cardio for more than 45 minutes at a time is actually detrimental to weight loss. It causes blood sugar to drop, making you hungrier, and if you go too long it makes your body switch over into eat-itself mode, destroying any muscles gains. This makes total sense to me! Look at all the people huffing on the treadmill at the gym for hours at a time with no change. They are overdoing their cardio.
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/the-truth-about-the-7-minute-workout
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3846819/
How Much Cardio Is Too Much? Things No One Has Told You about Cardio
So, that’s how I decided to do C25k. The program gets you from being a nonrunner (actually I’m anti-running) and ready for a 5k in 8 weeks. This sounds impossible to me. I watched some video blogs online and got inspired. Some of these folks are really, really out of shape but they end up able to complete a 5k by sticking with the program.
This girl, Vaya, was particularly helpful:
So I’m trying it.
My goal is to run a 5k in October sometime.
So today I decided to start the program. Today the run/walk was 60 minutes of “running” and 90 minutes of walking. I ran the first 60 and felt great.
Second 60 also good.
Third 60 tried to pace myself a little better because I was getting fatigued and I could see I was going a lot faster than the run-a-couple-of-miles-at-lunch dudes at the park.
Fourth 60, I had to stop half way and walk. Bummer. I was getting discouraged and thought I might not make it.
Fifth 60. Did fine.
Sixth 60. Also fine.
I was so shocked when the “One Minute left” alert came up — how could this be? Sure enough, I had in fact done the whole course and survived!
The track near my house is 3/4 mile, and I did 3 circuits, or 2 1/4 miles running/walking. I am still flabbergasted.
Now, it was difficult. Very difficult. I need to learn to pace myself and relax my shoulders. And I could NOT have done it without the playlist I spent an hour making this morning. But, wow, I did it. Maybe there is hope that even I could run a 5k!
