In December 2009, I finally decided to stop chowing down on large portions of food, chocolate and drinking far too much wine. I had hit my highest weight, apart from being pregnant, and it was depressing the hell out of me. I couldn’t fit into a large quantity of my clothes and what I could fit into was having a hard time disguising the stomach rolls.
I started by reducing my food intake slowly, and then during a week or so on my annual winter break, I went into a crash diet by accident. I got obsessed with the Twilight books and read them non-stop. Really. I finished the 4 books in 2.5 days…and didn’t sleep very much…or eat really anything. Then I reread them. By that time my stomach had shrunk down and I got used to smaller portions. I ate healthy food and reduced the wine consumption.
Last summer I started exercising once my weight hit a plateau. There is only so much you can do with just reducing calories and eating a healthy diet. That helped to start to lose a few more pounds, though I wasn’t quite a dedicated exerciser. I worked out for about 9 weeks before I lost steam, and I was lucky to get in 5 days and 10 miles.
I am now on week 11 of basically working out every day of the week. There was one week I didn’t get a work out in, but I spend 5 hours hauling 14 yards of mulch that week. I think I can count that as 5 days of exercise. I certainly felt very, very sore for days afterwards.
My plan is pretty simple. I do cardio only every other day and try to get at least 3 miles in. I set the elliptical for 40 minutes. I’m not exactly fast, I know. Then, every other day, I do 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical (2+ miles), and about 40 some minutes of strength training. I try to do circuit training with my Bowflex. I will do 4 exercises at a time with 15 reps of each, 3 different circuits. I mix floor exercises for the legs in with upper body on the Bowflex, and I am sweating by the time I am done. I do the strength first and then the cardio and it usually takes 1.5 hrs by the time I am done with stretching at the beginning and end.
As of today I have lost 1 pound. Go me.
I know I am building up muscles that have basically atrophied from years of sitting at a computer desk at work and at home. As a hobbyist photographer, I have spent hours in the evening playing around with my photos in Photoshop. A very, very sedentary life.
No longer.
I am seeing muscle definition in my arms, legs and somewhat in my lower abdomen. I still have a healthy layer of fat around my mid-section. I have been eating more now than when I just dieted. I still try to be healthy, but I’m not in the deprivation mode like I was for so long. I know that is part of the reason why I really haven’t lost much weight.
I love to cook, therefore I exercise. I just need to eat less dairy, methinks. I love me some cheese.
This seems to be a slow process. I am glad that so far I have managed to outlast my last stretch of exercising, even with it being far more intense. If I can just keep it up that would be swell. Once I get closer to my ideal body, I will probably notch it down to 4-5 days a week. It would be nice to have a day off here or there.
Eventually…
