Well, that lil nasty stomach bug seems to be mostly cleared up. I was able to get up on time, and arrived at the gym at 6am today. I hit the elliptical for 35 minutes, 3 miles, and almost 500 calories. It was fun. Seriously. I was even pounding out the rhythms to some of the songs (fairly loudly) on the elliptical handle bars, freaking out the other gym members.
It was kewl to see their expressions of their distaste for this new noise. I didn't care. I was exercising, sweating and enjoying myself. I was in the zone baby!
Based on some successes and failures over the last few weeks, I am mixing up the routine as well as my expectations. Having an "organic" approach to this exercise and healthy living thing really is the way to go. Being able to make course corrections and refocus is powerful, very powerful, as long as you keep aiming at your goals by never compromising your primary objective.
The changes… 1 through 4 …
1 - I will continue the elliptical 3 to 4 times a week as my main mode of cardio/conditioning.
2 - I will jog once a week, to continue to keep my knees and hips in check.
3 - Once I can do 5 to 6 mph for 60 minutes on the Elliptical, I will then revisit the jogging regiment as my main form of cardio/conditioning. My main goal right now is to get healthy, and raise my endurance and grow some muscle.
All of this exercise and eating stuff is to get me healthy, as well as to condition my brain that exercise and eating healthy is a way of life. Forever. I’m lookin for life long changes here, not a shortcut. That being said, losing weight would be nice, and hopefully a fantastic side effect of all of this effort, but is NOT my main goal for now. It took me 10 years to get fat. I am really focused on getting healthy; the weight will come off in time. That being said, one of the reasons for the above mentioned changes is that my before mentioned weight is a direct cause of the pain and issues with my knees and hips. Until I can drop 50 pounds or more, I think I will stay with the jogging once a week.
The question I now have is...
When will I reach 60 minutes of 6 mph on the Elliptical and when will I drop 50 pounds? Oh yeah, the Marathon is now only 32 weeks away.
This leads me to point 4 ...
4 - I MUST also do resistance training. Lift weights. I just have to. I need the maximum amount of conditioning both aerobic and anaerobic at this point. I need to push myself. I have tried this in the past. I have started slow, I have started fast. So far it hasn’t worked out yet (no pun intended). But, I need the triangle of health here. Cardio, Muscle Building and Healthy Eating. So, as I get up to speed on the Elliptical and continue to hone my eating regiment I must now figure out how to add 3 days a week of resistance training.
Wish me luck!
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