Oh man, my legs were still killing me yesterday (Saturday) and to make matters worse, my back, neck and chest were sore too. I almost felt like I was coming down with something, I kept having that where you alternate between being chilly and then being hot and clammy. Of course that could just be the combination of hypothyroidism (cold) with perimenopause (hot) - I swear half the time I just don't know WHAT the deal is anymore! So after we got back from piano lessons and Felix's badminton training, I decided to have a quiet Saturday afternoon, took some painkillers and settled in with a book and a cup of tea. But I felt like a little old lady all day, shuffling here and there.
This morning I still felt bad, but decided some exercise would probably help me feel better, but I did not feel like running outside in the chilly wind, so I went to the gym and did 40 minutes on the elliptical, which I figured would be a bit gentler than a run. It actually did make me feel a lot better and I am looking forward to getting back to the gym tomorrow for a full Matt Roberts workout - without a Zumba class first!
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
My legs are killing me!
I was not sure what it was going to be like, doing a Zumba class and then following it up with a full body resistance work out...
The Zumba class was very intense. Lots of high intensity stomping, lunging, and all those dance steps (mambo, chacha, etc) - I couldn't believe how much I was sweating. But it's fun, the music is great and the class flies by, mostly because I have to really concentrate to keep up with the moves. Our teacher finishes the class with a segment of ab work and then a cool down. By then I felt I had got a pretty good workout in - but I still had weights to do!
I worked through the Matt Roberts program, alternating upper body with lower body moves, but I could really feel the Zumba in my legs, and by the end, they were shot. I still had to make a detour to the library to pick up a book, and then home on my bike... oh, help! Just one more bike journey to go today, to pick up Felix at school - I hope I can make it. I'll make sure to leave in time so I don't have to go too fast. Did I mention that it's raining?
The Zumba class was very intense. Lots of high intensity stomping, lunging, and all those dance steps (mambo, chacha, etc) - I couldn't believe how much I was sweating. But it's fun, the music is great and the class flies by, mostly because I have to really concentrate to keep up with the moves. Our teacher finishes the class with a segment of ab work and then a cool down. By then I felt I had got a pretty good workout in - but I still had weights to do!
I worked through the Matt Roberts program, alternating upper body with lower body moves, but I could really feel the Zumba in my legs, and by the end, they were shot. I still had to make a detour to the library to pick up a book, and then home on my bike... oh, help! Just one more bike journey to go today, to pick up Felix at school - I hope I can make it. I'll make sure to leave in time so I don't have to go too fast. Did I mention that it's raining?
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A Fresh Start
September always feels like a fresh start - the boys headed back to school on Tuesday, their sports activities started up again, and we are back into our normal routine (well, almost!) I have had almost a week of "active rest" and have not been to the gym. Time for a fresh fitness start as well, then!
Since I will be heading to the California beach later this fall, I decided to follow the Matt Roberts "Beach Body program" from his book "Fitness for Life Manual". This program always seemed like a tough one to me, but now, having done Body for Life, it doesn't look so daunting anymore! It consists of three workouts a week, all including cardio intervals and weights, always alternating an upper body exercise with one for the lower body. He calls this peripheral heart action training and the idea is that this works the heart harder as it has to pump blood to muscles at both ends of the body. You also don't have to rest between the different exercises, which keeps your heart rate up throughout the workout.
I am going to go to Zumba class once a week and I am also going to keep running, the longer run on Sundays and then one short run during the week. I really want to run the Corrida again this year!
I'm going to give it a go and hope to further improve my fitness, strength, weight and well being!
Since I will be heading to the California beach later this fall, I decided to follow the Matt Roberts "Beach Body program" from his book "Fitness for Life Manual". This program always seemed like a tough one to me, but now, having done Body for Life, it doesn't look so daunting anymore! It consists of three workouts a week, all including cardio intervals and weights, always alternating an upper body exercise with one for the lower body. He calls this peripheral heart action training and the idea is that this works the heart harder as it has to pump blood to muscles at both ends of the body. You also don't have to rest between the different exercises, which keeps your heart rate up throughout the workout.
I am going to go to Zumba class once a week and I am also going to keep running, the longer run on Sundays and then one short run during the week. I really want to run the Corrida again this year!
I'm going to give it a go and hope to further improve my fitness, strength, weight and well being!
Monday, August 31, 2009
BFL Results
First of all, a big thanks to everyone who has commented here in the last 12 weeks and yesterday (I love the image of a whole field of orchids, Katy!) - your encouragement and support has meant a lot to me!
It feels a bit weird today, not having to go to the gym. But I got up and my first item of business was weighing and measuring! I did not end up like one of those before and after pictures in the BFL book; I had a rough time, especially at the beginning, figuring out how to fit the food guidelines into a mainly vegan diet. So my weight loss is not what you could call spectacular: just under 6 pounds.
But I am really happy with my other indicators! My BMI went down one full point, as did my Waist to Hip Ratio (you can figure all these measurements out for yourself at http://www.bmi-calculator.net/ ). I only took body measurements starting the sixth week of the program, but in the last six weeks, I lost 4 cm in my waist and and 4 on my hips, 1 cm on my thigh, one on my upper arm, and my back/chest measurement got 2 cm bigger (ahem - I was noticing my bras were fitting completely differently!). Not only that, but all of my clothes fit better and things that were too tight to wear comfortably are now fitting great. And I will need to chuck some things that are too big and don't look nice anymore.
Physically, I feel amazing - a lot stronger, especially in my upper body, in which I had lost a lot of strength the last ten years. Pulling the window shutters up in the morning, hauling heavy things like suitcases and baskets of laundry up and down the stairs - it has all become a lot easier. I feel firm and toned, and can't help admiring the little hills and valleys that have appeared on my arms and legs!
On a personal level, I am reminded of Marianne Willamson's advice: "If you want to become a more disciplined person, practice being a disciplined person." For me this is just one more step up from doing those half marathon training programs: with those I had the fear factor of not being able to hack it on race day to propel me forward; with BFL all I had was my own desire to finish and of course, not wanting to have to say on this blog that I didn't finish! Being disciplined and keeping promises to yourself is definitely something that gets better with lots of practice!
It feels a bit weird today, not having to go to the gym. But I got up and my first item of business was weighing and measuring! I did not end up like one of those before and after pictures in the BFL book; I had a rough time, especially at the beginning, figuring out how to fit the food guidelines into a mainly vegan diet. So my weight loss is not what you could call spectacular: just under 6 pounds.
But I am really happy with my other indicators! My BMI went down one full point, as did my Waist to Hip Ratio (you can figure all these measurements out for yourself at http://www.bmi-calculator.net/ ). I only took body measurements starting the sixth week of the program, but in the last six weeks, I lost 4 cm in my waist and and 4 on my hips, 1 cm on my thigh, one on my upper arm, and my back/chest measurement got 2 cm bigger (ahem - I was noticing my bras were fitting completely differently!). Not only that, but all of my clothes fit better and things that were too tight to wear comfortably are now fitting great. And I will need to chuck some things that are too big and don't look nice anymore.
Physically, I feel amazing - a lot stronger, especially in my upper body, in which I had lost a lot of strength the last ten years. Pulling the window shutters up in the morning, hauling heavy things like suitcases and baskets of laundry up and down the stairs - it has all become a lot easier. I feel firm and toned, and can't help admiring the little hills and valleys that have appeared on my arms and legs!
On a personal level, I am reminded of Marianne Willamson's advice: "If you want to become a more disciplined person, practice being a disciplined person." For me this is just one more step up from doing those half marathon training programs: with those I had the fear factor of not being able to hack it on race day to propel me forward; with BFL all I had was my own desire to finish and of course, not wanting to have to say on this blog that I didn't finish! Being disciplined and keeping promises to yourself is definitely something that gets better with lots of practice!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
BFL Day 84: DONE!
Just 84 days ago I started a program that I had always considered way out of my league. Just like I never thought of myself as someone who could run (before completing two half marathons!), I also never thought of myself as someone who could follow a serious weight lifting program. And so now I have proven the contrary to myself.It was a nippy 13° as I headed to the gym for my final workout this morning - lower body weights. It was a beautiful morning and I decided to bike a bit further along the canal to give my legs a good warm up. By the time I arrived back at the gym I had been cycling for a good 20 minutes. I really wanted to push this last workout and my plan was to increase the weight on every exercise. This is the highest weight I did for each:
- Leg press: 110 kg
- Squat: 11 kg
- Leg curl: 30 kg
- Lunges: 6 kg
- Angled calf raises: 9 kg
- One leg calf raises: 7 kg
Then it was those last ab exercises and before I knew it, I was DONE! Wow. What a great feeling to have set out to accomplish something and then really follow through and complete it.
I headed home. When I got there a surprise was waiting for me: a beautiful orchid (see pic!) and a card of congratulations from Stefaan and the boys. I just love orchids and this one is a beauty - what a treat!
Today I am going to bask in the feelings of accomplishment, tomorrow I will take my final measurements, take stock of what I accomplished and lay out my new plan for the next two months... full report to follow soon!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
BFL: one more day to go!
It was just 15°C when I passed the Stella brewery on my bike this morning...brrr! I can really feel the season is starting to turn and fall is in the air. Thankfully it is still beautiful and sunny with a gorgeous blue sky.
I decided to do the HIIT run today and the lower body weights tomorrow, because I wanted to be able to really push hard for both workouts and if I did the weights first, the HIIT run would be really tough the next day. So tomorrow is my last day of BFL!
It felt like a long time since I had been on the treadmill and as always, that makes me feel doubtful about if I can do it or not. I know it's silly! But it's like I have to re-convince myself that I am capable each time I get back on. So I got started and I was determined to finish the workout with a bang - it was going pretty well and I felt good, so on the last interval I pushed the intensity up a notch for each minute. I kept telling myself this was the last HIIT run! I finished in 26 minutes, doing 4.3 km total. Phew!
I was thinking to myself as I headed home, how I used to be so intimidated about going to the gym on weekends, because I always had this idea that it would be so busy, and how I have finally gotten over that, and don't even worry about it much anymore. It reminds me of so many small hurdles I have gotten over in this fitness journey. When I think back to the person who was so scared of running, sure I was going to fly off and hit the wall behind me if I dared to put the treadmill up too fast... Truly, if I could come this far, who know where I will end up?
I decided to do the HIIT run today and the lower body weights tomorrow, because I wanted to be able to really push hard for both workouts and if I did the weights first, the HIIT run would be really tough the next day. So tomorrow is my last day of BFL!
It felt like a long time since I had been on the treadmill and as always, that makes me feel doubtful about if I can do it or not. I know it's silly! But it's like I have to re-convince myself that I am capable each time I get back on. So I got started and I was determined to finish the workout with a bang - it was going pretty well and I felt good, so on the last interval I pushed the intensity up a notch for each minute. I kept telling myself this was the last HIIT run! I finished in 26 minutes, doing 4.3 km total. Phew!
I was thinking to myself as I headed home, how I used to be so intimidated about going to the gym on weekends, because I always had this idea that it would be so busy, and how I have finally gotten over that, and don't even worry about it much anymore. It reminds me of so many small hurdles I have gotten over in this fitness journey. When I think back to the person who was so scared of running, sure I was going to fly off and hit the wall behind me if I dared to put the treadmill up too fast... Truly, if I could come this far, who know where I will end up?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Running with Bears
It was just too nice of a morning to go to the gym and run indoors.
So Stefaan decided to join me so we left and did a big loop that took us to the lake where we normally run on Sundays. When we got there, we soon noticed about eight very tall and muscular guys from the Leuven Bears basketball team had also decided to run outdoors - they were doing loops around the lake as well! Go Bears!
So Stefaan decided to join me so we left and did a big loop that took us to the lake where we normally run on Sundays. When we got there, we soon noticed about eight very tall and muscular guys from the Leuven Bears basketball team had also decided to run outdoors - they were doing loops around the lake as well! Go Bears!
We made a pit stop in the bathroom and then headed back home, passing through the park where they have the Finnish running track. This was a great way to end the run, because let me tell you, that track gives you a good workout! With about a kilometer to get back home we took it easy the last bit for our cool down. We ended up running 7.7 kilometers total and it took us just about an hour.
Now I just have two more workouts left to complete my Body for Life Challenge: a lower body weight session and a HIIT run. I can't believe I will be done with this by Sunday morning! Wow!
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