fatrockstar

It's been a while since I talked about my weight management/fitness. Like most people I am on a perpetual mission to reduce my mass to a sylph-like composition of muscle and bone, and like most people I'm not terribly good at it.

Recap: A little over a year ago I was enjoying myself at a clean 190lbs. This was the lightest I'd been in years, and can be attributed to not having a lot to eat, walking and biking everywhere, and maintaining a regular (and low-stress) schedule. I started a new relationship, joined a gym, and started to change shape a bit. During this time I didn't bother looking at the scale (because they're deceptive if you're putting on muscle). My intake changed when my income and personal drama changed, and last week I weighed in at 215. I haven't been 215 since I was married. Naturally, this is upsetting.

A lot of people will look at me in disbelief when I tell them how much I weigh, but to me, this is what 215lbs looks like. I look at other people my size and I think they weigh more than they really do. Maybe they're just being nice, but at a size 16US, I feel like a cow -- it doesn't matter if my biceps or lats are impressive. They still don't fit into a size 12 dress.

How do I know 215 is an unhealthy number for me? It has a lot to do with what I can and can't do for exercise. One of the things I enjoyed after I got below 200 is running, followed by dancing, and other moderate-impact sports. If I tried that today I would feel it in my back, knees, and ankles, and it sucks. However...

As I was bent over drying my hair today I looked down and noticed my awesome quads, and how they add a great shape to my legs. Those are the rewards.

( A little about routine and gym partners )

In a nutshell, I put on some weight. Much of it was probably muscle, but since I've been eating recklessly it could also be blubber. My back hurts, I love my Wii, and 1986 was not a great year for exercise videos.

Now back to the job hunt. Things are looking good out there.

I love 'em. My grandaddy's favorite thing to make was hamburgers topped with fried onions. They were just the best gawdamn thing in the universe when I was a kid. I never got the hang of grits with gravy, but fried chicken, biscuits & gravy, and pork chops... mmm-MM those were good. He would often tell me that eating onions kept colds away, and I believed him. Still do, to an extent. Unfortunately, my grandaddy's cooking is probably what killed him. That, and my grandmother's toxic personality.

A couple of days ago I made an orientation appointment with the top trainer at Gold's. It was just an orientation, so I wasn't expecting much other than "these are the machines." "how much weight do you want to lose," and "this is our price list for training sessions." I didn't get any of that.

I got a pep talk, some discussion about my goals, some diet advice that I'm not entirely sure I'll take, and a one-month cardio plan. He said to me "I know you're stuck on cardio right now and it's not very productive for you. What you need is a challenge. Forget the programmes on the display for now and focus on your heart rate. Cardio is not helpful if it's not strengthening or conditioning your heart." I hadn't given it much thought, but he was right. I wasn't challenging myself adequately.

As for weight training he advised me to hold off until the month was up. One thing at a time, he said. To keep muscles awake, do simple body weight movements (push-ups, leg raises, crunches, etc) in sets of X. After the orientation he sent me a file full of stretch illustrations via email. I need to focus on those, too.

Today was the first day I tried my new cardio regimen. It was tougher than I thought it would be. I needed to maintain 70-75% of my MHR for five minutes at a time, something I couldn't easily do without running (I'm too heavy to run), meaning I relied on setting the treadmill to an incline at my regular brisk pace. It took about 45 minutes. I felt different afterward, and I don't mean "more tired!" I really hadn't been challenging myself, not even by my own definition of HIIT.

Stretch, a half-hearted attempt at calisthenics, and then a shower. I went to the grocery store and had a sandwich before attempting to shop. The stock boys flirted with me. The butcher flirted with me. A guy in the cereal aisle flirted with me. I must have been glowing, because I never get this much attention at the supermarket. It was kinda creepy.

Tonight I am going to abandon the internet and go into The Room. Garret has been fed, Grady is in his favorite spot in the closet, and I'm not in the mood for The Sims or watching TV. I hope I make something interesting in there. The Room has been calling me for a while.

Garret is home again. This weather isn't doing him any favors -- me either, but I think that my aches and pains are more muscular than skeletal.

Speaking of muscle pain, I've been working on returning to Body-for-LIFE to get back on track. This worked really well for me in the past, and being able to set daily goals for myself has been difficult without it. I have no excuse NOT to pay attention to my health.

So I've been doing the weight training days, and since I tend to skip the cardio days I've made a point of including cardio every time I go to the gym. The hard part about that is the whole "I did cardio with my weights yesterday, so I can skip today." I guess it works, but I'd rather be doing cardio every day.

Then there are the body parts I just don't target at all: hamstrings, calves, and arms. These are covered by compound moves and have a tendency to be troublesome when I do target them. My hamstrings and calves tighten up and often cramp no matter how much potassium or stretching I do, and my arms will totally go G.I. Joe action figure faster than any other part of my body. Nice guns? Damn straight. But it's hard to find blouses and jackets that fit when you're packing that kind of heat. Don't get me started on the shoulders my mother blessed me with... damn Irish genetics.

Actually, it's not so bad. When my bodyfat is in the low 20%'s I don't look built like a brick shithouse. I look strong and superhero-like. It's not confidential - I've got potential. Here's to looking like a superhero again. *clink*

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The vet called back and said our cat was healthy. X-rays were "nonremarkable." He also said it was okay to return him to wet food as his primary diet. ??? We were told a while back that dry food was better for him (dentally and such), but I guess new research says otherwise. I think it's a ploy to get us to sedate our cat more often, but we'll see. Grady IS kinda fat. Maybe reverting to the high-protein diet of wet food will help him out.