Sore

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Well, yesterday's back soreness went away, but today I exercised with the same video, & I went through the high-impact routine 6 times rather than the 3 of the video. Whew, my calves are definitely feeling it! It's a happy kind of soreness, though. :-)

Tomorrow night my stepdaughter returns from NJ, where she has spent nearly 2 months living & working with a cousin. That reminds me--I should make sure her bed is made up. It'll be nice to have her back.

Today was a 100% day! That is, I exercised, stayed within my calorie range, ate adequate protein, & will get to bed by 10:45 tonight. I feel really good.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

STEPHANIEDIAN 1/2/2008 8:40PM

Great Job on having a 100% day, those feel good don't they? Report Inappropriate Comment

SHANSHE 1/1/2008 11:22PM

YAY for you! I cannot wait until the pain and soreness I feel goes away by the next day... Report Inappropriate Comment

PJBOKC 1/1/2008 10:39PM

You're off to a great start, Ruth. I'm going to have to get out some my "old" dance tapes - sounds fun. You're obviously working hard if you're sore already. Enjoy your step daughter being home. Happy sleeping! Report Inappropriate Comment

Happy new year!

Monday, December 31, 2007

We had some friends over for dinner tonight, & one of them, my friend C., noticed that I had lost weight & complimented me on how great I look! Wow, that feels good.

They wanted to be at home to actually usher in the new year, so they are gone & we're just spending the rest of the evening quietly. The kitchen's all cleaned up & the dishwasher is running. I'm going to continue reading a novel that's due back to the library soon. My husband & I aren't big partyers.

Our DVD player still isn't working (I haven't found time to take it to the repair place), but the VHS part of it works fine, so this morning I put in an old (late 80s-early 90s I think!) aerobics tape. It's a lot of jumping--high impact, definitely; I used to use it a LOT in the winters, but because it had been so long it taxed me today. In a good way! Later in the day I realized that my lower back was hurting a bit, not in a tension-pain way but the way it used to when I would spend an hour shoveling snow off the LOONNNGGG driveway at our old house. I'm going to sleep really well tonight! (Actually I've been sleeping really soundly every night for quite a while now--I'm so thankful.)

Happy new year to all my SP friends! May we achieve many of our fitness goals in 2008!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

PJBOKC 1/1/2008 10:31PM

Hi Ruth - I have some of those 80's type VHS dance/exercise tapes and would probably have the same result you had if I tried them. I guess we have to consciously modify the impact level. Hope your back is better today. Sounds like you had a relaxing evening. I'm really excited about our refreshed journey. Report Inappropriate Comment

SHANSHE 1/1/2008 11:46AM

Sounds like you had a really nice relaxing evening for New Year's! You mentioning that tape, reminds me, I need to find the very first richard simmons "Sweatin' to the Oldies" video, and see how much of it I can do. I loved doing it at 16, but that has been a while and quite a few pounds ago! Glad to hear you are sleeping well. Report Inappropriate Comment

2008 Resolutions

Sunday, December 30, 2007

I had a wonderful evening yesterday working through my hopes/resolutions for 2008 & blogging about them on 43Things.com (a goal-focused website that I absolutely love). Here are the fitness-related resolutions that I have come up with for 2008:

1. lose 4 pounds
My new target date is January 31, 2008. After that I will have a new goal, to lose 3 pounds by a specified date (probably February 28, but we'll see). That will put me at my final target weight; my BMI will be 20.4. And once that’s checked off, my next goal will be to maintain that weight for three months.

2. find ways to bring my daily protein up to 60+ grams
I have blogged about my struggle with protein here. I'm going to focus hard on it--am eager to see if eating more protein will strengthen my nails & keep them from splitting.

3. exercise (beyond my regular walking) at least 4x/week
Really I'm trying for 6 times a week (4 cardio, 2 strength training), but since I do a chunk of walking every weekday during my commute, 2 days of more intense cardio & 2 of strength training would be a good minimum.

4. get to bed by 10:45 p.m. Sunday through Thursday
This is an integral part of fitness for me, since my only good time for exercise is early morning. Plus I feel much better about life when I've had enough sleep!

5. learn to dance salsa
I've had this on my 43Things list for a long time. Now with my Latin dance-focused cardio work this winter, I have hope that I'll soon be comfortable with salsa moves!

6. try out the two contra dance groups that meet near me & decide whether I want to join one & dance regularly
It's harder to get motivated to make this evening jaunt now that it's winter--but I LOVE this kind of dancing & I know once I get there & start dancing I'll be SO happy to have done it.

7. reward myself regularly & consciously when I'm working consistently toward my fitness goals
I've blogged about rewards & brainstormed some daily, weekly, & goal-completion possibilities. Every time I have a 100% day--staying within my calorie range & doing some good exercise--I want to remember to take a few minutes to reward myself. I've never done this deliberately, but now's the time to try it! Last night it was just sitting down by my husband on the sofa, each of us reading our book, for a little while before I went to bed. Simple but satisfying.

I look forward to reading about my SP friends' resolutions too--hope you all post some!

(P.S. Another of those "Christmas pounds" was off when I weighed myself this morning--what a relief! The last one should come off this week, & maybe a "regular" pound too. Something that I'm really enjoying about being slimmer: even when I wear my new long underwear on cold days, my slacks & jeans aren't tight!)

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

STEPHANIEDIAN 1/1/2008 12:49PM

You've made some great goals! Thank you for sharing! Report Inappropriate Comment

SHANSHE 12/30/2007 10:19PM

Your resolutions are wonderful! I know you will meet them! Shannon Report Inappropriate Comment

PJBOKC 12/30/2007 9:26PM

Way to go - your resolutions are so good!!! You should definitely give your self 5 extra points for this blog as it serves to guide us all in this process. Thank you for sharing. Report Inappropriate Comment

Choosing another team

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Blogging extra today to process the issue of teams. Enduring Challenge is my main team, since it's small & private & we've been partners here at SP for nearly 3 months now. But I've been looking for another team or two, & today's e-mail featured an article encouraging us to join a team that will help us with our New Year's resolutions. So I started checking out other teams.

I quickly decided on a few criteria:
1. The team has to be active (most recent posts on message boards being yesterday or today).
2. Some of the active leaders & members should be showing good progress on their weight loss. This is an indicator that they are not just chatting socially on the site but working hard on fitness goals.
3. I have to feel some kinship with the topics being discussed & opinions expressed.

I searched for writing, poetry, & creativity oriented groups, but none of them met all these criteria. For now I've settled on Women on a Mission, because it's very active & focused.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

PJBOKC 12/30/2007 1:03AM

Ruth - you're always so focused and on the point. What great criteria for choosing a team! I "shopped around" when the Chicks became less active - think I told you about that. I joined a lot of teams, but I didn't feel connected with most. I looked at the WOAM team just now after reading your blog. I'm going to check it out more, and may join you there also. I'm a goal oriented person, and really want some structure to get me there. I'm going to catch up on some blog comments in the next couple of days while I'm off work, and plan to get some specifics tied down for my 2008 resolutions. AND I have some good news to report on my Christmas weight gain. Talk to you later! Report Inappropriate Comment

SHANSHE 12/29/2007 2:11PM

Hey! Good criteria! I may use that to decide as well, I also got an e-mail inviting me to a team... I joined to check it out, but not sure I will stay... Report Inappropriate Comment

Christmas pounds

Saturday, December 29, 2007

The 4 pounds that I suddenly gained earlier this week are dropping off, though not as quickly as I'd like. Today I'm up just 2 from the weight I had managed to maintain since early December. Hopefully with good exercise & proper eating over these next few days at home, the remainder will make an expeditious but graceful departure.