Monday Workout

I had a good session last night. My trainer had me work out on some new machines and I did variations of some exercises he's had me do before. The highlight of my workout last night, though, was that I made it to 20 minutes on the bikes. Actually 22, but don't tell the master trainer. He doesn't want me doing more than 20 minutes of cardio right now. The only reason it got to 22 minutes is because I hit cool down at 19 and that's 3 minutes.

Those 2 extra minutes took me to 4 miles on the bike. Woo-hoo!!

For me, though, the best part is that in terms of sweating, I cooled down quickly. Yes, my t-shirt was drenched in sweat, but I only had to sit in the locker room for a few minutes before I changed and when I left the gym, I wasn't sweating anymore. :)

Last summer, when I was walking a lot playing Ingress, I noticed that I wasn't sweating nearly as much as I used to, even when I was walking all over my city in the middle of the day. I kept equating it to my stamina being improved. :)

Tonight I have Zumba again. Eventually I'll get the steps. For now, just gotta keep moving.

Over Did It

I am so sore and tired today.

I knew I had overdone it last night as I left the gym. I just felt really tired and I was achy.

I felt loss working out without a trainer telling me what to do and how to do it. I used some of the machines he recommended it, but I hadn't used them before so I felt like a dork looking at the little pictures and reading the "instructions."

I did 10 mins on the bike to warm up - and yes, there was totally something wrong with the pedals on the bike I used Thursday night - and ended up doing my workout for about 45-50 minutes. Then I tried to do my usual 14-15 mins on the bike to end my workout, but I couldn't make it past 5 mins.

Just kept thinking, "yup, I over did it!"

When I left the gym, I decided I was going to totally take it easy this weekend and not do Zumba or anything. It popped into my head to maybe go swimming and then I remembered I was supposed to volunteer this morning, but I was just too tired. Still tired. I've mostly just been lying in bed and napping.

That's probably bad, right? I gotta keep moving so I don't tighten up....but I have to rest, too, right? :)

Tomorrow I'll move since I have to do all my errands. 

No Rhythm

Zumba was hard. I just tried to keep moving last night because I couldn't catch on to the steps. I would kind of get them, but had no rhythm whatsoever.

The class was an hour long and I was exhausted when it was over. I was also drenched in sweat. The front AND back of my t-shirt was one big sweat stain. It was almost 9:30 when class let out (the instructor arrived late) and I didn't want to wait another half hour for the bus, so I took a Lyft home and knocked out.

It's funny because on Monday & Wednesday, when I had training, I would come home and I was wide awake. Those days I didn't fall asleep until Midnight (which is bad because I have to get up at 5am). But with Zumba last night, I fell asleep quickly. Just rolled over and I was out.

Today, my legs aren't sore and I can walk up and down the stairs normally, but they do feel tired. Yesterday, too, though, before Zumba class I did 10 mins on a bike and it was so friggin' hard. I think it was partly the bike - the pedals seemed off - but I had to force myself to finish the 10 mins. My legs felt so tired, I was worried about how they would handle Zumba, but I was good.

I think I'll take it easy on my legs today and do more of the chest exercises, or we'll see how I feel....

Originally, I thought I would take a Zumba class this weekend (even though they're so early in the morning!), but I think I'll take F's advice and not overdo it and just take it easy this weekend. On Monday I'll be back with the trainer. Now I just have to decide if I'm up for Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3rd PT Session

I was worried about training last night because my legs were still sore. In the morning, I had mentioned to F that it really hurt to walk down the stairs and he said to focus on the steps and push through the pain; that's what he does when he's sore. So I did and the stairs were more manageable. In fact, I noticed, that as I walked around more, my legs hurt less. They were the worst each time I got up from sitting at my desk.

Still, I was worried, I mean, it was difficult just to sit down on the toilet seat (it's too low in my office).

Of course, yesterday is the day my boss decides to ask me to pull some information for him that I've never had to do and am not completely sure how to do so it took me awhile and I ended up leaving slightly later than I intended. At my second session, the trainer said I should do at least 10 mins on a bike or elliptical before our training session as a warm-up, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to change and get in at least 10 mins.

I ended up doing 6 mins and the good thing was that as soon as I started pedaling, my legs felt fine. No soreness or pain. :)

For my workout this time, he had me different exercises and I used 2 new machines. The lunges did hurt, though, but I just pushed through the pain; like F suggested. When our time was up, I mentioned that the master trainer said he would tell me what I should do for my next workout since I'm on my own on Friday. I mentioned my legs and he said that if they still hurt on Friday, then not to do many of the leg exercises and focus more on the chest.

But like I said, my legs were fine as we worked out and didn't hurt much. Heck, I practically ran down the stairs to continue my workout on a bike. Yup, that's how good my legs felt. I did another 14 mins (2 1/2 miles) on a bike before going home. I would like to try the elliptical, but as my friend keeps reminding me...baby steps.

After sitting 40 mins on the train, another 20 mins on another train, and 15 mins on the bus, my legs were back to being sore. Inactivity is a killer. :(

They're not so bad today. While I'm not running down the stairs today, I can walk down normally. Uni cancelled on me for Zumba, but I'm still going to go by myself. I'm going to try to make it to the 8pm class at the gym closer to home, instead of the 7pm class by work.

F doesn't want me to overdo it, so he just said to be careful. We'll see how tonight goes and let's hope I can remember all the exercises to do on my own on Friday.

I can't walk down the stairs and I'm actually walking kinda funny.

Truth Comes Out

I would really like to go to sleep now but I need to wait another 30 minutes so I can check my blood. And there it is...the reason why my doctor wants me to lose weight. Yes, I'm diabetic. I have to check my blood glucose twice a day. No more soda, no more chocolate, no more cuppycakes. I have to watch my carbs because carbs really send your blood glucose into overdrive.

I'm on two diabetes meds, one for cholestoral, another for my liver (as a safeguard from the diabetes meds), baby aspirin, Calcium because I'm on the depo provera shot, and a weekly dose of Vitamin D because somehow my Vitamin D levels came back low (I guess I'm spending too much time indoors now.).

I've cut so much out of my diet and added so many greens. I can't eat that much red meat so I treat myself with a double cheeseburger one day a week. Of course, no fries, so I eat it with steamed broccoli & cauliflower; it's not so bad. My meals are pretty boring now. I really need to research fun and easy recipes because I'm getting sick of chicken and salad.

I have to make sure I eat 3 meals a day, including breakfast, because if I don't, my system goes all wonky. I'm always hungry. It's a never-ending pang. I can finish lunch and I will still have an empty feeling in my stomach. I'm starting to feel like it's never going to go away. I had to go to a nutritionist and she recommended certain snacks for in between meals, but I always tend to eat more than the recommended serving and still, the hunger does not go away. Does it ever....?

2nd PT Session

Clearly my trainer on Friday went easy on me. I liked my trainer today because he put me to work. On Friday, the back of the neckline on my t-shirt had some sweat on it, but today, the front and back was drenched and even my shorts had sweat marks on them. Not only did he work me out during our 30 minute session, but without me bringing it up, he asked if I was told to continue my workout after each session. I told him no and that I was actually going to ask about that today. So he told me to do time on a bike, elliptical or treadmill after we're done training; that it's the most effective time. He told me to start out slowly, say do 10 minutes and then work up to 15 and then 20 and so forth.

Today, we started out with five exercises using a different weights. I did 15 reps of each exercise in 3 sets. By the time I was doing the last set of Step Knee Ups, my legs were wobbly. And then he had me do a set of 3 other exercises.

When our session was done, I went downstairs and ended up choosing a bike. Mostly because that side was fairly empty and I thought I could handle 10 minutes on a bike versus an elliptical (mostly because I haven't used an elliptical) and walking on a treadmill, even on an incline as he suggested, seemed boring. (*I reserve the right to change my mind. Hey, this is about pushing myself, right??) I ended up doing almost 15 minutes for 2 miles on the bike. The only reason I stopped is because the seat was getting uncomfortable. It was a good thing I stopped anyway, as my legs were wobbly the second I got off the bike.

I sat in the locker room for a bit, trying to cool down and stop sweating so I wouldn't drench my blouse in sweat. Total failure, but hey, at least it was a light colored shirt so you couldn't tell all that much. :)

I'm totally going to sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow is a rest day, mostly because I have an event. I have another session with this same trainer on Wednesday, on Thursday Uni and I are trying out a Zumba class (which if goes well, I'll be adding to my schedule for Tues & Thurs), and then on Friday I'll do a workout session on my own.

For the weekend, I may try swimming, Zumba or a Yoga class. I used to be so flexible so it would be nice to work on improving it.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed after my session on Friday. I thought, "this is what I'm paying for??" But after today I'm quite happy with my decision. I just worry that I may become annoying. I feel like I need a lot of direction. I don't know what I'm doing and just really need them to tell me what to do, especially for the days I'm working out on my own.

Little Moments

My favorite moments with F are after we've been intimate. That's when our true intimacy happens. Sometimes we lay there in silence, wrapped in each others arms. A time or two we've actually dozed off. Other times we're wrapped in each others arms as we talk about our day, work or whatever comes to mind. These are the times we bond; the times I feel how much I mean to him regardless of how much he tries to keep me at arms distance.

He's very good at keeping me at arms distance. But when we're physically together, his walls come down and his feeling shine through. Too often I get the sense that he doesn't feel like he deserves love. He's very straightforward, blunt; and oftentimes he comes off as an asshole, but we've been together long enough now that I know his intentions. I see when I've gotten through and it scares him so he'll do something to keep a safe distance from me. I know when not to push. I just bask in our time together and let it happen naturally, on his terms. But most importantly, no matter what he does, I continue to love him and make sure he knows that not only does he deserve love, he's earned mine.

First Workout

My first session went well. Nothing too hard. She showed me three machines (I just hope I remember how to use them) and two exercises I can do on my own (without a machine). To be honest, I was expecting more, but I understand there's only so much you can do in 30 minutes. I just thought they'd have me do some other things on my own once our time was up. I have my second session today so we'll see how it goes. Depending on what happens, I'll ask the master trainer about it today. He was with a client on Friday when I was done so I couldn't ask him.

I know that on my "rest days," I can do things on my own like take a zumba or yoga class. I really want to do that. It just sucks that on the weekends, the classes are so early in the morning. :(  I wish they had some classes in the afternoon. I'm hoping that on Tuesdays & Thursdays I can talk a friend into taking some classes after work. ;)

PT

I have my first workout with the trainer tonight. Originally it was set for 6:30pm, which sucked because it's Friday and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I get to go home around 4pm instead of 5:30pm. But 6:30pm was the earliest time after I could get off work. Thankfully, the trainer texted me this morning and asked if I could go in at 6pm. A half hour makes a huge difference so I enthusiastically agreed! :)

We'll see how it goes.