Posts Tagged exercise
NEWS FLASH: Michigan’s Out of Hibernation!
This was the first true spring weekend here in Michigan, and it seems like the whole state was outside.
See, I’m not used to eternal winters. I’m used to four seasons. I grew up on the East Coast (northern N.J.) and went to college/grad school in D.C. In both places, each season is about four months long, and the winters are harsh, but not always terrible; the summers hot, but not always brutal.
Now I live in Michigan, where our first snowfall came in October and we just had our last dusting just two weeks ago — in April. Um, yea. Let me tell you, for as much as I dislike half a year of winter, my Salvadoran husband really doesn’t dig it!)
In our three years of living here, I think it’s safe to say that we have a loooooooooooooooooong winter, a flirt with spring, a hot summer, a rendezvous with fall (bursting colors, quite gorgeous) — and then winter comes … covering the leaves before they’ve all fallen off the trees … And we repeat. (more…)
8 comments April 20, 2009
Feelin’ the Burn & Finding Beauty in the Breakdown
Can we say, precious?!!
Last night, Cristi (my trainer) kicked the hell out of my triceps, chest, back and abs. We did super-sets and I am feeling it today. But I love it. Oooh, I love it.
When I am lifting, I feel strong, lean, in charge. I only think of what my body is capable of when I’m lifting, not what it lacks. I think of the musculature that is developing in time, of the tightening of my figure with each set, each rep. It’s therapeutic in a way. (more…)
12 comments March 3, 2009
Lose Weight While … Sleeping?
This month’s Glamour features a cover story called “Lose Weight While You Sleep.”
The results are pretty surprising and, when looked at holistically, seem to make sense — in that if someone is getting 8 hours of sleep, they are likely not noshing late at night and likely have more energy to exercise and therefore are likely eat better … and so it goes.
I have to say, I’ve been focusing on more sleep lately and I even posted about sleep and exercise a couple weeks ago … but I’ve not seen any results on the scale. But I also haven’t been giving it a conscious thoguht, either.
And though I usually think “diets” like this are a crock, I think the article makes some good points that any of us could benefit from. (more…)
10 comments February 18, 2009
Training Agenda
So I met with the trainer this evening for a brief consultation. She felt awful; she’d been out sick and no one gave her the messages until today … but it’s all good now.
I’m going to go Thursday morning for my body composition and hopefully measurements (I’m hoping she’ll do them then instead of at my first session). Then Monday at 6:30 I’ll have my first of three sessions. We are going to focus on specific muscle groups.
She’ll be giving me a three-day-a-week routine — not done on consecutive days. She says my initial session will be about an hour and fifteen minutes, so we can walk through each of these exercises.
One day each week will be chest, arms, back. Then another day will be legs, glutes and something else … blanking. And the third session each week will be abs, core and legs. (more…)
5 comments February 17, 2009
Crazy Sore, Crazy Good
I have a confession to make: I haven’t lifted in three months.
Yup, you heard me.
Although I know how good for me is, although I know how good lifting makes me feel … I’ve been painfully negligent of this portion of my workout routine.
And it’s showing. On the scale, how my clothes fit, the little bit of chub that has made its appearance on my hips. I don’t have a muffin top yet … but I’ll be on my way if I’m not careful!
The reasoning for my lack of lifting is simple: I know I can sweat out 400-500 calories in my cardio sessions (my Polar F6 heart rate monitor serves as a personal trainer) and then by the time I’m done, I’m spent.
The thought of pumping iron at that point is just “eh” and then I say, “Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow … ” I used to spend 90 min. or more at the gym back in the day, and I just don’t want to go back there, where I was obsessed with gym-time. (more…)
17 comments December 15, 2008
Under the Weather
I rarely get sick, but when I do, it’s usually pretty miserable. So as luck would have it, I spent most of this weekend (chock-full of fun, un-cancellable plans) sick.
I did the best I could and rested as much as possible, drinking plenty of liquids. We still went to dinner Friday night with a friend, and to my husband’s company’s holiday party Saturday night (hell, I even put on a cute dress; jammies had otherwise been my ensemble all weekend).
And the best part? Though I had taken Friday as a rest day (when I started feeling really bad) and had pushed myself at the gym Saturday, I listened to my body and didn’t work out on Sunday.
This might not sound like a big deal, but the old, pre-blogging, pre-therapy Melissa would have definitely worked out, even feeling as crappy as I did (no matter what) especially because she knew she’d be going out to lunch and wanted to have extra wiggle room. (more…)
6 comments December 8, 2008
“Meet Your Body Where It Is”
I thought I’d share this inspirational quote today in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
I found it in Courtney Martin’s book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, which I finished this past weekend and probably will be talking about quite a bit going forward.
The quote was in relation to one young woman suffering with an eating disorder who finally one day snapped (in a good way) and “woke up” during a yoga class when the instructor shared those six small words with such ginormous meaning.
“Meet your body where it is” (more…)
16 comments November 26, 2008
Weather, Mood & Exercise
I don’t know about you, but now that it’s getting darker so much earlier, I’m having trouble adjusting to the time change.
But here’s something exciting: with the usual annual stress brought on by the time change, I think I’ve finally bid “Perfect Girl” mentality.
I used to wake up at 5:15 to the alarm with no trouble. Now I can’t even do it. It’s like I turned 29 (in October) and ever since, haven’t been able to do it.
In fact, I don’t even bother trying; I’m enjoying evening workouts and with my husband in class twice a week or studying, I am finding time each weeknight to go — even when I have my own dinner plans or after-work commitments.
This is a new “me” in so many ways. I’m not beating myself up for my inability (or lack of desire) to wake. This is huge, monumental!
Of course, when it’s cold out, all I want to do is be inside with my husband, the warm fire, a good book and a mug of cocoa. In fact, as I write this, the snow is coming down and it’s icky out. But I know I will hit the gym tonight; it’s in my DNA. Exercise makes me tick. I need it. I crave it.
I worried that with this recent “loosening the reins” mentality that I’d find myself skimping out on exercise, but rather, I am finding ways to work it in rather than building my life around it. (more…)
17 comments November 25, 2008
Wanted: Non-Obsessive Hobbies
I don’t know about you, but most of my hobbies seem to revolve around food or exercise.
I love working out, biking, running, walking, cooking, going out to eat, spending hours in cafés.
The books and magazines I read are food or exercise-related … and this blog I write is, naturally, 100% food and exercise-related.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that these are my hobbies; in moderation, they’re healthy … and it could be much worse. But I also think there’s merit to broadening our horizons.
Not too long ago, a friend voiced her genuine concern that blogging about these things would only feed the obsession even more; she suggested that I try to find a hobby or passion that isn’t related to food and exercise. (more…)
16 comments November 7, 2008
On the Hunt for Moderation, “Information is a Gift”
I told Dr. G. last night about my big “coming out” yesterday.
And while she supports the notion of living authentically and listened intently, she also said something else that surprised me: “Remember, too, that information is a gift.”
She went on to say, “you choose when and how to give it.”
I’ll be honest; it took me a while to get what she was saying.
I’m of the Internet generation, where we’re encouraged to be transparent … even though we all know there’s certain risk involved in that. And being so open fits nicely with my personality. Given my “hardware”, I am the kind of person who wears her heart on her sleeve.
I tend to feel guilty when I am not being wholly transparent, which is why it was such a big deal for me to come clean about my identity on my various social media sites. And I’ve been known to over-share, to my own detriment.
In my mind, not sharing was being dishonest. (more…)
8 comments October 31, 2008
