ChristyLA's Journal

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22 July 2014

Two strength training days in a row so far. Yesterday, I did 22 min of abs exercises, and today was 21 min of legs and glutes exercises, plus stretching for 6-8 min both days. Happy to be stretching again. The strength workouts make me feel like stretching afterwards, as a way to soothe my muscles. I haven't been as sore as weeks ago when I first resumed weightlifting. My muscles are used to it now.

I've been doing these strength training workouts at home, sometimes using dumbbells. Lately, I've been picking exercises off BodyBuilding.com to try some different exercises. Thanks for mentioning this website, CR.

Because of the new selection of exercises to choose from, I've been motivated to work different parts of my body on different days, so I've been able to do these workouts back-to-back. I'm really enjoying these short workouts that I create.

For a while, I was mostly walking, with some running added in just last week. I really got into running again, doing short sprint intervals during my power-walks. I was only running on the declines though, since running is difficult for me. In fact, power-walking a 14-15 min mile is a great workout for me, so I have some room to improve with the running.

I would like to get back into running again. I ran last summer and completed a 5K training program. However, running 3 miles was a drag for me, because I had to run so slow to be able to run the entire distance without my heart rate monitor beeping at me. So, after running 3 miles about 3 times, I was sick of running and went a year without doing any.

Well, last week, after getting my power-walking speed up and beating my best record, I felt like running on the downhills, because of my momentum from walking so fast. Downhill running is fun, so I plan to continue that. But anyway, I just wanted to say that I hope I get interested in walking/running again and do it sometime this week.

What workouts have you been doing?

(4 comments)

19 July 2014

I'm a little bummed about this 2.6 lb gain. I'm back to where I was 3 weeks ago. It doesn't make sense, since I'm eating the same as I did the last 3 weeks. The body is a funny thing. The only thing I did differently was 2 weightlifting workouts this week instead of 1 and I added running to my walks. My muscles are sore as we speak, so it could be water retention or muscle weight. Ahh, the weight loss was good while it lasted. Back to gaining, lol. I'll take more muscle over a lower weight any day.

Happy weekend, all. Stay true to your goals.

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
78.8 kg	19.1 kg	6.3 kg	Reasonably Well

(24 comments) Gaining 1.2 kg a Week

12 July 2014

Woohoo! Another loss! I'm only trying to maintain and build muscle, which I thought meant weight gain, but I'm going in the opposite direction! What a pleasant surprise :) Almost lost a pound this week. And I can feel myself growing muscle, if that's even possible. I feel toner.

I haven't measured myself. I actually haven't measured in a month, but I weigh a little more than I was back then, so I doubt there's much of a change (if any). But I could still do it. Maybe next month. I'm in no rush.

My workouts alone are motivating me. Really enjoying the power-walking and weightlifting. Did one weightlifting workout this week, which is great, since my goal is to do at least one a week. Walked the rest of the days (4/5). So I've been consistent with my workouts, and just trying to stay under my RDI, which I did 5/7 days, so that's pretty good. The 2 days I went over, it was only by 100-200 calories, which might actually be good for my metabolism. But I have a goal in mind and I try to reach it every day.

I'm psyched to be losing weight. Would be nice to get back to the 160s. But no promises, lol. I love you guys. Thanks for your support. Keep on keeping on.

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
77.7 kg	20.3 kg	5.1 kg	Reasonably Well

(6 comments) Losing 0.4 kg a Week

05 July 2014

I'm shocked by this weight loss and ecstatic at the same time. First of all, I thought I was going to gain, because my muscles are sore all over from the weightlifting/strength training workout that I did yesterday (which was awesome, by the way, but more on that later). I thought my muscles were retaining water and I would be heavier, but I was wrong - at least about the weight gain.

This next part is for women only.

I think the weight loss could be due to going off my birth control. Have any of you experienced this? I read that BC can cause weight gain - like practically every type of medication out there - so I'm thinking I lost some - water? - weight because I went off of it. Plus, my time of the month ended this week - yay. So those two things might have been in my favor during this weigh-in.

Okay men, you can continue from here :)

Regardless of the reason for my weight loss, I'm really happy about it. Plus, some of it could be because of my doing, since I've been working out regularly again. I lost 0.2 lbs at my last weigh-in and 1.6 at this one (I had been gaining prior). I'm really happy to see these losses, especially since I'm not trying to lose weight, but actually, trying to gain muscle, which can mean gaining weight. I'm happy to be going in the direction I'd prefer to go in, but I'm also fine with gaining muscle weight. I just don't want to gain fat, but I don't think that will happen, nor has happened.

Back to the workout that I mentioned earlier. I hadn't weightlifted in a couple of weeks at least, just because I was having so much fun walking and began power-walking again, which has been great. Well, yesterday it was raining all day, so I couldn't exactly go for a walk - at least, I didn't want to go for one in the rain (I melt). So I was really disappointed that I couldn't go for a walk and went out to get a couple of things at the grocery store, because I really felt like going out. Came back home and went on the computer for an hour, when I felt a desire to do a weight training workout. Since I hadn't had this desire in weeks, I jumped on it. (I always jump on the opportunity to exercise when I feel like doing it.)

I was in the mood to do my own workout - meaning, one I made up myself, no DVD. I worked my entire body - arms, shoulders, chest, back, legs, and abs - for 23 min. I lifted 10-20 lbs, depending on the exercise. It was awesome and I enjoyed every minute of it. When I was fatigued, I stopped. My legs were wobbly afterwards :) I guess it was fun because I hadn't done this type of workout in months - I had been doing DVDs instead. So variety of workouts works!

I plan on resting my muscles to let them recover over the weekend and possibly next week (at least until the middle to end of the week). I like to rest my muscles until I have no soreness in them, in order to get the most muscle gain from the workout (I believe muscles aren't healed completely if they're still sore). There are other workouts that I can do during that time. Supposed to get more rain next week, so I will probably do another strength training workout next week.

How have your workouts been going? If you are dreading them, I suggest doing a different workout than you usually do or reducing the intensity of your workout (like someone here mentioned, we get discouraged if the workout is too hard for us to do). What counts is that you do a workout, not how intense or long the workout is. If you're not working out because you're not motivated to, tell yourself you're just going to workout for 10 min. Then do whatever you think you can do for those 10 min. I guarantee you'll either workout for longer or you'll be motivated to do a workout the next day, or both. And don't forget to promise yourself (at the end of the workout) that you'll do it again tomorrow. That is how you get back into a workout routine, and it works! I used to have major problems with not having the motivation to exercise, and if I don't feel like doing something, I usually don't do it, so I'm speaking from experience. What counts is that you workout regularly - to preserve your muscle mass, because "if you don't use it, you lose it." If we don't work our muscles regularly, we lose muscle, and that's how we gain weight/fat. Being strong is admirable and makes you feel good about yourself. So promise yourself right now that you'll do a 5 or 10 min workout today. Better yet, do it right now.

Have a good weekend. I'll be watching fireworks tonight and can't wait. I haven't gone to see fireworks in years - I usually just stay home - so I'm looking forward to it. Another thing I'll be doing is staying on track. I promise myself that I will do this every day. If I don't eat perfectly, I say, "Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow," rather than being hard on myself. All we can do is "do our best and forget the rest." Don't blow your diet for messing up one day or one meal. Recommit with every food choice you make. After all, this is supposed to be a lifestyle, and why give up on yourself? Do what you encourage others to do and talk to yourself how you talk to others. Be your own best friend. You have to live with yourself for the rest of your life, so you might as well be a friend to yourself. Treat yourself good and with respect. Don't trash your body with unhealthy foods. Exercise or be active every day, because your body is meant to move! Above all, don't give up. Even if you gain back all of the weight that you lost, don't lose hope. Get back on the wagon when you're ready and recommit to trying again. You can do this!

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
78.0 kg	20.0 kg	5.4 kg	Reasonably Well

(21 comments) Losing 0.7 kg a Week

28 June 2014

Well, I'm surprised that I lost weight this week, since I've been gaining weight (muscle) from working out. I worked out 4 days this week - all walking. 2 of the days I power-walked at a pace of a 15 min mile. I really enjoyed those walks. They are a great way to relieve mental stress from my desk job. My hamstrings have been sore the last 3 days, which is why I took yesterday off. Due to the weight loss, I may have lost some fat, along with the muscle gain! I'm going to keep up the power-walking. I don't feel motivated to do weightlifting DVDs at home. I just feel like walking, probably because the weather is so nice. I'm going to go with it and do what I feel like doing, as long as I do a workout every weekday. Besides working out every weekday, my goal for this week is to stay under my RDI. I did fairly well with that last week, but not every day. It seems that 2000 calories is good for me for maintenance. I'm just really ecstatic about not gaining this week! I hope you have a great weekend :)

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
78.7 kg	19.2 kg	6.2 kg	Reasonably Well

(9 comments) Losing 0.1 kg a Week

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