DIETING AND EXERCISE

This is not gonna be one of my more entertaining posts....and what a great way to start a new post, right? I'm trying to drop a few pounds, 15 to be exact. It's not exactly an insurmountable task, not terribly daunting as a goal.

I've heard people boast that they lost 10 lbs in a week doing "such and such" diet. Of course, they always gain it back immediately after the diet because those kinds of experiments only shed water and muscle, not actual fat. I learned recently that a pound of fat is 3,500 calories. So basically if you shed 500 calories a day from your diet, you will lose 1 lb of fat per week.

Now I'm pretty sure that in the last two months that I've been applying myself, I have done this. I think I've consistently knocked off 500 calories out of my diet. It's not that hard. One less portion of this...3 less bites of that, "no, I really don't need a candy bar right now", no soda etc. It all adds up and will make a difference on the calorie counter.

Problem is, I'm really not seeing too much of a result in the ole mid section. I was never truly "fat", but I'm not svelt either right now. Luckily I have fairly large muscles generally so I "wear it well" you might say. However, I'm not seeing the progress and results that I had hope to after consistent exercise and calorie-counting. My stomach is flatter, to be sure. My abs are starting to show a bit finally and every once in a while depending on the angle (and lighting), I'll catch a new glimpse of definition in my shoulders and arms. So it's happening. But it is happening SLOWLY.

They say 1 lb a week is about where you want to be in terms of true weight loss. Absolutely no more than 2 lbs a week to stay on the safe side. Got a ways to go. But recently I snagged a 3 day guest pass to a really nice fitness facility through a friend who took me in to a class they have there called "whipped". Now I've consistently been doing 30 minutes of fairly rigorous elliptical, followed by weight training of a speedy pace (so that my heart rate stays up). Seems like a good regiment, right? Well....

This WHIPPED class really put things in perspective for me. It's a circuit training class, 45 minutes of station to station calisthenic exercise, with hardly any break. In short, I was cramping up during the warm up. It was so intense and rigorous, it made me depressed at the attempts I've made thus far to "get in a good workout". 45 minutes non-stop cardio, core, and calisthenics....all driven by motivation not to appear like your giving up in front of the other class members.

My upper torso got through it okay. One thing I don't work however, is legs. Well, I did in this class. My ass muscles and quads were ridiculous the next day. I dropped a fork and it took me 34 minutes to pick it up, coupled with all sorts of old-man sighs along the way. My gym sucks, they offer no classes, so unfortunately for me I'm gonna have to go back to my regiment and just make sure that I'm pushing myself and getting the most out of what I can do there. But it really made me realize how much actual work needs to be done just to burn a measily 400 calories. The class probably burned 800 in the 45 minute time frame, which is a STELLAR workout for how long you're in there.

So the lesson learned here is......however hard you think you're working, you're probably not doing as much as you think.

And now the great debate for me when I get off work is this.......nap, or gym? A decision I have to make on 4 hours sleep last night.