workouts

Workouts (or Lack Thereof)

/ erin mount / 7 Comments

Okay friends, it’s time to talk exercise.

I haven’t been doing it.

Here’s the thing: I am tired ALL. THE. TIME. I have been going to bed between 9:30 and 10:00 every night and sleeping until 6:30 or 7:00 every morning, and still I am tired! After I get home from work, it’s all I can do to keep my eyes open, much less workout. It’s really pitiful (just ask my husband!). I have read/heard that the fatigue lessens some when the second trimester hits, and I sure hope so! Still, I have a few more weeks before that happens (I’m 9 weeks along right now), so I need to figure out something. Maybe I need to tell myself I’ll do just 10 minutes of cardio a day. That’s not much, but it’s less than zero. Every night I tell myself, “Tomorrow I’ll work out,” and then tomorrow comes and I’m tired, and it doesn’t happen. Basically, I’m using my fatigue as an excuse not to exercise, and it’s not doing my body (or the baby) any good.

Apparently I need a good kick in the pants, so readers, lay it on me! How do I beat this fatigue?

On Discipline, Goals, and New Endeavors

/ erin mount / 7 Comments

I’ve realized something: I become less disciplined when I don’t blog. The month of April, which has definitely been light on blogging, has not been my best month. I have managed to maintain my weight, but after losing 5 pounds in March, that’s pretty pitiful. I haven’t exercised much, and I don’t even know exactly how much because I’ve slacked off on tracking my fitness minutes. I opted to skip exercise many days, and even though I’ve still been tracking my calories, they haven’t been good calories on many days. All of this was made easier by my infrequent blog posts. Sad, huh?

I also think part of the problem is that I feel like I am floundering a bit now that I don’t have the goal of running a half marathon staring me in the face. I definitely feel like it was the right decision for me not to run it, and I don’t regret that, but I do miss having a goal like that to focus on. It gave my workouts purpose and direction, and now I’m lacking that, which has made it far too easy to skip them altogether. Ultimately, though, I’m just making excuses, and the truth is I haven’t wanted to lose weight enough this month to actually put in the effort to make weight loss possible. It literally just occurred to me that even though I don’t have the big goal of completing a half marathon, I still have 10 pounds to lose to reach my big goal of losing 100 pounds. Why can’t THAT be enough to give me focus??

Honestly, some days I think I’d be fine staying at the weight that I am. I am happy with how I look in (most) clothes, and I feel more confident than I have in YEARS. But then I see all the extra skin and fatty parts of my body and know that I am not being as good to my body as I need to be. I am not feeding it what it needs or giving it the workouts it deserves, and so even though I may be content with my weight, I am not content with my lifestyle, so something needs to change.

That being said, I am going to jump back on the 30 Day Shred bandwagon! I first tried it back in October of 2008 but then had to quit because it was too rough on my knees. However, I am ready to try again and see what I’ve got. I’m very excited to see if I find it easier than it was for me back then, when I was about 47 pounds heavier. I know it will be challenging, but I am hopeful that all the running I’ve been doing has put me in better shape. The plan is to do the Shred 3 days a week, and I want to be able to do all 3 levels by the end of the summer. I think that’s a very doable goal, and I’m hoping it will help me tone those places that are in desperate need of it! Even better, my husband has agreed to try it with me, so tomorrow morning is our first workout! I can’t wait!

I hope you all are doing wonderfully and are doing your best to make your goals happen, even I’m not the same! 🙂

Picture Update and Weekly Workouts

/ erin mount / 10 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve posted progress pics, so here are two:
The first one was taken on the first day of spring, and look! You can see the faint outline of my clavicle! I haven’t seen that in YEARS.
The second one was taken a few weeks ago after the scale dipped below 200 pounds for the time since early college days. I’m wearing clothing bought in the misses’ department, NOT the plus sizes!

In other news, the husband and I are going to be in Illinois visiting his parents from Monday through Thursday, so this week will be a bit different in that I won’t be able to do any strength training. I will have access to a treadmill, though, so week 4 of C25k will commence! I’m excited! Here’s my tentative plan, subject to change:

Monday: C25k and additional walking (40-50 minutes)
Tuesday: Treadmill–hill intervals (30-40 minutes)
Wednesday: C25k and additional walking (40-50 minutes)
Thursday: Treadmill–hill intervals (30-40 minutes)
Friday: C25k and additional walking (40-50 minutes)
Saturday: Possibly a stability ball workout; I will be in Nashville Friday night and part of Saturday, and it will depend on what I have time for, at least 30 minutes.

Total minutes for the week: 210 (low estimate)-260 (high estimate)
Calories burned goal: 2500

This will be a very bland week in terms of workout variety, but the goal is to just be active and watch portions and snacking while with the in-laws! I’m looking forward to seeing them; I’m blessed to have the sweetest in-laws in existence. 🙂 I won’t be blogging again until after next weekend, so I hope you all have a great week!

Weekly Workouts: Mar. 9-Mar. 15

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I took a break from planning workouts last week, but I kind of felt scattered without a plan, so I’m back to it. However, I’ve changed my plan every week I’ve had one, but having something on paper helps me focus and gives me that option.

Monday: 50 minute walk (W2D1 of Couch25K)
Tuesday: Cardio and weights at the gym (50-60 minutes)
Wednesday: W2D2 of Couch25Kand some stability ball work (50 minutes)
Thursday: Cardio and weights at the gym (50-60 minutes)
Friday: W2D3 of Couch25Kand additional walking (50 minutes)
Saturday: Cardio and weights at the gym OR at home, depending on what I feel like (50-60 minutes)
Sunday: Pilates for abs, lower, and upper body (30 minutes)

Total minutes: 330-360 minutes

I had planned not to go over 300 minutes a week, but when looking back at January to determine why I lost twice as much weight as in February, I was burning 3000-3700 calories a week and exercising a minimum of 30 minutes a day, and I want to get back to that range in the hopes of seeing better weight loss this month. We’ll see what happens!