Burn Baby Burn

I need to burn extra 1100 calories a day just to lose 2 pounds a week.  My 45 workouts averages about between 500- 600 calories.  I need to find another 600 to burn.  Any ideas?

A sometimes reward.

Good thing we don't live a few blocks away from Mojo Monkeys anymore.  It would than be a all the time treat.

Feeling Geared up and ready to go.

Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts

I have been making an effort to make it to the Gym 5 days a week.  It has been hard, but I am starting to see the results again.  Even with my weight loss being slower, I am starting to see the changes in my body.  I am starting to have less of my stomach hanging over my belt. My arms are getting stronger. I did 40 push ups yesterday.  Still working on endurance. I am having a tough time getting through a mile on the treadmill at a fast pace.  I think it is the treadmill.  I think once it has thawed, I am going to have to try doing it outside.  

I have not been doing a lot with the free weights lately. I have been using kettle bells with my new trainer.  I am hoping to get started again. I need to master a dead lift and get over my fear of getting injured on the leg press again.  I need to come up with a plan that will add variety to my workout.  I can't believe I am typing this.  I miss Alex's boxing class.  

BEFORE AND AFTERS

Life is a process--just one thing after another. When you lose it, just start again

I was able to measure my Metabolic rate using the Body Gem shown above.  This is my 2nd time doing this. I think it is a great way to figure out where you are at .  It has really helped me jump start my workout. It has given me some hard numbers on how many calories I need to burn  each day. These are calories over and above what I burn just doing life. It also gives me the number of calories I should be eating.  It has helped keep me on track.  

It has been a long time since I have been able to say this.  My body was sore from a good workout. It's good to say it is sore from doing something.  Instead of just being sore for no reason. Lots of working out using my body weight. (I have a lot of body weight to use.) I have decided push-ups are my new hated exercise,  I will take a squat any day over a push up.  

I am rotating between a kettle bell, Body weight and a machine workout.  The Kettle bells and Body weight workouts are kicking my butt.  For both of these I have 20 minutes to get through as many sets of my exercises.  There are at least 5 different exercises with 10 to 25 reps each.  This is after doing some Cardio. Making working out on the machines feel like a break.  

27 Rules of Conquering the Gym

I found some of these very funny and very true.  

1) A gym is not designed to make you feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.

2) Give yourself a goal. Maybe you want to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you want to quarterback the New York Jets into the playoffs. But be warned: Losing 10 pounds is hard.

3) Develop a gym routine. Try to go at least three times a week. Do a mix of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning. After the third week, stop carrying around that satchel of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

4) No one in the history of gyms has ever lost a pound while reading “The New Yorker” and slowly pedaling a recumbent bicycle. No one.5) Bring your iPod. Don’t borrow the disgusting gym headphones, or use the sad plastic radio attachment on the treadmill, which always sounds like it’s playing Kenny Loggins from a sewer.

6) Don’t fall for gimmicks. The only tried-and-true method to lose 10 pounds in 48 hours is food poisoning.

7) Yes, every gym has an overenthusiastic spinning instructor who hasn’t bought a record since “Walking on Sunshine.”

8) There’s also the Strange Guy Who is Always at the Gym. Just when you think he isn’t here today…there he is, lurking by the barbells.

9) “Great job!” is trainer-speak for “It’s not polite for me to laugh at you.”

10) Beware a hip gym with a Wilco step class.

11) Gyms have two types of members: Members who wipe down the machines after using them, and the worst people in the universe.

12) Nope, that’s not a “recovery energy bar with antioxidant dark chocolate.” That’s a chocolate bar.

13) Avoid Unsolicited Advice Guy, who, for the small fee of boring you to death, will explain the proper method for any exercise in 45 minutes or longer.

14) You can take 10 Minute Abs, 20 Minute Abs, and 30 Minute Abs. There is also Stop Eating Pizza and Eating Sheet Cake Abs—but that’s super tough!

15) If you’re motivated to buy an expensive home exercise machine, consider a “wooden coat rack.” It costs $40, uses no electricity and does the exact same thing.

16) There’s the yoga instructor everyone loves, and the yoga instructor everyone hates. Memorize who they are.

17) If you see an indoor rock climbing wall, you’re either in a really cool gym or a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson.

18) Be cautious about any class with the words “sunrise,” “hell,” or “Moby.”

19) If a gym class is going to be effective, it’s hard. If you’re relaxed and enjoying yourself, you’re at brunch.

20) If you need to bring your children, just let them loose in the silent meditation class. Nobody minds, and kids love candles.

21) Don’t buy $150 sneakers, $100 yoga pants, and $4 water. Muscle shirts are for people with muscles, and rhythm guitarists.

22) Fancy gyms can be seductive, but once you get past the modern couches and fresh flowers and the water with lemon slices, you’re basically paying for a boutique hotel with B.O.

23) Everyone sees you secretly racing the old people in the pool.

24) If you’re at the point where you’ve bought biking shoes for the spinning class, you may as well go ahead and buy an actual bike. It’s way more fun and it doesn’t make you listen to C+C Music Factory.

25) Fact: Thinking about going to the gym burns between 0 and 0 calories.

26) A successful gym membership is like a marriage: If it’s good, you show up committed and ready for hard work. If it’s not good, you show up in sweatpants and watch a lot of bad TV

27) There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.

Too Sick to Workout

So here I go again.  Another cold.  I swear it has been  a winter of having a cold every 3 weeks.  
It will now be 3 weeks since I have been able to meet with my trainer.  I hope I can make it to the gym soon. 

I found the below article helpful.  Its from All Canadian Fitness


In the middle of cold and flu season, I get tons of people asking me if they should bother working out when they’re sick, or if they should put their exercise on hold until they are completely symptom free.

Number one… listen to your body.  If you feel like you’re ready to die, stay in bed, rest, drink fluids etc…   You’ve got to really tune into how you feel and, ultimately, you make the call.

On the other hand, sometimes a bit of activity will help to make you feel better.  If you do choose to exercise, the intensity level and the duration of your workout should be taken down a notch.

Unless you are Michael Jordan trying to win the NBA Championship while sick with the flu… slow down a bit.

Another way to decide whether to train or not is the location of your symptoms.  If you’re sick “above the neck” (sore throat, mild headache, stuffy nose), as long as you aren’t “dying”, a bit of mild exercise might make you feel better.  You probably won’t make things worse.  Just keep in mind that your recovery ability is compromised, so don’t push too hard.

If your symptoms are “below the neck” (chest congestion, stomach ache, diarrhea etc…), do NOT work out.  These are signals from your body to take a break.  Chances are that doing a workout will slow recovery and make you more sick.  The “tincture of time” is what is needed here.  Treat your symptoms, rest and let your body heal itself.

If you have a fever, do NOT workout.  An elevated temperature is already putting you at risk for dehydration.  It simply doesn’t make any sense to push yourself in this state.

So, I guess the best advice is to err on the side of good judgement.  Don’t wimp out every time you have a tickle in your throat, but, don’t try to be a hero when you can barely stand without the room spinning.

Unless you are Michael Jordan and it’s game 7.

Small Achievements can mean big Victories

                What do you do with the fat hanging out? 

                      Check out at http://www.theflatteringman.com/                

I thought the above ad was funny. 

 We all wish it was that easy.

                                 I Hate Push Ups

I know to some of you are not going to be impressive.  For me this was a big deal.  Push ups are new to my workout routine.  Today I was able to do 2 sets of 10 push-ups.  I can hear some of you right now saying "big deal, it only 20 push ups!".  Well let me tell you.  Last week, I could only do 10 push-ups.  I have doubled the number of push up I can do.

This was after doing kettle bell swings, kettlebell presses and kettlebell squats.  Not bad for a guy who's idea of a push up was the kind you eat.  

Just when you think you can't you do. 

                          It doesn't matter what you've heard                                                         Impossible is not a word                                                                           It just a reason                                                                             For someone not to try