Personal Training NYC -Client H

I really did it. I just finished my lower body workout. I didn’t stick to my official routine, but I still think I did pretty good. Here is what I did today:

• 10 minute Cardio warmup
• Squats; 3 sets - 10 reps - 40#
• Leg Extensions (on bowflex): 3 sets - 10 reps - 60#
• Leg Curls (on bowflex): 3 sets - 10 reps - 60#
• Leg Press (on bowflex): 3 sets - 10 reps - 160#
• Calf Raise (on bowflex): 3 sets - 10 reps - 160#
• Pullover Crunch: 4 sets - 20 reps - 10#
• Reverse Crunch (floor): 2 sets - 20 reps.

Breakfast:

• Scrambled eggs with potato (1 whole egg, 2 egg whites)
• 1 piece toast with butter
• 16 oz 2% milk w/protein
• 1 banana.

I’m still working out, but the enthusiasm I had a few months ago has started to fizzle. I’m not sticking to my schedule as close as I once did. Each week I start fudging near humpday. This week, I worked out Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I was planning on my 4th today, but work called and I’m been totally consumed with other problems. I’ll plan on getting that 4th workout done tomorrow. Naturally, the workout I’m lacking is my lower body. There’s got to be something psychological there. It seems to me that I am more likely to postpone my lowerbody workouts.

My eating stinks! I’m good about eating breakfast on my workout days. But if I’m not working out, I’ve been skipping breakfast. I’m also eating much more fats than I probably should be.

To top off my southward turn, I’m about 2 weeks behind with my workout logs.

I actually thought about coming up with some excuses, but it wouldn’t really matter. The bottom line is.. I’ve been slacking! Slacking on the workouts, slacking on my diet, slacking on my workout logs and slacking on my blogs.

My gosh, I can’t believe how quickly a day.. week goes by! Along with the new year, I have a new program. I’m starting to build muscle instead of toning. That means I get to do heavier weights and <whispers> less cardio.

Of course I have to admit it’s been pretty amazing watching the effects of the cardio. When I first started working out with Terri, my heart rate would hit 160 before 2 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5 mph. Now I’m moving at 3.0 mph and it takes me ten minutes to barely touch 140!! I had never realized there would a noticeable change from the cardio. Guess I was a little naive.

I’ve been pretty steady with my workouts. Although my schedule is a little off this week, I’ll still get in four. My diet could be better. I’m pretty much eating 3 meals a day now, but I keep finding cookies in my hand. Go figure?

I can honestly say I may have the silliest excuse Terri has ever heard for not working out. I woke up this morning with every intention of getting in my 4th day workout. But I woke with a throbbing thumb! I’m pretty sure there is a splinter between my finger and the nail. Something is definitely there! I spent an hour trying to find it. But I gotta tell ya.. poking a needle deep between the finger and nail is a very scary thing. While I was not able to locate the source of my pain and swollen thumb, I poked a couple of holes in it and relieved some pressure.

So.. I ran out of time this morning and missed the workout. The funny thing is that I was actually up and dressed and heading to the kitchen for breakfast when I let my self get side tracked.

Fortunately, I still have another day this week to slip the workout in.

Changing the subject.. Last week my husband and I found a city park with various workout stations sprinkled around the jogging track. Amongst them was a pull-up bar! I’ve been wanting to find out if I could do pull-ups, so this was a great opportunity. Amazingly I was able to do 5 pull-ups!! Of course.. I didn’t do them consecutively. I rested about 45 seconds between each one. But that’s still pretty good. :-)

I wish I could cook! I started looking through old cookbooks given to me through the years, thinking I should be able to pick something out and cook it. It sounds easy enough, right? It’s NOT! Almost every single recipe calls for an ingredients I’ve never heard of.. or it want me to do some type of preparation for which I am clueless. And.. even if I _can_ figure out where to buy the ingredients, how on earth am I supposed to be able to identify fresh or good stuff?

Heck.. when Terri answered my breakfast survey, saying she had clementines for breakfast.. I had no idea she was talking about fruit! I thought it was something she had cooked. After I googled clementines and discovered it was a mini-type orange, I started noticing those little things displayed all over the place in the grocery store. I had never even seen them before. Naturally, I bought some. That night my husband peeled one for me, and it was really good. I’m now proud to say that a few days later I actually… for the first time in my life.. peeled an orange-type fruit myself!!

I tried to make another smoothie. This one was a little better but still way too tart.

<sigh>

I started my new workout programs this week. These are full body workouts, not the upper-lower program I have been doing. I was a bit skeptical at first. Most of the exercises are new to me and I wasn’t too sure they would really give me a good workout. Well, I was wrong. I am completely surprised! It will take me a week or two to get the form down.

I bought a blender yesterday. I want to start making my own smoothies. My first attempt was this morning. I gotta admit, it didn’t work very well. I used regular plain yogurt instead of the low-fat stuff, added some frozen strawberries and a banana.. and a couple of ice cubes. The smoothie turned out a little tart. I’m not sure what to do to make it sweeter. Perhaps I’ll use less yogurt next time.

Well, not much else to say.. the years is about to end and I can say I feel quite satisfied with my achievements this past year. I’m looking forward to this next year.

I worked out this morning after more than a week off. I was actually beginning to worry that I might decide to give it all up. But after a few days of deep thinking and psycho-analyzing myself, I pulled out enough answers to get past the slump.

I now understand why I have been so diligent the last several months. I don’t want to bore you (lol!), but I’ll explain it anyway.. at least the short version.

Last April, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. If you are not familiar with that particular type of cancer, I’ll give it to you in a nutshell… they can’t cure it and they rarely try. It’s terminal.. normally a person diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will be lucky to live past 6 months.

So.. my mom lives across Texas, 400 miles away from me. Throughout the summer I would drive down there weekly, spend a few days, then return home for a few days. My mom had her pancreas completely removed (among other organs), which meant a drastic diet change. She required insulin shots 4 times a day, and could not process fats. She had all sorts of problems keeping her blood sugar level and she never knew what to eat or what to do when it dropped to 40 or zoomed up to 500. She only had my dad to care for her. I was in constant contact with my parents when I wasn’t down there. Every few hours, I’d call and tell her what she could eat (she had to eat every two hours)…

Anyway.. in mid August she died. Two days after I returned home I began morning workouts. Never in my life have I ever worked out in the morning. I was consistent, focused and dedicated to my workouts. Yesterday, I realized I was actually trying to regain control over my life. I used my workout program to process my grief. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time.. but it makes sense now.

So.. now that that motivational source is tapping out, I’ve got to look for something else. I suppose more than anything else I will simply rely on the good feeling I have when I start the day after a good workout. It really is a sense of control (albeit pseudo)

Today I was feeling all guilty and bad because I still have worked out since my “week off”.

Then at our our office Christmas party this afternoon, one of the men I work with asked me how my workouts were going. I lowered my head and sadly told him I’d been slacking. Then I opened my mouth and said “I haven’t worked out in… um.. five days.” Suddenly I realized how silly it sounded. We both started laughing and my spirits were lifted. It’s funny how quick we can let slip into a black hole and lose perspective on all this.