Sick Day

I woke up with a headache this morning, so my wife headed to the gym without me. It's the first day of class (I take Arabic at the local college) and if it weren't for that I'd probably sleep most of the day. As it stands, I have to leave the house for class, so I'm going to try to hit the gym after.

It's nice to have something forcing me out even when the rest of me says "don't wanna," because "don't wanna" can be a dangerous phrase for me. I get addicted to doing nothing, and just want to go with the flow, not worrying about getting back to the gym or eating right. I just want to do whatever, not have to watch what I eat or hit the pavement for a while.

I have to be very careful with that to keep it in check.

Running Is On Hold

Ah, the scent of failure wafts gently through the air. Yet again, my body has decided that no matter how much I want to push my boundaries it is holding them firmly in place, never letting me pass.

My left ankle and right knee have started hurting severely. My right knee hurts during the running, and my left ankle hurts for the rest of the day after. Since the only things I'm doing differently as of late are eating less and running, I have to assume the running is putting too much strain on the joints.

I hurt my knee as a teenage while skiing, and it's never been perfect since, so I really don't want to injure it worse.

So instead of focusing on running I've decided that I need to batten down the hatches on my over-eating. I'm sticking to the exchange system, writing everything down again, and cutting those kcals so that I lose weight. Meanwhile, I'm walking on the treadmill for a half hour each day, and maybe doing a few quick-jogs of 1 minute or so when I feel up to it.

I'm not quitting, just trying to get to a point in my weight where I can proceed.

New Steps

After learning that exercise does not equal weight loss, I've decided to go back onto the exchange system. For a while I had hoped that I could work out daily and just continue eating whatever I wanted, but it turns out that this just doesn't work well.

I'm returning to a program that fulfills my basic food needs, keeps me fairly well fed, but means a lot of work for me. Writing down every meal I have, while also figuring out how to measure each particular morsel of food. Three pieces of bacon can be a meat, but if I'm out of meat because of that ham and cheese sandwich earlier, I can add one strip of bacon and call it a fat. It's intricate, but it's the only way I can keep a tight reign on my appetite.

When I don't pay absolute attention to what I'm eating, I tend to eat whatever I want without realizing how much extra I'm stuffing down my gullet. On the exchange system I find that I need to write it all down, subtract those exchanges from my daily total, and go from there. It seems to be the only thing that works for me.

I guess writing on paper can make a good substitute for will-power. It might not be the best way to do it, but it works for me, and that's good enough.

Walking When I Should Be Running

This morning I went to the gym to run. Before going I had a large glass of water and a couple aspirin. The water should have been just a small amount; the second I started jogging I could feel it sloshing around in my stomach, trying to come back out. That was absolutely not cool.

Instead of doing the walk/run program that I was supposed to do, I upped my walking speed a little bit and walked out the rest of the way. I'm tired, though not as tired as I would have been if I had followed my program.

Lesson learned: If I'm drinking water before going to the gym, make it a small.

I'm going to go back this afternoon and try it again.

Running, Pushing, Jogging, Pulling

Mondays I jog. Tuesdays I weight lift. Wednesdays I jog again. Thursdays come the weights. Fridays I finish a week of the Couch to 5K program and look forward to an all new week starting next Monday.

Saturdays, I play.

Maybe I do an earlier week from the Couch to 5K program, but ramp up the speed a bit. Maybe I use different machines and just try to tire myself.

Mostly, I want to play racquetball. It's a fun game, super competitive, and always different. Sure, some people kick my butt, and without them I would never improve.

What's your favorite play time activity?

Exercise /= Weight Loss

Here's an interesting article that says exercise doesn't equal weight loss, and I'm pretty sure it's right.

I've been eating relatively similarly to how I ate before I started my running and weight-lifting program. I've been working hard every day, 5-6 days out of the week, and have barely seen a single pound lost. Hell, according to my Wii Fit, I've seen a gain of two pounds.

Sure, it's probably muscle, I'll buy that, but that's not the point.

Instead of working out every day, I now have to be concerned with what I eat. I'll go back on the Exchange System, and try to stick with it for as long as I can this time. Maybe between the exercise and eating less I'll see an actual decrease in my weight.

Couch to 5k Update

I'm covered in sweat from head to toe. The hot water is warming up for my shower while my wife's morning coffee drips through the filter. My shirt is already in the washer, my shorts will follow as soon as the water's ready for my washing off.

Couch to 5K, day 1, week 4, attempt 2: Successful!

It wasn't easy, but I got through day one. 3 minutes of jogging at 4 mph*, 1 1/2 minutes of walking, then 5 minutes of jogging, followed by 2 1/2 minutes of walking. Repeat. This is the first week of the program where you jog more than you walk and it's definitely difficult.

But I did it. Day 1, week 4, done. The other two should be easier from here because day 1 always seems to be the most difficult.

Excelsior!