I will be posting in this format which will allow me to write freely and post it once a week to avoid annoying any readers (my mom, ha!). I would much rather devote the daily energy to working out and and watching what I eat!
During the time leading up to the great big “Sore Weekend,” I was still attempting my daily Fitbit goal of 10k steps a day, which I will regularly reach after walking to and from work and marching in places or pacing around the apartment to finish off the remaining 2k steps or so. If it is a busy walking day where I might clock in 15k steps, I would be sore the next day! So while I was much more active than the previous 5 years, I was still out of shape.
Starting in early November, I slowly incorporated Intermittent Fasting as a part of my “diet” although I feel it would be more apt to describe it as a habit instead. I’ll post a longer entry on it eventually, but the gist is that I follow an 8/16 hour cycle of feeding and fasting. I would eat within an 8 hour window and fast in the remaining 16. It amounts to basically skipping breakfast and having lunch at noon and dinner finished by 8pm. I would adjust the dinner time accordingly depending on when my first meal of the day was. Eating between the lunch and dinner hours are fine too and I do snack as normal. I found that cutting breakfast had removed about 300-400 calories from my diet which was hovering about 1600-1700 calories a day. I was now keeping it about 1200-1300 per day which is recommended for someone who sat around all day as I did.
Day to Day Observations
12/9/16: Today was the day I decided to start my pre-workout and get the sore days over with. After 5 years of inactivity, I knew the first workout will destroy me. Okay, not really destroy, but I will be very sore.
I did not want to give myself the chance to use the soreness as an excuse to give up once I started the workout program. This was a crutch I has used in the past to my detriment. I wanted to be ready and to get over this hump before getting serious.
I began with the Ripped in 30 Level 1 without any weights and modified ALL moves because I had zero strength, agility, or coordination. After I finished, I was so shaky and light headed from all the exertion, but I felt exhilarated!
I was so pleased with myself, but on that day I ate 400 calories more than I should have. I went a little overboard during lunch due to free yummy food (sushi!) at a work event. The video maybe burned 200 calories if I am being generous.
12/10/16: Tonight, I did another late work out. I tried level 2 of Ripped in 30 without weights. It went well enough, but I did not review the video prior to starting and kind of muddled through it all. I did get sweaty from the exertion and was still sore from Friday’s workout. Note to self: always review the videos the night before!
I am weak as heck, but I am looking forward to being able to do all of those moves without any trouble in the future though!
Also, this work out made me realize that I need to get a haircut. I have very thick long hair and it is too heavy for a ponytail that flops around and comes loose, especially when I have to do the plyometrics (jump) type moves. Less hair would mean less weight to carry around and hopefully will be easier to maintain.
12/11/16: This is day 3 of the great “Sore Weekend” and boy, was I sore! DOMS: It’s called delayed onset muscle soreness for a reason!
I originally intended to try Ripped in 30 Level 3, but decided against it as I read that Level 3 of RI30 was particularly hard. I opted to check out Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred instead. 30DS is much more doable for a beginner! I need to work on my push-ups. I do think I can get better at the exercises once I’m about a week into it. I hope!
I am looking forward to not feeling weak all the time.
Unfortunately despite working out, today was not a good food day as I was hanging out at my sister’s house and got heavy handed with the snacks lying around. It’s so much easier during the week when I am following a routine of getting only certain foods at the work cafeteria since I know what to expect. If there’s a wrench in the plans or if I get free food somehow, then out goes any rationality. I need to get better at this.
12/13/16: I wanted to report that I was not as sore yesterday and today it is barely noticeable. It’s kind of nice not to feel sore anymore, but a sort of a bad thing because I like the soreness, or DOMS because it makes me feel alive and not so squishy all the time.
I’ve been ordering a lot of Xmas gifts off Amazon, enough so that I was able to buy the Banish Fat Boost Metabolism and the No More Trouble Zones from the Prime credits when you select slower shipping instead. Super psyched to try them out! Even better was the fact that I got them for free!
Note: Apologies on the backdating. I wanted it to follow some sort of order after the initial post which technically should come after this post, but I needed it to preface what’s to come.
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