Would you like a second helping of humble pie? Up-Fit #8

So, again, I couldn't get up super early this morning but I did do the first day of couch to 5k this afternoon because it was a nice day today.

Or I should say, I attempted the first day... I got 80% done, quit and walked back home. Holy crap, I really am out of shape. I really thought all the walking at work would have helped. Perhaps its because I run on the front of my foot and walk heel first? But, whatever... the first day is prolly the worst. I'll just keep at it. I just hope it's enough to get into shape by the time the Halloween runs rolls around.

But I'm definitely going to do all the workouts in the morning, especially the running. No sunscreen, no hat, able to see my phone's stopwatch feature more easily without the sunglasses, it's cooler out.

Well, off to bed.

Addendum: Apparently I did the intervals backwards and in the harder ratio. I did 60 seconds of walking and 90 seconds of running... no wonder I felt it was hard. Well, that makes Thursday's round much more bearable... Sheesh...

Up-Fit # 7: Humbled Week 5

I knew I should have taken the 3rd exhaustion test on Saturday... I'm not quite able to do Week 5 of the Challenge. The first set is 30 and I managed 24.... and it pretty much went downhill form there... I've managed 70% of each of the rest of the sets. Except the last one, that's another 30!

Also I just noticed that the second and third day they add 3 more sets, but drop the number of push-ups on each set (except the last one)

I'm gonna go back to the week 4 routine on Wednesday and finish out the week that way. Then I'll do an exhaustion test of Saturday.

I've also been trying to get up in the morning to work out instead of in the afternoon... mainly so it doesn't screw with my sleep anymore and to also wake my ass up. 4am is really damn early.

I was going to also start the couch to 5k program last week but I was too tired. I'm gonna start tomorrow morning. I wanna get going on the running because a friend of a friend told me about a costume Halloween run in October. It's about 3 miles so I should be able to do it if I get started on the running now. Besides, it should help me get in better shape.

Week 4 complete Up-Fit #6

I've completed week 4 of the push-up challenge!

Also, I increased the arm curl weight to 20 and did 5 sets 10, 9, 8, 6 and maxed-out.

And I been more consistent with the crunches doing 4 sets of 15.

I was going to start the Couch to 5k this Tuesday but I couldn't get up early enough all week (4am is ass-early). It's too hot in the day after work to do the running. Besides, my ankle was hurting more this week than in a long time.

I've also haven't been walking as much at work... Just twice at lunch and three times on 1st break. I'll have to redouble my efforts there.

I've been talking with Doni about my ankle and running because she did has the same exact break in her right ankle. Sounds like the screws bother people when they try running. I'll give it a go and see how my physiology holds up to it.

I've gotta keep up on making my lunches and dinners so I can manage to calories. And the drinking too... I still want to lose 15 pounds around the gut. Fitting 32's again would be a nice end result of all this effort.

Financial Improvements

I was bored at work a few days back, playing around with money calculations and budgeting, when I decided to search online for what the best rates in savings accounts are.

I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for awhile now: since I pay my insurance 6 months at a time and in cash (check), why not save monthly for the time after the current 6 months, make a little interest and not have to worry so much about making sure I have the cushion in my checking account when that 6 month deadline rolls around?

So, I set up a goal savings account (well, two actually. The second one is for the trip to Vegas) with SmaryPig. At 3.9% yield, they're the second-highest yielding savings account out there. Plus, you only need to open the account with $25 to get that yield and just like every web 2.0 thingie you can social network bookmark the thing so others can put money into the account (like, joining up with family to but someone a big birthday present). There are some restrictions, like you have to take all the money out of the account when you reach the goal you first put into the account's profile, I'm not sure how easy it is to cancel the account early, if there is any penalties and I've heard that when people put funds in for you they get charged a fee but overall it's an interesting and compatible way to save for a specific goal.

One thing I noticed also is that WaMu has 3.75% rates and is probably more flexible (opening minimum is only a buck). I think in the future I'll tailor my accounts to take advantage of that... TCF is convenient but lame in the interest department.

Holy Stretch Marks Batman! (fitness update#5)

I've completed week 3 of the 100 Push-up Challenge!

I decided to make the bicep curls match up with the reps and sets of whatever week of push-ups I'm doing. I'm noticing a size increase in each arm. Now I wished I took some 'before' pictures or took some measurements to see how much everything is improving. Oh, well... I can SEE the results and I'm very pleased with myself.

I was flexing in the mirror (ooph, how vain I am!) and I noticed stretch marks on each biceps. Hold\y crap! I've heard of that happening but I never realised it would happen to myself... Two on the right one and one on the left one, each one about an inch long. Crazy...

Also, I figured out a slightly better position to stop the clicking that I was hearing in my right shoulder on the upward press... but I'm gonna have to keep my eye on it because now my left wrist is a bit sore.

Hooray for progress!

Fitness Update #4

Week 3 of the 100 Push-up Challenge is really kicking my ass.

3 things are probably conspiring against me. Maybe 4 things.

1: The starting amount and the total push-ups done in week 3 compared to week 2 have increased by 50%.

2: I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should, 5-7 hours instead of the standard 8. Also, I drank on two of those nights so I didn't get good sleep. It's been a busy week so I've also been doing the push ups later in the night and that's probably why I keep waking up on those nights.

3: I've increased the time, from 20 minutes to about 40 minutes, that I've been walking on breaks. I also did a 4 mile walk on Tuesday that also kicked my ass. The ankle (facebook profile required) is doing fine though. In addition to walking, I've added bicep curls and crunches to the mix and perhaps that's taking it's toll on my recovery between push-up secessions

4: All of my focus has been on tracking my diet (not making changes per se, just tracking), making sure I'm walking and doing the push-up challenge... I'm feeling a bit ragged.

I haven't cut back on drinking, I still drink regular pop once a day, and not everything I've been eating is healthy (McDonald's for dinner tonight). I have to keep reminding myself that I've made good progress, and yes there's more progress to be made, but some progress is better than none.

So, I'm going to stop tracking my calories in/calories out for a week. I've been guessing too much on the calorie content of alot of meals and snacks because I'm having a hard time figuring out how much is a serving. I'm going to stick with eating when I'm hungry and eating light on break and lunch. Drinking the water all the time has helped and is still helping because half the time you feel hungry you're really more thirsty.

I'm going to repeat week 3 because I struggled so much. The first day I couldn't do the minimum on the last set, the second day I couldn't finish the last 2 sets by 2 push ups each, and today I couldn't complete the sets, save one:
20, did 19
15, did 13
15, did 10
12, did 12!
do at least 16, did 10

That's 64 push-ups total... that's 3 times the push-ups I was doing in week one. Progress, gotta keep telling myself this, progress.

Healthy Eating and Calorie Consumption Update #4

I discovered this site for computating how many calories are burned for different activities. I'll take some of the numbers with a grain of salt, I'm not going to count 'brushing teeth' as a significant calorie-burning activity. However, I think it does have some reliable numbers for 'sitting', 'sleeping' and 'sleeping' It's pretty interesting so go check it out.

Calories Burned Estimator

Fitness Update #3

I accomplished something I haven't done before: 20 push-ups in one go. The most I've ever done before was 17, way back when I worked at the Anoka Food Co-op (now Lake Winds Co-op)

I finished up week two of the 100 push-up challenge with no problems, so I took the second test to see where I need to start off week three and I completed 20 push-ups. 16-20 is the low tier of week three's workout routine but I'm happy with progress. I can actually see the crease that you get on the front of the shoulder muscle. Awesomeness!

I've added bicep curls with 15lbs, three sets of 10. Also, crunches three sets of 10. I'm doing those right after I do the push-ups. Sore all over, but in that good-feels-like-you-did-something way.

I'm off to cook beans and rice.