Good stuff Ann, yup it’s true-your body uses up a lot of calories repairing itself when you sleep.

Monday, June 16: 7pm Jazzercise class. Worked pretty hard, HR monitor only said 300 calories. I’m always amazed at how low the amount is when other say 500 or so. I feel like I work as hard as anyone except maybe the instructor. I know I’m in better shape than some, but still… it’s interesting.

The sad thing is that if your heart is not beating as heavy(your in good shape) you burn less cals. it sucks!

Tuesday, June 17: 7pm Jazzercise class. I borrowed someone else’s newer, fancier heart rate monitor. I burned 380 calories. Then again, the room was quite a bit warmer and at one point my face was bright pink, so maybe I did work harder. My 99th class of 2008.

Good job Ann you Jazzercizing fiend!

Thursday, June 19: as I’d gone out of town Wednesday, I didn’t get to the gym as usual on Weds night. But I returned to town and since I had the day off work I made it on time for the 5:30pm class and did that and the 7p one, so I’m up to 101. Burned off some of the excess calories I ingested, while eating out on my trip. Didn’t go crazy but ate more than usual.

101 classes. Wow, that’s dedication!

Well, it averages between 3-4 a week. Really on a good week I do five, with Mon-Tue-Thu 7p classes where I also “work” as a customer service person, checking people in, doing the paperwork with new customers, cleaning a little, etc. Saturdays, I try to do two back-to-back whenever I’m in town. It’s the Saturdays when I was out of town that threw me off. Of course, that doesn’t count the Saturday classes I’ve done in Orlando (maybe 2-3 this year) and the half-classes or 15 minutes of the 5:30 classes if I show up early enough. I missed my gym routine on Weds, so tonight I guess I will do a mishmash of upper and lower body, and go back on Sunday.

You are doing so well Anne.  Keep it up!  Consistency is the key and a few blips here and there are not going to affect you in the long run!

Thanks, Catherine. I don’t know why it’s suddenly a struggle to get to the gym lately. Maybe it’s the heat. Or the fact that my intent is to go a bit later, but after getting home and taking my shoes off I don’t feel like going back out. Maybe I need a quiet evening at home once in a while. But I went tonight at 8p, and did a sort of modified evening of mostly upper body. Warmup on treadmill 10 min, lower back extensions, rowing, leg extension and leg curl, chest press, leg adduction/abduction, then free weights—pec flies, tricep overhead, standing delt lifts, pec crossovers, and a few trap lifts to work out my shoulder muscles, and wrist curls. Then only 30 minutes of cardio, 15 on elliptical (did the hill climb setting for the first time, cool) and treadmill for 15. I figured I didn’t want to push too hard as I did double Jz classes last night and will be attempting two in the morning. Had a nice shower, ate a turkey burger, and here I am winding down for sleep.  I wonder whether wearing my Skechers this week has aggravated my heel, which hasn’t been irritated since my first months of exercise. The shoes don’t have much support and are quite flat. I’ve been stretching the back calves and heels out a lot which is helping, and Dr. Goofy actually adjusted my heels tonight when I mentioned my little shoe lesson.

Ever since Britney Spears was the rep for Sketchers I refuse to buy them.  I rarely go just for fashion in my shoes these days.  I am willing to pay a bit more to get quality… but I am still picky about how they look.  You didn’t workout in the Sketchers did you?

Catherine - 20 June 2008 09:54 PM

Ever since Britney Spears was the rep for Sketchers I refuse to buy them.  I rarely go just for fashion in my shoes these days.  I am willing to pay a bit more to get quality… but I am still picky about how they look.  You didn’t workout in the Sketchers did you?

No, I didn’t work out in them. Generally I like the shoes—they have a bit of a webbing in the toe area so they breathe, etc. But I guess I’d need an arch support in them. Funny thing about that pair of shoes—I bought them last summer, as one of my friends had sent me an email with a pic of a cute pair she’d bought. I thought, they looked like they were easier to pack for New York than full sneakers. So I wore them Friday when my friend and I were going to drive and explore the east end of Long Island. Then it rained half the day so we opted for a train to Manhattan instead. We had umbrellas but it was sideways-rain and we were both soaked. The shoes rubbed my ankle and I had to stop and buy some bandaids. Then when I got home I thought I had left one of them in the hotel, along with a black slip. I found both when I cleaned out my closet in April, so I started wearing the Skechers again, but only for little errand trips. These days I’m almost nonstop in my LifeStride ‘Sail’ sandals, which are so comfy. I do seem to have troubles with shoes, with a fairly wide foot and a low arch. I almost exclusively buy Aerosoles, and even a few of them have not suited.

For Jz classes, I wear the Ryka Mary Janes, and for the gym I’ve been wearing a pair of athletic shoes I bought some years ago, but had barely worn till recently, I think Avia. I haven’t had any problems recently with foot pain or blisters. And I always do a calf stretch, which helps the heel, before I work out.

Saturday, June 21: 8am and 9:15am Jazzercise classes. It was warm in the center, even as the A/C kicked in and with the fans on, and I was drenched during the first one, let alone the second. I really felt played out afterwards, and I’d forgotten my wallet so no Starbucks treat on the way home. I took a shower, and in ten minutes I was down for a nap with the towel still around my hair. I woke up some time ago, but still just lay there. Um, it’s after 4pm. Where are those noisy kids playing outside when I need them to wake me up? I have a bit of a caffeine-deprived/overslept headache, nothing serious It’s overcast; I forgot to check the weather, hope tomorrow’s more amenable for a beach walk.  Well, I’m sure my body needed the rest, and I think my spirit did too.

Sunday, June 22: gym night. Since I’d spend part of the afternoon on the beach (less walking than usual, more lying in the ‘haze’ and a little time in the water) and had a more calorie-laden lunch than usual, I really gave myself the necessity of working out to balance things out.

I went to the gym location closer to home, which I’d actually not been to before. It’s much smaller, there are no classes there, and it sort of looks a bit shabbier, but the equipment was just fine and actually the treadmills seemed a little fancier. Though, they all work the same. 12 minute warmup on the treadmill, with a short interval of steep incline walking in there (Big Country’s “Fields of Fire” tracked on, and that fast Celtic stuff always makes me want to walk uphill) so I was pretty strong on the HR. Did squats - set it for 70# as usual, but either that machine is slightly different or I’ve gotten stronger, as 70 felt like not enough for the first set of 15. I upped to 80# and did three more sets two-legged, then one set of 15 on each leg, one-legged with just an opposite toe down for balance, with 40#. It became a struggle. I think 75# would have been ideal, but I made it. Then, lower back extension, which I now do every single time I get to the gym, as I’m convinced it’s made a big difference in my back/hip alignment. Then the rowing weight machine, upped to 60# from my usual 50#, tough at the end. I managed the shoulder lift, which I’d been struggling with when I tried lately, maybe due to soreness. I had to do it at a pretty low weight, not even sure what those top weight intervals were, but I got through it. The chest press machine was being used, so I went for the free weights. Now, this gym has a full rack of smaller, vinyl covered “ladies” dumbbells! I used the nine-pounders, perfect. Pec flies on the bench, tricep overhead extension on the bench, then I stood up and did tricep kickbacks, straight arm delt lifts and lateral arc delt lifts, then some pec cross/standing ab crunches. I went to use an elliptical, but the two which were free didn’t light up when I hit “start” so I went to a treadmill. Was feeling a bit tired, so I thought I’d just do 15 and be done with it. But at about 15 minutes, the music on my iPod started to get good. Another Big Country 80s oldie, “In a Big Country,” tracked on, so I upped the incline to 11% and pushed it. Later, Big Audio Dynamite’s “Situation No Win” gave me the drive to return to the 11% incline AND simultaneously walk and throw jabs, getting my HR up in the 160s, which never happens at a walk. I was dripping sweat. Lasted 40 minutes but it was a pretty intense 40 and I was pleased with it. I’d work out there again. Interestingly, the demographics seemed a bit different. More older folks (read: about my age) and varying shapes and sizes.  It’s a smaller crowd, but people seemed more inclined to openly stare. I presume that was due to being a newbie there, as well as the only woman straying past the cardio.  The staring doesn’t bother me anymore; I just sort of glaze over into self-centeredness and go at it. Kind of fun to look slightly ridiculous doing uppercuts and getting my arms high up in the air to raise my heart rate another 15-20 bpm while walking. I always feel my obliques and shoulders and back get a good workout on the treadmill as well as my legs. And my arms don’t get nearly as fatigued as they used to, when carrying heavy items. Good day. Good couple of days, exercise-wise, really.

Good workouts Ann.  They were probably staring, amazed at how much you were doing.

Ha! That’s a positive spin all right.

Monday, June 23: back to Jazzercise class at 7p. The usual.

Good job Ann!

Tuesday, June 24: 7pm Jazzercise class. Still working on stretching out the soreness and stiffness, but all’s well.

Ann, sore means your doing it right! Good job!

Well, this was a little beyond the usual spot soreness, Shawn, but it does mean I’ve increased the intensity of some basic moves, plus increased some weights at the gym.

Wednesday, June 24: gym night. I went to the other location again. There was only 1 treadmill available when I went to do my warmup cardio. Did my 8-minutes, half-mile, then chest press, lower back extension, rowing, leg extension (I’d have done leg curls but I couldn’t get the seat or pad to adjust, they were screwed too tightly, and were way too expanded for my short height), hip adductor/abductor, then free weights (9#) about 20 minutes. Lying pec presses on the bench, overhead tricep on the bench, standing tricep kickbacks, straight arm and lateral delt lifts, shoulder lifts and rolls, some standing overhead triceps (guess what will be sore tomorrow) and a few pec crossover/standing ab crunches. Then 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 on the treadmill. Toes cramped up on the elliptical (it’s a different model than I’m used to so I may have to correct my body positioning) and I had to stop to stretch a few times on the treadmill—quads were tight and lower back seemed off kilter till I did. Made it through though, and did plenty of post-execise stretching in the locker room. HR monitor says 688 calories.

Since I just caught up with the MTM podcasts and heard Scott say something about (I think) doctors recommending burning at least 1400 calories per week with exercise, I’ll try keeping track for a week. 293 Monday, 310 Tuesday, 688 today. That’s 1291. If I do the usual, Thursday and 2 Saturday Jz classes, and skip Friday’s gym routine to see “Cats” (I have a free ticket) and go Sunday and do a moderate program, I should be at about 2700 calories. But since I adjust my calorie limit on DailyPlate by entering calories burned, I should still be on a path to lose one pound per week by their standards. We’ll see. I think I’m finally less concerned with the scale and more interested in doing what I think I can. Big workout today and a vegetable-heavy lunch allowed me to have some polenta with my turkey burger and still be on track. Mmm, comfort food that’s not too bad for me.

Good stuff Ann, 1400 is pretty easy to attain, thats walking for an hour every day for average people.