Day 41 second full workout

Hi,

Today I did my second full workout and I could see the improvement in form. It was now a little easier to walk in and set up the equipment and get going. It was kind of fun, actually. Since I had that first workout under my belt, I felt confident I could do the second. Success is such a motivator!! I did the exercises a little more quickly because I already had a list of what I had done the first day and simply repeated it on the chart I got from "The Fat Burning Furnace."  I had taken their form and duplicated it on an Excel sheet so I could have something to print out when I needed a new one.

I could see a definite improvement in form, although it is still a little hard to remember all the details of form, such as breathing. I have a tendency to hold my breath as I exercise but Rob says that that will actually increase your blood pressure -- not something I need to do. So I consciously breathed, but had to be careful of breathing too slowly, which caused me to get out of breath very quickly. So "steady as she goes" is better for me in the breathing department. I have never been able to follow other peoples "breathing exercises" because it gets my rhythm off, somehow, so, I just breathe as naturally as I can. The only thing I need to monitor is that I am breathing and not holding my breath.

The second form issue is the speed. In order to give my muscles a real work out I need to slow things down and do them methodically with intention as Rob explains in his book. One place this made a real and demonstrable difference was in the crunches. I have a Joe Weider Ab working device that I lay on my bed to do crunches. It helps me to hold my head, neck and back in the right position. I have a herniated disk in my neck so I need to be careful. I learned that if I keep my elbows up close to the curved bar, there is no strain on my neck whatsoever and the only thing that gets "worked" is my abs and my back.

I have been doing them a long time, but really did not see much real improvement, except that when I do them my back pain does tend to decrease, often to the point that it disappears, if I am diligent (which I have not recently been doing -- until now). I have been doing these crunches occasionally for a long time, but the problem was my form. I would just rush through them as fast as I could, holding my breath and then moving on to the next one. I would do 10, 12, or 15, depending on how I felt that day. I only raise myself up a very few inches -- since my body is big and flabby, it is an almost imperceptible distance, like, maybe two inches. I place my feet, knees or hips in different positions to work a different area of the abs -- which I learned to do from reading the instructions from Joe Weider's device.

Starting out laying flat on my back with my hands on the curved bars, elbows up tight to the bars, I would do however many I was doing that day, then relax, breath a moment, and bend my knees moving my feet closer to my body and very quickly work up and down again using the same fast speed and form. Then I would raise my hips and tilt my pelvis up and do it again to reach the lowest ab muscles. Then for extra measure I would do isometric flexes using my lowest abdominal muscles with my hips still flexed up. Then I would follow that with side ab crunches by moving my knees first to the left and then to the right and repeating my number at the same speed. All together, if I did 10 each I was doing 60 crunches. But I noticed today, that I used the form that Rob teaches and slowed it down, and did it deliberately and I could feel the workout being so much more intense. I had sweat rolling off my face, and that made me happy.

After that I rested and did cervical traction, because I wanted to end up with my neck in the best possible position. It is quite easy to get the bones out of place while exercising which can be painful, so I simply made sure to re-align them as the last "exercise."

I also needed to get my body moving before I started the entire routine, so I did my usual shoulder rolls, and shoulder backs, and chin tucks, then did 5 min on the Aerofit and was ready to get moving on the FX resistance machine. I felt this workout was much better than the first one, because I already knew the positions and exercises and did not rest too long between for the aerobic effect that Rob teaches.

I have also now recognized when I need to eat the whole grains -- on exercise days. And I need to keep the quantities low. I am now putting less in the bowl and eating only a few bites, putting the remainder back in the fridge for the "after workout meal" that Rob says is very important.

I have run out of salad fixings like Romaine and any other fresh raw veggie to put in the bowl so I have to go shopping today. I had a salad with feta cheese and two hard boiled eggs this morning for breakfast. My body really likes that meal. It is the right ph balance and does not cause my tummy to burn. It fills me up and I feel completely satisfied, and it seems to last a long time, too. I am really beginning to like salad -- but I can see that I still get side tracked by the beans and meat and even the whole grains, if I am not careful. My old habit of reaching for something that is already prepared rather than to prepare a salad will not continue to support my goals, so I need to make sure I have plenty of fresh raw veggies and make myself the salads I love.

Last night I went to the Connect fellowship from my old church and hung out with my friends. I had been informed that they were serving spaghetti so I wanted to avoid the confrontation -- meaning me and the spaghetti -- so I arrived late. But, unfortunately, they had not started eating and I kept being offered a plate of spaghetti. My friend AR was there and he was refraining from eating (he is doing the Belly Fat cure) and did not want to add any carbs to his numbers so he was there, but simply announced he was not eating. I took courage from him, and did the same thing. I did have a few cups of water, but nothing else. I thought about having a salad, but simply chose to not eat at all. That was a 180 from what I had done at the last fellowship. I hope I can remember to do the same thing at Sweet next Friday.

I am being faithful with the calorie record and writing everything down -- but sometimes I go over my 1800 limit a little. I can see that my mind is getting adjusted to the calorie counting idea and I am no longer putting the EVOO on my salad, simply to cut down on the calories for later. I sprinkle salt, garlic pepper and Italian seasonings on my salad and that is more than enough to make it tasty. There really is no need for any liquid. The greens have been washed and have water on them, and that seems to be enough moisture to hold the seasonings in place -- which tastes very good to me. 

I am also drinking more water -- I'm not sure it is still enough -- but it is more than I used to drink. I empty and fill my 16 oz bottles quite a few more times during the day than I was doing. I keep track of the water on my calorie page but sometimes I simply don't think to write it down. And sometimes I drink half a bottle and then forget it is there, so come by later and refill and refrigerate it. I like drinking cold water so much better than room temperature. I have a water filter, but it still does not make the water taste as good and clear as I remember water tasting from childhood.  But that was in Ohio. This is Georgia and the water is not from an underground aquafer as it is up home. Here it is from the rivers running by and from Lake Lanier and the soil is different and the water is just not the same, crystal clear, ice blue flavor I desire. But I drink it anyway.

I know, I know. You could put something in it to flavor it, but that stuff usually involves chemicals and food color, and artificial sweeteners -- I just don't need all that bogus stuff in my body, so I drink the water. I could make tea, I suppose. AR told me he is really liking the green tea and it gives him a better "boost" than coffee used to. Perhaps I should try that again. At least once in a while, I could make some tea and cool it down and keep it in the fridge. I will have to try that again.

Well, I have to apply for a job and then go shopping, so I'll get a move on that, next.

Take care and be encouraged that you can make the changes to support your body. It all happens in the "now" moment -- and you don't have to be "perfect."  Just step out, make corrections as you go, and keep going. Together, you and I, with the help of the Lord, can do this.

Be back soon,

--Marcia