Regaining My Girlish Figure
Posted on July 24, 2007
Filed Under Personal |
I recently discovered that I weigh 30lbs more than I thought I do. This shocked me. I don’t really care about the weight. I’m not really fat, and, if I workout enough, I’ll probably retain this weight anyway (except that, you know, it will be muscle instead of fat). What I am is out of shape. The realization of my weight gain made this clear.
Ever since I finished school and started working sedentary jobs, I’ve gained flab and lost muscle. Considering that my eating habits have actually become healthier since university (I no longer eat fast food for lunch 3-5 days a week, for example), the only think I can point to is my lack of exercise. Between walking back and forth across campus 5 days a week, and working at a job that required a fair amount of physical labour, I never had to workout in the past. My exercise was a natural part of my daily life–I didn’t have to make special time to do it. For the past couple of years, that hasn’t been the case.
I’ve decided to get serious about exercising. I’m going to buy some weights, and I’m going to start running (if I can actually manage to get my lazy ass out of bed early enough to run before it gets too hot). I’ve actually been thinking about buying an elliptical trainer, as well. There is one on sale at Canadian Tire right now, and using that would allow me to get my cardio without having to worry about the heat (it would also allow me to continue through the winter).
Anyway, I need to get into shape. I’ve got a pretty basic workout plan in mind, that should do the trick, but I’m certainly open to suggestions.
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4 Responses to “Regaining My Girlish Figure”
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I’ve heard that one way to keep the exercising going is to buy a big calendar, one of the ones that has an entire year on it in one big sheet, and hang it on your wall. Then mark off each day you followed your routine with a big red X. After the first week or so, once you have enough Xs down, then the visual aspect of the routine helps you keep coming back and putting more Xs up. It is a visual reminder of your success, but also of your failure and hence the impetus to keep working out.
Allan’s comment reminds me — A few years ago, a bunch of us did a summer exercise “project” that was a 100-mile run — only, we had all summer to complete it. A big chart on the wall at the gym, and we X’d off boxes for every mile, each one running on our own pace and schedule. Sometimes we ran together, but mostly alone just because of the way life works out — but it still felt like having a whole lot of exercise buddies. At the end of the 100 miles, we all got matching T-shirts — paid for by the only one who didn’t complete the run! Just enough low-key competition to help this “lazy ass” to climb out of bed in the morning. So, there’s a suggestion for you. Got any friends in the same boat?
@Allan: I might do that, though, I’ll probably just use my regular calendar.
@Jen: That’s actually a great idea. I wonder if I can con some friends into doing something similar.
On a related note, I bought a weight set, and started working out today. Damn, I forgot how good it feels to lift weights! All the fun chemicals come out and give you a huge energy boost.
Jogging, on the other hand…well, that just made me realize how truly out of shape I am. But, I’ve never really enjoyed jogging all that much, so I think I might have to make cycling my cardio activity.
Not sure how practical this would be for you in an apartment, but I bought a boxing bag recently. I hang it up in the garage, and it’s long enough to kick as well. I’ve started to stack it on a bit recently but I’ve definately experienced a lot of improvement in a relatively short amount of time. Something to keep in mind anyways…