unforth | Exercise and Health

Well, after 6 weeks of working out, I thought I'd take stock of my progress.

In April, I complained to a doctor that I was eating 1200 calories a day and not losing weight. He said that my body had clearly gone into starvation mode and that dieting alone just wasn't going to work any more, and needed to start exercising 5 days a week for 45 to 60 minutes. I was too busy then, so I decided that I would start as soon as I got back from visiting Chicago with my mother in May. Thus, the start date ended up being Tueday, May 15th, because I hurt my ankle and didn't want to exacerbate the injury on Monday.

The day I started, I weighed 153 pounds (having gained 3 pounds in Chicago. ;) ). My measurements (actual/if I pull the tape really tight) were 36/35 chest, 31/29 waist, 41/39 hips. I couldn't run even 1 mile (I could do a mile, with walking, in about 12:30 minutes) and I was doing close to minimum weight on most of the machines that I tried, especially the arm machines (where I could barely do 10 lbs. biceps and 15 lbs. triceps).

I haven't missed a single day in the 6 weeks - 35 min of aerobic exercise on the elliptical, 20 minutes or so of lifting - on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, plus I have step dancing on Mondays. I started keeping a journal of how much I do in a little notebook starting in early June, and it's been wonderful to be able to watch my progress.

As of this morning, I still weigh 153, having fluctuated a fair amount above that in the intervening weeks. My measurements are 35/33 chest, 30/28 waist, and 39/37 hips. I ran 3 miles on the elliptical yesterday; each one took 9:30, and I didn't stop for 30 minutes. I can do more than my body weight on a calf machine, I've doubled how much I lift on numerous machines, and I can do 30 lbs. on my biceps and 45 (only one set, though!) with my triceps. Furthermore, I have more energy over all, I feel MUCH better about my appearance (my tummy, to my delight, has been flattening out), I haven't really been depressed at all, and on the days I work out I hardly ever feel tired until I've been up 14+ hours (I used to get tired at about 12).

Most importantly, I like it. Genuinely enjoy it. Look forward to going. Am a little sad not to on the other two days a week. This weekend,

schenker28 and I (we go together, workout buddies = a very good thing ;) ) played racket ball for 30 min+ AFTER our regular workout, even. I ate out on Friday night, Saturday morning, Taste of Bloomington and funnel cake on Saturday evening, and for both breakfast and lunch yesterday and I weigh less than I did on Friday this morning. Which is to say, I LOVE that I can actually EAT - all that food included funnel cake, a piece of chocolate cake, Bruster's ice cream, creme brulee French Toast, and a crepe - and the exercise will balance it as long as I don't over indulge and as long as I'm careful the rest of the time. I also love that my moods are better. Things going wrong don't really upset me, I just sort of smile and keep on with life.

I'm dreading what will happen when my routine gets broken next week when I leave for California - I'm hoping I can make myself jog on the Sat, Sun and Tues mornings when I will be there. :) If I'm really lucky, the hotel will have an exercise room. Course, first I need a hotel. :)

All in all, I think that this is a major win. If anyone has been thinking about starting up...I say go for it! It's really hard at first, but I think it's REALLY worth it. I'm praying there is a gym near my apartment in Tokyo. Assuming I get that apartment (grumble grumble. ;) )

Also, an update to the schedule I posted yesterday: I will not be going to Binghamton in August.

mistress_sin,

evil_tophat and Kreiner will all be at Gencon, so I can see them then, and

xaniquen is moving to Princeton NJ in a week and a half, which is much close to NYC. :) I have other friends up there, but none who I would travel 3 hours out of my way to visit. Fortunately, I don't think any of them read this journal, so they'll never know that. ;) If I come back to the states at Christmas (which seems likely at the moment) I'll try to get there then.

Edit: In other news, sure enough the apartment ISN'T settled yet. AARGH. I'll have to call them tonight. However, this gives me a chance to reassess my decision and see what else I can try for. Maybe I can find one whose location I prefer! Edit 2: Apparently it's not their fault. No, it's Yahoo's fault, for sorting the e-mails from them into my spam file. Grr.