Day 7B--Soreness

I have been using hand weights with the EA Active. Mostly, I've been using the three and five pound weights. I went up to the eight pound weights on some of the biceps and triceps exercises. I also used the lightest hand weights (somewhere between one or two pounds) on the boxing and sit-ups. I can feel it all today, and it's a good feeling. Yes, I'm sore, but in that I kicked some ass way, rather than an I overdid it way. Even if I didn't lose any weight, I feel better for having worked out hard last night.

Day 6B--Weight

I weighed in last night, and I have lost a few pounds since I've gotten back to being active. I'm still heavier than I was in December 2009, though. I know I'll get my weight back down, and can see that already happening. I can also see getting past that 135.6 pounds down to my ending weight of 128.3 within a decent amount of time. Unlike last year, I'm not just working out, but trying to watch what I eat, too.
I did the EA active workout last night, and have only missed one workout since I began my six week program. After that workout, I danced for 15 minutes with Just Dance 2. It's mainly cardio, but after lifting weights, the arm movements did have some burn to them. My arms are even a bit sore today. Not horribly painful, just a bit tender when I move them certain ways. I think that's mainly the push-ups. Push-ups aren't really easy anyway, but they were made even more difficult last night when my dog Maddow decided to climb on my back during them. I'll be sure to get video next time for you all to laugh at.

Day 5B--weekend efforts

I attempted to go walk/run on the lakefront with Frontrunners. It was too cold for me, so after 1.5 miles it was back into the car and back home. I will get out there with them, but not until it's at least 45 degrees when I leave home in the morning.
I did get over 73K steps on my log last week. That's not nearly as many as I had last time I was tracking on this log, but it's 6K more than the goal, and 13K more than last week. My goal for this week is 82K. I think I'll be able to reach it, but I will have to buckle down and get some real workouts in every day.
I haven't weighed in since Saturday, so I'm not sure where my weight is. I'm hoping that I can get it down to the Dec. 2009 level or lower this week. I'm not very happy with myself for letting it get as high as it is.

Day 4B--Dancing fools

Spending an hour in the dark dancing without alcohol or talking may seem weird, but it's liberating. You can feel the music and focus on it. You can move however you feel. It's a great way to get in touch with your body. It gives me the same feeling as running, but more creative. If you're in a city that has a DDPP, I highly recommend that you check it out. If not, put on your favorite cd or mix, turn the lights low and just dance until you're too tired to dance anymore. It's more vigorous than walking a 15-minute mile, and it's more fun, too. I didn't just dance for an hour, I also did the EA Active workout, too. I've kept up with all my activity the last two weeks and am starting to notice the difference. I haven't lost any weight, but I can run up the stairs to the train or work much more quickly & easily.

Day 3B--running dreams

Working out every day has me longing to get back outside and run. Adding to that desire is reading the writing of people who love to run.
I've just started reading "A Single Year" by Dawn Mueller and it makes me want to run on the lake path. She's very active with Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Chicago and talks about them often in the book.
I've also been reading the caringbridge.org journal of a friend battling breast cancer. She's an ultra-marathon runner and she's still running even though she's getting chemo.
Luckily, the weather is improving, so I may be able to get out there this weekend, or even tomorrow evening after work. Even if it's too cold to run, I may do the walk with Frontrunners on Saturday.

Day 2B--Wii to the rescue

In my quest to get back on track and into shape, I've turned back to the Wii. I'm about 1/3 of the way into the Six week challenge of EA Active More Workouts. I'm also dancing more. I've been going to Dance Dance Party Party in Chicago. It's a great cardio workout, and just plain fun. One full hour of dancing with no judgment. That's really, really hard to beat. At home, we've been doing some of the dancing games on Wii. Just Dance 2 has dance, cardio and simon says dance. The play list is pretty good to begin, plus you can buy additional songs for $3.00 each. Dance on Broadway has fewer songs, but they're Broadway tunes.

These workouts have put the running bug back. I am really looking forward to warmer weather and less snow cover so I can get back out there. It's really easy to be a sloth, but it feels so good to be physically active. I keep forgetting that, but really need to hammer it home.

Day 1B--starting over

It's been a long, long time since I've updated this blog. Sadly, my exercise regimen died off completely shortly after my last post in August. I started feeling tired and thought I just had been overdoing it, so I took a week off, but I only got worse. I thought I might be low on iron, so I started taking some iron pills to fix that, but still got worse. I eventually went to the doctor and, after many blood tests, was diagnosed with pernicious anemia. I was placed on B-12 supplements, but by that point I was so deficient that it took several weeks to get my energy back to a level where even mental exertion was possible. There was no way I was able to run or bike.
That forced inertia until the temperatures cooled led easily into pure laziness. I don't like the cold and am not a huge fan of running on the treadmill. Basically, I got a ton of knitting done over winter. If you want to see my creations, please check out my etsy shop. That laziness, coupled with no decrease in the amount I was eating, led to weight gain. I'm back at the same weight I was a year ago. I'm starting back on the road to fitness, but won't be doing any measurements for a few months. I hope to keep myself accountable to stay motivated. My first motivating tool is my daily step log. It's publicly available, so people will see if I'm slacking. When I used this chart in 2009, I had over 2.5 million steps in 12 weeks. That was summer and I was biking, so I don't think I'll hit that this time. I just hope to increase my activity level each week so I can lose some of this weight and get back to my 2010 starting point again.