Howdy!
I know, I should have updated this before, but because I couldn't make to Aikido this week, didn't see much of a point to make a quick post about it. If you ask why I didn't go, my first quick answer would be "I was working", which sounds noble (or at least responsible). But if you continue staring at me after this answer, I'll have to say that I was working because I had a lack of motivation through the morning so the work pile up in the end of the day. Apparently I'm really good in finding ways out of stuff I need to do but I'm too lazy to do it. *sigh*
Well, I'm also going to bed way too late from what I need, and that never helps. I also need some studying time to be included in my daily schedule, so... I have a LOT to work on.
Good news is that I manage to complete the day 2 of the push ups. Weird enough today my arms and shoulders aren't aching as they were the first time I did it, and honestly I don't know how to interpret that: does it mean those muscles are being worked more regularly so, it does make sense they would stop aching after the first attempts? Or am I doing the push ups wrong? I've been doing the push ups standing on my knees, not my toes. The program allows you to do it, because in the end the goal is to improve the number of push ups you can do, so that doesn't matter much. The problem is that, if I do it on my toe, than I have NO WAY to do more than one. Honestly, I can barely hold myself up that way. Should I try standing ob my toes and work slowly from there? Or should I continue on my knees until I build more strength and control over my upper body, and then use this in the future to do the real push ups?
So many questions! If anyone has answers for those, please leave on the comments!
So, just we don't lose track:
May 22, 2014 activities:
- completed day 2 from push up program quite nicely
Kissus!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Carla's Fitness Project! Day 1
Howdy!
Day 1 started well, although a bit slow. My diet could be better, but I seriously don't want to go in that direction just yet, I'll control where I can, and try to resist cravings. For the exercise, things went ok, not perfect but definitely not a disaster.
May 19th, 2014 activities:
-50 min walk around campus (including going up a hill)
-Push up goal for day one complete with a bit a struggle.
Let's see how I feel tomorrow. The goal is to go to Aikido.
Kissus!
Day 1 started well, although a bit slow. My diet could be better, but I seriously don't want to go in that direction just yet, I'll control where I can, and try to resist cravings. For the exercise, things went ok, not perfect but definitely not a disaster.
May 19th, 2014 activities:
-50 min walk around campus (including going up a hill)
-Push up goal for day one complete with a bit a struggle.
Let's see how I feel tomorrow. The goal is to go to Aikido.
Kissus!
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Carla's Fitness Project! Day -1
Howdy!
Today I want to talk about what the project, in this initial phase, actually means, plus adding some information about myself (weight, height, what I have done so far, etc).
My ultimate goal is to make exercises part of my everyday routine, eat better (healthier, and less - I do eat a lot) and feel better about myself.
I've tried many things, and the ones the showed better results were always the small changes that with time became part of what I do normally, so I decide to use this approach.
To show how the "baby steps" approach works better the full change one, here's a little story:
When I was younger, my mom started dieting and suggested I changed the sugar I added in the morning coffee latte for artificial sweetener. She always added on hers 2 packets, but I found out early enough that i didn't like the residual taste sweeteners have, so I added only one packet. It took me a a couple of weeks to really get used to that, but eventually lattes with sugar were waaaay too sweet for me. Years passed, and today I'm not a fan of sweeteners (because of many studies showing they don't really help in weight loss, and because everything tastes funny with that crap), and I started using small amounts of sugar in beverages that are way too bitter to be drank by themselves (like coffee). But with the latte, considering I'm adding milk to coffee anyway, I decided to drink it without any kind of sugary boost. I'm not going to lie, it took me some months not to squint when I gave the first sip every morning, but now I'm totally used to it.
I'm not saying that if you're really motivated the radical changes don't work. But the key here is to keep yourself motivated even when results are not seen. When you cut out everything that is unhealthy from your diet, you'll get depressed eventually, SPECIALLY when you don't see any change in weight/clothes sizes. You eventually get yourself thinking that "all that sacrifice I'm doing is not paying off", and then when you next check you had ate a Big Mac with big fries and a big Coke. Some people manage not to loose their motivation, but I'm not one of them.
Enough of stories now, let's get to business.
My workout plan is simple enough (although it is NEVER simple when you spent the past 15 years sitting in front of a pc instead of exercising):
-Walk at least 2x per week, for at least 30 min (aiming for an hour, including walking up hills). Try to jog as much as I can, the final goal is to be able to run these same distances.
-Be able to do push-ups
-Go to Aikido at least once a week.
Aikido is something I started training when I was 20, and I managed to get my yellow belt by the Federação Paulista de Aikido. But after that I would stay months away, come back for 3 or 4 weeks, and disappear again. Then, when I moved to Canada, I found out the downtown's YMCA have twice a week Aikido training. The sensei is really nice and knowledgeable, but because I've been away for so long, I continued doing the "come one week, disappear for 5". It bugs me when I roll over on the ground, something I never had so much problems, and my knee starts aching. I know that if I go more often, the problems will mostly go away. But, for now, I just want to make sure I go once a week.
For walking, I want to enjoy the nice weather that Edmonton lacks so much. The short term objective is to be able to cross the bridge and do some pretty massive stairs climbing (I'll put pictures in the future).
And for the push ups, I will do the one hundred push ups program. I don't think the 7 week goal will work, but I'm positive that by the end of summer I'll be really good, and even able to do it.
Ok, enough of talking, where do I stand now?
As of 18th of May, 2014 I am:
-260 lbs (118 kg)
-able to walk fast, but to jog for less than a minute
-able to do less than 3 push ups without collapsing on the floor.
Yeah, it is a pretty lame start, but let's see how it goes, ok?
I'll give at least small updates through the week, and a long post over the weekend. So, wish me luck but also will power!
Kissus!
Today I want to talk about what the project, in this initial phase, actually means, plus adding some information about myself (weight, height, what I have done so far, etc).
My ultimate goal is to make exercises part of my everyday routine, eat better (healthier, and less - I do eat a lot) and feel better about myself.
I've tried many things, and the ones the showed better results were always the small changes that with time became part of what I do normally, so I decide to use this approach.
To show how the "baby steps" approach works better the full change one, here's a little story:
When I was younger, my mom started dieting and suggested I changed the sugar I added in the morning coffee latte for artificial sweetener. She always added on hers 2 packets, but I found out early enough that i didn't like the residual taste sweeteners have, so I added only one packet. It took me a a couple of weeks to really get used to that, but eventually lattes with sugar were waaaay too sweet for me. Years passed, and today I'm not a fan of sweeteners (because of many studies showing they don't really help in weight loss, and because everything tastes funny with that crap), and I started using small amounts of sugar in beverages that are way too bitter to be drank by themselves (like coffee). But with the latte, considering I'm adding milk to coffee anyway, I decided to drink it without any kind of sugary boost. I'm not going to lie, it took me some months not to squint when I gave the first sip every morning, but now I'm totally used to it.
I'm not saying that if you're really motivated the radical changes don't work. But the key here is to keep yourself motivated even when results are not seen. When you cut out everything that is unhealthy from your diet, you'll get depressed eventually, SPECIALLY when you don't see any change in weight/clothes sizes. You eventually get yourself thinking that "all that sacrifice I'm doing is not paying off", and then when you next check you had ate a Big Mac with big fries and a big Coke. Some people manage not to loose their motivation, but I'm not one of them.
Enough of stories now, let's get to business.
My workout plan is simple enough (although it is NEVER simple when you spent the past 15 years sitting in front of a pc instead of exercising):
-Walk at least 2x per week, for at least 30 min (aiming for an hour, including walking up hills). Try to jog as much as I can, the final goal is to be able to run these same distances.
-Be able to do push-ups
-Go to Aikido at least once a week.
Aikido is something I started training when I was 20, and I managed to get my yellow belt by the Federação Paulista de Aikido. But after that I would stay months away, come back for 3 or 4 weeks, and disappear again. Then, when I moved to Canada, I found out the downtown's YMCA have twice a week Aikido training. The sensei is really nice and knowledgeable, but because I've been away for so long, I continued doing the "come one week, disappear for 5". It bugs me when I roll over on the ground, something I never had so much problems, and my knee starts aching. I know that if I go more often, the problems will mostly go away. But, for now, I just want to make sure I go once a week.
For walking, I want to enjoy the nice weather that Edmonton lacks so much. The short term objective is to be able to cross the bridge and do some pretty massive stairs climbing (I'll put pictures in the future).
And for the push ups, I will do the one hundred push ups program. I don't think the 7 week goal will work, but I'm positive that by the end of summer I'll be really good, and even able to do it.
Ok, enough of talking, where do I stand now?
As of 18th of May, 2014 I am:
-260 lbs (118 kg)
-able to walk fast, but to jog for less than a minute
-able to do less than 3 push ups without collapsing on the floor.
Yeah, it is a pretty lame start, but let's see how it goes, ok?
I'll give at least small updates through the week, and a long post over the weekend. So, wish me luck but also will power!
Kissus!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Carla's Fitness Project! Intro
Howdy everyone!
Or just me, after so much time I think I'm the only one here...
BUT I'M BACK!
... kinda.
I'm not going to make an update on my life, it would take too long. Let's just say it had its ups and downs, but everything is alright.
What made me write to you (and me) today is the idea I had to help me be more healthy. You'll probably know I'm not a small woman. Nope, I'm very very fat indeed. And for those making fun of the fat people around, we're not fat because we want it. It's hard to change. That's why I'll start a step at a time, and my first goal is to make exercises part of my life. I've been trying for a while now, but today I remembered something Vivi told me some months ago. She told me about this girl that was training for a karate competition, and that she was posting everyday on Facebook how much she had worked out. We discussed how much this helps see the amount you achieved, for a diet or a workout routine, more than just weighing yourself every week. Specially because weigh is one of the last thing to actually change when you change your habits.
Anyway, I completely forgot about that until now, that I decided to start a not heavy but known to be efficient workout (I'll get in details in my following posts). I decided to use part of the blog as a diary, so that in the days I'm feeling not so good I can look back and see how much I actually achieved, and hopefully I won't give up.
I just wanted to write down my plans, when I actually have more time and maybe not at work (ooops!), I'll write down my initial measurements and my plans in a following post!
Kissus!
Ps1: I'm writing down in English, and not in Portuguese, because 1) Aaron can read this way; 2) my friends should be able to follow (Brazilians, Canadians and Americans) and 3) I can tell my mom about my achievements by Skype ;0)
Ps2: I will write again about my life in North America, that's why I'm making this project inside this blog, and not just make a new one.
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