The A2K (virtual) Weight Loss Club !!

Sounds great, JPB!

I've been doing an email correspondence with a trainer at the gym I go to. (Traditional personal training so doesn't work for me, a lot of it is talking while your eyes are elsewhere.) He's put together a plan that looks WAY ambitious to me but we'll see. Plan to start this week. <gulp>

Go team go!

JPB--

May your paths from Festive Occasion to Festive Occasion be glistening with the results of self-denial--and a few artistically arranged pieces of outmoded clothing.

Soz--

I'll keep my fingers crossed that your path to the gym will be absolutely Barf Free. Every so often, Mommies deserve Private Time.

Yay everybody! We're all doing so great.

There's a slim (pun intended) chance that I'll hit my big milestone tomorrow. I'll let y'all know. I wish it were a sure thing for tomorrow - but I'm feeling very confident about next week...

No matter what, you're so close, which is in and of itself a huge achievement!


Whenever I've worked out I've had a pretty simple plan. Go to gym. Do cardio for a long time. (Run, or elliptical trainer.) Leave.

This is lunges and torso rotation and all kinds of weird stuff that I have to learn first. It's like 25 different things in the course of an hour. (Checked -- actually 14.) This sounds more like what JPB does and I'm sure it'll be more effective but not especially looking forward to the learning how to do this stuff phase. May be asking questions.

Mac--

I have my fingers crossed.

Soz--

I've noticed that Physical Trainer types are not verbal people--and some of them are sure that a single demonstration is sufficient for those aspiring to fitness.

When will you start?

soz, it sounds like the workout I printed from online. I had a couple of trainers show me how to use machines and where the equipment was (is there a barbell that doesn't weigh 42 pounds? ), but I managed to figure most of it out for myself.

Tomorrow.

I was mentally arranging time puzzle pieces for tomorrow -- this much to do, that much time to do it in -- when I got an email from someone at sozlet's school asking if she wanted to go on a special free bonus outing of a type we'd already registered for on another day, because one of two kindergarten girls scheduled for tomorrow's outing had canceled, leaving one, and he wanted company for her and thought of sozlet. (Nice gals don't always finish last...)

So that tacks on 3 hours to my available time and I figured that kind of goosing from the universe can't be ignored.

Hooray for extra available time!

Thank you both, soz and Noddy, for the good thoughts for tomorrow.

Some call it fate, some call it karma, some call it "Goosing from the universe."

I'm finally back in the gym. Man did the weights and machines ever hurt the first couple times - and I was lifting light! I've managed to get there four times since the first of the year, and hope to get there about ten times a month, three/two/three/two.

I'm also limiting my alcohol consumption and have discovered, to my dismay, that I am becoming lactose intolerant in my old age. Fffffffaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttt. Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusee Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

soz, ask away as needed. The personal trainers at my gym all seem to be sadists. I'll be curious to see what he has you doing.

mac - you are so gonna nail your goal tomorrow!

george - how's it going? Are you still hovering at 170?

cjhsa - good for you. Once you make it to March you can be deemed to not be part of the resolution club. Ten time per month is great. Oh, and for the sake of your family, coworkers, and unsuspecting passers-by, please find a different substitute for alcohol than ice cream.

Here 'tis, JPB:



2-3 times a week in first month, then every other day from the second month on. Supposed to take about 60 minutes to complete the routine. 10 minutes of cardio to warm up.

He also says though that I should "start with a cardio program at 3-5 days per week for your first month." I'm not sure how the two "first month"s are supposed to interact -- the cardio thing first, then the exercise program? Simultaneously? Wrote to him to clarify. He's been pretty good about writing back quickly, but will still go tomorrow even if he hasn't.

I've already asked about those exercises and have gotten a short paragraph of explanation for each so I'm fine for now, but will probably have more questions once I actually try it all. If I am even doing that as opposed to simple cardio tomorrow. It seems to make more sense to start with cardio and then branch out.

We'll see.


Good goin', cjhsa.

I'm always appalled at how weak I am when I go back to the gym after a hiatus.

I'm going to screw my courage to the sticking point tomorrow and weigh
in. It ain't gonna be pretty.

soz, that is a lot like the routine I use with Clive. We break it into two
days, one concentrates on chest, back, and shoulders, the other on arms
and legs.

Argh! Open a window!

He probably means alternating cardio and strength on different days. Cardio some days, strength training other days. It's hard to do a full cardio workout and whole body strength training regimen in the same day.

There are a number of different theories on the 'best' way to train. He's going with his personal favorite. Whole body strength training 2 - 3 times/week building up to 3 - 4 times/week with cardio interspersed on the off days is my guess. Another standard way to do it is to incorporate strength training into a daily program (6 days/week) that includes both strength moves and cardio in the same day. You can't work the same muscle groups on consecutive days so the daily routines typically alternate upper body and lower body (about 30 mins total of one or the other) and 30-45 mins cardio in the same day. I do a modified version of the second approach.

George--

First The Universe nudges. Then The Universe Gooses. If you find out what happens if you ignore your first two chances, please let me know.

ooh - lots of reports in, and lots of reports to look forward to

sending feathery thoughts toward those who need a feathery shove

Looks like you're right, JPB. Personal trainer guy responded with a sample schedule, it's 6 days per week. Good grief! That's a huge increase in commitment from me, zero to six. What I was comfortable with several months ago was three times a week. Stuff wasn't happening as fast as I wanted it to, though, so...

I'll give it a shot.



(Eek!)