Effort!

The title of this post was supposed to be Effort and Discipline but thinking about it, it takes real effort to be disciplined. I stayed with Effort with an exclamation point as it really takes great effort on my part to maintain my physical fitness activities.

One of my team members asked me one time how do I manage to maintain my weight. I said it's actually a combination of moderate eating the right foods and regular exercise. I mentioned I go to the gym several times a week either before work or after office hours. She blurted, "wow, ma'am, effort!"

Yes, it is!

I have to wake prepare everything at night - my gym bag which contain my towel, toiletries, and shoes. I prepare what I will wear for the gym as well as what I will wear at the office. I also prepare what I will be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also need to master how to manage my time at the gym without sacrificing the quality of my workout. I need to leave at a certain time so I will be at the office on time.

I also take time to research and read different kinds of workouts which I can apply to my set exercises. This is to improve further my workouts as well as avoid boredom in my routine exercises.

In terms of my food intake, I need to be constantly disciplined in eating properly. I do slip from time to time but I bounce back immediately. I also research about how I can make my food more exciting such that my family will also share them with me. :)

I am happy to note that from my last weigh a week ago, my fat mass is decreasing and my BMI is at the lower end of the ideal range. I really thought I gained fat since I have been loading a lot of bad carbohydrates the past weeks. I want to believe the regular exercise makes my metabolism faster and that I burn calories even after my workout.

Exercising and eating in moderation are really a part of my lifestyle. I am very happy with that. I am moving to Project Daddy Fitness. I need a lot of effort on this. But we can make it. :)

A Token of Appreciation

I received a letter/notification from my gym, Fitness First, a month or so ago I think. It's actually informing its valued members such as moi that "there will be an approximate 5% annual increase in the monthly dues of those who have completed the minimum contract period."

And to cushion the impact of this increase to members, they mentioned ongoing improvement in equipment and renovations for some of the clubs. Also there is a token of appreciation presenting three choices but only one of the services can be availed.


I have been wanting to try this since I received their note but it slipped my mind and I thought the due date has passed. Lucky me, I checked the date this afternoon as I was organizing my files. The services are valid until the end of this month.

I'm torn between trying the one-time TRX (suspension) session for free or the free nutrition assessment. I am letting go of the free 30-minutes spa treatment.

I'll be honest here. Since this is free, I am not sure how the assessment will go. It may not be as thorough as I want it to be. And I really want to try the TRX. If I get to like it, I just might enroll in it.

I just might try the TRX. I can't wait to get back to the gym next week. I have been to the gym this week for 3 days only I think. Blame the weather and nature's cycle, lol.

Last time I weighed in within this week, I have retained my weight, below 120 lbs and my fat mass decreased by 1% versus a week or so ago. Can't wait to do weights this coming week.

Oh by the way, one thing Fitness First can do, at least the club where I go to most of the time is bring back the hair dryers they pulled out. There are only two left which at least 8 women share at any given time as I have observed. This is quite annoying especially in the early morning when most of us using the gym are rushing to work after our workout and after we freshen up and we need the hair dryer for obvious reasons. The 5% increase in the monthly dues can cover for the extra hair dryers. No, this is not a shallow demand. It's part of the service the gym should provide.

112 lbs

That would be my magic number.

That's the weight I am willing to maintain.

And that would be by the middle of August 2011, countdown to 112 lbs starts tomorrow, June 13, 2011.

And so I need to continue my low carb, more protein diet. No cheating.

Less 1 lb a week, maximum of 2 lbs if I want to make it faster to my goal.

I've the ideal weight now but my new goal is to look more lean and more toned - arms are on the way and so are the thighs, my midsection needs maintenance.

Focus, visualize, work on it, be disciplined, achieve it.

Basic Abdominal Crunch

I weighed in a week or so ago and I was really happy about the results. I have maintained my statistics in the healthy range for my body type and weight but I have my personal goal that I want to maintain and sustain.

It was great to know I'm holding ground - body fat at 24%, body mass index at 22.4. This is great news for me. :) The more I am motivated to work out regularly and properly in spite of the busy work load - both at the office and at home.

The past weeks I have been browsing again on toning muscles and keeping belly fat off. I've watched a YouTube video showing basic abdominal crunches which really prove effective. I see a lot of men at the gym do this but I was thinking it might not be as effective as the reverse crunch I have been doing time and again.

But I did try the basic abdominal crunch. Weird, huh. I've been going to the gym and doing exercises for nearly three years now but I have not really tried nor paid attention to crunches. What I can tell you now is that I love it! My abdominals feel so tight and strong after every session of mat exercises especially after about 40 repetitions in 3 sets of abdominal crunches. My mid-section feels sore actually after.

I will do variations of crunches in the coming days. Now I'm doing it with feet flat on the floor, legs bent. I will try doing legs up, about 45 degree angle and about 5 to six inches from the floor.

Here's to more productive workouts!

*Picture from Getty Images.

I Have Maintained the Ideal Weight for My Body Type But...

...I don't think I have been eating properly the past days. It's actually a roller coaster ride, my diet. One day I eat everything healthy, the next I eat a lot of junk.

Why is my weight steady at 117 lbs? It's because I burn what I eat. I do weights, cardio and mat exercises. I still manage to go to the gym regularly, thanks to the flexible working hours I have now at the office. But it's not all about keeping myself trim and slim. I also want to stay fit and healthy.

So tonight I resolve to eat more healthy foods. NO CHIPS AT ALL. CAKE WILL ONLY BE A SLICE A MONTH. I can't do away with cakes. MORE PROTEIN AGAIN, FRUITS, VEGETABLES. I will stick to whole wheat no matter what.

My goal now is to eat healthy foods and look ripped. Not the ripped-competition-look but just the right amount of muscles at the right places. I am happy to note that my arms has no flabs anymore. :) I have been receiving commendations about how firm my arms look. I actually want them to have more muscles, more toned in other words. I am working on it. I just love that look. My husband doesn't but I do.

I have a 62-year-old client in one of my projects at the office and she is just so fabulously fit. She goes to her health club six times a week and is very disciplined with what she eats. Half a cup of brown rice, lean meat, fish, vegetables and fruits. That's what she always eat. At 62, she's got a perfect body, she's so young looking, she's so active and that is because she conscientiously takes care of her body.

I like that. Make that, I LOVE THAT!

So tomorrow, healthier foods will take over my diet like how it was when I started getting fit. And so it will be also with my family. It started tonight actually for them. My daughter finally had her brown rice without mixing it with white rice. :) And she ate oatmeal cookies...with chocolate fudge but that's a good start. :)

Morning Gym Session

My dilemma again is whether to work out in the morning before I proceed to work or in the evening after office.

At times I find it hard to wake up at 5AM just so I can leave the house at 5:45 AM and be at the gym at a little past 6 AM. I want to work out for 2 hours actually but if I get to the gym at 7 AM, I just have an hour and a half because I need to be at the office at least by 9:30 AM. I don't want to hurry myself in doing my exercises.

The upside also of going to the gym early in the morning is that it's practically deserted. :)

Now if I don't get to work out in the morning, I have no choice but to go to the evening session. But this has more downside. After a day's work, I want to go home already and be with my daughter. The gym is so full! But it's also a great way to sort of end the day after a stressful day at work. I mean while at work I look forward to de-stress at the gym.

But then, the morning work out at the gym won again. It's great to start the day all pumped up and end the day going home to my family. :)

Weight Training

There's an article featured in Yahoo's front page about working out backwards. I always read interesting write-ups about exercises as I want to be updated about the latest news or research on better way of doing exercises. But this surprised me a bit.

It says an athlete all this time thought it should be cardio first as a warm-up and then weights. Read Warm Up with Cardio, Then Go to Weights, Right? Wrong.

The trainer I had when I was starting my gym exercises have always instructed me to do cooling down with cardiovascular exercises. This is also what I have observed most people in the gym do. And this is also what I have been mostly reading.

There are also articles I have read that it does not matter what one does first or last and mostly, this is up to one's goals. "Should I Do Cardio Before Weight Lifting - Does Exercise Order Matter?", it says here if the goal is increasing muscle size and strength, lifting weights should be first.

Lately I have limited time in the gym because of my work load. I used to be spending like two hours and a half (including stretching and freshening up) in the gym. But now I can do maximum of an hour and a half.

How do I manage now? I choose to do weights if there is a need to cut down on exercise time. And reading the article I noted here, "Warm Up with Cardio...", if there is an issue on time constraint, choose weights...

And if you only have 30 minutes total, go for weights instead of cardio. That sounds counterintuitive, since we feel sweating is "proof" we're losing fat. But you will lose a lot more fat by pushing and pulling weights and then going on a brisk walk in your neighborhood (or even at the mall). The guy or gal who is dripping buckets on the Stairmaster is getting a good workout, but you're likely getting a better one by getting sore and not getting soaked.

This is true for me. Yes, I noticed muscles developed faster in my upper limbs when I started focusing on weight training - both free weights and weights using machines. I looked leaner and muscles are showing on my triceps. I intend to look ripped and lean. I know there should be a special diet for this but I intend to achieve this look. See I said it twice.

I have been challenging myself to increase weight load every three weeks and do different weight training exercises. And now is the time to start on a diet that will help me look lean and ripped. There, I said it for the third time.