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Been a while...
Since I don't seem to be able to write anything very interesting (maybe I should go back to fiction - the Tiffany option perhaps? 
) I haven't been too motivated to write here...except as notes to myself, mostly. But I might as well do a little catching up.
I've been working out for the past two or three weeks now, and that seems to be going well. I'd been sticking with aerobic machines, crossramp-types mostly, but I got roped into doing some weightlifting machines last week. And the results have been surprisingly good.
Background: I'm just under 6 ft. tall, and was a relatively normal weight until I was about 19 years old. At which point I ate like crazy and ballooned to over 250 pounds. By the time I was in college I was up to...my peak weight was 293, I think. I've always looked thinner than I am, partly because I have a very broad bone structure - apart from my brain and reflexes I'm a born football player - and partly because, I suspect, my tissues are a bit more dense than normal.
I've tried working out now and again over the past twenty years, as well as watching what I eat, with varying results. The best I ever did was a period - sometime between six months and a year - when I went to the gym four or five times a week and did a really good workout. Treadmills and weightlifting got me down to under 240 lbs. That was about six years ago, when I was living in Malden. But eventually I slacked off, and my weight went back up into the 280 range.
Over the past year my weight has slid down into the low 270s, for no particular reason that I know of. I've done aerobics at the gym now and then, but there didn't seem to be much effect.
Anyway, now that I'm thinking about all this, I suspect that resuming weightlifting is a good idea. That's the only way I was able to dramatically lose weight, after all. And I definitely need to get stronger in order to handle the ever-growing Sebastian. He's gotten a LOT taller, and I'm sure he's over 36 lbs. That's no joke to carry on a long walk!
This is the first major goal I've set for myself: to get my weight down to a good, healthy level. Although I should mention that I had a full checkup recently, and my doctor was quite surprised by the results; blood pressure only a little over the normal range, cholesterol normal, blood sugar perfect, EKG perfect...given my family medical history I should be a strong candidate for a heart attack right now, but apparently I got very lucky in the genetic pool. I'll be taking a heart treadmill test next week just to be absolutely sure, but by all accounts I'm in amazing shape, considering.
According to the charts I should weigh 180 lbs. at most, but that's insane. If I ever get down under 220 I'll be very happy, and anything under 200 would be pretty extreme. I'm just under 270 right now.
Here's my workout: three days a week I do the weightlifting machines. That includes a ten-minute warmup on a crossramp machine, a series of eight strength machines, and then another 20 minutes of aerobics on a different crossramp machine; the aerobics come to about 300-350 calories a day. On alternating days (if possible) I do 35 minutes straight on a crossramp machine, killing 450-500 calories. I've been mostly eating vegetables and fruit during the day, and then in the evening I have whatever I want - but since my capacity has decreased quite a bit, I only eat about half as much as I used to. Even though it has only been three weeks, my clothes are definitely looser.
Yesterday was probably the most physically strenuous day I've had in twenty years, overall. I had an appointment downtown, which I'd forgotten about; I ran to make the train, but when I got there it was just pulling out. Rather than wait for the next train I started walking to my appointment. It was 1.31 miles away, but I figured I might as well walk as sit.
My moral victory was that I actually made it to my usual stop at exactly the same time that the next trolley pulled in - except that I was actually a few steps ahead, since I was already on the right side of the street. So I didn't lose any time (maybe I should explain that the trolleys run above ground in the center of the street, so I was able to watch for any of them passing me). I was late for my appointment, but not too late.
And I did a lot more walking for the rest of the day. So altogether I walked about five miles yesterday, most of them pretty briskly. Plus weightlifting. The strange thing is that I didn't feel any of the pain or aching weariness that I would normally expect. Glee!
Which reminds me of a crazy idea: I've been pondering the idea of taking an aspirin half an hour before I work out. Since aspirin is a blood-thinner, I thought maybe thinning my blood when my heart is pumping the hardest would help clear my arteries. Although I have no reason to believe that my arteries are in any way clogged. So maybe I'm being silly.
) I haven't been too motivated to write here...except as notes to myself, mostly. But I might as well do a little catching up.I've been working out for the past two or three weeks now, and that seems to be going well. I'd been sticking with aerobic machines, crossramp-types mostly, but I got roped into doing some weightlifting machines last week. And the results have been surprisingly good.
Background: I'm just under 6 ft. tall, and was a relatively normal weight until I was about 19 years old. At which point I ate like crazy and ballooned to over 250 pounds. By the time I was in college I was up to...my peak weight was 293, I think. I've always looked thinner than I am, partly because I have a very broad bone structure - apart from my brain and reflexes I'm a born football player - and partly because, I suspect, my tissues are a bit more dense than normal.
I've tried working out now and again over the past twenty years, as well as watching what I eat, with varying results. The best I ever did was a period - sometime between six months and a year - when I went to the gym four or five times a week and did a really good workout. Treadmills and weightlifting got me down to under 240 lbs. That was about six years ago, when I was living in Malden. But eventually I slacked off, and my weight went back up into the 280 range.
Over the past year my weight has slid down into the low 270s, for no particular reason that I know of. I've done aerobics at the gym now and then, but there didn't seem to be much effect.
Anyway, now that I'm thinking about all this, I suspect that resuming weightlifting is a good idea. That's the only way I was able to dramatically lose weight, after all. And I definitely need to get stronger in order to handle the ever-growing Sebastian. He's gotten a LOT taller, and I'm sure he's over 36 lbs. That's no joke to carry on a long walk!
This is the first major goal I've set for myself: to get my weight down to a good, healthy level. Although I should mention that I had a full checkup recently, and my doctor was quite surprised by the results; blood pressure only a little over the normal range, cholesterol normal, blood sugar perfect, EKG perfect...given my family medical history I should be a strong candidate for a heart attack right now, but apparently I got very lucky in the genetic pool. I'll be taking a heart treadmill test next week just to be absolutely sure, but by all accounts I'm in amazing shape, considering.
According to the charts I should weigh 180 lbs. at most, but that's insane. If I ever get down under 220 I'll be very happy, and anything under 200 would be pretty extreme. I'm just under 270 right now.
Here's my workout: three days a week I do the weightlifting machines. That includes a ten-minute warmup on a crossramp machine, a series of eight strength machines, and then another 20 minutes of aerobics on a different crossramp machine; the aerobics come to about 300-350 calories a day. On alternating days (if possible) I do 35 minutes straight on a crossramp machine, killing 450-500 calories. I've been mostly eating vegetables and fruit during the day, and then in the evening I have whatever I want - but since my capacity has decreased quite a bit, I only eat about half as much as I used to. Even though it has only been three weeks, my clothes are definitely looser.
Yesterday was probably the most physically strenuous day I've had in twenty years, overall. I had an appointment downtown, which I'd forgotten about; I ran to make the train, but when I got there it was just pulling out. Rather than wait for the next train I started walking to my appointment. It was 1.31 miles away, but I figured I might as well walk as sit.
My moral victory was that I actually made it to my usual stop at exactly the same time that the next trolley pulled in - except that I was actually a few steps ahead, since I was already on the right side of the street. So I didn't lose any time (maybe I should explain that the trolleys run above ground in the center of the street, so I was able to watch for any of them passing me). I was late for my appointment, but not too late.
And I did a lot more walking for the rest of the day. So altogether I walked about five miles yesterday, most of them pretty briskly. Plus weightlifting. The strange thing is that I didn't feel any of the pain or aching weariness that I would normally expect. Glee!
Which reminds me of a crazy idea: I've been pondering the idea of taking an aspirin half an hour before I work out. Since aspirin is a blood-thinner, I thought maybe thinning my blood when my heart is pumping the hardest would help clear my arteries. Although I have no reason to believe that my arteries are in any way clogged. So maybe I'm being silly.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2004-04-08 10:02 am (UTC)(link)An exercise called Sebastian.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2004-04-10 05:43 am (UTC)(link)- flightofstairs