Fitness 2K13

Anyone who knows me knows that I am big into fitness, but that my weight has also been a constant struggle.  It’s not something that I talk about very often and for the most part I am okay with my body, but there is always see room for a improvement.  In college I was a thrower and a power lifter, I ate practically anything I wanted and did very little cardio; I was super strong but not necessarily in shape.  After college I took a break from working out and then progressively started getting back into it.  Over the past couple of years I took up spinning, running and really focused on cardio.  I even made it halfway through a half-marathon training program but I wasn't able to complete it.  More recently though I have noticed that both my weight and motivation has fluctuated – some months I’ll be into running, other month’s it’ll be spinning and then others I’ll have little motivation.  With this my weight tends to fluctuate between 5 – 10 lb but trusting the scale is often very difficult.  I went to the doctor last week and she told me that I looked at least 40 LB less than the number of the scale – so all in all – the doesn’t tell the full story.
 

Usually I focus on how my clothes fit and lately I've noticed that my body is changing – not sure if my metabolism is slowing down or if I need to change up my workouts, but my body seems to be carrying my weight differently – not necessarily in a bad way, just different.  So I’ve decided I need to shake up my workouts!  Furthermore, one of my goals for 2013 is to run a longer race (10K, 15K or half marathon) and while I know I am in no way ready to run one of those right now, I want to try and at least get started on a training plan so I can be more ready/in shape for the spring.

 

While contemplating all of this the other day I realized that everytime I have been in ‘good shape’ and working toward 'great shape' has been when I've been running.  Now I hate running, I am not a natural runner and god knows nothing is worse than starting to run again (or for the first time) when you have not run in a while.  So all in all I decided that I needed to start running again BUT be conscious that I also need good cross training (spinning, Insanity, hot yoga, etc … ).  To get the process started I was looking through the fitness apps on my new iPhone 5 and found ‘RunKeeper’ it looked pretty cool and was free so I installed it.  Turns out the app has training plans for everything from intermediate marathoners to beginner half marathoners!  So I deiced I want to try and follow a plan - specifically the beginner half marathon plan.  The plan is essentially 3 - 4 runs a week with cross training incorpoarted on your own time.  Now I haven't signed up for a race yet because honestly I'm not sure I can make it through the program - I hope so - but at the very least I want to get in better shape for the spring/summer.  I don't want to over promise and under deliver but I do want to increase my fitness with the goal being to run a longer race in (later) 2013.

 

My fitness goal is also two fold - I need to start eating better.  I will be the first to admit that I eat better and more healthy when I am single - but now that I am not and haven't been for a while I really need to get a better handle on my eating.  Traveling as much as I do also presents its own unique challenges -  gym access is often limited, I am out of my comfort zone and of course I want to sample the local fare; but I feel as my workouts become more regular to will my eating.  Another issue is that I love to cook and I love to impress with my cooking and try new recipes - I also have a pretty unhealthy obsession (as you know) with mac and cheese.  For me though I think it is much more about controlling my portions and reducing/eliminating sweets.  To help with this and in turn challenge myself I am planning on participating in lent (which begins February 13th) - last year I gave up soda which was a moderate challenge but this year I am considering giving up cheese.  This will be super hard for me but I think I can do it!

 

Another way I would like to challenge myself along this journey is to document my process through this blog.  I really admire Jen over at Jen is Green for her commitment to fitness and documenting her progress.  I want to model her approach and document the upcoming week's workouts as well as review the previous week's process.  So here we go!

 

Workout Schedule for January 21 - 27, 2013

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 3 mile run

Wednesday - Spin class

Thursday - 3 mile run and 'Total Ryder in Motion' spin class

Friday - Insanity or yoga

Saturday - 3 mile run

Sunday - 5 mile run
 

So there it is!  Week one starts today!  Wish me luck!