So I was pretty peeved that this was the best picture I could get. I was taking a picture of my final workout totals and I pressed the wrong button and deleted all of it. Oh well...
YESTERDAY:
Demesha Wright (http://rebornwright.blogspot.com/) challenged me to do at least 20 minutes of cardio for the next five days. Being the "hard-headed-I'll-one-up-that" kind of person I am, I went to the gym last night and did 60 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. I went a total of 3.4 miles and burned a grand total of 823 calories (you can see I have the labeled on the picture above.) It was on level 10 intensity for the majority of the time (out of a possible 25.) I have to say, I have really hit my stride with the elliptical machine--no pun intended. I really have figured out how to pace myself to go farther. The only problem is, I am NOT going very fast AT ALL. So my question to all you fitness gurus out there is:
Which is better: going faster at a higher intensity for a shorter period of time or going at a slower pace for a longer period of time?
My heartrate never got much higher than 155 the whole time, so I felt like I should go a little harder, but I knew I would never last the hour and would probably burn less calories if I went at it too hard too quickly. I mean, don't get me wrong...when I hit the 55 minute mark, I was EX-HAUSTED. But, when exercising what do you go by when qualifying a good workout? Heart rate? Caloric expenditure? Soreness the next day? (Okay...so the soreness is probably not the best sign, but it makes me feel as though I have been productive.) Every day, I push myself a little harder, but it usually ends up being pushing myself harder in the endurance arena...which is par for the course for me. When I was running, I was never one for sprinting and tiring myself out really quickly and then sprinting again, I prefered a long crescendo into a burn. Is that the same thing that I am doing with longer, slower paced workouts?
Which brings me to another thing I have been really struggling with mentally. My brain wants this whole process to be quick, quick, quick! Deep in my gut, however, I know good and well that this is going to be a long race and, like my workouts, I need to take it nice and slow and easy. It really is a battle sometimes! Kristin Steede pointed out on her website one day that if I were to only lose 2 pounds a week, every week for an entire year it would come out to 102 pounds. That is a life changing amount of weight.So today, I am going to try a new machine at the gym. I am a little scared! I am going to try to do 20 minutes on the dreaded stair climber. I haven't ever tried it, but it looks like something that will wear my butt out in about 5 mintues flat. Yikes! I'll be sure to update and let you all know how this adventure goes this afternoon.
In closing, I have my first update on the bodybugg...if you order one, go ahead and shell out the extra cash for the faster shipping. It is taking too long to get here!! I am ready for it already! : ) It's supposed to get here tomorrow. I am worse than a little kid at Christmas!
Oh...and my doctor called me and everything was a-okay from my physical. My total cholesterol was at 166, my LDLs were at 116, my triglycerides were at 73 and my HDL (good cholesterol) were a little low at 35 and they wanted to see that between 40 and 45. They said it would go up with exercise. I guess I am surprised it isn't worse than that. I figured things would come back a lot worse because of how big I have gotten. So that was good news! And to whomever asked me (I can't remember if it was you Mesha or Ali or who it was) about how I came up with 1800 calories a day, it was from my doctor. I am going to cut it back to 1200 and see what happens!
Thanks to all of you for the love and support. It gets me through some really tough times...you (yes, you) have no idea how you encourage me every single day!!
Mission Updated!
Updated!
4 comments:
I much prefer HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and do it based upon my heartrate. I list some of my HIIT workouts on my blog - just search the workout or personal training category for ideas :)
Keep up the great work!
What I learned from my trainer is that you should go for endurance over speed. Typically, the higher your heart rate is running, the more carbs/sugar your body is using for fuel. If you keep your heart rate elevated, but at a little lower intensity level, your body harnesses fat for fuel. You want to burn fat, not sugar. Not to mention that at a higher intensity level you're more likely to injure yourself. Not to mention at a higher intensity level you're more likely to build up excess lactic acid, which is going to make you feel like CRAP the next day, as opposed to the warm and fuzzy feeling of being slightly sore. But that's just my two cents. AND, once you have a heart rate monitor (which I believe is on the bodybugg, right?) you can really start to gauge your workouts much easier. That's the SOLE way that I judge what and how I'm doing each day. It's a great tool.
Also, I don't know what your insurance is like, but my regular doctor has a guy on staff that does stress tests. They're not just regular stress tests, though-the guy does metabolic testing and heart rate testing...I'm going next month and I'm super excited. He tests you and then tells you exactly where your heart rate should be for maximum benefit specifically for YOU as well as your EXACT number of calories that you should be eating each day, etc. It's super cool. Chip had it done and I wanted to wait and make sure our insurance covered it for me before I went, but it did, so I'm going in August. Very, very cool stuff. Might be worth looking into. I think if you drop your calories all the way down to 1200 you're going to be tired. My endocrinologist told me 1500-1800 for weight loss without accounting for exercise. I don't think 1200 is going to be reasonable without experiencing some discomfort, either from hunger or fatigue.
Just my two cents. And seriously? What do I know?! :)
GRRRRREAT JOB GIRL!!!!! = ) I am getting ready to do my 20 minutes of cardio. I too and taking Mesha's challenges she sent you! I will post later. = ) YAY! GREAT job going the extra 40 mins!! I will do 20 here at home, and another 30 at the gym tonight!! Love ya.
Rock on Val, Rock on! with the workouts you are doing, 1200 is WAY too low for calories - 1500 is about where my trainer put me, but if your doctor said 1800 - he knows A LOT more than I do. :) i just dont want you hurting yourself, i care about ya! ((hugs))
now onto the fun stuff - AWESOME WORKOUT!
Endurance baby - all the way. Actually it should be intervals ideally. That's why when I do the stair master I do a program because it lowers and ups the speed automatically. My water aerobics instructor actually does this too - we do "power sets" where she will have us go 30 seconds hard core followed by like 10-15 seconds of slower movements. From what I've hard Jillian Michaels, the aerobics coordinator at my gym & my water aerobics instructor say, that's the best way to approach it.
If you are going to do one or the other though, slower speeds, longer periods. same with weights, lighter weights, more reps. :)
seriously love ya! i'm so proud of you, keep it up. don't forget the email Friday.
OH - and how did that stepper go? it's a BEAST!
Post a Comment