Today wasn’t hard at all. Aerobics, followed by some stretching, followed by a different kind of stretching. It really winded me at points, but I wasn’t dying. Yesterday was a little harder. I’m getting better at some of the core ab-building stuff like pillars and side pillars.
Tomorrow is zone 2 heart rate stuff. I’m hopeful we can still accomplish it the way we’ve been doing zone 1 stuff. It’s weird working for a heartbeat instead of a set time or distance goal. I like the workout, though.
Core Performance, Day 2
Last night’s workout was a kicker. 12 minutes of aerobic activity, followed by stretching, followed by some work on the physioball (or Swiss Ball). Man, for something where we haven’t really even touched the weights yet, this workout is kicking my ass. It’s really great, and I’m getting all kinds of flexibility benefits. But man…
I’m still here and still going. We’ll see if it gets better. We’re probably going to repeat weeks 2-3 if we’re in question of whether we’re ready for the more intense stuff in week 4.
Agua
I read somewhere the the ideal amount of water one should consume in their day is their body weight divided by 2, in ounces. For me, at 240 pounds, that’s almost a gallon of water to drink a day. I rarely make that number, but when I do.
Yesterday and the day before, I stayed very hydrated. I hit the gallon mark last night at some point. Here are the benefits I received:
Name Brands
When people acknowledge that I’ve lost weight, the very first question they ask is, “How’d you do it?” When I tell them I eat well, exercise daily, they follow up with, “No, which one? Atkins? South Beach?” Why does fitness have to equal a name brand?
I just saw a colleague in the hallway and offered him a banana chip. He said, “Oh, no thanks. I can’t have sugar. I’m just starting the South Beach diet.” Of course, I was very encouraging. People taking their health back into their own hands is a good thing. But does the name brand deserve the credit or do you?
Neice
Boston Marathon
My work team went to the Boston Marathon today to cheer on a teammate. We went to Newton and stood at Mile Marker 20 across the street from the tables loaded with cups of water and Gatorade. I saw probably most of the top elite runners I’ll ever see in my lifetime, people who make it look easy.
I don’t have a lot to say, except to mention that I’m humbled by the power of great athletes who train for events of such proportions as this twenty-six mile run. A friend of mine from where I live also ran. He looked so full of energy, even at mile 20. I was astounded.
Review Up
A review I wrote for one of the early books I used for fitness and nutrition guidelines is up at South Beach Success. Sandra, the editor and publisher of the site, has a really decent thing going there. She’s doing a lot of book reviews of other fitness and nutrition books, to give complementary and counter opinions to the ones found in the South Beach Diet books.
So, check out Sandra’s site, leave her feedback. Tell her you think I’m supercool or something. Yeah. : )
Core Performance, Day 1
The Core Performance workout starts out fairly gently. The first day involved 12 minutes of what’s called ESD (Energy System Development), which is basically cardio. Verstegen doesn’t like that word, because he wants us to change the segmented way in which we look at fitness programs. I’ll go along with that.
For my ESD segment, I had to keep a heart rate somewhere in the 120 range by whatever means I wanted, for 12 minutes. I chose running around the apartment, doing jumping jacks, the one tae-bo move I know, and anything else that seemed to get me pumped up. It worked really well as I stayed within my heart rate rather well. I know it’ll be harder to get to the second zone, which is about 20 or more points higher, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out.
Fat Stuff
Following up on the discussion on the Glycemic Index, here’s what I know about fats. Dr. Weil talks loads about fats in his book, Eating Well for Optimum Health, and he gives you lots of the chemical details behind what I’ll tell you.
Fats are an important part of a healthy diet. They help fight off the body’s hunger instincts. They are partially responsible for the shine of your hair, the suppleness of your skin. And boy did they get a bad rap somewhere in the 80’s.
Crash Course in Blood Sugar
So here’s the thing. If you’re following the food suggestions in the Jorge Cruise plan, you’re doing something about the Glycemic Index thing without much knowing it. If you’re on South Beach, same thing. Atkins, yes, but in a weird indirect way. It’s about blood sugar.
I won’t go *super* into detail, but a fairly not bad site is The Glycemic Index Site . I prefer the way Dr. Weil explains it in Eating Well for Optimum Health, but lots of people get scared by that book because it’s kind of…well… sciency.