Thursday, February 16, 2012

Should be doing (more) homework...

So I did finish my assignment quickly last night and then I rode the stationary bike for 40 minutes. It was at a low resistance but at a constant speed. I ended up burning like 356 calories :)

This morning I did a tiny bit of lifting (1 set, 10 reps, 8 lb weights of bicep curls, lateral raises, and the tricep one...) I just did it for fun but afterwards my muscles felt so warm and toasty... I loved it! And they are exercises I can do without Little Miss having a total cow. I think I will start lifting more frequently and, of course, more reps than just one. I was reading on some men's fitness site that if you do low impact lifting (such as what I did) then do higher impact cardio immediately afterwards, you will totally benefit from your boost in metabolism for the time immediately following the weight lifting. Thoughts on that, anyone? Is it true? I may not be able to do high impact cardio immediately following if my Lovely Little Lexi is around... Oh and speaking of the weights, I initially lifted one up because I have lost more than 8 pounds and I just wanted to know what 8 pounds felt like... Wow, it was actually a lot to just be carrying around.

Tonight I rode the stationary bike (from now on I'll just refer to it as "the bike"). But I only did 20 minutes while watching The Office with Devonn. I don't know if my muscles were just worn out from yesterday's ride, if it's because I can't mentally keep myself going as well while watching The Office (as opposed to Parenthood), or if it's because Devonn was in there (commenting about how it's hot when chicks work out... TMI?), but I was done with the bike after 20 minutes... DONE!

So, even though I know my weight loss will be dismal tomorrow morning, I'm happy because I feel good! I seem to have lost inches (even though myfitnesspal doesn't have a record of me recording them when I started this junk and I DO NOT remember what they were anyway...) I feel good about other aspects of life too. I have been so blessed to be able to balance all the necessary stuff. I'm earning A's in all of my classes this semester, the house has been livable, the laundry pile kept to a minimum, the kids well taken care of and snuggled all the time. I guess right now I just feel fulfilled and it's a great feeling.



PS- I do feel bad for my Biggest Loser partner- I thought I would be a force to be reckoned with because of my willpower. I totally didn't expect my body to wig out.

PPS- I am still concerned about the birth control- I missed one measly pill and all sorts of hell have broken loose. I hate it, I hate the continued cramping, I hate it all... Are there actual women out there with fully functioning reproductive organs until natural menopause? I need to meet one to shake her hand.

13 comments:

  1. My bike's one lazy day away from being turned into a coat rack here. I do wonder if my calorie counter is off. Everyone else seems to get consistently higher counts. 30 minutes at a good pace (18mph, according to my display) at a decent resistance (3-4 out of 10) and it says I only burned 150 if I'm lucky.

    Anyway, I've heard the same thing about lifting weights before cardio. Can't give any testimonials, but... I HAVE heard it said before (does that count? lol)

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  2. That's weird. I don't know how much you weigh so I guessed like 190. On MyFitnessPal, 30 minutes of stationary biking with a moderate effort is 302 calories burned. A light effort (which I wouldn't consider your effort light), is 237 calories burned. Usually, MFP is pretty accurate. I'm hoping to get a heart rate monitor sometime (though it probably won't be until April for my birthday- wah!)- a HRM should give me a much more accurate calories burned reading so I'll let you know if they match up.

    And yes- hearing about it DOES count! I just wanted to make sure the site wasn't completely yanking my chain.

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  3. It all depends on fuel and energy when it comes to the order of exercise. If you do high cardio before weight lifting, you may not have enough fuel and energy left for a good weight lifting session- and therefore can lose muscle overtime. If you use a lot of energy weight lifting, your cardio workout may not be what you want. So it comes down to what your body responds to and what you want to focus on most (heart rate vs muscle building).

    If you were to do both back to back, it's definitely smarter to weight lift first, at a low-impact, of course, as you mentioned. Another idea is to do a light cardio warm up (like 5-10 minutes), lift weights, do your cardio, then do a light cool-down.

    Or, as Jillian Michaels mentions, blend it all together as one. If you're strength training in intervals, not resting between each new set, you get your heart rate up, and are therefore getting cardio in at the same time.

    For me, I do cardio first, then do weight training. But I always eat a protein bar in between and take some time so I have enough fuel. Some days I reverse it, or I do them both on separate days. Like I said, it depends on what your body responds to- and by mixing it up, I see results. Anyway, that was long.

    As for stationary biking and calories, Carla's right. 150 for 30 minutes is really low. Gary does 30 minutes on level 3, and gets about 230-250 calories burned. I do 45 minutes on level 5 and can burn up to 450 calories. Our bike has a HRM, so we've done the math to make sure. MFP is right on.

    ANYway- great job on the exercise!! When you feel awesome like that, you're way less likely to make bad food choices. It just gets you totally pumped. That's awesome you've been keeping it up! You've got this.

    Sorry about the crappy BC and women problems. Never, ever fun. Hopefully things will get better with the improving health.

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  4. Have you tried Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, Emilee? I am seriously considering it. I've seen all these pictures of peoples' 30 Day Shred results on MFP, and HOLY COW, they look great when they're done!

    I also just found out that the lady who is hosting Biggest Loser is hosting two more 6-week competitions back to back after this one. I am totally doing it. I'm hoping to get Devonn to be my partner. The end of the final competition would be in the beginning of June. If I could keep up a 2-lb weight loss each week through the end, I would have lost a total of 30lbs. That would be AWESOME.

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  5. I haven't tried anything from her, but I've thought about it- considering how great she looks.

    Losing 30 lbs would be completely awesome for you. You should totally go for it and bring your hubby on board. Maybe Gary and I should consider something like that? It sounds like fun.

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  6. You guys could totally participate in the same one as us if you were willing to drive down to Bakersfield once in the beginning to weigh in and then once at the end of the competition. The more participating couples, the bigger the prize at the end :)

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  7. I've done the 30 day shred, its rough. I never even tried the 3rd section. My dad is actually doing it right now and he feels completely worked out when he's done. He's retired national guard. I actually might go buy it since I need something to do when I don't run. Good job Carla!!! Miss you:(

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  8. I miss you too, Alison! A lot! I might pick up 30 Day Shred today. How long is each workout session? Like 30 minutes or an hour?

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  9. 30 Day Shred is about... 25 minutes? Max? It's 18 minutes of actually working out with a brief warm up an cool down. The only problem is her "welcome video" you can't skip through at the start of the DVD, but if you pop it in before you change into your workout clothes, she should be done yapping by the time you come back out.

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  10. We should all start the 30 Day Shred together, lol.

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  11. That sounds awesome. But I know I will take longer than 30 days to complete it. If you're okay with that, I'm totally willing. I just have to buy it tomorrow or something. I would probably try to do the 30 Day Shred at least 3 days a week. I can't commit to more than that because I never know how it's going to go with homework and kids...

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  12. I'm not planning on doing it 30 days straight either. Actually, I was thinking of alternating it with my Tae Bo. I know Tae Bo gives me results, but tossing in the 30 Day Shred will keep me from getting bored with it, and vice versa. At the very least, we can whine together about how much it hurts, lol.

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  13. Sounds good to me. When do you want to start? Tomorrow is good or maybe Wednesday (Tuesdays are my long day at school). Or just whenever.

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