Working Out, Not Striking Out

Today was a cardio day.  Not that it's easy - it really isn't.  I do 20 minutes on the Nordic Track and go 2.5 kilometers.  Keeping a regular workout in my schedule is actually one of the most challenging aspects of my weight loss journey.  Tomorrow morning is weigh-in, however, so I was motivated to keep to my schedule.  I am weighing in once a week, as all the experts suggest, so that I don't focus on the little ups and downs through the week.

For example, yesterday afternoon my husband and I had to go to the supermarket.  We went at a horrible time, as I happened to be starving.  Something about the smell of food does that to me.  Anyway, our favorite Asian buffet is right around the corner, so we went to Lai Lai's for dinner.  I think I did pretty well not straying too far from my diet, but all those sauces have lots of hidden calories and carbs!  I wasn't feeling very good about myself at first, even though I didn't eat as much as I normally would and I really tried to choose wisely.  Then, I realized that this was the first time we had eaten out since I started on my diet plan and that the recommendation is to follow the 80/10/10 philosophy:  80% of the time follow your diet plan strictly.  10% of the time stray slightly, and 10% of the time FORGET IT.  I am putting last night's dinner in the 10% FORGET IT category, even though it wasn't that bad.

So, on the days that I don't do cardio, my husband has put together a full body workout for me. I start with 10 minutes on the Nordic Track to warm up.  Then I move to weights on the Bow Flex.  Each one of these exercises I do 3 sets of 10 repetitions.  I am upping my weights as I go and my strength returns.  First, I do bench presses.  Then I move to shoulder press.  Then triceps.  Rows are next.  Then lat pull downs, followed by bicep curls.  Then it's time for legs.  I do either leg presses or leg extensions, curls, and then calves.  Last thing I do are ab crunches.

The whole routine takes me about 40 minutes right now.  I am not lifting tons of weight.  As I told my husband, I don't want to look like a body builder, I just want to lose weight and tone my body!  Tomorrow I will get to see if I have made any progress this week.  Today, I will be sticking very closely to my diet.