Today is a new beginning of sorts. Sure, I've been me for a long time now, 28 years if you count the day I was born or at least 10 since I've been the me I am now. I haven't changed much but the improvements I have made are for the better. It's time to improve again.
It started a few days ago when a random comment (that I'm not sure was even meant to sound the way that I took it) was made about me being a "big girl." Yeah, I know I'm overweight, I can joke about it, it doesn't run my life but for some reason I was sure other people didn't see that when they look at me. I was sure they would just think of me as this cool, fun woman and my size didn't even occur to them. It does. I should have known that it does. People in this day and age still can't see past appearance. "She's cool but she's overweight" or "the cute, fat girl." I'm not okay with being that. And I don't need to be that way anymore. I'm doing something about it.
Yesterday I'd already planned a reboot of my lifestyle change. It was Sunday (the day I always restart) and it also happened to be the 1st. Double whammy! Plus, where I live summer's over and my plus-sized ass can now work out without sweating like a pig and feeling like I might die. That's always a plus. I'll keep that as motivation to keep on this journey so that next summer I'm not sweating just sitting on my couch and I'll be able to do the outdoor things I avoid now that I'm too hot and uncomfortable to do them.
This morning I dropped the hubby off at work and came home to hit the elliptical. I did 30 minute circuits between the elliptical and weights. In each weight circuit I did abs, arms and legs. After half an hour had passed I moved on to doing zumba-esque moves on the floor in front of the fan. I kept my heart rate up and also cooled down my body. I checked my pulse and it was racing. Overall it wsa 45 minutes of a great workout. I adjusted my workout playlist so now I have one that is 45 minutes long and another that is 30.
Also yesterday I started the squat challenge again. If you don't know what that is then you really should look it up. I've done it once before (I think I got to 230/250 squats before quitting, what a waste) and my ass changed dramatically. It rose a good inch and was much rounder and less flat. This was in May and already it's mostly returned to being a dimply lard-filled mess again. After the challenge is over I plan to do 150 squats per day to maintain the results. I did 30 of the 55 or 60 I have do today while doing circuits.
I also started the plank portion of the abs challenge. I love doing planks because they are challenging without straining too much. When I did the entire ab challenge I only made it 10 days or so before I stopped. Ever since then I've had stomach problems. I'm not sure if they are related but I even had to be hospitalized for it without a resolution. I'd even had flare ups of the pain when I tried working out. It feels like a side stitch from working out too soon after eating so I did my workout this morning on an empty stomach and had no issues even though I did standing ab work.
I've read that if you work out on an empty stomach in the AM (which, admittedly for me is early PM) you burn stored fat because the body doesn't have carbs in your system to burn. I'm not sure about the science behind that but it sounds correct to me. And that way I won't get stomach pains, at least not today. Plus, it makes me feel less hungry. I've been done my workout for 2 hours now and I'm just starting to feel hungry.
Weather permitting (although not really because I'll still go unless it's downpouring) I will go for a walk with the hubby when he gets out of work at 9:00. It's a great time for us to talk and relax before the evening starts. He has the next two days off and I plan to go for walks with him and then do some weight lifting.
Next week is our vacation and we're going to the mountains. I also go into it wanting to do hikes but most are too physically challenging. I'm going to push myself but not go overboard. I will continue with the squats and planks challenge. I will take a walk/hike every day and eat better while still splurging a little because it's vacation.
