Man, am I PISSED. After several days of pain in my left foot, I did a little Internet searching and diagnosed myself with this. Grr. This really angers me. Here I go trying to do something good for myself and I end up hurting myself. I'm not even exercising that hard.
According to the Internet (hah), the best treatment is rest and ice packs, so I think I'm just going to stay off my feet for a while and see if that helps. My dumbass health insurance has $50 copays, and I'd rather not shell out the cash to have a podiatrist tell me the exact same thing.
Good news is, I can still continue to do my abs DVD, since most of it is done lying down.
Well, you know what they say. And you can probably guess what happened. The "kicked-up" workout program that I planned so carefully for this week didn't happen. I was kind of busy Monday doing stuff and then really had a lot to do Tuesday. I didn't do squat Monday, but managed to squeeze out 25 minutes on the treadmill Tuesday. Twenty-five reluctant minutes. I'm not going to beat myself up over it, though. What happened happened, and all I can do is look forward.
Today I did a 35-minute treadmill routine that I found in the latest edition of Shape and followed it up with the abs DVD. I may have to turn that one back in to Blockbuster Online and get a new abs workout. I'm getting a little tired of it.
In the week and a half that I've been exercising regularly, I've come to the realization that my current routine is not going to cut it if I want to achieve my fitness and weight goals. The standard 30-minute cardio routine is much talked about in magazines and on the Web, but I realize that a lot of this advice is geared towards people who have never exercised and people who are actually overweight (according to their BMI). Thirty minutes a day plus some strength moves probably will get you into a healthy weight range, if you stick with it and keep your diet reasonable.
But I'm not overweight. My BMI is 23.9 - within the healthy range but still on the high end of it. I've never gotten a scolding from a doctor about my weight, never been teased about it, never had problems with high blood pressure or anything like that. This whole journey that I've recently re-embarked on is meant to achieve my own personal goals. I used to be a size 6, and I want to get back to that. I want that small yet noticeable ring of fat around my hips and stomach to go away. It might be vain, but it's something I want.
That being said, I'm planning on upping my cardio and strength moves by a few minutes this week. The treadmill time will vary, but in general I plan to increase it from a half-hour to around 40 minutes. I'm going to try and get my hands on some new strength workout DVDs and add those to the mix. I have ankle weights, so maybe I can use those too. This all starts tomorrow. If my body tells me to stop, I'll take it back down. I'd just like to see what I'm capable of - after all, less than two years ago I was doing 60-minute sessions on the elliptical at the gym.
As my mother says, this is our year. It belongs to us and we can do what we want with it. I hope I can make the best of the time I've got in 2005 and finally follow through.
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
