My Fitness Journey: Dec 6, 2009

The class info is throughout the commentary in bold and numbered, just scroll down until you see rows of numbers.

If you just want to take a look at the workouts I'll do another post with just the workout stats and without the commentary once the week is done. Or just skip the ramblings and go for the bolded lines in this post.

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Sunday, 12/06/09, 2:18p

I am going to write in this post as the classes and week go by. My biggest challenge is going to be sleeping, actually.

I have a bit of a cold but I researched a bit and they say it's fine to exercise if all your symptoms are from the neck up... i.e. congestion, coughing, sore throat (I know, I know, they start in the chest, but are mostly manifested from the neck up). Symptoms from the neck down (i.e. upset stomach) mean skip the gym. I only have symptoms from the neck up, and mild at that. I've been exercising this week and this cold started around Wednesday. Fever is an immediate stop.

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Before we get started (well, I'm actually writing this on Thursday, but let's pretend), here's an explanation of what the numbers mean.

#1 MONDAY 9a Ann Zumba Michele 58/594/40, 163/86, 149/79 (32 oz water)

I keep track of times, location, and instructor for a few reasons. One day I will have a bunch of data for a spreadsheet and will be able to see trends; who gives more calories per minute, do I burn more in the day or at night, did I burn more on a Zumba class because of a new instructor or location? (I find that sometimes just taking a new class will spike up the calories just from the excitement).

The numbers right after the instructor are minutes, calories, and % fat burned. So the class lasted 58 minutes, I burned 594 calories, and 40% of those calories were fat (the rest were carbs and protein). My max heart rate was 163, or 86%, and my average heart rate was 149, or 79%.

I've kept daily track of these numbers for months now. I use a Polar Heart Rate Monitor. Getting a BodyBugg on 1/8!!

Now something important to note is that I burned 594 calories during that class, but I would have burned SOMEthing if I just laid in bed. I burn around 1.46 calories per minute at rest (based on current weight), so in 58 minutes I burn around 85 calories. So I subtract that from the 594 (what I call gross cals) and that yields 509 net cals, or what I burned extra because of the exercise. Since I calculate what I burn at rest weekly, this helps insure I don't double count calories burned.

MONDAY

Going to simplify the food and not cook this week. This is going to be my daily consumption. The protein bars and bananas will be for work and in-between classes.

1120 2 footlongs
700 4 protein bars
240 2 Bananas
2060 calories a day

Estimating 500 calories burned per class (it's going to be more than that and I will increase my consumption accordingly to hit 10k caloric deficit this week), that's 12k gross calories.

Based on 173 lbs, 2066 cals burned a day, 1.44 cals burned a minute at rest, 87 cals burned an hour at rest, 87*24 = 2088 I would burn in 24 hours at rest, taken from 12k, that's 12000 - 2088 = 9912 estimated net calories burned in those 24 classes.

Based on 173 lbs, estimating 14462 cals burned a week - 14210 daily consumtion + 9912 net cals burned = 10164

I pretty much plan to eat what I burn at rest and rely on exercise alone for my caloric deficit this week, whatever that is. It's going to be 8000-10000.

Getting excited !! Got thermometer in hand and am monitoring my temperature regularly. Perfect so far. And the cold seems to be getting better.

By the way, I don't go halfsies on class. I give my all in each class. I'm not going to cheat and lazy my way through the classes, I'm going full force on each one.

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These are the people that are going to make the magic happen!!
(by the way, I work the regular 40-hours this week).

MONDAY

Protein bar at work CHECK
Protein bar right before Zumba CHECK

Right before Zumba - feeling awesome, temperature completely normal, all full of energy and ready to go to class 1 of 24. And it's ZUMBA, my favorite class. Awesome.

#1 MONDAY 9a Ann Zumba Michele 58/594/40, 163/86, 149/79 (32 oz water)

Some classes will give more than 500 and some less. But it should even out to 500 per class. Pilates, Yoga, 3 lifts, and 3 45-min classes should yield an average of 370 or so, and all the other classes should be over 500.

One down, 23 to go. I may just be able to pull this off. It's chipping away slowly as a stone slab and making something appear. 45 minutes until I have to leave for Lift. This Sunday I have to do something and can't take any classes so I'm squeezing them into six days.

Protein bar right before Lift CHECK

#2 MONDAY Noon Agassi 24Lift Wendy 56/398/55, 142/75, 122/65 (16 oz water)

Sub (CHECK)
Sleep 2-5p CHECK (more like just over 2 hours, but happy I got to sleep)
Banana CHECK

#3 MONDAY 5.30p Sahara Zumba Pam B. 39/386/40, 164/87, 147/78 (32 oz water)

Banana CHECK

#4 MONDAY 7p 24HF TurboKick Nicola 54/459/50, 152/80, 135/71 (16 oz water)

Sub CHECK
Protein bar CHECK

Right after Nicola. I am feeling it. I had such a good workout at 24Lift that my muscles are all achy. But a good achy. Definitely better to keep eating throughout the classes and I think the banana is a wonderful mid-classes meal. Tired but good. I may just get through this. The harder it gets the more I want to do it. Muscles only hurt when I move them, so that's good, I get my roller massager Wednesday, that should help.

I'm a bit under 500 calories per class but today was my only 45-minute class of the week and I had a Lift, which is always lower calorie. Two more lifts, a Pilates, and two Yogas are my low-calorie classes, and that leaves 15 high-intensity cardio classes to make it up. I think I will hit the 12k gross calories burned.

Brain functions better if I feed it in-between classes, especially carbs. And sleep is always good.

I usually do over 500 in TKB, so my performance did suffer a bit. But it all averages out.

MONDAY NIGHT - tomorrow should be fairly easy. Two classes, then a good 4 hours of sleep, then two more with an hour in-between. I should do around 1850 calories tomorrow since I have Pilates.

Slept about half an hour more on Monday night before going to work. It really does zap your energy. Now I know what the meaning of exhaustion is, but a level of exhaustion you can feel in your bones. Cold (the sniffles kind) is I think better. It's not worse, that's for sure.

Did well on my water, 96 oz for the day.

It was a miserable day. It rained and rained and rained. Wendy told me about Pam teaching Zumba Monday nights so I decided to make that a class. I've gone to that location a couple of times before but missed the gym because of the dark and the rain but finally got there after a U-turn and a kind driver-by. Took me 10 more minutes than usual (almost 40 minutes). Dark and wet, not like Las Vegas at all.

Planning food for tomorrow.

Throughout the night at work: It's weird how I can feel my body "healing" throughout the night. I had some neck pain a couple of weeks ago (I go to the gym an average of 10-12 hours a week and where do I hurt my neck? Sleeping) and could feel the pain slowly going away at work. Tonight I can feel my body slowly coming back to full force. Can't wait for TKB now to go all out. Both of them. But by Donalin's I'll probably be exhausted again so I'll have to make Kathy's count. On Wednesday I have to get to Sports Authority and get me a gel seat for the two cycle classes on Thursday. I took one spin class and I couldn't sit well for a week. I think I would enjoy it more and go more if I had a gel seat. Might as well pick up the barbell padding and wrist supports for 24Lift at the same time. I have a Mongoose bike I bought back in 1999 that has an excellent frame, before Mongoose went Huffy. New tires and good as new. Once I get in a bit better shape I want to do beginner bike trails. There's quite a few in Las Vegas.

Now I'm not worried that I can do this. Now I'm worried that I'm going to want to do it again. I won't be able to do it for a while because of other stuff I have to do like errands and such, but maybe once every couple of months. To switch it up next week I was planning on taking as many "new" instructors as I could. I reached the saturation mark - more instructors I like than classes I can comfortably take a week (just because of time constraints... 12 is about a good number I can take a week and have time for everything else). And I haven't tried everybody. So I'll start rotating people. But I want to try everybody at least once. I'm taking seven new people this week, which now that I count it is quite a lot.

I don't think I can emphasize enough what a journey of discovery this is. It's discovering your true self, basically. It's pushing yourself. It's different if you have been skinny before and got overweight. But if you're never been skinny, you're entering undiscovered territory. I've lost 42 lbs so far. In 2004 I lost 47.5 lbs doing the South Beach Diet - NO exercise. And gained it all back. So weight-loss-wise, I'm almost at the same point. But I started at 230 lbs then and went to 182.5 lbs. So I've never been at my current weight (well, maybe when I was ten). Physically I can do things I've -never- been able to do before. There's a huge difference between doing things you haven't been able to do in years and doing things you've never been able to do before. It's one thing if you're talking about visiting Europe, and another when it comes to how you're able to move and what you can physically do. I'm like a kid with a new toy. I want to use it, I want to see what it can do, I want to take it through all its functions. THAT'S the WHY in the why am I doing this. There's a bit of regret I didn't start this when I was 14 or so, but it's overshadowed by the world of possibilities that just opened up to me.

Am I overdoing it? Define overdoing it. I just think I'm doing it to the max. I'll be the first one to throw in the towel if I bite more than I can chew. If I push my body more than it can take, all it will do is break and THEN I'll be missing the gym for a while. So for me it's better to miss a day or two or four than be sidelined for weeks. I hurt my neck sleeping so I skipped a day at the gym. I hated it, but would have hated missing a week more. There are things you can do that will go a LONG WAY towards letting you push your body beyond what it regularly does. Sleeping, drinking lots of water, and feeding it a lot of good calories, especially in-between classes. And all these are changes I've done by doing it wrong the first time.

Do you get the feeling sometimes that you KNOW your life is changing, but you don't really have a grasp on the magnitude of the change and it's one of those things that will just become apparent years later?

Early Tuesday morning. Getting better and better. Ready to go full force on TK. Two protein bars so far, waiting until 8a or so for the third, and then the fourth and last protein bar in-between classes.

At work: PROTEIN BAR + PROTEIN BAR ///// CHECK and CHECK

PROTEIN BAR CHECK

#5 TUESDAY 9a 24HF TurboKick Kathy T. 56/561/40, 166/88, 146/77 (32 oz water)

BANANA CHECK

#6 TUESDAY 10a 24HF Pilates Rachel 55/273/60, 135/71, 106/56 (32 oz water)

1/2 SUB CHECK

1p to 4p - sleep

1/2 SUB

12:20p TUESDAY - Feeling pretty good, actually. I'm a quarter of the way done and will be a third of the way done by the end of the day. This is easier than I thought. Cold holding steady, no fever. A little fatigued. Area right above knees sore (lower part of quads) but I think that's all the way from Sunday. That's about the only soreness I have, and it's not too bad. I definitely will be doing this again. Constant feeding, watering, and sleeping definitely does help.

#7 TUESDAY 6.30p Craig Turbokick Donalin 57/531/40, 166/88, 141/75 (16 oz water)
#8 TUESDAY 7.30p Craig Yoga Rabeeyah 56/187/60, 112/59, 94/50 (16 oz water)

BANANA (CHECK)

SUB (CHECK)

TUESDAY NIGHT: A third of the way through. Feel good. Nothing particularly sore, legs back at full force, another day of rest before Lift on Thursday. Pleased with TK results today, second one was almost as high calorie-wise as first one, which is great.

Hate Yoga. Took it three years ago or so and hated it. Took it today and hated it. I just don't like Yoga. I'm going to try and see if I can get rid of the other two Yoga classes this week and shift things around, if I can't replace them to get 24 classes I may be stuck. I think I'm definitely going to switch one for Connie's Zumba and try to weasel out of the other one. I just really hate Yoga. Karen's highly recommended (not the instructor I had today) by more than one person so next week I will go to her class but if I still hate it, that's it for Yoga. Hate it hate it hate it hate it.

Stats so far: 8 classes, 7 hours 6 minutes, 3389 calories. I should have been at 4000 calories, so I will adjust the eating. That's 611 calories less than forecasted (thanks to a sub-200 Yoga and a low Lift and Pilates), times three it's 1833, divided by 5 it's about 367 less calories a day, 2060 - 367 = 1693 calories a day for the rest of the week. Will re-calculate after 8 more classes, and try to have the total caloric deficit right around 10k.

Zumba day tomorrow. Awesome. Can't wait!! Another 4-class day, no biggie. Off to see if I can replace the 8a Yoga. Did I mention I hate Yoga?

Edit Goodbye Yoga, Hello Cycle!!

Modified diet:

4 protein bars (720)
3 bananas (360)
3 egg wraps (600)

1680 calories. Will do tomorrow's eating schedule later today. (Edit: Done).

I drank 16 oz of water at work before midnight, so that's 7 16-oz water bottles or 112 oz, beating the 96 oz I had yesterday. So yesterday I drank 6 lbs of water and today I drank 7. I actually weighed a bottle of water a couple of months ago, 16 oz is 1 lb. I had reached a milestone, 173 lbs. Milestone because at 174lbs I went from Obese to Overweight. But since then I went up to 175.5lbs. They keep telling me it's because of all the water I started drinking (from 32-48 oz to 96-100+ oz) and because I started doing the weights. I did three things with the weights. 1. I separated them so I have one and two days in between and no days in a row. I increased my daily intake from 1100 (eating just when I was hungry) to 1600, and 3. I doubled the weights and have set it up so that I get exhausted before the timer runs out. So far I think I notice a difference after three lift days. I think this is going to be good.

I'll take a little detour and write some musings about the group fitness classes. As part of the New Member Rewards program to get a free Body Bugg, I wrote this about my first Group X class:

Submit Date: 2009-09-02
Date Attended: 2009-09-01 09:00:00
Class Type: Cardio
Class Name: Turbo Kick Box
Instructor's Name: The class schedule says Kelly, I didn't ask her name.
Attend Again?: Yes
Like to See: I was very impressed with my first class (I joined 24HF two months ago). I didn't know it was going to be this much fun. I plan to try out all the available classes and this first one is definitely going to be a keeper. I'd love to see just any other class, because the more the variety, the better it is. I love that's there's resistance training classes.

Tuesdays at 9a is now a regular slot for me with Kathy, so that means there was a sub that day. I've tried to lose weight before, and one of those times I went to a group class and was so out of shape I didn't go back and it was a horrible experience. This time around, I did some cardio and weights on my own and a DVD at home during July and August, and that built me up a bit. I don't know if it was that or the instructor or new classes or a combination of everything, but I've been hooked on Group X classes from day 1. From the first second. And I wonder if I had had a different instructor or had tried a different class first whether things might have been different. I think I found Kelly, at least I found A Kelly that has subbed at Cheyenne, she's going to check if it was her. That Kelly that taught that day and Group X classes in general may have saved my life, literally. I was just looking at picturs at my heaviest weight and I don't ever remember being that fat and pudgy and soft. How did I ever get that big? I looked fatter than I remember or felt. I don't like cardio or doing weights outside of GX classes and honestly I don't think I would have stuck with it. Group X classes are the one thing that have worked for me exercise wise. I look forward to going to the gym. I hate it when I have to skip a day. How powerful is that, that one person can change another person's life so dramatically for the better?

I thought about becoming a Group X instructor, but I don't think I'm going to do it for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, while I don't freak out in public, I don't particular enjoy having a bunch of people looking at me at the same time. I don't mind being part of a crowd, but I don't want to be the center of attention of a crowd. I have horrible stage fright. And I guess I could get over that and get used to it, but I like to just go and have FUN and not have to worry about anything but follow the person in front of me. It's relaxing and I have a great time. I think that would change if I became an instructor. So I decided to just keep taking them.

I HAVE thought about becoming a personal trainer, and this I will be giving some more thought. Here are some of my thoughts on personal trainers. There are a lot of trainers who they themselves transformed their bodies, so they recommend that same program to other people. And people go to trainers to be given a program. I'm not like that. I studied and read and learned and researched and little by little started learning stuff (for example, did you know muscles retain water after being worked out? I had no idea... learned that yesterday and I've been working out for over five months). I came up with an exercise and nutrition regime. It seems to work for me. So when I go to a trainer, I want them to be a background player, not front and center. I want them to examine my exercise and nutrition logs and results and tweak to make it even better and make suggestions and assess my strengths and weaknesses and suggest ways to work on my weaknesses. I want them to ask why I resist some advice, what has worked for me in the past and now, and what hasn't. This time around the one thing I made sure I did was not repeat things that hadn't worked in the past. Taking group classes the first day, for example. And another thing that has hugely helped is that I modified exercises in class to adapt to whatever my current level was/is. In Lift I'd do alternate exercises that work out the same muscle group. Now that I'm in better shape I tend to take it up a notch sometimes from what the rest of the class is doing and no one seems to mind... i.e. adding jumps to the exercise. I like that I can tailor the workout. So a trainer should work for the client, not have the client just come and follow their program. It's funny because I still am fat so I think a lot of people dismiss what I have to say about exercise and health.

I do try not to be preachy. There's nothing that makes me better than anyone else, so I haven't and I would never come out and tell a person with some extra weight what to do. Even when I'm asked directly I just tell people to try different things and do what works for them. There is ONE thing that I WILL preach about. Whatever you do, do something that's FUN for you. Exercise SHOULD BE FUN. There are SO MANY ways to lose weight, don't do what "should" be done or the "right" way to lose weight. There IS no right way. Machines, running, sports, group classes. Do what works FOR YOU. And HAVE FUN. If you have fun, you will continue it, and you will lose the weight. Don't exercise in a way that's boring for you. That is the one rule I have about fitness.

I was at the bank today and there was a heavy woman dragging around a chair with her to the teller window. I wanted to know if she had health and medical issues, if she had any preexisting medical conditions, but mostly, I thought it was sad and I wanted to help. For someone with mobility issues water-based fitness would probably be a good start. Or just food manipulation at the beginning. I want everybody to be thin, but there's nothing separating me from them and I've been overweight 31 years, so I keep it to myself. But it's thoughts like these that make me think something fitness-related is in my future. There's a way to work around any obstacles and get the results wanted. I don't understand motivation. Why did I lose weight now? I don't know. I don't know why I stuck with it now. I don't know what motivated me. And since I don't know what motivated me I don't know how to bottle it and spread it around.

AT WORK: PROTEIN BAR X 3 CHECK

WEDNESDAY MORNING: All ready to go, no fatigue and no soreness. I'm going to forego the gel seat just because I don't have time to get one. I'm going to start going to cycle classes and hopefully I just get used to the seat.

PROTEIN BAR CHECK
#9 WEDNESDAY 8a Ann Cycle Dallas 56/491/45, 458/84, 136/72 (16oz water)
PROTEIN BAR CHECK
#10 WEDNESDAY 10a Sahara Zumba Michelle R. 54/538/40162/86, 145/77 (32 oz water)
BANANA CHECK
#11 WEDNESDAY Noon 24HF Zumba Nicola 55/475/50, 149/79, 134/71 (16 oz water)
2 CHEESE WRAPS CHECK

#12 WEDNESDAY 6.30p Craig Zumba Donalin 54/505/45, 158/84, 141/75 (32 oz water)
BANANA X 2 CHECK

Rest of the day and night - sleep

1760 calories.

Some calculations first and then on to the commentary. Monday+Tuesday 2060 calories and today 1760 calories. Total 5880.

2066 calories burned a day. That's 14462 for the week. If I eat 2000 the rest of the week, that's 8000+5880 or 13880. 582 caloric deficit. To hit 10k, that means I need 9418 more calories.

Numbers so far. 12 classes, 643 minutes, 5398 gross calories, 4459 net calories. 9418 - 4459 = 4959 more.

I have the following 13 classes left:
Zumba X 4
TurboKick X 3
Lift X 2
Cycle X 3

Assuming Lift gives me 350 calories and everything else gives me 500, that's 5850 - (1.46*(12*60)) = 4798

4959 - 4798 = 161 caloric surplus. Going to eat 2000 on Thursday-Sunday and adjust Sunday what I need to hit 10k, which shouldn't be more than 100-200 calories.

So this morning I did my second cycling class and it was absolutely wonderful and invigorating and gave me a great high. And I wasn't sore afterwards. There's two outcomes to working muscles. You're either sore after class and slowly get better or are not sore after class and then wake up in agony the next day. I'd rather be sore right away.

So I drove to the other gym for Zumba and I got there early, and the instructor came out and invited me in for the last 10 minutes of abs. As soon as I started working out my abs and legs, I felt it. A lot.

Zumba was good. Then drove over to the other gym for the second of three Zumbas for today. I wasn't able to hit 500. I was just beat. But I got close enough. I'm starting to feel fatigued. Just one more class today and then sleep A LOT tonight. I think in 4 hours I'll be rested enough for the class.

Cycling was just amazing and I plan to make it a regular class. It is a great workout and it was FUN and LOUD and INVIGORATING.

Doing good on water, 64 oz so far, 32 more with Donalin should put me at 96. If I drink 96 oz a day (6 lbs), at the end of the six workout days I would have drank 36 lbs of water. I shudder to look at my weight. I keep hoping I'm not getting fatter and it's just all water weight. I think I'm back to obese because of the extra water. Hopefully it stabilizes sooner or later.

Definitely feeling the fatigue now. But Monday and Tuesday were my barely sleep days, and the rest of the week are my sleep a lot days. That should help a lot. So far haven't broken any of my rules. Cold holding steady, no fever.

HALFWAY !!!!!!!!!!
12 classes, 643 minutes, 5398 gross calories, 4459 net calories.

I estimated 6000 gross calories but Yoga, Pilates, and Lift brought me down. Not by much, though. I thought Zumba and Kickbox would give me closer to 600 but they've been giving me around 500. Happy with that, though. Performance HAS to suffer as you add classes to it, but I'm happy with the numbers I'm left with.

5 classes, then 4, then 3, ten off Sunday. Tomorrow is the biggie. But one of them is Lift. I should be ok. It's three classes then two. Just noticed how it's TK Zumba Lift Zumba TK. I've taken five classes once before and had a major energy crash afterwards but I hadn't slept for 24 hours and didn't eat between classes. Changing that this time. Sleeping a lot tonight, then eating a good breakfast, taking some bananas with me to munch in-between classes, and drinking plenty of water. Friday and Saturday shouldn't been too hard. This has been a blast. The working out has been a piece of cake, it's the scheduling that's a nightmare.

Slept a couple of hours before tonight's Zumba and that helped a lot, got rid of the fatigue, so I'm thinking the fatigue from last time was just the lack of sleep. Was all refreshed for Zumba tonight (but still only pulled 500 which means energy only goes so far). Felt a lot better than at Nicola's Zumba, though, after that rest.

After this I ran out of ideas how to spice up the workouts. I guess next up will just be going harder on the classes. Still feeling the rush from cycling this morning. I'm going to take up mountain biking soon (beginner trails). My muscles are asking for some Lift. They're ready to rip it up tomorrow. Had a couple of days without weights and now they're antsy. I noticed that Zumba really uses the leg muscles, though. I can definitely feel them during Zumba.

I'm really happy with the difference in the cycle class. Everything has been so gradual that I'm sure I'm in better physical shape than when I started but taking two spin classes a couple of months apart really showed the physical progress.

THURSDAY MORNING - about to start my "hard" day. I've done Rachel/Connie/Rachel and Nicola/Wendy before, just not in the same day. And I've done five classes in a single day before. So nothing new. I did sleep about eight hours yesterday, so I'm all refreshed. Had some Egg Beaters and a Flatout Bread Light. Going to eat three protein bars and take one after each of the first three classes it and then do bananas for the other two, because I want a lot of protein for Lift.

Not too sore. We spent most of the bike time off the seat so that doesn't hurt a whole lot. I have some soreness right above my knees in the lower part of my quads. Do feel a little tired, but maybe it's just because I just woke up less than an hour ago.

I stopped doing Lift for 2-3 weeks because I wanted to do a split-muscle-groups weights routine at home but never got around to it so I re-introduced Lift last Thursday, and I doubled up on the weights. I also started drinking 96+ oz of water a day this week. So I had reached a low of 173lbs (and below the 174lbs threshold for Obese) and all of that ballooned me to 178 lbs. Finally going down again, 176.5 lbs now. So water CAN make you obese!! (wink)

Just waiting for the water to normalize and the scale to show the work I've put in this week. Although I increased the eating to keep it at the same caloric difference than other weeks because it's not about losing weight this week but just about doing the classes and building my body up enough to get through them without a problem.

Off to TurboKick!

Egg Beaters and Flatout Bread Light
#13 THURSDAY 9a Agassi TurboKick Rachel 55/535/45, 161/85, 144/76
PROTEIN BAR
#14 THURSDAY 10:30a Craig Zumba Connie 44/411/45, 155/82, 141/75
PROTEIN BAR
#15 THURSDAY Noon 24HF 24Lift Rachel 59/377/60, 139/74, 116/61
PROTEIN BAR

FOOTLONG SUB (turkey breast on wheat, same sub I've been having all week, 560 calories).

So far so good. Just two more classes. Got a nice little break right now. I noticed during TK and Zumba that my leg kind of gave up a little and I had to do a double step. Good to know, I'm going to have to watch it this afternoon. It underscores the difference between energy and physicality. You can be full of energy and still have problems moving.

Cold's still the same. But I haven't really felt it, so from now on if I have any neck-up colds, I'm going to work out through them. I barely feel the cold while working out.

15 down, 9 to go. I may very well do this. Body's holding up well. Other than the effects from the cycle class, nothing really hurts. I'm really enjoying Lift with the extra weight, and I feel great afterwards, I feel strong. I think I can see a difference after one week. Doing 30 for squats and 20 for everything else. When I started I was doing 5 total for everything. I think I feel my legs tightening up. I think I'm going to be stuck at the weight I'm on for a couple of weeks and once my body stops retaining water I'm going to lose like 8 lbs or so and show the results of the work I'm putting in now. Couple of hours rest before the next class.

Still waiting for weight to stabilize from the water. 5 lbs/80 oz so far today, and least 48 more oz to go.

#16 THURSDAY 4:30p 24HF Zumba Nicola 56/523/45, 153/81, 140/74
#17 THURSDAY 5.30p 24HF TurboKick Wendy 54/384/55, 142/75, 122/65
Can't remember how many oz of water but at least 16oz each, so let's call it 32oz water for both.

Rest of day and night - sleep

THURSDAY NIGHT - finally felt it during Wendy's. The back of my lower knee hurts when I extend it, hoping rest tonight will take care of it, so I dropped the kicks and left it at just knees. Hope my body holds out. I want to compare Wendy with my fifth class of the day last week.

Monday 7p 24HF TurboKick Nicola 56/442/55, 141/75, 126/67

7.89 calories a minute vs. 7.11 calories a minute. So I did worse this week. But let's compare the day's tally.

Last week: 251 minutes, 2401 calories. This week: 268 minutes, 1930 calories. Last week I had Zumba, BodyCombat, Everlast, Zumba, and TurboKick, and this week TurboKick, Zumba, Lift, Zumba, TurboKick. So the Lift will necessarily be lower. But I think the performance suffered even further because I'm 17 classes into the week as opposed to fresh out last week Monday. Still worse than I expected, 471 less calories. If you add 200 calories to the Lift, about 271 less calories if classes were about equal. So I guess this does take a toll on the body.

I felt better this time around, though. Last week on Monday my joints hurt, especially my ankles. Not so much this week, just the knee. I made sure to eat between classes and drink plenty of water and sleep and that helped a lot.

Four more tomorrow, three on Saturday, and that's it.

Food for today - 2 subs 1120, 2 bananas 240, 3 protein bars 540, egg wrap 200 = 2100.

So far for the week: 5880+2100 = 7980. Burned so far: 7628 gross calories in 909 minutes, or 6300 netcals. 2066 cals burned at rest.

2066 * 7 = 14462 + 6300 - 10000 (goal net caloric deficit) - 7980 = 2782 surplus. So in the next three days I can eat 2782 calories plus whatever I burn to hit 10k caloric deficit, and I have seven classes left, so I'm good.

#18 FRIDAY 5.30 Ann 24Cycle Kerri 55/415/55, 148/78, 126/67 (16oz water)

FRIDAY MORNING in-between classes. So I was on the bike this morning and I realized I have NO PAIN on my left knee. None and all. I can kick, I can extend, I even try to make it hurt and NOTHING, NO PAIN at all. It's amazing how the body can fully recuperate with eight hours of sleep. It is like night and day (literally). So nothing is sore right now, other than feeling some effects from the seat in cycling class. But if I start taking it 2-3 times a week every week it HAS to get better. Right? Right?? Get to have Dallas again within the hour. Dallas yells a lot. She's completely awesome. If someone yells a lot that just makes me want to break out yelling too. I'm thinking of making her Wednesday and Friday 8a classes regular classes. Today's class was different in that we did a lot of Intervals (different instructor) but Dallas just yells a lot, and that just makes her classes more full of energy.

I was thinking of doing this starting next week:
3 X Lift (est. 1050 calories)
3 X Cycle (est. 1200 calories)
1 X Pilates (est. 200 calories)
1 X Yoga (not even going to bother with the monitor)
The rest will be Zumba and TurboKick.

So that's 1050 + 1200 + 200 = 2450 - about 700 calories burned at rest, ==1750.

I burn about 2089 calories at rest or about 14623, and if I eat 1600 calories a day that's 11200 a week, with a deficit of 3423. Adding the 1750, that is 5173. To get to 10k that means I need about 10 cardio classes a week, coupled with those 8, that'd be about 18 classes a day, or 2 a day and four days of three a day. That would give me a great weekly workout. And I stay a lot for two-fers and three-fers, so that saves on time.

Off to cycle, will write more later.

#19 FRIDAY 8a Ann 24Cycle Dallas 58/511/45, 158/84, 138/73, 32 oz water
#20 FRIDAY 10a Agassi Zumba Pam B. 60/578/45, 162/86, 144/76

20 classes down, 4 to go. One today and three tomorrow. Checked temperature again and it's normal. Still have a cold but I got to say this is the most enjoyable head cold I've ever had. I've barely felt it. Other than the sniffling I wouldn't even notice I have a cold.

I was just thrilled with today's Zumba numbers. That's my highest caloric count of the week. Two things contributed to it: Taking it with an awesome instructor, and taking it next to someone I know. It just pushes you to that extra level when there's people you know around you. It elevates your spirits. The class was an absolute blast. So class #20 of the week, I had five classes yesterday, this was the third class of the day within the last five hours, and I still managed those numbers. Never underestimate the power of people.

Body's good. Holding out great. I got the spirit and the heart covered, but if the body doesn't hold up, something like this doesn't work. So I'm just thrilled that I can push my body like this and it keeps up.

I've been thinking about motivation lately. People around me (which have been very supportive, I may add... family, people at the gym, people at work, people I met through Facebook and I've never met in real life) keep congratulating me on the job I'm doing. But when they do that I feel like a faker. Because I've chosen to lose weight other times in my life and failed. But this time I didn't choose to lose weight. This wasn't a choice. I just woke up one day and started going to the gym. Didn't decide to go to the gym. Went to the gym. And I think that's a huge difference. There's no choice involved in this. This is not a choice. It's not hard. It's not difficult. It's not hard work. It's a blast and it's fun. So I can't really take credit for something I see myself as not having chosen. What makes one person do something that another won't? What motivates people? Why would someone not do something at one point in their life but they do in another?

I went through some major life changes recently (other than the eating/exercising), and that changed something in me that gives me the feeling that I'm going to do something sometimes. I KNOW I will do something, I don't think I will. I'm not going to try to do 24 classes this week. I'm going to do 24 classes this week. And I just do. It's not a choice, it's just an action. There's been a few things like that lately.

3 protein bars (one before each class), 2 egg wraps, 940 calories so far. Sub, protein bar, and egg wrap will put me at 1880 for the day.

Loving the cycling classes. Starting next week I'm going to do something like:
3 X cycle
3 X lift
1 X Pilates
3 X Zumba
3 X TurboKick

And en extra Zumba or TurboKick. About two classes a day. I want to start mountain biking and hiking soon. I learned about shoe clips today that clip to the bike. I don't go as fast as I could because I'm scared of my feet flying off the pedal harnesses. Going to get some of those biking shoes. And I need some gloves, my hands are already getting calloused after three biking classes. And a gel seat.

Off to bed until 5p.

#21 FRIDAY 5:45p Craig Zumba Donalin - Argh, forgot my heart rate monitor strap. So no stats. But it was a good class, going to call it 500 calories. (32 oz water)

8-10 sleep

21 down, 3 to go. One last hurrah. At least they're all at the same club, I think I spent an extra tank of gas driving this week.

Nothing hurts. Body feels good. I can almost touch my feet with my legs extended (which is good, means I'm getting more flexible). I've noticed a phenomenon twice. Exercise does give you a high. But too much exercise in a row can give you a crash like a sugar crash. I experienced it first last week on Monday when I took five classes in a row. And again today. But at least it waited until after Zumba to hit me full force. Now I have all night at work to recover. So far this has been a very enjoyable experience.

SATURDAY MORNING:

Three more classes to go. Nothing hugely sore, just a little ache here and there. My obliques are feeling it this morning. I think I did a lot of core work staying up on the bike. But I'm positive I can last through three more classes, so my body is holding up!! I feel lucky that I have been allowed to go through this experience. I didn't go through this experience, I was allowed to go through this experience, by whoever or whatever it is that lets life happen.

I can't underscore what a wonderful journey of discovery this has been. I've been blessed that I've been allowed to experience this. At the beginning I naively thought that I could go through this unchanged, but I should have been more specific. I hope my core doesn't change (beliefs, morality, etc.) but you can't go through an experience like this (losing weight in general) unchanged. As I've mentioned before, I've never been thin. I've never been a normal weight. I've been overweight and obese all of my life, mostly obese. So this is undiscovered territory for me. And you do change, and people around you change, and you have to adapt to a new way of life.

I feel blessed for what I have been given. I joke that I take instructors and not classes, and I mean it. I don't take Zumba, TurboKick, Lift, Cycle. I take Rachel, Kathy, Donalin, Dallas, Pam, Michelle, Michele, and so on and so forth. Something happened at the gym. I was accepted. We live in a society where fat is bad, where fat is lazy, unmotivated. Mothers point to fat people and tell their kids this is what they will become if they eat too many sweets.

But these people embraced me when I was down and fat and out of shape and gave me the greatest present of all: Life. It's one of those things that happens in your life that takes years to finally show the enormity of it all. Did I just avoid a heart attack in 20 years? Did they just give me 30 extra years of life? Did they give me 10 extra years of mobility? I feel I was given a gift unconditionally and unselfishly, and they are the only thing that could ever make get up there and teach a class. I feel an obligation to give back what I have been given, to pass it on, to spread it around. How do you even begin to thank someone for transforming your life? How many lives does it take to have made a difference in the world? Five? Ten? How about just one? How many people can say that the world is different because of them, that it's a better place? Well, at least seven. I didn't do this. I was given this. I was gifted this. And the one thing I can hope for is to emerge on the other side humble, thankful, and stronger. People tell me how inspired they are because of what I'm doing. I'm not doing anything. I'm being allowed to go through this experience. And I am enjoying each second of it. I don't understand it. Why am I here and others are not? Why were others here and I was not? Why did it take 31 years? I don't know.

Something happened a few months ago, about three weeks into the Group X classes. I had lost about 15 lbs so far or so. I fainted twice in the shower. Here's a tip: if you faint, STAY DOWN for 15 minutes or so. I'd never fainted before so I wasn't sure what was going on and when I fainted the first time I was already dragging myself back up by the time I realized what I was doing, and then I went down again. I think it was the second time that I hit my head. I was on the other end of the tub, the water was somehow off, and a bunch of stuff was on top of me. I also chipped my front tooth in the back, but you'd only notice it if I pointed it out to you. Went to the hospital and had a bunch of tests done: CAT Scan, chest X-ray, blood sugar, EKG, bloodwork. Everything was normal. Turns out that if you take a hot bath and stand up too quickly, the blood rushes from your chest to your extremities and the heart runs out of blood to pump. So the heart lets the brain know and the brain shuts everything off and plop, down you go. Circulation is restored. Perfect. Except if you hit something on the way down. I wonder if I still weighed those extra 15 lbs whether I would have suffered a fatal blow to the head. I'll never know. Is this the first of many times my weight saves my life?

I really think everything is happening right on schedule. I believe that life is pre-determined choice, however oxymoronish that sounds. I don't know how it works yet, but that's how I believe life works. I've gone to group classes before, and after the first class I wouldn't go back because I'd feel fat, out of shape, and horrible. I had many first times. This time I avoided group classes at the beginning specifically to shield myself from having that experience again. I started doing the cardio and weight machines for a little over two months. Then for 2-3 weeks I stayed home and did fitness DVDs. Then I went to my first Group X class on 9/1/09 and was completely and unequivocally hooked. From the first second. I don't think I would have stuck with this if it wasn't for the Group X classes. I hate the cardio and weight machines and the classes are ALL I do at the gym. But I think the machines and DVDs built me up enough for it. And I think taking 5 classes last week Monday prepared me for the 24 classes this week. And I think it's fate that I took 24 classes this week. I tried Cycling when I first started Group X classes in September and wasn't hooked. Didn't go back. I only took cycling classes this week to build up to the 24, because I couldn't find other classes to take. And I was hooked from the first second this time around. Maybe the 24 classes were the only way I would take a cycling class again and maybe that's what I needed to do at this point in time. Pre-determined choice. Perfect timing. Fate. Destiny. I'm just tagging along for the ride.

I wanted to comment a bit on my food logs. I write them down just to have them on record. It's not to show people how they should eat (pretty much if you've gotten ANYthing out of what I write, is that each person should find their own way...and if you didn't, there it is spelled out). For one, I don't eat vegetables. Never have my entire life. So I didn't set out to eat as healthy as possible. I set out to eat as healthy as I could, with who I am, what I have, what I can do, where I am right now. This is as good as I can do it right now. And I think that's basically why it has worked. I'm eating in a way that is decently healthy and I worked it to fit me. This is not a fad diet, this is a way I can eat for life. Same with the exercise. I built something that fits me. And I'm always looking for stuff to learn or change or adapt to make it better. I think that if instead of eating and exercising the way you "should" and instead do it the way you "can," it'll work out in the end. Please note this week I went for convenience (hence so many protein bars) because of the lack of time because of all the classes. I'll decrease the protein bars next week, and I don't usually eat subs. I'll go back to my chicken, cheese, and egg wraps.

I also wanted to touch on overdoing it. I think we get too hung up on the way things "should" be. You should take a day off. You shouldn't take more than so many classes a week. I think I've shown that there's ways to make your body work better - eat a lot and good calories, sleep, drink lots of water, modify moves to prevent injury. I want to use my body, I want to experience my body, I want to live my body. I don't think you should push yourself beyond your limit because that'll just cause injury and sideline you for weeks, but I see nothing wrong in pushing yourself TO your limit. Know your limits, know your body, know yourself, and go there. Live your body. Be safe, be careful, but don't be scared.

#22 SATURDAY 9a Sahara 24Cycle Kurt 57/410/55, 147/78, 125/66 (the monitor had trouble reading my heartbeat so I'm estimating 100 calories more than that burned but not counting it for the calculations, just the 410) (16 oz water)
#23 SATURDAY 10a Sahara TurboKick Pam B. 57/417/55 (16 oz water)
#24 SATURDAY 11a Sahara 24Lift Pam B. 47/247/60, 127/67, 107/57 (16 oz water)

Rest of day - rest, sleep, party

Some final calculations:

Food recap:
Monday: 1120 2 footlongs, 700 4 protein bars, 240 2 Bananas, 2060 total
Tuesday: 1120 2 footlongs, 700 4 protein bars, 240 2 Bananas, 2060 total
Wednesday: 3 bananas, 2 cheese wraps, 5 protein bars 1760 total
Thursday: 2 subs 1120, 2 bananas 240, 3 protein bars 540, egg wrap 200, total 2100
Friday: 4 protein bars, 3 egg wraps, sub, 1880 total
Saturday: 5 protein bars (900), sub (560), almonds (180), 1640 total
Sunday: 3 protein bars (540), almonds (180), banana and apple (150), 2 cheese wraps (500), protein bar (180), total 1550

Total consumption = 13050

Total burned = 24 classes, 1300 minutes, 10706 gross calories, 8808 net calories.
I forgot my monitor to one class, Zumba, so I put in 500 calories and 60 minutes for that one.

2066 calories burned a day at rest, 14462 per week.
Total caloric deficit for the week: 14662 + 8808 - 13050 = 10420

SUNDAY REST DAY

SATURDAY AFTERNOON - I DID IT!! 24 classes in one week at 24 Hour Fitness. Whew. The last two classes were HARD. Especially because Kurt kept saying to leave it all on the bike and take nothing home, and I had a choice whether to leave something for the other two classes or not and I didn't, I gave Kurt my all so I had barely anything left for Pam. The numbers reflect that. My monitor didn't work correctly during cycle so I'm estimating 100 more calories burned than recorded (it kept losing the heartbeat).

Core hurts a little bit when I bend, and I'm not tired in the sense of sleepy but just zapped of energy. Next class isn't until Monday at 9a so almost two full days to recover. I should be as good as new. The biggest "injury" I suffered was someone dropping a barbell on my foot during Lift set-up (thankfully without weights), but it didn't seem to leave lasting pain. On the same foot I had just used for cycling and kickboxing, no less. Too tired to get excited now, I can rejoice tomorrow.

While reading this blog the following questions may come up: Why am I writing this? What's the purpose? And what was the purpose of this crazy experience? Well, I write this blog for many reasons. First and foremost I hope to be a published author one day and part of me needs to write. It's the one thing I do not because I like it or want to but because it comes out on its own. I also write in this blog because just like a picture captures a moment in time of a person's outside, a blog captures a moment in time of a person's inside. Their thoughts, feelings, aspirations, their soul. This is a snapshot of the soul. I want to remember how I was inside as well as outside as I go through this. Third, it's just a record of the journey to have for later.

Of course I wonder if anyone will read this. Maybe, maybe not. But if anyone does read this, I want to leave you with a few departing thoughts. As of my last weigh-in today, I am 177 lbs (I had reached 173 lbs and started drinking 96 oz of water a day this week to keep up with the exercise and gained 5 lbs, then lost 1). I am technically considered Obese (starts at 175lbs). I didn't do this while fit and thin, I did this while Obese. People told me how they couldn't imagine themselves being able to do this, and I'd look at them like they were crazy. They were skinnier, fitter, and stronger than me. If I can do this, then certainly they can. I just decided one day out of the blue (Sunday, I believe) to do this and I did. I didn't think whether I could or how hard it would be, I just did. I planned the food and drinking and scheduled the classes but other than that I just showed up and gave it my all.

And why do this crazy little experiment? Because I can. And after reading this blog hopefully you have an understanding of everything that goes behind that phrase and what that phrase means.

So if you get nothing else out of this blog, get this: Pick one thing, and do it. Don't think about how hard it will be or all the things that could go wrong or how you can't do it. Don't choose to do it, don't wonder whether you can do it, just do it. Push yourself. Reach your limit. Be safe, be careful, but again, don't be scared. Know your limits and reach towards them. Don't go by what you "should" do, go by what you "can" do. Know yourself, know your body, live your body.

Update: If you want to see the aftermath of the 24 classes, check out this week's post, the one that starts 12/14. I enjoyed the extended blogging experience so much I decided to do it on a regular basis, and I talk about the 24 classes a bit in that post.

Here's the link to next week: http://fitdeb.blogspot.com/2009/12/monday-december-7th-2009-sunday.html

Going to start doing that at the end of each weekly post. Nevermind the URL, I modified the thread of the 7th to become the thread of the 14th because I was a bit busy the week of the 7th and it ended up getting its own thread.

My Fitness Journey

Sunday, December 6, 2009

24 Classes In One Week at 24 Hour Fitness - the running commentary,

24 Classes In One Week at 24 Hour Fitness - Questions And Answers