Well I didn't do the second workout I planned on doing last night. I was tired and my right hip flexor & right knee were bothering me. Would you say that my right leg was compensating for my bad ankle much? Yup... :(

Z and I talked a long time last night (sorry again sweetie for keeping ya up so late last night!) about what I want to do to get out of this plateau I've been on since December. We both know that I can do anything I set my mind to do (stubborn and strong willed), but I want it to not only be beneficial weight loss wise (numbers on the scale going down, down, down) but also health wise. I want this to be a life style change and not just a quick fix that will get the weight off but will leave me tired, hungry and unable to maintain the change in the long run. We also discussed my current situation with my feet and how training for a marathon might adversely affect them in the long run. Z suggested that I do something different that will shock my system into loosing weight again. I've been trying to do this by increasing my cardio session durations and watching what I eat (most times) but that doesn't seem to be doing it and it's really hard to keep up without being in a constant state of fatigue and frustration. Z suggested trying weight lifting again. In the past I used to lift weights all of the time. For up to 2 hours a day. I did 45 minutes of walking afterwards (steady pace and high incline), followed by a high protein diet. It was very hard to maintain and I pretty much had no life other than being in the gym! It's obviously didn't last, though I did get good results while doing it, but couldn't eat chicken or tuna for about a year after heh. Z also brought up a good point. He said that If I started to incorporate weights with my cardio sessions I would of course increase my lean muscle mass which would in the end also aide me in my quest to run a marathon in the future (maybe not by 30). It would help build core, arm, and leg strength which I sorely lacking right now after a couple of years of just doing cardio. More lean muscle mass means that I will burn more fat while at rest. I've known all of this, but I am a very muscular woman and tend to bulk up pretty quickly from lifting, but I will try to keep the reps high (20-30), the weight light, and the rests between very short.

Today I did my first weightlifting session in years and I found out that BOY AM I WEAK! My arms feel like jelly and it was really hard to pump out 30 on each set. It was more like 30, 25, and then 15 if I was lucky! I'll just have to take things one day at a time.

I started out with 30 minutes on the elliptical. Once I was warmed up I did 30 minuets of chest, triceps and shoulders. Then I finished up with another 30 minuets on the elliptical. I kept the rest time being sets to a minimum. I concentrated on my breathing and trying to maintain good form. I know those things will become easier with time, but right now it's a bit of a struggle to do all of them at once. I'm planning on trying out this program for about 3-4 months. I'm still only going to weigh in once a week and hopefully I'll still see the numbers go down. If I don't I will try to be patient and take measurements instead. I've never done that before but Z said he would help and I'll make sure to do some research as to the best methods to use when taking measurements. I've always been a scale watcher so it will be interesting to watch the measurements change (hopefully) over time.

Heck it's worth a try right?

Workout:

30 min elliptical

30 min weights for chest, shoulder, and triceps

30 min elliptical

(Engaged 9/16/05)