Day 7 - Obsession with Fitness

Well, this is a record. I made it a full week. That's a positively great thing! Seriously, I think I may be really starting to enjoy this! In conjunction with my healthy habits and doing this, I am starting to feel a bit like my old self again. I still have a ways to go, but I'm well on my way there.

Today, I wanted to think a little more about this obsession with fitness that seems so prevalent these days. I think it's due to programs such as Biggest Loser, that people are starting to go down the healthy lifestyle route. The problem with Biggest Loser and those of its ilk is that it actually quite dangerous to have such dramatic weight loss every week. And your body rejects it. If you look at any of the winners a year after they won, they have put weight on. The funny thing about losing weight is you have to maintain it. But even more than that is that at a certain point, the less body fat % you have, the unhealthier you feel. For women, anything under 15% body fat means you pretty much stop having your monthlies. That's not exactly a healthy thing. 

My goal is to get around 20% or maybe just around 18% if I can get myself to feel good doing it. But this means a lot of work. In fact, I think the best I ever got to was around 21-22%. An injury put me out of commission right after that point, and I never dropped anymore.

This next month, I'm going to do the Maxine's 12 Week Challenge. 

My expectations are to lose approximately 10% body fat. At the moment, I'm around 38%. I don't care as much about the weight, because that automatically will change. But ideally, I'd like to be one dress size smaller with that. I have no desire to get as super ripped as the the photo here.

This is my ideal. Women have to do a lot of work to look muscley so I'm definitely not going to be one of those women.

At the moment my biceps look like the first picture here, and I want to look like the second. I know it can be done, because I've done it. And I wasn't even lifting heavy. Just a part of my exercise regime.

The fun thing about working out though, is that you are inevitably going to have an injury at some point. It depends on the injury, but if you're smart, then it will be fairly minor. I am the worst at remembering to stretch properly after a workout and doing active stretching before a workout. I suffer from achilles tendonitis, bursitis in the hips, a congenital fusion in my neck, a slight scoliosis of the spine, and costocondritis. The last of these are the reason I stopped working out last year, but after multiple tests and nothing to cure it, I have decided that I'll just work through it as I do the rest. I get shin splints when I run, though sometimes it's worse than other days. But when I was my fittest, I just pushed through all of these things, and I managed fine. The key is stretching, frequent rolling out on a massage roller, and physio/massages. I'll have a massage once a month now, and I have set a reminder for myself to do stretches of a night time while I watch TV.

But for the challenge, I have to remember the most important part is the food. I am cutting out sugar completely. No fruit for the 12 months. No soft drinks, etc. And I will have minimal grains. My protein shakes are already becoming a staple in my daily eating, and that will be super important to keep doing. I'm confident this challenge will be a winner for me! I'm so looking forward to it. And I'm not just making the change then. I'm setting myself for success by starting now.

Just ask my legs.... They burn from my workout this morning. I'd nearly forgotten how great that burn feels. And how hard it is to walk after one too. haha