March 3rd Exercise Diary

Walked outside for thirty minutes today. I walked up to the school and back and did three light jogs while I was walking. When I got back I did 4 sets of six sit ups and six push ups. That made four days walking this week so I am very proud of my self. Now to keep it going.

I also went to the grocery store and got some food for the next week this afternoon. I know it isn't intense walking but it is still walking. :o)

March 2nd Exercise Diary

Today I did a 30 minute walk up to the school and back. I did three jogging stints on the walk. It was a little cool today (30 degrees) especially when I was walking into the wind but it was sunny so I couldn't resist getting outside. When I got back I did four sets of six sit ups and six push ups. I didn't do much house work today other then dishes because I had some paper work to fill out for a meeting I have tomorrow. I am meeting with a lady about taking some classes to brush up on some of my programming skills I haven't used in awhile at the local community college.

March 1st Exercise Diary

I went on a 30 minute walk again today. I walked by the school near our house again, this time making sure it was earlier so all the parents weren't sitting around watching. I added a few light jogs into the mix today. They winded me a little but it felt good. When I got back I did four sets of six sit ups and six total push ups. I know it seems like a small amount of sit ups and push ups but I am trying to work myself into them. I also did some dishes, folded blankets and sheets and picked up the living room. Now I am going to relaxe and get ready to make some supper in a couple of hours.

February 28th Exercise Diary

Today I went out and walked at a brisk pace for 30 minutes. I don't know how far I walked but it felt good to get out there and be active. I walked by the elementary school near my house and didn't realize when I left that it was almost time for school to get out. All the parents were parked around the school waiting for their kids to get let out. I hope no one thought I was a creep walking around the school as the kids got out with my hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses on. I think I will walk a little earlier tomorrow to avoid that. Ater I got back from my walk I did some sit ups and push ups. I had been planning on adding sit ups and push ups to my work out routine before I lost my job so I figured why not add them in now.

I also did some work around the house this morning that counts as exercise I think. I took some of our luggage from our trip down to the basement, I emptied and loaded the dishwasher and washed some other dishes by hand. Over all it has been a very productive day.

February 7th Exercise Diary

I did the elliptical for thirty minutes today! I went 3.2 miles and I did 13 speed intervals of over 7.0mph during my work out. I did 4 of the intervals for thirty seconds and nine of them at one minute. I really got a good sweat going and it felt great. Who cares if I am losing weight slowly as long as I am losing it and feeling better every day.

February 3rd Exercise Diary

I did 1.5 miles in the treadmill again today in twenty eight minutes. I did two five percent grade intervals for a minute each, then two ten percent grade intervals for a minute each, next one 15 percent grade interval for a minute and then I did one minute at a light 5.5mph jog. After that I did a minute at a fifteen percent grade, next I did a minute at a ten percent grade twice and then a minute at a five percent grade twice. That completed my fifth week of working out in a row.

You may have noticed that I have been increasing my time on the treadmill/elliptical by 2 minutes every week. I started at twenty minutes and next week I will get to my goal of doing thirty minutes 4 times a week. I am pretty excited about this, when I started it seemed like thirty minutes were a long ways off but it is finally here. After my vacation in a few weeks I am going to start riding my new recumbent bike in the evening when I get home doing the same thing starting at twenty and working towards thirty minutes. When I get to thirty minutes there as well I will be doing one hour of cardio work out four times a week. It seems like it is a long ways off but after doing this I know I can do it.

February 2nd Exercise Diary

I walked on the treadmill for twenty eight minutes today. I did ten inclined verticals and a light jog for a minute in the middle. I ended up going 1.5 miles. I watched the news and listened to my iPod while I was walking and it seemed to make the time go a little faster. Also there was no one in the workout room while I was down there which is the way I like it.

February 1st Exercise Diary

I got up early to do a little snow blowing but it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be so it wasn't much of a work out. Then after work I had to do a little snow blowing again but once again it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Over all it didn't take a lot of effort to get the drive way snow free which was a nice change of pace from the last few snow storms we have had.

At lunch I went twenty eight minutes on the elliptical again. I averaged 6.3mph and went 3.0 miles. I did twelve speed intervals interval, 7 at a minute and 5 at thirty seconds.

I thought I had out lasted the lady in the weight room last week when she didn't show up last Wednesday and Thursday and then didn't show this Monday. Unfortunately she showed back up today so our battle of wills will continue. LOL

Janaury 31st Exercise Diary

I did twenty eight minutes on the elliptical today with twelve speed intervals of 30 seconds or a minute. I averaged 6.3mph and went 3.0 miles. It felt really good to get back on the elliptical after a few days off. This officially marked the end of the month and I went a total of 30.9 miles this month between the elliptical and the tread mill. Since next month is a short month and I will be gone for a week I won’t be able to eclipse that mileage mark in February but in March, with the addition of an evening workout, I should have no problem going farther.

January 27th Exercise Diary

I went twenty six minutes on the elliptical today. I averaged 6.2mph and went 2.7 miles. I am so excited that this makes it four weeks in a row working out. That is an entire month! I will be feeling fit as a fiddle by the time I got to Vegas at the end of February if I keep this up. Which is good cause there is a lot of walking to do in Vegas.

January 26th Exercise Diary

Today I did twenty six minutes on the treadmill. I did multiple inclined increments of five, ten and fifteen percent grades. I went 1.4 miles and walked between 3.3mph and 3.5mph. It is amazing how different a treadmill and an elliptical work out your body. It felt like a completely different work out as opposed to my elliptical work outs the last couple of days. My ankles and calves felt like they got a lot more work out where as on the elliptical it is usually my thighs that feel like they got a harder work out.

P.S. The lady who has been using the treadmill wasn’t down there today. Maybe she takes Wednesdays off or maybe I have outlasted here this easily. I am betting it is the former but I can hope. LOL

January 25th Exercise Diary

I went 2.7 miles on the elliptical in twenty six minutes today and I averaged 6.1mph. For awhile I had been alternating every day between the elliptical and the treadmill but lately there has been a lady coming down and using the treadmill when I am down there so I can't use it. This just started about a week ago so I am hoping this is either a new year’s resolution or she is waiting for it to get nice out so she can walk outside. Either way it is my goal to outlast her, until she gives up on her new year’s resolution, starts walking outside or retires. LOL I guess we all need something to keep us going.

January 24th Exercise Diary

I hit the elliptical today for twenty six minutes. I went 2.6 miles at an average of 6.0mph. I was very pleased by the number. I was hoping I could just do the same as I did last Friday and get 2.4 miles. Now hopefully I can get on the tread mill tomorrow and do some inclined increments.

January 21st Exercise Diary

I wanted to do the treadmill today but it was being used when I got the workout room today so I did twenty four minutes on the elliptical again instead. I must be getting stronger or more use to working out because I did 2.4 miles at an average speed of 6.0mph today. I was surprised and excited by this. If I can get to the point where I am averaging 6.0mph every time I am on the elliptical that would be awesome!

I went 4/4 this week working out again for the third straight week. I am very proud of myself. I am finding that I am starting to look forward to working-out every day. That can only be a good thing as far as I am concerned. Now I am looking forward for a few days of rest then back to the grind next week to make it an entire month of working out. Wow time is flying by, now if only the pounds would start to melt off.

January 20th Exercise Diary

Today I got a little work out in before work as I snowblowed the driveway for twentyish minutes. It was such a light snow and with no wind it was almost pleasant be outside under the star filled sky this morning with the glistening white snow all around me.

I did twenty-four minutes on the elliptical today and went 2.2 miles. I did speed increments and had an average speed of 5.8mph. I had a trying morning so I burned off a little steam with the work out hence the higher than normal average speed.

January 19th Exercise Diary

Today I hit the treadmill for twenty four minutes. I went a total of 1.25 miles! I did seven one minute inclined intervals, two at five percent, four at ten percent and one in the middle at fifteen percent. The fifteen percent was really hard but I did it.

I talk about intervals a lot and there is a reason I do them. I have read multiple times that by increasing your speed or grade for short intervals in the middle of your walking is suppose to keep your body burring fat for a greater amount of time. The first few times I did the speed and incline intervals it really killed me. After two weeks I am getting use to them so they aren't as hard and I am really starting to like them. Now if I could just see that weight loss benefit they always talks about in those articles. LOL

January 18th Exercise Diary

Today I went about twenty four minutes on the elliptical. I am not sure exactly how far and how long I went because the maintenance guy came in the middle of my work out to tighten a few bolts on the elliptical so I lost my data. I do know that I went more than twenty four minutes and did at least two miles. I did four speed intervals as well. It felt good to get back on the elliptical after four days off.

January 13th Exercise Diary

I did twenty two minutes on the elliptical today. I averaged 5.7mph and went a total distance of 2.0 miles. I did four one minute speed intervals during the work out. My legs don't feel as tired this week as they did last week. Granted I only did three days in the gym this week but I did snow blow three times as well. With the snow blowing I am going to call it a 4/4 workout week for me again, now to prepare for the next week.

January 12th Exercise Diary

I did twenty two minutes on the treadmill today. My main pace was 3.3mph and I went a total of 1.1 miles. I did six incline intervals, two at five percent incline then two at a ten percent incline and the final two back at the five percent incline. I had increased my speed from 3.2mph last week to 3.3mph this week. I hope to work my way up to 3.5mph in the coming weeks.

January 11th Exercies Diary

Today I did a fair amount of exercising. If you read my earlier post you know that I did some unexpected snow blowing before work that took about fifteen to twenty minutes. Then this afternoon I did the elliptical for twenty two minutes. I did three intervals of one minute and 2 intervals of thirty seconds at over 6.0mph. I ended up going a total of 2.0 miles and I averaged 5.5mph. I was surprised by my mileage and pace but I guess doing the extra 2 minutes and the longer intervals really added up.