Why workout?

Research gives us lots of reasons to work out. The important reasons are the ones that are meaningful to you.

The mother of my son's friend came by to pick up her son. She looked absolutely great. I told her so.


She smiled and said she had started working out at a local gym (a national chain) and jogging in the mornings. If you want reason to work out, she is a testament.


1. She looks great. Who does not want to look great? Though it may seem vain, I like it when people I know noticed the change in my physique after I lost weight and started exercising. I don't know anyone who would does not like looking healthy--looking good. We all like to feel good about ourselves. We like it when they know other people notice.


What makes her look great is not only her slimming body, but her stature--the way she holds her shoulders-standing tall, beautiful, and confident. Mind you she does not look skeleton-like, but healthy, glowing.


2. She said she also feels great. She has more energy. She feels good about herself. Who does not want to feel great? We can do so much when we feel good, when we have energy.


Working out is hard work, but the benefits can be great. My friend found the benefits worth the work. She wants to continue working out. She wants to try body pump--a combination of weight training and cardio.


It seems staying with the workout will take some persistence on her part. I hope that she continues to find encouragement and alternatives to keep her workouts interesting.

The cooler weather makes it harder to continue the jogging outside. Boredom is a possibility. She wants her husband to go jogging or walking with her.

I encouraged her to try the bodypump class. It does not require the dance moves that an aerobic dance class may require. The bodypump class gives a great way to get weight lifting and cardio in an efficient. Learn the moves and the proper way to lift, then add more weight. I personally think that women make a huge mistake by not lifting enough. Weight lifting (properly) is a great way to get the body in shape, give better posture, and provide muscles that make the cardio easier.

Football Saturday Jog

I finally got a chance to have a solitary long jog this morning. I jogged faster than my normal slow 5 mile pace, but only jogged 4 miles. It felt great! First, I was surprised that I could keep the slightly faster pace.

This morning was a football Saturday in my Alabama college town home town. I avoided the tailgaters successfully by not jogging on campus. Though the game was a late morning game, jogging at 8 seemed to work well.

My routine for the last few months, particularly for the last few weeks have been slightly out of whack. So it felt good just to get out on my own.

I hope I feel just as well on Tuesday when we jog at the track.

Cutting 100 Calories

Extension agent in Polk County, North Carolina agent describes way to cut 100 calories. I have used many of these techniques. They work. What this technique also does is make you more conscious of serving sizes and what you are eating.

Moderately change your eating habits. I like this approach because it takes little effort and just a little restraint.

• Avoid supersized portions.
• Use smaller bowls and plates. I do this at home. I use a luncheon plate for dinner. It helps me not put so much food on my plate.
• Cut in half the 2-cup portion of pasta. Use only 1 cup, saving 160 calories. This tip is hard because I love pasta. However, measuring pasta out into 1 cup (or even 1/2 cup) portions helps give you a sense of how much you are eating.
• Cut the number of slices of pizza. Choose 2 slices, instead of 3. At home, I put only one slice of pizza on my plate. Then will go back for the 2nd slice, after I finish the 1st. Sometimes, after finishing the 1st slice, I will see if the kids did not finish theirs and I will finish theirs, and not get the 2nd slice. Eating 1 less slice will save 140 calories (or more).
• Skip the potato chips that are part of the combination lunch. Saving more than 100 calories.
• Eat carrot or celery sticks or fruit instead of potato chips saving at least 100 calories, while increasing nutrition and avoid extra empty calories.
• Eat regular ice cream, instead of gourmet, high fat ice creams, saving 70-340 calories per cup. Save even more by eating low-fat, frozen yogurt, or sorbet. Check the nutrition facts label and compare products for calorie and fat content.
• Switch to water or unsweetened beverages in place of sodas and sweet tea. By cutting out sugar drinks you save up to 150 calories per 12-oz. serving.
• Measure a serving of chips or other snacks, instead of eating from the bag. Again, this technique helps you understand portion.
• Don't taste or snack while cooking.

Those are the tips from the Polk County Extension agent. My other tips include:

• Eat slowly by putting your fork down between bites.
• Order a side salad, instead of fries or baked potatoes.
• Order salad dressing on the side.
• Use a teaspoon to spread the dressing so you know the portion of dressing you are eating.
• Ask for a "to-go" box and place a portion of your dinner in the box before you begin to eat.
• Drink a glass of water before you begin eating your meal.

I am sure there are others. What tips do you want to share?

Maintaining

It's been more than a month since I recorded my exercise. Although I have traveled for 5 weeks, spending only a day or so each week at the office. I was able to get a jog in here and there and I went to the gym a few times when I was actually in town.

I tried to maintain some level of exercise during those 5 weeks. During my meetings, I walked.During some of travels, I jogged a couple miles.

When I got back into last week,

• Sunday, I jogged around 3.4 miles.
• Monday, I walked a couple miles, we were supposed to jog and I had forgotten so I made it to the track late and since I had jogged on Sunday, I did not jog on Monday.
• Tuesday, we did bench press, I brought 85 pounds all the way to the chest. I also lifted 95 pounds, but did bring it all the way. My favorite is to lift 8 to 15 reps, 95 pounds with my legs extended. Because my shoulders began to get strained, I can't seem to lift more than 8 reps right now.
• Wednesday, we did heavy squats and ab work out.
• Thursday, we jogged a decent time. My legs were incredibly sore on Thursday afternoon. I walked like a duck.
• Friday, we worked out with a little of everything.
• Saturday, I jogged for 30 minutes before my daughters softball game.
• Sunday, I did not exercise.
• Monday (this morning), we jogged 3 miles, but the time was slower than last week. While jogging I did not feel tired, but I was not enthusiastic either.
• Tomorrow is bench press day. JS decided that Tuesday is the new bench press day because he feels he can lift more on Tuesday since he becomes lax (as most of us do) on the weekends.

Because my bone spurs seem to be acting hurting more, I have really tried to stretch every opportunity. Even at the softball game on Saturday, after I jogged I stretched on and off for almost the entire game.

A good long Sunday morning jog

After yesterday's jog, I felt accomplished. I jogged 5.5 miles. This is the longest I have jogged in 20 years. I started my jog at a little faster pace than normal, but slowed to my regular pace around the end of the 1st mile.

It was hot and humid, but I managed to not really tire. My warm-down included walking .2 miles home and sweeping part of the carport. You would understand why I did not sweep the entire carport if you could our collection of stuff that needed to be moved.

I also stretched. I have not talked about stretching, but it is really important to stretch before AND afterwards to ward off injuries.

In addition to finishing the jog in good form, I also had some very good thinking time, including thinking of 3 different blog posts I want to write.

Another Good Jog

Today, like Wednesday we started at a faster pace than our usual start. Jeff dropped back a bit, and I was wondering if maybe we were going too fast for him to last all 12 laps. He, however, caught up easily and on the last sprint of the last lap, he was able to keep it well enough to beat me by a step.

Like a typical August day, it was humid, but we performed well. We made the 3 miles in less than 32 minutes. I think it was a best time and slightly better than Wednesday's time. I hope we can keep it up for next week's early jog. I am hoping, before then, to get in a solo, long, thinking jog in on Sunday morning. The Sunday morning jog will depend on Saturday's activities, though.

Jogged Yesterday

Yesterday, Jeff and I had a very good jog on the track morning, despite the humidity. We started our jog a little faster than normal. Surprisingly, we finished with our second best time ever. Neither of us had been keeping the jogging up to the level we should have been so I was surprised we did as well as we did.

We jogged 12 laps in the middle lanes. The first 4 laps are regular jog (faster pace for us than normal). The long straight ways, we run starting on the 5th lap. Starting on the 11th lap, we sprint (our version) the straight ways.

Our time is usually 34 minutes. Yesterday, we finished in 32 minutes. We want to get our time under 30 minutes. In order to do that, we have to pick up the pace in every part of our jog, particularly in the beginning. If we keep challenging each other, we can do that.

Someone asked me "What are you training for?" I am not training for anything specific. I would like to be able to run in a 5K race--the small community fundraiser where nobody cares what your time is. The reason I want to run in a race is just to say I did.

Reasons to train in sprints or heavy bench press or any other technique are to stay fit, look good, feel good, have endurance, be strong, be challenged, etc. At 65, Harrison Ford can still fit into his Indiana Jones clothes. Wow! Isn't that a goal! To be able to wear the same clothes 20 years from now.

In order to stay fit, I have to be fit and continue to work out in various ways. Eventually, exercise gets boring. So I use challenges and goals in order to keep the boredom away. Jeff and I race during the sprints which makes the run fun. Besides, the jog and the run make me feel good--the after-cardio feeling. Using the time as a measurement, I feel accomplished when we finish in a fast time (for us).