The truth about how I exercise

Remember when I talked about my Goldilocks’s weight here?  And I still stand by the fact, that generally speaking, I’m okay with being 5’4.5″ and 116 lbs.  Then again, when you have to caveat something so much, there is probably an inkling of untruth in there, huh?

Part of the reason I call it my Goldilocks’ weight is because I can maintain with moderate exercise.  I may b*tch and moan about wanting to lose more or toning up a bit, but the truth is, I don’t really put that much time and effort into my exercise. 

I must admit, that I feel “less than”, lazy, and a slacker compared to other blogger’s fitness routines.

While the blog world can be motivating to try new things, push yourself harder, and attempt new activities, it can also result in comparisons and feeling like you have to exercise in the same manner as other bloggers.

So maybe you are more like me and can’t hang with the die-hards out there.  If so, I wanted to share what I find to be realistic for my lifestyle.

Here is an honest 2 week snapshot of what exercise is like for me:

• Sunday: Maybe a Spinning class at Gold’s Gym (with 5 minutes of abs and 10 minutes on the treadmill at 3.6mph to warm up for class)
• Monday: Nada.  I don’t work out on Mondays.
• Tuesday: 40 minutes in my complex gym, which would include 20 minutes on the elliptical at level 5 resistance and then walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes at 4.0 mph at a 0.5 deg grade.  Less than 5 minutes of abs follow.
• Wednesday: Nada.  I don’t work out on Wednesdays either (usually they are date nights).
• Thursday: Back to the apartment gym for a 45 minute treadmill workout.  20 minutes slow jogging at 5.5mph and 25 minutes alternating 1-5 deg at 4.0 mph.  About 3-5 minutes of ab work follows.
• Friday: Nada — who wants to take a second shower before going out?
• Saturday: Maybe a hike or walking the Stanford Dish trail.  If not either of those, a repeat of complex gym cardio from Tues or Wed.
• Sunday: Complex gym again (hey it’s convenient), where I’ll do a random hodgepodge of free weights (usually 5-10lbs) 16x’s in 3 sets and very little machine work.  Maybe an additional 20 minute walk on the treadmill at 4.0mph.
• Monday: See previous Monday — no workout.
• Tuesday: Run intervals on treadmill and by intervals I mean 2 minutes at 4.0 mph at 1deg and 1-2 minutes at 6.5 mph at 0.5 deg incline.  Hardly pushing it huh?  I’ll do this for maybe 35-40 minutes.  Of course, followed by ab work for a few minutes (planks and such).
• Wednesday: I got nothin’ for ya.
• Thursday: 20 minute precor, 20 minutes on the treadmill at my complex gym followed by ab work.  Easy, minimal sweat workout. 
• Friday: Might go to Bikram if it’s my off-Friday from work, in which case I feel awesome and always tell myself I need to go to Bikram more.
• Saturday: Easy cardio (light jog) or incline walking on the complex treadmill for 40 minutes.  Ab work to follow.

There you have it.  It’s clear I’m not living up some of my fabulous fellow bloggers.   Why?  Well one reason is that I’m not training for a marathon or Iron Man or some equally as exciting and challenging.  Why else?  I simply don’t have the time.  No that’s not totally true – I don’t choose to allocate more time to working out.  My day includes 9-10 hours of work, 30+ minutes of animal duty, 30+ min of chores / clean up, etc, 1 hr of meal prep (and maybe eating), and 9 hours of sleep. Yep, I need nearly 9 hours of sleep.  I can deal with 8, but anything less and it’s just no good, plain and simple.  Oh yeah, the remainder of the hours, I’m probably watching my DVRed shows or blogging

I guess my point is, that I can’t really complain about my weight and the lack of tone if I’m not willing to spend the time and effort to make it happen, right?  And if that’s the case, I need to be at peace with my limitations and also my successes. 

Do you feel pressure to work out like other bloggers?

How often do you workout per week?  As you can see, I’m at 4-5 times for an average of about 50-60 minutes.

Date Night

It seems like most of you are creatures of habit and prefer one side of the bed over the other.  I myself prefer the left side (meaning, my hubby lays to the right of me).  The cats prefer the top side..as in my pillows.  And the dog prefers her bed to be wedged between the hubby’s side and the wall.  Now you know way more about our sleeping habits than you ever cared to know

But I have to tell you, as of late,  my hubby and I seem to be ships passing in the night.  I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but our schedules do not line up.

• I wake up at 6am.  He wakes up sometime after 8a.   (The weekends I wake up at 8a and he wakes up at 10a)
• I need to be to work by ~7a.  He arrives at work around 930a.
• I don’t take lunch at work so I can get home faster.  He buys his lunch every day (thereby “taking a lunch”)
• I leave work around 430p.  He leaves work around 7p.
• My commute is about 5 minutes.  His is up to 45 minutes at times.
• I’m starving for dinner by 615p or 630p.  He can eat at 9p no problem.
• I’m ready to wind down at 8p.  Sometimes he is just arriving home at 8p.
• I like to read before bed around 9p.  He refuses to get in bed any earlier than 10p…ever.
• I’m passed out by 10p (need those 8 hours!).  He often will stay up until 1a.

Sigh.  Does anyone else have this problem?

Because of our unaligned schedules, we need to schedule midweek Date Nights.  A night where we have to leave the house (no distractions of tv, email, laundry, dog, cats…) and go out to dinner.  Tonight is one of those nights.  And while I do love them, they also make me a bit anxious.  Mostly because I never eat out during the week and I fear I’m going to totally blow my calorie intake.  Hubby wants to eat Italian tonight and that’s never a light meal  

So when all is said and done, I’d rather spend a little extra time at the gym than miss out on the very little time the hubby and I have together!

This pic is nearly 7 years old! Holy moly!

Eats:

• 730a–16oz travel mug of maple nut home-brewed coffee with 1 tbsp creamer
• 9a–1 TJs instant oatmeal packet (apple-cinn) with 1 45cal box of raisins mixed in
• 1145a–1/2 Togo’s turkey sandwich, with all the mayo scraped off (yuck!) — my proposal team had lunch catered today
• 245– handful of carrots and 2+ tbsp spicy hummus
• 4p -1 small bag of Sunchips (from catered work food) — 210cals
• 7p–300 cals of popcorn with vino (this is my comfort food!) and 2 cut up smartdogs with spicy mustard

Exercises:

• 20 minute walk with Naava
• 20 minute elliptical (half forward / half reverse)
• 20 minute Precor (half forward / halfreverse) - hill track
• 10 minute treadmill at 4mph, 1deg incline
• 10 minute abs and tricep dips

What time do you get home versus your hubby (significant other)?

Do you have to schedule date  night?

Nacrolepsy — I haz it

The blog world is rich with information, sharing, advice, etc so now I’m asking you for help…

You see, I think I’m narcoleptic:

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder, or dyssomnia, characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in which a person experiences extreme fatigue and possibly falls asleep at inappropriate times, such as while at work or at school. Narcoleptics usually experience disturbed nocturnal sleep and an abnormal daytime sleep pattern, which is often confused with insomnia. When a narcoleptic falls asleep they generally experience the REM stage of sleep within 10 minutes; whereas most people do not experience REM sleep until after 90 minutes. There is no evidence to suggest that narcoleptics tend to have a shorter life span.

Let’s pick this apart shall we:

• Excessive Daytime Sleepiness?  Check.  I yawn about 30 times an hour and my eyelids are heavy with fatigue
• Falls asleep at inappropriate times, such as while at work or at school?  Check.  Would you believe I never fell asleep all through school, college and graduate school, but I have fallen asleep at work usually during a meeting, but this has happened more times than I’d like to count.
• Narcoleptics usually experience disturbed nocturnal sleep?  Check.  I wake up a million times of night and have very unrelaxing dreams.  I rarely feel rested when I wake up.
• ..often confused with insomnia?  YES!  I can fall asleep fine, but cannot stay asleep and have thought it was due to insomnia
• There is no evidence to suggest that narcoleptics tend to have a shorter life span  Phew!  I was worried

Okay so I’m sort of joking but not really.  I can barely keep my eyes open lately.  I have been getting in bed before 9p and within minutes am fast asleep drooling on my Kindle (so says the hubby).  I will awake at 11p to turn off the lights and then proceed to wake up continuously throughout the night. 

Since I’m a morning person I am still able to bolt out of bed the instant the alarm goes off.  AND I’m extremely productive at work up until noon and then fatigue hits me like a brick wall.

Here are the things that I do that negatively affect my sleep:

• Drink vino before bed (good to fall asleep  not to stay asleep)
• Allow cats to sleep in bed…on my head…all night
• Sleep with fan blowing on me (not sure if this is an issue…)
• Night sweats
• Read true-crime murder mysteries before falling asleep
• Don’t eat several hours before going to bed
• PJ issues?

Here’s the flip side and what I do well:

• Greatly reduce activity ~2 hours before bedtime
• Quietly read alone before bed
• Evening stretches
• Change sheets and pillowcases frequently
• Get at least 8 hours of ‘sleep’ a night
• Generally wake up around the same time on weekends and weekdays
• Afternoon workouts

So what gives?  Why can I not stay awake to save my soul?  It’s gotten so bad that I can barely go out on the weekends without being painfully uncomfortable with the need to stay awake.

You may say I am run down?  Yes, this could be true — I have been working like a mad woman as of late, but I am still working out, eating well (overall), and providing myself 8 hours of sleep time. 

Do you think this is narcolepsy?

Any foods / vitamins you recommend to keep me more energized?  Or to keep me in a more restful sleep?

Any other suggestions?