It’s been two months of going to the gym and getting into shape now.  Lessons learned thus far….

I’m still a sugar fiend.

I don’t eat chocolate bars and chips so much anymore but gummy candies and sour candies have been very much on the menu.  I’d say I’ve averaged a pack a day.  Still drinking lots of Coke Zero as well.  My goals for month three are to go the full month without a single candy and to get the Coke Zero down to three 600 ml bottles per week.

Meal planning is great!

Home Economics and nutrition ought to be necessary in school.  I’m finally shopping sensibly and it is nice to know what I need to buy to get through a week.  A typical day starts with an apple and a greek yogurt for breakfast, a sandwich  or wrap from the QU cafeteria for lunch and some kind of soup or a sandwich depending on my mood for the evening.  So the weekdays are all about sandwiches and soups in the evenings due to my schedule.  However, I still take the time to cook up something good on the weekends.  For me cooking has a calming effect.  It’s a task I can get lost in and that allows me to forget other stresses in life.

 Still loving my fitbit even though it tells me I am still fat!

I have to change arms each day now because apparently I have sensitive skin which reacts to prolonged exposure to the sensor on my fitbit.  But this is not really a big deal as it just sits on my arm most of the time doing its thing.  It gives me a nice visual way to see if I am making progress and this on its own can be quite motivating.  Over two months here’s my progress in terms of BMI.  I’m still a little over 27 which means in medical terms I am still regarded as overweight.

However the weight chart is more dramatic!  I like the weight chart.  I’m clearly trending downwards at a reasonable pace.  A lot of this is exercise but the other factor is that my eating habits (despite the daily sugar fix) are much better now than they were in the past.

Changing body. Changing attitude.

Around Eid of last month I noticed a shift in how my body reacted to exercise.  I was working out 4 times a week and initially I had to drag myself into the gym.  Those  first few times I used the elliptical were tough.  It was boring.  By the third week however it was routine and then in the days leading up to my first month of exercise I found myself wanting to go to the gym.  So I started going 5 times a week.   I don’t spend a lot of time in the gym because my time is at a real premium.  Fifty minutes of intense cardio 4-5 times a week coupled with better eating habits produced the two charts above.  I no longer find it boring either, I concentrate on different things.  Sometimes it may be what is going on / what has gone on in my life.  Other times it might be what I have to do after the workout. Exercise has become a sort of self-reflection time for me.    Yesterday I added biking and running to my workout because…

Triathlons are coming!

I’m registered for two triathlons.  A free mini-event that happens in mid-November and a sprint triathlon that happens at the end of the month.  I’m nervous about these.  Especially the sprint which consists of swimming 750m, biking 20 km and running 5km.  This means that in addition to my intense 1 hour cardio I have to start swimming, biking and running.  Last night was a simple 20 minute stationary bike ride and 20 min treadmill run plus 55 minutes elliptical time.  Tonight it’ll be elliptical plus swimming.  Tomorrow will be a much needed break from Cardio though I’ll probably do some yoga to work on flexibility and aid with recovery.

Life is good

While the language courses and training keep me busy I don’t find myself feeling stressed because of it. It’s a simple matter of looking at the next thing and then doing it, then repeating the process until until whatever needs to be done all gets done.