The Challenge Begins

I weighed in at 226 and had pictures taken and a body composition test (about 50% fat) done on January 21. The challenge officially began for me on January 25. So, I'm off and running. I have gym hair, frizzy around the edges of my face where the sweat has dampened it. The alternative is to put it in a pony tail, and then I'll have the pony tail crown wave when I release the rubber band. I'm doing 35 minutes on the treadmill and increasing the incline a little each day to keep my heart rate up during the exercise period. Today, I did some lower body weight work, the sitting leg press, hip adductor, hip abductor and one upper body weight the chest press, increasing the weight as the lower weights feel too easy. And then, I added a short time on the elliptical trainer, 6 minutes. I'm eating sensibly and keeping a journal of my food consumption and exercise. I sure had a craving for a Dustyburger after exercising today. Instead, I went to the grocery store and bought a pack of Boca burgers and some thin buns, about 220 calories for the burger and bun combo, with mustard and salsa. I weighed today, and I'm at 215.

Beginnings

I've joined the Gold's Gym fitness challenge, so for the next weeks, until April, I'll be pouring on the coal in competition with others in the fitness challenge. A monetary reward hangs in the balance, not to mention the benefits of better health, a more sane lifestyle, and feeling great. My thoughts also went to the possibility of bringing yoga, in its various forms, into the mix of healthy things I'll be doing for myself. For example, today on the treadmill I mentally chanted the mantra Hari Om for the 35 minutes I was walking on the "hamster wheel". I found that adding the mental focus of mantra and feeling into my body while I was treading the mill made it much easier to stay the course that I had decided to do. My mind instead of saying: "This is hard. I'll never be able to last for 35 minutes. My legs hurt. I don't have enough energy," was given something positive to focus on. The Hari Om occupied my mind and allowed my body to do what it does best: move. My body cooperated and I experienced less resistance to exercise. It actually felt good! The mantra, Hari Om seemed to vibrate at various levels along my spine, encouraging me in good posture.