Lifting Weights? BUT what about....

Before my surgery I read and started implementing the exercises suggested in The New Rules of Weightlifting for Women. Re-reading my blog entry from April made me remember how much I enjoyed the results that I was seeing when I had started lifting.

I love cardio! I love to sweat. I love to "earn" calories on my heart rate monitor. I love being faster. I love the immediate feedback and gratification. Lifting weights doesn't give you that instant result. My time is so limited and to lose weight (or just maintain these days) I need to burn approximately 3000 calories a week. If I increase the time that I give to lifting, i will have to decrease the time that I have for cardio. If I have less time for cardio, then I won't meet my calorie burn goal for the week.

Some things that I know about increased muscle mass.....
- burns more calories
- creates a toned appearance
- decreases the risk of osteporosis by increasing bone mass
- helps to prevent back injuries

BUT what about my cardio???? There just isn't time to do it all.

I wrote the first part of this post last night....After a good nights sleep, I've gained a bit of a new perspective.

I'm unhappy with how I look. The unhappiness stems from wanting to have a more muscular build. I'm not talking about having a body builder body, but I would like to be more toned. Being toned requires building muscle. Just like losing weight didn't happen overnight, developing a muscular appearance won't happen over night.

I'm happy(ish) with where my weight is right now. I don't feel like I need to lose X number of pounds. (Mind you, I'd still love to drop another 20 pounds....) Even if I lost more weight, I don't think that I'd find what I'm looking for in terms of my physical appearance.

So..... I'm going to spend the next few days figuring out a lifting schedule that will work within my schedule. There is a worry that if I reduce my cardio that I will gain weight. I've talked with many people who have said that once they started lifting that that is when they really noticed a weight loss (even with a reduction in cardio) and major changes in their bodies. BUT what about me? Will that happen in my body? I'll let you know....

~Kari

Eating right and gaining strength

Before my surgery I had started lifting weights and was really pleased with the progress that I saw in such a short amount of time. I found under a pile of clothes grabbed my book, "The New Rules of Lifting for Women". This book is divided into stages. I had completed Stage 1 before my surgery and decided to pick up where I left off and start Stage 2. I don't *know* that this was the best decision, but yesterday I found myself starting Stage 2. Two parts of Stage 2 really stuck out during my workout. The first was the front squat with an overhead press. I nailed the squat part, but when it came to the overhead presss it was TOUGH. I ended up lowering, and lowering, and lowering my weight until I only had 30 pounds on my bar. I just couldn't lift more than 30 pounds over my head. (BTW- it hurts to pick up my coffee cup this morning...)

Another part of this workout called for holding plank for 60 seconds. I *thought* that this would be easy. Ummm, not so easy, but I DID IT! I held plank for 60 seconds TWICE! A few months ago I couldn't even do one full push-up. Yesterday I did 5 real push-ups (X2) and 5 modified ones.

Eating has been much better this week. I started tracking again on SparkPeople and feel fantastic. I have been eating between 1500-1700 calories a day. I will need to increase my calories next week since I am back to full time exercise and need to fuel my muscles. I am also happy to report that I dropped 4 of my vacation pounds. :) I am at 191.1 this morning. My next goal is to get to 185. When I get to 185 I am going to order a Prior Fat Girl t-shirt. Have you seen this blog? It's super! Go check out those Prior Fat Girls.... Off to meet Thomas the Train for Bug's 4th Birthday!