Monday, February 28, 2011

Time to switch up my workouts? *thoughts about my weight, too*

Lately I've been considering adding more strength and stretching to my workouts...

...but I don't really want to!!! I love cardio more than anything else, and don't really have extra time to actually ADD exercise... so I'm afraid that in order to start a strength/abs/yoga to my routine, I will have to actually subtract from my cardio time.

I'm about to get a new piece of cardio equipment, YAY!!! It's a recumbent stationary bike, which will be placed in the living room where the dead Gazelle sits.

Did I not mention on here that my Gazelle died? Yeah, it was a sad day. It still is sitting in the living room, broken. And it's broken in a way that seems unfixable... I find myself looking at it, thinking insane thoughts like, "Well, if I strapped a BIG BAR to that leg with some harness-ing stuff and a tarp... maybe?" It's time to take it to the curb. :-(

But, my cousin Mollie (hi, Mollie!!!) has offered me her old recumbant bike (did I say earlier that it was "new"? I meant new to me), which I know isn't the most heart-pumping workout, but I'm determined to make it work! It's free, it's nice, and it's easy. :-) I'm sure that if I add enough resistance, it will be challenging. Maybe it's just what I need to switch up my cardio and to lose a few more inches of hips? We shall see...

I'm getting the bike this weekend, and will post pictures and discuss my first bike workout shortly afterwards. I'm stoked!

For now, I think that I will be adding in 15-20 minutes of light stretching, squats, lunges, and crunces/situps a few times a week. I'll do this in the evenings while I watch TV, normally after homework/study time and before bath/bed time. :-)

I'll let you know how it goes!

Thoughts about my weight: Lately I've been wondering if I am almost ready to start maintaining. A big part of me really want to go for those size 10's (weight = 135)... but I'm almost afraid that I wouldn't look healthy at that size anymore. The last time I wore those, I was severely restricting my diet and overexercising (eating disorder days...not fun...).

Is it possible that I should start thinking about a higher goal weight? I love how I look and how I feel right now, at 151. I'm thinking that 145 may be perfect for me.

I guess that I just won't worry about it, keep doing what I'm doing (eating right and exercising) and see where I end up. I'm hoping to find my "happy weight" this time around, and stay there forever. :-)

4 comments:

Megan said...

i know how you feel about the number leah! but yes, i would set your goal weight higher and see how you feel at that weight. there is no magic number, but see how you feel when you get to 145.

SewTypical said...

i'm reading Dr. Neal Barnard's book:
Breaking the Food Seduction

i'm going to start transitioning to a Vegan Diet, starting next weekend. Wish me luck!

I'm already a vegetarian, but I currently eat a little fish, cheese & sugar. I love beans, grains & veggies, so I'm looking forward to this. (i'm in Weight Watchers, too.)

Do you have any tips for good low-fat vegan protein?

Thanks for your blog - it's inspiring.

Katie said...

Leah, I've actually wondered about that for a while. I think you look amazing (and healthy!) at your current weight! It's hard to say whether 135 is too low for you, but if you're happy and healthy at a higher weight (that's easier to maintain) why not stop there?

Leah: Not Otherwise Specified said...

Megan - Thanks for the support! Yes, I've decided to increase my goal to 145 for now.

Chris - BEANS!!! :-) And hurray for going vegan!!!

Katie - Thanks so much for agreeing with me! I have definately decided to raise my goal for now.