Good days and bad days.

[theworm[$]]

I didn't work this past Monday, so I changed my appt with my trainer for the morning. I had a GREAT workout! My best so far. I really worked out hard, and I could feel my increased strength and enduracne!

Then I went for a session last night. UGH! My worst yet. It was very discouraging. We were doing upper body, and I was just weak! I couldn't lift the weights - had to reduce the weight and couldn't do as many reps as I should have. Every exercise I tried was horrible. It was just a horrible, bad, discouraging session! After I was done, I did do an intense one hour on the eliptical. Did a glut routine and worked it hard. AND I forgot my headphones! An hour on the eliptical without headphones is WORK!

So, the cardio was good, the weighs were awful. Tomorrow morning is another training session. Hopefully it will be a better one.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

There are so many reasons to have a bad workout - time of day, time of month, what you ate, stress level, etc... use it as a learning experience to see what you can do/avoid to make your workouts uniformly good ones

[theworm[$]]

Doc (Sven) said that I'm not eating properly. He says I need to eat a complex carb (oatmeal or a sweet potato) 1 - 1.5 hours before my workout and that I should be having 6 small meals a day. I'll try to space my food better. I hope it was just an off day, but it was really off! It wasn't a mental thing - I just couldn't physically do it!

[mtomm[$]]

For some people the amount of carbs they eat before a workout is very important. You might experiment with that. Also, besides the slow carb you could try a roll of Sweettarts just before you go to the gym. Just be sure to count those calories in your daily amount (if you are counting). And if your trainer complains tell him you do it for the dextrose.

What you've described is not unusual at all. Even experienced weight lifters have good and bad workouts. I hang out on a board with a lot of women weight lifters and they have workouts just like you described almost verbatim. I wouldn't worry about it or get discouraged.

[theworm[$]]

I think I'll try a small nuked baked potato. Yummy and I'm afraid to get into a candy habit - though sweet tarts are fairly benign.

[mtomm[$]]

I don't like Sweettarts so they aren't a temptation for me. In fact, I've had half a roll for a loooong time. I tried them but didn't see a difference in how my workouts went so I just bagged it. Any candy made out of dextrose I don't like! It is usually hard stuff.

It isn't candy, it's fuel. !!

[theworm[$]]

I wouldn't go out of my way to get sweettarts, but I'll eat them if they make me strong and powerful!

[mtomm[$]]

There you go.

Also, make sure you are getting enough protein. Essential for making those muscles stronger. Can't make 'em without protein.

[theworm[$]]

It's very confusing. Carbs are for energy - protein for strength. I need to start doing food logs. My workout today was a bit better but I'm still dissapointed. Did 20 minutes on the treadmill - then did a back and arm workout w/ weights - better than Thursday but not what I think it should have been - but I am very week in the upper body. Then did a 30 minute intense glutes class and another 20 minutes on the bike.

Checked my fat percentage and it's not down much at all. Down in the thigh, but not really in the arms and abs, AND I gained a few pounds - which means that I'm building muscle, but not burning enough fat which sounds like my diet needs some serious investigation.

I'm glad that I'm doing this, and I'll continue, but it is somewhat discouraging. I don't want my life to revolve around the gym, but it keeps coming down to more time on Cardio.

[hadassahchana[$]]

As you develpop muscle, the fat burn will increase. Trust me? That's how I lost so much weight before- mostl;y by doing weights.


You are cool, for doing such a nice thing for yourself.

[theworm[$]]

I went this morning and did an fairly intense hour of cardio. I ache and I'm sooooo tired. WEighted myself before the workout and it was 3 pounds less than last night so...... could have been water.
I know I'll be losing, but I like instant gratification.

[magenta321]

I've been doing yoga. I have a physical therapist instructing me, and it's designed to help me strengthen my body which is still very messed up from my accident.

I only see her once a week because it's expensive (and completely out of pocket).

I bought a yoga dvd to do. It's supposedly for beginners, but, I can't do it really. I do what I can, and make modifications on the parts I can't do (like arms over my head -- I can't even raise my right arm for more than a few seconds at this point).

It's frustrating to me. Things that seem so easy are so hard.

One good thing is that there's a core workout section. And my abs are KILLING me. So I think that's a good thing, even though I physically can't do everything I "should" be doing.

[Joubert[$]]

theworm said

I went this morning and did an fairly intense hour of cardio. I ache and I'm sooooo tired. WEighted myself before the workout and it was 3 pounds less than last night so...... could have been water.
I know I'll be losing, but I like instant gratification.

Little bro, she says she need instant grat---

Oops. Never mind.

You are jumping into this pretty intense, but I'm sure your trainer knows what he or she is doing. I'm going to start mixing some light weight work into regular walks because that piece has been missing for too long.

[theworm[$]]

[mtomm[$]]

The bad thing about adding too much cardio is that your body will use your muscle as energy instead of fat. Our bodies keep fat because it doesn't take much energy to keep around in case of a famine. Muscle is energy expensive so your body likes to use it for fuel esp if you are dieting because it considers it expendable and "expensive" to keep around. Does that makes sense? Do some cardio but not too much. Short hard sessions are better for keeping your muscles and burning some calories.

But you are right. It is about diet. Believe me, I KNOW! Gah! I'm really working on trying to tweak everything so that I'm getting just enough of everything to feel good and still lose weight. I'm not there yet!

Margaret, PT is such a good idea. I'm glad to hear you are doing it even if it is costing you a lot now. It will be worth it in the end, I'm just sure. Too bad it has taken so long for you to heal.

I'm such a proponent of weights now, George! Good on ya!

[theworm[$]]

Argh! I don't know what I'm doing anymore.
I'm going to continue with the training and try to focus more on my diet and eating right. Went grocery shopping last night and spent a small fortune on healthy foods. Bought spaghetti squash, portobellos, fish, salad and tofu for dinner this week. Bought some healthy frozen meals for lunch. Got fruit and soup.

My biggest problem lately is fatigue. My last blood test showed that I'm low on iron, and I'm thinking that anemia might explain this exhaustion. I'm really dragging. I did buy a new woman's multi-vitamin that has all the iron and other goodies that I need. And I bought kidney beans for my salads etc. I just can't get enough sleep and its been a REAL problem for the last week or two. Yawn.

[theworm[$]]

Last night was a good workout.
Sven was late so I did an hour of cardio on the eliptical. Then he worked with me for about 50 minutes on weights. We did legs and glutes. My lower body is much stronger than my upper body, and it was a heck of a workout. Did squats with more weights (complained a lot but did all four sets and raised the weights), did some new machines. Did the calve machine for the first time - yowsa - who knew that it could cause that much pain? Then another 15 minutes on the treadmill.

I'm tired and a little sore.
I feel good, but I'm still fighting this horrible fatigue. It's bad. I'm taking a woman's vitamin with iron and everything else I'm supposed to have, but I really just want a nap.