Tag: exercise

Goal Setting

I set myself a goal of losing 6 pounds in 3 months, which should be easy. Realistically, I should be able to do it in a month or less. But I figure, start with a really easy goal, that way I can feel like I’m ahead of the game when I exceed my goal.

I’ve been doing the stairs at work, which is hell on my calfs, but will hopefully get easier.

This morning I fired up Wii Fit for the first time in 121 days (so the little animated balance board tells me). I promptly scored a Wii Fit age of 25 and easily beat my old high scores on several games. Yay! What was wrong with me 121 days ago? Maybe my gall bladder was throwing off my balance… =)

I’m going to do stairs and Wii Fit at least 3 times a week each.

Now if I could just work in going to the gym once and a while… maybe I’ll go on Saturday in the morning.

Feels good to have some motivation for a change!

The stairs are a harsh mistress

As part of getting in shape, I figured I’d start doing stairs again.

A year or two ago, I would routinely do 10 sets – where going from the sixth floor down to the first and back is 1 set.

Today I decided I’d start of light and only do 5 sets.

Man!
I forgot how much of a workout stairs are. After those 5 sets, my legs were burning, my heart was thudding, and I was breathing heavy and sweating.

I’m going to make it a regular thing, though. I just have to remember to wear a t-shirt and do it at the end of the day, because of all the sweat.

Twister + Gravity

I went indoor rock climbing today after work, with Colleen and Lisa. They have it at the Worcester YMCA.

I was a bit apprehensive, but figured I would give it a try.

I didn’t like it that much the first climb, but by the third it was pretty fun.

They have colored tape by each “feature” (hand/foothold) and you go on a path by only using features with tape of a particular color. Since it’s hard to see all the features and tape while climbing, people below will shout out helpful suggestions. “Now reach up with your left hand, and grab the swiss cheese!” Since the features all have different shapes and colors, Colleen and Lisa have nicknames for most of them. So it ends up resembling a bizarre game of twister, but with gravity to contend with.

So it was pretty fun. I’m probably going to be sore in the morning, you end up doing a lot of reaching and split-type movements.

The only downside is the location. The Worcester YMCA is on 766 Main Street, deep in the seediest part of Worcester. Driving there was horrible, and while leaving, a couple blocks away, I saw three police cars pulled over, lights flashing, while the K-9 unit arrested what appeared to be crack dealers.

The YMCA itself is very run-down, and looks like it was bombed-out and half-renovated with some new drywall and plaster, but then the funding ran out.

Maybe next time I can find a less horrible way to get there.

The Self-Improvement of Salvatore Ross

Things have been going well, lately I’ve been strangely focused and *gasp* doing things I set out to do.
The year’s only just begun, and here’s what I’ve accomplished so far:

* Lowered my sugar intake to under 50g per day
* Eliminated caffeine from my diet
* Stopped using “snooze” on my alarm
* Changed the time I get up from 8:00am to 6:30am
* Going to yoga class once a week
* Going to the gym for an hour every other day
* Scanning and filing paper as it arrives
* Registered with national junk mail blocking
* Consolidated two computers down to one (ok, I’m still working on this one, but I’ll be done this weekend)
* Replaced my cellphone with one that is reliable (my Razr had bad battery life and a habit of turning itself off)
* Scanned hundreds of slides for my mom (though I still need to mail her the CD)

What’s next?

Plenty.

* Scan bazillions of photos, slides and negatives from Papa’s house
* Sort/scan/toss 10+ years of paper (I have boxes and boxes just full of paper)
* General cleanup, give away or sell stuff I don’t need
* Produce at least one creative project a week
* Learn to play keyboard
* Learn to program Cocoa (and possibly iPhone when SDK comes out)
* Fix the damn MAME machine
And many more…

the long and winding stair

I haven’t done stairs in a while, thought I’d start up again today.

Woo.

Forgot what a workout it is. Thought I’d start out “easy” and only do 5 reps (I used to do 10). By the 3rd rep I was starting to breathe hard, but the 4th I was sweating, by the end of 5 my legs were burning and a little shaky.

1 stairs rep is starting at the 6th floor, walking down to the 1st, then back up to the 6th.

Have to work my way back up to 10 reps, I’ve gotten out of shape (though I haven’t gained any weight, at least – I’m still about 145).

My goal is to get in better shape, build a little muscle, and maybe lose 5 more pounds, get down to 140.
Ideally I’d like to have at least a modicum of muscle… I’m not looking to look like a cage match dude or anything, just maybe be able to lift a bucket of kitty litter without struggling…