Today I headed to the gym just after noon for some nice running on the treadmill. Since I activated my account with the OSU gymnasiums yesterday, today I didn't have to walk all the way to the main facility (the RPAC), I was able to go to the much closer mini-gym, "Jesse Owens South", which is just ten minutes' walk from where I live.
Since it's Summer vacation, the building was fairly dead, which is good for treadmilling because it means I didn't have to wait at all to use one. During the busy quarters, sometimes I had to take a number and wait.
I did basic stretches for a couple of minutes before starting the workout. Probably not quite as much as I should have, but better than when I was working out before. Back then, "stretching" was something Mr. Fantastic used to fight villains, not something I used as part of my training regime.
During the stretch, I felt a tingue of awkwardness, because it was probably obvious to anyone watching me that I was making it up as I went. It still felt really good, though, and I look forward to touching my toes without bending my knees. Sometime later I'll do a little research into a more organized warmup set.
After the stretches, I got on the treadmill and got to work. My plan was as follows: 60 minutes, starting at 3 miles per hour and gradually accelerating, up to 7.5 mph at the end. I was more out of shape than I thought, and ended up doing 45 minutes, with a peak of 6.5 mph which was reached not at the end but in the middle. Distance: 4.14 miles total. I actually switched machines after the first 5 minutes, because the 'mill I started on seemed to have some weird problem where the "conveyor belt" would get briefly "stuck" whenever my left foot came down.
After the "officially" ending the run, I continued for another few minutes, rapidly decreasing the speed until I was just casually walking-- in short, a cool down. I hit the water fountain like it was an oasis in the Sahara, gulping down as much as I could take.
I felt really great after the run. I could just "feel" all the toxin and poison that's gathered up in my body over the past few months, seeping out through my sweat. Hmmm, I'll have to schedule a sauna trip sometime soon...
Today we were waiting for a sofa to be delivered, so my girlfriend and I went to do our training separately so someone would be at home throughout the day.
DIET
Being more conscious of one's diet goes hand in hand with the 30 day workout. One of my big problems recently was I was usually eating just two meals a day. Now I'm making an effort to enjoy lots of small snacks, and eat less at mealtime. That might require a lot of discipline this evening, since my girlfriend is planning on whipping up some delicious nikujaga for me! Good thing Japanese food is a hundred times healthier than American food by default ;)
The best things for snacking on are fruits, nuts, and certain vegetables. I'm a supporter of bananas, I just had one and it was delicious.
The idea that "more food = more weight" and "less food = less weight" is a total misconception. Truth is that it depends on how fast food is metabolized. When a person starves herself-- or eats just one or two meals a day-- her body switches to starvation mode and metabolism sputters to a halt.
Along with changing my eating habits, I'm making an effort to drink more. Water, that is. I drank enough alcohol during my recent Vegas trip, for the whole rest of the year ;) I wouldn't be surprised if the sweat in my gymclothes was a mild intoxicant.
FEELING AND LOOKING BETTER ALREADY
I'm kind of amazed how fast I'm starting to get some of the positive side effects of daily exercise. Despite the soreness in my upper body from yesterday (which is actually mildly pleasant), I already "feel" more muscly, and my girlfriend made similar comments after I gave her a nice bearhug.
Tomorrow I'll be doing a lower body weightlifting session, the core of which consists of squats. See you in the squat cages!
NEXT: Days 3-5
Since it's Summer vacation, the building was fairly dead, which is good for treadmilling because it means I didn't have to wait at all to use one. During the busy quarters, sometimes I had to take a number and wait.
I did basic stretches for a couple of minutes before starting the workout. Probably not quite as much as I should have, but better than when I was working out before. Back then, "stretching" was something Mr. Fantastic used to fight villains, not something I used as part of my training regime.
During the stretch, I felt a tingue of awkwardness, because it was probably obvious to anyone watching me that I was making it up as I went. It still felt really good, though, and I look forward to touching my toes without bending my knees. Sometime later I'll do a little research into a more organized warmup set.After the stretches, I got on the treadmill and got to work. My plan was as follows: 60 minutes, starting at 3 miles per hour and gradually accelerating, up to 7.5 mph at the end. I was more out of shape than I thought, and ended up doing 45 minutes, with a peak of 6.5 mph which was reached not at the end but in the middle. Distance: 4.14 miles total. I actually switched machines after the first 5 minutes, because the 'mill I started on seemed to have some weird problem where the "conveyor belt" would get briefly "stuck" whenever my left foot came down.
After the "officially" ending the run, I continued for another few minutes, rapidly decreasing the speed until I was just casually walking-- in short, a cool down. I hit the water fountain like it was an oasis in the Sahara, gulping down as much as I could take.
I felt really great after the run. I could just "feel" all the toxin and poison that's gathered up in my body over the past few months, seeping out through my sweat. Hmmm, I'll have to schedule a sauna trip sometime soon...
Today we were waiting for a sofa to be delivered, so my girlfriend and I went to do our training separately so someone would be at home throughout the day.
DIET
Being more conscious of one's diet goes hand in hand with the 30 day workout. One of my big problems recently was I was usually eating just two meals a day. Now I'm making an effort to enjoy lots of small snacks, and eat less at mealtime. That might require a lot of discipline this evening, since my girlfriend is planning on whipping up some delicious nikujaga for me! Good thing Japanese food is a hundred times healthier than American food by default ;)
The best things for snacking on are fruits, nuts, and certain vegetables. I'm a supporter of bananas, I just had one and it was delicious.
The idea that "more food = more weight" and "less food = less weight" is a total misconception. Truth is that it depends on how fast food is metabolized. When a person starves herself-- or eats just one or two meals a day-- her body switches to starvation mode and metabolism sputters to a halt.
Along with changing my eating habits, I'm making an effort to drink more. Water, that is. I drank enough alcohol during my recent Vegas trip, for the whole rest of the year ;) I wouldn't be surprised if the sweat in my gymclothes was a mild intoxicant.
FEELING AND LOOKING BETTER ALREADY
I'm kind of amazed how fast I'm starting to get some of the positive side effects of daily exercise. Despite the soreness in my upper body from yesterday (which is actually mildly pleasant), I already "feel" more muscly, and my girlfriend made similar comments after I gave her a nice bearhug.
Tomorrow I'll be doing a lower body weightlifting session, the core of which consists of squats. See you in the squat cages!
NEXT: Days 3-5
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