This was what I heard my personal trainer, Barb, ask me a few days ago while I struggled with the TRX set. Well, actually, both calves were burning, so, I answered, "I'm not sure. Yes, I think so."
Turns out she was asking me if my CATS get along (the earlier conversation we had as I was gasping for breath during a one minute plank exercise). After a good laugh, she was undeterred from introducing me to Jacob's Ladder.
"Don't look so scared!" she exclaimed as she hooked a tether around my waist. This particuar machine just works as slowly as you climb, one rung at a time, forever, or, in my case, 4 minutes. It also burned 125 calories in the 4 minutes that I lasted on the machine. You can keep track of the rungs climbed and get a free t-shirt when you reach steps equal to Mt. Everest. Yeah, right, like I need a t-shirt that badly.
On to the recumbent bikes for 20 minutes of "cardio" as Barb calls this ride to nowhere. I haven't figured out how to use the headphone jack, but, I have learned how to read the close captions on the tv or better yet, I ignore the captions and try to guess what the tv newscasters are actually saying.
This little ride is followed by climbing up and down a flight of stairs, 6 times, carrying 10 pound weights in each hand. I clump up the stairs pretty quickly, but, remembering my broken ankle when I missed two steps in my basement stairs in 1999, I SLOWLY decend, staring intently at my feet as they land on each tread. This, of course, is also a pretty good tactic for stalling before Barb assigns me "our" next set of something or other. She also suggests I notice what the extra 20 pounds feels like.......ahem.
Since October, I've lost 2.5 inches from my waist and hips, which at least allows me to breathe easier in a pair of jeans. I actually look forward to my twice weekly sessions with Barb. I have yet to get myself to the gym three other days of the week, however. In an effort to look for motivation, I signed up for a Metabolic Rate Analysis System test. As the brochure states, .....There is one basic truth to weight loss: you need to burn more than you eat. Your test results show you precisely how many calories your body actually burns and calculates how many calories you should eat to lose weight.
So, here's what you do: breathe into a tube that goes into the computer for 15 minutes. It measures and then averages your oxygen and co2 levels, compares them to the same in the room, and, voila! You learn, among other things, if your metabolism is slow, normal, or fast. First, you input your weight, height, and age, goal weight, BMI, and gender. My rate was dead on normal, so that excuse went right out the window, or rather, down the tube.
Taking into account my "resting energy expenditure" of calories, according to the test, my "life style and activity" calories, and my exercise calories/typical session, I need to dump at least 300 calories/day from what I am currently eating. I am sure my "glass" of white wine would qualify for about 150 of those calories, and maybe the nut mix that goes with them. Guess I'll give that a go, so to speak, first. I put the Fitbit back on, too. The one with the lime green band.
I got my first Sneakers award, announced to me on my smartphone, by walking more than 10,000 steps today. Some of that was achieved by walking to the bay and back
and then a rousing round of shopping from one end of Crocker Park to the other. This last, however, was concluded by a nice dinner at Brio, of course with a glass of Cab. Sigh. Today is a new start. We're heading back to our alma mater, Kent State, to hike the campus and see the new buildings and the rehab of downtown Kent, and, I have to admit, a stop at Ray's for a glass of beer.
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