workout wonders

i finally managed to convince myself that i should go back to the gym after another two weeks of hiatus. the going-back to the gym plan hit a roadblock last time since after an excessive weight training regimen, my arms hurt for the whole week. lesson learned, you can't presumably pick-up from where you left off after being gone for almost a quarter.

i managed to do most of the exercises i planned for today, even doing a 10-min cardio (ok, babysteps) and putting in the ab exercises though its supposed to be on the next day set. But seeing the condition of my abs right now, i think i will benefit from doing ab exercises on a daily basis. hopefully this "going back to the gym" dedication i feel right now lasts just like last time. its really different when you have a personal trainer and you're paying extra to workout. I resigned myself that i will try planning my exercise routine without a trainer for now.

to reward myself for a job well-done at the gym, i had a big slice of mango bravo. i wanted to post a picture of it here but i thought "better not to spare me the laughter." hahaha well, its sister's birthday today so i had to have cake.

going back to the gym

after more than 4 months away from the gym (blame it on the US trips and laziness), i decided to go back to the gym yesterday. it took all of my willpower to convince myself i needed to go since part of me was already saying "tomorrow na lang." i'm starting with this "body for life" program after juan gave me the book during my last trip. it sounds simple enough with the exercises and the food but i soon found out that not being in the gym for a long time makes it harder to do the reps. i'm following the exercise routine for this program and its a good thing that they have the excel tables and all kinds of resources to plan out my routine. the food though needs more planning - i've switched to brown rice already though, even bought a small rice cooker for it. i've also started to trim down my meal portions - moving down to filipino rather than american servings. i am also recently addicted to yoghurt, plain or fruit-flavored. i gobble-up 2 servings daily - sarap e.

when i was doing the exercises at the gym, i forgot how some of the exercises work so improvised on some. by the time i was done, my arms felt like lead. and today, they really hurt bad - and i do mean bad. its a good thing cardio is every other day ... and just 20mins at that. tomorrow is lower body workout so my arms & upper body gets to rest. i realized that you have to mix weight training with cardio if you want to burn fat faster. cardio won't do it by itself. you have to do weights (light if you don't want to bulk up) to tone up. ah, this is really a challenge - a very hard one at that.