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Monday, December 24, 2007
Current weight: 177 lbs. I am writing while enjoying a whey protein smoothie after one full hour
in the gym (it's really my sunroom,
which I converted into an at home gym of sorts). I can't remember the
last time I lifted weights in the form of a full work-out, but my new year's resolution is to get back into lifting
regularly. Yes, I believe in new year's resolutions because I have broken many of them. So I think it's time to
find the time and energy to get back to where I was before I stopped lifting around September of this
year. Feel
free to send me e-mails
of encouragement.
| The fitness challenges of
the holidays are many-fold, and I know you face them too. I share
your anxiety over things such as eating too much, eating too many
sweets such as chocolate and cakes (my weaknesses), and not
getting out in the cold to work of the excess calories that are so
easy to consume during these days of celebration. For me, not
going to my school for ten days (December 22 to January 2) means I
have no venue for meaningful cardio because I will not be playing
basketball during the winter break. So I need to establish a
strategy that will allow me to replace my basketball-based
workouts with some sort of heart-raising activity during these
possibly cold and snowy or rainy days. |
| ...[n]ot
going to my school for ten days (December 22 to January 2)
means I have no venue for meaningful cardio because I will
not be playing basketball during the winter break. So I
need to establish a strategy that will allow me to replace
my basketball-based workouts with some sort of
heart-raising activity during these possibly cold and
snowy or rainy days. |
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In my sunroom, I have an old treadmill that I grabbed for free at a
church yard sale. If the weather keeps me from going outside,
I can't make an excuse because the treadmill is there and it works fine.
I can also do cardio-based weightlifting, where I lighten
the weights but increase the repetitions and the pace, while keeping
rest between sets to a minimum or none at all. This kind of activity
keeps the heart rate up and allows for strength training as well as fat
burning. On a day like today, where the sun was shining and the
temperature hovering around 50 degrees, it was warm enough to put in 45
minutes of basketball practice in the driveway, and a two mile interval
session where I alternate between jogging and power-walking. I'd like to
wok up to intervals where I am alternating between hard running and
jogging, but since I stopped running, I did not want to stress out my
hamstrings too much. It's a goal to work up towards. So even though it
is a vacation day, I feel good about the fact that I put in a double
workout: over an hour of cardio and one hour of strength training.
I won't feel guilty about taking a break tomorrow because it is
Christmas Day, a time to be with my family. The kids will be up early
to
unwrap presents. My ex-wife will be over around 10 AM to share in the
festivities. We'll all go a see National Treasure 2: The Book of
Secrets because seeing a movie on Christmas Day has become our
family's tradition. Then we'll join my ex-mother-in-law for Christmas
Dinner. So there are numerous opportunities to consume massive calories
and to consume too many of the wrong kind. One area of my new year's
resolution is to find the willpower to stay away from cake-based carbs,
which are my primary weakness at work.
I have extra motivation to lose fat and put on muscle lost over the last
quarter of 2007. Anytime
Fitness is a gym franchise that opened a branch near my house in
Brunswick. I decided to apply to see if I could put in some hours to
earn extra cash and pay some bills. Being a single dad, a homeowner, and
a credit-card user had lead to a negative cash flow situation at my
house, so I took the proactive step of seeing if they needed any help.
My reasoning included the fact that I was just falling asleep on the
couch every night, so there must be a way to earn money, get back into
shape, and meet some like-minded people all at the same time. The
manager there read George's Fitness Journal and saw a regular guy who
might be able to work with clients and be an inspiration to lose weight
and stay fit. So I will put together a schedule and put in some
"club time" with the possibility of getting certified as a
trainer. That goal is way off, but if I am going to show people how to
use the equipment, I need to demonstrate that I can use it myself. I
hope to use their facilities to improve my strength and my appearance,
but for now, my sunroom is a good starting place. Remember: staying
fit does not take a holiday. Even so, I hope you have a
fun-filled and safe holiday season.
Stay healthy,
George
georgecassutto@hotmail.com
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