I just threw away 2 batches of cooked Steel Cut Oats which I had had in the freezer for about 2 years. A few years ago, I used to eat Oats often, especially in 2016 when I was working out like a beast with Caribbean champion body builder, Grenada’s Damion Daniel. See evidence below!
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Damion Daniel was unavailable to train me on Sunday. Although I was accustomed to working out on my own all these years, I have come to rely on him pushing me to, as he told me, where my body has never gone before. Let’s see what I could put together for this “last chance workout,” still under his watchful eye as he was in the gym.
I WAS at the gym for a special purpose but that’s not what this post is about :).
No Trainer today so I was on my own. Tuesday he had put me on the treadmill at 15% incline and 3.0 mph. Killer! He told me to do it again on Wednesday and that he would know if I didn’t do it when he was with me the next time. That sounded like a warning. 😕
Did 5 minutes on the bike to make sure muscles were warm. Then I headed upstairs. I steeled my mind and said “let’s do it”. On Tuesday he had stood beside me for the duration so I pretended he was there on Wednesday. Can’t say that it worked since I held on to the handle a few times and lowered the speed at intervals. See the results below.
Next it was an hour of yoga….just what I needed after that treadmill workout. It was the first time with that teacher, who was a thin whisp of a girl. Naturally, she effortlessly moved from pose to pose. Meanwhile I could hear myself grunting. Ooof. 😂😁
The best part of the yoga class is the end, when you are encouraged to choose whatever pose your body felt like geting into. Yeah….freestyle yoga. This was mine…👍
The teacher said some inspirational words as we were winding down, including a version of the title of this blog post. She encouraged us to continue the yoga practice by giving love, saying kind words etc. A great way to start my Wednesday.
Looking forward to a day off on Thursday, then back wih Damion Daniel on Friday morning. Excited to see what my body can become, if I just keep pushing in the gym and eating clean.
I went through Monday’s lunchtime gym session with Damion Daniel thinking “be careful what you wish for Ms Yamfoot” :?. I’d told him on the weekend that I wanted to do more exercises for the butt. That meant squats and lunges were included.
My knees are getting accustomed to these exercises and I’ve actually not been bothered by them so much, since stepping up my quantity of exercise.
I had to abandon the 10lb dumbells the Trainer had given me to use while doing the lunges. A few times too, I was about to topple over. Ever watchful, he was there to ensure that didn’t happen. Mek mi tell yuh……my thighs certainly felt the burn!
The key to maximizing that move is to keep upright and also get your knee touching the floor when you go down, and drive up using your glutes. I’d watched him last week executing those in perfect form so I knew what it looked like. Heart was willing but thighs and butt were weak. I kept reminding him that I had to go back to work, when I tried to pause during a set. “Every rep counts,” he said, followed by some encouragement.
To finish up, did 10 minutes of the elliptical. It gets easier each day.
Pilates class is a fixture on my Saturday schedule. It is gentle on my body so it was no problem to schedule a session with the trainer before the class. The gym was late in opening so I made hay in the meantime. How?
Set the stopwatch, walked down the road to this playing field and jogged around it once. The grass is kind to one’s knees.
Walked back up to the gym and it was still locked. Imagine they kept the PM waiting too! I continued walking and by the time I turned back, the person came.
Went straight into the morning’s exercises:-
Incline press, shoulder press, bicep curl, leg press and lunges. I tolerated the shoulder press much better than Tuesday.
In between, there was elliptical sprinting and on the bicycle with varying intensity.
I gotta give cyclists who ride up steep hills their props!
Day 1 done and dusted….
Full body workout with Damion Daniel. Quads, hamstring, chest, shoulder, biceps, lats, deltoids. Nope. I am not a novice. I know my muscles. I also know which of them have issues. A lot!!!!! Hopefully as they get stronger and I eat better, the niggles will disappear. Must look after my cervical spine too.
As I was struggling with finishing some of the reps while Damion was gently encouraging me (i.e. not the way Jillian Michaels does it), I asked myself, what is the value of hiring a trainer?
I got the answer when, after he switched up the order of some of the upper body exercises, mi…..couldn’t……repeat…..one…..which……I normally……breeze……through! And mind you, the weights were not heavy. There is also that accountability factor. Trusting me to motivate me clearly hasn’t worked out so well the older I have got.
I guess that’s why he looks like this….
…..and me like this 😁😂😯;)😮😦😨
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I’ve tried Intermittent Fasting before. It’s what Dave Zinczenko calls the 8-hour diet. Apparently there are different ways to do Intermittent Fasting. Who knew! The first time I tried IF, I had a headache the first morning I did not eat breakfast, even though I had had coffee, which you are allowed. This time, I am going to TRY and not have any coffee until the 16 hour fast is over.
Today I had my first meal at 7 a.m., then my last meal at 5:30 p.m. Because I have to teach tomorrow, I will have to eat by 7:30 a.m. so the first day will be a 14 hour fast. My students need not see my Incredible Hulk transformation due to hunger.
How do I feel right now at 10:30 p.m.? That I should’ve been sleeping already so I would not feel these hunger pangs!! Damn. All now, I would have been eating non-stop. Yes, night time noshing is my weakness. Need to find something to occupy my time in the evenings, besides work. HGTV is trying to fill the gap, but on House Hunters just now, they showed a family buying ice cream in New Jersey and I had to turn away. 🙁
Check back so I can let you know how I am surviving Intermittent Fasting and more importantly, if there has been any positive effect on my weight loss efforts, which is why I am torturing myself in the first place. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
Yikes!!!!!
I didn’t cry or curse when I stepped on the scale this morning. I just said
