Exercise: 90 mins treadmill, 20 mins strength training

Water: 20 cups

Food: 2319 calories (27% fat, 39% carbs, 31% protein)

Protein: 180g (aiming for 170+)

Breakfast: protein shake, 12-grain bread, cheese blend, 3 clementines (383)

AM Snack: almonds (164)

Lunch: onion soup with baguette and cheese, smoked turkey & ham, apple (571)

PM Snack: protein shake, soy nuts, fruit salad (375)

Dinner: balsamic pork tenderloin, broccoli, snow peas, butter, salad w/dressing (504)

Late Snack: protein shake, apple, fruit salad (323)

Yes, I managed to make myself eat more today. Considering how worn out I felt after doing the afternoon exercises it was probably a good decision. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed food as much as the items marked as the PM snack. I was tired, sweaty and needed a shower… but really needed to eat first. So tomorrow will be a good day to do just some light treadmill work. Hmm, it’s probably not a good thing that I’m thinking a treadmill routine that hits a 10-degree incline is light? I can already feel a few fulls in a few muscles, so we’ll see how I am in the morning.

Becky - I’m glad you have some of the WATP videos. They are great when you don’t have a lot of time and space to walk. Especially on those rainy days when outdoors walking isn’t good. I’d brave the storage area and dig them out, just so you have them.

I know that I normally add in exercise at the end of the day, but I figured out a way to get a basic table, so I thought I’d add these in the three days a week that I’m doing the weight training. The morning was 2 x 30-min sessions on the treadmill. In the afternoon I did a 15-min warm-up on the treadmill, followed by:

Where there is a single number that confirms that I did the number of reps called for. Where there are two numbers the first is the amount of weight I used, followed by reps. BW means bodyweight (ie. I carried no extra weight).

It was easier and harder than I thought. I’m not used to the squat, so they’re just hard. Adding a little weight isn’t too bad, but I suspect this will be tougher as I add weight. The bent-over row is easy, so the weights shouldn’t be hard to add. The prone jackknife is a total disaster. You put your shins up on an exercise ball, stand on your hands, and in theory roll the ball towards your hands while tucking your knees in. This is the point where I fall off the freakin’ ball. Over the next 11 sessions (12 in all including today) I suspect I’ll get slightly better at this, but then again, maybe not. I’m not looking forward to the swiss-ball crunch on Wednesday. I’ll have to make sure there is nothing I can crack my head on if I fall off the ball! I’m actually thinking that maybe taking a little air out of the ball might help my balance at the beginning. We’ll see how it goes on Wed and Fri before I decide.

So, at this point I’m tired, I’m sore, and really tired of falling on the floor. However, I’m done… and I decide I might as well finish off another 15-mins on the treadmill. Well, I survived it, and my afternoon snack was never so deserved, or desired. I think it’s probably as good a time as any to grab a shower. I’ll update you on the so-called strength training on Wednesday.

feathers - using weights is something I’ve never really done in the past. I’ve always kind of felt like I was playing with the barbells. I thought a set program would help keep me on track. This section will take me 8 weeks to complete (adding 8 workouts because of being new), so it will be interesting.