Staying on track

I'm feeling really good as of late. I've lost about 4 more pounds in the past week, and I'm only 3 pounds away from a total of 20 pounds! The thing I'm really looking forward to is when I finally break the 200lb mark. But slow and steady is how I've got to do it. I think it's time for a gym tip.

Gym Tip #1

Feeling Comfortable

I think a lot of people feel nervous about going to the gym or working out in front of other people. My response to that is 95% of the time, no one is looking at you. Even if they are "looking" at you, in reality I can say that they are just looking in a direction. People at the gym normally have their headphones in and are concentrating on their on workouts. That being said, even consciously knowing that it's still hard to get over the feeling of being watched for some people. My best suggestion to people who have this fear is to definitely invest in headphones and an mp3 player of some sort, and just try to concentrate on the workout.

Training Tips and Gym Tips

So training is going really well, and I'm starting to get a good rhythm going. I'm really motivated, and I'm starting to see results in both my appearance and stats. Since I'm writing this blog with hopes to eventually help other people of all levels with their fitness endeavors, I have decided to add two series to my blog: Training Tips and Gym Tips. Training Tips will be about workout tips, cardio tips and weight training tips... basically these will be from a combination of personal experience and research. Gym tips will come along as I think of them, and will basically include gym etiquette, feeling comfortable and a rundown of gym equipment. These tips will be kind of random, and helpfulness will be subjective to your experience and/or sense of humor.

Training Tip #1

Cardio or Weight Training first?

This is kind of a personal preference thing in my opinion. Some people say it's better to do cardio last so your body can burn the available fuel in your stomach by weights first. My stance is that unless you are literally bodybuilding, you don't need that much fuel to lift. Also, you shouldn't lift without warming up anyway, so cardio first makes sense to me. Regardless, always make sure to warm up and cool down, and stretch. NEVER stretch while cold, you could pull something.

Down 3 minutes!

Today I ran my 2nd 5K, and I improved my time by 3 minutes! 43:30. I also incorporated my weight training back into my program. I am doing weight training 6 days a week, cardio 7 days a week, and core 7 days a week. Anyway, super tired so this is going to be a short post. I've also decided to use this marathon to donate money to the Human Rights Campaign. I'm in the process of setting up a fundraising page through their Athletes for Equality site. I will link to it later on.

Off the wagon

Well, since I haven't posted in almost a month it's very clear that I fell off the wagon. Regardless, I gave myself enough time to get back on track if something like this happened. My new job working on the ferries between CT and NY serving food is more stressful than I planned. The tourists are frantic for their muffins and coffees, and it gets old very quick. Thankfully, I only have a bit left before going to NYCC in January.