Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

A while back, I wrote about the dangers of aspartame. This time, I wanted to focus on why I feel it's dangerous, on a more personal level.

Recently, I found a stash of Equal, Sweet and Low and Splenda packets. My sister had so many of these packets around and she brought them everywhere. I had already thrown out several hundred packets a while ago, so it surprised me how many she really hard. Just take a look at the picture above… the bag is filled with these packets. The problem is that my sister drank so much Diet Pepsi and Diet 7-Up that I think it may have made her depression even worse.

My personal trainer likes to mix up the work out every few weeks. This week, he has me using the free weights, which is more challenging than using the Cybex Smith Machine.

All the exercises are done on a weight bench. I'm doing exercises for all the muscle groups. The most challenging one for me was where I had to step up to the bench while holding onto weights. You have to make sure you have the proper balance for this exercise. I did this exercise before and it always had me confused. He taught me how to do it properly and I think I'll do better on this one than I did in the past.

A reminder of how far I've come...

Here's proof that the strength training is slowly working… My body fat percentage came down. It went from 22 percent down to 20! I think my abs are flattening out and maybe soon I'll see the muscles underneath.

Today, I learned some new strength exercises using the Cybex Smith machine. I've seen this equipment before but never knew the name of it.

Wow, what a workout! I am sore so I know it's working! This machine is a good way to get the technique down before moving on to free weights.

I'm so tired of winter, especially the snow storms we've been getting lately. But one thing is for sure, you can get a good workout in just cleaning up the snow!

I was stupid… I thought I would be able to make the YMCA yesterday to work out. I received an email from the YMCA saying they would remain closed for the rest of the day. At first I thought, why can't they be open? Then I looked outside. OK, I'm going to be shoveling the rest of the day, who needs to workout after all the shoveling!