Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

The strength training is going well, but I got kind of nervous when I stepped on the scale the other day. I've gained like 5 pounds, but from what I've been reading, and judging from what others have been telling me, it's supposed to go up some when lifting weights.

I think I'm not going to weight myself but maybe once a week. No need to concern myself over the numbers, as long as my clothes fit!

I just thought I would post an update on the personal training I'm doing at the local YMCA. So far, I'm liking the new workout. I do think it's going to work as I can feel the soreness in my muscles… I know I worked them hard today!

As I was discussing with the trainer, the cardio has been an important part of my workout for so long. It's really hard to make that transition to focusing more on weights. I mean, the treadmill helped me lose over 130 pounds, so it confuses my mind to know that I have to cut down my time on it. I've been advised to use the treadmill just 15 minutes on days that I don't do the strength training. On days that I do the training, I can only do the treadmill for 5 minutes. It makes me feel guilty, in a way, thinking I'm not getting enough exercise. I've been averaging 30 to 40 minutes most days of the week so it's a big change.

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of talk in the news about how people burn more calories when it's cold outside. Is it me, or is this a ridiculous thing to report when it's like 10 degrees outside?

Imagine someone going outside in this freezing cold weather, and risk getting frost bit just for the sake of burning more calories? I'd rather stay warm… this cold weather is just too much to handle. I still don't know how people jump in the water in extreme cold or how people run outside in the extreme cold. I give you a lot of credit if you're able to!

Ever since I lost 130 pounds, I've been trying to tighten my abs. Today, I had my first personal training session at the local YMCA. This workout routine will be completely different from what I've been used to.

As much as I have cut back on cardio, with the new training, I'll be cutting back on it even further. The focus is on strength and heavy lifting. It will take a while to get used to this routine.

I went out to eat for lunch today. I should have brought my phone with me but instead, I had to guess what foods were lower in sodium.

When I entered the food in the online food journal after lunch, I found out the food that I ate had a whopping 1440 mg of sodium! That's almost the entire day's worth in one meal. I usually have around 1,750 to 2,400 mg of sodium a day, so this was a lot to me!