Sweating My Way Through

Who needs a gym membership? Really? Because with a little digging through google and a tiny investment in weights, circuit training at home is a breeze. For a poor person like me, this is a good thing. With our tough personal circumstances, I think the only thing keeping me sane and fighting off depression has been to throw myself into an exercise regime. Sadly, I think that same stress has countered every burned calorie and any weight loss has been slow if not nil.

BUT! (And this is a good but) For the first time in years, I can see tone beginning to peek through the flab. My arms have muscle, and if I can lose any of that stupid fat there will be a killer six pack of abs underneath. Progress is slow, but at least it's still progress. That progress has everything to do with upping my game these past couple of months: strength training. I no longer just go for runs and call it good. I now incorporate all-around training from head to toe and it has already had a nice affect on my running. No more sore knees. At least not as bad anyway.

I'm not prone to being a quiz taker, but the other day I saw one that claimed to calculate your "happy weight." The weight at which you are the healthiest, and therefore should be the happiest. Now, I'm pretty sure I have a good grasp on what I should weigh for my height, and that would be what I was back when I was 22. I wasn't model thin, but I was definitely a good 25 lbs. less than I am now. This has been my personal Everest for years. The quiz piqued my interest though, because I wondered if maybe my aspirations were too high (or low for that matter). Being a fresh 22-year-old was a decade ago for me, so perhaps my goal weight, let alone my happy weight, was unreasonable. It's not like we ladies don't have a tendency toward unrealistic goals.

I entered all my information and clicked, "Calculate."

Damn it.

Right there in front of me was the same number I would see on the scale ten years ago.

Well, at least I was right. I have pretty healthy expectations of what I should be and what I should keep on truckin' towards. Which brings me to my own cardio routine. I see so many of these out there on Pinterest, but I feel like none of them incorporate enough action to keep my heart rate up like I feel running does. So, I combined the two. This might seem pretty simple at first, but let me tell you, by the third round on the treadmill, I want to die. I will keep this in my weekly rotation until it gets too easy. Then I'll either ramp up the intensity or run longer. Not sure which. I personally only do this once a week because I have other things I do, but I'm sure anyone could take the gist of this and switch around some of the exercises, such as adding more abdominal targeted moves, and do it more than once a week. It works well for me when the weather is terrible and I don't want to leave the garage where my treadmill lives. I'm sure when the snow melts, I'll modify it to run blocks around the neighborhood and do the other exercises in my yard. In all, no matter how you do it, you will definitely sweat!