Always Next Week
So, I have a plan and a resolution and I’m telling everyone to — I hope — increase my motivation when the alarm bell strikes.
Everyone, it seems, says interval training is the way one should exercise. That means walking for a time, then having a burst of running, then walking, then running, etc. for 20 minutes.
That’s what Matt suggested I try. And I did it a couple times one week and lost 2 pounds that week. And, I noted, running just a bit in the morning increased the likelihood that I’d sprint from door to mailbox or from kitchen to bedroom. I didn’t feel like a deadweight for the rest of the day, as I do when I sleep until 7 and roll out of bed and hit the ground managing life and children.
Then, I saw that’s what Amy the Humble says everyone says she should do. Except she says she’s doing it five days a week, and from what I have seen, everyone says having a rest day between workouts is best. After seeing her post, I browsed a couple Dr. Mercola articles on interval training (it’s not necessary, and you have to sign up to his newsletter to see the articles, and now every day I get emails with scare-tactic subject lines).
Then, my friend Jessica came for a visit, and she is currently training for a 10K marathon. She’s already done the 5K using the Couch-to-5K program. Doing the interval training, it takes you from no exercise to running 5K after 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week, for 6-9 weeks (depending on which site you get the plan from). Well, that certainly sounds doable! Not only that, but I got additional encouragement from Jess: 1) By week 4 she lost a dress size even though she was doing it for fitness not weight loss and didn’t really need to lose weight. 2) By week 4-5 she noticed her mood was substantially improved, and she didn’t think it was bad beforehand. She went from “normal” to “bubbly.”
Ok, rapid weight loss, increased energy & metabolism, mood improvement….only 20 minutes….not even every day….only a couple months….only one month before improvements are noticed…..I am totally doing this, even though I hate running.
So, starting the 9-week plan next week, August 9th, would have me finishing up about October 15th. Week 6 or 7 would be when I’d have to go find a new dress to wear to my sister’s wedding.
I’ll keep you posted. I’m fairly excited, actually. But, it is Thursday. Thursdays are always hopeful days when we are talking about next week.
