This Is My Life

I had an absolutely fantastic weekend. Maria was away with friends both Friday and Saturday. I tried to have some people over on Saturday but plans fell apart. It might sound like I'm complaining, but I swear I'm not!

I had some alone time, watched some movies, worked 10 hours on Saturday (which wasn't as bad as it sounds) and did my work outs. Generally, I was either too busy, too relaxed, or too tired to really care about anything else. Had my friends come over on Saturday I might have fallen asleep with them here.

I've been sore and generally fatigued lately from my work outs. I know that a work out is supposed to (according to experts and crazy people) give you more energy and while that may be true it doesn't also give me a magical ability to stop feeling sore, or cease my muscles from being worn out. Eventually I know it will become easier. Theoretically? Maybe?

I'm pushing myself rather hard, actually. I know this goes against all professional fitness advice but I believe that when I let myself go easy with my fitness regiment I tend to go too easy and stop altogether. I honestly think that I have to push myself to where I think my limit is and then go at least one step beyond before I feel satisfied with what I'm doing. Is this good? I have no idea. All I know is that despite the general body aches, I feel awesome and I'm losing size.

Sunday? Sunday I spent with Maria and a bunch of friends with a Meet Up group watching Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage, then discussing it. Very depressing but darkly hilarious movie. The discussion afterwards was lively but we had to bow out relatively early to come back and make sure the dogs were doing okay. It was a good time - I enjoyed the people and the new experience.

Really, it was a fantastic weekend. Looking back I couldn't point out any one thing but I enjoyed my "me" time and I enjoyed spending time with friends. I think it was generally a good balance. Even at work it was nice to get to see some of the huge dogs. Heh. A European Great Dane named "Bob," for example, whose name is too short for his size.

How was your weekend?

For a couple of weeks now I've been using the Wii Fit at least once a day for a half hour. I call it my "Wiirkout." Yes, I'm a dork, but that's what I call it.

Well, I've also been keeping track of my weight, because the Wii Fit is nice enough to keep track of all that for me. Today, I gained weight. Really, the weight-loss thing isn't going so great. I'm yo-yoing. Granted, I've lost 8 lbs from the beginning, and seem to be at a point where I'm not gaining any of THAT back, but it's depressing to see a 1.2 lb gain when I did two wiirkouts yesterday, and thought I was pretty good with the amount I ate.

There's a trade-off, however.

Sure, the weight isn't really coming off as I thought it would, and I have to lose 7.4 lbs in less than 2 weeks to meet my goal, but I'm noticing that I'm better at individual exercises than I was before.

For example, I've been doing the "Free Step" exercise a lot lately, which is kind of a waste of a $100 piece of equipment, but so be it. Essentially, it counts my steps for a half hour while I step on and off it continuously while watching television. The Wiimote counts out the beat that I'm supposed to walk to. I did this today, and didn't break out in a sweat until about halfway through, whereas when I first did this the sweating would start within the first minute or two.

So, I'm not losing weight, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting into better aerobic shape. Hopefully I'm gaining a little muscle I didn't have before starting all this, which will increase my overall fitness and metabolism, thus making it easier to lose weight. It's a hope, anyway.

So, something non-Disney related:

I finally found the Wii Fit, at a local Toys 'R Us.

I bought it, ostensibly for Maria, the day after coming home from Disney on the 5th. Since then I've logged two hours worth of workout time, unlocked a bunch of pretty interesting stuff, and made my muscles burn in ways the gym never has.

I like it!

Now, I can't say it's the most fun game I've ever played, because really it's a workout. Quite literally. Most of it is just flat-out workout moves to build strength, flexibility, core muscles, etc. Sure, they add a bit of scoring to what you do and keep track of how well you balance yourself during each exercise, but that can't disguise the fact that it's a workout, and that if I had purchased it thinking it was going to be a really kick-ass, cool, fun game to get in shape with, I'd be disappointed.

However, I'm not disappointed. I knew pretty much what I was getting into, buying this for Maria*, and fully expected it to be hard work. What I didn't realize was that it was going to focus on lots of different things. I expected push-ups, and while they're there, I also get Sun Salutations**. I thought I'd see things like crunches, and I have, but I've also played some little game where I'm in a bubble going down a river and I can't touch the sides.

I think the thing I like best so far is that I can go from one thing to another. If I get bored doing Aerobics I can switch over to Yoga, or have some fun with the games that I mentioned. Strength training is hard, and if I feel like my leg muscles are getting ready to give out on me (I pushed a little too hard a little too fast) then I can move over to balance, where all my legs have to do is hold me up.

It's really nice, and I'm hoping it helps me in my attempt to lose weight. Now that I'm back from Disney, that's my next big challenge, one that I've taken seriously in the past, but never seriously enough, long enough.

Hopefully Wii Fit will help.

Now, pardon me while I go shower. Walking for hours in Florida heat didn't make me sweat as hard as a half hour on this game does.

*Have I mentioned this belongs to Maria yet? She walked to and from work yesterday, so gets a reprieve for not having logged as many hours as I have, but today I'm hoping to convince her to get up there and do some hula hooping.

**A yoga pose that I haven't quite mastered yet, but do well on.