Valentines Day! Now that I think about it, nearly every month of the year has some national holiday or another. Aside aside, this month was AMAZING. I say this for a variety of reasons; My cardio amount per day increased, my weights increased, and I dove headfirst into the realm of nutrition.
Starting with the cardio, I increased my daily amount from 30 minutes of rowing to 45 minutes of rowing. One question I know many are thinking is why I only did rowing. In the beginning it was due to the fact that I couldn’t run or do the elliptical and I didn’t want to bike. But now, that wasn’t an issue. My simple answer is, I didn’t really think about it. I was so focused on doing the cardio and the weights that I never really considered elliptical instead. I knew I wouldn’t be able to run for 45 minutes, but the elliptical never really crossed my mind. Along with cardio, my weights on every machine increased across the board as well. This led to my regime changing from what it was to this:
Chest Day:
10 minutes of pectoral flys (10 sets of 5 reps at 160 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of weighted crunches (10 sets of 5 reps at 90 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of chest press (10 sets of 5 reps at 75 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
Leg Day:
10 minutes of leg press (10 sets of 5 reps at 245 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of leg extensions (10 sets of 5 reps at 90 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
10 minutes of outward hip abductions (10 sets of 5 reps at 120 pounds).
15 minutes of rowing.
It was during this month that I truly realized how much my weights had increased in every area from when I started. This success emboldened me to keep going and pushing myself as hard as I could. The end was in sight and I was loving every moment of it. Another change I noticed during this month was that I genuinely looked forward to going to the gym everyday. I no longer had to force myself to get in the car.
The only area where I didn’t increase my weights was on the chest press. The reason why? Nutrition. What I hadn’t realized when I cut my calories in January, was that cutting them to that amount had left me malnourished in some areas. I didn’t notice this immediately because my body adapted, but come mid-February, I felt it. I spent the rest of February researching nutrition and trying to figure out how to stay at 1500 calories and still stay nourished. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed this aspect of my journey. It was during this time that I learned the most about the body which made the rest of my journey a million times easier.
Come the end of February, I vowed to go to the store at the turn of the month and buy protein rich, filling, and low calorie foods. This was a tough ask. This is because, protein-rich foods tend to be very high in calories. It was during this time that I also learned about clean carbs. These include fruits, whole grains, and other such foods. Despite the nutrition hiccup, however, I ended the month at 164.1 pounds for a loss of 7.1 that month and a total weight-loss of 44.5 pounds.
Right: This month is where I acquired most of the information to make the rest of my journey much easier. I’m glad I took the time to learn about nutrition.
Wrong: I could have probably switched to the elliptical this month but other than that, this month was most months should be like.
