It's Going to Be a Long Road Back

I got out of bed today. That's a plus.

I set my alarm for 6:15 this morning and finished this Nelson DeMille book I've been reading so I wouldn't have any excuses about going to the gym or doing work later. I finally got out of bed around 7:45 and went to scrounge around for workout clothes. I don't fit into any of my cute outfits and settled on a pair of black pants and a TFA t-shirt. I did not color coordinate. I am sad.

I ran 7 miles on the treadmill in the subterranean workout area at the Roslyn Equinox. I'm embarrassed for my fellow fitness enthusiasts to see me, which is why I exiled myself to this depressing little space. I'm not sure why I'm willing to advertise my overweight, sluggish status on the Internet but I am unable to attend a group fitness class, but I guess it might have something to do with the visuals.

Running on the treadmill sucks. It's boring and every mile seems to take forever. My feet also hurt a lot more quickly when I run on the treadmill than when I run outside on the pavement. I forced myself to wear my heart rate monitor (I had to expand the strap!) and at least I burned 830 calories for my effort.

I strictly measured out my breakfast using my food scale, because I need to structure my eating. Actually, I need to structure my entire life at this point. Now I'm trying to mentally wrap my mind around the fact that today is Sunday. Eff.

10 Things I Learned in 2010

1. Cigarettes are not a substitute for food. Well actually they are, but I have to keep reminding myself that I don't smoke anymore. In 2011 I will stop claiming smoking doesn't count when I am drunk. In 2011 I will stop claiming a lot of things don't count when I am drunk.

2. A serving of peanut butter is 2 tablespoons. Two tablespoons of peanut butter barely covers a quarter of an apple in my book. That's why I like to eat 4 tablespoons of Better'n Peanut Butter instead.

3. It is completely possible to gain 10 lbs in 2 weeks. Sadly, it is extremely difficult to lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks. This may be the definition of irony.

4. You should never drink until 4am the night (morning) before a 10K. Some people might find this obvious. I, however, did not.

5. The calorie counters on cardio machines grossly overcalculate the number of calories burned. Buy a heart rate monitor.

6. Do not agree to date a person that compliments your form in spin class. You will have to change gym locations.

7. Gyms do not clean yoga mats daily. Scabies can be transmitted through yoga mats. Once your skin stops crawling, you should go out and buy a mat immediately. Make sure it's wrapped in plastic.

8. Even rigorous sexual activity does not burn a significant amount of calories to be considered your daily cardio. This was heartbreaking.

9. Running uptown on the East River Esplanade is superior to running downtown. This actually only applies if you live in the 70s or above, but it was mindblowing for me. I used to live in Murray Hill and running downtown was pretty much the only option.

10. People actually read this blog. Who knew?

Feels like Home

I finally got to return to Tuesday night kickboxing last night. I'm not sure that I can truly convey to you how much I love going to that class over the Internet, but I'll try. It is hands down the thing I love doing most in the entire world. I'm addicted to the adrenaline rush and endorphin high from hinge-kicking four feet off the ground only to go right into the next sequence. My heart rate monitor hit 202 bpm before crapping out and going on strike. I chucked it to the side and just kept going. Sometimes I find it liberating to get away from heart rates and caloric intake, but if I stop tracking for too long, I lose motivation and get fat.

I was so happy to be back at my gym and seeing all of my friends. I miss them when I am away. Kickboxing always feels like a party.

Tap & Track

I have started using my favorite iPhone app Tap & Track again. This app really helped me to hold myself accountable and lose a lot of weight this past winter and spring.
The program is very simple. You input your weight and choose a weight-loss or weight-gain program, i.e. lose 1/2 lb a week, lose 1 lb a week, gain 1 lb a week et cetera, and the app tells you how many calories you can eat that day. There are thousands of foods in the database to choose from that you add to your log. One of the newer features is a list of supermarket brand foods. It's so easy to add brand-name snack foods or your favorite cereal.
I use the Biggest Loser brand food scale to measure out items that don't come in packaged servings.  Today I ate sliced banana and sliced peaches with Fage Total yogurt. The container of yogurt said 90 calories, but I measured out my fruit slices and weighed them in grams. A food scale also makes buying in bulk much simpler. When I buy the big container of Fage yogurt, I'm obviously not going to eat the entire thing in one sitting. I can put a few spoonfuls into a bowl and figure out how many calories my serving is. The Biggest Loser food scale has a tare function, which is great for weighing out salads. You just hit tare between each ingredient and then you don't have to dirty a whole load of dishes to measure everything out.
Tap & Track has an Add Exercise function.  You choose from a list of exercises and input the duration of the activity and it calculates the number of calories you burned.  The app then recalculates how many calories you have remaining for the day.  I now use the Quick Add Calories because I get a more accurate calculation from using my heart rate monitor, but if I go for a long walk or do a fun activity, I still choose from the list.
For $3.99, this program more than pays for itself in the long run.

When, if ever, is it acceptable to wear a HRM during sexual activity?

Some websites allow you to estimate calories burned during different physical activities. I am fairly familiar with many of these websites, as well as similar iPhone apps, and I regularly see "sexual activity" as an activity option. Now this didn't really strike me as odd until I purchased my Polar FT7 heart rate monitor.

You cannot truly know how many calories you burned during a particular activity unless you wear a heart rate monitor programmed to your settings. These estimation websites are based off of other people's data and mathematical formulas. I understand how a website could ask 10 different people to run a 9 minute mile while wearing a chest strap and HRM, and then use this data to generate a formula, but has anyone been asked to wear a chest strap and HRM during sexual activity?

This brings me to my true question: Is it socially acceptable to wear a heart rate monitor while having sex?  I think I would genuinely like to know how many calories I burn in let's say, 20 minutes. There was a point in my life when sexual activity was my main (okay, only) form of exercise, and it would have been nice to know if I was making any significant impact in burning the fat off my thighs.

I first thought that you could probably get away with wearing a HRM while having sex with someone you probably won't be having sex with again, (what do you care if they think you're weird? it's not like you're planning on eating breakfast with them) but then I realized you want to use this with the person you sleep with most frequently so that you can consider the calories burned as standard for the duration of the relationship. I'm not sure what to tell you if you're not practicing monogamy.

Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor

Today I finally purchased a heart rate monitor!  I am so excited to start using it for my group class workouts.  I have been using the Tap&Track iPhone app to estimate my calories burned during exercise, and I have decided that it is just not accurate enough.  What does intense/moderate/low really mean?  My moderate effort might be someone else's low or intense.  I originally wanted an F6 or an F11, but the knowledgeable salesguy at Dick's Sporting Goods convinced me that the FT7 chest band was the most comfortable.  Dick's doesn't carry the F11, so that wasn't an option.

I tested the FT7 while working out to The Biggest Loser Cardio Max.  I picked the DVD up at the library today while checking out Stephen King's The Stand.  I do not recommend this video for anything besides a warm-up.  Regardless, the HRM is awesome.  I am going to try it again this evening for an abs video and then bring it to the gym with me tomorrow.