Starting from scratch

It’s been chilly the past few days in Miami. Since it’s normally as sticky and hot as Satan’s armpit, I’m kind of short on cold-weather wear. And by cold weather, I mean 50 degrees Farenheit. Everything is relative, okay!

Fortunately I am good at improvising, and used my hair as a scarf. It really did make a difference!

So, the new year is here. I’m not really big on writing about resolutions and goals, mostly because I feel like everything there is to say about it has already been said.

But, one thing did come to mind.

A lot of the tips that are geared toward “January joiners” echo the same ideas. Namely:

-Don’t be too ambitious; make realistic goals.
-Make small changes so that you’re more likely to stick to them.
-Do what you enjoy.
-Don’t expect to be perfect.

These things don’t just apply to exercise newbies. They’re also relevant to more experienced gym-goers like myself. While I am very dedicated to lifting weights and do so regularly, I have a lot of trouble being consistent with cardio. I’d like to do more of it, but that’s not so much a resolution as it is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while.

Sometimes, even more advanced folks have to start from scratch. That’s kind of what I’m doing to get my cardio mojo back.

Referring back to that list above:

Realistic goals: walking every day for 30 minutes is a good start, and then doing more if I feel like it. I don’t want to promise myself that I’m going to do some crazy cardio workout 5 days a week because I’ve said that before, and it didn’t happen. Walking, I can stick to.

Small changes: I’ve started parking far away from work almost every day so I walk more. It’s a start!

Do what you enjoy: I like walking a lot more than any other kind of cardio. And I have a feeling that walking daily will be a gateway to more intensive cardio for me. Also, I love lifting weights, but I do that consistently, so yeah.

Don’t expect to be perfect: I should probably be walking right now, but here I am writing this post. Oh well. Anyway, it’s “cold” outside 😛

That being said, I did do a Bodyrock-inspired cardio workout a little while ago, so I’m feeling good. I plan to share it with you soon. Also, boot camp this weekend, and some new recruits are coming. I’m nervous/excited!

And now for some more randomness:

-I started off this blog with the intention of making it informational. However, writing those kind of posts is extremely time consuming. Also, I’m not a professional (yet), so I felt kind of like a quack writing articles like that. However, I plan to get certified very, very soon! Anyway, things have become pretty personal and conversational around here. I don’t know how I feel about that. Ideally I’d like to combine personal posts with informational ones…but those are hard to mix.

-My interest in fitness has evolved. I started off learning as much as I could about working out (largely thanks to figureathlete.com – RIP). Now I’m trying to learn a lot about functional movement and being a successful trainer. Can you tell which direction I’m heading?

-This frittata was kind of a fail. I used a whole bunch of chard, not realizing that chard holds a ton of water. I tried to cook it like a casserole, and when I pulled it out of the oven there was liquid still pooled in the dish. At first I thought it was uncooked egg, but it was just water. So they’re soggy, but edible. Also, I burned the cheese on top.

-I was doing Romanian deadlifts with 115 lbs at the gym today. My face was red and I’m sure there were measly big, intimidating veins popping out in my delts and neck. This freakin’ trainer chick walks up to me while I’m in the middle of it to ask me if I’m using a dumbbell there. WHY do people do this? In the future I am not responding at all until I’m done with my set. Manners, gym rats. Learn them!