Like Lynn, I’ve also become a fan of Cardio Kickboxing. My first class Monday of last week was a real tough workout and I couldn’t even make it to the next one on Wednesday because I was so sore. Good news - I went to my second class yesterday and feel great today. The gym also changed the class to 45 minutes Kickboxing and the 30 minute Abs class is right afterward. That worked out great since I need the ab work too!

Interestingly, there was a lady in the kickboxing class who must have been at least 60 years old! The odd part was that she kind of looked a bit like my granma when she was about that age. Though living in a small town of about 2,000 people I doubt she ever went to a gym, she was pretty health conscious . In fact after having a pacemaker installed her doctor recommended swimming as a good exercise. So my grandpa put in an inground pool and she swam every day. It’s never too late to get fit.

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Yesterday I went to my first Cardio Kickboxing class. Oh my gosh, I thought I was going to passout after just 20 minutes! Seriously…

A little backtracking here — I joined a new gym and I went for the one hour orientation about 2 weeks ago. You go around with a personal trainer who shows you the equipment, takes your measurements, etc. I did a version of a stress test running on a treadmill for 5 minutes, then we went into the aerobics classroom and did situps, pushups and jumping jacks. It was like a flashback from school where we had those President’s Physical Fitness tests. LOL!

Anyway, after the jumping jacks I started to get lightheaded and my brain was all fuzzy, then I fell to the floor! I couldn’t even hear what my PT was saying. Finally she got me to drink some water and then I started to come to. Boy that was scarry!

So needless to say when I started to get overheated in the kickboxing class I took a break and grabbed my water bottle. I didn’t really want a repeat of that fainting episode.

I used to have a workout video that had kickboxing moves in it so I was familiar with all of the moves. The coordination isn’t that tough, not like step aerobics, but you’re just constantly moving - and fast. It’s high energy for the whole 60 minutes. Eventhough it was tough I thought it was fun too.

Oh, yea and today I got in 20 minutes on weights, 30 minutes raquetball and an hour of yoga!

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I both look forward to and dread the weekly weigh in’s. I try not to get onto the scale during the week and just focus on doing what I know is right and healthy.

Then the day comes for the weigh in. I stare down at the scale imagining the number I would like to appear. I make sure it’s properly set and step lightly onto the surface, crossing my fingers it will tell me what I want to hear.

This week the scale stayed at 143, same as last week. That’s a total of 6 pounds lost so far over the challenge.

But eventhough the dial did not change I am still encouraged because I know the scale is just one external measurement. I celebrate the healthy habits that I continued this week and look toward the larger goals of health, fitness and eventual fat loss.

This article from the eDiets newsletter which came today was perfect timing:

The healthiest method to gauge your progress is weighing yourself: MYTH — You think I’m about to say that the answer is to get frequent body fat tests, don’t you? Nope! The healthiest way to gauge your progress is to make sure your strength levels increase when performing resistance exercise, make sure your endurance improves through cardiovascular exercise and make sure that your clothes fit exactly the way you want them to. When did we stop trusting ourselves to the extent that everything has to be successful by a measurement? Don’t we have enough pressure in our lives?

From 15 Fitness Myths Exposed

I am still fighting off a cold so my exercise lately has been limited. I’m letting my body rest till I’m back up to my normal self before going back to the gym. Hopefully that will be soon, and my next weigh in will reflect the progress that I’ve been making.

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My fitness and strength level is really improving. I realized it in yoga class last night when I was doing a boat pose I was able to reach the full extension. Before I had to leave my feet on the floor. I think the weight training combined with the yoga stregthened the abs and legs so that I was able to make this advancement. This was a small bit of progress but very encouraging!

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In my home in North Texas the only winter sport is indoor hockey - and that’s a spectator sport.  It’s sometimes nice enough to get outside to walk, run or bike but I pretty much stick to the gym in winter.

This week I’m in Montreal, Canada and it is snowing!  Too bad I don’t even own snow boots or maybe I’d be willing to try to learn cross country skiiing.  I think I’ll just enjoy walking in the snow and leave it at that though.

Dan, did you get out and go skiing? 

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There is finally snow in New England.

Sure, there’s the shoveling thing, but this blizzard also means…cross-country skiing.

One of my favorite things that I never get to do. Today I shake the inch of dust off them and “hit the powder”! (sidenote: This is the ONLY skiing I do. I consider downhill skiing to be high-speed suicide involving very hard and solid trees)

This will come in especially handy after the expensive, calorie-filled dinner on Friday for a friend’s birthdayI managed to drop off a pound somewhere this week, but I think that may just have undone it!

White stuff, here I come!!

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OK … I have been falling way behind compared to the other bloggers on this blog. Sandra, the founder, and Andre seems to be doing well …

Me? OK … here’s my report. About two weeks ago, I went a trial kickboxing class over at TNT Kickboxing. The trial class is free, by the way.

The kickboxing class is great. It’s a great workout … they drill you from one combo to another. Jab, punch, jab punch … then, kick, kick, kick … it made me sweat alright. Haven’t had a workout like that for years.

But I have to say that it’s a bit out of my expectation. I thought I was going to learn kickboxing. You, learn how to fight. I have to say that this is more like an aerobic class using kickboxing techniques. But when I think again … maybe that’s what I need right now. So I signed up for a weekly class.

They do have sparring classe every Wednesday though … and that is a different kind of class. I don’t know what they do in that class though. Maybe I need to get my stamina back up again, and later check out that sparring class.

Anyhow, here are some photos from the trial class … after the class I mean.

 

 

The guy there is the instructor for the trial class. His name is Carl. The others are those who are taking up the trial class like me. Oh yeah, I was the only guy in that trial class. And I can see from the actual class that is running … there are lot of ladies … maybe a motivation booster … LOL!

 

 

Yes, they have a RING. This is the corner of that ring. And I can see from the notice board, there are fighters, fighting professionally, who call this TNT Kickboxing their home gym.

 

 

OK … this is the gym. There are mirrors on the left and right. Hmm … can’t really fit that into the picture here.

Alright … enough about the gym, back to me. It was Chinese New Year, and that is a big thing here in Malaysia. They were closed until last Wednesday. So I put off going for my first class till this week.

If you know Silat, Silat uniform is normally black. I bought myself a pair of Silat pants for the class. With this, I can do sidesplit stretches and high kicks. Actually it’s exactly like the Teakwando pants except it’s black.

OK … maybe I’ll report more after my first class …

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LOL! I guess I should probably pre-qualify that statement, eh?

Loosing weight is made up to two components…

1. DIET (although that’s not really an empowering word as it tends to scare the crap out of 99% of the population).
2. EXERCISE.

By implementing any one of these two components, if done consistently, will result in weigh loss. Of course, if you practice BOTH, weight loss is guaranteed… simple, right?!

Yeah, but then WHY do we all battle to stay in shape… and WHY are there so many bloody fad “weight loss” books making the publishers millionaires each and every year?

I guess, in a way, weight loss is like Internet marketing. The majority of marketers spend their lives seeking out that “silver bullet”… that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that will make them “rich” in just 30 days. “Fadders” are the same, diets become like a jail sentence. You just can’t wait to get the hell out (and 10 months later, you’re back in again)!

Of course, we all know that it’s not the SIMPLE concept of loosing weight that is the jaw breaker; it’s the ability to stick to the SIMPLE plan.

My gym access card has a great quote written on it… “Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going.”

Pretty powerful, eh?

So, although weight loss is SIMPLE, it’s probably HABIT that we should “rather” go looking for… not the next fad diet book describing a prison sentence diet program.

So…

Turn “exercise” into a HABIT, and your “diet” into a lifestyle

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