Human Being Healthy

Day 35: April 2, 2008

You have to have cardio in your workout regimen.  I know it and you know it.  Cardio has always been tough for me since I dislike so many cardio exercises.  I hate elipticals, stairmasters, stationary bikes (especially spinning classes), running and walking on treadmills, and any other indoor cardio machine.  I like being outside, so I’ve purchased jump-ropes, in-line skates, and running shoes for exercising at a nearby park.  Unfortunately, there are only so many hours of daylight, and being outside after dusk can be scary, especially in my neighorhood.  Also, it rains outside.  And it’s too cold many months out of the year.  My last gym had exercise classes that I enjoyed, like step, boot-camp, strip-tease, and hip-hop cardio, so I would attend those whenever I could.  I’m already at the studio 3x/week for Pilates, so I no longer want to pay for an additional gym membership.

I had promised myself that I would walk a couple of day a week in addition to my Pilates sessions, but that only lasted the first couple of weeks.  However, the studio offers Russian Kettlebell classes several times a week…

So, I tried it.  I had been warned that it was intense, and that I would have trouble walking the following day, and an invalid the next.  I pretty much knew that I’d love it since I enjoy intense work outs and desperately needed some cardio to burn off my spare tire.  There are gorgeous abs under that flab and I want to see them!

Kettlebells are cannonball looking weights that have a handle on them.  You pick them up, put them down, and swing them around.  It sounds easy enough, but it is a KILLER workout.  For most of the exercises, you are squatting down to get the momentum to swing your bell upwards, using your arms as a pendulum.  On the way back down, your arms bounce off your upper thighs, sending the kettlebell up again.  It’s bizarre.

Most of the exercises work out your inner thighs, quads, and gluts, with some ab work and, too a lesser degree, yours arms, shoulders, and back.  It felt great!  When I didn’t want to pass out that is…

The best thing about kettlebells is that it is interval training.  You’ll do a set, get your heartrate up, and just when you feel you are going to pass out, you take a rest.  Every 5-10 minutes you rest.  You get some water, breathe, and then, another set.  It’s wonderful.  You sweat, strength-train, and get your cardio in a 50 minute class. 

I know I got a great workout.  The goal is to do this twice a week, in addition to Pilates 3x week.

What I’ll eat tomorrow:
2 hard-boiled eggs (they are just so easy and portable)
cod liver oil
Huge carrot
1 oz mozzarella
2 slices bacon
Spinach, onion, cream cheese scrambler
Miller High Life (2)
2 deviled eggs (see recipe)
Lissette’s Lasagna (see recipe)
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Fat - 40.9% (62 grams) Protein - 22.1% (76 grams) Carbohydrates - 18.9% (65 grams) Alcohol - 16.4% (32 grams) Other - 1.9% Daily Sodium Intake - 1,878 mg Daily Sugar Intake - 14 grams Daily Cholesterol Intake - 1,190 mg Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 27 grams Daily Fiber Intake - 5 grams

I was getting sick of hard-boiled eggs every morning, so I made a batch of deviled eggs to eat in the mornings.  They weren’t pretty but they sure tasted good!

Weight: 134.8 - still losing!