No change, no problem

As you can see from the title, there was no change from the previous week at my WW weigh-in yesterday. They seemed a bit surprised that I wasn’t more upset. But then I know what they don’t. I clocked over 6 hours of exercise last week, my body fat is down, and my clothes are feeling looser.

My exercise schedule for this week looks like this:

Wednesday:

• 30 min walk (to and from meeting – everyone seems determined to give me a lift. The concept of wanting to walk seems alien to most people. How sad.
• 45 mins pilates scheduled. I did 60, following a Modern Pilates intermediate DVD.

Thursday

• Self 05 Challenge Cardio 1, intervals, 30 mins

Friday

• Self 05 Challenge total body toning (10 exercises, 3 sets of 15 reps, 30 sec rest, around 40 mins total)
• 20 min steady state cardio

Saturday

• Self 05 Challenge Cardio 2, pyramid, 30 mins
• 45 mins pilates

Sunday

• Self 05 Challenge total body toning
• 20 min steady state cardio

Monday

• 60 min pilates
• 20 min steady state cardio

Tuesday

• Self 05 Challenge Cardio 3, do-whatever-you-fancy workout, 30 min. This’ll be a hip hop workout, or some approximation thereof!

Steady-state cardio has had something of a bad press lately, with the emphasis on interval training. Certainly interval training is quicker, more intense, more effective at burning tons of calories, and will make you look 10 years younger (just kidding on the last one). But I currently have the time available to do a more moderate workout, and I find it cathartic. 20 mins on the treadmill or in the park gives me a little me time. I can clear my head, ponder on the meaning of life, spend some time visualising myself in a sexy LBD and killer thigh boots. I actually like doing it. This is quite a stretch for me as I used to hate cardio with a vengeance, probably because I was so unfit that there was no such thing as a moderate-effort workout.

Next month, when I go back to Turbulence Training for my ’strength month’, I will be doing high-intensity interval training 3 times a week. But for this week, I’m going to do three 20-min steady-state sessions – an hour of regrouping time, and I’ll hold my head high and enjoy every minute of it.