June: le compromis/ The Compromise

As you can see in a post below, I spent the greater part of last night angsting about my exercise routines [who knows why it is suddenly so important]. In order to calm down my little, overloaded head, I made a compromise with myself.

First, the goal. I have a couple of goals that I would like to aim for in the near future. 1) run a half-marathon without dying. and 2) get rid of the flab and replace it with muscle instead. There is also an "ideal weight" that I’m striving for, but this goal is not as strict as the others as it will probably change along the way. At the moment my BMI is 22 (which is in the middle of the normal range): if and when I reach my ideal weight, the BMI will be around 19, which is also normal but further down on the scale. How will we reach this goal then?

Food

5 meals a day: 3 main ones and 2 snacks.

Breakfast (around 9 a.m.) after morning walk: smoothie made on: 1 banana, berries/fruit, 2dl low-fat natural yoghurt and 1 dl fat free milk with extra calcium. Cappuccino.

Snack1 (around noon): 2 rye crackers with a bit of butter and some sort of protein (tuna, ham, mackerel, salmon) and tomato or cucumber. Cup of tea.

Lunch (2 p.m.): a normal meal with carbs (potato, quinoa, pasta), protein (lean meat l tor fish) and a salad.

Snack2 (5-6 p.m.); see snack1.

Dinner (8-9 p.m.): mainly protein + some kind of veggies/fruit. Cup of tea.

Sweets, white pasta/bread, fizzy drinks with lots of sugar and alcohol will be banned most of the time, but if a special occasion calls for it I won’t say no.

 

And then to the exercise (yey, this is so exciting). Part of the compromise is signing up at the gym, but not until July. Until then my own exercise room will have to do. This month I don’t have the money, nor the guts, (nor the time really) to go to the gym, so the exercise schedule will look something like this:

Every morning: walk 45-60 minutes before breakfast.

• Monday: swimming (morning) 45 minutes; strength training on pilates ball: arms, and shoulders (afternoon/evening) 30-35 minutes.
• Tuesday: strength training on pilates ball (morning): abs and back 30-35 minutes; running (evening) 30-45 minutes.
• Wednesday: strength training on pilates ball (morning): legs and bum 30-35 minutes, running (evening) 30-45 minutes.
• Thursday: swimming (morning) 45 minutes; strength training on pilates ball: arms and shoulders (afternoon/evening) 30-35 minutes.
• Friday: strength training on pilates ball (morning): abs and back 30-35 minutes; running (evening) 30-45 minutes.
• Saturday: off
• Sunday: strength training on pilates ball (morning): legs and bum; running (evening): 30-45 minutes.

Some general comments:

• all of June will be dedicated to fairly easy running, as I need to find the right balance in my body, as well make sure it gets used to the heat.
• it might sound like a lot of activities, but I believe I will be able to find the time. There are not many days dedicated to rest, but the exercise isn’t exactly hard, and when it comes to the strength training, I will be focusing on different muscles each day.
• The rest day will be on either Friday or Saturday depending on what else will be happening those days.

 

Well, this is what the next few weeks should have in store. Wish me luck!