Korean American Christian Blog

...at least not anymore it is not. I remember the days when I used to run a mile in under 7 minutes easily, then go run another or play basketball. I went running yesterday in the afternoon and boy did I feel it later on that night; I don't think I even ran a straight mile non-stop. 

I workout regularly but I decided that I needed to go for a run, which was obviously a mistake because I was depressed from witnessing such deterioration.

Note to self; get better running shoes cause my back is killing me right now, and run on grass cause my back is KILLING me right now... 

Tagging right off Judy's last two posts, I have been also doing something other than just exercise to...well get my exercise. My front yard has two very ugly trees and my father regretted planting when we first bought our house about 16 years ago. So since I already pulled out 2 pretty large trees in our backyard (which took about 2 weeks), I thought this would be a much easier task. 

Each tree took about 2 days but I gotta tell you, its no easy task trying to uproot a tree. Cutting the tree down is easy with a chainsaw but digging around it, that is some major upper body workout. With limited tools, I use the same pick axe for the entire process and lever out tree from underneath.

Right now, there is a craze on total body workouts as opposed to isolating your muscles. Sure it's great to get the big biceps to show off to strangers at the pool, or to pump your pectorals like Terry Crews, but using your body as a whole to build strength is useful in your daily life. In real life, you never use just one muscle of your body, unless of course you're doing desk work or something. Any physical task you perform, your body works as a whole. This is why you'll rarely see me on a machine (unless of course I am recovering from an injury), but almost always using free weights. 

Don't just do curls, do curl presses, curl squats. Don't feel like you have to stick to the same motion for the 10 reps on your triceps, go over and under, palm up and palm down. Even look at Tony Horton's workouts, most are ALL from just ordinary, daily life movements. from pulling your pants up, starting up a lawn mower, putting things on the shelf and even crawling under a fence.

Be creative, use your entire body, pull out some trees.

Whenever I can do two or more things at the same time, I usually try to do just that. Here is some mother-daughter bonding time (family time!) while hiking towards Sturtevant Falls near Arcadia, CA (exercise!).

There are always ways to fit in some exercise at home. Since I like to dance and my brother needed someone to practice with, we are doing some salsa and burning some calories in the process!

Wow sorry for the lag! I’ve been so busy working out I forgot to blog about it haha!

Anyway, here is my account so far…

March

I’ve been fairly good about keeping up with my workout regiment, just a few push-ups and sit-ups in the morning is all, but mainly because I did not want to just jump back into my usual workout sessions…it’s  been just too long and I knew I was not going to be able to keep up with myself.

Starting off slowly was a good idea, got me motivated and even excited about the whole ordeal.

When it comes to nutrition, I've been largely influenced by a book called The New Millennium Diet Revolution by Keith Deorio. It's a diet that combines ancient and modern dietary practices/theories -- such as, individual blood types, macronutrient balance, yin/yang balance, and avoidance of food toxins -- into one synergistic approach.

For those that are interested, I found a website online that introduces these concepts. Since I'm blood type A, here's something on me:

http://www.dadamo.com/bloodtype_A.htm

I used to love working out.  I'd be at the gym six days a week and even looked into becoming a certified fitness instructor!  It helped that my gym was literally across the street from work.  Convenience and proximity made all the difference.  But then life happened.  First, they changed my work schedule to 4 am.  I did that shift for a year and felt like a zombie.  It made working out very difficult.  Then I was diagnosed with two bulging discs in my neck.  That pretty much ended my physically active lifestyle.  

Four years later, I tried getting back into shape.  It was SUCH a mental challenge!  I even hired a trainer, thinking it would force me to get focused and motivated.  WRONG!  

But now I'm back in the gym at least three to four times a week.  The KAC Media Fitness Challenge has actually inspired me to get back in shape.  It also helps that a new gym opened right near my house.  I'm a lazy gal...I dislike driving far just to go work out.  

My favorite thing to do is resistance training.  There's something very satisfying about throwing weights around...even if they're just five and ten pound dumbbells.  LOL  

I also like taking the group exercise classes that the gym offers, such as cardio kickboxing and boot camp.  But once in a while I want to be outdoors.  I'll go walk around the Rose Bowl, run at a nearby high school track, or hike at Runyon Canyon.  My workout partners are usually my mom, who's almost in her 60's and my fat chihuahua, Twinkie.  They force me to be active when I don't feel like it, because I know they need to exercise just as much as I do.

I used to love working out.  I'd be at the gym six days a week and even looked into becoming a certified fitness instructor!  It helped that my gym was literally across the street from work.  Convenience and proximity made all the difference.  But then life happened.  First, they changed my work schedule to 4 am.  I did that shift for a year and felt like a zombie.  It made working out very difficult.  Then I was diagnosed with two bulging discs in my neck.  That pretty much ended my physically active lifestyle.  

Four years later, I tried getting back into shape.  It was SUCH a mental challenge!  I even hired a trainer, thinking it would force me to get focused and motivated.  WRONG!  

But now I'm back in the gym at least three to four times a week.  The KAC Media Fitness Challenge has actually inspired me to get back in shape.  It also helps that a new gym opened right near my house.  I'm a lazy gal...I dislike driving far just to go work out.  

My favorite thing to do is resistance training.  There's something very satisfying about throwing weights around...even if they're just five and ten pound dumbbells.  LOL  

I also like taking the group exercise classes that the gym offers, such as cardio kickboxing and boot camp.  But once in a while I want to be outdoors.  I'll go walk around the Rose Bowl, run at a nearby high school track, or hike at Runyon Canyon.  My workout partners are usually my mom, who's almost in her 60's and my fat chihuahua, Twinkie.  They force me to be active when I don't feel like it, because I know they need to exercise just as much as I do.

To be honest, the P90X craze and going extreme with burning off the fat (emphasis on BURN with a capital “B”…ouch!) kinda scares me. So instead, I’ve decided to take a much gentler route and build up my endurance as my personal challenge.

On Sunday, May 16^th at 7:30am, I will be running my first 5k marathon. Ever. I'm quite excited at the idea. =)

This event is called The Santa Monica Classic, and it is a Nike 5K/10K run held in Santa Monica to benefit Heal the Bay. The best part is getting to run a lovely point-to-point course along the coast of Santa Monica (gotta love them beaches and sea-salt breezes!), and then, finishing at the Santa Monica Pier.