So, it’s been 3 days and I haven’t lost all of the 7 lbs I gained on Sunday yet.  I have lost 4 lbs though, and the strange (scary?) thing is that I have weighed in at 107 lbs for 4 weigh-ins now.  This is unheard of for me.  First of all, for me to still weigh more than I’ve ever have is unusual.  Secondly, my weight always fluctuates a lot during the day and from day to day. It has never stayed as steady as it is now; I was 107 on Monday night, Tuesday morning, Tuesday night, and now Wednesday morning.  What is going off? I worry that some sort of genetic switch has been turned on and off and from now on I’m no longer going to be able to eat whatever I want without gaining an ounce.

Okay, I hope I don’t sound more worried than I actually am. I don’t feel “fatter” nor do I feel tired or sluggish.  I actually think I look pretty much the same.  I’m just curious and confused, but if I stay at 107 from now on, believe me, I won’t lose any sleep over it.

However, this had motivated me to do more cardio.  I’ve been mainly doing weights and I want to do more cardio to cut down on body fat and bring more definition to my muscles.  What’s the good of having these nice muscles if there’s a layer of fat obscuring them?  My problem is that I hate doing cardio. I find it so boring, but I am trying to change that by mixing it up and using different machines.

I started yesterday on the stairmill.  If you want an intense cardio exercise that also works your legs, try the stairmill.  Not to be confused with a stairmaster type of machine, the stairmill looks like a mini escalator. You keep walking up and up, never to reach your destination. Boy, was I out of practice! My legs burned and my lungs strained to take in the extra oxygen.  I went for 30 minutes and burned about 200 calories.  I then immediately went to the treadmill and jogged moderately (5.5 MPH) for 30 minutes, which was another 150 calories.  Surprisingly, the jogging came easily and I felt as if I could have gone on forever, but I didn’t want to overdo it on my first day back to cardio.

Now people are always wondering (I know I do) what kind of cardio is best? Slow and steady, for a long time, or quick and intense, for a short time.  I think both are good, and it would depend on who you are and your other exercises and diet.  From what I’ve read, quick and intense is best for quick fat loss but not everyone can do that.  Slow and steady may be better for some people if it’s easier to do and if you’re more likely to do it (duh).

I came across this website today that had some good information about cardio, and it’s the first time I’ve read about how cardio affects the production of certain hormones in your body.  These hormones affect your body’s metabolism, muscle building, and fat burn rate.  Slow and steady cardio has a different effect on these hormones compared to quick and intense cardio.  The article basically recommends quick and intense cardio, but then on the page “Is this site for women?” they state that women (me being one) don’t really have to do quick and intense cardio, just “every now and then,” and should focus on moderate intensity cardio:

“Your cardio workouts does not have to be as intense as I describe in this website, I still suggest you do some interval training every now and then, while mostly doing a 20-30 minute cardio workout, that is at least somewhat intense, especially near the end of the workout, just start out slower and build your pace up a little.”

Well, they say “at least somewhat intense” so going intense is still the way to go, but you don’t have to get all gung-ho about it like they recommend for men.  Hmm.

My cardio workouts or moderately-high to high intensity, though I do want to step it up a notch and do some sprinting (running as fast as you can for less than a minute).  Can’t really do this on a treadmill where you have to worry about adjusting your speed on the keypad, so I’ll have to try this outdoors, where I can instead worry about embarassing myself as I collaspe in a red-faced what-the-hell-was-I-thinking mess in front of others. :-\

So this is my plan from now on: At least 30 minutes of moderate cardio every day, more if I can do it, and at least 2 days a week of moderately-high cardio, with 1 day of very high cardio.  Of course, I’ll also continue my struggle to eat a well-balanced, healthy diet.

1. bodydetoxdiet Says:
   September 30th, 2009 at 11:48 pm

   i do a lot of Cardio workout routines in the morning. it helped me lose body fat and keeps me fit. jogging is an example of a simple cardio workout.

2. detoxdiets Says:
   October 1st, 2009 at 11:28 pm

   last year i have so much Body fat because of a very bad diet and lack of exercise. now i am doing lots of Cardio to reduce the fat specially on my tummy.