It's been well over a year since I have written and this last year hasn't been a good one. For one thing I didn't pay attention to my diet/exercise much at all and as a result I gained 20lbs back. I am disappointed but not defeated. In May I decided to start working towards a new goal, to run a 5K. I have not ran a 5K since High School! But I was determined. I found an app for my iPhone that coached me through a series of workouts to get in shape for this run. Two weeks later I experienced one of those wonderful "I'm so graceful" moments where I tripped over my slipper while coming back into the house and landed my full weight onto my right knee. I couldn't bend or straighten it out. While I could put my full weight on it, I could not move it and had to use my arms to lift my leg, or move it in or out. I was so upset! It took nearly 2 months before I could do a normal 3 miles walk.
In August I paid for 20 sessions with a personal trainer at CMU where I attend school. He worked with me to strengthen my knee and to raise my endurance level. I still had not, to this point, lost any of the 20lbs I gained, but I was still working out and striving to be healthy. In September I ran my first 5K! Ok, well I ran/walked my first 5K. But I did finish eighth!!.....out of eight runners. LOL. Still I was happy I finished and felt motivated to keep going. At the end of October I ran/walked another 5K and was scheduled to do another one on Thanksgiving day but was too sick to go. Now my goal is to run enough this year to run a 10K! Next year will be a 1/2 Marathon and the following year, the year I turn 50, I plan to run a full Marathon.
The problem right now, is that I really don't have any endurance to run, something my trainer is helping me to work on. So starting this year I've tightened up my diet and started a new type of workout called a Tabata. In the last two weeks I've lost 10lbs!! I've used Livestrong's 'MyPlate' to keep track of my calories and have worked out three times or more a week and I'm seeing results. The great thing about Tabata is that you not only burn 700 calories in an hour's workout, but your EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) is so high, you can burn upwards of 650 more calories over the next 24 hours. It is an INSANE amount of Calories to burn. However, it is an INSANE exercise. WARNING DON'T TRY TABATA IF YOU ARE NEW TO EXERCISING!! Seriously, this is to be tried when you've gotten in much better shape. So here is what Tabata is all about.
Tabata is dubbed the 4-minute miracle because you can seriously do this exercise in 4 minutes each day (great if you don't have a lot of time). However, realize you won't burn 700 calories in 4 minutes!. To do that, you'll need to do Tabata for a full hour. So how you perform Tabata is to choose your exercises, like Burpees, or Step-ups , you can also add in Sit-ups, Squats or really any exercise you want (go to the links to see how to properly perform these exercises). The key is to find something that challenges you. In a Tabata, the goal is to go all out for 20 seconds, the rest for 10 seconds, and repeat this set a total eight times. Once you've done eight 20 second/10 second rounds, rest for one full minute. After the one minute rest, move to the next exercise and do eight 20 second/10 second rounds. Do this for each exercise resting for a full minute between each one. Remember, if you're feeling faint or dizzy to stop and rest. You'll build up to being able to do a full hour of this. Also remember to warm up well before hand, and stretch well afterwards. This is a KILLER workout, but you feel so great for the next 24 hours that you'll be ready to do it again on your next workout day.
I am now doing a Tabata a couple of times a week and I can feel the difference in my endurance level. If you want to know more about Tabata here is an article from Shape Magazine. Also if you have a phone you can get a Tabata timer app, or you can also get a timer online. Just Google "Tabata Timer", or go to your app store on your phone and type in "Tabata". Both will get you to a timer to help you with this workout.
Good luck and I'll come back in a few weeks to update you on how Tabata has changed me!!
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