Sweatin' It

Eric and I just got back from a personal training session at the gym, and, MAN, it was a potently sweat-filled time in Jay's company.

Jay is a longtime friend and former room mate of Eric's. He has always been know among his friends to be a gym rat, through and through, a big and super fit guy with the sweetest and humble personality. Well, as soon I found out that he (finally!, his friends say) is trying to make it as a personal trainer, I begged Eric to set up an appointment for us. Throughout our relationship, Eric and I have on and off talked about how we want to get in better shape by developing regular and efficient work out routines. 2 years into our relationship we haven't come far, even though we relentlessly persist on reaching this goal. "So", I thought to myself, "perhaps Jay is the answer", and after today's work-out I think we've struck gold ;-)

We walked away having learned three big lessons that apparently have sabotaged our fitness intentions thus far:

 

1) Do your cardio after your weight lifting, not before. 

2) Several frequent meals throughout the day, say breakfast, lunch, and dinner + 2 snacks, help keep your metabolism working in your favor and your blood sugar levels stabile.

3) Don't skip your carbs! If you do, you'll lose weight fast, at first, but it turns out you'll mostly be losing water which is why you get tricked into thinking it's working great. However, in the long run this is not sustainable because your body needs the carbs. Just make sure and stick to the whole grain kind of carbs (Brown rice, whole wheat, etc.)

The nutrition advice was no news to me, but it was still good to hear because Eric and I share many of our meals, so we need to agree on how we want to go about our daily diet. Plus, the forum is now open for more conversation on the topic, as well as the opportunity to support one another. More than anything, I'd like to see Eric reach his health goals. Regarding myself, I'd like to lower my body fat, which I think currently is close to the normal limit, 25%. 

Well, only determination, consistency, and time will tell whether our latest attempt to become healthier will work, so I'll keep you posted. In order to increase our odds of success we have scheduled another session with Jay which I hope will help us stay accountable for our behaviors and health desires. Consequently, 2 weeks from now we'll measure our progress, and I look forward to it ;-)

After adding errands to our work out session, our Saturday has quickly come to an end, and I need to figure out how I can cook up 14 oz. of chicken in a healthy, yet delectable way. I think an episode of the new season of "Mad Men" might be awaiting me too, so 'Ciao' for now, and I'll probably be sharing my next two cents with you in a sore state of body, very sore.