As part of my New Year’s Resolution I was to start working out again. While I’ve introduced cardio into my routine by walking with the wife it’s still not consistent. Sitting at work today I was thinking about what I wanted to do as far as working out and I’m totally confused. When working out previously I was doing boot camp three times a week and not focusing on heavy weight but more on losing weight. As I sit and look at my workouts prior to boot camp I was concentrating on building muscle. At the ripe old age of 40 I’m conflicted on where I want to go. On one hand I can stand to lose about 30 pounds which is my goal for the year but I’d also like to get in better physical condition.
Diet has been key in weight loss for me as I’ve been lacking with the workouts. The wife is pretty good about keeping me in check in that aspect to insure weight loss. Snacks and sweets continue to tempt me at work and I occasionally give in but feel extremely guilty after the fact. That’s part of the battle but the harder part is motivation. Motivation and commitment to go to the gym and make the changes I’m wanting to but only I can make this happen.
Workouts are the most confusing part for me at this point. I’ve spent the last four weeks looking over some of my old workout sheets and trying to figure out my course of action. Part of me wants to do three days a week like I was during boot camp and focus on weight loss. On the other hand I want to max out my time and do a six day workout schedule breaking up my body parts into three days and then repeating this twice a week. On the other hand I’m thinking five days a week with two days off is another option. I did the six day workouts and while I like the results I don’t think I was a very pleasant to deal with because I was always working out and somewhat miserable. I love the results but the constant work killed me mentally as well as physical. So I sit here conflicted on which route to go and need to make a choice soon.
How many days a week do you work out? If you could go back and do it over would you choose the same path?
Here’s what I did. I NEVER used to work out. Then I started going to classes and got into the groove a bit. When those weren’t available, I tried jogging. I didn’t like it, but it was easy. I then moved on to running at most, 3 days a week. It was something and it gave me time away from my house which was nice. Now, (have you read my Lean, Mean blog about all this?) I run 5 days a week and I love it. I love the results. I eat pretty good, but like you, I love to snack and I don’t always choose apple slices or something healthy. I also love to eat crap like Taco Bell. But when I stick to my running, I don’t ever see the results of my bad habits. I know everyone is different, and guys usually want to do muscle building things as well. My advice, cardio as much as possible and then add a weight day in there somewhere. You may even like to do both a couple days a week.
I am not claiming to be a super fitness guru, this is just what i do and it worked well for me. And with you and your wife already walking/running together, you have the first steps down. Good luck. I hope you don’t stay confused for too long. 🙂