Boy oh boy, I can't believe how long it has been since I have been to this blog and updated.

( Hectic few months, almost completely out of shape, and current fitness plans )

That's it for the time being. Since this is also a shared computer at home now, I can't hog it up exclusively like I used to, but still hope to be more regular in posting etc. I miss being here and reading and sometimes participating on my fav comm, gymrats, and hope to be able to catch up soon.

School and real life has had me too busy and pre-occupied.

Things were so disorganized I haven' been to the gym since... well, I look like I've never set foot in a gym. Extra proof of this, a recent medical checkup confirmed that my blood pressure is back up again, other vital signs aren't as optimal as they had been (during the spring/summer), etc. Not least, I feel sluggish, my legs/knees feel *weak* (legs being a key medical weak area), and generally I can feel a loss of physiological effectiveness as well as health.

Though I was steadfast with hitting the gym for the initial eight-nine months of 2008 (yay!) real life circumstances can impede my fitness (and other) goals.

Major personal fitness goals now includes me creating a serious home workout space & techniques at all costs. Certainly there are a number of non-fitness related goals that I am also addressing, this blog here is focused on my health issues.

Did a random google for home workouts and this was one that came up. Equipment needed include a variety of dumbbells, barbell, weight bench, exercise ball, and exercise mats.

In addition to various disclaimers and stuff, the routine includes:
Bench press (for chest)
Lateral raise (for shoulders)
Barbell row (for back)
Back extension (for lower back)
hammer curls (for biceps)
Kickbacks (for triceps)
Deadlifts (for glutes, hamstrings, and back)
Static lunge (for quads, hamstrings, and glutes)
Squats (for quads, hamstrings, and glutes)
Bicycle (for abs)
Ball crunch (for abs)

http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/bltotalworkout.htm

Hungry and getting ready to get something to eat when I was intrigued by these Yahoo articles.

Produce: The Dirtiest and the Cleanest
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/13728/produce-the-dirtiest-and-the-cleanest/

Basic Weight Loss Mistakes
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/gabbyguide/8717/basic-weight-loss-mistakes/

Secrets That Restaurants Don't Want You To Know
NOTE: It's about the nutritional information of many dishes on the menus of various national chain restaurants.
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/13623/secrets-that-restaurants-dont-want-you-to-know

A bit of a funny development.

Strength training has been wonderful in terms of me finally breaking some fitness plateaus etc. and a bonus of losing excess fat, steadily, over the last several months.

The bad thing about changes to my body composition is that I fit my clothes differently. Since the most noticeable external change is the steady decrease in body fat, obviously much of my clothes has become too loose and baggy, primarily my pants/skirts, etc.

( sizes all changing: pants, bras, shirts, etc. )

Saw this video on the comm a while ago and just remembered to post it on my blog for reference. It's great and inspiration in a small "kick in the pants" type of way.

( Putting it under an lj-cut because I think this youtube.com embedded thing is kind of big )

Haven't posted much in a while, but brief, public update.

This was originally drafted as a post for the gymrats community, but I decided it wasn't really relevant for the community because it was just too darned long and not really asking for specific information, just a progress update. I'll keep it on my blog here, instead. I decided to make this one a public entry (comments, if any, screened), in case anybody from the comm is curious.

( Basic Background )

( Excess fat (girth) changes )

( General fitness (strength etc.) changes )

( General goals for the next two months )

( Separately: visual recording (and silliness) )