...you find yourself struggling again. I've been doing Zumba regularly (2 times a week) for a month now, and some classes I find easier than others. I've even started building in a swimming session, to try and up my fitness levels, but lately I feel like I've been hitting the wall a lot.
Maybe it's a combination of things - my sleeping pattern has been out of whack recently (which I partly blame on having a lack of routine - I only work 5 shifts a month and uni broke up a couple of months ago for the summer, so most days I don't actually have much to do) and it's been so annoyingly humid that I just can't seem to get any air. The lack of routine thing I mentioned is also playing havoc on my eating habits, so at the moment I'm finding that I'm either going to classes on an empty stomach and surviving off an energy drink for the hour-long sessions, or I've not quite timed my cooking right and haven't allowed long enough for my food to digest before working out. So that means I either lack the energy to push through an hour of Zumba, or else my stomach feels so full and heavy that I have to take it down a level or 2 to avoid those awful cramps or nausea waves. Neither is a good option, let me tell you!
So, lessons I've learned? Make sure you fuel up properly before working out - but also make sure you allow yourself enough time for the food to digest, depending on what you ate. The last meal I had before a class was actually healthy - mackerel, brown rice & veg - but I only allowed about an hour for it to settle before the class started, when in actual fact I could have done with double that time. Maybe it was something about the brown rice - I thought it would be a good slow-energy-release food or something, but it just seemed to sit a little heavy in my stomach.
Another thing I need to work on is a routine of some sort, which involves getting up and going to bed at a reasonable time - so I'm afraid the xbox may have to take a back seat, all these late nights gaming online isn't good for me it seems! I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in having a lack of work - the trouble is I don't want to end up taking on too much, since I go back to uni next month, and I don't want it to mess up my existing contract as the hours suit my uni lifestyle (I only do weekends & evenings). Plus, I have a habit of taking on too much cos I think I can handle it and want to "do it all", only to end up making myself ill - and that's when I end up with either depression and/or anxiety.
I also feel like I've had some issues to work off recently - problems with neighbours, worries, the past coming back to haunt me... Something that I'd never even regarded as an issue before has come to bite me on the ass - something that happened back in my teens, which I've never even thought about until a storyline covering a similar issue cropped up on the only soap I happen to watch! Still processing that but I think I'm coming out the other side now - and I think the exercise is definitely helping. Plus, it at least makes me feel like I could punch the crap out of whatever is bothering me - let's call it "channeled aggression" haha.
So that's another reason for the renewed exercise regime - it gives me a little structure to my current days of leisure, helps with my fitness levels and hopefully will help tackle what I regard as a weight problem (which I definitely think has been aggravated by PCOS - yep, the diagnosis was confirmed) as well as targeting any "grey bubble" days (what I refer to as a depressive episode - not had a proper downer in about a year, but I don't want to tempt fate).
Now I just need to invest in a pair of proper dance shoes for Zumba - my current trainers don't seem to be helping me much there, they stick to the floor too much so turns are difficult without hurting myself, and they feel rather heavy. Thinking about getting a pair of Blochs, since they've had a lot of good reviews. Oh! and I have the Zumba fitness game for the Wii, so I'll be trying that out this week as well. It looks like Tanya Beardsley is involved with that, and she is considered to be like a Goddess of Zumba or something, so I've got high expectations!
Maybe it's a combination of things - my sleeping pattern has been out of whack recently (which I partly blame on having a lack of routine - I only work 5 shifts a month and uni broke up a couple of months ago for the summer, so most days I don't actually have much to do) and it's been so annoyingly humid that I just can't seem to get any air. The lack of routine thing I mentioned is also playing havoc on my eating habits, so at the moment I'm finding that I'm either going to classes on an empty stomach and surviving off an energy drink for the hour-long sessions, or I've not quite timed my cooking right and haven't allowed long enough for my food to digest before working out. So that means I either lack the energy to push through an hour of Zumba, or else my stomach feels so full and heavy that I have to take it down a level or 2 to avoid those awful cramps or nausea waves. Neither is a good option, let me tell you!
So, lessons I've learned? Make sure you fuel up properly before working out - but also make sure you allow yourself enough time for the food to digest, depending on what you ate. The last meal I had before a class was actually healthy - mackerel, brown rice & veg - but I only allowed about an hour for it to settle before the class started, when in actual fact I could have done with double that time. Maybe it was something about the brown rice - I thought it would be a good slow-energy-release food or something, but it just seemed to sit a little heavy in my stomach.
Another thing I need to work on is a routine of some sort, which involves getting up and going to bed at a reasonable time - so I'm afraid the xbox may have to take a back seat, all these late nights gaming online isn't good for me it seems! I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in having a lack of work - the trouble is I don't want to end up taking on too much, since I go back to uni next month, and I don't want it to mess up my existing contract as the hours suit my uni lifestyle (I only do weekends & evenings). Plus, I have a habit of taking on too much cos I think I can handle it and want to "do it all", only to end up making myself ill - and that's when I end up with either depression and/or anxiety.
I also feel like I've had some issues to work off recently - problems with neighbours, worries, the past coming back to haunt me... Something that I'd never even regarded as an issue before has come to bite me on the ass - something that happened back in my teens, which I've never even thought about until a storyline covering a similar issue cropped up on the only soap I happen to watch! Still processing that but I think I'm coming out the other side now - and I think the exercise is definitely helping. Plus, it at least makes me feel like I could punch the crap out of whatever is bothering me - let's call it "channeled aggression" haha.
So that's another reason for the renewed exercise regime - it gives me a little structure to my current days of leisure, helps with my fitness levels and hopefully will help tackle what I regard as a weight problem (which I definitely think has been aggravated by PCOS - yep, the diagnosis was confirmed) as well as targeting any "grey bubble" days (what I refer to as a depressive episode - not had a proper downer in about a year, but I don't want to tempt fate).
Now I just need to invest in a pair of proper dance shoes for Zumba - my current trainers don't seem to be helping me much there, they stick to the floor too much so turns are difficult without hurting myself, and they feel rather heavy. Thinking about getting a pair of Blochs, since they've had a lot of good reviews. Oh! and I have the Zumba fitness game for the Wii, so I'll be trying that out this week as well. It looks like Tanya Beardsley is involved with that, and she is considered to be like a Goddess of Zumba or something, so I've got high expectations!
No comments:
Post a Comment