I Just Felt Like Running

Day: 5
Current Weight: 232.7 lb

So ends another day of eating healthily and working out. Well, at this stage of the diet, I thought it’d be best if I eased my body into steady workouts. This first week, in addition to walking the dog, I would take 45 minutes out of my day to either take another walk or hop on the treadmill. Most experts say that 30 minutes is good to get the cardio working, while you have to get at least a regular 45 minutes of walking time to start to lose weight. And who am I to argue with experts?

But there are three distinct obstacles when facing the treadmill monster:

1. Just getting your butt on the infernal machine: Though I don’t recommend getting your butt on the treadmill, try starting with your feet and see how that tickles your fancy. But seriously, sometimes you just have to suck it up and do it. It’s just another wall to my weight loss goal, and I thought it’d be easier to run through it than to work my way around it. And if I have to run through a wall, I might as well practice on a treadmill. [Insert rim shot followed by cricket chirps here]

2. Forty-five minutes exceeds this generation’s attention span: True. I don’t think anybody is here to argue that. But in order to combat the boredom of literally staying in one place for nearly an hour, I suggest music or movies. If you put really good reruns on, it makes the time go by really fast. Action movies and sports do the trick too. When it comes to music, you obviously want to go with something you really enjoy. But I suggest some inspirational music. Rocky’s theme is cliché, but you can’t deny the results. I find that working out to the soundtrack of The Dark Knight not only gets you pumped up, but it also does put you in an ass-kicking mood. (Warning: Do not try this in a gym where everyone is bigger than you are… Trust me.)

3. So that’s why everyone brings towels to the gym: You will sweat, especially if you’re overweight like I am. After awhile, you begin to wonder where all that fluid came from what with all the peeing and perspiration. But it’s going to be all right, you actually feel really good about having finished a workout. My only problem is sweat getting in my eyes. I still haven’t found out how to get rid of that problem. I tried taking a headband and using it too wipe the sweat from my eyes. But then I realized that being on a treadmill and blindfolding yourself is not the best thing for one’s health.

Now, of course there’s the stretching that you have to do before any workout. On a side note, there is such a thing as stretching too much. I could go through the physiological process of the muscle filaments and how the H-zone has a maximum length (obviously since the thick and thin filaments are of finite length) so to overstretch the muscle is to exceed the capability of the muscle itself risking potential injury… but I think that’d just bore you. Also, speaking as a person with freaky looking feet (they freaked out an orthopedic), you should ALWAYS have on good running shoes on.

In honor of the treadmill I’ve posted the famous music video for OK Go’s “Here It Goes Again.” If you don’t enjoy the pleasant sounds of a band that’s been around for a long time and was only recently discovered in the U.S., then I also put a funny video about peeing again. Have fun, kids!