Working out too much or just the wrong way?

I’ve been thinking lately that there’s a possibility that I’ve been working out too much. Or working out the wrong way. When I lost a whole bunch of weight from 2011-2012, I was mainly doing yoga and running (a mile here, a mile there). 

Now I’ve added the elliptical and weights. Then I did shit ton of sit ups for a while. My torso looked great.

With primarily yoga (half vinyasa, half ashtanga/iyengar), very minimal hand weights, and the elliptical, I’m not sure I’m such a fan of how I’m looking, or rather, how I’m feeling.

I decided to run on the treadmill on Friday night instead of doing the elliptical because I wanted to run and it was too hot to run outside. I ran for about 24 minutes; a little over 2 miles. I felt great afterward. Running on the treadmill is the worst but I watched a very old episode of SVU, so I was kept entertained. On Saturday morning I went to my hardest vinyasa class and lost half my body weight in sweat. It was awesome.

Which brings me now to the topic of yoga: I used to do primarily vinyasa classes, which I only do once a week now. I could do them more but they seem so boring (save for my Saturday morning class with one of my favorite teachers). I’m rediscovering my love for ashtanga and iyengar, and not just going for updog as fast as possible, and as many times as possible.

And lastly, I’ve read about working out too much and how important rest days are. As far as I’ve been concerned, at least in the past, rest days are for the weak. But maybe now I’m coming to terms with the cold hard fact that they aren’t. I need a rest day, or two. I’m thinking this could be my potential schedule:

Monday: Ashtanga/Iyengar Yoga
Tuesday: Running + sit ups
Wednesday: Running + sit ups + Ashtanga/Iyengar yoga
Thursday: Running + sit ups
Friday: Rest?
Saturday: Vinyasa 
Sunday: Rest or Run?

I’ll try it out this week and see how it works. 

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So done.

This morning, just a few minutes ago actually, I finished doing 115 sit-ups (not crunches) for the last day of the Six Week Ab Challenge. I repeated the 6-Week Ab Challenge for the second time, this time on my own without a community on Facebook for support and accountability. 

And you know what? The support group helps a lot. i missed it a little bit!. And without having a spot to post every day that my sit-ups were done, I skipped a day here or there. But for the most part did all of my crunches (40/day the first week, increasing by 15/week until you’re at 115/day).

Leading up to and especially after the holidays I felt sloppy so I decided why the hell not, let’s do the ab work again! My abs look good, as in there’s toning there obviously, but they still look soft. I’m going to succumb to the fact that maybe I’m not supposed to have rock hard abs, but that’s okay.

After the first time i finished, I kept on doing 60-70 sit-ups every morning for stomach upkeep. But this time I’m not so sure. My morning routine consists of meditating, doing sit-ups, stretching, and doing the elliptical for 30 minutes. My least favorite part of that is the sit-ups. 

Instead of torturing myself (by which I mean the hassle of rolling and unrolling my yoga blanket as support – the struggle is real), I might skip them. Maybe I’ll do them at night instead. 

Fitness compromise with myself. 

Semi-normality.

I went to bed at 8pm on Monday night – I was exhausted – and woke up at 6am on Tuesday. That was awesome. I didn’t have any coffee all day either (and it was National Coffee Day – so bad). I wasn’t tired at all in the afternoon or at night. I had beaten jet lag! I went to bed on Tuesday night just before 10pm. This time I woke up around 5:45am. I wasn’t tired anymore, so I decided not to try to fight it and I got up and went down to the gym in my building. I ran 1.5 miles and then walked another .3 miles (+ 80 sit-ups). I was exhausted and called it quits.

With all of my extra time, I planned out my food for the day (1 cup greek yogurt with 2 tbsp of granola and 1/2c frozen cherries for breakfast, kale salad with chicken, cabbage, 1/3 of an avocado, and peppers for lunch, and two snacks: banana with two tbsp peanut butter and a cup of grapes) and then did some other food prep. I was a tad more tired than I’d been the previous day, but, duh, I’d run and gotten up earlier.

I broke down and had coffee today, but it’s decaf so it’s not as super caffeinated. I’m still trying to get back to my normal routine after traveling for almost two weeks. Slowly but surely.

(The above photo is apropos of nothing. It’s from my first night in Oslo. Norway has the best sunsets ever.)