Muskego Muscle: 1,000 Reps And A Look At Nutrition

Wednesday Nov. 23 - a fairly crowded class took on the 1,000 rep challenge, which was a series of exercises we all know and love, done at various repetitions (reps) to add up to 1,000.  As fast as we could go.

Featuring periennial favorites like sit ups, push ups and 'burpees' (or squat thrusts) and interspersed with 100-rep rounds of jump ropes, we were told that the earlier class logged a fast time of 16 minutes and some change.  My goal was just to finish, with my head held high and without any torn muscles.

Our best time came in around 17 minutes, and I would have probably logged closer to 19 than the 22 I put in if it weren't for the burpees, which had me so lightheaded that I had to stop repeatedly, and ended up completing a simpler form of the exercise.  That, and the fact that I didn't eat before I came in. At all.

I gave my 'mea culpas' to our instructor, Corey Paszkiewicz, who appeared incredulous that I would simply not eat before exercising. 

Truthfully, that's likely one of my biggest faux pas in general...I am not hungry most mornings until 10 or so, and then if I haven't already gotten so busy I'll remember to eat. However, the irony is that research shows that regular breakfast eaters tend to be leaner and dieters are more successful at losing weight—and keeping it off—when they eat breakfast. What’s more, people who typically eat breakfast also get more fiber, calcium, vitamins A and C, riboflavin, zinc and iron—and less fat and dietary cholesterol.

When we reconvened on Monday, Nov. 28, I had a bowl of oatmeal, eaten well before class at around 6:30 a.m.  A much better outcome for a regular workout, and it will mark the last before I seriously look at what I'm eating, when I'm eating and how much.

I will be measured on Wednesday, and Corey and I will likely talk nutrition.  From the list I will have compiled from my 'food diary,' there will probably be a lot to talk about.  I know many of my shortcomings: eating too much at night, using food as a 'reward,' not enough vegetables. However, if it takes hearing it from someone else, so be it.

After all, Christmas is coming, and this goose is hoping to get lean.