Cardiogirl 19 percent body fat 100 percent fun

2007-05-17

dreams and fat burning exercise

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I had one of my basic anxiety dreams last night. There are three. Behind Door Number One I am high above the ground on a rickety staircase with no handles and I worry about plummeting to my death. Behind Door Number Two I am either late for a test or sitting in the class taking the final and I never studied. And behind Door Number Three I am back at work (the job I had for eight years before I quit to stay at home with my kids) and all hell is breaking loose.

Of course there's variety in each of the dreams, but the premise is the same. Anyway, I have noticed for the last six months or so that my youngest daughter, who will be two in July, is now in my anxiety dream. She's almost like an accessory in that I don't have to stop to feed her, change her or comfort her. But she's there on my hip with me, or near enough by that I have to pay some attention to her.

Anyone care to venture an interpretation on that? I didn't have this with the older two girls. And I must admit, the youngest one is definitely attached to me in the deepest, most Freudian and physical way. She is always at my side during her waking hours, so much so, that sometimes she will just stand next to me with her hand on my leg, like a physical reminder that I am still there with her.

Did I just answer my own question? Maybe.

In other news, I just discovered some exercise theory called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Basically you do this three times a week, over eight weeks and each week you add a minute or two to your workout until you hit a high of 15 minutes in week eight. You alternate every 30 seconds with a cardio workout of 50% of your cardio capacity to a cardio workout of 90% of your cardio capacity. So you alternate the resistance on the elliptical every 30 seconds for three minutes.

I tried it today after my weight workout (that's the recommendation, to do it on a non-cardio day with a day of rest in between HIIT workouts). I gotta say I was struggling with the last 30 seconds after just two and a half minutes! I guess the theory is that it speeds up your metabolism for the rest of the day and burns fat buried deep in your body rather than the easily accessible fat from the previous day's menu.

You're supposed to be able to break through a plateau by doing this. I'll let you know later if it's helpful.

One minor change I recently made in my workout surprised me. I usually do sit ups on the bench with it parallel to the floor. A couple of days ago I tried it while it was angled closer to the floor, so my feet were above my head. The sit ups that were getting easy became a bit more difficult and I actually used muscles in my stomach that reminded me about the assault exercise a day later.

That was a nice surprise.

And lastly, I just read in a magazine that eating an apple before breakfast, lunch and dinner will help fill you up with fiber before your meal thereby helping you eat less calories and feel fuller longer. I did do that last night before dinner and will try out the theory again today.

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2007-05-17 at 6:55 a.m.

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