Still Fighting for Fitness

I am glad that I am no longer at my heaviest weight. I was heaviest last quarter of 2016 when a nasty combination of cough and colds prevented from doing exercise. My burgeoning weight then was aggravated by my generally relaxed diet stance during the Christmas holidays.

I am at least 6 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight, but a lot of poundage still needs to be shed. I have less stress now from work, I sleep earlier, I binge-eat less, and exercise more regularly. My blood pressure is much lower, but I still guard against unduly taxing my heart. I try to stay within the 130-150 beats per minute heart rate when exercising.

As fitness is a major goal, I go to the gym for swim, bike or run sessions 3-4 times a week, and join races on weekends. Vacant weekends are for recovery while tending to my gardens/backyard farm.

What I am currently working now is altering my breathing patterns. When you lug around pounds of fat around your belly, the tendency is for the belly fat to crush the diaphragm and succumb to shallow breathing. This bad breathing pattern greatly reduces my ability to run faster. I learned that consciously breathing through the nose, expanding my belly when inhaling, and having water in my mouth while running on the treadmill, work. Hopefully, with improved breathing comes faster pace and metabolism.

I hope to be fitter for the fun wave of Pinoy Fitness Sub-1hr 10K this weekend, and for my half-marathon in Korea on April 1.