30thirty : Cardio gym session

So it's been a week since I started the challenge! Woo Hoo!!

Apart from Friday being missed, it's been quite successful although I have to say it's been tricky to think of exercise every day, especially as there's been so much on in the evenings. Definitely a mind-shift as I'm used to just doing my Sunday morning gym run & then forgetting about it again for a week

But, disappointingly I put on 1kg this week. Eek!

I'm not too surprised really; it's been freezing here, so it's been necessary to eat more! A couple of mornings I've treated myself to a hot choc & a crunchie. And I've had a couple of extra muffins that I don't normally have. And on top of that I've had 2 nights out eating at restaurants including wine & cocktails. Not to mention the delicious cakes, quiche, hangover sarnies and milkshake I had at the baby shower yesterday.

Never mind. Today is Sept 1st. The 1st day of Spring. The sun was out & I'm going to keep going with the exercise programme + think a bit more carefully about what I'm eating & cut out cakes & biccies!

So @ 7am this morning I did my usual treadmill run, but just 20 mins. 2.5km

I like going to gym at the crack of dawn on a Sunday. There's only about 10 people there, so I can sweat, pant, turn bright red & look like I'm in need of medical attention without fear of bumping in to anyone I know!

Then I did 10 mins on each of the machines : Bike, Step Machine & Treadmill to test which burns most calories. I'm not sure how accurate those gym machines are, but anyway. Whenever I'm at the gym, the girls on the step machine are always skinny with neat little bottoms - is that from the machine (in which case it's definitely worth persevering with if I could get a tight backside), or are they skinny anyway? Not sure.

Here's the results in the most calorie burning order, then I've also rated in effort level (3 being most effort)

1. Treadmill. 10 mins = 88 Cal (1.23km running @ 7.5kmph). Effort 1
2. Stair master. 10 mins = 57 Cal (29.5 floors @ level 3 & 4). Effort 2
3. Bike. 10 mins = 50 Cal (5.6km @ level 1). Effort 3.

So that works out quite well. I hate cycling & really struggle to do even 10 mins, so the fact that it burns the least calories is fine & I don't feel like I'm missing out too much.

And running comes most easy I guess (that statement doesn't mean I find it easy I must point out, I need banging German Techno tunes blasting in my ears to keep my feet moving & to concentrate on not having a panic attack!)

So running seems best for me, but maybe I should try & include some stair-climbing in the hope that I could sculpt my bottom in to a tight peach!

Here's to week 2!

x