Shape Up for Summer, Day 1

OK, one day of the Shape Up for Summer is done. Successfully, I might add.

For the first week, the focus is on: Eating Right and Exercise. (Registration required. If you’re squeamish about this, drop a comment or send me an e-mail, and I’ll send you a Gmail invite so you can set up a disposable e-mail account. I typically register as “Mickey Mouse” of Anaheim, California, or “Millie Bush” of Kennebunkport, Maine. I will vouch that the Day hasn’t spammed me yet.)

Part One, Eating Right – the gist is to start a food diary. Which is a solid engineering approach – how can you correct a problem until you’ve documented current behavior? I blew this for Monday, since I didn’t read the articles until bathtime. Interesting bit about the diary is that they want us to track not only what goes in, but where and when it does. OK, we’ll see.
They’re also using the “Hips to Waist” ratio as a metric, instead of straight pounds. Haven’t broken out the tape to see where I am yet.

Part two – Exercise, was decent advice, though directed towards completely sedentary people. Goal for the first week is 60 minutes of cardio over 7 days. Recommendation is to break it into three 20 minute chunks.

I’ll throw out a gripe here – even before they get into recommended exercises, they spend two paragraphs on heart rate. The info isn’t bad, but, since they’re targeted at non-exercisers, I would have recommeded something that didn’t involve Heart Rate Monitors, watches, counting, or anything technical at all. Rather than HR, I would have focused on the Relative Perceived Effort scale – exercise hard enough to breathe deeply, but not to get out of breath.

The other program is a daily set of four stretches – calves (Lean against the wall), quads (pull heel to butt), hamstrings (lay on back, stick leg in the air, flop towel over foot, and pull), and chest/arms. The chest/arms stretch was great –

Stand near a doorway with your arms out and your palms and forearms resting on the frame of the doorway. Elbows should be at a 90-degree angle. Slowly walk through the doorway, making your shoulder blades come together. This will stretch muscles in the front of your shoulders and in your chest. Hold the position 15-20 seconds

Good stuff.

Execution: I made my exercise – 45 minutes of swimming, 2000 yards. Felt much better than last week.