At the start of this course my physical activity level was poor because I had gotten out of my fitness routine and it was difficult to get back.  This course forced me to get back into my fitness routine and I could not be happier.  Although I did not lose any weight, my body fat dropped 2% and I have been getting positive feedback from people in the gym who have noticed a difference in how I look.  I took almost 2 minutes off walking 1 mile.  My flexibility has improved a little bit, I have a stretching DVD that I love and I take a yoga class whenever I can fit it in my schedule.  I made a plan to lose weight by the end of the course but that did not happen.  Nutrition has not been a priority for me and I am comfortable with my weight the way it is and hav Read more »

This class was very helpful for me as a person. I became very aware of how much physical activity I partake in and how much I should be doing. My nutrition was also brought to my attention and how I can change it. As suggested in the apply section, I have made a personal plan to change my lifestyle. I will continue exercising every day and also continue making sure I am reaching good levels of protein, calcium, and vitamins. It is a good idea to tell someone else your plan so you stick to it, so I would recommend everyone from our class tell at least one person how they plan on changing.

Here's a link to a lot of different types of weight lifting exercises.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/

After logging the food I ate for three days into the mypyramid program I was not that surprised at my results.  On each day I had high Total Fat and Saturated Fat results.  My total fat results were 19.5g, 55.8g and 68.4g.  Saturated fat levels were 8.9g, 13.3g and 18.9g.  According to my profile my Food Energy/Total Calories were calculated at 1881. I did not come very close to consuming the recommended calories.  The first day that I tracked I only consumed 563 calories which was my lowest.  I had to have some dental work done on the first day so I did not have any lunch.  The second day I consumed 1215 calories and the third day I consumed 1510 calories. Read more »

From my merciless tracking of food intake for four days, I have realized the lack of diversity if my eating habits. Sure I eat healthy, but it's always the same healthy foods! Whatever I'd gone shopping for is what I have to eat. So through the nutrition analysis I found the nutrients that I was lacking, and those that I was overflowing on. From that I hunted down the nutrient labels on the foods I eat and opted for even healthier choices. In almost all my entries, I needed more Potassium, Calcium, Fiber, and Vitamin C. Also, I needed less Phosphorus and Vitamin B.  Read more »

I qualified for NAIA Nationals in Track on the 4x800 relay and have had the pleasure of spending the last week in Marion, Indiana finishing up my track season. Unfortunately this has meant that I have not been able to lift this whole last week. First off, I don't have access to a weight room and lifting facilities where we are located. Second, however, we usually don't lift the last week of competition due to our taper and getting our bodies rested for our final race. Often we will continue to do light core workouts but not lifting. All in all this track year, being my first in college, has been a great experience and tons of fun! I'm looking forward to a bit of a break but I extremely excited for next year.

     I’ve been thinking of exactly how your life can improve through changes in dimensions of personal wellness. Delving further into each dimension, you can identify one particular keystone that everything depends on. What I believe each wellness category boils down to, at the very basic level, is a positive attitude. A generally healthy optimistic attitude compared to a negative one affects every wellness mentioned in the book: Social, physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, etc. When a person carries negative feelings around with them, it not only affects their everyday life and activities, it affects others around them. Read more »

I was thinking the other day, after reading Mary's Bonking post, and everyone else's comments, that there is kind of another way one can "bonk". I was thinking about how sometimes you know you want or should go work out but your body is just so tired it is hard to get through the workout. I get that sometimes when I have been up late doing projects or late studying or something. Sometimes your body gets too tired and can be too fatigued to make it through really strenuous workouts. Or you might be able to push through it but the whole time it is a constant mental battle. It is very important to get a goodnights sleep and let your body get well rested. If not make sure to really feed your body well so that it has enough energy to push through the work out.

We just have the rest of this week and next week for logging exercises. Then Exam 3 and we're done. If you haven't completed your nutrition analysis, get that done right away. Next Tuesday, we will be doing the fitness retesting in the same manner that we did at the beginning of the term. It will be a 1.5 mile run at the track and then come inside to the gym to do our other testing. Wear a T-shirt and shorts for the indoor testing.