Exercise update! Also kind of a food update, or at least a food update as it relates to exercise.
(PREFACE: I have decided to REALLY commit to exercising 3+ days per week. Super motivated right now. Getting into it, treating it like a project. This blog is really helping me with that btw, so props, [MENTION=19948]Showbread[/MENTION]!)
1) Several articles told me that I should eat both before and after I work out: something easy to digest beforehand (like a banana or a yogurt parfait), and something high in protein afterwards. My ISTJ roommate, who is also trying to eat healthier and go to the gym more, inspired me to buy protein powder. Which was A HUGE MISTAKE. What I SHOULD have done was try some of his and see if I like it, then buy the same thing. Or something like that. Anyway, instead I impulse-bought a $15 container of Trader Joe's brand vanilla-flavored soy protein. Tried it last night, mixed with milk, and it's pretty awful. Not NyQuil bad, but maybe Pepto-Bismol bad. Or mediocre energy drink bad.
2) This morning I was all set to go to an hour-long spinning class, and then I did some Googling and everyone said "YOU HAVE TO BRING A TON OF WATER BECAUSE YOU'LL SWEAT BUCKETS", and I realized that I don't have a water bottle*. So I stayed home and did
this workout from Greatist.
I did the correct number of reps of everything except push-ups**, but 2 sets of each pair instead of three, and totally lost my energy right before the last pair (Superman+fancier plank). That ended up being like 20 minutes instead of 30. Clearly I am a noob at this! So I guess it's good that I didn't take the 60 minute spin class -- better to start with the shorter one on Monday (45 minutes).
I ate a banana before my workout, and by the end of the workout was STARVING. Made a protein shake (with 2 scoops of the protein powder and some frozen fruit -- still tasted bad), and was just about as hungry as I was before. Ended up eating some baked oats I made earlier this week (with apple slices, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds) to supplement it.
TLDR: This morning's workout experience has NOT helped me decide whether I should work out in the morning or in the evening, which means I'm pretty uncertain about the workout food situation too. Plus, what do I do with this goddamn protein powder? Throw it away? Try to mix it with something to make it less bad? (
This looked promising, for example.) Or do I suck it up and chug it like medicine?
*Buying one today!
**Last week I watched a video tutorial and realized that I'd been doing modified pushups with bad form, so this morning I finally had a chance to correct it. And now I can do like half the number I could before. Which is disheartening, but on the other hand I'm one step closer to UNmodified push-ups.