Music + Exercise

For me, gym based cardio workouts must have music. Selecting the right music can be a bit of a challenge and I don't want to listen to the same songs over and over - it can get boring. I love a good playlist, and I found a program that will not only help me listen to a wider range of music but also select songs that I can workout to, depending on how fast I'd like to go.

So I'm currently downloading beaTunes which will allow me to auto-tag all my music with its BPM (beats per minute), and also make use of some of its other excellent features. This is something I've always wanted to do, but with the amount of music I have it has always seemed to be an insurmountable task. Also, a terribly boring one. So fingers crossed this way is a pain free experience!

Here's a new playlist that I painstakingly created today for a 40min workout. I'm going to head to the gym now, plug in my iPod and get my heart pumping.

How about actually wearing my t-shirt collection?

This Godmachine piece was the first of about 20 illustration based t-shirts I purchased between the beginning of 2008 and 2010. I actually own two ladies sizes of it; small (ordered by accident) and a repurchased large. Purchased with the intent of losing about 15kg, allowing me to wear it, I ended up putting that amount on. So essentially I've amassed close to twenty t-shirts that have been enthusiastically purchased, but never worn.

'The Ram' is my favourite of all of them, and I will be first wearing the large and small versions of it this year.

Amy vs. Amy 2012

This is not a New Year's Resolution. I held off posting for a little while because it might have been seen as another "fat person posting a weight loss goal in the new year". So here I am, maintaining my sense of humour, and putting this out there.

I've been pondering the weight loss issue for 4 or 5 months now. My new(ish) job involves early starts and a decent amount of travel time. I tried walking, but it bores me, I always get home in the dark and don't feel safe walking around. The gym near my house didn't open early enough or stay open late enough, which left me trying to lose weight mostly through dietary changes (and we all know how much I love cheese). I lost a few of those extra "April in Goulburn" kilos, but I reached the point in December where I knew I needed to ramp it up.

Plans, goals and support system are up. An Anytime Fitness (24hr gym) opened near my house, and right next door to my work - so there is no excuse. I've got 26.5kg to go, having lost 3.5kg since starting a couple of weeks ago. The exercise is going very well, and the portion control is mostly too - so at an average of a kilo per week I will be at my goal in July. It's definitely time to kick my own backside.

For updates, you can follow a bunch of people on Twitter with the hashtag #fitterbytwitter (join in) or call my best friend who I am boring the crap out of with exercise text messages.