Fitness Journals

I ran a mile this morning as planned. I got 9:08 as my time! You know, 11 calories a minute really isn't that many, if I'm only running for nearly 9. In swimming you burn somewhere around 12.5 calories a minute I think. But I swim for 90 minutes…so that means I burn 1125 calories (relatively speaking). I guess I'm not really running to burn calories so much as I'm running to keep my endurance up (and possibly get it up higher). And certainly not because I love running. I wish I liked it as much as swimming. But I don't. Oh well. I've tried.

And that doesn't mean I'm going to stop running.

You know how at the end of the year there's always this big fitness marketing thing going on? STICK TO YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS—LOOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF!! That and other crazy phrases are all over the place. I guess they die down around the end of January or so.

Anyway, about a month ago I was at Barnes and Noble at Triangle Town Center (I like that mall—it's huge!!) and I thought that, though I don't want to loose weight, they might have some sort of book that would interest me. So I browsed around, thinking of looking for something along the lines of a fitness-journal-thing that personal trainers sometimes use for either themselves and/or their clients.

What I found was basically exactly what I was looking for. When I say basically, I mean that it had everything I wanted in it. It had a place to write down what I ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner (as well as goodies, snacks and "booze" [under that column I just put what coffee I had]). It also had an area to write down what weight exercises I did for my upper and lower body, as well as cardio. There are boxes to check depending on how well I think I did overall, there are places to write down how my night was and my morning mood and plans for the next day. There is also a place at the beginning of every week to write down my overall plan and my weight and any ideas for the week ahead.

The un-basically part was that the book is called the Younger Next Year Journal. In smaller print it says, "Turn back your biological clock." In short, that means that it's for old people! Well, I don't care. It was the best one of its kind there. I bought it, and I try to remember to fill it out every day. It touches on a few things to do with "heart rate" which I tend to ignore. I don't have heart problems and don't own a heart rate monitor. Maybe when I do, I will, and then I'll actually be a real old person and the book will apply to me.

Anyway, I have rather enjoyed looking back over just the past month and watching myself get stronger and my eating patterns get better, among other things. However, one day I am rather ashamed of is February 4th, 2007 (or as it is sometimes known, Super Bowl Sunday). If you're like me, you would probably enjoy having a book like this around. It was just about $12, which is a good buy (for me). The dates are fill-in-the-blank, so if you buy it now you don't have to skip from January to the current date. You can just start at the beginning of the book.

Well, I guess I need to get on with my day. Talk to ya later!
~Jessica

Running & New Shoes

Hello all! That is, all of you. Y'all. All Y'all. You'ins. You guyzes.

ANYHOO, guess what? I actually ran twice in one week! I amaze even myself from time to time. I ran one mile Monday morning and timed myself. It was 10 minutes. Tuesday I didn't run but I went to the store and bought new running shoes, Nike somethings. They had the second highest arch supports in the store (that were reasonably priced) (the first highest was their twins without laces) and I made them even higher by putting in the free supports I found in the box under the inserts. So now they fit perfectly.

If you didn't already notice, I have REALLY high arches, Empire State Building high.

So, Wednesday I had to go somewhere in the morning but Thursday I ran again, this time clocking in at 9 minutes and 24 seconds. Maybe it was my feeling more confident, the air being colder and my wanting to get back inside ASAP, the new shoes, or maybe I am just a talented runner disguised as someone who actually despises running and quits all "programs" she ever started before! Or maybe it's a combination of most of those.

Anyway, since I'm not swimming for a few weeks, I thought I should try to make up with lots of cross-training. For me, that would mean getting in at least three days of cardio and three days of strength training. So, here's what my exercise schedule for this coming week looks like:

MONDAY
Run 1 mile
Various arm exercises with 8, 5 and 3 pound dumbbells
Abdominal exercises

TUESDAY
Jump Rope (more on my "routine" in a later blog)

WEDNESDAY
Yoga (I usually feel like I need to stretch out on Wednesdays)
Abdominal exercises

THURSDAY
Same as Monday

FRIDAY
Various arm exercises with 8, 5 and 3 pound dumbbells
Abdominal exercises
Try to convince mother to take my siblings and me bowling, which believe it or not is good arm exercise

Well, there you have it. I think one advantage to trying to get my mile time down even further is that it takes less time so that I have more time to do other things. Yes, like taking a longer shower afterwards. You people know me too well.

Anyway, talk to ya later!

~Jessica

El Listo

Look at me! Yesterday it had been practically two months since I last wrote. Today it was yesterday.

I am taking a class that my dad is teaching. It's called Entrepreneur 101 and for it we have to come up with a business plan (a real one) that we will work on forever and ever until we start the business, which could be tomorrow, in a couple months, a year, or 5 years like mine. 10 years maximum.

You probably are wondering what my little list thing looks like. So, since I am sick of typing and staring at the computer screen (nah—I don't get tired of that…I'm just lazy), I'm going to post my little list here. Mind you, it's crude, unfinished, uneducated and probably hard to read at some points. So feedback from some really nice smart people would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Here goes:

The Plan
By Jessica Claire Barker



1. Continue with teen fitness blog and get more feedback (hint, hint)
2. Find out about good PT certification programs including where they are and the cost of everything
3. Communicate with other gym owners (both small business and franchise owners)
4. Communicate with managers of gyms (including reading that blog)
5. Search online to compare prices of franchise and independently owned gyms, as well as start-up costs for a gym if I were to start my own
6. Possibly get a job at a gym as a receptionist, child care person or personal trainer assistant or apprentice or something like that
7. Make lots of money to finance my education by working at the gym and/or life guarding
8. Skip ahead a 1 ½ years when I'm 18 and done all possible research
9. Order and receive the PT program learning materials from the program I've chosen (not naming for legal reasons)
10. Complete them and then go to the far away workshop
11. Take the certification test
12. Get certified
13. Perchance continue education by also certifying myself as a group fitness trainer
14. During numbers 6 ½ through 12, maybe take classes at Wake Tech on a variety of things, like French and Journalism, but also Physiology and the like
15. Advertise in the paper to get a couple of in-home clients
16. Apply to start working out of a gym (PS: read up on that more)
17. Do in-home, in-gym and maybe group training
18. Probably get married sometime, which might have to get in the way of some working for a couple of months
19. Either stay with my business as it is, or get into a partnership with someone and start an independent gym where I would move my PT business
20. Write articles or a book or something in my spare time to generate eventual passive income
21. Maybe eventually have kids which would probably temporarily stop me from personal training, but that's where my gym and my writing will help
22. Live happily ever after, eventually getting back into PTing


The End.

Later!
~Jessica

Grease--ain't the stuff that I want

Sorry it's been half a million years since I last wrote. I really need to work on that whole "consistency" thing. It's not my strongest trait.

Anyway, a lot has gone on around here since I last wrote. For instance, I've been in 4 improvisation shows. I'm official now. I feel happy. In other news, the Super Bowl was yesterday, and THE COLTS WON!!! 29-17, if I can remember right…and to top it off, I HAD GREASY FOOD OVERLOAD!!!

I never was very in-touch with the fact that greasy food is really THAT bad for you until last night. We had chips, dip, fried catfish, hushpuppies, French fries, shrimp (boiled and fried), mini man burgers, and anything else that decided to sacrifice itself to my dad's deep fryer. Mid-meal I started to feel a bit sick to my stomach. I ate the rest of my food and managed not to throw up (because, you see, anything dipped in a ketchup/tar tar/cocktail sauce mix is dubbed, "irresistible" and wherefore must be eaten). But even this morning I feel like I need to go through a major detoxification.

P that S: If you are a really nice guy and you ask me out after drenching yourself in a ketchup/tar tar/cocktail sauce mix, that doesn't mean YOU are irresistible. I do not want to marry my food.

Anyhooness, in my very long sabbatical from my blog (not intentional, of course), I have been reading up on a number of things, including nutrition, personal training and how to write better. Unfortunately, today I have not come across anything that will specifically instruct me on how to get all this grease out of my system. However…

If you feel like me today (a heart attack waiting to happen), I would suggest fruit. Lots of it. And vegetables. I'm serious about this. Maybe it's just me being a bad-experience magnet. But now if I turn on a cooking show and they're making cheese burgers, I have to leave the room.

Well, that's enough complaining on my part. I will not deny that the food wasn't good. And the game went well, and I'm happy that Prince didn't electrocute himself, considering that would be too violent to be broadcast into every household in America. The FCC would probably sue CBS for $4,000,000,000,000. Then they'd have to get a really boring act for next year…and I was counting on the Chili Peppers or U2 (again) or something!!!

Anyway, I think I will go eat an orange, maybe an apple and perchance some grapes for lunch.

"Bye bye!" ~Prime Minister Excelcus aka Mr. Zarzar reading the script wrong :)

~Jessica