Tag Archives: Exercise

Nov 16 2014
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Health, Uncategorized

Sweating it Out

yoga silouette

One word:  Y  O  G  A

This morning, as I did my final stretch, sweat dripping from my nose, my chin, my elbows, I was filled with gratitude. Gratitude for my body–limitations and all, gratitude that I made it– that I showed up, gratitude for my breath and my mind, gratitude for doing something good for myself. I signed up for a month. I’m hoping to go three times a week.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still hate it. It’s hard, it’s hot. See that little white space underneath the arm of the silhouette? That doesn’t exist for full-figured gals like me. It’ll be a long time before my forehead kisses my knee. Yet I feel so good afterwards.  And it makes so much sense to me…stretching and elongating my muscles. I have no idea how many calories I’m burning in the 90 minutes. It doesn’t really matter. I’m moving, stretching, twisting, and for now, I’m showing up.

Made some homemade chicken noodle soup (with gluten-free noodles!). Still eating clean.  I breezed through Halloween without so much as a single M&M. It was easy. I had no desire.  And I’m convinced if I did have an M&M, I would have been tempted, perhaps beyond my control, to eat more. Such is the poison of sugar.

Hit a milestone last week: 1/3 of the way to my goal at 194 lbs.  I’m probably losing some ground, but I’m staying the course.

Namaste.

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Sep 07 2014
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Health

My First Hot Yoga Experience

first time doing yoga

I forgot something pretty important.
I forgot that I don’t do so well in heat. Never have. I fainted in a shower once cooling off from a sauna. Hot tubs make me feel faint as well. But oblivious to this well-known fact about myself. I bee-bopped my way into the studio, sporting my new mat and my new towel and my new headband and water bottle, totally unaware of the hot hell I was about to enter. No amount of reading about the heat and the sweat could have prepared me. I went a little early, since I was signing up for the first time. That went pretty quickly so I proceeded into the Hot Zone. I mention this because as a result, I ended up in the heat an extra 10 minutes.

Oh. my. Gawd.

First of all, yoga is not made for apple-shaped gals like me. I’d at least get my forehead and my knee in the same neighborhood if it weren’t for my belly. I marveled at the poses and contortions of the participants. I can’t imagine ever being able to really do these moves. I mean, really. My first sip of water resulted in the instructor telling me something about not drinking during something or another, I didn’t understand her. Dutifully, I put the water down, and waited for the water permission to come…and it never did, and I nearly passed out. When I saw others taking water, I just took their lead. To make matters worse, my new water bottle, unfortunately, does not deliver water into my mouth as fast and desperately, as I felt I needed it. Sort of a soft, airy kind of suck. No good. I was also the only overweight person there. But no one made me feel uncomfortable.

The instructor told me at the beginning that my only goal should be to stay in the room the whole time. If she hadn’t said that, I think I would have left halfway through.  My face was purple, my heart pounding and of course the sweat was pouring out of me. About half way through I was basically laying on my mat the whole time, staying in the room. Truth be told I felt faint at least half the time. But laying on the mat helped me gain composure and I endured, trying poses the best I could.

At the end, I scrambled out of the room asap and plopped myself in the lobby. The cold air instantly made me feel better. My instructor praised me and told me I did really well.  I don’t think so. The teacher said that new people make the mistake of letting too much time pass between visits, that it’s like starting from scratch.

So I guess I’ll try again tomorrow.

 

 

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Aug 25 2014
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Health, Uncategorized

Patience

Haven’t lost a pound in two weeks.
I’m bummed. It means that I likely need to be on a ‘diet’ instead of the weight dropping off of me by virtue of eating healthy. Since sugar/flour/processed food put the weight on, I’d hoped it would be as simple as eliminating those foods to get the weight off.  I’m not giving up, but I’m beginning to think about how I just may need to count calories…or carbs. Because as we know, calories in, calories out. I think I’ll give it through September before I change anything.  My hub feels confident that I just need to be patient.  I’m not on a quick weight-loss plan.

But this is not the way of my life-long weight-loss experience. By now I’m usually getting my second (dieting) wind–feeling energized and like there’s no stopping me! But these days, it seems like I’m doing nothing at all about my weight.  And I have to say, I’m not so sure I’m feeling that much better, either.

Have you noticed I haven’t mentioned exercise? I haven’t been exercising enough. I need to figure something out. Now that I’m back to school, going to the gym is not convenient.  Getting committed to a walking regime right here at home is what I need to do. I’ve just got to get over this back-to-school hump.  I’m just exhausted.

 

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Jul 22 2014
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Health

Slow and Steady

No weight loss this week.
No gain either, which I suppose is good, but I’m disappointed. Since I’m not really “dieting,” I have been staying off the scale but once per week.  I am operating under the (misguided?) belief that if I consistently make choices to avoid sugar, flour, and processed foods coupled with regular exercise, that the weight will eventually come off. I have to be prepared to accept the slowness of it. Slow and steady is supposed to win the race, right?

This is soooo opposite the way I’ve spent my life dieting. Used to be, once I set my mind to it, all I had to do was eliminate carbs, pee on a keto-stick to make sure it turned a deep maroon color, and the weight melted off. I remember one of my favorite snacks was to roll salami around cream cheese!  Buffalo chicken wings, eggs & bacon and diet soda provided most of my malnutrition. I could go indefinitely without cheating.  The Atkins Diet was for me.  Problem was, that once I resumed ‘normal’ eating, it didn’t take long to gain the weight back and then some.

So looking ahead, I have 364 more days to lose sixty-one pounds. I can’t remember the last time I had a real, long-term goal to work towards. As I’ve mentioned before, I plan to be <150 lbs. when I turn fifty next year. Let’s do some numbers:
61 pounds /52 weeks =  1.17 pounds per week
61 pounds/12 months= 5.08 pounds to lose per month

Seems reasonable enough to me.

Holy moly, I would be so happy if I could really do it.

Slow and steady.

 

 

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Jul 16 2014
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Health

Midlife Waltz

I used to be a dancer. A chubby dancer, but toe shoes and tap shoes still count, right? My mother started me dancing when I was two years old. I endured weekly lessons and yearly recitals until I was about thirteen. Not a team sports kinda girl, it’s a good thing I had these weekly opportunities to move my body. I developed strong legs, flexible joints, and (dare I say) a bit of grace. I believe this early training set me up in life to be more agile and coordinated. I liken it to regular deposits in my ‘physical’ bank account.

Approaching fifty, I guess you could say I’ve been auditing my state of affairs. Aside from the obvious (weight loss), I am coming to terms with my dwindling energy reserves and (lack of) physical prowess. It occurs to me that I’ve been surviving on my trust fund–the physical deposits made in my earlier years, with only occasional boosts to the account as I yo-yo’ed through the next three decades.

The cold, hard truth is that my account is drying up. I can’t believe how weak I’ve become! I hobble for a bit upon rising from a chair, my joints ache, and I have become less sure-footed. I can think of three falls I’ve taken in the last year! I’m an old lady at forty-nine. How could I have let this happen?!?

Recently, I was diagnosed with autoimmune thyroid disease. This may account for some of my lethargy. I don’t yet know the severity, or what, if anything I can do about it. I have an appointment with an endocrinologist in a few weeks and will hopefully get some answers. But I’m worried about myself. I’m worried that I will succumb to inertia. I’m worried that I won’t be able to put myself back together again. I’m worried about my ability to reverse this track I’m on. I must remember how hard it is this time to pick myself up and dance again.

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Jul 10 2014
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Getting Back Up

I almost derailed my exercise.
We have a kiddie pool in the yard for my dogs. They love to drink and soak in at while playing catch. Over the weekend I got impatient and tried to lift the pool with the water inside to dump it. Big mistake. I didn’t realize I had strained my back at the time, but the next morning I was bent over, and hobbling around. I have been on the mend all week as a result.  But on Monday, I got on the treadmill, and managed to walk a bit. I stretched using the big ball. Yesterday, I felt much better and had a great workout. I’m pretty much back on track.

One of the things I’ve been coming to terms with is how physically weak I’ve become. I also injured myself last month at field day. I collided with a colleague and went down hard. Like a ton of bricks. Literally. I am still dealing with the residual effects of the injury–sprained ligament in my knee. At the time I was so upset because I wondered why the universe would conspire to roadblock my intentions to get on track and exercise. But what I realize now, is that maybe what the universe was showing me is how weak I am. And that it’s really time to do something about it.

On another note, I’ve just ingested 8 oz. of what is called Vitality Vinegar Tonic. Something that I’ll maybe do 3x a day, if I can manage it. It’s a mixture I made of water (one gallon) and organic raw apple cider vinegar (3/4 cup).  And I’m starting my day with a glass of warm water and lemon juice. Just writing it makes me want to pucker up. All of this to promote a more alkaline based diet. It is really good for the liver and promotes weight loss.

 

 

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Jun 30 2014
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Back to Basics

At one point this week (I sneaked a peek), I was down three pounds.
Today, my official weigh-in day, I’m down nothing.  NOTHING!  What a bummer.

I haven’t been counting calories, or carbs.  What I have been doing is working out, mostly staying away from flour and sugar, and eating fruits and vegetables.  For example, last night my hub grilled swordfish and made a delicious mango, tomato and basil salad with red onion and feta.  It was delicious!  Totally satisfying and healthy.  I also had a great workout.  I have to believe that if I stick to these whole foods and exercise, that the weight will come off.  It used to be that I could drop five pounds in a couple of days.  Clearly, I’m not so lucky, anymore.

I started reading, The Science of Skinny, by Dee McCaffrey.  It’s about understanding body chemistry and how our bodies process the foods we eat.  The farther away we get from eating foods in their natural state, the less healthy they are for us.  Makes sense.  This isn’t the first time I’ve been down this road.  I get so enthusiastic about eating well and exercising.  What I haven’t figured out yet, is why can’t I maintain it?  I am nowhere near giving up, despite a zero balance in my weight account, I just wish the skinny gods could have helped me out a little more this week.

 

 

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Jun 26 2014
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The Time is Now

I’m turning fifty (fifty!) in a year.
I feel like an adolescent again.  “Who am I?  What do I want to do with the rest of my life?”  I’m moody, fatigued and fat.
So is my family.
It’s time to make a change.
The time is now.

We’re going whole foods (mostly) and exercise.
My son (Little D) is fourteen and overweight.  He loves hockey, so I’ve got him signed up for an intense conditioning program, three days/week which he seems to love so far.  While he’s doing that, I’ll be working out.  My hub (Big D) is on board as well.

In my weight loss career (all my life) I have probably lost and gained hundreds of pounds. The last time I dropped weight I thought I was set for life.  Kept it off for nearly two years.  And then, I quit smoking.  40 pounds later, here I am.  Still not smoking, but all puffed up.

I have some goals.
I want to be under 200 lbs. by the first day of school (I’m a teacher).
And under 150 lbs. by my 50th birthday next July.
There~I’ve said it, written it and published it.

Namaste.

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