It's late, but I just got back from running my Aerobics workout. Just wanted to let y'all know because I'm digging that whole accountability thing. I'm sure you were waiting with baited breath, right?
The day went well, and I had a really nice nap this afternoon, got to go out and play with my grown up friends (playdate for Mommy=yay!), and I am proud of myself for making sure I got my workout in, even though it meant going to the gym at nearly midnight.
I will see you all Monday. Have a restful Sunday and take care of each other!
:)
Showing posts with label aerobics workout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aerobics workout. Show all posts
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Day Twenty-Three
So, uh, I didn't get up at 5:30. Like a dummy, I stayed up too late, thinking I'd suck it up and just get up in the morning. What did happen was that I played a little game called "wonder if I can hit the snooze button before the third beep." I played that game a lot. I got pretty good at it. I got so good at it we were about ten minutes late to school/work this morning. Oops.
I did go back to the Y and run, though. I put on my snazzy new sneakers and my iPod Shuffle. I love this little toy. I just got it last week, and it's the last generation, not the newest one, so the price is more reasonable. I love it so much I named it Pearl. Pearl and I ran together today, stomping it out on the treadmill to Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and "Lady Lumps" (or whatever it's called) by the Black-Eyed Peas. And I took off the volume limiter, so when I got going, I think the two people next to me could hear what I was running to (hello, if you heard Snow Patrol playing...that was me). I actually got the old treadmill (and my lumps) up to 6.0 (mph?). That's the fastest I've gone, perhaps ever. I figure I might go faster than that one day, but someone will have to chase me with a meat cleaver or a gasoline-powered chainsaw.
I notice it also helps with running if you have shoes that are the correct size! I have been squeezing my post-baby bigger feet into my old pre-pregnancy sneakers. When you have a kid, your feet get bigger, and mine grew pretty much a whole size. It's such a nice treat to not have my toes crammed all the way to the top of my shoes, and to not have them numb from having the arch press into the wrong part of my foot. My hypochondriac self was convinced the numbness was a sign that I had a really crappy circulatory system and was getting heart disease or something! (knock on wood)
Food went all right. I was grumpy and hormonal yet again this morning, and did some emotional eating when I got home from work. Granted, on the bright side, it was all food I had planned for eating all that day. All healthy food. The downside was that I ate three meals in about four hours. Oh well. Steve made us dinner tonight, which was very sweet. He used up some of the pre-cooked chicken breast and made a homemade tomato sauce to go over whole wheat pasta, and he tossed in some of the fresh farmers' market peppers and the little broiled fairytale eggplant. It was delicious with a side of boiled and salted shelled edamame.
I am still pondering what topic to chat about tomorrow. I might visit Wikipedia and play around and see if something stands out to me. Binge eating was brought up in the comments (thanks Justine!), and I definitely have issues with that, myself. Eating disorders seems to be the topic that is coming up for other people, too. I also feel it is a hugely emotional and sensitive subject, and I would hate to even remotely offend someone suffering out there, or seem insensitive. Probably don't have to worry that much, though, since my lovely readers (and I'm so glad you read it, guys, really!) are a pretty manageably small group. Not that I'm complaining. I most likely will not have to worry about starting a firestorm up in here!
If you do stop and read, will you please do me a favor and sign up as a follower, if you haven't already? It's nice to know who I'm talking to, and honestly, it does give me a boost! I don't think you have to worry about spam or anything...but you could chalk it up to doing a good deed or something. Yeah, that's right. Signing up to follow my blog is right up there with saving baby dolphins and stuff. Yeah, that's it.....
I'm glad I did my workout and ate pretty well today. I'll do it tomorrow, and I'll even have a bit of a blurb about some health topic for you folks. I'll see you tomorrow! In the meantime, I will leave you with a picture from my most favorite website (http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/). This so completely says me, I can't even find where to start. :)
I did go back to the Y and run, though. I put on my snazzy new sneakers and my iPod Shuffle. I love this little toy. I just got it last week, and it's the last generation, not the newest one, so the price is more reasonable. I love it so much I named it Pearl. Pearl and I ran together today, stomping it out on the treadmill to Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and "Lady Lumps" (or whatever it's called) by the Black-Eyed Peas. And I took off the volume limiter, so when I got going, I think the two people next to me could hear what I was running to (hello, if you heard Snow Patrol playing...that was me). I actually got the old treadmill (and my lumps) up to 6.0 (mph?). That's the fastest I've gone, perhaps ever. I figure I might go faster than that one day, but someone will have to chase me with a meat cleaver or a gasoline-powered chainsaw.
I notice it also helps with running if you have shoes that are the correct size! I have been squeezing my post-baby bigger feet into my old pre-pregnancy sneakers. When you have a kid, your feet get bigger, and mine grew pretty much a whole size. It's such a nice treat to not have my toes crammed all the way to the top of my shoes, and to not have them numb from having the arch press into the wrong part of my foot. My hypochondriac self was convinced the numbness was a sign that I had a really crappy circulatory system and was getting heart disease or something! (knock on wood)
Food went all right. I was grumpy and hormonal yet again this morning, and did some emotional eating when I got home from work. Granted, on the bright side, it was all food I had planned for eating all that day. All healthy food. The downside was that I ate three meals in about four hours. Oh well. Steve made us dinner tonight, which was very sweet. He used up some of the pre-cooked chicken breast and made a homemade tomato sauce to go over whole wheat pasta, and he tossed in some of the fresh farmers' market peppers and the little broiled fairytale eggplant. It was delicious with a side of boiled and salted shelled edamame.
I am still pondering what topic to chat about tomorrow. I might visit Wikipedia and play around and see if something stands out to me. Binge eating was brought up in the comments (thanks Justine!), and I definitely have issues with that, myself. Eating disorders seems to be the topic that is coming up for other people, too. I also feel it is a hugely emotional and sensitive subject, and I would hate to even remotely offend someone suffering out there, or seem insensitive. Probably don't have to worry that much, though, since my lovely readers (and I'm so glad you read it, guys, really!) are a pretty manageably small group. Not that I'm complaining. I most likely will not have to worry about starting a firestorm up in here!
If you do stop and read, will you please do me a favor and sign up as a follower, if you haven't already? It's nice to know who I'm talking to, and honestly, it does give me a boost! I don't think you have to worry about spam or anything...but you could chalk it up to doing a good deed or something. Yeah, that's right. Signing up to follow my blog is right up there with saving baby dolphins and stuff. Yeah, that's it.....
I'm glad I did my workout and ate pretty well today. I'll do it tomorrow, and I'll even have a bit of a blurb about some health topic for you folks. I'll see you tomorrow! In the meantime, I will leave you with a picture from my most favorite website (http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/). This so completely says me, I can't even find where to start. :)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day Eighteen
I just crawled out of bed about twenty minutes ago. My son just started sleeping in a big bed (a double) so, for the past night or two, I have laid beside him to help him fall asleep (read as "so he doesn't get out of bed and run around like a banshee in his room"). Apparently tonight I was no match for lying in the dark, covered in a blanket, pretending to be asleep...so I fell asleep for real. I feel a bit groggy, but it'll have to do until I go to bed in a few more minutes!
I promised y'all some blurb about female body shapes, so here goes:
According to Wikipedia, female body shape is the "cumulative product of a woman's skeletal structure (her build) and the quantity and distribution of muscle and fat on the body." Across time and across the globe, there have been and still are wide differences of opinion as to what is considered most attractive for a woman's shape. There is, of course, naturally a wide range of body shapes, and the bust, waist, and hips are considered to be inflection points, where the ratio of these are used to define the basic shape of a woman.
The hourglass is considered by the Western world to be the "ideal" female shape, where the waist is smaller than the bust and hips. The bust and hips are almost of equal size in contrast with the smaller waist measurement. This underlines symmetry in the human form that tends to be seen as attractive by others, and many movie stars falsely claim to have body shapes that are "hourglass", when, in reality, only about 8% of women are shaped that way.
There is also the banana shape, where the waist measures less than nine inches smaller than the hips or bust. Women with banana shapes tend to have higher androgen levels (in comparison to estrogen), and the body's skeleton develops into this shape. A study of 6,000 women in 2005 at NC State found that about 46% of women measured were banana, or rectangle-shaped.
There is the apple shape, where women have broader shoulders and bust, and narrower hips. These body shapes have higher androgen levels compared to women with other body types. This body shape has a higher risk towards some diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. It is found among about 14% of women.
There is the pear shape, where the hips measure greater than the bust, with fat depositing more in the buttocks, hips and thighs. About 20% of women were found to be pear-shaped.
Since the 1950s, the average woman's waistline has increased by six inches and women are taller and have bigger busts and hips than women from that era.
Since early times, women have struggled to fit their various body shapes into the desired proportions of their contemporaries. Among many different types of restraints, constraints, clothes, and cosmetics, such things come to mind as "lotus feet", planing the forehead, lengthening the neck, breast implants, and corsetting the waist. Boned corsets were in vogue for centuries, and have since been replaced by more humane "foundation garments" (Spanx anyone?). As fashions and ideals have changed over time, what has remained mostly constant throughout history has been the preference for a small waist. A low waist/hip ratio has often been seen as a sign of good health and fertility.
A waist/hip ratio is the waist measurement divided by the hip measurement. This ratio has been shown to correlate with attractiveness, even across cultures. Women with a waist circumference that is 70% of the hip measurement have consistently been rated most attractive. Some unforgettably shaped women, such as Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, the Venus de Milo, all have the ratio of 70%.
Do I think this stuff remotely determines a woman's worth? Heck no! Do I think we need to suffer needlessly and bust back out the corsets or get implants...hell no! But I thought the topic was interesting, and I have always heard about pear and apple shapes (banana was unknown to me, but interesting nonetheless). I am not very surprised that the most "desired" body shape would be the one that is least naturally occurring...of course it's the most desirable--hardly anyone has that shape!
I hope my sleepy brain isn't so addled that any of this was muddled or hard to read. I got up and went to an aerobics class this morning, doing aerobics in front of others (!) for sixty minutes. Um. Dude, sixty minutes is a LOOOOONG time to be doing any damn thing. It also reminded me again why I so love doing exercises in the comfort and privacy of my own home. I know the instructor can help someone who is struggling with how to hold their body, or their posture, or whatever, but getting barked at by someone who makes me do the pony for minutes on end isn't high up there on my list of stuff I enjoy. But I shouldn't really kvetch, since I have never personally taught aerobics, so I would hardly know how to do it myself. Which is why I enjoy aerobics...on DVD. Alone. At home.
Food went pretty well all day, except for this evening. Both last night and tonight I have had a hard time withstanding some temptation. Last night I got really hungry in the presence of hummus and ended up eating a fair bit of hummus with tortilla chips and then a PB&J sandwich (ugh), and tonight I had a hard time saying no to some fried potatoes and the damn hummus again. I am not happy about the extra eating, but I am resolving to not A) beat myself up about it and B) not throw the baby out with the bathwater and eat everything in sight. I have to remember that, as a woman and all that, hormones can play underlying factors in day-to-day stuff with food. Every once in a while my body just says, "hey, YOU, chubby chick! Bring on the salt!" or some other random thing. I figure as long as I'm not eating spackling with a butterknife, I probably don't need to freak out too bad, but I do need to be honest and tell it like it is, which means telling you that I'm not being angelic over here with the people kibble.
I'm going (back) to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow!
I promised y'all some blurb about female body shapes, so here goes:
According to Wikipedia, female body shape is the "cumulative product of a woman's skeletal structure (her build) and the quantity and distribution of muscle and fat on the body." Across time and across the globe, there have been and still are wide differences of opinion as to what is considered most attractive for a woman's shape. There is, of course, naturally a wide range of body shapes, and the bust, waist, and hips are considered to be inflection points, where the ratio of these are used to define the basic shape of a woman.
The hourglass is considered by the Western world to be the "ideal" female shape, where the waist is smaller than the bust and hips. The bust and hips are almost of equal size in contrast with the smaller waist measurement. This underlines symmetry in the human form that tends to be seen as attractive by others, and many movie stars falsely claim to have body shapes that are "hourglass", when, in reality, only about 8% of women are shaped that way.
There is also the banana shape, where the waist measures less than nine inches smaller than the hips or bust. Women with banana shapes tend to have higher androgen levels (in comparison to estrogen), and the body's skeleton develops into this shape. A study of 6,000 women in 2005 at NC State found that about 46% of women measured were banana, or rectangle-shaped.
There is the apple shape, where women have broader shoulders and bust, and narrower hips. These body shapes have higher androgen levels compared to women with other body types. This body shape has a higher risk towards some diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. It is found among about 14% of women.
There is the pear shape, where the hips measure greater than the bust, with fat depositing more in the buttocks, hips and thighs. About 20% of women were found to be pear-shaped.
Since the 1950s, the average woman's waistline has increased by six inches and women are taller and have bigger busts and hips than women from that era.
Since early times, women have struggled to fit their various body shapes into the desired proportions of their contemporaries. Among many different types of restraints, constraints, clothes, and cosmetics, such things come to mind as "lotus feet", planing the forehead, lengthening the neck, breast implants, and corsetting the waist. Boned corsets were in vogue for centuries, and have since been replaced by more humane "foundation garments" (Spanx anyone?). As fashions and ideals have changed over time, what has remained mostly constant throughout history has been the preference for a small waist. A low waist/hip ratio has often been seen as a sign of good health and fertility.
A waist/hip ratio is the waist measurement divided by the hip measurement. This ratio has been shown to correlate with attractiveness, even across cultures. Women with a waist circumference that is 70% of the hip measurement have consistently been rated most attractive. Some unforgettably shaped women, such as Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, the Venus de Milo, all have the ratio of 70%.
Do I think this stuff remotely determines a woman's worth? Heck no! Do I think we need to suffer needlessly and bust back out the corsets or get implants...hell no! But I thought the topic was interesting, and I have always heard about pear and apple shapes (banana was unknown to me, but interesting nonetheless). I am not very surprised that the most "desired" body shape would be the one that is least naturally occurring...of course it's the most desirable--hardly anyone has that shape!
I hope my sleepy brain isn't so addled that any of this was muddled or hard to read. I got up and went to an aerobics class this morning, doing aerobics in front of others (!) for sixty minutes. Um. Dude, sixty minutes is a LOOOOONG time to be doing any damn thing. It also reminded me again why I so love doing exercises in the comfort and privacy of my own home. I know the instructor can help someone who is struggling with how to hold their body, or their posture, or whatever, but getting barked at by someone who makes me do the pony for minutes on end isn't high up there on my list of stuff I enjoy. But I shouldn't really kvetch, since I have never personally taught aerobics, so I would hardly know how to do it myself. Which is why I enjoy aerobics...on DVD. Alone. At home.
Food went pretty well all day, except for this evening. Both last night and tonight I have had a hard time withstanding some temptation. Last night I got really hungry in the presence of hummus and ended up eating a fair bit of hummus with tortilla chips and then a PB&J sandwich (ugh), and tonight I had a hard time saying no to some fried potatoes and the damn hummus again. I am not happy about the extra eating, but I am resolving to not A) beat myself up about it and B) not throw the baby out with the bathwater and eat everything in sight. I have to remember that, as a woman and all that, hormones can play underlying factors in day-to-day stuff with food. Every once in a while my body just says, "hey, YOU, chubby chick! Bring on the salt!" or some other random thing. I figure as long as I'm not eating spackling with a butterknife, I probably don't need to freak out too bad, but I do need to be honest and tell it like it is, which means telling you that I'm not being angelic over here with the people kibble.
I'm going (back) to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Day Six
It's only about 345pm, but I am pretty much done for the day, and I mean that in a good way. I am proud to report that I have completed my first full week of Body-for-LIFE!
I had a rough night last night (ahem, ahem, andrew). There's a saying: if you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans. And oh man was that true last night. I ended up going to bed rather late. Part of it was because I knew there wasn't going to be the alarm going off at 530, but also in part because Andrew went on a sleep strike, the likes of which I haven't seen in quite a while. He just would not go to sleep. He wouldn't have anything to do with it. There was a lot of negotiations, a lot of playing-the-room, a lot of begging (some of it mine), and finally, the cut off. He finally quieted down and even slept a little from about 11:20 to 1:30 am, but then he woke up again, and I went to lay down with him. Steve peeked in on us and just had to come in and say hello (why do guys do this? why?), and Andrew began to get rather chatty and, quite honestly, acrobatic. To make a long story short, after getting kicked in my aching pectoral muscles for the 4,278 time, I decided that, at 3:00 am, that Evil Mommy was going to have to come into play. Dire threats were made, and finally, I told Andrew that he could stay awake all he wanted, but he had to do it in his crib. He wasn't feverish, he said nothing hurt on him, I gave him Motrin anyway, but he just wanted to party all night...and I felt like beating my head on the carpeting until I knocked myself out or gave myself amnesia.
Waking up at 8:00 am this morning, though, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was groggy and cranky for a little bit, but I suddenly just woke up and had all this crazy energy. We went out and walked to the farmer's market (big shout out to the Carrboro Farmer's Market--they are incredible and they sell yarn there--double win!). We came home and danced to crappy music from the 90s (hello, Vanilla Ice). I snuck out of the house while Andrew was asleep and ran on the elliptical at the apartment complex gym for my 20 minutes Aerobics Solution. I felt a little leery leaving Andrew, but we have a very good fire alarm, and he sleeps like the dead. Eh, maybe I won't do that again, but I didn't want to work out again at 10:30 at night.
I'm off to grab a snack and get ready for dinner. I'm going to hang out with some friends later tonight, and I'm going to treat myself when we all go out to the nearby not-so-greasy spoon. I'm going to have a Diet Coke. w00t!
But for tomorrow, my first Free Day...let me think...I suppose my Bisquick mix is going to be making it out of the pantry for breakfast, I can tell you that...and I think I'm going to be making a little peanut butter popcorn for TV watching tomorrow night...don't wait up! See you Monday!
****later****
OK, I have to check back in and write this out, because my head is definitely talking to me. I went out and hung out with some friends, and two of the guys in the group started talking about their cravings for fast food joints. McDonalds this, Arby's that, yadda yadda yadda. They talked about what item they just can't resist, and, since they were right next to me, I voiced that I do have a fondness for Burger King's Whoppers, which they wholeheartedly agreed with, and we agreed the fries suck. The point? I'm getting to it right now. Out of nowhere, after a couple of short exchanges in this vein, the older of the two said to me:
"Yeah, well, lucky you're married."
Uh, what? Is there some connection here I am supposed to immediately get? First off, I am engaged, not married, although I consider it the same thing, in view of our living arrangement. But the dinger is why am I lucky I'm married? Because I like fast food? No wait, I get it, you just spoke up from your inner (shortsighted) opinion that, since I am fat, I am lucky I'm married. It came up for you because I was talking to you about shitty fast food, and you looked at my body, and assumed that's all I think about. I'm so sorry I tried to partake in your conversation, what was I thinking? What a waste of my time.
I just find this little remark very interesting. It doesn't matter that I am smart, witty, can teach myself how to do things like knit or play piano, am a good mother, am well-versed in history, I'm likable, or any of that other stuff. None of these other attributes could have possibly contributed to the fact that I am where I am in life. Just cause I'm fat, I'm lucky I'm married.
I read you loud and clear. You're lucky I'm smart like that, asshole.
I had a rough night last night (ahem, ahem, andrew). There's a saying: if you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans. And oh man was that true last night. I ended up going to bed rather late. Part of it was because I knew there wasn't going to be the alarm going off at 530, but also in part because Andrew went on a sleep strike, the likes of which I haven't seen in quite a while. He just would not go to sleep. He wouldn't have anything to do with it. There was a lot of negotiations, a lot of playing-the-room, a lot of begging (some of it mine), and finally, the cut off. He finally quieted down and even slept a little from about 11:20 to 1:30 am, but then he woke up again, and I went to lay down with him. Steve peeked in on us and just had to come in and say hello (why do guys do this? why?), and Andrew began to get rather chatty and, quite honestly, acrobatic. To make a long story short, after getting kicked in my aching pectoral muscles for the 4,278 time, I decided that, at 3:00 am, that Evil Mommy was going to have to come into play. Dire threats were made, and finally, I told Andrew that he could stay awake all he wanted, but he had to do it in his crib. He wasn't feverish, he said nothing hurt on him, I gave him Motrin anyway, but he just wanted to party all night...and I felt like beating my head on the carpeting until I knocked myself out or gave myself amnesia.
Waking up at 8:00 am this morning, though, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was groggy and cranky for a little bit, but I suddenly just woke up and had all this crazy energy. We went out and walked to the farmer's market (big shout out to the Carrboro Farmer's Market--they are incredible and they sell yarn there--double win!). We came home and danced to crappy music from the 90s (hello, Vanilla Ice). I snuck out of the house while Andrew was asleep and ran on the elliptical at the apartment complex gym for my 20 minutes Aerobics Solution. I felt a little leery leaving Andrew, but we have a very good fire alarm, and he sleeps like the dead. Eh, maybe I won't do that again, but I didn't want to work out again at 10:30 at night.
I'm off to grab a snack and get ready for dinner. I'm going to hang out with some friends later tonight, and I'm going to treat myself when we all go out to the nearby not-so-greasy spoon. I'm going to have a Diet Coke. w00t!
But for tomorrow, my first Free Day...let me think...I suppose my Bisquick mix is going to be making it out of the pantry for breakfast, I can tell you that...and I think I'm going to be making a little peanut butter popcorn for TV watching tomorrow night...don't wait up! See you Monday!
****later****
OK, I have to check back in and write this out, because my head is definitely talking to me. I went out and hung out with some friends, and two of the guys in the group started talking about their cravings for fast food joints. McDonalds this, Arby's that, yadda yadda yadda. They talked about what item they just can't resist, and, since they were right next to me, I voiced that I do have a fondness for Burger King's Whoppers, which they wholeheartedly agreed with, and we agreed the fries suck. The point? I'm getting to it right now. Out of nowhere, after a couple of short exchanges in this vein, the older of the two said to me:
"Yeah, well, lucky you're married."
Uh, what? Is there some connection here I am supposed to immediately get? First off, I am engaged, not married, although I consider it the same thing, in view of our living arrangement. But the dinger is why am I lucky I'm married? Because I like fast food? No wait, I get it, you just spoke up from your inner (shortsighted) opinion that, since I am fat, I am lucky I'm married. It came up for you because I was talking to you about shitty fast food, and you looked at my body, and assumed that's all I think about. I'm so sorry I tried to partake in your conversation, what was I thinking? What a waste of my time.
I just find this little remark very interesting. It doesn't matter that I am smart, witty, can teach myself how to do things like knit or play piano, am a good mother, am well-versed in history, I'm likable, or any of that other stuff. None of these other attributes could have possibly contributed to the fact that I am where I am in life. Just cause I'm fat, I'm lucky I'm married.
I read you loud and clear. You're lucky I'm smart like that, asshole.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Day Two
It's funny, the alarm clock went off this morning at 5:45am again, and it took me about a minute to figure out why the hell I had set the alarm at all, let alone that early. Slowly it came back to me...Body-for-LIFE, day two! There was a strong urge to lay back down in the bed, especially as Andrew woke up at 3:45, and I woke up again at 4:45 (all that damn water drinking is playing havoc with sleep). I asked for some strength to get up and go, and then I got up. I struggled into my gym clothes and set out for my first aerobics workout.
We are fortunate that there is a gym-like room at the office of our apartment complex. The machinery looks like it's from the late 80s or early 90s (and smells like it hasn't been disinfected since then), and there is an elliptical machine, a stationary bike, two treadmills, but sadly no dumbells or free weights. I plan to use the complex gym for aerobics days, and eventually get really inspired and walk or run to the nearby YMCA to use their stuff. But first things first....
I owned, pwned, PWND! this workout. I really was struggling at the end, at that "high point", where you aim for an intensity of 9 for one minute, and then an intensity of 10, trying to call on that strong desire for fitness to override your body's quaking, whimpering (or screaming) desire to slow down, or better yet, STOP! I had to close my eyes for the last couple of minutes to not stare at the timer on the elliptical. Amazing how long a few seconds are, how 10 seconds feels like a full minute, when you are so out of shape and are sweating like a pig. But I did it, and I know that I pushed it as hard as I (safely) could. For the first time in my whole life, there was a moment where I was afraid that I would keel over of a stroke or something, and my sweaty, stinky corpse wouldn't be discovered for a few hours, but I survived (obviously.). But it's interesting to me, to have that fear creep into my mind for the first time. To be afraid that being active might cause me to need an ambulance and a paramedic. A yucky first, and hopefully I won't have to think about that ever again.
I worked up a good, honest sweat and trudged home to the shower and spent some time again today practicing meditation. It's a little choppy, like gravel is kinda bumpy, but maybe I will do better tomorrow. I am starting with five minutes, so I set the microwave timer to six minutes since it takes me a few moments to sit and I start with a simple prayer and then try to empty my mind of all the crumbs of junk that accumulate. Today was pretty funky...I started thinking of anything and everything, and then got fixated on the fact that I must have been "meditating" for over five minutes by...and why hasn't the timer dinged? I ended up getting up and walking to the microwave only to find out that I had about a minute left to attain nirvana. Hah, so much for my inner sense of time.
Food today was pretty good, but I admit I am a bit hungry today. I am telling myself that that very faint gnawing feeling in my stomach is my body's way of telling me that, if I don't eat more unneccessary food, that it will have to delve into my fat stores. When I think of it that way, I'm quite happy to keep going and let the fat globules suffer a little genocide. Your days are numbered, suckers. I had Egg Beaters this morning, pretty good with salsa on top, and had a really tasty dinner. I had a salmon fillet--and I love salmon, but hardly ever get it because it always seems so expenive, and a plain sweet potato, cooked in the microwave, and the kale again. I used to drown my baked sweet potatoes in butter and salt, and thought it tasted so good (and who am I kidding, it totally does), but when I ate it plain tonight, it actually tasted really pretty good. It was a surprise. I am going to go and try making a chocolate protein shake smoothie concoction after Andrew goes to bed. I shanghaied Steve into staying up all afternoon and evening to help with Andrew and help me put him to bed...actually he totally is doing the whole bedtime routine! I better get in there and say good night. I am glad to have another day done, and done well. I will do it again tomorrow. See you then!
We are fortunate that there is a gym-like room at the office of our apartment complex. The machinery looks like it's from the late 80s or early 90s (and smells like it hasn't been disinfected since then), and there is an elliptical machine, a stationary bike, two treadmills, but sadly no dumbells or free weights. I plan to use the complex gym for aerobics days, and eventually get really inspired and walk or run to the nearby YMCA to use their stuff. But first things first....
I owned, pwned, PWND! this workout. I really was struggling at the end, at that "high point", where you aim for an intensity of 9 for one minute, and then an intensity of 10, trying to call on that strong desire for fitness to override your body's quaking, whimpering (or screaming) desire to slow down, or better yet, STOP! I had to close my eyes for the last couple of minutes to not stare at the timer on the elliptical. Amazing how long a few seconds are, how 10 seconds feels like a full minute, when you are so out of shape and are sweating like a pig. But I did it, and I know that I pushed it as hard as I (safely) could. For the first time in my whole life, there was a moment where I was afraid that I would keel over of a stroke or something, and my sweaty, stinky corpse wouldn't be discovered for a few hours, but I survived (obviously.). But it's interesting to me, to have that fear creep into my mind for the first time. To be afraid that being active might cause me to need an ambulance and a paramedic. A yucky first, and hopefully I won't have to think about that ever again.
I worked up a good, honest sweat and trudged home to the shower and spent some time again today practicing meditation. It's a little choppy, like gravel is kinda bumpy, but maybe I will do better tomorrow. I am starting with five minutes, so I set the microwave timer to six minutes since it takes me a few moments to sit and I start with a simple prayer and then try to empty my mind of all the crumbs of junk that accumulate. Today was pretty funky...I started thinking of anything and everything, and then got fixated on the fact that I must have been "meditating" for over five minutes by...and why hasn't the timer dinged? I ended up getting up and walking to the microwave only to find out that I had about a minute left to attain nirvana. Hah, so much for my inner sense of time.
Food today was pretty good, but I admit I am a bit hungry today. I am telling myself that that very faint gnawing feeling in my stomach is my body's way of telling me that, if I don't eat more unneccessary food, that it will have to delve into my fat stores. When I think of it that way, I'm quite happy to keep going and let the fat globules suffer a little genocide. Your days are numbered, suckers. I had Egg Beaters this morning, pretty good with salsa on top, and had a really tasty dinner. I had a salmon fillet--and I love salmon, but hardly ever get it because it always seems so expenive, and a plain sweet potato, cooked in the microwave, and the kale again. I used to drown my baked sweet potatoes in butter and salt, and thought it tasted so good (and who am I kidding, it totally does), but when I ate it plain tonight, it actually tasted really pretty good. It was a surprise. I am going to go and try making a chocolate protein shake smoothie concoction after Andrew goes to bed. I shanghaied Steve into staying up all afternoon and evening to help with Andrew and help me put him to bed...actually he totally is doing the whole bedtime routine! I better get in there and say good night. I am glad to have another day done, and done well. I will do it again tomorrow. See you then!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)