Turning a corner

21 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Well, I think I’ve turned a corner on the whole fitness thing. Finally the weight is creepy downward. Finally, I’m seeing progress. VERY slow, but progress anyway. My trainer says they call it “slow-cooking”.

I’m a long term project, that’s for sure!

I feel better every time I work out. I feel crummy on the days I don’t work out. I am less intimidated when I go to the gym. I know some of the weight machines I can use without looking like a rookie.

I’m getting comfortable sweating.

So this is progress.

And I got to sit in the sunshine today drinking iced tea!

The weather is making progress very slowly toward spring.

We are all slow-cooking these days.

Reality Check

11 Mar 2013 1 Comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

This morning I decided it was a good idea to start journaling my food intake again since getting over the flu and now I’m eating again.
Yikes. Reality Check! It is shocking at how quickly the calories add up. And that was just breakfast. It was a healthy breakfast. Well thought out and carefully prepared. But seriously more calories than I thought possible.
Now wonder the scale doesn’t move down very fast.
To keep my spirits up, must do a positive review.
In the past month: gave up diet pepsi addiction, joined a fitness center, meet with personal trainer once a week, 2-3 yoga classes per week, working out with weights at the gym, increased sweating workouts on the treadmill, drinking more water, eating more protein, and journaling about emotional triggers.
That’s pretty good progress in a month. *patting myself on the back*

Slow and steady progress. If anybody out there is reading this, please keep me accountable for journaling my food intake!!
I need re-inforcements 🙂

So Easy

26 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

So easy to get sidetracked.  So easy to get lazy.  So easy to grab a handful of this and that and not write it down.  So easy to eat in a hurry.  So easy to not even bother tasting and enjoying.  So easy to eat distracted.  So easy to say, oh bother, why bother?

I am sosoo like Winnie the Pooh:  Oh bother!  Give me the honey jar!

So hard to change patterns.  So hard to pay attention.  So hard to overcome inertia.  So hard to stick to it, every day.

So that’s one reason I’m writing this post.  To force myself to pay attention.  To stay on track.  To write things down.  To slow down.  To bother with it all.  Yes, it is a bother.  But the alternative is a bother too.

If I don’t at least try to stay healthy, I will eventually have to bother with illness and disability as I grow older.  If I don’t bother to strengthen the feeble knees and legs and arms and core, I will lose muscle and strength and become a burden.  I have to at least try to bother.

So today I am bothering with me.  I am choosing “easy does it”.  Nike says “Just do it”.   “Just do it” is not all that easy.  “Easy does it” is softer, but still does it.

The wisdom of scriptures says to be a doer of the word and not just a hearer.  Doing things today.  So easy.  One moment at a time.

Blessings!

First workout with a personal trainer

23 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

Okay, so I survived my first workout yesterday.  This morning however, I feel like I’m walking in a fun house.  My legs are sooooo wobbly.  There are some muscles in these old legs of mine that haven’t been used for awhile.  I could tip over at any moment.  In spite of this, I am going to attempt a yoga class this morning.

Speaking of personal trainers, I think I have a nice one.  He’s very encouraging and he didn’t laugh at my attempts on the big rolly-polly exercise ball when I thought I would go flying across the room!  I give him points for that.

He kept asking me if I was doing okay, if I needed a short break, or if I needed water.  Makes me wonder if I looked like I was dying.  I lied and lied and told him I was just fine.  I have a few shreds of pride, after all.

Call me crazy.

I had a protein shake yesterday made with fresh pineapple and carrots.  It was quite delicious.  It would be refreshing on a hot humid summer day.  Yesterday it was in the twenties and snowing and windy, so the cold drink was followed by two cups of hot tea with honey.

It’s gonna take me awhile to figure all this out.  In the meantime, I may act a little crazy from time to time.  Bear with me, people!

Trying Something New

21 Feb 2013 2 Comments

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

So, I have decided to try something new.

February 20, 2013

I am taking another step in my journey through life, trying to live my life fully inhabited.  It seems to come so natural, the tendency to live unconsciously.  I need a jolt every now and then to bring back the awe and wonder that LIFE is, and dive deep into it.

So I have taken the next deep plunge into getting my body in shape for where my soul and spirit want to go.  Its a team ride, this ride through life.  All parts of me have to be willing to take the ride.  My body is holding me back.  It has been for a long time.  Let’s just say I’ve had a bad decade.

The good news is that its never too late to get on the ride.  And the body has willing traveling companions:  the soul and the spirit and the mind.

So hop on board the  fitness train.  Take this journey with me.  We’ll have some laughs, we’ll have some insights, we’ll shed some tears and hopefully lots of pounds of unwanted body fat.

I joined a fitness center.

I know, I’ve allowed myself to be talked into the deluxe package.  I’ve allowed myself to be talked into sessions with a personal trainer.  I know I’m probably being taken for a ride.

Cynicism is what I do best.  Along with beating myself up with guilt.

On the other hand, this could possibly be the smartest thing I’ve done for myself in a very long time.  I hope I survive the guilt of spending money on myself for what seems to be a gamble.

I need to see it as an investment in my health and well being.  I need to stop listening to the other messages in my head.  The little gnomes that hobble around on knarled feet and cackle that this is just something else I will fail at.

I hope to honestly record my ups and downs along this journey to a better, more fully inhabited life.  You may be inspired.  You may laugh.

I may be on just a lonely quest, just one desperate woman trying to find some hope and success in an area where failure and disappointment have been my only nurishment thus far.

Today I had a fitness assessment.

I met with my new “friend” : the personal trainer and nutrition consultant.  He’s a cute young thing.  He shall remain anonymous.  He seems every excited to help me transform.  He thinks I should track calories and eat more protein.  Sounds reasonable.  He also said I should switch to fat-free cheese.  I told him that’s like drinking non-alcholic beer:  WHAT’s the point!!???  Geez, I’m from Wisconsin.  We eat REAL CHEESE here!

I’ll try.  I’m not as excited as he is.  He obviously doesn’t have the decade of baggage of failure and the numerous decades of fighting extra poundage that I do.  It’s really and literally weighing me down.

I am, however, the kind of person that with even a shred of encouragement, can bounce up to optimistic quickly.

I’m hoping for a high protein kind of day!

 

For no particular reason. . . or “Forrest Gumping it” through the parkway

03 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

For no particular reason today I decided to start running.  Well, okay, jogging.  Realistically it was like fast walk- shuffling, barely getting my feet off the ground one after the other.

So here’s what happened.  I was walking the dog, Twiggy.  We were on our usual Menomonee River Parkway trail.

There were few other humans in sight.

For no particular reason, I decided to pick up the pace.  Once I did, Twiggy must have thought, “Finally!!!” She went faster.  I tried to keep up with her.  Faster still she went.    She starting actually dragging me.

I tried to slow down.  I prayed that the good Lord would blind the eyes of anyone who caught sight of us.

I thought I might have an asthma attack.  I tried to slow down.  Then I realized I was keeping up with the Twiggster.

Please don’t think this was fun.  This was insanity.  I hate running.

When we got home, I thought I would try  “Forrest Gumping it” through a box of chocolates!  That’s really more my sport.

No chocolate in the house.

So I did what any reasonable human would do, I took a hot bath , some ibuprophen, and tried to regain my dignity.

If you happen to come across me someday on the trail getting dragged by a cute, fluffy dog, please have the decency to avert your eyes.

This will save both of us a lot of shame!

Two Piles of Mulch

22 Mar 2012 3 Comments

by lifefullyinhabited in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

Well the big pile of mulch arrived yesterday.  At first we just stared at it.  Then we walked around it to take it all in.  It smelled.  It smelled of rot, cedar, and manure.  I’m surprised the neighbors stayed indoors (written with sarcasm).  It didn’t look THAT big.  We could take on this pile of mulch.  It didn’t hurt that our strong, strapping twenty-something son showed up to change the oil in his car and felt sorry for us.  He went home and brought over another wheelbarrow and helped for almost two hours.

Two hours later, after “one shovelful at a time”, the pile looked about the same size!  I was starting to feel overwhelmed.

It’s all a matter of perspective.  If I choose to look at the areas where we applied the mulch, it looks beautiful.  Almost like professional landscaping.  Almost.  If I choose to look at the big pile of mulch still left, I feel defeated.  When I choose to dwell on how stiff and sore I feel this morning after shoveling, pushing the wheelbarrow, and raking, I think “I’m way too old for this”.

I have another “big pile of mulch” I’m dealing with in my life right now.  It’s fifty pounds of overweight.  I’m trying to get rid of it “one shovelful at a time.”  I’ve been attacking this pile for a month.  So far, seven pounds are gone.  Its one day at a time, one moment at a time, one meal at a time, one pound at a time.  Its one prayer at a time.  A big pile remains.

So, I have to keep a good perspective.  It’s easy to be overwhelmed with the pounds still to lose.  A lot of hard work and sweating will be involved.  When I choose to look at what seven pounds lost has done for me, its a beautiful thing.  Clothes are too big, I have more energy, I’m eating healthier, I feel better.

Here’s to the start of another great day of shoveling big piles of mulch “one shovelful at a time”.  I think getting rid of one pile will help me get rid of the other.  Lots of hard work and sweating is involved.  Anyone want to come and help?

Happy Sweating,

Vicki

P.S.  Remember:  sweat is just FAT crying!