Getting back in shape
_luaineach has been telling me for years that I need to be doing yoga. I signed up for a yoga class a few years ago and I enjoyed it just fine, but always had another place I was supposed to be during the class-time and when I got injured (in an unrelated accident) I just stopped going.
But Saturday I found myself in a private stretching room in the "Gold" women's lockerroom at my gym looking at a mirror and a mat and I decided to do 10 minutes of sun salutes as a warm-up before I went upstairs to the free weight room. It was harder than it sounds: I was sweaty and my heart rate was elevated. But I also felt really great: my neck felt better (I have an injury from a car accident that periodically bothers me) and my muscles were warmed up and nicely stretched. I went upstairs and had a really great session in the free weight room. This morning I tried it again, and 10 minutes of yoga put a really powerful spin on my day.
This is only my third time back in the weight room since my breakdown in September. It took me a really long time to get there, and even now I'm only getting there once a week or so. But it's so helpful. My weight is down 3 pounds this week and it improves every aspect of my life.
To aid in this endeavor (I have at least 15 pounds that need to come off PRONTO) I've been eating a lot of salads and fish. Also, I've decided to go back to the original guidelines I had for alcohol: I only have a (single) drink on evenings where I've exercised that day. I wasn't having an problems with alcohol that I've noticed, but I had fallen into the habit of having a glass of wine with dinner and then often a whiskey right before bed (often in the hot tub or sitting in front of the fire.) This use was working out exactly as I hoped in terms of relaxing me, but I do need to lose weight and I do NOT want to start having a problem with alcohol dependency. So I'm cutting back. I think it's helping my interest in exercising.
I have great exercise equipment. I've used and loved NordicTracks for over twenty years. It falls in and out of fashion with me, but I always keep going back to it. It's just such an intense full body exercise in a short time. I also have a fluid trainer for my bike that I really like in the winter, but there isn't room for both machines and a Christmas tree, so I'll have to wait until January to get my bike upstairs onto a trainer. I have a step bench and step aerobics videos. I have Tae Bo, Pilates and Yoga DVDs. I have a swiss ball and exer-tubes and yoga mats and a heavy boxing bag and running shoes and safe places to run in the woods. I sometimes think I'd like a Concept II rower, but I just can't fit in it my house, and besides, seriously. I have a dream setup already.
We also have a nice adjustable bench and various dumbbells and a barbell or two, but I tend to do my weightlifting at the gym. The three pieces of equipment I really miss at home are the power cage, a multi-stack cable machine and a low-back hyperextension machine (sort of like a roman chair.) The gym is a 1/4 mile downhill from my front door. I could pretty much fall out of bed and roll there. I don't need to buy more equipment.
All that's missing is me. I have been NordicTracking a bit and going out with the dog into the park a bit, but I haven't been working out for at least 1/2 an hour a day every day in months. Many many months. I know the rules: it's basic maintenance for owners of human bodies. I obviously desperately need it for my waist, my health and my sanity.
I'll use my BFL filter for most of my posts about exercising just because they'll be so boring. But if you want in, maybe because it would be helpful for you to hear about someone struggling to get back into the groove, or maybe so you can see what someone else does, let me know.
But Saturday I found myself in a private stretching room in the "Gold" women's lockerroom at my gym looking at a mirror and a mat and I decided to do 10 minutes of sun salutes as a warm-up before I went upstairs to the free weight room. It was harder than it sounds: I was sweaty and my heart rate was elevated. But I also felt really great: my neck felt better (I have an injury from a car accident that periodically bothers me) and my muscles were warmed up and nicely stretched. I went upstairs and had a really great session in the free weight room. This morning I tried it again, and 10 minutes of yoga put a really powerful spin on my day.
This is only my third time back in the weight room since my breakdown in September. It took me a really long time to get there, and even now I'm only getting there once a week or so. But it's so helpful. My weight is down 3 pounds this week and it improves every aspect of my life.
To aid in this endeavor (I have at least 15 pounds that need to come off PRONTO) I've been eating a lot of salads and fish. Also, I've decided to go back to the original guidelines I had for alcohol: I only have a (single) drink on evenings where I've exercised that day. I wasn't having an problems with alcohol that I've noticed, but I had fallen into the habit of having a glass of wine with dinner and then often a whiskey right before bed (often in the hot tub or sitting in front of the fire.) This use was working out exactly as I hoped in terms of relaxing me, but I do need to lose weight and I do NOT want to start having a problem with alcohol dependency. So I'm cutting back. I think it's helping my interest in exercising.
I have great exercise equipment. I've used and loved NordicTracks for over twenty years. It falls in and out of fashion with me, but I always keep going back to it. It's just such an intense full body exercise in a short time. I also have a fluid trainer for my bike that I really like in the winter, but there isn't room for both machines and a Christmas tree, so I'll have to wait until January to get my bike upstairs onto a trainer. I have a step bench and step aerobics videos. I have Tae Bo, Pilates and Yoga DVDs. I have a swiss ball and exer-tubes and yoga mats and a heavy boxing bag and running shoes and safe places to run in the woods. I sometimes think I'd like a Concept II rower, but I just can't fit in it my house, and besides, seriously. I have a dream setup already.
We also have a nice adjustable bench and various dumbbells and a barbell or two, but I tend to do my weightlifting at the gym. The three pieces of equipment I really miss at home are the power cage, a multi-stack cable machine and a low-back hyperextension machine (sort of like a roman chair.) The gym is a 1/4 mile downhill from my front door. I could pretty much fall out of bed and roll there. I don't need to buy more equipment.
All that's missing is me. I have been NordicTracking a bit and going out with the dog into the park a bit, but I haven't been working out for at least 1/2 an hour a day every day in months. Many many months. I know the rules: it's basic maintenance for owners of human bodies. I obviously desperately need it for my waist, my health and my sanity.
I'll use my BFL filter for most of my posts about exercising just because they'll be so boring. But if you want in, maybe because it would be helpful for you to hear about someone struggling to get back into the groove, or maybe so you can see what someone else does, let me know.