Morning pages - check the tags
I am having trouble with my weight lately.I've got fat piling onto my belly in an alarming way. I knew that my metabolism would slow when I stopped spending so much bodily energy on reproductive activities, but I'm still menstruating! And my hormone levels suggest I'm still ovulating, too, although I imagine they're wizened sad 50 year old eggs. But, still, why is my body giving this really shitty combination of a post-menopausal body composition WHILE still having the joy of bleeding every four weeks? Sometimes I think we forget how badly it sucks to be a woman.
I go on my morning two mile walk most days. Once or twice a week I NordicTrack or go to the Y to do a round of Nautilus. I'm too heavy to run. I've fallen away from doing yoga. I wouldn't mind going into the weight room instead of the Nautilus room, but Small Boy likes to do Nautilus with me and that's such a win that I'm fine with Nautilus on those terms.
But the morning two mile walk, plus these morning pages, means I don't get on the NordicTrack for HIIT as much as I should/need. Also, apparently I need to be doing some food logging. My weight gain is gradual but overall alarming. I have the tools to fix this, even if I wish it didn't need fixing.
Experimenting a bit, I tried jogging a short distance this morning. Yep, too heavy for my knees. But it got my heart rate up a bit and it was eye-opening to feel all the things jiggle that ought not to jiggle. I suspect an occasional 60 feet of jogging would be VERY beneficial to add to my morning walk, even if that's all it is. Just for body awareness, if nothing else.
I mused about how I used to be an athlete. I used to schedule my day around my workouts, plan all my meals, buy devices to improve my performance. Being an athlete is a little like being "good" or "evil": it isn't a tag you get pasted on and own for life. You have to practice the behaviors that go along with it. Do good things and, voila, you are good. Do evil things and, oops, you are evil. Go for a run/bike/swim/weightlift nine times a week, run some triathlons, voila, you're an athlete. Stop doing those things? Oops, you're a couch potato. I'm a couch potato. Own it, Dally. A walk plus two workouts does not rise to any other label.
But I want to defend that two mile walk. It's a force for good in my life. Out of my walk today: I saw a flower blooming. It's after the first hard frost and flowers are rare. It was purple and appeared to be something in the mint family. I collected three Coors Light cans (my nickels) and there was NO OTHER trash for a change. Not the condoms that some guy keeps leaving on the ground five feet from the trash barrel (bragging that he got lucky? Paraplegic and can't manage to walk five steps?) Not the Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds plastic cups with straws that are all too normal. Nothing but clean beer cans. But, still, three new beer cans were thrown by the side of the road since I did that walk yesterday. It boggles my mind.
I met Kathleen and her corgi Jack, they live in the blue and grey house at the end of the cul de sac. That reminds me that I have to remember the dog Idgie the black lab, I keep forgetting her name (or confusing her with Selu.)
Also on the walk home I ran into another person dressed just like me: in sweatpants and a hoodie. We chatted over the Coors Light cans as I went to get another. He's an estate planning attorney in town, firm principal of his firm just as I am of mine. I had a moment to tell him I'd opened up the financial planning practice. We laughed at how disguised we are. Sometimes I run into another woman who owns an architectural design firm out walking her dog early in the morning, too. We are disguised as bag ladies, out walking the street picking up beer cans in the early morning gloom.
My seminar went well last night. I usually give it free-style, but am stepping up my game a bit and decided to throw it into a Powerpoint presentation. The fact that I've got no experience to speak of with Powerpoint turned out to be a tad bit daunting, but I managed to put together something with some color and one effect (woot!) and it worked well as crib-notes while I gave my speech. I've got another presentation coming up again in another week that I have NOT ever given so the crib-notes thing would be useful. I thought of this as a dry-run for that and I think it was successful.
I go on my morning two mile walk most days. Once or twice a week I NordicTrack or go to the Y to do a round of Nautilus. I'm too heavy to run. I've fallen away from doing yoga. I wouldn't mind going into the weight room instead of the Nautilus room, but Small Boy likes to do Nautilus with me and that's such a win that I'm fine with Nautilus on those terms.
But the morning two mile walk, plus these morning pages, means I don't get on the NordicTrack for HIIT as much as I should/need. Also, apparently I need to be doing some food logging. My weight gain is gradual but overall alarming. I have the tools to fix this, even if I wish it didn't need fixing.
Experimenting a bit, I tried jogging a short distance this morning. Yep, too heavy for my knees. But it got my heart rate up a bit and it was eye-opening to feel all the things jiggle that ought not to jiggle. I suspect an occasional 60 feet of jogging would be VERY beneficial to add to my morning walk, even if that's all it is. Just for body awareness, if nothing else.
I mused about how I used to be an athlete. I used to schedule my day around my workouts, plan all my meals, buy devices to improve my performance. Being an athlete is a little like being "good" or "evil": it isn't a tag you get pasted on and own for life. You have to practice the behaviors that go along with it. Do good things and, voila, you are good. Do evil things and, oops, you are evil. Go for a run/bike/swim/weightlift nine times a week, run some triathlons, voila, you're an athlete. Stop doing those things? Oops, you're a couch potato. I'm a couch potato. Own it, Dally. A walk plus two workouts does not rise to any other label.
But I want to defend that two mile walk. It's a force for good in my life. Out of my walk today: I saw a flower blooming. It's after the first hard frost and flowers are rare. It was purple and appeared to be something in the mint family. I collected three Coors Light cans (my nickels) and there was NO OTHER trash for a change. Not the condoms that some guy keeps leaving on the ground five feet from the trash barrel (bragging that he got lucky? Paraplegic and can't manage to walk five steps?) Not the Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds plastic cups with straws that are all too normal. Nothing but clean beer cans. But, still, three new beer cans were thrown by the side of the road since I did that walk yesterday. It boggles my mind.
I met Kathleen and her corgi Jack, they live in the blue and grey house at the end of the cul de sac. That reminds me that I have to remember the dog Idgie the black lab, I keep forgetting her name (or confusing her with Selu.)
Also on the walk home I ran into another person dressed just like me: in sweatpants and a hoodie. We chatted over the Coors Light cans as I went to get another. He's an estate planning attorney in town, firm principal of his firm just as I am of mine. I had a moment to tell him I'd opened up the financial planning practice. We laughed at how disguised we are. Sometimes I run into another woman who owns an architectural design firm out walking her dog early in the morning, too. We are disguised as bag ladies, out walking the street picking up beer cans in the early morning gloom.
My seminar went well last night. I usually give it free-style, but am stepping up my game a bit and decided to throw it into a Powerpoint presentation. The fact that I've got no experience to speak of with Powerpoint turned out to be a tad bit daunting, but I managed to put together something with some color and one effect (woot!) and it worked well as crib-notes while I gave my speech. I've got another presentation coming up again in another week that I have NOT ever given so the crib-notes thing would be useful. I thought of this as a dry-run for that and I think it was successful.