squats, hammercurls and crunches, oh my!
So one of the suggestions for my fatigue has been ... to exercise. I was skeptical that I had the stamina for an hour of jazzercise, so Mommy-llama gifted me with some personal trainer sessions to build some of the endurance back up. It was actually a lot of fun! We did all kinds of neat exercises on the ball (crunches and squats), some free weights and medicine balls (with handles!) and some of the cybex weight machines. I used to go to the gym when I was at KU, but stopped and switched to jazzercise because the gym wasn't very much fun. With a trainer, though, you have your own personal (friendly) drill sergeant who tells you you're a good llama! (Like, "You're a nice cat and a pretty cat, spot.")
Also, yesterday, I got out my new-ish bathing suit and went to the YMCA indoor pool near our house. I did laps for about 15 minutes until I was completely spent. I discovered I'm still pretty good at the breaststroke, but my crawl is awful. I think I've been doing the flutter kick wrong for the last 25 years. I was taught to keep my legs mostly straight and just make little splashes with my feet (like a motorboat engine!) The problem is that when I was practicing the flutter kick with the kickboard, I didn't move anywhere! (Stalled motorboat). Later, I talked to M. (who is a pretty good swimmer) and we figured out (pretend swimming in our bed) that I need to either kick from the hip or keep my thighs rigid and kick from the knee. "Silly llama," M. said, fondly. (Digression: I know there is a picture of M. somewhere in a speedo as a little kid from his days on the JCC swim team. I also know that if M. has his way, it will never, ever see the light of day. I think I'll ask his mom...)
So I also signed up for Weight Watchers again (WW). I did a version of the program through my previous workplace about 3 years ago. I was a little annoyed with it at the time because I wasn't losing any weight. I was attempting to follow the "core" Plan, where you eat whole grains and fruits and vegetables, etc. But instead of tracking, you were supposed to rely on feeling full. So it turns out that I'm not very good at deciphering when I'm hungry or full or bored or tired, so even though I was eating delicious healthy food, I was eating too much of it. Hence the need for tracking. Luckily, the new program allows me to track on the smartphone, so I think it will be easier. There are several reasons for doing this, not purely cosmetic (Though I occasionally surprise myself when I see my reflection and think, "who is that chubby lady?" At the training session this morning, they had this nifty machine that you stand on barefoot and an electric current measures the resistance of your fat and lean mass, determining your percent body fat. I was somewhere around 43% (fluffy!), the goal is to get to something around 21%. I was to regain some of my stamina and energy, as well as improve my mood. I think it will be easier to exercise as well if I lose weight, just because i'm not carrying around 40 extra lbs. I am also very concerned about type II diabetes, which runs in my family. Luckily, my blood sugar and blood pressure are good (waiting on lipid test). Also, it helps that sister-llama's wedding is next summer and I would like to look good (but not better than the bride :) )
Was also privileged to take a walk with the sister-llama last evening, then she gave me a presentation of her talk on necrotizing entercolitis in preterm infants. They're doing a lot of interesting research for probiotics as a preventative. I'm fascinated by anything that has to do with the microbial biome (Enterotypes of the microbial gut biome), so I thought it was quite nifty. I had a lot of questions about unfamiliar medical terms and she explained them really well. I was so happy to see my sister llama, because she is leaving for the summer in a week or so. I haven't been able to see her as much as I would like because she is so busy in her surgery rotations. I'm going to miss her so much when she isn't just a 15 minute drive away next year!
Also, yesterday, I got out my new-ish bathing suit and went to the YMCA indoor pool near our house. I did laps for about 15 minutes until I was completely spent. I discovered I'm still pretty good at the breaststroke, but my crawl is awful. I think I've been doing the flutter kick wrong for the last 25 years. I was taught to keep my legs mostly straight and just make little splashes with my feet (like a motorboat engine!) The problem is that when I was practicing the flutter kick with the kickboard, I didn't move anywhere! (Stalled motorboat). Later, I talked to M. (who is a pretty good swimmer) and we figured out (pretend swimming in our bed) that I need to either kick from the hip or keep my thighs rigid and kick from the knee. "Silly llama," M. said, fondly. (Digression: I know there is a picture of M. somewhere in a speedo as a little kid from his days on the JCC swim team. I also know that if M. has his way, it will never, ever see the light of day. I think I'll ask his mom...)
So I also signed up for Weight Watchers again (WW). I did a version of the program through my previous workplace about 3 years ago. I was a little annoyed with it at the time because I wasn't losing any weight. I was attempting to follow the "core" Plan, where you eat whole grains and fruits and vegetables, etc. But instead of tracking, you were supposed to rely on feeling full. So it turns out that I'm not very good at deciphering when I'm hungry or full or bored or tired, so even though I was eating delicious healthy food, I was eating too much of it. Hence the need for tracking. Luckily, the new program allows me to track on the smartphone, so I think it will be easier. There are several reasons for doing this, not purely cosmetic (Though I occasionally surprise myself when I see my reflection and think, "who is that chubby lady?" At the training session this morning, they had this nifty machine that you stand on barefoot and an electric current measures the resistance of your fat and lean mass, determining your percent body fat. I was somewhere around 43% (fluffy!), the goal is to get to something around 21%. I was to regain some of my stamina and energy, as well as improve my mood. I think it will be easier to exercise as well if I lose weight, just because i'm not carrying around 40 extra lbs. I am also very concerned about type II diabetes, which runs in my family. Luckily, my blood sugar and blood pressure are good (waiting on lipid test). Also, it helps that sister-llama's wedding is next summer and I would like to look good (but not better than the bride :) )
Was also privileged to take a walk with the sister-llama last evening, then she gave me a presentation of her talk on necrotizing entercolitis in preterm infants. They're doing a lot of interesting research for probiotics as a preventative. I'm fascinated by anything that has to do with the microbial biome (Enterotypes of the microbial gut biome), so I thought it was quite nifty. I had a lot of questions about unfamiliar medical terms and she explained them really well. I was so happy to see my sister llama, because she is leaving for the summer in a week or so. I haven't been able to see her as much as I would like because she is so busy in her surgery rotations. I'm going to miss her so much when she isn't just a 15 minute drive away next year!