It's a very weird thing, how I know how good it feels to move my body, get sweaty, push through the fatigue for just that extra little bit... and yet, when given the choice, I consistently choose the green couch. I will spend whole weekends on the green couch, watching TV, surfing the net with you lot, playing monotonous, soothing video games. It's embarrassing. The worst is on Monday mornings when people ask what I did on the weekend. Most of the time, the answer is literally "nothing". I don't know why I'm such a lethargic piece of lump. I can't blame the winter either. I'm a slob in the summer too.
It's a total mindfuck, is what it is. Exercise is physical, but achieving it is all mental. It's about having a plan, a routine, "motivation", being mindful and present and conscious of the choice I make to sit on the green couch or to get changed and go down to the exercise room and put in 20 minutes on the treadmill. Once it's done, I revel in the sense of accomplishment as much as I do in the physical after effects.
So this week I am re-introducing myself to an exercise program. As this is the first week, my delicate psyche requires a careful balance: I want to set achievable goals, not hurt myself or burn myself out by going too big or too hard and then giving up because I hurt too much the next three days. So, for this week, the goal is to do 15-20 minutes of cardio, for 5-6 days. Establish a routine and start building on it. In my condo building we have a fitness room with a bunch of crap that doesn't work and probably got "donated" by people who were moving out and wanted to save a trip to the dump. But there's a great treadmill and a functional bike, and that's all I need in order to get in my 20 mins of cardio at night.
Progress this week
As far as achieving my cardio target, I made it downstairs Monday, Tuesday and tonight (Thursday), so I'm right on track. (I count a week as Monday through Saturday; Sunday is the Lord Scale's day, in which we make offerings and pray for results.)
On the weekend I will start doing some resistance type training using the balance ball and DVD I've had since the fall. The DVD is broken into 20 minute chunks for lower body, upper body and core. So, do the video three times a week at first, each time focussing on a different part of the body.
Goal for the weekend
I am also going to make a concerted effort to do something on the weekends that involves going outside and moving my body, from now on. Could be getting bundled up and doing a lengthy walk (will hope for no slush; god damn I hate the slush). This weekend I think I may go skating at Nathan Phillips Square. I'm a Canadian, dammit! It's about time I started acting like one!Optional exercise throw down
Okay so for those of you playing along at home, I chall-anj you all in the manner of Sandman Simms: pledge to do something outside this weekend! What's it gonna be?
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Ok. Since I'm "starting" officially on Sunday, I will, on Sunday commit to walking to the gym (20 min walk), doing cardio for 15 min, and walking home. Sunday I am also going Effin Clean My Room. I have been lazy about that. I have some chores in the house - incl. cleaning my room - that I have put off and when that happens I allow myself to "clutter up my insides" with ick food.
ReplyDeleteSo, cleaning my room and putting the trunks of Xmas stuff that is sitting in the rec room back under the stairs. Both won't take long, but feel as if they will, hence the procrastination.
Have you noticed a correlation between the state of the external living space and the state of the internal living space? I sure do. Starting externally, and with exersise, and it's easier to eat more wisely.
Oh, I am also going to walk my dog but she's a Newfie and doesn't like/need super long high energy walks so I don't count it as much exercise...but it will be outside. Heh.
Oh pawdammit. I made my pledge before I checked the forecast. It's gonna get all cold again this weekend. But I remain undeterred. A throw down is a throw down.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good plan; highly achievable.
Interesting comment about clutter in the inner space leading to clutter on the outer, and/or vice versa. I equate it with making a decision to take action, get some control and order in my life. It does tend to spill over. You feel good in one area of your life and it gives you energy to apply the ordering of business in other areas.
Maybe I'll do the laundry and tidy up a bit this weekend too. But I'm not promising on that one!!!
Hi linnyqat - I can so sympathize with your mindset regarding exercise - I was like that for about ten years. It was the Yale gym I exercised the last time and I left that place in the last century. I tend to do also NOTHING on the weekends, and feel guilty about it, too. Surfing the internet, etc. I am addicted to it, actually. I got scared in the fall as I thought I had cancer. Actually, the first motivation was to be a bit more fit and also look it. My arms, my legs...my tummy - just everything was out of shape and I felt terrible about it. My double chin - yikes! That is the worst part on pictures, popping up completely from out of nowhere! Where does this goddamn chin come from? It is never there when I look in the mirror. So, then the cancer scare, too.
ReplyDeleteSo I signed up with a gym. The good (or bad) thing about them that you can buy a batch of ten tickets for the price of nine but you have to use them up within 6 weeks! But this just forces me to go to the gym now at least 3 times a week (because I am running out of the 6 weeks and still have too many tickets). But once you are there it is so easy! You just do the same things that everybody else there does. And they have three saunas to unwind in afterward. So if you can afford it and there is a gym nearby I'd highly recommend it as opposed to exercise alone among dead equipment.
Hi linnyqat - I can so sympathize with your mindset regarding exercise - I was like that for about ten years. It was the Yale gym I exercised the last time and I left that place in the last century. I tend to do also NOTHING on the weekends, and feel guilty about it, too. Surfing the internet, etc. I am addicted to it, actually. I got scared in the fall as I thought I had cancer. Actually, the first motivation was to be a bit more fit and also look it. My arms, my legs...my tummy - just everything was out of shape and I felt terrible about it. My double chin - yikes! That is the worst part on pictures, popping up completely from out of nowhere! Where does this goddamn chin come from? It is never there when I look in the mirror. So, then the cancer scare, too.
ReplyDeleteSo I signed up with a gym. The good (or bad) thing about them that you can buy a batch of ten tickets for the price of nine but you have to use them up within 6 weeks! But this just forces me to go to the gym now at least 3 times a week (because I am running out of the 6 weeks and still have too many tickets). But once you are there it is so easy! You just do the same things that everybody else there does. And they have three saunas to unwind in afterward. So if you can afford it and there is a gym nearby I'd highly recommend it as opposed to exercise alone among dead equipment.
Ok. Here it is. Sunday.
ReplyDeleteA small glitch is that Alex stayed an extra day due to missing his plane...so I spent the morning hanging out with him. But we did some of my chores yesterday.
Also, my puppy has been puking this morning and his digestion seems to be off...at least there is a gastronomical orchestration going on in his belly. I don't want to leave him alone.
So, cleaning my room, already took Morgan for her walk, and later on when my family is back home I'll go to the gym.
See, it all can still happen, but it helps to write the rearrangement of my plans down.
I might need a nap too. The post-boyfriend-week nap. ZZZzzzz....
Ok. But I can do measurements today and post em on your post with your vids.
ON BOARD!
RAH!
GO GO GO!
RAH! GO!
ReplyDeleteErrr... so, it's really fucking cold in Toronto and while I did impress myself by getting up at a sort of normal time and going out into the brrr-cold to get all my super-nutritious foodies and home before NOON... I confess. I didn't go out skating. I was outside for the walk to the grocery store and back. And I purposely went to the one that was further away.
Excuses, excuses.
Ahem. I am, however, doing my laundry as I type this, so hopefully that's good for something.
It's all good! Effing cold is hard to go Do Stuff in. I know. So walking to the store, esp the further away one, is great!!
ReplyDeleteI did go to the gym, but drove there instead of walking due to time constraints of leaving the puppy on his own. However, I did an extra 10 minutes for a total of 30 min on the cross-trainer thingy.
I also did NOT get my room clean, or laundry sorted/washed/folded. I have a pile of clean laundry that is a few weeks old that I have been rifling through each morning to find what to wear.
But hey, at least I ate well and went to the gym today!
RAH!!
Hey citykitty... sorry, just realized I never replied to your second comment.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely considering getting a gym membership again. I had one for many years and it is good to have the variety of services and machines. When I was doing Booty Camp in the fall, I realized I missed doing group exercise classes.
But I really hated the crowds. And the locker room. Using the exercise room in my building is nice because I'm alone. And I can just go back to my apartment and shower there when I'm done; I don't have to lug around a big old gym bag full of shoes and shorts and towel and such.
On the other hand, there's nobody to push you to go a little extra further than your comfort zone will allow. I will probably look into the gym thing after I've spent a few months getting back into the swing of the exercise routine and lifestyle.
Oh, and Dylan... you trumped me at the gym but I gotcha on the laundry!!!
ReplyDeleteTogether we are one invincible superwoman.
If I might make a suggestion ... Get a heart-rate monitor. They're cheap, and fun to use. The goal is to stay within a certain target "zone" of heartbeats. The theory is that certain heart-rate "zones" are better for burning fat, for building endurance, etc. The kind I have consists of a band you wear around your chest -- it's not uncomfortable, and you're not even aware that it's on -- and a wristwatch thingamabob. You program your target into the watch thingy and then it beeps at you when you go above or below. (Everything's explained in the booklet that comes with the set.) The fun part is trying to stay on target. You speed up or slow down to adjust your heart rate. You can actually feel what's going on, if you try. I find it a good motivator when I do something like a stationary bike, an eliptical trainer, a treadmill, or a stairmaster. It gives you something else to focus on. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteHey jazzy! That is an AWESOME suggestion, and very helpful. I have actually been thinking about getting a heart rate monitor for quite some time, but to be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what they did. Knowing that you can set a target rate and get the little beepies to let you know when you're out of range is great; makes me even more keen to get one.
ReplyDeleteI find that when it comes to using any kind of cardio machine, overcoming the monotony is key. I usually watch all the numbers progress (time, distance, calories burned -- not that I trust THOSE numbers, but it's something to count). The heart rate monitor will only add to the fun e.g. "wheeee! my heart is working!"
Thanks for the suggestion, and for stopping by with your encouragement. It's much appreciated.
Whew, wasn't sure whether that would be taken as an intrusion on your process, or whatever. Glad you thought it was helpful -- it was, of course, meant to be.
ReplyDeleteI bought mine from Amazon dot com (Can we post links here? I'm so freakin' trained by FC!)
The Polar brand has a good reputation. As you might imagine, they have offerings at all price points. The one I got is the Polar FS3, which currently sells for US$79; the FS2 is $69, and the FS1 is $59 -- I'm not up to speed on what all the differences are. But I like the FS3. It logs your min/max and average heart rate, and stores the last few workouts (7?), so you can see how you're doing. I think there's also a way to output the data to a spreadsheet, but I won't swear to that. I know some models definitely let you do that.
Mine has a transmitter that goes around the chest; others have them around your arm. But they all do the same thing in the end.
Anyway, it's a gadet, and like any gadet, you have to do a certain amount of homework before purchasing. Maybe a sporting goods store in your area carries them, and you can check 'em out to compare the various features, etc.
The monotony thing ... exactly. The heart rate monitor gives you something else to futz with and check out while you're doing your hamster routine on the treadmill, or whatever. It really helps.
Cheers!
Heh, heh. "Research"! I guess you didn't read my blog about my shopping methods. But I will take your advice to heart. Most likely I'll stop in at The Running Room, a Canadian franchise that gives excellent, knowledgable advice about running equipment. I got my shoes there and it was the best shoe purchasing experience I've ever had.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks again. I'll blog about it when I eventually get around to making the purchase...