Day 4

Today was a surprise.  Instead of the HIIT program at that time in the pool, we had water Zumba!  The class teacher was substituting, but it sounds like she'll be once or twice a week in the near future.  Her music set was all current Latin hits, with the theme song from "Zootopia" for the final set.

As I now go at a later time, there were very few of us there, no whacking the neighbor, getting splashed or having to rein it in so as not to get in the way.  Only one woman was bobbing up and down in the deep end, and I think there were eight of us in the shallow.  Hurray!

I haven't had the 90 day goal for a while.  I'm going to start it up again.  In one of the Youtube motivational videos I watched, one of the narrators told how she tried to hire a life coach or someone to help her with her fitness and weight loss, and the coach told her that if she wasn't already going to the gym six days a week, that was it.  So it gave me something to think about, to make sure that I am going even when I don't feel like it.

So I've been going to the gym and cycling 20 minutes, which is still thirty by the time I walk over, warm up, do the twenty, cool down, and walk back.  And twenty is the minimum.  I find myself going over the limit, which is good, even if it is only for a few minutes more.  My seat can only take so much.  Sometimes I add stretches into the mix afterwards, but not if there's someone else in the gym.  Maybe some future time I'll feel comfortable enough to do it regardless. 

I have complete four days in a row, and am now doing a 90 day card, doing an X on the days. (If I go Saturday, I'll skip Sunday, and visa versa.)  I did some dedicated cycling a couple of weeks and water exercise classes twice a week for more than a month before the trip to Utah, which helped me to move around better than I did on the previous visit. 

I've also been keeping a food/calorie diet, which had a hiatus for a bit during the visit.  (Did not want to worry about calories, especially when enjoying sushi!)   I think I'm done with the boatloads of pumpkin spice stuff I've had in the past couple of weeks, so I'm good to go on getting back to the food diary.  I don't think I could face another pumpkin Blizzard or a chocolate chip pumpkin cookie anyway.

One of the Youtube videos on weight loss motivation was given by this one guy who said, "There isn't any deadline, just do it.  Do it in 90 day increments, so you have goals.  Have 30 or 60, if that floats your boats.  Just don't beat yourself up if something gets in the way one day, and get back on track the next.  It's not a race, it's you and your health."  He also showed Dumbledore's Ladder, Slughorn's Downfall, and Muggles Beware, charts that illustrate how weight loss is not a simple slope from point A to point B, but more like a bouncy ball that tapers off eventually.

Another motivator said, "You aren't going to really notice anything different for at least three weeks.  No one else is going to notice for months, or until you're about half way through your weight loss goal. Don't let what you think is lack of progress stop you for continuing on."

Excelsior!

Not a day

July, really?  That's when I last post?

I've been exercising.  I was doing free weights until I got tennis elbow in my left arm.  I've walked in the parks and over to the grocery, and cycled in the gym a number of times.  Yoga's been a bit difficult, as I need to get down on the floor to get what I consider to be the "real" work-out.

I've also been going to the pool for the class for 50+, that has helped my flexibility, once, twice or thrice a week, followed by hot tub, dry sauna, and chowing down when I get home.

Recently, I've started following my Grandmother Bevan's example of writing down what I eat in a book, and figuring out the day's calorie consumption.

So, still here, still going on.

Not a day

Did yoga this morning, followed by going to the pool for water exercise class, followed by hot tub and sauna, followed by Dairy Queen.

Seriously, I got a sandwich and a milkshake for my husband, who then had me cut the sandwich in half and offered me a drink of the milkshake.  Had the sandwich, turned down the shake.  As I told one of the historical museum volunteers yesterday, when offered ice cream, "Thanks but no thanks; I' downsizing."

On a more somber note, there was a memorial sign at the reception desk, for long-time employee Vickie Dawley.  She was at Juniper when the girls were little and while Connie and I would meet there.  She was at the Parks and Rec. luncheons, and we'd say hi, and I saw her at other park employees events.  I think we even shared a table once.  Thoughts and prayers for her family and friends.

Not a day - July 4

I was about 45 minutes early to the Pet Parade today, which started at 10 a.m., which gave me enough time to take some before videos, go to Drake Park, visit with some former co-workers, check out the restroom, and return to find the staging area so packed, I only made it a few feet into the sea of people, leashes and dogs to make an after video.

Then there was the parade.  I found a place across from the Liberty Theater building on Wall Street. I have no idea how long it went.  There were four divisions:  Big dogs; little dogs; bikes; and odds and ends, which included horses, goats, and sheep.  Then I went back to the park, had a pancake breakfast for brunch, and then checked out the vendors, headed back to the car, made a side trek through the historical museum's Highway 97 exhibit, and then to the car which I had parked on Staats Street, a couple of blocks north of Colorado Ave.  The only times I sat down were the bathroom and the meal.  I made it back to the car, got a milkshake for my husband, and was home before 1 p.m.


I am amazed at my stamina today.  But now I'm going to take the rest of the day easy.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Not a day

I went to the pool for a fitness class.

Just another day in the water (the first in what, over a year?), bobbing up and down with all the other old people, when I thought I saw Connie.

And then I remembered she had died at the end of April.  I felt sad, but it for myself as I envisioned her being in the gardens of Paradise, enjoying the beauty of them, free of the fibromyalgia and the related poor health that had constantly plagued her.

--------------------

February was my last post, was it?

I decided not return to Parks.  Shannon, the fall/winter seasonal took my place.

I've still been exercising, walking in the park, doing yoga.  Some days are better than others, and some days my exercise is buying groceries and going up and down the steps with bag loads of foodstuffs or cleaning.  I do watch a lot of self-improvement Youtube videos and TED talks about diet, exercise, and weight loss.  One of the exercise videos I use is a HASfit 15 minute work out with weights that popped up on the television app, but I'm not finding on the computer's Youtube site.

Not a day

Sometime ago I read a TED talk, wherein twenty minutes a day of exercise was suggested.  Enough to get the blood going, not enough to cause injury. 

The point was made that it's what goes into the body that causes weight gain or loss, not so much what comes out by burning calories.

For whatever reason, I didn't post it here.  But I am still working on my fitness and food selection.


 

Not another day

I like the comments at the end of the article, "I lost 13 stone - now I know the truth about obesity."

He lost 182 pounds.


This comment I really like by another reader:

This is what i found in my fight against obesity. While dieting / exercising never tell anyone you know about it. No friends. No family. If you lose weight, don't mention it to anyone. If anyone says you have lost weight, change the subject. If anyone says you are looking good, say thanks and change the subject. Don't let anyone know your goal or your project or targets. Nothing. The first rule about fat club is not to talk about fat club.

And to that, another comment:

The trouble with that approach is that *spontaneous* weight loss can be a sign of serious disease. If your family and friends see you losing weight and don't know you're trying to, they may well be worried. So if anyone says you've lost weight, I think you should say (with a smile) something like 'It's nice to know that *someone* has noticed'. And change the subject.