Reasons I exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss....

Yesterday I went to yoga for the first time in ages and I fell in love with it again.  Emily Dorman instructed the class; I've known her for a couple of years and just like every other class I've ever had with her she was kind, encouraging, and very positive.  Yoga is a way of life for Emily.  Yesterday's class reminded me that many of my goals with exercise have very little to do with weightloss and while the majority of this blog is about weightloss often fitness and weightloss have very little to do with one another.

So I thought I'd make a list!  A list of reasons why I enjoy exercise that have nothing to do with calories burned, pounds lost, or smaller pants sizes.

1) It makes me strong- building strength gives me better posture, makes everyday activities like carrying groceries easier, and gives me greater stamina.
2) Cameraderie.  I like zumba and other classes becauses the women at my gym are my friends.  We get through the challenges together.  We build each other up, so to speak.
3) Solitude.  Running gives me a sense of aloneness that I do enjoy which is probably why I sometimes crave it.
4) Energy- the more I exercise the better I feel overall. 
5) Mobility.  The is probably the most important one that people forget.  I don't want to exercise for a few years I want to have mobility for a lifetime.  Yoga and pilates are especially designed to enhance that.  I want to be an 80 year old woman that can walk up my steps or tend to my garden, etc.  I want mobility my whole life and exercise increases the likelihood that this will happen.

So there's a list, a very short list, of why I exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss.

Product Review: Road ID Elite

One of the ways I like to make myself feel more like an athlete is by buying myself gear.  New shoes, a fancy sports bra, and in this case: a Road ID Elite.  The Road ID is a bracelet (although you can get it other forms) with your personal information on it in case there is an emergency.

The ID was originally created with endurance athletes in mind.  Endurance athletes can spend hours alone logging their miles in on the roads and trails.  Safety is a primary concern- accidents or a medical emergency make identification a real priority.  The idea behind the ID is that it will speak for you when you cannot.  If someone was hit by a car or worse, how would emergency responders know who she was and who to contact on her behalf?  The ID is supposed to remedy this because most runners and bikers do not carry their wallets or other IDs with them.

The Road ID elite has a "rubberized band with a watch style clasp."  It is designed to be worn in all situations and transition from biking on the road to work or a date. 

Overall I'm a big fan.  The cost is $29.99 for the elite; which is comparable to a medic alert bracelet but unlike a medic alert bracelet, which only alerts responders to a physiological condition like an alergy or high blood pressure, the Road ID provides text with your name, your spouse or parents' phone number, any medical condition, etc.  It is this text that makes the Road ID more valuable than other forms of alert IDs.  It also provides some peace of mind knowing that if anything were to happen someone would call my parents. 

For $19.99 you can buy a Road ID Original that is made of nylon.  I think this would be great for kids to wear but probably not for adults and the style does actually look childish. 

My only complaint is that I found it difficult to size it to my wrist without the help of someone else.  It'd be nice if they came in different sizes.  It totality I think this is a great purchase.

Dead Like Me

Dead Like Me.... anyone watch it?

It used to be on Showtime a few years ago and stars one of my absolute favorite actors, Mandy Patinkin.

The premise is that a young woman, George, dies in the first episode and then finds out that she's been chosen to be a Reeper (a Grim Reeper) and escort souls from the living to the next stage.

It is a great show.  It only lasted two seasons but it is incredibly clever in a dark, sordid kind of way. 

It's on Netflix instant view right now; check it out.

But I'm fat....

As a heavy person I often let the heaviness of being fat determine my mood and attitude.  Whenever I am facing major issues of self-doubt the phrase 'but I'm fat' always makes a major appearance.  It's amazing how many accomplishments the phrase 'but I'm fat' negates.

I have a Master's Degree.... but I'm fat.
I'm a very good teacher.... but I'm fat.
I work well with children.... but I'm fat.
I have good taste in clothes.... but I'm fat.
I am very crafty.... but I'm fat, etc.

It seems that sometimes my fatness trumps every other positive thing about myself and my person.  When it comes to meeting new people, potential friends, or young men the shadow of 'but I'm fat' crowds out my mind.  From my perspective it does not seem to matter how awesome I am because my fatness will ultimately turn people away from me, especially people I'd like to date.  This is all my internal monologue; no one has ever actually said anything to me like this.

Sometimes I use my fatness as a reason why other people do not like me.  It excuses everything else about me, both good and bad.  When someone rejects me it may be because I was rude, or tried too hard,  they didn't get my sense of humor, or we just didn't have chemistry.  (Or maybe they liked me just fine but they were thinking about other things/people/pets/Arbor Day, etc) and I never question my own behavior but instead blame the other person for holding my fatness against me. 

See what I do there?  I let my fatness enable me to excuse my behavior and place blame on another person rather than being introspective.

Now, fat prejudice does exist and is rampant in this country but I am not a statistic.  I am an individual. 

And I can do better.

Like Oprah says, once you know better, you do better.

Scales

.from here.

I thought this picture was awesome.  Someone took the time to write a good message on to their scale; applause.

Things are going well with my new experiment with hunger.  I feel that I am eating less, but again, I'm not counting calories so I'm not really sure if that's true or not and if so by how much.  I think I am eating less in the evenings.  The scale is being kind but I must remind myself that not all progress, in fact most progress, cannot be measured by the scale.  I know that my cardio is great, my abs are getting stronger, pilates even after only two weeks is getting easier or at least more tolerable.  I also feel smaller, more athletic. 

In addition to getting ready for the trip physically there has been some gear to purchase.  I thought about hiking in my sneakers but my dad would have none of that.  So this weekend we bought some hiking boots.  They are just about the ugliest things I've ever worn, like wearing little tugboats on my feet.  I also had to buy some wool socks to wear with them.  They cost $20!  For one pair!  Ri-dic-ulous!

I'm also going to order a new pair of shorts.  All the ones from last summer are too big now.  I also ordered a new sports bra that might be a bit more comfortable for an all day outing.  Additionally, a pair of compression shorts.

Overall I am very, very excited about this trip and cannot wait for this physical test.



New Edicts from Heather

Heather, my nutritionist, and I met on Monday.  We've been meeting every two to three weeks all semester talking about what I'm eating, why I'm eating, when I'm eating, and how I feel when I eat. 

Well there's been a lot of talk about calorie counting, what works and what doesn't, what foods make me insane and what foods are 'safe' (meaning they don't trigger overeating).  Calorie counting is the bread and butter of diets (pun intended).

Well, Heather looks harmless but she's a radical.  At least with the truly radical hippies you can tell by their hair and their smell.  With little doe-eyed brunettes like Heather you cannot tell just from the visual that she's secretly harboring progressive thoughts that challenge every other idea you've ever had. 

Here's what she told me: eat when you're hungry.

She may have just as well told me that the moon was really the light source and sun merely reflected the moon's radiance, rather than the other way around.

Eat when I'm hungry?  Who does that???

She gave me a sheet of paper with a scale on it.  1 is dizzy, shaky hunger.  3 is hunger.  5 is "hey, yeah, I could eat." 10 is the equivalent of a post-Thanksgiving turkey dinner stuffed (with pie, I think 9 would be Thanksgiving without dessert). 

Well, I've been doing it since Monday morning.  It requires constant self-evaluation.  When I feel pangs of hunger I say "is that a four or a three?"  If it's a four I try to wait until I feel like it's a three then I eat.

I do believe that I'm eating less, but I'm not calorie counting, so I'm not entirely sure.  Heather wants me to walk away from calorie counting as much as possible.  In the world of losing weight this is revolutionary talk, and if this was 18th century France I'd call her actions traitorous. 

I'm not sure I trust this new methodology.  If I only ate when I was really hungry, I wouldn't be fat, right?

Well, I will update everyone on this new way of considering food.  Maybe it will work.  Maybe I'll gnaw off my own knees.  Not sure yet.

Weekly Recap

Wow.  This week is already over!

Here's a break down of this week's exercise:
Monday: zumba
Tuesday: pilates, crazy 80s (OMG pilates is hard!)
Wednesday: zumba
Thursday: pilates, crazy 80s (pilates is still hard!)
Friday: 35 minute jog, zumba

I plan on jogging 50 minutes tomorrow.

Working out twice a day is intense.  Second workout, whatever it is, is always a little less than intense because my legs/core/arms are tired. 

Another thing: working out in the morning is hard.  Every single morning this week I have set my alarm for 630 and you know how many of those mornings I actually woke up and did something?  One.

This morning I woke up, ate, watched GMA and still didn't work out until after 10 AM.  I've got to master waking up early because it was already so hot and humid this morning and it is only going to get worse.

Anyone up for wake up calls?