Listening To My Body

My body has been talking to me lately. Alot. I ignored it for awhile, but finally realized I needed to listen to what it was trying to tell me. And in doing so, I've learned some rather interesting things:

I can do more than I think I can. Whether it's an untried Pilates move, a cycle class, or just keeping on walking, I continue to be pleasantly surprised by what my body can do. So I should try before I say "I can't do that!"

Just because it's on the menu plan for the day doesn't mean eating it is a good idea. Sometimes I really am too full to finish my meal. It's perfectly alright to put off eating part of a meal until later. I can eat that cup of pineapple just as well with my evening snack as I can with my filling dinner. Not stopping when I feel full is counterproductive, not to mention damned uncomfortable!

Getting enough sleep is really, really, really important. And that doesn't just mean spending time laying in bed. My Exer-Spy tells me how much time I spend doing each, and I'm often amazed at the amount of time I spend NOT sleeping, when I think I am. Going to bed earlier gives me more time to get in enough actual sleep, and makes me more productive the next day.

Sometimes I just need to rest. I spent last Friday walking around Six Flags Great Adventure with my son's Middle School band. Lots of walking, lots of sun, not alot of healthy food choices available (so I didn't eat much). I came home and was just worn out. In bed by 10:30, sound asleep before 11, and I didnt' wake up until 10:15 the next morning! If that wasn't a message from the management, I don't know what it was! I chose to take the day off from exercise, and use the hour I would have spent at the gym to pay a much needed visit to the chiropractor. Since Sunday is always my day off, I got a 2-day break. And was ready and raring to go this morning when it was time to head out to the gym!

Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. I've been on too many meds for various health issues, and have long said I wish I could get off the anti-inflammatory so I could also say goodbye to the diuretic (needed because the anti-inflammatory causes fluid retention) and the Prevacid (to protect my stomach from the effects). Well, turns out my kidneys aren't real fond of the stuff either, so my doctor told me I had to stop taking them. She prescribed a painkiller instead. I didn't feel like it was helping that much, if at all. So I stopped taking it. The jury is still out on whether I can do without it, but I'm sure hoping.

I'm not a teenager anymore. I am a middle aged woman who has been severely overweight for most of my life. I will never have a 29 inch waist again. I will never have thin thighs, or toned legs and arms. I have wrinkles and they are here to stay. I may admire someone else's figure, or legs, or whatever, but there's no point in wishing I had that figure, or legs, or whatever, because I DON'T and I WON'T, even if I weighed 110 pounds! This is partly genetic, partly age related, and mostly my own doing. I'm much better off accepting the body I have and taking the best possible care of it.

So, see, I HAVE been listening! Paying attention, even. About time, dontcha think?

Random Thoughts

On Friday, my BFF turned 50. That means I only have about 5 months to go. We went out to dinner with a mutual friend who I haven't seen in years. It's hard to believe that it was 40 years ago that we were the 3 little girls on bicycles riding around the neighborhood. Where have the years gone?

I got a salad spinner for Mothers' Day. Who knew a little thing like that could get me so excited? I love it! Makes salad making SO much easier.

Monday I took a Zumba Gold class. It's supposed to be "slower paced". I'm so glad they think so. I still can't keep up--I've got 2 left feet. But it was lots of fun, and I'd do it again.

Tuesday I went bike to the torture chamber...er, cycle studio. Beginner Cycle. I took my padded seat cover and promised myself I would stay for the one hour class. It was TOTALLY different from the first cycle class I took! I couldn't keep up the pace, but I did just fine. I was even able to ride standing up for a bit. And I lasted the whole hour!! Funny, but when I left, my legs were tired but my arms felt like jello. Guess I'm still leaning on them too much.

Yesterday I went to a women's conference with my favorite author, Liz Curtis Higgs. I don't know when I've laughed so hard so much! It was a wonderful day of fellowship. I even bought 2 more books!

Today I feel achy. My neck hurts and I've got a wicked headache. I did 45 minutes on the elliptical this morning, and that's when I noticed my neck was hurting. My stomach has been sore too--actually my abdomen, not the stomach proper. So I'm taking it easy tonite. My son got his braces on today--he looks so cute with his mouth full of metal!

Tomorrow is scale day. I wonder what the numbers will show. My ExerSpy says I'm running a calorie defecit of about 800-900/day. I actually dropped my calories from the high 1600s to the low 1500s. I need to be in weight LOSS range, not maintenance. But I also found that, while my expected calorie burn is 2175/day, most days I'm burning around 2500. I lvoe my ExerSpy. Unfortunately, my computer doesn't--half the time I can'tget it to download. Tomorrow I'm just going to download it at the gym.

Goodness, I lead such as fascinating life...NOT!

What's WRONG With These People???

OK, I just want to know one thing. Who is the sadistic bastard who invented the bicycle seats for the Spin class I took this morning????

The instructor is a friend of mine from church, and she's been after me for over a year to take her class. I promised I would get there someday. Today is someday.

I've signed up for the Biggest Loser challenge at my gym. I desperately need the incentive and motivation to get my big butt in gear and back on track. One of the things you can get points for is taking 3 classes, one in each of 3 different fitness areas (Cardio, Aqua, Cycle, Strength, and Mind/Body) each week. So this morning I went to my first ever Spin class.

What a nightmare! The seats are about the size you'd expect on a toddler's tricycle, and they are hard as a rock. I sat down on it, and right away it went to places I didn't want it to go. I tried to find a comfortable position, but such a thing apparently doesn't exist.

Class began, and I noticed that the room was nearly full, with only a couple of empty cycles. Everyone else had been there before. We started off and I seemed to be doing OK. I looked in the mirror and noticed that most people seemed to be resting comfortably on their forearms. Mine felt like I was trying to hold back the water behind Hoover Dam. The other cyclers seemed perfectly happy to plant their skinny little butts on the tiny little seats. My butt was not amused.

The instructor called out instructions with a peppy CD playing in the background. Apparently, this was an interval class, so she was switching things up alot. Cool, I like the interval thing. Only, not there! She said we should be doing an "easy" ride, at about 75-80 RPM. I looked down and saw that I was at 52. Next, she tells us to stand. Huh? Stand up on those little pedal things? OK, I ried it, and it's ALOT harder than the other people made it look! They all seemed to be enjoying the break from that sadistic seat, but I felt like my legs would fall off after about 5 revolutions of the pedals!

So, I sat back down. Ouch. That's a bit tender there...

Next, she upped the intensity. Faster song. "Now you should be at a little over 100 RPM". I looked down. I was at 63. And I was getting VERRRRY uncomfortable. I shifted a bit on the seat, hoping to relieve the, um, pressure. Great, now I'm just as uncomfortable, but in a different part of "down there".

I checked out the timer and noted that I had survived exactly 5 minutes and 31 seconds of this horror. And it was an hour long class! I started praying. "Please God, just get me through this". The teacher told us to close our eyes, and I did so, hoping to not lose my balance and fall off the bike in front of everyone. (I'd taken a seat up front, right near the door.) "Now, pedal as fast as you can, and don't worry about the rate until you open your eyes and see where you are". OK, so I pedaled as fast as my stubby old legs would go. I opened my eyes and saw that I was at...73. And I was starting to get numb in my hands, shoulders, and that other place.

At 15 minutes, I decided, to hell with the speed, I'm just going to DO this. I'd been dutifully raising the resistance every time she told us to, and that seemed to be going well. I was all the way up to 10, right along with the crowd. I was sweating like a pig, something I NEVER do. (My warmup jacket had been tossed off at about 2 minutes into the class). I was taking a drink from my water bottle as often as I felt I could reach it, waaaaay down by my shins. I was wondering what ever posessed me to think that this would be a good class to take.

At 20 minutes, I made a decision. There was just no way in hell I was going to survive that entire class. I told myself that I could stop at 30 minutes. Assuming I lasted that long. Meanwhile, the rest of the class is happily pedaling along without a care in the world. What's wrong with these people? Have they NO feeling? Or is that it--they've been at this so long that they've lost all sensation of pain?

At 25 minutes, I had lost all feeling in my hands and shoulders. If only I'd had the good fortune to lose feeling elsewhere...

At 27 minutes, I was watching the timer on the bike. It seemed to me that it was moving verrrrry slowly. At 28 minutes, I was just praying for it to be over, and at 29 minutes, I began my countdown and my cooldown.

At 30 minutes, I stopped. I shot an apologetic look at my friend, the teacher, and somehow managed to disengage my feet from the straitjackets on the pedals. It took me a minute to figure out how to get OFF the bike, but I managed. I picked up my jacket and my water bottle and hobbled out the door, as the teacher said "great Wendy, you did 30 minutes. Next time you'll do 35".

Next time?!?! You mean I'm supposed to do this AGAIN???