Jillian kicked my arse

Oh. My. Goodness.

I’ve spent the past few months trying to work back up my stamina. I’ve progressed from a few minutes of walking a day to nearly an hour a day, at least 5 days a week.  I’ve only had one episode of debilitating pain and fatigue that kicked me down.  I thought I was ready to step it up to the next level of exercise, so I picked out a workout DVD from my collection of DVD’s.

My choice today: Jillian Michael’s Biggest Winner series.

I chose it for its combination of large and small muscle group exercises, and for the simplicity of basic exercises. The last thing I wanted was fancy footwork or complicated combinations. I am so uncoordinated these days.

Jillian kicked my arse. I only made it half-way through the first DVD this morning.  I stopped a couple of times, pausing to catch my breath, then rejoined. I had to stop at the point that I was dizzy.

I’m not  sure if I was pushing myself too hard or if my asthma was to blame.  Nevertheless, I got more of a workout than if I had not done it at all. I will try it again this evening after work.  And I’ll continue to try, over and over.

Something to keep in mind about workout DVD’s: You can pause. You can take a bit of a break (while still moving around, walking to keep your heart rate up) and rejoin it. It is also OK to stop when it gets to be too much, cool down, stretch, and go back to it another day.  Just don’t give up easily.

…with a single step

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC – 531 BC)

 

Exercise, of any sort, has been a struggle for the past several months, due to pain and fatigue. “Pain and fatigue” is actually putting it mildly. I have good days, and I have not so good days.  Keeping a simple exercise plan helps me push through the pain, and work towards my health and weight loss goals.  It may take longer to reach my goals, but consistency will get me there.

It all begins with a single step, and then one foot in front of the other.  For now, I am simply walking. Not speed walking, but definitely not strolling. Every single day, I make an effort to walk. On the not so good days, I manage to walk to and from work, twice a day. This amounts to a total of 20 minutes.  On the good days, I strive to walk 30 minutes or more, and when I am able, there is a good size hill that I tackle.

Today was one of the good days…40 minutes and the hill.

 

 

 

Love Don’t Cost A Thing

The title is poor grammar, yes. And it’s more than a teen movie title from the early ’90’s or  a Jennifer Lopez song.

I spent a few hours this weekend sorting out all of the fitness and exercise stuff that I own.  The above picture is just a sampling of the “fitness” stuff in my house. I was trying to figure out what I need to take the next step in my plan to get healthy and fit.

I wonder how many of us do this? (C’mon, raise your hand. You know you’ve done at least one…)

• See an infomercial for a new DVD exercise program and put it on our wish list, or even buy it.
• Buy magazine after magazine with eye-catching headlines promising to show you how to get “flat abs” or lose 20 pounds by summer.
• Shop yard sales or Craigslist for a weight bench or treadmill.
• See an advertisement for this month’s special on a gym membership and look in the checkbook to see if you can budget it in
• Make a shopping list of what gadgets or tools you need to start your fitness or weight loss program

Over the years, I have collected several “fitness guru” books, a few sets of exercise DVD’s and magazines. I’ve owned weight benches, dumbbells, elastic bands, balance balls, and other equipment. In the past, I’ve had gym memberships or exercise class punch cards that often went unused.  Up until a few weeks ago, I had a wish list for the perfect “as seen on TV” exercise program, as if it would motivate me to follow through. What I’ve come to realize is that while all of these things could help me reach my goals, they do NOTHING if I don’t use them.  Investing in more or different items would be a waste of my money.

Making a shopping list to get fit or lose weight is a stalling tactic. Procrastination. Where is that internal motivation to love myself enough to begin to DO SOMETHING?  I don’t need new gadgets or DVD’s. I need to use what I have on hand and do so consistently. In fact, it’s time to get back to basics.  Remember gym class in high school?  Running and calisthenics?  I’ve decided to start again with walking and some simple floor exercises. Yes. That seems like a good starting point to Move More. I’ll add the other items in as I go.