Friday, November 11, 2011

Day 12

The learning never stops.  I am overwhelmed a little in that somehow I need to work a lot of this into a routine.  I'm constantly thinking about what happens after, which is good... It would be a completely different experience if I said "screw it" after all that I've learned.

The 'butt crack of dawn' class du jour was all about stretching and flexibility.  The woman giving the lecture is made of rubber, which really, how much more of an expert can you be?  I now call her gumby.  She may not be thrilled with my nick name, but I have found my polar opposite.  My range of motion is improving.  My "tah dah" moment came the other day when I wrapped my knuckles around the toe of my New Balance shoes in a stretch.  I must tell you.... It has been years since I have last touched my toes with a straight leg. I did a little dance inside in quiet celebration. Cutting my toe nails had become sort of a test of flexibility in itself over the last few years and avoided until even I said "whoa", time to do the ugly.  Don't get me wrong.  The floor is really only a bit more accessible now.  It is still 'all the way down there' and avoided at any cost.  Of course, I am able to drop just about everything I own, so I feel like I spend a lot of time there any how.

I squeezed in another water aerobics class this morning.  Two classes in 12 hours, smart? Probably not.  Same instructor as last night, but such a different workout.  Color me impressed.  Today, I pulled that drawstring just a bit tighter than I did yesterday though! Tough to get showered and changed and be at the next class in time, but I'm perfecting the transition.

I had a really interesting class on Mindless eating.  This has become a little redundant, but there are some really good tips to help minimize this.  There is a lot of studies out there about this topic, but these are some of the highlights that certainly affect me.  Eating with others impacts a lot of stuff.  Our friends and family influence the speed at which we eat and how much we eat.  It is said that you will eat 35% more dining with a friend than eating alone and you will double the amount of food ingested when dining in a group of six or seven and more.  Good stuff to keep in mind.  There is a ton of info regarding eating in front of the TV.  Key points here was that it distracts you from being conscious about what is going in your mouth, and you end up eating longer, and eating more.  Interesting stuff.  I know that I am the only person guilty of this, so I will work on correcting this.  The message was to be aware of these things so that you can minimize the impact.  It doesn't mean that I can't dine with you anymore, quite the contrary, I just need to realize that social situations can create a bigger Blair and that goes against the program!  Sounds easy right?  Piece of cake.  Hah!  I just made myself laugh.  (3"x3" piece of birthday cake = 400cal., FYI)

I had my first head shrinking class where I didn't feel invaded.  Probably because I didn't have to share my inner feelings.  It was all about building a bridge between intentions and action.  How to convince yourself to go to the gym after you've been stuck at work late, and are super tired.  Again, this has never happened to me before...yeah right.  How many gym memberships have I had that involved the orientation and then......I carried a card in my wallet until 6mos after it expired!  That card was a workout...and a bit expensive.  I won't bore you with the details, but there are definite tricks to use that I will employ to raise my success rate. 

My afternoon class was a preparation to a restaurant outing to a high end joint to test our skills.  The goal is to get in and out with 800cal.  We spent an hour today discussing this one meal.  I have homework over the weekend and we go on Monday.  I'm looking forward to it as this is where I live...although, not that high on the hog.

I had a really strong workout.  I stepped up my intensity on the Nu-step and I really challenged myself to keep my steps per minute above 125.  I burned 600 calories in this hour and I did another little dance inside when it was over.  I'm going to face the beast that did me in last Saturday with the whole BP incident.  I'm feeling so much stronger, although, there is still a lot of weight I carry, but I want to challenge myself while I'm here.  Fingers are crossed that I will show improvement in this cardio class. 

My folks are coming across the state to visit on Sunday.  I'm taking the day off from exercise which I really have not done since I've arrived against all their suggestions to do so.  Sometimes I'm dumb.  I'm looking forward to their visit in lieu of saying good bye to so many wonderful people who are beginning their journey's home tomorrow.  It's a little sad, but we were able to collect all their contact information and I was elected to be the office pool to type it up quickly and get it turned around for distribution.  They said I was elected because of my youth!! hahaha nice.  Be well.

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