Affection For Fitness...

K's Goals & Clean Thinking

2012-03-20T03:50:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I had an enlightening discussion with middle daughter, K, which I want to share with you.

As you may or may not know, my 4 children have given me so many good ideas that I have effectively used for health and fitness. You probably did not know this, but my teen son started this fitness blog for me, and even named it. Teen daughter got me using the "strap of wonder," also known as the yoga strap. Oldest daughter bought me the spirooli for my birthday. And many more great ideas!

Now, we are discussing the interesting things that middle daughter K told me on the phone this weekend.

We spent an hour talking and problem-solving about our weight loss issues. K is an energetic person who makes decisions faster and clearer than I do. It was extremely useful for her to make a streamline through my convoluted thoughts.

K's Plan To Lose Weight
K wants me to publicly say that she is going to lose weight, so she is accountable to all of you. She is going to do this by walking everywhere, instead of taking the bus. She figures that it will only take her about 5 to 10 more minutes to walk than the bus, due to the time of waiting for the bus. She is also going to prepare many meals at once and place pre-measured servings in plastic containers in the fridge. Her favorite healthy food is lettuce with black beans, salsa, and a tiny sprinkle of cheddar cheese. I think these are logical easy ideas that will work for her. Good luck, K!

To Group Or Go Solo, That Is The Question
Regarding me, K asked if I would do better with weight loss by myself or with a group. I easily answered, "with a group, definitely." She said, "Then, you should be in a group!" This was a no-brainer for her. (Diane's recent blog post is about this too, which I read after this phone call with K.)

I Only Wanted Ice Water!
I think K is right. I don't have support within the home, right now. When the two older girls moved out of the home, the family dynamics changed. When they had lived at home, they both frequently discussed with me what we were eating and *not* eating for our figures. It was fun and kept me on track. Now, there is absolutely none of that discussion at my home, which has been hard for me.

I'd like to be tougher in personality, but I am very susceptible to other's opinions regarding food. Just this week, my husband coerced me into getting tea I didn't want at a restaurant when I didn't even want to be there in the first place and had already had breakfast, including tea--just a half hour before! Too much tea is actually not good for me, since I have had acid reflux in the past.

I only wanted ice water, but husband made me feel bad about that choice. I compromised only to get along, but compromise is always more than that. No, I don't want to eat out as much as he asks. Yes, I feel somewhat defeated when I give into something I know is not a good choice/path for me. The tea was not exactly the problem; that my ability to choose was stripped away *was* the problem. I don't think I should have to start an argument to choose whether or not I want to eat/drink anything at a restaurant.

I do think I need more healthy eating people outside of my family to better balance the influence of the non-healthy eaters in my life.

Clean Thoughts Are Better Than Muddled Ones
Another thing K did was to make clean thoughts. She doesn't muddle her thoughts about this like I do. Really, there is simply a problem and logical solutions. Thinking overly hard about weight management doesn't do anything useful. I'd be better off in the kitchen boiling eggs, making soup, chopping up celery sticks, and having sweet potatoes in the oven, all at once, instead of dwelling obsessively on a single thing about weight management.

So, currently, I am working on finding a group. I am considering TOPS. This is also based upon a recent comment Jill made to me about how Weight Watchers works so well for her. (Thanks Jill!)

What do *you* think? What has worked for you? Group or solo? Are simple solutions what works for you? And please add anything else you want to say, of course.

Wishing you clean thoughts and good decisions today!

:-) Marion

What "Serious" Fitness Means

2012-03-17T08:04:00.000-05:00

Today, I have made the decision to stay home from gym due to my thumb injury. And that decision has gotten me to think hard about what "serious" fitness means.

Not long ago, a weightlifter guy in the gym was talking to me about what "serious" weightlifters do. You can guess who he thought "serious" weightlifters do: they lift the heaviest amounts they can with proper form.

I have taken a different approach to "serious" fitness. As I see it, there are two views of what is "serious" fitness: 1) what looks to be "serious" at that moment; and 2) what looks to be "serious" from a long-term perspective.

Approach # 1
The weightlifter guy takes approach # 1. He has had proportionately better lifts more than I ever have. I'm not sure if he's ever won a competition. However, he has also sustained much more injury than I have. He's had surgery because of sports injuries. He doesn't care about his cardiovascular health.

Approach #2
I take approach #2. I have recognized the limits of my joints and act accordingly. I have consciously limited the amount I will lift. I still have an impressive bench press, but it will not win a trophy. I also think about over-use of joints and try to avoid that. I have never had surgery because of sports injuries.

Further, I do exercises to tighten those little muscles around my joints. I do balancing exercises to decrease asymmetrical movement, which is what I believe enhances the risk of injuries. I do flexibility exercises because flexible body parts resist injury better, as well as recuperate from injury better. I do intense cardio each week, irregardless of whether I feel like it.

Approach #1 is more sexy. Approach #2 sounds rule-ridden, which it is. Which is "serious" fitness?

In the past 3 years, I've come to respect this second kind of "serious" thought. I have many older gym friends and can see the long-term outcome of each approach. It's helped me better envision what I want for myself.

What do *you* think? How are you *serious* about fitness?

And I'm sorry that I'm writing more posts about injuries/prevention, but my sore thumb makes me rethink and renew my rules, so it's what is on my mind as I sit out of gym today. <<Yes, a little bit preoccupied. Yes, I am avoiding gym, because my "serious" fitness rule is to let injuries heal instead of being impatient and aggravating the injury further.

Have a "serious" but great day!

:-) Marion

CookieMonsteritis

2012-03-15T13:13:00.001-05:00

Today, I will be discussing my recent affliction of CookieMonsteritis and what I have chosen to do about it.

I don't know what you call it, but I call that crazy mindless eating where crumbs are flying everywhere the affliction of CookieMonsteritis. In other words, I am eating like Cookie Monster eats his cookies.

The symptoms of CookieMonsteritis are the following:

Eating of too many cookies and other unhealthy foods
Quick impulsive crazy eating
Feeling like an uncontrollable monster around food
Crumbs left on your clothing after you are done eating

How do you get CookieMonsteritis? In my experience, it is a vulnerable period of time when I am too tired and stressed for a long period of time. The lack of sleep and rest makes me vulnerable to filling that gap with the comfort of food.

How does CookieMonsteritis continue? In my experience, even after the stressful period of time is over, the cravings, started up during the vulnerable time, continue long afterwards until stopped.

What should you do about CookieMonsteritis?

Do Not Feed the Monster!

The monster lives only as long as you feed it what it wants. It's really hard after many weeks of uncontrollable eating, but the first step is to stop eating all of those unhealthy carbs and sugars. The following steps are to make choice after choice to keep avoiding these problem foods. The cravings can go away, but only by starving them. You personally don't have to starve, eat plenty of food, just not the food that causes cravings.

The Monster Hates Good Sleep!

If the monster is lurking or attacking, make sure to get about 8 hours of sleep. Adequate sleep makes us less vulnerable to stress, which, in turn, makes us less vulnerable to eating like a crazy person.

Other Good Reasons For Not Feeding The Monster (Besides Weight)

I have found a direct correlation between uncontrolled eating and uncontrolled...well, everything else in my life. My blood sugar rising and falling after sweets make me feel moody and out of control. The cravings make me feel like a loser. So even if I wasn't concerned about my weight (which I am), I'd still be concerned about these unsuccessful feelings impacting the rest of my life.

What Am I Working On That Requires Successful Feelings About Myself?

Ironically, I have not been writing on my blog as often because I have been writing and editing manuscripts. As I have noticed on *your* blogs, we are mostly a bunch of writers who are deeply opinionated, and each has a unique sense of writing style.

I write for my profession, I write the blog, and when I'm not doing that writing, I'm writing other stuff. Don't laugh. Many of you do that too. :D In any case, a writer who feels some control in life is a *much* happier writer.<<This is my primary reason for getting rid of CookieMonsteritis right now.

What do *You* Think?

Have you experienced CookieMonsteritis? How did you handle it? Does lack of sleep/rest skew your eating choices? Are you a "writer" hiding out under the term "blogger?" And, of course, anything else you want to say, go ahead and say it.

Have a successful organized day!

:-) Marion

A Discussion About Sport Injuries

2012-03-11T07:13:00.007-05:00

No Gym Today--Twisted Thumb
Today, I will not be going to the gym because I twisted my thumb yesterday during yoga. It's purple, and very swollen around the joint. So I have been icing it, and ignoring weekend housecleaning, since virtually everything we do involves our thumbs. Of course, I won't be at the gym today.

I haven't fully appreciated my thumbs. If *you* want to appreciate them, try putting on and zipping up jeans with no thumbs involved. Attempt to open a jar with no thumbs. See if you can start your car with no thumbs. It is all much more difficult.

So Young, But So Injured
The thumb sprain was a freak accident. But, lately I read a blog post where the blogger was explaining how to avoid sports injuries, while having some rather serious injuries herself. I adore this blogger so I would never mention the name. But I will say that I think she is very young to have such serious injuries that could have most likely been avoidable had she not been so ambitious. Yet, I greatly admire how she is ambitious.

Would I ~~Like~~ Love To Win A Huge Trophy To Prove My Potential To Myself And The Rest Of The World?
There came a point in weightlifting where I had bench pressed 160 pounds two times in a row, cleanly, and my husband knew a woman who had done powerlifting. Was I interested in being coached?

Well, of course I was. But... I had talked to many of my fitness buddies to gave me stories of getting seriously injured and needing surgery--because they went overboard. They have wrecked shoulders or knees.

Yes, I do believe I could bench press more, and something in me strongly desires a trophy. You don't get a trophy for being careful with your body to avoid injuries. You don't get a medal or even a ribbon for helping others learn how to weight lift. I know how much it takes to win a district level bench press competition, and a 160 pound bench press by a woman can win first place in some of them. It's a tough decision to turn down trophies. I want to be really good at something, feeling somewhat invisible most of my life.

No-Trophy Blues!
Oh, no-trophy blues! My job has been incredibly demoralizing lately, and I could really use a tall trophy on my dresser to cheer me up, to remind me of my potential.

I have been tempted so many times to "go for it," but then I see my gym buddies who have trophies. Many of them have permanent injuries, and they do tell me that the excitement of a trophy doesn't last as long as I imagine. A few of them have literally crippled themselves by overuse of joints. Some have painful joints. J, a 36 year old weightlifting guy, told me that his knee hurts all the time! That's so young to have a painful joint. So you will not be seeing any talk of competitions or trophies on my blog. (Sigh!)

Injury Purples!
With my thumb being so sore, purple, and swollen, I renew my plan to be moderate with no glory. It's the unexciting choice, and it requires a lot of rules. For example, I have not done lower body weightlifting for years now. When it became painful to my knees, I stopped. Women have a different leg angle, due to wider hips than men, that make us more prone to knee problems.

I've gotten some flack for that decision. There are some people in the gym, as well as some bloggers, who believe that the *only* way to powerful legs and a firm butt is by lower body weightlifting. Quietly, I disagree. I have found alternative knee-friendly exercises that work the legs and glutes very well.

Guys Doing Balancing Poses To Protect Their Joints
But mostly I received understanding. J., the 36 year old weightlifting guy, appreciates how I took a bad knee from weightlifting and rehabbed it with yoga. More and more, I recommend balancing poses to my guy gym buddies with the explanation that we need to keep those little muscles around our joints in good shape to girdle our joints in place. More and more, I see some of them doing the "tree" pose at the gym.

We Are Responsible For Our Own Bodies
But I did feel encouraged by my other fitness buddy, J., a woman in her late 50's, who told me that she left her Zumba class 5 minutes early because her arm started hurting. "Nobody, but us, knows our bodies and what they feel. We have to stop when we need to," she told me. J has quite a youthfulness to her, because, unlike my trophy-winning friends, J. has practiced moderation for decades and it has added up into what she is today.

I also stop a yoga pose whenever I think my knee feels like buckling, even if the rest of the class continues on. When I do yoga by myself, I cover many poses and do them 3 times each, but none for very long at a time. If I have tight muscles, I don't ignore that. It's frustrating when we aren't as great as we'd like, but it's not worth wasting needless injury over it.

I've reduced my cardio, now focusing on intensity rather than endurance, to avoid overuse of my knee joints. Yesterday, prior to the thumb injury, I raced my 10 minute elliptical race at 6.8 miles per hour!--my best ever. I cool down for a few minutes, and then I'm completely done with cardio. My knees are happy that way.

In the end, we are responsible for our own bodies. If we get injured from overuse, it is our fault. Minus my thumb, I live pain-free. I am reminded by my sore thumb, that fitness rules and self-imposed restrictions helped to make the consistently pain-free feeling of my body happen.

In The End, It Is *Your* Choice
It is *your* choice for what you do or don't do with fitness. As J. told me, she will not blame her fitness instructor if she hurts herself, because nobody is making her do anything she doesn't want to do. She owes nothing to the others in the class. She literally walks out of class when it is the right thing for her to do for her body. There are a lot of ways to be assertive with your fitness, saying "no" is one way.

Have a Super week!

:-) Marion

Make Kony Famous

2012-03-08T08:43:00.001-06:00

Make Kony famous. Watch the viral youtube.com video to help stop Joseph Kony.

Watch it now: Stop Kony video.

:-) Marion

Fitness Buddies Make A Huge Difference!

2012-03-04T06:53:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning, my husband made the usual comment about me taking time to fix my hair and put on a little makeup before going to the gym. He thinks that unnecessary and wastes time.

"I see my friends at the gym. It's my social hour. Don't you dress a little nicer when you go to see your friends?" And he admitted that he did.

I have made dozens of posts about what different fitness buddies tell me during different workouts. I do that to make my posts more interesting, obviously. But I'm also try to say in a hundred different ways that you should try to make fitness buddies in your community because I feel it is probably the most important factor for continuing fitness for many years.

Having *Selfish* Friendships
Yesterday, I got to the gym and I immediately saw my friend W. We have birthdays five days apart, so we have gone out to birthday breakfast together on previous years. W. is about 15 years older than I am. We do not work out together at all! Not a bit. I know her from the women's locker room. Mostly, we just encourage each other on for everything in life, including fitness. She doesn't know my family much at all. She's *my* friend, not a family friend. It's a selfish friendship that is all about us two. Very enjoyable. We talked for 15 minutes--which is the reason why I allocate an extra 30 minutes for each weekend workout for friends.

Keeping C's Life Fun
My workout was great. I do have rules about when to talk to friends at the gym, rarely breaking them. Most of the time, I won't talk to anyone, except a "hi" as I walk by, until I reach a workout moment when I am exhausted! Yesterday, I did my 10 minute elliptical race at 6.75 miles per hour! I talked for a few minutes with delightful C., another 50-something friend whose daughter-in-law is dying from stage 4 cancer. C. goes to the gym to have a vacation from life, and I do try to be a fun part of her stressful life.

As I said last post, the dreaded exercises are working for me. I've been doing triangle pose a lot more lately, and I can do splits again, right leg forward, left leg back. More surprisingly, I can almost do splits with my left leg forward, right leg back. Everyone has a less flexible side, which is so aggravating (!), but my left side is catching up after almost 3 and 1/2 years of yoga.

My backbends are always a huge boost of confidence. This week, I had some demoralizing news at work. I try not to, but I take that stuff far too personally. However, I remember exactly who I am when I stretch backward and reach to the floor for backbends. I put in the required work, I focus hard, I know my skills. I know these facts about me at gym when I succeed, and a little of the fitness confidence spreads to the rest of my life.

M. And His Gorgeous Italian Songs
After my workout, I saw M., the charming hand-kissing gym buddy in his 70's, who I sat by for about 10 minutes as he quietly sang me Italian songs in his gorgeous Pavarotti-like voice into my ear. Honestly, M. could have been in opera. Although seeming unrelated to fitness, I love going to the gym precisely because people as wonderful as M. are there.

If fitness is your "lifestyle," then you owe it to yourself to fill your life with fitness buddies. I'm always somewhat shocked at how many bloggers and blog readers are so friendly and assertive on Internet, while they have few or no fitness friends in their community. Being a friend on the Internet or in person is the *very same thing!*, my friends.

The basic friendship rule: A friend simply makes another person's life a little bit better for being a part of it. You don't have to say perfect words, look a certain way, do the same workouts, or be a certain age. People are good judges of character. If you try hard in your life and you're a positive caring person, most people will want to be your friend.

The 2nd basic friendship rule: Most people do understand and can relate to you. Once I came to the conclusion that most people would relate to my life, they did. So, if you are very shy, like I used to be, just remember that others have felt at least 90% of your same frustrations and joys of life. They are kindred spirits that you just don't know yet!

The 3rd basic friendship rule: It is okay to *not* like somebody. There is a small handful of people at the gym who I really do not like. This is a friendship rule for me because I know quite a few people who have been "burned" by attempting friendships that turned out horribly, to the extent that they no longer attempt to make friends at the gym or related areas. After being burned, they are scared to take that risk of rejection again. I tell you: Who cares! Find someone else and ignore those awful people. I have found in the gym that there is almost every personality type for potential gym buddies.

The 4th basic friendship rule: Your best gym buddy will probably *not* be who you would initially expect. I initially expected that I would like to have a gym buddy who is a woman my age who does the same type of workout that I enjoy. Well, I actually met such a person at my gym, and we did not click at all! Why? She wanted to work out with me, but switch up my workout considerably--which was *not* okay. I like being internally bossy about my own workout. So, while I admire this person, she is not going to run my workout! We are too much alike--both too bossy about what we want to do for workouts. For this reason, I have chosen to *not* have a workout partner. Believe me, I've been asked many times, and I keep saying no. I don't appear bossy at the gym, because I'm only bossing myself.

While I do have many gym buddies that I talk about fitness techniques and strategies, while working out beside them, I also have many gym buddies who are much older than I am. Further, I have gym buddies who don't like weightlifting and/or yoga. If you just let friendships happen, instead of narrowing the possibilities too much, you'll be surprised at how many great fitness buddies you'll have.

My Ultimate Gym Best Friend Forever (BFF)!
My very best gym buddy is a woman in her 60's. She had polio when she was little, and then got into a crippling car accident in her 20's. She never worked out with me at the gym. She mothers me. She sisters me. She friends me. She understands me better than I understand myself. We met by choosing lockers close to each other. She saved me from getting crippling disabilities from Lyme disease. I love you, Mary Ann! She doesn't go to my gym anymore, but we are still BBFs for the rest of our lives.

The bottom line is that fitness friends make fitness cozy and joyous. I have accomplished a pretty nice level of fitness for myself, but I'm pretty sure that I'd also love fitness without big bench presses, headstands, or splits. I feel cared about in my gym. There are friends surrounding me who care and support me. I get smiles, jokes, and hugs. What's not to love about going to the gym?!

What Do *You* Think About Fitness Friends?
So, the discussion of this post is about making fitness friends. I have dozens of gym buddies who I have met over the past 5 years, so please take the opportunity to ask *your* personal question about making fitness friends. I might have some helpful advice that's not otherwise on this post. Otherwise, please comment about your great experiences with fitness friends.

Have a friend-filled day!

:-) Marion

The Dreaded Exercises Were Amazing!

2012-02-26T19:36:00.002-06:00

Well, friends, this year I have been preaching about doing the "dreaded exercise(s)" for your own good. But also for mine. You know, most everything I write on my posts starts out as a "note to self" with an important message.

Anyway, this winter I had a bit of a lag with yoga and weightlifting, to the point that I was scared (pride-wise) of diminishing my fitness level. Like any serious weightlifting guy, my weightlifting poundage numbers that I lift matter! A lot! When my poundage goes down even a bit, my hubris gets worried. And it went down! And, like any muscle head, I felt mopey about it.

Cheap Counseling For Your Fitness Blues
Like any psychiatrist can tell you, we know most of the answers to our problems, if we are willing to face the truth. And the truth usually always is the same thing: You've got to do that thing you know is good for you but you dread doing, because it will make your life better. Dreaded exercises are the answer to the fitness problem.

Onto yoga

Regarding my dreaded "triangle" pose, I recently realized that it is the reason I could do splits, and that if I want to do splits, I must do triangle pose (even though I don't like it at all!). So I moved 5 sets of the yoga vinyasa, featuring the triangle pose, up to the beginning of my yoga routine. Urg times 5, but we have to do what makes our fitness dreams come true.

The result? I can do splits again!!! Marion's fitness rule is always true: If I properly make the fitness cake, I get the fitness frosting! Yummy! If I do a half-baked job at the cake, no frosting. Yesterday, my hard work with triangle pose for the past few weeks was rewarded, and it was an excellent way to start my day, feeling superstar-ish.

Slightly off the topic, I talked to M., the martial arts gym buddy, who was showing me some of the balancing moves for martial arts. So great! You know I'm going to bug him again next week to learn more. Anyhow, I tried out the side balancing that he showed me, and discovered a new place to feel muscles--meaning I was comfortably sore in the sides of my glutes and whatever other muscles are on the sides between the abs and glutes.

Onto Weightlifting

Well, the problem here with a wimpy bench press was that I simply cannot get to the gym as much as I want. Many weeks, I am down to a big Saturday yoga session and a big Sunday weightlifting session.

I did not want to workout at home. Call it lack of inspiration or whatever, but I cheated only myself by my resentment. Since I have been slipping in 4 or 5 minutes of push ups every few days, my bench press is back on track!

Today, I was so thrilled about that, that I had to tell my friend, A., who is a 54 year old guy who can do 10 pull ups in a row. Amazing. Yes, to all of us who are serious about exercise, the numbers and the weightlifting poundage count. A. was happy for me that my bench press is back in order. We're all fighting this age issue with as much brute force as we can.

I saw my gym buddy A., the fitness trainer, with his buddy P. hammering out loads of weightlifting sets for hours. How do I know it was hours? Because I was also there for about 3 hours. When I talked with them, A. said that they were putting in extra weightlifting sets because they also were also lagging/feeling out of shape. I think they are both in their 40's and look to be in good shape, but we have gold standards. They agree with me, when a person feels lagging, you've got to be bullheaded and do more sets. More and more weightlifting sets, until you can't do anymore with good form. It's like pounding your head on a brick fitness wall over and over! And it really works. We were all feeling very good about our effort.

D. And Her Great Psych Up Before Bench Pressing
In between everything, I met D., a 30 year old woman who spent time with me getting enthusiastic about bench presses again. She knew how to do a bench press, but hadn't done one since high school. Well, you know me, all thrilled about bench presses, got her very excited about weightlifting. I think it was all the talk about us women "feeling our power." What woman does not want to feel her power‽

We had a big discussion about how to do a psych up before bench pressing. D. could do 20 more pounds on her bench press immediately after psyching herself up! Yay D!

Note to you: If *you* currently do not do a "psych up" before your exercises, check out my psych up post. You really can't meet your fitness potential without being mentally psyched up. Both F. (remember F., the woman I helped psych up to bench press 100 pounds?) and D. found out that psyching up before bench presses immediately created better results. This works for everyone<<including you! (If you do read the psych up post, I'd appreciate any comments you have about that.)

Lastly, I did 8 sets of reverse grip pull downs. Most of the sets were at 150 pounds. That sounds great, until you understand that I used to be able to do that many sets at 175 pounds. (This number slipped during the mother-in-law-at-our-house year, in which I was just lucky to get out wimpy but alive.) So I am back to pounding my head on the fitness wall by relentlessly doing *many* sets, but I am happy to say the strength is coming back. All systems go!

Have a great week! I was thinking about many of you when I was bench pressing with D. I really just wish we all lived closer. As it is, I try to explain myself with written word, when anyone who personally sees me knows that I have loads of non-verbal messages, which are positive and crazy, which I attempt to convey to you. :D

:-) Marion