Epiphany!

It's amazing. I had a rather crappy week, last week and decided to start with the exercise again this week. I was travelling (that seems to have ended) and have been back for a week +. My husband has also been back for this amount of time so the house requires less attention from me, I had a long weekend. In short, I was in the mood to go to the gym.

I went on Monday and yesterday this week. Monday, I had a strange experience - took the wrong shoes. Still I exercised. Yesterday, I got back on the treadmill and actually enjoyed every step. It was a bit painful, but my body really enjoyed it! The muscles enjoyed moving and stretching.

This is really weird for me. I've never thought of myself as a person who enjoyed exercise. I am lazy, I hate waking up - but apparently I enjoy the exercise. This is a great relisation. For me as a person, this is a great thing!

Saying 'great' a few times may not adequately communicate my joy :) All my life, I had a sense that I was athletic. I knew my body would be able to do a lot, was willing to do a lot, just that I never asked it to. As a result, I wasn't particularly athletic - didn't participate in School Level sports though I played a lot of games. I was and still am very lazy.

But here I am, in my early 30s, just having realised that my body enjoys movement. As in, enjoys it to the point of wanting it. The real advantage here is that, I won't feel irritated about going to the gym - because I enjoy it!

When I start getting bored with the gym, I will move on to other activities - either running or swimming or something. What I must do though, is to retain this memory - the memory of my muscles enjoying the movement.

Interestingly - when I started again (on Monday - after a break of nearly 6 months) I felt something like muscle memory. They already knew what they needed to do, how they were to move. That's also part of what made it memorable.

This is a significant step forward from the 'listen fatty, try it and die' me!

New Beginnings

So... as is apparent, I stopped working on my health. I got very very busy and then very lazy and then busy again, etc. For the past 3 months, I've been working hard, travelling and strangely - eating healthy. So I've lost a bit of weight, not a lot, but a start.

This has spurred me on to consider fitness more seriously. Also, currently my husband is travelling, which means I generally get to make healthier choices. I shouldn't blame him... in fact, I don't. Just that I get lazier when he's around and he also needs 'care and feeding' so... it's easier to cheat.

I've had a gym membership since September, that I used for 2 days in September, maybe a day in November, and not since.

Today, I plan to go again. I plan to do 15 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes cycling and 10 minutes on the cross trainer. It's just cardio, so it shouldn't kill me... but let's see.

Two months later

July and so far, August, have been bad exercise months. I joined Peer Trainer some time ago, which helped me log exercise and food. It made me quite good at keeping track and keeping me motivated to exercise. End July was a tough time at work, and I'm going on vacation next week, so this week has been a bit hectic as well. Last week though, I got in 4 days I think... or at least 3.

The aim is still to eat sensibly and exercise, but the gym part has got a bit boring. On the upside, I've definitely lost weight. More clothes are fitting and looking better.

Am off for a vacation for the next week so this week and next week, no formal exercise. The week after that I should be able to work out, followed by another week out of town. That week can include exercise - I'll strive towards it :)

Need to get my ass back on track and I'm still committed to it, even if I'm being a bit lazy.

For the record, weight now should be around 71 kgs.

Moving... Forward

Moving is reasonably appropriate as I'm managing at least 3 days of exercise per week. Last week was bad, I only managed 3, but this week (it's just Tuesday) I've already managed 3. The exercise may only be half an hour of walking + abs, but it's something. Something that I'm finding time regularly for. And I'm also able to make healthier food choices ongoingly. And my clothes are getting a bit looser :) Things looking up I think.

Though, I don't believe I've lost weight really - I'm sure the next time I step on a scale, it will tell me that I've gained weight. Which I'm actually ok with, as I see a difference in myself. Have to keep reminding myself that weight is a number, the body being able to do stuff is much more real.

Regress

The day of the last post, I didn't exercise, but the day after that I did. When I weighed myself, I'd actually gained a full kilogram! I was in shock, but also figured that my period had begun and I was probably retaining water. Another day's break followed (gym was closed) and I went again yesterday. This time I was half a kilo lighter than the previous weigh, but still heavier than I had ever been.

Today, I've promised to meet a friend for dinner and am wondering if I can get out of that. Mainly cause meeting for dinner might mean I din't go to the gym, and all the food in the fridge, continues to sit in the fridge. On the other hand, I could go to the gym, go for dinner and eat the fridge food tomorrow.

A little conflicted, but believe that exercise is likely.

Progress

I'm a complete nutter. I've been exercising regularly so far - i.e. 3 days. However, I'm feeling very very virtuous. Like I've been exercising regularly for a month or more! Its like if I can do so regularly for three days, I can do so for ever! The other thing is, that I'm actually looking for changes in my shape and health - in three days! I'm trying to stay normal about this. Hopefully I'll manage.

At this point, I'm still only doing walking and cycling, but feel better about myself. I've been weighing myself every day and eating reasonably healthily. Which means to eat fresh, and home made. I've brought lunch again today - so that's the 4th day running. So feeling pretty good about that as well. With all the exercise, I'm too tired to cook in the evening, but will need to fairly soon (running out of food and have many veggies awaiting their fate).

I've been weiging myself every day and from my weight on Monday, I've lost 400 gms. It's an instant motivator. I'm not sure whether it's a general water loss but would like to attribute it to healthy eating and some exercise. I'm ready to exercise today as well, but am feeling very tired.

Tired cause I overdid it yesterday. While exercising, I could do it, walk rather fast for the length of time that I wanted to. Music pumping, walking one minute at a time. Got through it. And nearly passed out at home.

Today I must be reasonable.

Another Week

Last week passed without any exercise for a variety of reasons, primarily laziness. In Sunday I met my parents for a good amount of time. My mother expressed concern about my health and that freaked my husband out much more than my railing and ranting about my health.

Yesterday, being Monday, I realised that work wasn't too pressing, so went to the gym. I've also put a meeting in my calendar for the 2 hrs it takes me to go to the gym and get back home so that nobody can really schedule something for that time. I'm planning to keep that going this week. I also joined Peer Trainer. It's a free resource online that allows you to log stuff and join groups. Groups full of people who are trying to work out. It's just been a day, but hopefully it'll be of some value. One of the key things I already learnt, is that adding too much too soon is a recipe for failure.

I tried to do diet and exercise modification at the same time, failed. Now though, been doing the cooking/eating in a planned way for almost 3 weeks, and it seems to be working. So now can add exercise. Peer Trainer suggests that we only add 1 new thing a week.

So yesterday I went to the gym, did 25 minutes on treadmill and 10 minutes cycling. Felt good after that. Not too tired and no bad aches and pains. Today, no aches and pains either, which means I'm not overdoing it. I only walked on the treadmill, but did just over 10 minutes at 5.8 kmph which I thought was quite good. Got a good stride going, no knee aches or foot aches. Cycling was also good - I felt it working muscles without hurting knees.

Naturally, I feel all righteous because I did exercise yesterday and it didn't kill me. The plan is to follow the same process today. Work properly during the day (wasting little time) and leave with sufficient time to get to gym.

I realised that I ate a couple of sweets yesterday! Bad me! Still, I'm not too upset, since I did just about everything else right.