Are we having fun yet???

In an attempt to add exercise into my regular weekly routine, I signed up for a "complimentary 7 day pass" at the local 24 Hour Fitness last Friday. While I can walk on a treadmill just fine, I want to find an activity that I enjoy, which will help me want to keep going. With this in mind, I have tried out two of their classes and I'm considering a third.

Friday night, I attempted a Zumba class for the first time. I must say that I laughed my way through it. Zumba involves a lot of hip and butt motions which I am not good at (and may possibly never be...) but I had fun and kept moving and walked away stinking like a horse. A overall success in my books.

Last night, I attended a "Shift and Lift" class. This is a cycling/spinning class interspersed with weights and exercises. The only time I laughed was about halfway through when I had to use my hands to fling my leg to the left to once more get off the bike. The rest of the time was filled with "what am I doing here? I think I'm dying! I'm going to go see Jesus tonight! Someone put a blanket next to the bike so I can fall off and curl up, I think I'm going to throw up..." The class started at 6:30 and by 6:50, I was already wondering how I'd make it to the end. From 6:50 to 7:15, my mantra was "just keep going, just keep moving." At when the clock said 7:15pm, I nearly shouted "Hallelujah, it's almost over!!" At 7:30, I was rejoicingly done. I was almost out of the building when I realized I forgot my purse in the class. So I had to walk all the way back to the room and then back out the front. The whole time, with every step my knees kept snapping into place, which made me walk funny and today, I could really use a donut to sit on as I'm pretty sure any bones in my butt are now bruised. However, despite all that, I would consider trying it again sometime in the future when I'm a bit stronger/healthier.

Tomorrow, I'm mulling over whether or not to take a Step aerobic class. I'm sure it will be amusing if I do especially as any arm and leg coordination is going to be awkward.

Anyhow, I'm not sure if I'm going to join 24 Hour Fitness or not. Part of me thinks that I'll go faithfully for about a month or two and then fizzle out and part of me said not to let that thought dictate my future and my need for regular exercise. So we'll see...

A Good Idea?!?

About two weeks ago, my friend Erin asked how we should celebrate my birthday. The idea that we came up with is to walk around Green Lake and to go to a Cuban-inspired coffee shop, both in Seattle.

Green Lake is a this quaint little area of Seattle surrounded with trendy shops and a path all around the lake. Whenever the weather is nice, people swarm Green Lake either to run, walk, skate, or bike. The path around Green Lake is just shy of 3 miles.

As for the Cuban-inspired coffee shop, aka El Diablo Coffee Company, it proved to be a little gem-hole-in-the-wall type of shop! And I loved it. My Cafe con Leche reminded me of a good European cappuccino. Yum! Rich coffee taste with foam and cinnamon...cannot get any better. Seriously, writing about makes me want to go back for another cup of goodness. **Sigh**

The crux for this evening was the weather. We'd only do this if the weather cooperated and that too, could not have been better! Warm, clear skies, sunny...a perfect spring day for Washington...a day when postcards are made!

The only "downside" to this day was in my planning. This past weekend, I moved apartments. I ended up not working on Friday just to move things. By the time 4:00pm rolled around, my arms and legs were rubber. I had climbed about 600 steps (this is just a guess...about 25 steps between both apartments). Up and down the stairs until my legs were constantly aching. Box after box until my arms were limp as dishrags. At this point, I crashed on my couch for the hour that I had available until my next activity.

After the next activity was over, I went with my friends Erin and Krissy for our planned Green Lake/El Diablo adventure. I repeatedly wondered what I was thinking to have scheduled a three mile walk after a day of moving but I figured what won't kill me will only make me stronger. Sure...I was practically limping by the time it was over. Sure...I wanted to weep with joy when I realised I had 0.5 mile left to go. Sure...I swallowed more gnats than I'd care to know...but all-in-all I had a great evening with my friends and got to console my pain with my coffee afterwards.

So what seemed like a good idea at the beginning ended up still being a good idea. But next time I think I'll skip the whole moving thing...I've had enough of that for awhile.

Just what I needed to hear, but didn't want to hear

One of the blogs I frequent regularly is Anne Jackson, author of Mad Church Disease. She's around my age and a talented writer/blogger. Her post today is worth me printing and posting all over my stinkin house, desk, car, etc.

http://flowerdust.net/2010/03/18/i-thought-it-was-love-but-i-may-have-been-wrong/

Challenging Me

I have been known to challenge myself to cut something out of my diet for a month or two, just to see if I could. And I did it every time, relatively easily.

However, when it comes to persevering over larger things, such as general eatting habits or exercise, that is where I tend to cut myself some slack. I set a goal, don't push through the hard moments or make an excuse or two, and then fail.

Since the new year is about resolutions and setting goals, I've decided to set a few "challenges" for myself...just to see if I can do it. I know I'm a little late but oh well! Most of the challenge will be month-long, with the exception of the first:

Jan 18-31: drink 12 cups of water every day (This will be fairly easy for me overall however I am awful on the weekends with water consumption)
February: walk or run at least 4 times a week
March: No eatting out (unless invited by family or friends...at the most 5 times total) and no eatting after 7pm.
April: No sugar...hmm...this will be interesting
May: Walk/Run at least 6 miles every week (okay, I know this isn't huge...but it will be a good step for me...maybe the last two weeks I can increase it to 8/10 miles)
June: No beverages other than coffee or water (sorry, but I'm not cutting coffee out...ain't gonna do it.)

We'll start with this and evaluate my progress along the way.
I can handle this. 30 days...piece of cake, right?

Moving from one thing to the next

I had my car in the shop yesterday. Now it quietly purrs again instead of clicking. I like the lack of noise.

My coworker has been hard to work with this week. I think my coworker will be taking tomorrow off...I'm looking forward to a lack of noise.

I started exercising again, re-doing the same program I did over the summer. Last time it was evident in week 3 that I was too out of shape to follow the exact program. So my goal simply became about maintaining the number of work-out days/week and lengths of time, whether or not I ran/walked according to the plan. Since I'm in a little bit better shape than I was in July, I am going to try hard to maintain the plan altogether. So far on Monday and yesterday, I've exercised immediately after getting home from work, then ate dinner and started on my homework by 6:30pm. This has worked well for me thus far but there are some days when my stomach is growling sufficiently by the time I get home from work...so we'll see how thing pan out on those days.

I mentioned last week that I was going to read Jane Eyre while I was off of school. I haven't finished it yet but am about half way done. Surprisingly, it's not as awful as I expected it...I've rather enjoyed reading it thus far. But I also know that I am not at the most maddening parts yet. I have next week off of school...I'm hoping to take advantage of the extra time by getting ahead on some school assignments but I'm also planning on taking some time to read more Jane Eyre.

Another goal for last week was to get caught up on my Bible reading...I'm about a month behind and a book behind. I should be in mid-Deuteronomy but am in mid-Numbers. Sadly, I didn't get caught up and now that school has started and I'm trying to incorporate exercise again, my time with God gets pushed off the priority list. Yuck...that's awful to say but actions reveal the heart of man, right? I need to find a way to have time with Him in my schedule. After all, He is the only One who can truly bring balance, joy, and meaning into my life.

"We Will Exercise"

There was some kid's show my brother watched to make fun of (Bananas In Pajamas??), when he was little and the one phrase that has stuck with me is his imitation of "We Will Exercise."

Exercise is something I have always been awful at...even in middle school when I actually played sports. Even though I did it, I never NEVER enjoyed it (okay, in middle school, I didn't hate it) but the sweating and being in pain never seemed worthwhile. Maybe that is where my vision has been skewed.

Over the past ten years or so, it has always been easier to justify not exercising rather than to fight to add it into my schedule. Well, after months/years of putting it off, I found myself with a lighter schedule for three months, since I'm in between classes. Before the last class ended, I started telling myself, "I have no reason now not to exercise....my too busy excuse is gone."

I've always thought I would enjoy running so I went online found an 8 week program that takes you from doing nothing to running 3 miles. Today I start week 6! I am 90% certain that by end of week 8, I will not be able to run 3 miles yet but I am proud at myself for sticking to the schedule and am doing my best. As of this past Saturday, I ran 12 of the 20 minutes, which I think is pretty darn good. My goal is still the 3 mile mark...I have date with a friend to run around Greenlake in Seattle, which is 2.6 miles. So once the 8 week program is over, I'm determine to continue pushing myself to the 3 mile mark. I recently bought official running shoes...the salesman assured me that once I reach the 3 mile mark, I'll start putting miles in and find myself doing 5-10 miles in no time. I blinked...I coughed...I laughed and then told him we'll take things one step at a time.

My overall goal is to keep exercising, even when school starts up again in October, because it will have become a part of my regular schedule. In the words of another cartoon "Can we do it? Yes, we can!"