Category: Fitness and Diet

You have to start somewhere…

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Since I’m trying to kick my own ass into getting into shape, I thought I’d hold myself to blogging my exercise this week. My promise to myself is to try each 10 minute workout on the 5 disks of the WeightWatchers PointsPlus Fitness Series with Jennifer Cohen.

Yesterday I did the Cardio Basic, which unfortunately did a number on my knee. I am planning on asking my doc for a PT prescription so I don’t make it any worse. I decided to do the Upper Body Boot Camp 10 minute beginner workout to give my knee a break.

So far, this video series is challenging, but not overwhelming. Yesterday’s 10 minutes left me with just a little bit of muscle soreness, but not enough to deter me from doing it again today. This, I think, is key. The program is a slow ramp-up process. I mean, seriously, after being sedentary for so long (thanks, pregnancy and injury!), who is going to be able to do a full-on 60 minute work out, even if it is “just yoga.” Yoga, even if it doesn’t hurt when you do it, if you just started, can make it hard to move the next day.

The reason I haven’t been going out on walks for exercise, or doing a 10 or 20 minute video, is because I figured it wasn’t worth it. I might as well be sitting down, watching TV. Perhaps just 10 minutes, even if it is only 10 minutes, is what I need to get back to my goal of being in better shape.

Then there’s the, “well, I plan on thinking about the next kid in a year, by the time I lose weight and get in shape, I’ll be pregnant again!” But then there’s the opportunity to make sure my next pregnancy is even more healthy than before. Also, I’ve become more concerned about health and longevity now I have the little guy in my life. I really want to cut down my sugar and refined carb intake (which is hard in Girl Scout Cookie season.)

But anyway, day 2, 10 minutes done, and maybe a walk later. You have to start somewhere… (and I started my training for a half-marathon at 10 minutes of running, so, there ya go.)

Dragging (myself out)

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Motherhood is hard. I did not have any idea what I was getting myself into. Mind you, I have no regrets, as that my son is pure awesome. I am, however, tired and finding my equilibrium.

The kiddo and I had a fall at about 6 wks, and that was quite a blow to my body and my mind. Within the next few weeks, my world shrunk. To say the least, I’ve made a lot of excuses as to why I can’t do whatever it is I need to do, including exercise.

I re-committed to WeightWatchers a few weeks ago – and when I say commit, I mean, go to meetings. I’ve been having trouble getting back into exercising for a few reasons, some being physical. Since my fall, my right knee (injured in high school, thanks color guard/marching band!) has been really painful, and my left hip (which went wonky during my pregnancy) is still wonky. And finally, I’m just not the superwoman I was. Mind you, I had a kickass birth, but I couldn’t run a half marathon right now.

I purchased the WeightWatchers PointsPlus Fitness Series with Jennifer Cohen 5 DVD set. It comes with (on each disk) a 10 minute beginner, 15 minute express and 30 minute full workout, and a plan to get started. This week, I’m doing 5 days of 10 minutes. I’m writing this because I just finished my first 10 minutes, which included a warmup and cooldown. I’m hoping that this may be a start of getting back on track.

We’ll see how it goes!

2012 Beginnings: An Update

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It’s been a crazy few weeks. A little over three weeks ago, I gave birth to my son – all natural! It was a thankfully short labor, but extremely intense. I don’t remember who told me it was like throwing up backwards, but let me tell you, it’s like the most powerful vomiting experience you can imagine – just through the other end. That being said, I wouldn’t have changed my decision to go without pain medication. Had it been a protracted labor, that may have been a different story. We’ll see what I do next time. 🙂

The first few weeks have been rather brutal, which is expected, though perhaps more so as that my son didn’t put back on his birth weight as fast as the pediatrician recommended. I’ve been on an intense schedule of feeding every 2-3 hours, supplementing breastfeeding with formula and pumping after daytime feedings. He’s healthy, which is what is important, but this is no easy task, let me tell you. He’s adorable, and worth it. I just wish I didn’t require sleep for sanity. I also wish I could drink caffeinated coffee, because man, I could use that in lieu of sleep.

I’ve started up again on Weight Watchers online, and hope to re-join my old group in the coming weeks. I have about 45 lbs to lose, which is more than I had hoped I would have to lose, but due to issues with my SI joint towards the end of my 2nd trimester, I stopped my regular exercise routine. I’m not sure what my schedule will look like, but I’m looking forward to trying out some Pilates DVDs at home, and then maybe hitting up one of the local gyms should time allow. Then there’s running, which I look forward to starting again. Most of the schedule will depend on when I return to work.

I’m still in a bit of a fog, and definitely homebound during the Snowpocalypse. I would love to hear from friends – and will do my best to get back to you. Phones are always tricky for me, so please text, email or IM.

Nitrogen Narcosis

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I have been thinking a lot lately about stuff I should post on a blog. You know, those deep thoughts that you think, “I should share that with other people.”

I just got back from vacation in Maui. It was our 5th wedding anniversary, and we spent 4 days diving, and the rest of the time playing in the ocean, eating good food, and taking a lot of walks.

We have only dove together in Kona before, which is a lot of diving just offshore, that stays fairly shallow. Looking at my log book, almost every dive day started with a deep dive at at least 85 ft. We were lucky that we had a great dive crew, and fairly advanced people on the boat with us, which allowed us to even do a deep, drift dive!

I’m definitely more a fan of dives around 60 ft, if only because it means I get more bottom time. However, all of the diving we did was pretty spectacular, even if brief. It’s the end of whale season, so we could hear whale songs under water. They were still a bit far off, as that our bodies weren’t vibrating (a sure sign, I’m told, that they’re near.) From the boat, we saw a whale tail, false killer whales (like giant dolphins!) and dolphins. Under the water, we saw so much! White tipped reef sharks, flame wrasses, tons of turtles (that was one dive), and so many other fish, nudibranchs, morays, garden eels – it was awesome.

Most noteworthy, though, was my experience of what had to be narcosis on our deep drift dive. My dive instructor, GirlDiver knows from my PADI Advanced Open Water dives that I’m a bit stupid when I’m narced. At 95 ft, I realized I didn’t under stand how my computer worked. Rather, it’s not that I didn’t understand, it’s more that I didn’t understand that I didn’t understand. I was completely without self-consciousness, and looked at my tally of bottom time so far, and the timer that tells me how long I can stay at that depth, and was confused. I wasn’t worried – not at all. That little voice that makes sure that I’m doing the right thing, though, was just really quiet. I was looking for it, and it just wasn’t there.

I showed Jon my computer. He was worried I was going to ascend too fast, meanwhile, I was completely unconcerned, but just wanted validation externally because I couldn’t find it within. He tried to explain to me, in crude diver sign, how my computer worked, and that I was OK. I decided, cleverly, that since I knew that the number allowing me to stay under water INCREASED when I ascended, I slowly started ascending. At about 87 ft, I realized – “oh hey, I’m stupid because I’m narced.” I spent the rest of my diving trying to make sure that even if I went below 85 ft, if I started feeling funny, I’d ascend back to 70-85 ft.

For me, narcosis starts around 65 ft, when I start relaxing a little more and get loopy thoughts running through my head. Those thoughts are met with that inner voice that knows I’m narced, and is able to point out to myself that I need to take care of myself.

The key thing I’ve learned here is what narcosis REALLY does to me – which seems to mainly relax me by taking away that ego that sits by and judges my every waking move. I think we all have that bit within us that helps us navigate the world, tells us what the “right thing” is to do, even if we don’t do it. It’s freeing not to have that critical voice, however, the down side is that when you’re diving, you need to have a bit of that critical voice to tell you “hey, if you want to be safe, you need to do/not do x,y,z.” You also need to be able to remember how your dive computer works.

This is why diving with a buddy is a good thing – and also, why diving with other advanced divers and a dive master is good. Then there’s the understanding what happens to you when you’re narced. It’s not something you can truly avoid, except by not diving past your threshold where you experience narcosis.

All in all, we had some great dives. I think I can appreciate deep dives, but prefer shallow ones more. We wouldn’t have seen the flame wrasses in shallower waters, though. The 65 minutes of bottom time I got on our shallower dive (last dive), was awesome. I got that long time, though I was chilly (77 degree water), thanks to a loaned hood coupled with my 5 mm Cressi wetsuit, and a 3 mm Henderson vest.

I hope to post more in the coming weeks. I’ve got a lot of posts percolating, but am also super busy. We’ll see….

Spring Training

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To say the least, I’ve been slacking. I’ve made excuses: busy at work, cold and wet outside, treadmills are boring, no training buddy. Meanwhile, I’ve gained 7 stubborn pounds and 1.5 inches on my thighs! Thankfully, the rest of me seems the same measurements, but I’m definitely feeling softer.

The big issue is that I’m adjusting to my new career and ambitions, new house, and enhanced social life. This had led to many lunches and dinners out, and delicious beers and cocktails. Then there’s the caloric granola that I sometimes eat in the morning. It’s not that breakfast is bad, but I’m starting the day eating for pleasure and not necessarily need. It’s not that eating for pleasure is bad, but I’m lacking the key moderation. Sometimes I’m not hungry in the morning, but eat anyway. Same goes for sizable dinner and drinks after a heavy lunch.

I’m using the Runner’s World iPhone app to set a new training schedule, and hoping that if I start small, I can get back into half-marathon condition. I started this morning, 2 days later than intended, with a morning 2 miler. Jon came with, and did an inaugural run in FiveFingers.

Almost at work, so I’m ending this post for now.