Getting the Body Back in Motion

Newton's First Law of Motion: A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion unless it is acted on by an external force.

Absolutely amazing how that applies to the habit of exercising, eh?



Hello, CN Tower. I see you watching me during my lunchtime walk.
Looking forward to our date in April?
Somehow, you don't look as tall to me as you used to :-)



I have been getting daily exercise for months. Some days came with less exertion than others, but it's still been daily, aside from the odd day off here and there. Happily, it's become the way I live my life.



With the kids being sick and my husband away last week, I missed a couple of workouts and got very little exercise. The first day wasn't so bad. On the second day, I was craving a workout. By the third day, I was going a bit squirrely.

But then - I got used to being inactive. Got used to housework as being my only exercise and you know what? I wasn't missing the gym, wasn't missing walking, wasn't missing pushups - wasn't missing ANYTHING at all.

By the time my husband came back and I was finally able to get out for a workout, I had to have a full argument with myself about getting back to the gym.

"I don't want to go."

"Go - you'll be glad you did."

"But it's nice and cosy in the house - we could lie around and read a book!"

"Go - you'll have fun. You can read that book later today. "

"How about if we relax for a few more days? Maybe go next week sometime?"

"GET UP, GET DRESSED AND GET GOING. NOW!"

As soon as I stepped outside with my keys and gym bag in hand, I was fine. It was totally natural to head to the car and go to the gym. And once I'd been to the gym, it was totally natural to take my daughter up on her offer to go power walking after dinner. But wow - did I ever need to use force to get myself back in motion.  Unbelievable how much of a battle that was!

Hope everyone else is staying in motion this week. If you're slipping - get yourself moving again!!



Doing a pre-pushup plank in my (toy-filled) family room.
Not sure if Sally is keeping me company or if she's worried about me.



Here's this week's recap:

Saturday - My husband got home from his trip! Powerwalked my daughter down to gynmastics and back (1.1K); miscellaneous errands and out to dinner in the evening. 

Sunday - Got my lazy self to the gym and had a great workout. Stopped and smiled when I noticed that I have developed indentations between my shins and leg muscles! It's been, oh, forever since I've been able to see these! Did 30 pushups after my workout, and went for a brisk 1.9K walk with my daughter after dinner - she wants to start training for our 5K this fall!

Monday - A holiday - no work, no school!

Tuesday - Stairs to 7 in AM; gym after work, including 30 pushups.

Wednesday - Stairs to 7 in AM, 20 min lunchtime stroll. Zumba Curves after dinner, 32 pushups.

Thursday - Stairs to 7 in AM, 2.5K lunchtime powerwalk. 13 + 33 pushups.

Friday - 1.8K lunchtime powerwalk. 3 + 34 pushups.

 

Aaaad on to the pushups.
OK, this cat thing is a bit distracting.



What I'm reading this week - Unbearable Lightness, Portia de Rossi's memoir of her years as an anorexic. Brutally honest. Was relieved to read the final chapters about her recovery and finding happiness.

February Funk

Just like clockwork, I was hit hard by the February Funk this week. Looks like I'm not alone; I'm seeing similar sentiments coming from other bloggers. What it is about February? Is the dreary weather getting to us? Is there something magical about being 6 weeks into the new year, or 6 weeks after Christmas?

I don't know. I do know that the cure for this is to eat well and stay active - but my motivation to eat well and stay active is slipping this week. Seriously slipping.


Winter Carnival and curling on the lake - February 2011

We had fun at both ends of the week, but even so this funk has got me firmly in its grips. Doesn't help that both kids have been sick back-to-back, my husband is away on a (rare) business trip and it's been close to impossible to get out to exercise. Can't leave sick kid to go to the gym in the evenings, and working from home while minding that same kid means I'm not able to power walk and do stairs during the workday. Sure, there's ways to exercise at home, but home is where I feel sluggish.

I think Pa says it best -take a minute and give this a read: 

http://padoeslife.tumblr.com/post/3223948908/winter-reflections-continued

I have been diligent about logging everything I eat on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ every single day, so at least I can see how far off track I get every day. Surprisingly, it's usually not as bad as I feared, and usually within the range to maintain my weight. I am spending a lot of time fighting off the urge to completely overindulge though.


The good news? The St. Pat's 5K is coming up fast and I've challenged my son to do a 100 Days to 100 Pushups Challenge with me. Makes us giggly, which is a good thing.

Here's to moving through February and getting our heads on straight!



Hahaha - Ice Jail! February 2011



Here's a recap from this week:

Saturday - Curves in the AM including my daily pushups (11 + 26), then out of town to my mom's for the weekend. Took the kids to the Winter Carnival - playing in the ice castle, sliding around on the frozen lake, general playing in the snow.

Sunday - Still at my mom's. Back to the Winter Carnival for the petting zoo, kid skidooing and general playing in the snow. Pushups when we got home in the evening (12 + 28) and practiced Zumba in the family room.

Monday - Didn't sleep well last night. Skipped the stairs, no lunchtime walk. Did manage the daily pushups though (13 + 30).


Tuesday - Home with a sick kid. Pushups: 14 + 32 (OUCH)

Wednesday - Home with a sick kid. Pushups: 0. Crawled into bed with the kids and a DVD at 7pm.

Thursday - Home with a sick kid. I love him and everything, but this is really losing its charm. Pushups: 0

Friday - Kids and I are off on a PA day, and it's my daughter's birthday! My son is still sick but is finally feeling well enough for a change of scenery. Went to Riverdale Farm for some fresh air and to visit the animals. A few of the ewes had lambed recently, and we had a good laugh watching the lambs bounding around their pen and come running every time their mother called for them. Went to my sister-in-law's for dinner afterwards. My daughter and her cousin put on a disco dance party for us, and my SIL + MIL and I took the dog for a 2K walk afterwards. Nice way to end a difficult week.

What I'm reading this week: Not a single thing. Couldn't even keep up with the newspaper.


Bouncy and happy - new lambs! February 2011

Big Scary Goals (aka The Things I Do for a T-Shirt)

Got any Big Scary Goals? What are they?

I've been trying to break out of my comfort zone. Getting any exercise at all was the first step. Overhauling my eating habits was another. Now it's on to trying new things that I didn't do back before I started moving.  I'm a cautious person by nature, which means that my courage comes slowly when trying New Things, Bigger Things, and summoning the resolve to try Scary Things that I never would have been capable of Before. But it's coming! I believe this is also called Doing Life ;-)


I've been setting modest fitness goals for myself - continue to lose weight, shave some seconds off my 5K times, that sort of thing. I have also tried to start setting big, scary goals for myself, to try things that I think are a real stretch...but still achievable. It's a safe approach to big scary goals - but it's the way I do things!

2009's was to try my first 5K walk. Goal: Show up on the day of the event without chickening out. Check!

2010's was to do the CN Tower Climb. Goal: Get to the top without dying. Check!

2011's is to do the 25K option in the Becel Ride for the Heart in June. Goal: Get to the finish line without dying.


Do or do not - there is no 'try'


All of a sudden, I have a second one for 2011 - the Warrior Dash in July. Goal: Get to the finish line without dying.


I happened to see this one mentioned on Jed's blog, looked it up, and it looks sooooo fun. Dirty, hard and fun. As long is it doesn't conflict with the DoLife Unofficial 5K....?


This one comes with a t-shirt, finisher's medal AND a fuzzy helmet! BRING IT ON!

Mentioned it to my sister as a possible for 2012 - she's in!

Mentioned it to my running girls and was immediately told that we're doing it in 2011. Which terrifies me! My sister, too. But when one of your buddies is pushin' 60 years old, is raring to sign up for this, and implies that you're a wimp for wanting 18 months to train for this...well...um...OK then. 2011 it is!

But I guess that's the point of big, scary goals. They're scary!

Good lord - what is 2012 going to send my way?

Here's this week's recap:

Saturday - Curves workout in the AM, then powerwalked my daughter to gymnastics class and back. Side trip to the bakery. Total = 1.7K. Started doing pushups in honour of training for the Dash. Managed 4 guy ones + 16 girl ones.

Sunday - Family lunch for my daughter and brother-in-law's birthdays. Cake, white buns, quiche, homefries, cheese. The good news? Lots of raw veggies and NO CHIPS! Shoveled snow for a few minutes when we got home. Pushups: 5 guy + 17 girl.



Mmmmm - cake!



Monday - 1K powerwalk at lunch; Curves workout after dinner. Have a bit of a cold - gave myself the present of skipping the stairs. Pushups: 6 guy + 18 girl.

Tuesday - 1K powerwalk at lunch.

Wednesday - 2.1K powerwalk at lunch. Feeling fussy today - mid-winter blahs? Dreaming of burgers and chips and salt and grease. Drank water and did pushups instead: 7 guy and 20 girl.

Thursday - Zumba Curves after dinner; 8 guy + 22 girl pushups.

Friday - Home with a sick daughter. Challenged my son to a pushup competition. He smoked me! 10 + 30 compared to my 9 + 24.

What I'm reading this week - Open House by Elizabeth Berg, On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot. Wow - three books in one week!

Winter Fun

OK - this was seriously fun. The Kortright Centre put on a dogsledding & winter fun weekend and you'd better believe that we got ourselves over there. Spent the better part of a day there, watching dog sled races, petting a ton of Huskies, showshowing, having hot chocolate, roasting marshmallows over a bonfire, going for rides on a dogsled and sledding down the hills. Fun, fun, fun - and the kids got to knocks a few things off their lists!



MUSH! January 2011

It was amazing to watch the Huskies before their races. Every single dog was practically vibrating with energy, eager to get out on the course. Lots and lots and lots and LOTS of barking. One of the handlers told me that his family has about 14 dogs on 100 acres, and carves a 15-mile track in the snow every winter for them to run and race. Says that they are happiest when the temperature falls below -20, that he can see them actually grinning when they're out in the weather that they were bred for.  

One of the things that I love about living in this climate is having such a variety of seasonal activities. Can't go dog sledding in California! (or can you?)

Saturday - Curves in the AM; walked the kids down to the community centre & back (1.1K) and went swimming for 90 minutes. 

Sunday - Dogsledding, snowshoeing. So fun.

Jen Goes Snowshoeing - January 2011. Haven't done this since, oh, Grade 7?

Monday - Quick walk and stairs to 7 at lunch. Curves after dinner. Came home to find out that Ben, Jed and Pa are going to Do Life in Toronto this summer!!!!! All 4 of us are planning on doing their 5K, just waiting for them to set the date. My kids are just as excited as I am. Hope I don't swooooon when I meet the Davis boys. My husband is completely prepared for me to make a fool of myself.

Tuesday - Stairs to 7 in AM, power walk at lunch (about 1.5K) with Lynda.

Wednesday - Snow day! Kids had the day off school and had a ton of fun while my husband and I tried to work from home.

Thursday - Power walk at lunch (about 1K) + stairs to 7 at lunch, Zumba Curves after dinner. Snuck my daughter in...she's been begging to come...!

Friday - Stairs to 7 in AM; 1.4 power walk outside at lunch. Chilly day!

What I'm reading this week - Never Change by Elizabeth Berg, and Dead Until Dark - the first 'Sookie Stackhouse' book by Charlaine Harris.

Seriously - Step Away from the Cheese

We went away for the weekend at the beginning of this week to spend a couple of days staying with good friends. We have a great time when we get together - they are good friends, amazing hosts, have a very comfortable home, a lovely dog, wonderful kids - and a big yard for everyone to go outside and play.

There is the slight problem that these friends are amazing cooks, who use fresh, natural ingredients in everything that they make. This is a problem? Well - I find myself eating far too much when we're there, and doing a lot of nibbling in between meals. Pickles, fresh fruit and raw veggies are always in reach, however, I find it alarming to notice how much reaching I do for the high-fat foods on the table - this weekend, it was cheese, cream cheese, homemade guacamole, cashews...and more cheese.

I ate so much cheese that I had to sign up for a 5K! My son is going to join me for this one :-)

The result? I'm writing this a few hours after getting home and I'm feeling anxious. Really, really anxious, and I'm having a hard time figuring out why. A small part of it might be feeling guilty for having lost my self control around tempting foods - but I don't think that's really it as I have come to realize that days like these are minor setbacks that I can work off in the days ahead. I think I'm having a crash after eating so many high fat foods in such a short time. Wonder if there's anything to that. 

Lesson learned? I hope so. I feel seriously awful.

OK, Jennifer - repeat after me - Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

The good news? My gym has started their own version of The Biggest Loser. I've publicly committed to trying to lost 10 pounds over the next 3 months. Let's see how I do...!

Here's a recap of this week:

Saturday - Curves workout, then jumped in the car with the family to go out of town for the weekend.

Sunday - Spent the day lounging with our friends before driving back home in the evening. Very relaxing weekend - but (as above) paid hard for it on Sunday evening.

Monday - Stairs to 7 in AM; Curves workout after dinner.

Tuesday - Nothin' much today. Running late in the AM, too busy to get away at lunch (sigh), school open house in the evening. Try again tomorrow.

Wednesday - Stairs to 7 in AM; short walk and stairs to 7 at lunch.

Thursday - Stairs to 7 in AM; short walk at lunch; Zumba Curves after dinner. SO FUN!

Friday - Stairs to 7 in AM; blasted the Gipsy Kings after dinner and gave my daughter a 10-minute Zumba lesson in the kitchen. Talk about fun :-)

What I'm reading this week: Just After Sunset, short stories by Steven King. Pure brain candy.

Move it or Lose it - Cat Edition

Our cat, Zoe, is 8. Rescued as a tiny kitten, she grew up with the two older cats already in our family. Miles and Cora passed on a couple of years ago, and Zoe seemed REALLY happy to be the only cat in the house. However, we gradually noticed over the past year that she's been sleeping a lot (even for a cat) and becoming very, very sedentary.


Zoe on Christmas morning - December 2010

Eight is too young for this sort of thing.

Quick trip to the vet confirmed that she's in perfect health.

Time to shake things up.

There is a pet store in our neighbourhood that takes in kittens and gives them away for free.

Enter...Sally.

Sally joined us in September. Very playful, very affectionate and desperate for Zoe to play with her. First few weeks were pretty...wild...but eventually they sorted things out.

8 hours post-spay and trying to figure out how to play with her mousie - Sally, January 2011

Zoe doesn't spend all day sleeping any more.

The cats chase each other around the house, play with each other, play fight with each other, groom each other and generally spend time together.

Lesson learned - surround yourself with people who have more energy than you do. It will keep you moving!

Here's this week's recap -

Saturday - Had a GREAT workout at Curves. Love how the trainers at this club encourage us to ramp up the cardio that we're doing on the recovery stations in between machines. So, so sweaty! Power walked my daughter to gymnastics and back (1.1K round trip), then home to relax and clean the house.

Sunday - Power walked the kids down to the community centre (1.1K round trip) and went swimming for just over an hour. Great to be back in the pool! 



Think we'll go swimming INSIDE today - Jan 2011

Monday - Lunchtime power walk with Lynda - about 1K.

Tuesday - Stairs to 7 in AM; Curves workout after dinner.

Wednesday - Stairs to 7 after a catered lunch where I completely lost my mind and ate about 1100 calories of fabulous bruschetta, caprese salad on garlic toast, spinach salad and CHEESE.

Thursday - Stairs to 7 in AM; Zumba Curves after dinner. So fun!

Friday - Stairs to 7 in AM; 2.1K power walk at lunch. Been a while since I walked this far - felt so great. I was craving a decent walk earlier this week and am so pleased that I was able to make time today.

What I'm reading this week - Push by Sapphire. Possibly the world's most depressing book...but with a ray of hope shining through.

It Snowed!

Winter in Toronto is brief. December is usually pretty mild, we usually have a light dusting of snow in time for Christmas, and then the snow finally shows up sometime in January...just to melt by March 1st.

I grew up a bit north of the city, where snow showed up just after Halloween and hung around until well after March Break. A few snow days were guaranteed every year. Don't get that around here. In 8 years of school, my kids have had exactly 1/2 of a snow day, and fantasize about what life in snowier regions must be like. We were at my parent's house this past Mother's Day (May 10) and a blizzard showed up - my kids were thrilled!

Sledding day at High Park - January 2011


What are your favourite outdoor activites in the winter? We've never really gotten into skiing but we take the kids sledding and skating as often as we can. They both want to go snowshoeing and I'm regretting not having bought a Living Social deal I saw before Christmas to rent & get lessons for cheap.

Here's a recap from this week -

Saturday - Curves workout followed by short power walk (<1K) and snow shovelling. IT FINALLY SNOWED!

Sunday - Took the kids sledding for about 90 minutes. Went down the hill myself a bunch of times - which meant going back UP it a bunch of time. So much fun!

Monday - Stairs to 7 in AM; Curves workout after dinner.

Tuesday - Recovery day. My knees are tired - the trainers at the new Curves work me harder than at the old club. :-)

Wednesday - Nothing. Snowstorm made me late for work, busy day kept me at my desk all day. Didn't even have time for the stairs. Uck. Good news - Zumba Curves tomorrow!

Wait - if you haven't heard of Zumba or how Curves is working it into their circuit training, check out this video (1 minute):



Thursday - Stairs to 7 in AM, 1.2K power walk at lunch, 0.5K quickie walk after work, then 40 minutes of Zumba and 1/2 of a Curves circuit after dinner. Just a thought - I have GOT to get a pedometer!

 
Zumba was so, so fun! Good and sweaty. Salsa, merengue, samba...took some time to figure out the routines and how to be light on my feet - but I didn't step on anyone! Looking forward to next Thursday's class. Actually found myself doing some of the steps in PharmaPlus afterwards when I was shopping for milk and pencils (wow - what an exciting shopping list). Fortunately the store was pretty empty at the time, so the only person who saw me would have been whomever was watching the security cameras.

Friday - Stairs to 7 in AM and again at lunch. Feet are tired today after Zumba. Time has come to replace my old gym shoes. They are still looking good but are embarrassingly old. Let's see how the new ones do at Curves tomorrow.

What I'm reading this week - At Close Range, short stories by E. Annie Proulx - one of my favourite authors.
 

New sneaks - January 2011 - How do you pose your shoes for pictures?