Survived the Semester (written December 13)

Okay, so I am going to tell you the good news before I apologize for being a posting loser. I finished another semester of school, and I am only 5 months from graduation. I managed to lose 10 pounds this semester, and I survived the dreaded Halloween to end of semester Valley of stressful Death period without gaining any permanent weight. I bobbled up and down a bit, but was the same in the final analysis.

I am still exercising, but it has been hard to be as consistent as I want to be. I was sick from mid Oct to mid Nov, so the exercise slowed down a bit in Nov. But I got back on the horse. Then I hit end of the semester stress and started another part time job (that makes 3 part time jobs), so the exercise took a back seat for a couple of weeks again.

The good report is that I exercised 36 min this morning and took a 45 min walk this evening for a total of 81 fitness minutes today.

I am still doing my 3-pronged circuit routine that I can do at home.
1 - Lateral thigh trainer
2 - Dumbbell dancing
3 - Floor exercises

I had to adjust my goal of 420 min per week to an average of 300 min per week. This goal is doable and attainable. Attainability is one of the markers of a good goal.

I used the community college gym some at the beginning of the semester; however, I had to drop that because I only had class on campus 2 days a week and could not afford to drive there on the other days; then our schedule changed to only 1 day on campus, so it was not working for me.

I do apologize for not checking in regularly, but then I think again about goal-setting and how it has to be attainable; otherwise, for me, it is not a good goal. So I am going to set the goal of posting something here at least once a month.

Failure is Not an Option

The infamous attitude of Gene Kranz and his team during the Apollo 13 manned mission was summed up by writers for the Ron Howard movie Apollo 13 with the words, "Failure is not an option."

My plight doesn't rise to the epic crisis of bringing a crew of astronauts safely back to earth after explosions created a life and death situation. However, this is my life, and it is epic to me. I must be the hero in my own saga. Failure is not an option.

I have used a lot of things as excuses to not exercise. My grown and almost grown kids have a lot of stuff in my house, and I have used that as an excuse not to exercise, because I "didn't have room to pull out the treadmill and the thigh trainer, etc....." But that has changed this week. I now have set up in the den, which has been my son's "space" previously.

Now you may think my new effort is somewhat anticlimactic compared to the reference to the Apollo 13 mission, but it is really the same. During the Apollo 13 crisis Gene Kranz and his team had to use what was available to the astronauts to come up with a solution to the problem. In the same way, I have had to use what I have to come up with a solution to the problem.

What I have available to me:

den

floor

pillows

dumbbells

thigh trainer

treadmill

tv

tivo

remote control

pandora

online stopwatch

Now I didn't have an explosion like the Apollo 13 mission, but in a way I did or do.

I have had problems with my back for 23 years now. It is a fact of my life and requires a certain amount of management and working around it.

All of the "trainers" do not seem to understand that I am never going to be able to increase my weights or jump or run. I can't do that little machine at the gym that you have to lean into. All of these things throw my back or shoulder or neck out, and I am in some level of discomfort ranging from mild numbness, tightness and tingling to debilitating pain.

If I do the regimen that I know I can do, it is a good regimen, and it works:

20-25 minutes of dancing to music I love with dumbbells in hand.

20-25 minutes floor exercises:  leg lifts, gut lifts, dumbbell arm exercises

10 minutes of Lateral Thigh Trainer

I have had to adjust the way I do my floor exercises.  There are no conventional abdominal crunches in my life. The neck can't take it.  I put a couple of pillows under my head and one under my butt.  I stretch my arms above my head and hold onto the underside of the couch which anchors my upper body, so things don't "pop" out.  Then I lift my legs instead of my upper body.  I do an assortment of leg lifts:  small movements up and down, longer movements up and down, bent knees pulled in toward my abdomen.  I make sure I can feel the use of my core muscles to complete the movements; because of my limitations in other areas, I tend to do higher reps than would be recommended for someone else.  I, also, turn slightly to each side to try to use the muscles on both sides of my rib cage.  These movements are my abdominal crunches, and, ironically, I think they are actually more effective than traditional crunches.

My explosion has lasted for 23 years.  I work around it every day of my life.

But that is okay.  I am still headed home . . to the place that I am supposed to be.  I am supposed to be me, in my real skin.  My real skin is not nearly so cumbersome or such a burden.  My real skin is a place of freedom to be who and what I want to be.

Home is the destination, and failure is not an option.

Day 17,856 Losing weight

Day 17,856 marks how many days I have been on this earth to date.  I used this web site, timeanddate.com , to do the calculation for me. .  . I love the internet!  Today I start anew, in fact, everyday I start anew. 

My goal is to accomplish my 2012 plan.  I will finish my Bachelor's degree in 2012.  I will be 50 pounds lighter no later than 2012, and I will be a wonderful 50 year old.

Today, I woke up and could hardly move; my left hip was stiff.  The good news is that the stiffness is due to DANCING with my husband last night.  We didn't plan on doing that, but my husband, who is not Mr. impromptu, indulged me.  He loves me! 

We actually started the evening by stopping by Old City Java to see the Knoxville debut of artist Annie Rochelle.  Then we stopped by The Old City Wine Bar to see owner Ray Adelman.  On the way back to the car, we stopped by NV Night Club, where we found out that NV stands for "envy", duh!  We sat outside for about 30 minutes, before I had to find the restroom, whereupon, I discovered the indoor dance floor.  We danced for about 45 minutes!

So the point of all of this is that I was DOWN A POUND this morning!!

For better or for worse, I may blog in a stream of consciousness kind of way.  Just hang in there with me!