Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Doo Wop (That Thing)

           I am still working on ways to get moving more. My friend Cindy was kind enough to give my name to a rep at the Lucille Roberts gym she joined.  I currently belong to a gym that I never go to. You may be wondering how I could do this. Well here goes... 1) it's six blocks away from my office, 2) it's close to my old Weight Watchers meeting site that I no longer attend, 3) the best time to workout without a crowd is at 6am in the morning. This requires me to catch a 5am bus. Even though I do like an early morning workout, I hate getting up at 4am.
          So I made an appointment to go to the gym for a tour and to sign on (there was a sale). The rep who signed me up was a petite little lady. She showed me all around the gym while I smiled. And then she did it. She asked me how much weight I want to lose and what was my deadline. Gasp! That's the sound of me clutching my pearls. So I smiled and answered "oh about a hundred pounds". She smiled back like that was a low number and said "and when would you like to lose it by"? I replied "I'm on Weight Watchers". We walked around the gym some more pointing out machines I like when the the rep said " so when do you want to lose the weight by"?( insert perky voice here)  I turned and looked her in the eyes and without removing my smile I said" look here, I did not gain this weight overnight and I ain't gonna lose it overnight. I am 46 years old, probably sliding into menopause as we speak. Weight has been an issue for a long time and I am sure we're gonna have a meeting of the minds some day. Until that day comes, I'm going to keep going to weight watchers, run and come to this gym. We on the same page"? She nodded yes.
         So the next day, which was Friday, I packed my gym bag with my workout clothes and combination lock( I still remember the combination). I was determined that this was my first day in my new gym. To make the deal even sweeter, my job closed early that day because of our holiday party later that night. I texted my friend Cindy that at 3pm I was going directly to the gym. She then informed me that the gym was closed until 4pm for their holiday party. SMH!
          I did get to go to the gym yesterday for the first time. It was fun. I walked on the treadmill( I am still scared to run on the treadmill) for 30 minutes, rode the bike for 30 minutes. Walked on the treadmill for 10 more minutes so that I could talk to Cindy and then I used the leg weight machines. The gym is not a replacement for running. That is still my favorite exercise. But I was definitely getting sloppy and not cross training enough to help with my weight loss. I do not run everyday because I do not want to cause wear and tear on my joints . I am glad Cindy recommended me to the gym because sometimes we need a new start and this may be just the fresh start I needed.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Close To You

the ActiveLink
                    I have not been very diligent in my blogging lately and I don't know why but I'm back. As a long time Weight Watcher not a goal I look forward to this time of year when the new WW gadgets come out and I find new and inspiring ways to get to goal. This year WW has something new for me; the ActiveLink. This is a device very much like my pedometer. It is supposed to give me credit for moving my butt. Unfortunately there is a new sheriff in town. It's called move your butt all day or else. This perplexes me because although I knew I had a sedentary job, working out was part of the package towards a better me. But it turns out that with ActiveLink I can workout and not get to 100%.

what it looks like at 100%
               As the great WW prophet Bob once said to me when I explained why my pedometer is important to me "Oh! You want credit." I almost clutched my pearls when he said this. I was hurt that he called me out on wanting credit for moving my butt.  It turns out that Bob is right. I do want credit darn it. Don't we all want credit for doing things?
              In my search for the holy grail of 100% I have done many things.
  • One night after a long day I noticed it was not quite there, so I did a 20 min DVD at 9pm.
  • I drink a lot of water at work so that I have to go to the bathroom ALOT.
  • Sometimes when I'm in the ladies room stall I do squats.
  • Another night I paced up and down the laundry room, while playing solitaire on my mobile(how's that for multi-tasking?) , much to the distress of my neighbors.
  • I danced up and down the kitchen to rock while cooking dinner. Have you ever stirred a pot and boogied down? You should try it.
  • I also challenged Jake to a dance-off.
  • I gave my hubby a lap dance (after staring at me like I am crazy, he gave me a dollar).
             The moral is you actually can move more during the day if you put your mind to it like it's your final exam. Change is hard.
what it looks like when it's happy