Well people, here I am... back home and ready to go. The only problem is that my husband is not quite as ready to go as I am... We got back into town yesterday, so naturally I was ready to get back into the swing of things with Tuesday night Spin Class at Abrams. I thought that me and the hub had communicated that Spin class was taking place today AND tomorrow. Well, I guess there was some confusion. "So what?" you might say... "Just go anyways". Well here's the thing... I'm trying to make up for seven months without him, so to leave him for only an hour is terribly hard. I had to go to the grocery store yesterday and that was definitely not as fun as it could have been had he been with me... simply because he could be. So yes, I am caving in... I'm not going to spin class, and I am probably going to end up eating instead. Dang. Any and all of you Army spouses know what I am talking about. It's quite difficult to let them out of your sight unless absolutely necessary (we're talking bathroom breaks here, people... thats it).
I will say, that during my three week vacation I managed to work out an amount of times that can only be counted on one hand. Shame on me. I started out well, though! The first day of my vacation to the lake my sister and I went for a run. It felt good to run up north, where you can actually breath because the temperature is at a normal number for human lungs. Because of all of our activities (of which are SO different than my day to day life) I found myself being the first to bed every night, and far too tired to go out and do more activities. Am I making excuses? Possibly. Am I not as much of an athlete as I thought? Yes, this is true. I will say that I am quite anxious to get back on the horse and keep up with my efforts to become a stud. I have also picked up some useful information regarding diet, of which I intend to put forth full effort in changing in our lives as a family. Let me just say, it is terribly hard to have a good understanding of the do's and don'ts of "eating healthy". Namely, all of the "diet" foods that are offered. Low fat breads, cheeses, crackers, meats, drinks... all of it is actually doing the opposite of what you want it to do. So I'm trying to lean more in the direction of "sugar free". You should give it a try, too!
Alright, well my honey's off trying to make dinner so I'm going to go help him. I'll be sure to give you a detailed description of my hellish spin experience tomorrow!
Peace, love & lazy feeling lovebirds
Showing posts with label couch potato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label couch potato. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Groovin' My Body
Hello, all of my Spuds, Studs and everyone in between.
I made it safely to my Northern abode. Let me tell you, it is amazing how quickly you can forget things about a place where you've spent most of your life.
It's amazingly green and lush up here.
I wanted to let you all know that I will be in no-man's land for the next five or six days, livin' it up old school, with no internet. But rest assured, I will be keeping my booty off of that couch. If you remember from my very first post, I introduced you to my metabolically gifted brother, and pain-loving sister... well they will be enjoying this little vaca with me, along with the rest of the crew (16 in all), so we are planning on getting lots of exercise and physically strenuous activities in. I'm really excited about this!
*Let me interject quick and brag about myself for a second. While spending the night in the middle of Kansas somewhere, at, what I would consider, a 2.75 star hotel, I layed a towel down on the floor and spent about 20 minutes stretching and doing some yoga postures. Yep, even on a long road trip I'm managing to do more than just sit on my behind. Props to me.
For the past few years Minnesota has decorated it's highways and freeways with billboards encouraging people to "groove their body 10 minutes, 3 times a day". So, while in MN, I will be doing as she asks... groovin' this bod as much as I can.
I will miss telling you about my ever so exciting life, but be ready for some mildly entertaining stories when I return.
Keep that booty groovin'.
Peace, love & booty shakin'
I made it safely to my Northern abode. Let me tell you, it is amazing how quickly you can forget things about a place where you've spent most of your life.
It's amazingly green and lush up here.
I wanted to let you all know that I will be in no-man's land for the next five or six days, livin' it up old school, with no internet. But rest assured, I will be keeping my booty off of that couch. If you remember from my very first post, I introduced you to my metabolically gifted brother, and pain-loving sister... well they will be enjoying this little vaca with me, along with the rest of the crew (16 in all), so we are planning on getting lots of exercise and physically strenuous activities in. I'm really excited about this!
*Let me interject quick and brag about myself for a second. While spending the night in the middle of Kansas somewhere, at, what I would consider, a 2.75 star hotel, I layed a towel down on the floor and spent about 20 minutes stretching and doing some yoga postures. Yep, even on a long road trip I'm managing to do more than just sit on my behind. Props to me.
For the past few years Minnesota has decorated it's highways and freeways with billboards encouraging people to "groove their body 10 minutes, 3 times a day". So, while in MN, I will be doing as she asks... groovin' this bod as much as I can.
I will miss telling you about my ever so exciting life, but be ready for some mildly entertaining stories when I return.
Keep that booty groovin'.
Peace, love & booty shakin'
Monday, July 18, 2011
LOST: Motivation
REWARD: $1,000,000
If found, please report to
Laura Jean's couch where
you will most likely find
her.
Guys, I don't know what's happened. I am experiencing a motivation drought. Maybe it's because the day is drawing near where I will finally be reunited with my bestest of friends, T-Money. Maybe it's because I'm anticipating being out of my normal routine for a few weeks. Maybe it is that I have peaked in my new-found active lifestyle, and I am finding myself tempted to revert back to my spud-like ways. Oh Lord, I pray it is not the last one. I definitely still enjoy spending five of my days a week being active, sweating, and challenging myself, don't get me wrong, but that drive to push harder than the last time seems to have taken some vacation days. I'm running a 5k in Minneapolis at the end of the month, and I've been spending so much time trying to improve my short distance run time that I believe I am completely unprepared for the 5k. But I realized today on the treadmill that the area where I need the most preparation is mentally. Why do I so easily give up on myself? This is not only common in my physical life, but in my emotional, my spiritual and my every day life. What is it that makes us (or me, rather) want to give up so easily? Maybe it is because we become so comfortable in the life that we are familiar with, that to imagine ourselves achieving something we've never done before seems scary. Not scary because of the nature of the achievement, but scary to let ourselves truly and vulnerably believe in ourselves. I think I become so fearful of failure that I would rather just let myself down on purpose than to try and try and realize that I can't do something. Perfection... it's such an ugly beast. But don't we all strive for it?
Well today I went to the Wellness Center to get my body fat percentage measured to see if it's improved since last time. I've lost 2% more than when I last checked... so I am heading in the right direction! S-L-O-W-L-Y. But slowly is better than not at all.
I was hoping to be able to get my tape measurements from the last time I was there, but unfortunately they were unable to find them... and I threw the book away that had them from back in February... so today's lesson is: write your starting measurements out and store them in a safe place.
I ran for about 25 minutes today, and I'm trying to run at faster speeds than 4.8... that's really more of a jog and I would like to be able to have some more flexibility in my running. I wanted to say that I stopped after 25 minutes because it was hard running that much faster, but the truth is, it wasn't really. I was just bored. Why do I get so bored? *sigh*
Core class tomorrow. Can't wait to make my abs hurt like crazy. I've been potentially given an opportunity to teach a class such as Core... but I feel as though because I lack in the simple abilities to complete half of the exercises as they should be, that I am not a qualified option for them to use. M says thats not true, but I'm not sure if I believe her. Thoughts? If you were in a class where the instructor couldn't necessarily go as hard as you, but still made sure to keep the counts steady and made sure the class was challenged, would you consider them to be an adequate teacher?
I need a massage.
Peace, love & million dollar rewards
If found, please report to
Laura Jean's couch where
you will most likely find
her.
Guys, I don't know what's happened. I am experiencing a motivation drought. Maybe it's because the day is drawing near where I will finally be reunited with my bestest of friends, T-Money. Maybe it's because I'm anticipating being out of my normal routine for a few weeks. Maybe it is that I have peaked in my new-found active lifestyle, and I am finding myself tempted to revert back to my spud-like ways. Oh Lord, I pray it is not the last one. I definitely still enjoy spending five of my days a week being active, sweating, and challenging myself, don't get me wrong, but that drive to push harder than the last time seems to have taken some vacation days. I'm running a 5k in Minneapolis at the end of the month, and I've been spending so much time trying to improve my short distance run time that I believe I am completely unprepared for the 5k. But I realized today on the treadmill that the area where I need the most preparation is mentally. Why do I so easily give up on myself? This is not only common in my physical life, but in my emotional, my spiritual and my every day life. What is it that makes us (or me, rather) want to give up so easily? Maybe it is because we become so comfortable in the life that we are familiar with, that to imagine ourselves achieving something we've never done before seems scary. Not scary because of the nature of the achievement, but scary to let ourselves truly and vulnerably believe in ourselves. I think I become so fearful of failure that I would rather just let myself down on purpose than to try and try and realize that I can't do something. Perfection... it's such an ugly beast. But don't we all strive for it?
Well today I went to the Wellness Center to get my body fat percentage measured to see if it's improved since last time. I've lost 2% more than when I last checked... so I am heading in the right direction! S-L-O-W-L-Y. But slowly is better than not at all.
I was hoping to be able to get my tape measurements from the last time I was there, but unfortunately they were unable to find them... and I threw the book away that had them from back in February... so today's lesson is: write your starting measurements out and store them in a safe place.
I ran for about 25 minutes today, and I'm trying to run at faster speeds than 4.8... that's really more of a jog and I would like to be able to have some more flexibility in my running. I wanted to say that I stopped after 25 minutes because it was hard running that much faster, but the truth is, it wasn't really. I was just bored. Why do I get so bored? *sigh*
Core class tomorrow. Can't wait to make my abs hurt like crazy. I've been potentially given an opportunity to teach a class such as Core... but I feel as though because I lack in the simple abilities to complete half of the exercises as they should be, that I am not a qualified option for them to use. M says thats not true, but I'm not sure if I believe her. Thoughts? If you were in a class where the instructor couldn't necessarily go as hard as you, but still made sure to keep the counts steady and made sure the class was challenged, would you consider them to be an adequate teacher?
I need a massage.
Peace, love & million dollar rewards
Thursday, July 14, 2011
So. Very. Tired.
So. Very. Sore.
These workouts this week have been draining me. The weird thing is I'm not doing anything really out of the ordinary, with the exception of some intervals. I guess it's just one of those weeks.
Core Dynamics was HARD today. One would think that after taking a class for months on end you would be able to be a little bit more impressive with your performance.. not the case, my friends. Definitely not the case.
Read about some very interesting different workouts that I'm thinking of adding to my routine. I am enticed by these variations to the plank. I also think that these look kind of fun (call me crazy, I know... I said "fun"). I think it's important to really look into good variations to your usual routine, so that you don't get bored and so that you keep your muscles "on their toes". But, as my wise friend told me, be sure you are taking precautions. You definitely won't be turning into a stud if an injury gets in your way. Only do what you know you are capable of, and maybe work up to the more challenging exercises. Remember, the girls who "demonstrate" in the magazines are completely different beings than us... They get paid to work out and have hot bods. We don't.
Alright, all you little potatoes and pretties, I'm outta here.
Peace, love & a comfortable bed
These workouts this week have been draining me. The weird thing is I'm not doing anything really out of the ordinary, with the exception of some intervals. I guess it's just one of those weeks.
Core Dynamics was HARD today. One would think that after taking a class for months on end you would be able to be a little bit more impressive with your performance.. not the case, my friends. Definitely not the case.
Read about some very interesting different workouts that I'm thinking of adding to my routine. I am enticed by these variations to the plank. I also think that these look kind of fun (call me crazy, I know... I said "fun"). I think it's important to really look into good variations to your usual routine, so that you don't get bored and so that you keep your muscles "on their toes". But, as my wise friend told me, be sure you are taking precautions. You definitely won't be turning into a stud if an injury gets in your way. Only do what you know you are capable of, and maybe work up to the more challenging exercises. Remember, the girls who "demonstrate" in the magazines are completely different beings than us... They get paid to work out and have hot bods. We don't.
Alright, all you little potatoes and pretties, I'm outta here.
Peace, love & a comfortable bed
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Intervals
I treated myself yesterday to a lovely coffee/chat date with a friend I haven't seen in quite some time. I suggested meeting at Barnes and Noble so that I could check out some magazines, get what I wanted from them, and leave without spending a dime. After we were through visiting, I went to the magazine racks, picked out four that appealed to me, and went to the comfy chairs to peruse. One of the magazines I picked up was Women's Runner (or something to that effect). There was a ton of wonderful information in there, and I have to say, if you want to get motivated to exercise, try investing in one of the neat "gadgets" they feature in those magazines. I made a mental list of at least five things I want to invest in someday, one of which is a heart rate monitor and watch that works without the use of a chest strap. Sounds fantastic! That would DEFINITELY get me out and increasing my heart rate more often (at least for a little while). Anyways, I stumbled across this little box that gave guidelines for Interval Training. It goes as follows:
3 min. jog to warm up
15 second sprint (at 8mph and 12% incline)
15 second rest (feet on the sides of the treadmill, with the belt continuing below you at max speed)
15 second on/off intervals for 3-4 minutes
3 min walk to cool down
Now, as you all know, I am not a super athlete, so I adjusted the speed and incline slightly to make it a little more realistic for a woman such as myself. But I'm getting ahead of myself..
Last night I could not sleep... I think it might be because I was SO excited about a couple of things that I just couldn't get myself into "Z" mode, so I fell asleep with the tv on at around 2am. I woke up to infomercials, and I was hooked for a longer-than-necessary amount of time. I partially watched two different informercials selling home workout programs that mostly consisted of high-intensity workouts that didn't last as long as your average hour or so at the gym. So between seeing all those hot abs on tv and remembering my new insight into intervals, I got ready for the gym with a lot of spunk in my step, ready to sweat like a pig with the expectation of someday looking like an infomercial mama.
I actually REALLY enjoyed the intervals. I mean, they were really REALLY hard, but it's crazy how fast you can start to really sweat. I did the ten minutes or so, and then I did about another three minutes of intervals and a cool down. All together I was on the treadmill for fifteen minutes. It felt great. But something funny happened... as I walked to the yoga room to do some strength training, the spunk that seemed to be present before mysteriously began to vanish with every stride. I did do some pikes, some push ups, and some leg lifts, so it didn't completely disappear, but it's pretty safe to assume that my abs look the same as they did when I woke up this morning. I was able to do about twenty minutes of stretching and some yoga postures, so that was definitely beneficial after tightening up my leg muscles on the treadmill.
It was good to start my Saturday off with a bang, and I was so happy to see so many others at the gym doing the same thing! Lots of ladies enjoying some booty shaking bliss at Zumba, too... if you haven't tried that before, you just have to! It's a blast.
Peace, love & bashful abdominals
3 min. jog to warm up
15 second sprint (at 8mph and 12% incline)
15 second rest (feet on the sides of the treadmill, with the belt continuing below you at max speed)
15 second on/off intervals for 3-4 minutes
3 min walk to cool down
Now, as you all know, I am not a super athlete, so I adjusted the speed and incline slightly to make it a little more realistic for a woman such as myself. But I'm getting ahead of myself..
Last night I could not sleep... I think it might be because I was SO excited about a couple of things that I just couldn't get myself into "Z" mode, so I fell asleep with the tv on at around 2am. I woke up to infomercials, and I was hooked for a longer-than-necessary amount of time. I partially watched two different informercials selling home workout programs that mostly consisted of high-intensity workouts that didn't last as long as your average hour or so at the gym. So between seeing all those hot abs on tv and remembering my new insight into intervals, I got ready for the gym with a lot of spunk in my step, ready to sweat like a pig with the expectation of someday looking like an infomercial mama.
I actually REALLY enjoyed the intervals. I mean, they were really REALLY hard, but it's crazy how fast you can start to really sweat. I did the ten minutes or so, and then I did about another three minutes of intervals and a cool down. All together I was on the treadmill for fifteen minutes. It felt great. But something funny happened... as I walked to the yoga room to do some strength training, the spunk that seemed to be present before mysteriously began to vanish with every stride. I did do some pikes, some push ups, and some leg lifts, so it didn't completely disappear, but it's pretty safe to assume that my abs look the same as they did when I woke up this morning. I was able to do about twenty minutes of stretching and some yoga postures, so that was definitely beneficial after tightening up my leg muscles on the treadmill.
It was good to start my Saturday off with a bang, and I was so happy to see so many others at the gym doing the same thing! Lots of ladies enjoying some booty shaking bliss at Zumba, too... if you haven't tried that before, you just have to! It's a blast.
Peace, love & bashful abdominals
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Achy, Breaky Hips
Maybe I'm older than I thought. Or maybe my hips are older than I thought. Both of these are things to consider, although extremely unlikely. I completed my very first 5k, and my reward for all of my hard work has been alternating pain in both of my hips... but at least they've been nice enough to alternate, and not both hurt at the same time. How thoughtful of you, dear sweet hips. I appreciate all that you do for me.
I'm sure you're all surprised that I did not jump on my blog, still sweaty, after completing my run, so I could tell you all about it. Call it the potato in me, but I just didn't feel like it. So I shall recall to you all the events as they played out. (Ok, not all of them because that would be a long, uneventful story).
I decided to bring Lily, my adorable little puggle baby, with me to the race to participate along side me. She was quite excited to be leaving the house with just me, and no Theodore (the other chunky puggle baby, who is much more of a potato than basically anyone else). We showed up, got all ready to go, with the ipod set, calorie counter counting, and heart rate monitor monitoring. We sang the national anthem, got ourselves ready to go, and with the shot of a gun (not really) we were off. Lily was quite freaked, I must say. For a dog that is about a foot and a half tall, all of the legs running around her was a little nightmare-ish. As we were running, she kept trying to jump up on my legs, as to express to me her fear of her surroundings. So we made our way to the outside of the bunch and kept going. By 8:00, it was already quite warm outside (Husband, dear, I am sorry to complain. I know that you are enduring significantly worse heat than I) and my hat and sunglasses weren't really doing much to keep the heat of the sun from hindering my performance. But we kept trekking along, and Lily seemed to be enjoying herself. We did have to make a couple of stops to walk (due to my lack of stamina, not hers) but we ended up completing the race in 37 minutes and 45 seconds. I have to say, the excitement of knowing that, for the first time in the 26 years of my life, I took part and completed an organized race was quite thrilling. For most people who have been involved in sports most of their lives this may seem like no big deal, but for an ever quitting couch potato such as myself, it was quite wonderful. I know my time wasn't the best it could be, and I know that I didn't run the whole entire time like I wanted to, but I completed it. And you have to start somewhere, right?
Another observation that I made is that people really, truly do end up looking like their dogs. I saw many examples of this while running and used that as a means of distraction to get through some of the long stretches.
In other news, I am participating in a 30 day yoga challenge (of which I already missed day 2... sheesh! Sorry Caitlin!). I am feeling mixed emotions about this because I know that it will be very advantageous for a cripply old lady like myself, but the process is just not as enjoyable as it should be (for the same reason). I am not flexible. My muscles are always tight. And I lose interest fast. So, with that said, this will be a really good discipline for me to exercise over these next 30 days. If you would also like to take the challenge, you can click on the banner at the top of my page to get more information.
Now off to find ways of entertaining myself on this very hot Sunday afternoon.
Peace, love & compression bras
I'm sure you're all surprised that I did not jump on my blog, still sweaty, after completing my run, so I could tell you all about it. Call it the potato in me, but I just didn't feel like it. So I shall recall to you all the events as they played out. (Ok, not all of them because that would be a long, uneventful story).
I decided to bring Lily, my adorable little puggle baby, with me to the race to participate along side me. She was quite excited to be leaving the house with just me, and no Theodore (the other chunky puggle baby, who is much more of a potato than basically anyone else). We showed up, got all ready to go, with the ipod set, calorie counter counting, and heart rate monitor monitoring. We sang the national anthem, got ourselves ready to go, and with the shot of a gun (not really) we were off. Lily was quite freaked, I must say. For a dog that is about a foot and a half tall, all of the legs running around her was a little nightmare-ish. As we were running, she kept trying to jump up on my legs, as to express to me her fear of her surroundings. So we made our way to the outside of the bunch and kept going. By 8:00, it was already quite warm outside (Husband, dear, I am sorry to complain. I know that you are enduring significantly worse heat than I) and my hat and sunglasses weren't really doing much to keep the heat of the sun from hindering my performance. But we kept trekking along, and Lily seemed to be enjoying herself. We did have to make a couple of stops to walk (due to my lack of stamina, not hers) but we ended up completing the race in 37 minutes and 45 seconds. I have to say, the excitement of knowing that, for the first time in the 26 years of my life, I took part and completed an organized race was quite thrilling. For most people who have been involved in sports most of their lives this may seem like no big deal, but for an ever quitting couch potato such as myself, it was quite wonderful. I know my time wasn't the best it could be, and I know that I didn't run the whole entire time like I wanted to, but I completed it. And you have to start somewhere, right?
Another observation that I made is that people really, truly do end up looking like their dogs. I saw many examples of this while running and used that as a means of distraction to get through some of the long stretches.
In other news, I am participating in a 30 day yoga challenge (of which I already missed day 2... sheesh! Sorry Caitlin!). I am feeling mixed emotions about this because I know that it will be very advantageous for a cripply old lady like myself, but the process is just not as enjoyable as it should be (for the same reason). I am not flexible. My muscles are always tight. And I lose interest fast. So, with that said, this will be a really good discipline for me to exercise over these next 30 days. If you would also like to take the challenge, you can click on the banner at the top of my page to get more information.
Now off to find ways of entertaining myself on this very hot Sunday afternoon.
Peace, love & compression bras
Monday, June 20, 2011
Git 'Er Done
So that lovely lady on the right is me. My name is Laura. I am a self professed couch potato and have been all of my life. I come from a rather typical family, one athletic and highly metabolized brother, and two sisters, one of which exercises and kills herself physically for the pure enjoyment of it, and the other who is more like me... easily finds other, more important things to do with her time than spend three hours on a bicycle, near black out stage. I will say, she has proved to be even more determined in the area of fitness than I, and has shown me, many times, how to implement simple activities into your day, even with 4 kids.
Quickly about me. I am the youngest in my family by 8 years, so I guess you could say I grew up a little bit like an only child. Having said that, I will come out and say that I had it extremely easy. I was the little baby girl, and I learned very early on the art of persuasion. I can (not)proudly say that I have started and quit the following activities, all with my powers of persuasion: Softball, Piano, Basketball, Volleyball, Hockey, Cheerleading, Saxophone, Track & Field (of which I rocked at the hurdles, by the way), Snowboarding, Drawing, Cycling... and I think that brings you up to date. Should one be proud of such a list? Definitely not. I could use my five year struggle with Ulcerative Colitis and total Colectomy as an excuse, but the reality is, all of those things fall beautifully around that whole experience, which doesn't allow me to do so. So let's skip all of the psychology and questioning and get straight to the point. I, Laura Jean, have skillfully crafted the art of laziness and disbelief. Disbelief, you ask? Yes, I have, with years of not very hard work, mastered the ability to convince myself of how very incapable I am of achieving seemingly small, workable goals. For example: I am a crafter. I would craft 24/7 if I could, but I can't because once I reach about 63% completion on any given project, I have successfully convinced myself that it is far too boring to finish right now, and that I will come back to it later when I feel like it. This, my friends, is why I currently have eight unfini... no nine unfinished projects in my house. But let's talk about the potato part of this whole deal. I'm not active. We've established that. I think, that somewhere along the lines, God maybe made a last minute switch, and that I was supposed to be one of those really tall skinny girls who can eat some 2300 calories a day and actually lose weight... maybe... no? Alright, well thats what I tell myself, anyways. Five months ago I would have made the following statement, "If I could live my life without having to go to the gym or exert myself beyond the occasional hike or bike ride, I would be more than content with my lot." The idea was daunting, to say the very least. Beyond the obvious reasons why a lazy person does not want to exercise, there were the physical obstacles that stood in the way. Here's the deal, all of you thinly blessed men and women, you don't quite understand the emotional mountain one has to climb to be seen in the gym when they don't already look like an athlete. We all know what the buff babes and muscle men are thinking... "Wow, look at him, he can barely keep a walking pace on that treadmill. That won't last long." Or, "What is that chick doing on the circuit machines? She has obviously never used them and probably won't again." So, thats not what you think? Hmm, well thats what we THINK that you think. Ladies and Gentlemen, the mind is our greatest obstacle in overcoming any sort of hurdle we have in life... and so you know my story, and so many others. A normal day at the gym for me used to be, walk in, go on the elliptical (because it was the one cardio machine that I looked like I could really go hard, when in reality, it was only because the nature of the elliptical is to make you look like you're working your a** off when the resistance is really set to 1). After about 20 minutes (which originally was supposed to be 45, but due to boredom and the reminder of my "extra love" bouncing all around with every stride, was quickly cut by more than half) I would make my way near the "weight lifting" area of the gym, sit at a machine, do one set, and quickly leave. Who was I kidding? I didn't know what the heck I was doing, and I was not about to let all of the meat heads watch me try to figure it out. This is why 24 hour gyms are an answered prayer for insecure potatoes like me.
Ok, ok, now you've gotten an unnecessarily long introduction into the mind of this unabashedly lazy woman... so what's the deal with five months ago? Well, that would be when my husband left for his first tour of duty overseas. Last fall, he left for a month and I gave Zumba a go, and through the embarrassment and insecurity, I ended the month on my own feeling really good about myself, and seeing changes in my body. But any military wife knows that all of your efforts to health and fitness fly incredibly fast out that window as soon as that soldier of yours walks back through the door. I feel that in the society we live in, it is less common to socialize in an active setting, and more common to do something involving chairs and food that is horribly bad for you. So mine came back, and we ate, and sat, and ate, and I discovered that the difference between he and I (other than his high metabolism) was that he was actually waking up every morning for PT, while I slept, leaving me to be the one in the equation who actually was eating and not moving. Not to mention the wonderful ability food has to comfort and aid you in an emotional time of need. Anyways, the time came for him to go, and once he did I asked myself what my goal was going to be while he was gone. I had heard a lot about the Resiliency Campus on post and knew that they offered everything from fitness classes to dietitians to counselors so I decided to give them a shot. I went into this experience with my goal not relating to a number of pounds I wanted to lose, or a size I wanted to be, but to simply be able to go running with my husband when he returned. You see, I have never been able to really run in all of my adult life. My short stint in track and field was in 7th grade, and consisted mostly of hurdles and shot put. The longest I could consistently run was never more than four minutes... max. In these five months I have completed the following:
* Three meetings with the Army Wellness Center Dietitian
*Five months of consistent attendance at Core Dynamics, twice a week
*Four months of consistent Spin Class attendance, twice a week
*Multiple attempts at running two miles outside (listen people, I'm from MN... it's so dang hot outside that running nearly kills me!)
*Beginning my running career at three minute run/walk intervals and currently running a 5k in 32 minutes all the way through.
Am I an athlete? Hardly! Do I feel more confident in the gym, around all those hot dudes and chicks? Not in the least! Do I enjoy sweating so badly that I need to not only hold a towel but use it? You bet your tight little toned buns I do! Never in my life have I felt such a sense of achievement as I have in seeing myself begin to reach this goal. I am just your average woman. I cannot do a full sit up (not even with my legs being held down), I still do girly push ups (although I can maybe knock out one and a half real ones) and I spend nearly all 32 minutes of my run trying to convince myself of all of the reasons why I need to stop and walk. It's the excitement I experience when I bust through that last run time and beat it, even by 30 seconds and keeps me going. And most importantly, it is having a husband, family and friends to celebrate these small miracles with me. Because for a woman like me, thats just what they are... miracles. So, with all of that said, you now have the ability, thanks to the public nature of blogs and my inability to not share my moderately exciting active lifestyle with everyone, to witness me go from a lovely little soft potato, completely comfortable on her couch to a mildly attractive, extremely sweaty and wonderfully average babe who is really beginning to dig the treadmill. And maybe, just maybe you will get to see the day I become more comfortable with the free weights.
Peace, love...
& compression bras
Quickly about me. I am the youngest in my family by 8 years, so I guess you could say I grew up a little bit like an only child. Having said that, I will come out and say that I had it extremely easy. I was the little baby girl, and I learned very early on the art of persuasion. I can (not)proudly say that I have started and quit the following activities, all with my powers of persuasion: Softball, Piano, Basketball, Volleyball, Hockey, Cheerleading, Saxophone, Track & Field (of which I rocked at the hurdles, by the way), Snowboarding, Drawing, Cycling... and I think that brings you up to date. Should one be proud of such a list? Definitely not. I could use my five year struggle with Ulcerative Colitis and total Colectomy as an excuse, but the reality is, all of those things fall beautifully around that whole experience, which doesn't allow me to do so. So let's skip all of the psychology and questioning and get straight to the point. I, Laura Jean, have skillfully crafted the art of laziness and disbelief. Disbelief, you ask? Yes, I have, with years of not very hard work, mastered the ability to convince myself of how very incapable I am of achieving seemingly small, workable goals. For example: I am a crafter. I would craft 24/7 if I could, but I can't because once I reach about 63% completion on any given project, I have successfully convinced myself that it is far too boring to finish right now, and that I will come back to it later when I feel like it. This, my friends, is why I currently have eight unfini... no nine unfinished projects in my house. But let's talk about the potato part of this whole deal. I'm not active. We've established that. I think, that somewhere along the lines, God maybe made a last minute switch, and that I was supposed to be one of those really tall skinny girls who can eat some 2300 calories a day and actually lose weight... maybe... no? Alright, well thats what I tell myself, anyways. Five months ago I would have made the following statement, "If I could live my life without having to go to the gym or exert myself beyond the occasional hike or bike ride, I would be more than content with my lot." The idea was daunting, to say the very least. Beyond the obvious reasons why a lazy person does not want to exercise, there were the physical obstacles that stood in the way. Here's the deal, all of you thinly blessed men and women, you don't quite understand the emotional mountain one has to climb to be seen in the gym when they don't already look like an athlete. We all know what the buff babes and muscle men are thinking... "Wow, look at him, he can barely keep a walking pace on that treadmill. That won't last long." Or, "What is that chick doing on the circuit machines? She has obviously never used them and probably won't again." So, thats not what you think? Hmm, well thats what we THINK that you think. Ladies and Gentlemen, the mind is our greatest obstacle in overcoming any sort of hurdle we have in life... and so you know my story, and so many others. A normal day at the gym for me used to be, walk in, go on the elliptical (because it was the one cardio machine that I looked like I could really go hard, when in reality, it was only because the nature of the elliptical is to make you look like you're working your a** off when the resistance is really set to 1). After about 20 minutes (which originally was supposed to be 45, but due to boredom and the reminder of my "extra love" bouncing all around with every stride, was quickly cut by more than half) I would make my way near the "weight lifting" area of the gym, sit at a machine, do one set, and quickly leave. Who was I kidding? I didn't know what the heck I was doing, and I was not about to let all of the meat heads watch me try to figure it out. This is why 24 hour gyms are an answered prayer for insecure potatoes like me.
Ok, ok, now you've gotten an unnecessarily long introduction into the mind of this unabashedly lazy woman... so what's the deal with five months ago? Well, that would be when my husband left for his first tour of duty overseas. Last fall, he left for a month and I gave Zumba a go, and through the embarrassment and insecurity, I ended the month on my own feeling really good about myself, and seeing changes in my body. But any military wife knows that all of your efforts to health and fitness fly incredibly fast out that window as soon as that soldier of yours walks back through the door. I feel that in the society we live in, it is less common to socialize in an active setting, and more common to do something involving chairs and food that is horribly bad for you. So mine came back, and we ate, and sat, and ate, and I discovered that the difference between he and I (other than his high metabolism) was that he was actually waking up every morning for PT, while I slept, leaving me to be the one in the equation who actually was eating and not moving. Not to mention the wonderful ability food has to comfort and aid you in an emotional time of need. Anyways, the time came for him to go, and once he did I asked myself what my goal was going to be while he was gone. I had heard a lot about the Resiliency Campus on post and knew that they offered everything from fitness classes to dietitians to counselors so I decided to give them a shot. I went into this experience with my goal not relating to a number of pounds I wanted to lose, or a size I wanted to be, but to simply be able to go running with my husband when he returned. You see, I have never been able to really run in all of my adult life. My short stint in track and field was in 7th grade, and consisted mostly of hurdles and shot put. The longest I could consistently run was never more than four minutes... max. In these five months I have completed the following:
* Three meetings with the Army Wellness Center Dietitian
*Five months of consistent attendance at Core Dynamics, twice a week
*Four months of consistent Spin Class attendance, twice a week
*Multiple attempts at running two miles outside (listen people, I'm from MN... it's so dang hot outside that running nearly kills me!)
*Beginning my running career at three minute run/walk intervals and currently running a 5k in 32 minutes all the way through.
Am I an athlete? Hardly! Do I feel more confident in the gym, around all those hot dudes and chicks? Not in the least! Do I enjoy sweating so badly that I need to not only hold a towel but use it? You bet your tight little toned buns I do! Never in my life have I felt such a sense of achievement as I have in seeing myself begin to reach this goal. I am just your average woman. I cannot do a full sit up (not even with my legs being held down), I still do girly push ups (although I can maybe knock out one and a half real ones) and I spend nearly all 32 minutes of my run trying to convince myself of all of the reasons why I need to stop and walk. It's the excitement I experience when I bust through that last run time and beat it, even by 30 seconds and keeps me going. And most importantly, it is having a husband, family and friends to celebrate these small miracles with me. Because for a woman like me, thats just what they are... miracles. So, with all of that said, you now have the ability, thanks to the public nature of blogs and my inability to not share my moderately exciting active lifestyle with everyone, to witness me go from a lovely little soft potato, completely comfortable on her couch to a mildly attractive, extremely sweaty and wonderfully average babe who is really beginning to dig the treadmill. And maybe, just maybe you will get to see the day I become more comfortable with the free weights.
Peace, love...
& compression bras
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