Fitness Challenge

Hey everyone!

Last year I had the wedding to motivate me to get my workouts in and make healthy eating choices. I hate to admit it, but after the wedding I didn't stay on top of it. It's not like I went overboard at the Golden Corral, but I could tell with my decrease in energy I was sliding. Then I tore ligaments in my foot, and I stumbled in my motivation. I was trying to do light workouts. But even yoga was painful, and had to just rest.

My 'Surgiversary' ( the anniversary of my bariatric surgery) was in January, and I wanted to do something to get myself back on track, but needed the accountability factor. I asked my friend Danna if she would be my long distance workout buddy. We decided that we would do 30workouts in 30 days. Anything to get us to move!

Unfortunately everyone in Greenwood had the same idea. The gym was a nightmare, and it just frustrated me. I decided that it was a sign that I needed to shake up my workout routine as well. And that's exactly what I did. I did workouts at home, I walked around downtown with friends, turned up the music and danced while I cleaned house, and went bowling with friends for my birthday. It wasn't about the calorie burn for me, it was about getting back to basics and get out of the workout rut. I have a tendency to look at the clock during exercise, and noticed during this month that I didn't set any time limits so I would just enjoy it, which I did.

I'm not going to lie, a few days were rough. Some days I just wanted to come home and stare at a wall. But thanks to Danna, I did it. It was great knowing someone was there cheering for me. Richard was a great cheerleader as well, and he worked out with me when he could, which was really sweet.

I felt great at the end of the month. I had lost the few pounds I had gained since the wedding, my energy had returned, and I was back to taking my vitamins and watching my water and protein intake. Danna and I decided that we wanted to do a challenge a month to help both of us, and to help me train for my first half marathon in September. This month we posted that we were going to do 60 miles in the month of February. Again, you could run, walk, row, ellipticize, whatever, just as long as you did it. To out surprise, 11 people have joined in! It's great to have a group of guys and gals making an effort to improve their health in their busy lives! Richard and I have been doing laps on our trail, and I did a ton of walking at the Super Bowl festivities. Again, it just feels good to move and have others around me be motivated and encourage each other.

So, tell me, what's your fitness challenge for the month? Are you doing it with support or on your own? What's motivating you? Hit the comments!!

Twisting the Body, Untwisting the Mind

There's something about twisting yourself into a pretzel that is just so relaxing to me. I know that's weird, but for me, it's like wringing out all of the things you just can't control, getting all of that toxic energy out, and just letting it go.

I didn't always feel that way. I thought yoga was some new-age fad that would go away eventually, and scoffed when friends would mention it to me to help my migraines. My thought was "How could standing on your head help the pain?" It held no value to me.

Obviously, I changed my mind. I began doing yoga via Fit TV about four years ago, and my headaches started to be less frequent and intense. I felt better mentally, and lost some weight(combined with a pretty strict vegetarian diet). Once I started graduate school, though, all exercise went by the wayside while I worked on papers, engaged in a long distance relationship, and worked full time. Once I finished school and began moving to Greenwood, the first thing I wanted to do was find a gym that offered yoga. Fortunately, that gym was less than a mile from the house, and minus my 10 day hiatus for my knee, I have gone at least twice, if not three times a week, for hour long classes.

I feel refreshed, grounded, and energized after that time. I have a hard time shutting the rest of the world out, because my mind is usually going in 30 different directions during the day. But for that hour, my cell phone is either at home or in my car, and all I need to concentrate on is my breathing and my focus to stay balanced. It's total "me" time. I may have a little bit of a Type A personality, and feel the need to be in control of everything around me.

Personally, yoga helps me keep that in check, and helps me put things in perspective. I have found it to be a great coping mechanism, one of which I will be using to help me during the wedding planning, and it also helps me medicinally. I believe that it helps me stay balanced mentally, which in turn helps me stay physically well. As odd as this sounds from a mental health professional, I think medications are overused. I stress this to my clients. I know that some people need to be on medication for severe issues, I used to be one of those people, which is why I may try any homeopathic route before taking medication. I think if people actually listened to their body, they would feel better. Kind of a "your body is a temple, treat it well" adage.

What about you? What are your coping mechanisms? Healthy or unhealthy? Let me know!