Category: exercise

Bliss in the Wii

Okay, I have to admit it, I’ve become somewhat addicted to the Wii Fit. I faithfully get on every morning to check my weight and my Wii Fit age. The good thing is that once I’m on, I usually make time to play a few games and burn a few calories. It sounds incredibly silly, but the positive feedback I get from the Wii keeps me trying to eat less and exercise more.

I do get frustrated when my calculations of weight loss don’t seem to be reflected when I step onto the Wii and it’s even more maddening when the numbers go up even though there is NO possible way that I ate 3,500 calories more than I took in in the last 24 hours. However, the good thing about the Wii is that it gives me feedback on how well I hold my yoga poses and I can compete with myself on the games to better my scores from the day before. A good example is the table tilt because when I first started I could barely get through level 3 before running out of time. However, now most times I can make it through all eight levels and I’m working to reduce my score. The same thing on the hulu hoop, my original goal was to make it to 100 spins. It took me about four times to make it over 100, then I was able to get to 200, and my current goal is 300.

It might sound silly that a forty something woman gets caught up in the excitement of beating her score on an electronic game, but I’m a competitor at heart and seeing myself doing better on each of those games shows me that I am improving and that even though the scale hasn’t caught up with my diligence, I’m making progress and my body and mind are getting stronger and more coordinated. The Wii might be the piece that has always been missing in my get healthy endeavors because I have to admit it is tremendously frustrating to eat right and exercise and have the scale go the wrong direction.

There’s an indescribable bliss in knowing your body is changing and that the hard work is paying off even if it just means I can spin a few more virtual hulu hoops today than I did yesterday.

Bliss Walk

Physical exercise has never been my thing, I’m much more content to spend an hour surfing the net than walking outside. However, one of the commitments I’ve made to myself this year is to treat my body better by eating better and getting more exercise. I put my daughter in charge of my exercise routine and gave her permission to push and prod me out the door every day for a walk. Of course, the week I decide to start walking is the week I come down with a killer case of the flu where walking from the bed to the bathroom was a course in endurance. My daughter barely gave me a pass on the days I was sick, but as soon as I was up and able to go to the store, she started prodding me to go walking.

Tonight we walked around a few blocks and although it was a slow walk because my lungs are still congested, it was a walk. As we walked we talked about life, about her going away to college, and about what’s going on in her–and her guinea pig’s–life. It seems as if I say it in every post that I write about my daughter that she is amazing, but she truly is. At 17, she’s bright, articulate, intelligent, and passionate about life. I’m amazed at what I learn by being around her.

Tonight we talked about the various men in her life (a favorite topic for any 17 year old). We talked about her first boyfriend who’s going away to college this year and decided to break it off with her due to emotional issues on both sides. Although, I’m a realist enough to see my daughter’s flaws, I also think Sam was bad for her because his overprotective mother insisted on choosing his friends, his clothes, and his after school activities. Unknown to them, Sam is a closet drinker who drinks alone. I worry about what’s going to happen to him when he heads off to college and his parents aren’t around to control his life.

My daughter’s editor in chief is the other man in her life at the moment and although she calls him “Pookie Bear” and he’d do almost anything for her, she isn’t interested in him as anything more than a friend. Unlike Sam’s parents, Josh’s parents think the world of Cat. For now, Cat and Josh are just friends who hang out together and run the world’s best high school newspaper together, but you never know what the future might bring.

My daughter’s future is also on her mind as she’s getting ready to apply to colleges. She’s narrowed it down to about six that she would like to go to and as I listen to her talk about why she’s chosen those six, I’m amazed once again at how grounded and mature she is. The school’s she’s picked are all ones that have programs she’s interested in and have activities she wants to participate in. Unlike some kid’s, my daughter is choosing a school based on academics and not partying.

Our walk around the block is ending and we’re both relishing the last hurrah of summer knowing that all too soon, the leaves will be falling and winter’s chill will be setting in. But we both know that with Cat as my personal trainer, there will be many more walks in the days to come.

Inspiring Bliss

Heroes are all around us and sometimes inspiration finds us where we least expect it. My son, my mom, and my daughter are all inspiring me to change my life in positive ways right now because they have all taken an honest look at themselves and are doing something to change.

My nineteen year old son is a true inspiration to me because he’s realized he has a problem with his weight and he’s doing something to change it. Unfortunately for Sean he inherieted my metabolism which means he can look at chocolate and gain weight. However, he realized that he needed to make a change and lose weight so he’s been walking the mile from work to the train station every evening and he’s been paying attention to what he eats. He goes shopping every week and picks out healthy foods for his lunch. He packs his lunch every day and he’s been working really hard at cutting out soda. I don’t know if he’s actually lost weight yet, but he is looking better and has more energy.

Mom is another hero of mine. Since losing my dad last November, she’s started working hard at losing weight and getting in shape. She’s been walking two to three miles every day and she’s lost about 40 lbs in eight months without doing a lot of dieting. This is especially inspiring because my mom has been heavy my entire life and she’s tried everything from hypnosis to stomach stapling to lose weight. I was out at her place last weekend and she showed me some of the hills she walks up and down and I was amazed that she was able to walk as far as she does. She told me that she’s making it a priority because now she doesn’t have any excuses like someone else to cook for or to take care of so she has made losing weight a priority.

Caitlin has absolutely no weight to lose because she was fortunate and inherieted her dad’s metabolism and not mine. She inspires me for a different reason because she’s taking saxaphone lessons and she practices every single day for a couple of hours. She started out sounding scratchy and out of tune, but after only a month’s worth of lessons she’s reached a point where we can understand what she’s trying to play and she’s working hard to teach herself to play by ear. I’m insipred to invest the time in what I want because I’m seeing the joy that investing in herself has brought Caitlin.

I’ve noticed that since I’ve seen the inspirational behavior of my family, that I’ve been trying hard to emulate their behavior in my own life and to quit making excuses for eating too much or not exercising. Since Sean has started reading labels and trying to make healthier food choices, I’ve found myself cooking at home more often and trying to make healthy food choices for dinner instead of stopping by the nearest fast food restaurant for dinner. I don’t yet have the stamina to walk several miles a day, but I’ve been trying to be more active and at least take short walks on a regular basis and to park farther away.

These are all small changes and none of them will change the world, but what my heroes have taught me is that it isn’t about changing the world, it is about changing yourself.