30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 11

Who says exercising has to be drudgery?  I was stuck in the car for half of today, which could have been really annoying except that I had really good music and that put me in a fantastic mood.  When I'm really happy it makes me want to dance or sing.  I know that makes me sound like a character in some cheesy movie geared towards teenyboppers, but it just so happens to be true.

Me, dancing in my past life, circa 2000.

So I sang all around the Chesapeake Bay and as I considered the hour and that I hadn't fulfilled my challenge requirement for the day, it occurred to me to just go home and dance.  I came home, ran upstairs to my loft, cranked the stereo all the way up and danced until I felt like I couldn't - hair damp, clothes soaked.  How wonderful, it had been a while. 

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 10

Yesterday and this morning I was researching more ways to exercise at home without equipment (We have the cross trainer, but honestly I won't go there unless I have no other alternatives - it's boring), and I came across an e-book called The Trouble Spot Tune-Up.  You can download it for free here.

What woman doesn't want to know more about this?  Maybe not every one, but a lot of us do.  A few fellows as well.  This is what I thought: Most of these exercises are fairly common with a few interesting modifications.  The third exercise had a huge editing error.  This screamed at me since I'm a writer first, and a fitness enthusiast second.  I know that's a side issue, but I think if you're going to put out what's supposed to be a professional exercise manual, it shouldn't have such errors.  Kind of like when I see tweets full of internet jargon or spelling errors, it tends to make me think the author is an idiot.  Just an opinion.  The fourth exercise is the most effective for hamstrings I've ever done without using a gym machine.  The standing exercises were interesting.  I had to skip the lunges due to my back giving me some grief the last few days.

All in all, it was alright.  Worth taking another look at later.  I'm really glad I started a diary for this challenge.  At the end of the month I'll have great and varied resources all bookmarked and organized.  Until tomorrow...

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 9

Let me tell you, I never thought the staircase I climb to get to my bedroom loft could be used as a home gym, but as it happens it can.  I heard something the other day about this and it sounded interesting, so this morning I Google'd and I found this article on womenshealthmag.com.

There were four exercises preceded by a two minute stair-walking warm up.

1. Side squat
   Works core, back, hamstrings, inner thighs, quads, and calves 
2. Spider-man pushup
   Works shoulders, rotator cuffs, triceps, chest, core, hips, and glutes
3. Stair dips with bridge
   Works neck, shoulders, triceps, wrists, chest, core, glutes, and legs
4. Rotational reach
   Works shoulders, core, and back

I had a little trouble with the Spider-man Pushup.  I'm not completely sure I was doing it right... but this is definitely an exercise routine I intend to revisit, so I'll work on it.  This is a workout you really can feel and it takes very little time to get through.  Women's Health suggests two non-consecutive days a week.  I highly recommend it.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 8

I'm going to keep today's post simple because it is the tail end of a holiday weekend and it's still up in the air whether or not another trip to the beach is in order.  This morning I went for a bike ride.  What I noticed about that today is that for once, I didn't want to take music.  Music was requisite for all outdoor exercise ventures when I started, because I didn't really want to do it.  I needed a distraction to keep me motivated.  And while I still love it as much as I used to, I'm finding now that I don't want it when I exercise.  I'm not knocking anyone else for going there, but for me lately I'm finding it messes with my pace and breathing, because I'm paying attention to the song more than myself.  I suppose I could make playlists that would wouldn't do this, but for now I'm content with silence or just whatever sounds I hear outdoors.  Interesting, that.

Happy Memorial Day. everyone.  See you again tomorrow...

30 Day Summer Shape Up, One Week!

This morning I started thinking about the how the last couple of days I had been going on about how I was overdoing it, and that I was afraid in doing so I might not be able to finish the challenge, and what all of that meant.  I realized I was going from one extreme to another, the same as how in my youth I used to eat whatever I wanted all the time and then starve myself to get thinner when I felt I was putting on too much weight.  I decided that if I managed to find balance in my diet, I could do the same with exercise.  I wanted to re-visit strength training since all the cardio in the world just isn't going to get me the figure I've always wanted.  I found this (see picture insert) in my garage the week I moved into my new house.  I thought I'd give it a shot, today just focusing on the strength training portion.

Exercises included the wall crawl, calf raises, the lift (butt lift), ball pushups, abdominal curls, back extensions, triangle press, rear deltoid press, bicep curls, tricep overhead extensions (I had some trouble with this one, but I managed it), gluteal extensions, gluteal orbits and gluteal presses.  In order to not swing back to that other extreme where I sprain muscles and such, I did one set each with the minimum number of reps.  And believe you me, that was enough.  I like this program.  There are modifications for more or less of a challenge, and I can add more sets as these become too easy.  When I get around to the cardio portion I'll let you all know how that goes.

Well I'm feeling pretty good about today, how about you?  Happy Sunday!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 6

In the spirit of the holiday weekend, I thought I'd meet the day's requirement outdoors.  So my roommate and I headed out armed with yummy homemade smoothies and went to the local beach.  It was a perfect day to go, the sky almost cloudless after a week of frequent spring showers and the beach was packed.

Norfolk is covered in Mermaids.  I love it.

I mentioned in my first post in this series how I'm awed by the majesty of the ocean, but I recently found out another reason I'm so drawn to that locale and why it's a good idea to get in a workout  there at least occasionally when I read this article on negative ions posted on Twitter by Jennifer Fitone.  If you're not following her you ought to.  Her feed is full of posts I find quite useful and informative.  Quoting from the article, "negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy."  Hey, that all sounds pretty good to me!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  Have fun and be safe!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 5

Today's topic: How much is too much?  I began the challenge going at it like I've been doing regularly a few times a week.  As it turns out, I can't keep that up on a day-to-day basis.  I believe I was onto something yesterday with the 10 Minute Solution video.  I think that's about where I ought to stay for the duration.  I'm really feeling the burn.  I feel changes occurring and I'm happy about it because I know this is my body upgrading.  But I also know that if I keep pushing it too hard I'll end up shutting myself down, which is the very last thing that I want.  On the upside, I feel that by the end of the 30 days, exercise will have become a more regular habit in my life, and that's fantastic.

This morning I wanted to slow things down a little so I did 15 minutes of yoga, which I love because it's not only great for your body in myriad ways, but also has that wonderful calming, centering thing about it.  Sweat broken, daily challenge met.  I hadn't done yoga in moons, and I want to do so much more than 15 minutes when the Summer Shape Up is over.  Everyone enjoy this beautiful day and I will see you here again tomorrow.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 4

Last night I was searching through Instant Netflix titles for exercise videos.  If you have an account, this is a great resource because you don't have to go buy it or pick it up from the store, it's just right there waiting for you.  I picked 10 Minute Solution: Pilates.  I bought several DVDs in this series around a decade ago.  Each one has five different workouts, which you can do singly or in combination with others, or if you're really in shape you can do all of them together.  I'm not there yet.  And since I'm only on day 4 of 30 and I'm really feeling it, I can't kick my own butt or I don't see myself finishing the challenge.  So I think one at a time will do quite nicely for now.

Today I chose the first in this series, Pilates for Abs.  This form of strength training is particularly important to me as core training with improve the situation with my back injury substantially.  I liked that many of the exercises had already been taught to me by the physical therapist I worked with last summer.  I had to take a break during part of the workout despite modifications, and one exercise just wasn't going to happen at all, but that's okay.  Best not to overdo it.  I learned my lesson with that after the foot injury in April.

It's beautiful outside.  I think I'll catch a little sun on the deck before getting on with my day.  See you tomorrow!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 3

I thought I should incorporate some strength training into this challenge since that's an area of exercise I tend to skip over.  After yesterday's post, I got to thinking that I couldn't find a good reason to keep putting that off.  So this morning as I was going through my my Twitter feed I found a post that asked an intriguing question.  How many pushups should you be able to do??  I've always considered myself as having poor upper body strength, so I thought I would find out.  I borrowed Sarah Klein's 20 pushups as a starting point, figured I'd see how I did with that.

I did much better than I thought I would!

I was pleasantly surprised.  I also really liked the site this came from, it's worth the look around.

ibodyfit.com

Also, I'm liking the first-thing-in-the-morning fitness effort.  I think that's something I want to explore further.  I'm going to try to something different for every day of this challenge.  I'm not really sure how that will work out, but I'm going to give it my best shot.  Everyone have a fantastic day!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 2

It seems the focus of today's post has become finding time in your day to exercise.  When I started this day, I imagined it would turn out quite differently, but life intervened as it often does. So the question becomes: What does one consider truly important?

I often hear people say they just can't find time in their day to work out.  I've said it.  But how many of us that go around saying this will spend a couple of hours on the internet or watching TV?  The bottom line is you make time for what you want to, and if your health matters to you then you'll find the time.

Tonight I'll be hitting the cross trainer before I set about making dinner and that will be the day's effort.  I hope some of you reading this have joined me in this challenge.  If not, it isn't too late to start!  You can sign up here:

http://link.huffingtonpost.com/join/30daysummershapeup

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 1

So I decided to join Huffington Post in their 30 Day Summer Shape Up Challenge.  I was a little concerned about what this might entail, but it actually seems pretty reasonable and not something I'll have a hard time committing to.  Basically, you just have to do some activity every day from now until the start of summer on June 20th that makes you sweat.  Whatever you want to do.  I'll be chronicling this on Twitter if you want to see how I'm doing.

The Challenge launches today.  You can read more about it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-klein/summer-shape-up_b_1527589.html

And you can sign up here:

http://link.huffingtonpost.com/join/30daysummershapeup

Let's go!

6:12 pm

On my way back from my walk on the beach I came up with the idea to do a diary for the challenge, because tweets are such short bursts of information and I found I had more to say.  Like that when I started my personal challenge it was like pulling my own teeth to motivate myself to get out there, get up, get moving.  But now it's starting to be something I look forward to, and I love that I feel that way about it.  And I also love that there's a beach just a few minutes away because there's just that thing about the ocean that floors you with it's beauty and how awesome (in the literal meaning of the word) it is.  Although I really wish people would not drink and/or litter on the beach.  I personally like walking in the sand barefoot, and I nearly sliced my foot open on some idiot's broken beer bottle.  I strongly dislike that I have to be vigilant of such.  In any event, it was still a beautiful breezy afternoon and I rather enjoyed myself.  See you guys tomorrow!!

Motivation

When I decided to make this blog and all things pertaining to related topics the focus of my Twitter page, I thought I'd be cheeky about it.  Like, 'Oh, so an ex-stripper hurt herself and got fat and now she wants to tell everyone about it.'  I don't know, I guess when you've existed in that field for so long you get used to presenting yourself publicly in a certain way.  You're not allowed to have certain weaknesses, and if you do you better joke about it before somebody else does.  And I'm not getting down on the industry at all.  I'm the first to tell you that if I hadn't injured myself I would never have retired.  I miss being on stage just about every day of my life. But at this point in achieving my goals, a new focus is emerging and I'd like that to be clear.

This isn't about vanity, or about complaining about bad things that have happened to me, or trying to shock people with my errant and sometimes seriously misguided attempts to lose weight.  I started all this because I really want to feel better, in every way.  The injury surely slowed me down, but a cavalcade of other mishaps and misfortunes occurred over the last several years and had contributed to the deterioration of my health and mood.  Two years ago I visited my hometown for the first time in five years.  I remember I felt it necessary to issue a group notice to my friends letting them know ahead of time that I had gained weight and I was self-conscious about it.  Here is an excerpt:

"This is not a big 'throwing in the towel' I'm-going-to-become-complacent speech, it's just sh*t I'm going through in my life right now and I want to get this anxiety and low-grade dread off my chest, especially since my last trip home only lasted a few days and I want to be happy about going there now. I've always been super-active, ever since I was a little girl. It's been weird and scary being one of those "I have a bad back" people for the last three years. It's just a thing I have to acclimate to, I guess. I will. I can do whatever I want. But that takes time. For now I'm just me the way I am today..."

What really surprised me is how many friends around my same age responded saying they felt similarly about themselves and their present state of fitness.  At that point I wasn't yet feeling well enough to actively pursue getting healthy, but the seed of an idea was planted.  I knew that when I was ready to commit to this, I wanted to find and interact with other people working towards the same purpose.  To share my journey and find inspiration and hopefully offer the same.

In April when I turned to exercise to pull me through dealing with making some pretty stupid personal choices, I really noticed one unanticipated benefit of my efforts.  My mood drastically improved.  For a while I had been wrapping my hopes up in others trying to achieve the same, and here - on my own - and completely by accident, I managed such.  For me, maintaining focus, balance and a positive mood are essential as I am a rapid-cycling bipolar.  So it's not about "being hot."  Sure, that result doesn't hurt but that's not why I'm doing this.  It's about feeling better, inside and out.  It's about deciding that the negative events in my life are not going to defeat me.  It's about realizing that even though I may have done some things the wrong way every second of my life until right now, as a human being I am capable of growth, change and improvement.  And taking all that and sharing it with other people that are going through the same thing.

Be well, everyone.  And do something today that makes you feel good about yourself.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

So some of you are probably noticing that last week I was in Massachusetts and now... Virginia?  Yeah, it was a leap - and a really necessary one.  Several weeks ago I was cold, pale and grossly unhappy with my living situation, and my life in general.  When things look lousy for longer than you think you can bear, you start to let yourself settle for sub-par scenarios.  I have no one to blame but myself for allowing myself to exist in a head space where it's okay to make bad choices. And I acknowledged that if I wanted to not just survive, but thrive, changes had to be made.  So I set about making some.

I accepted that my commitment to living healthy alone was not enough to sustain me in my present environment, so I sat up late one night a few weeks ago and I thought about my recent choices, my present options, and most importantly which decision would lead to my greatest happiness.  I realized that all the choices I'd made in the past year or so were made based on what was most convenient - primarily to others.  It was time to make choices based on what matters, to me.  I remembered that an old friend from my hometown had been making off-hand comments for about a year about how she wanted a better roommate and how much I would like her place in Virginia.  Since it had never been mentioned more than casually, I didn't know how serious the offer was.  When I asked her about it, her instant reply was, "Come tomorrow!!"  Well, I couldn't make that happen, but I did set the machine in motion.

It wasn't easy to pull off, but I did it all on my own in under a week.  And here I am.  I left Boston in a winter coat.  On the third of May.  I arrived in Norfolk on the fourth in a tank top and shorts.  I already have a decent starter tan.  I had to take a break on the exercise, but I think moving and unpacking ought to count for something!  Maybe more than what I was doing up north since these tasks have kept me busy from morning until night since I've been here.  I started walking in Boston for lack of a better plan of action.  Here I can walk, or bike, or swim (in the ocean if I want to).  I plan to start back on a regular exercise schedule this weekend.  I'm at the start of a brand new adventure and I can't wait to see how everything turns out.

On the deck in my new house.  Warm, tan, happy.