Healthier Me, Step One: Stepping Out

Evening bellydance practice has not been very successful, to be honest.  Jasmine's been getting home late from school, due to an after-school math class that she was selected for.  She doesn't get home until nearly dinnertime, so we have to do her homework after dinner, so that rather eats up what time and energy I have then.  No big deal, life happens, and it just didn't end up to be a good time for me right now.

Considering all of this, I went for a walk this morning.  It wasn't as long as I'd normally go, only about 15 minutes, when I'd normally go about 30.  but it was something, and felt pretty good.  I went right after I got Jasmine on the bus, since I was outside anyway.  I know this won't always work for me.  Sometimes I have to take Jasmine to school in the mornings for choir practice, and I try to run errands early in the day, so I'm not stressed about rushing home in time for Kyle's bus.  But mostly, I think it'll be good.  Get my walk in right then, before I even go back into the house to finish my coffee.  Moving forward, this is what I'm going to try to do, to make my exercise schedule flexible.

- 30 minute walk in the morning, right after breakfast and/or getting the kids off to school.
- 20 to 30 minute belly dance practice in the evenings, right after dinner is cleaned up, and homework is done.

Hopefully I'll be able to at least one or the other each day, if not both.  I'll try to keep track, and see how I do this week with that.  :)

Healthier Me, Step One: Update

Well, the daily bellydance practice hasn't been a great success.  I find that I'm having a hard time trying to figure out when in my day to put it.  Pondering it today, I've come up with an idea.  I'm going to try it about the same time as my bellydance class, which is 6:30pm.  Basically, after dinner, but before kid bedtime.  I'm hoping this will work well for several reasons.

First, it gives me consistency, which is helpful when trying to change my daily routine.

Second, it gives me something to look forward to in the evenings, instead of stressing about when I'm going to find time to do it.

Third, maybe it will help keep me from overeating at dinner.  Feeling bloated and stuffed is not very conducive to successful dancing.  Especially not in a way which almost constantly moves your midsection in a sinuous manner.

Fourth, the stretches and breathing exercises done before and after the practice might help me decompress at the time of day when I actually need it.  

So, that's what I'm going to do this week.  Learning, growing, moving forward!

Step One...Again....Exercise and Activity

Well, after all of that about being consistent with healthy habits and such, I now am posting to say that I've completely fallen out on them, and I am having to restart.

That being said, I AM restarting, so that's something.  :)

Last summer, we had to move, and that was so much strenuous work for me that it took care of my exercise.  But my healthy eating habits went out the window with fast food and convenience eating that happened while we were so busy and tired.  Then the move finished, the kids went back to school, and prep for all of the holidays began.  Unfortunately, because of all of this, I didn't pick back up any of the healthy habits that I'd gained, except for one thing: I took a bellydance class.  It's only once a week, but I did get some practices in at home.  Now with the holidays nearly over, I am restarting step one to a healthier me this week.  Exercise.

Tonight starts my next bellydance class.  One of my many goals for this year is to practice dancing daily.  Even if it's only for 10-15 minutes, I'm shooting for at least 20 minutes, at least 3 times a week, outside of class.  Not only is it so good for my joints and posture, I'm hoping to feel competent and confident enough to perform by the end of the year.

I do want to start walking again as well, but I think I should start adding back in my healthy life changes one at a time.  So, I'm thinking dance practice this week, and start daily walks again in the next week or two.

Mostly, I'm not looking back, nor beating myself up for what I haven't been doing well.  That serves no purpose, except to weigh me down with guilt.  Since I certainly don't have the time and energy for that, I'm leaving it behind.  Hello new year.  Hello new day.  Let's see what we can accomplish together.

Step One: Exercise and Activity

If there is one single thing that is the most difficult about trying to get more fit and healthy for me, it's this.

Getting Exercise and Increasing Activity

This probably isn't a big surprise to anyone, because it's probably true for a lot of us.  This may not sound like a big hurdle to some, but for me, it really is.  I've never been an active person.  The most activity I ever got in school, besides P.E., was dance team practices and walking to school to get to my early class - Jazz Choir.  For many years, I had a job in which I sat at a desk and used my brain much more than my body, and yet I still felt exhausted by it at the end of the day.  Then I would feel exhausted just thinking about it in the morning, dragging my butt out of bed to go to work again.  So the last thing I felt like doing was expending more energy than I absolutely had to, in order to keep getting a paycheck, getting dinner on the table, and getting my house (relatively) clean.  Most of my down-time was occupied with things like movies, games, hand-held hobbies like needlepoint, and reading.  

There have been times in which I've managed to stay active for one reason or another.  I lost a few pounds when working at a fast food joint because I had to ride my bike to get there.  I managed some kind of workout nearly every day when my husband was stationed temporarily away from where we lived, because I wanted to keep my mind off of loneliness, and maybe surprise him by dropping a few pounds before he got back.  A couple of times I took a bellydance class, and actually managed daily practice of it, as well.  And if I had a walking partner, I managed to go three times a week, walking some killer hills at a local wilderness park.  But all of these were transitory.  They were something I went through, the circumstances under which they happened eventually went away, or I went away from them.  They weren't part of my life.  They were either something I tried, a means to an end, or I pinned all of my interest in doing them onto someone else.  

Then, I had children.  Parents know, if you have children, you are active!  But unfortunately, it isn't always in a way that actually gives your body the exercise that it needs.  Chasing after a toddler isn't the same as running or walking a mile.  Drowning in snotrags and baby baths isn't the same as swimming a few laps.  And yes, you could strap junior into a stroller for a nice little walk.  Unless junior has other ideas, and you give up after 10 minutes of stopping every five steps to replace a pacifier or re-tuck a blanket.  And that's if you have any energy, after the last round of breast-wrestling/feeding and your most recent foray into trying to tackle Mt. Laundry.  Even now that the kids are bigger, and able to take care of themselves more often, there's still so much to do that I can never catch up on it all.  So over time, I started trying to conserve my energy for the things that I needed it for the most.  This, as it turns out, was not a good idea.  All it did was to send me on a gentle, downward spiral of not having enough energy to exercise because I was not exercising.  

Intellectually, I knew this was happening.  I would tell myself that I needed to exercise to eventually have more energy.  Sometimes I would actually even do it for a time.  But I never kept it up, and I could never figure out why.  But when I went into the doctor and she told me that I am Type-2 diabetic, and that I need to change my inactive lifestyle in order to get more healthy and live longer, something changed.  It's not that I want to do it anymore, I have to.  I don't just know that I need to be more active, I feel it.  As I mentioned in my main blog, 30 minutes of walking outside every day is somehow easier to stick to when your doctor prescribes it.  Now, when I go out to walk, I can think more effective and inspirational thoughts. 

"Go walk today.  You'll live longer, and be around longer for your kids."

"If you keep up your walking, you will have more energy to do the things you need to, and maybe even have some left over for the things you want to do, as well!"

"If you keep hiking up and down the hill behind your house, you could get in good enough shape to go backpacking sometime."

"Walking on different terrain is good for your balance, and could help strengthen your ankles."

"Go mow the lawn.  It'll count as a walk if you do it for more than 30 minutes, and you'll get to cross something off your list!"

Now, I did say that it's easier.  I did not say that it's easy.  Even now, I don't manage to walk or workout every day.  This last week I took several days off after I twisted my ankle, to let it recover, so I don't make it worse.  Some days I have too many errands to run, or school functions to attend.  And some days, I just don't get my butt moving early enough in the day to fit it in.  But most days I manage to get a walk in.  Some days it's more strenuous than others.  Some days I barely manage a gentle stroll.  Some days I go a bit longer than 30 minutes.  Some days I pause in the middle to get a drink of water.  But if I miss a day, I try to make sure to go the next day.  If I miss two days, I don't let the guilt make me give up on myself.  And I try to realize when I'm being active, and give myself some credit.  

- Pushing the lawn mower around, and especially up and down the hill, or around the trees, counts.

- Walking halfway down the parade route, around the area of the street fair, and then back up the hill to where we parked, counts.

- Walking up and down the driveway and around the yard for a half hour picking a dandelion and crabgrass salad for the chickens, counts.  

- Walking a couple of blocks to pick up the child from the bus or get the mail...okay, maybe that doesn't quite count as a whole workout, but it does help a bit, in the grand scheme of things.

It also helps that my hubby got us both a fitbit device.  It not only tracks how many steps that you take in a day, but also the duration in which you were very active, and therefore burning a goodly amount of calories.  In addition to being able to track how well I'm doing, it also gives me a bit of friendly competition with my hubby and other friends!

Eventually, I may have to change my workout method.  I may need something more strenuous to keep getting fitter and stronger.  I may get bored of walking, and want to add other things to my routine.  The weather will turn on me at some point, and I may find fighting the elements or using the treadmill to be uninspiring or less than desirable.  But for now, it's working for me, and it's certainly more than I was doing before.  And any improvement is a good step in the right direction, as long as I keep it going.

My Steps to Health and Fitness: Beginning

I've definitely put aside my own health and fitness over the years, for many reasons.  Rather than list them here, I'm just going to look forward.  This is what I'm doing to improve my health and extend my life.  This is for my own good, and for the good of my whole family.  This is not a diet or a fitness boot camp.  This is the slow path, making changes I can live with, because I'm not going to change back.  This is the road to a new, healthier, happier me.