The Weight Loss Chronicles

WEIGHT LOSS REVISITED

big reason for wanting to be physically stronger: my youngest (not yet eighteen months in this photo) is having a baby. 

That ole weight loss thing

I haven't posted for a while about this. Simply because it wasn't happening. Not at all. So depressing.

So, I took a different tack. I changed my thinking: if not weight loss, then what? What mattered most to me with The Body? Strangely, it actually wasn't weight loss at all. I wanted other things more:

#1: I wanted to be have a stronger body

• one that could lift heavy objects without my back being damaged. Anyone who has had this happen knows how debilitating this can be. And it affects us in so many ways. We start "protecting" our back so that we don't hurt it. I very seldom use pain killers because to me, relying on them means that I'm not doing anything positive about the situation. Please don't think this is a criticism of anyone who does use pain meds, because it's not. I am only talking about moi here. I have had years of acute pain with my back, sometimes unable to get off the sofa, the pain was so bad. And yes, sometimes I did have to use pain killers. 

• But even better than pills, were the sticking plasters that    you put on a sore back. They have heat things in them,    and the heat from these enabled me to keep moving            without my back muscles going into painful spasms. Which was very powerful back therapy. 

• I also simply wanted to be physically stronger. With my work as a healer, I need to be able to lift heavy limbs. This has simply been so hard for wee moi, I can do it but I get exhausted. I expect this all to just get easier (yay!!)

•  Then the other big thing: as the years go by, we lose  muscle mass, and also our bones get weaker. Not a pretty sight, because we can then shrink. I don't want to do this!! I am short enough already. Strong muscles = strong bones

#2: I wanted to have a stronger heart and more endurance

This is tied up with stamina. A long battle with severe anemia really wrecked my muscles, strength and stamina. I want to tromp up hill and down dale. Yes I do.   

So what did I do about these?

I joined a gym. I bit the bullet and just did it. Even though I am at 100% beginner level, I was able to do all of the strength machines, and I do this Monday, Wednesday and Friday, first thing. Glug some water as soon as I get up, then stagger off to do my thing. I do some yoga poses after, because I really do know what to do for stretching out the muscles. There are mirrors, ghastly big revealing ones, everywhere in this gym. (It's enough to make a person want to tone up, I can tell you) And I was surprised to see how truly bendy I am. 

I seriously thought that on the other days I would sally forth around the local little hills for walkies. Ha! That hasn't happened, so the next step is to hit the aerobic machines in the gym. 

What have been the results?

• My dodgy back is now only dodgy if I eat foods that cause me inflammation. The improvement was immediate. 
• I'm standing straighter
• Weirdly I now have more stamina from the strength machines. I didn't expect that. 
• Either my underwear has stretched, or.... ? And so have my tights.
• The change in my food habits has been dramatic. I am now accepting that how I eat has to suit me, not what the latest and greatest diet thing is. I can go for hours without eating. I whizz around getting heaps done, fill of energy, bright as a button. But if I do that, when I do eat, I practically pass out and fall asleep. So, yes, little but often is what I do best with. Carbs only at breakfast and dinner, as these are the only times that I don't get the sleep thing when I eat them. Trust me, I do want to nosh on bread and yummy stuff in my no-go hours, but as best as possible, I don't. 
• I had a day when I could barely cope with the rather sore "contractions" in my abdominal muscles, after I bumped everything up a notch. And a week of aching triceps which rather surprised me. I mean - triceps?
• I was exhausted the first week and could only do two days. 
• I want to move my body more
• I was told by a gym bunny that the first three weeks could be hard, then after that, if you miss a day, you don't feel so good. Well, it's week three now and no it's great, just great. 

So, that's moi with the whole weight thing, as my life is right now. What does everyone else do for fitness?