hsapiens | Took the Plunge

Entry tags:

exercise,
real life

Took the Plunge

I've been putting off dealing with the fact that I need more exercise for a long time. Yesterday I finally pulled up my big girl pants, joined a gym -- and got a personal trainer. It's not cheap but I feel as if I need one. I hit plateaus that can last for months; that just demoralizes the hell out of me and I do the unhelpful thing: I stop working out. I've never before had a personal trainer. I'm so out of shape right now that I expect I'll see some immediate results (I picture some perky coach telling me, "nowhere to go but up!" but thankfully my trainer seems friendly but not perky) but eventually I'm going to hit one of those speed bumps. Hopefully, this will help me break the doldrums before I allow myself to give up. My membership includes 3 "free"** personal training sessions but I bought a few more because I need that motivation while I'm learning to make this a habit.

The gym has lots of classes, including some that sound cool: dance, pilates, and balance ball. I'll finally try out an elliptical trainer, something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'm actually looking forward to dancing again on a regular basis; I've really missed it. There are also the much-dreaded weight machines. It has been 20 years since I last used one. I'm going to have to learn to not hate them but that will be a...challenge.

I still don't want to exercise but I want even less to suffer heart disease and crumbling bones. (And, you know, in the short term I'd like to lose body fat and be able to climb four flights of stairs without losing my breath.) At least, that's what I think now. We'll have to see how I feel on Friday after my evaluation and first workout. ;)

** "free" being code for "already added into the original membership price we quote you"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

I loved loved loved working with a personal trainer. I REALLY miss it. One of the best things about it is having an appointment with SOMEONE ELSE to exercise. The accountability of that is very useful. And learning exercises from an "expert" actually makes the weight machines less scary. If you're lucky, maybe your trainer will have the same philosophy mine did - work with an exercise ball and free weights, which is more fun and gets faster results than the machines.

Go, you! I'm right behind you, as soon as I have a job again. :)

Good for you! I actually broke down and joined one a month or so ago. Don't think I'm up to classes, but it's nice to be able to use the tread mill without a wildly barking dog (Who barks so much he pukes).

:D

Not only will I have an appointment but I plan to have standing appointments; if I had to make the time to call every time, then it would never happen. I schedule the dentist and my hair appointments this way and found it keeps me on track. I stink at tasks that require my doing them repetitively. Add in that I don't actually *want* to exercise and it's best if someone else is waiting for me and if it requires no additional effort from me.

I'm looking forward to seeing how a trainer can help me. I'm hopeful that I'll learn to do something other than hate the machines; my past club experiences were all about hating the weight machines. But I was young and already in shape from dance; the parents were dragging me there before school, which meant I was starting at 5 a.m. Needless to say, I stopped as soon as I could.

I'm not switching over my yoga classes, even though I could and it would lower my costs, because despite the too early work on inversions, I enjoy those classes right now. Maybe eventually I will switch but for now, I like that I get a lot of focus on form. I still need that. Besides, Amy and I meet every Monday for a Bab 5 episode, yoga at the institute, and dinner. It's a nice ritual.

Yay! Good for you! Too bad we don't live closer together; we could be miserable together.

I like classes because it gives me something to focus on other than how miserable I am at any particular moment. My mother is only 61 and she already has bone thinning severe enough that she's not allowed to exercise beyond walking and she is prohibited from lifting heavy-ish objects. I watched her mother suffer from and succomb to an excruciatingly painful osteoporosis. I really don't want to share that fate.

I don't have the puking dog problem but Brinkley does get really happy to see me if I get on the floor to practice my yoga and he spends all of that time trying to crawl into my lap -- or convince me what I really want to do is take him for a nice, long walk.

Nobody's opinion about your yoga class matters but yours. If you're happy with it, more namaste to you. :) And your weekly ritual with Amy sounds awesome.

Good luck with that AND the gym. I bet you find some things at the gym you enjoy. That is part of the trainer's job, too.

Trying to reorganize my schedule to rejoin the gym. I feel my body screaming at me very morning and I know thios is what I need.

I need to join a gym as well. My only exercise these days comes from is chasing my kids, but if I get anymore out of shape, I wont be able to catch them ;)

Oh, I agreed with you that we shouldn't be doing work towards inversions and I appreciate your having brought it up. If nothing else, I'm clearly not in any such shape to be doing more risky moves but I think we were doing that stuff way too early regardless of one's fitness.

After your comment confirmed my feelings, I resolved to pay more attention to my body when doing yoga. I tend to put up with a high discomfort level because, (a) everything is uncomfortable when you start, and (b) I want to give it a real try and that means doing stuff I don't want to...But between the pain from the toes and your comment, I decided I need to take a more active role in choosing.

Since I came to that conclusion, we haven't repeated any of those moves so I haven't been forced to sit something out. :) I do like the class and it pushes me in a way I've never been pushed before. Yoga forces a different posture and foot/leg positioning from the ways we learned in dance classes.

You know what I always enjoyed at the gym? Being done. ;) Seriously, I need to play Pollyanna, find something to look forward to even if it's just, "being done," and focus on that. I don't think I'll ever be the sort of person who enjoys exercise, though I'd love to surprise myself, but I am the sort who can logically choose to endure because it gets me something I want.

It's sooooo hard to do; I can't imagine doing it with your already full schedule. I don't have to do nearly as much as you (no children, fairly stress-free job) and I've been putting it off because it's too much schedule shuffling.

I know it's worth it but the inconvenience allowed me to continue avoiding the issue. I hope you're able to move your schedule around so that you can. :)

It seems to me that you obviously have SOME reason to want to exercise, and you seem more enthusiastic about it than just, "I should do it." In my opinion, no exercise program will ever work in the long term if you don't find something you enjoy. There are many forms of exercise I like a great deal. I love cycling, I love kayaking, I love doing yoga, I love hiking, and believe it or not I actually really enjoy spending half an hour - or sometimes more - on an elliptical machine listening to tunes or a good audiobook. Because I enjoy those activities, I'm more likely to stick to an exercise program when I try.

I would discuss your antipathy toward exercise activities with your personal trainer. She just might have some good suggestions for you about ways to find an activity you enjoy, rather than always thinking of it as medicine you have to swallow. If you can find one, you'll have a much better chance at sticking with it and seeing the benefits.

The kid and I have a membership at the Y, but do we go? *sigh*

Maybe I'll go this weekend.

Or maybe I'll soak the pneumonia recovery for a little while longer. (It's not like taking a deep breath is all that easy yet.)

Kids will tell you exactly how not-young and how not-fit you are faster than almost anything, no? I have vague memories of the halcyon days of youthful energy, when I couldn't understand why anyone thought jumping jacks or skipping rope was exercise. I think kids really do have springs on the bottoms of their feet.

Pneumonia is a legit reason to be cautious about anything that will get you winded. I have no such excuse. I simply prefer to sit at my computer and become one with the sofa.

Yes, I could use a work out buddy for motivation.

I haven't gone this week as I have the FLAT STANLEY FROM HELL project. It's for a friend's kid. He's shy, he's slightly autistic, and new in school. so she wanted to us to be creative. So, the last week or so, janet and I have been busy putting together a "where in the world is Flat Stanley?" scrapbook.

the little bastards been to So. Korea, Ireland, Scotland, England (Two different spots), possibly hitching a ride to Singapore (I hope he remembers to behave), San Francisco, Turned into a klingon in washington DC, Ohio, met someone else in Ohio who went to No. Carolina to film a stargate fan film, So. Carolina, Mississippi where he met Peter M. (Chewie from Star Wars), and Gigi from Farscape, gone to NYC, another place in Virginia, Alabama, NJ, the local highlights round here (Orange County Choppers, West Point, loads of Revolutionary War spots, FDR presidental library, Val-kill.....) yada yada yada.

Somehow I didn't expect to have deal with over 300 pictures of Flat Stanley :P

Well, so do I. :-) This is the ultimate problem. ;-)

Congratulations on taking the step!

Part of my enthusiasm is due solely to my finally taking the step of doing something about my personal needs. I kvetch and kick and whine but I'm intensely aware that exercise is good for nigh on anything that ails you, raises your mood, and doesn't have nasty side effects like liver damage, muscle spasms, or driving while asleep in the middle of the night. I have tried exercise programs many times, always gearing it towards activities I like. Nothing has stuck. I've never thought, "Yay! Time to work out!"

I am, however, a creature of habit. If I can make this a habit and mold my schedule around it, I'm far more likely to stick to it. I love to dance and that will always be a huge part of any exercise program I choose but I don't enjoy physical challenge for the sake of physical challenge. I'm not the sort who will climb the mountain because it's there, but I would try if there were a good book up there. In this one case, the end will have to justify the means. ;)

For as negative as I'm being, I *am* happy that I've overcome the hurdle that I've put in my path in the past. I'm going to make another attempt to get fit but this time around I'll have someone helping me when I get stuck. *That* excites me and makes me more hopeful about my success.

Good point about bringing my attitudes/feelings up with the trainer. I need to go for full disclosure if I'm going to get the most out of this experience. Amy has mentioned several times that she downloads podcasts to listen to while working out because that makes it more palatable. Once I feel comfortable that I know what I'm doing and can safely zone out, I plan to do the same. (Amy is very good at talking about what she does in a non-demanding way but which, in retrospect, I realize were gentle suggestions for how I could take better care of myself.)

I'm trying hard to be realistic about what will work. Yoga has become a habit and I no longer have to force myself to go. (Even when I love something, I have to force myself until it's a habit. I think it's part of my being an extreme introvert.) I want the gym to be the same way.

I haven't yet begun to have some dire physical problems like my mother has. My blood work always come back astoundingly healthy (except for that pesky thyroid thing *g*) and my bone density scan showed that I'm in good shape there, too. If there's one thing I've learned, maintenance is far easier and less painful than regaining ground is. That is a huge motivator for me. Perhaps fear isn't the most positive reason in the world but I'll take it until I manage to find joy in becoming healthier and more capable.

This is why I'm committed to my child-free existence. I have no idea what you're talking about but just reading about it makes me exhausted. ;) I occasionally think that I'll be sorry for having been childless when I get older but those thoughts aren't enough to change my conviction that I'm too selfish and too tired to be a proper parent.

You are an extraordinarily kind friend. :)

Go, you! I always get to the "I should really do this" stage, and then just stop. I'm incredibly self-conscious, so the thought of someone else getting up close and personal makes me skittish. I have a friend who's a personal trainer and I'm sure he'd be good for me...well, except for the fact he's told me on more than one occasion he wants to shag me. Uhm, no, and sorry for that bit of unneeded info.

I consider it a success when I can drag my sorry butt out of bed in the morning to get the exercise over with (nice attitude, right?) instead of the relying on the lunch breaks, which doesn't work so well during the summer months.

Also hated the weight machines, though when I used them I did feel and look better.

No kidding. I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in if I had this inner, burning desire to go outside and run somewhere.

Thanks. :) I desperately need to do it. My father died at 62 of complications following a quadruple heart bypass (though he smoked heavily and ate McDonald's food all the time) and my mother seems to have inherited her mother's inability to absorb calcium. I've dragged my feet but I've seen firsthand the deaths resulting from those two problems and it's very painful and drawn out.

I mostly have the healthy diet part down except for my unreasoning love of sweets (which I can control only by not indulging at all) and now it's time to tackle the exercise.

If only being fit and lean were a website! ;)

Thank you! I totally get what you mean; I want my UST to be in my fic, not my workout. I could have had a personal trainer when I was still at home and being dragged to the club by my parents but the very idea was unpleasant. It's only through reading

la_directora's positive experiences and talking weekly to my best friend about what she gets out of having a personal trainer that has led me to consider this.

I would consider it a success to drag my sorry butt out of bed in the morning to work out! I don't do it over lunch OR in the morning. Or in the evening. Thus, my problem.

When last I was working out regularly, I was combining hand weights with low-impact aerobics and I really liked the muscle definition that gave me in my shoulders and arms. I'm looking to the weight machines to help me there because dancing and yoga don't work like that. I'm hoping they've made some real strides in the 20 years since I last used them. (At least the butt crack thong outfits of the late 80s are a distant memory. The stationary bikes faced the Stairmasters and I hated watching the women on them because they invariably wore those hideous things.)

LOL! Really!

Note: I don't currently drag my sorry butt out of bed in the morning to work out. But I should, you see.

My issue is more with food choices and portion sizes, methinks, with a side of plateauing on the exercises I do. I would still love to run (not because I like running so much as I can get it over with faster than with walking), because that did work for me. It also ruined my knees. :(

Ah, butt-crack thong outfits! Nice imagry, thanks.

Do keep us updated, will you?

Ah... you don't know the true horror of Flat Stanley as it's Educational!

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/cultures/flat_stanley_project.htm

Yes, I wonder about my childless existence when I'm old and gray. Who will get all the family heirlooms, but then I realize that I'd make a lousy mother as I'd demand my Helena time.

:D

I think I'm not extraordinarily kind friend. I just have SUCKA written right across my head.

I wish I had your discipline! I do pilates, but nothing compared to a workout with a personal trainer.

Pffft! That isn't self-discipline; it's desperation. :) I have to, have to, have to get back to working out regularly. I had gotten down to about 15 pounds from my goal and stalled for 6 months. I quit and gained weight that I could ill afford. I'm hoping a trainer will be there to help me break those stop points and keep me from giving up.

I haven't ever done pilates but I'm hoping to add that to my workout regimen.

Committing to working with a trainer was the thing that finally worked for me. Since I started that (5 years ago?) I've never had a week with fewer than 2 workouts, and most weeks I hit 5 or more.

During that time my weight's gone up and down, but my bone density is great and my cholesterol profile is really good. And I enjoy having good basic strength.

Of course I managed to work late tonight and sat down to pet kitties and read intrawebs rather than hitting the treadmill - but maybe I'll get up and do it now that you've made me think about it :)

Go, go and exercise. The intranets will still be here when you get back.

*waits*

Welcome back. *grin* I'm really lucky that so far I have not suffered as I should for not exercising. My cholesterol profile is shockingly good and my bone density, if I understand the way they report results, is better than the average 30 year old woman of my race. I'd like to *keep* these benefits. I'm glad to hear that a personal trainer made the difference for you because I'll admit that I'm putting a lot of hope into how much help that will be to me.

I liked the muscle definition that working out with hand weights gave my shoulders and arms; I'd really like to regain that. Also? I want to forestall continuing muscle loss as I age.

Currently, I don't work out at all so you're well ahead of where I am.

I'm reasonably good on food choices (being a vegetarian is no guarantee of eating healthy but it sure does help!) but yeah, food portions are always a problem for me. My better half is a foot taller than I am and he seems to think we should split food available in half. I love where he's coming from equality-wise, but I don't want to weigh as much as he does!

Nice imagry, thanks.
Need some mental floss?

OK, that's cool but I still find myself grateful for avoiding that fate.

I still think you're an extraordinarily kind friend and you aren't goign to convince me otherwise. ;)

Sadly I think I might be too old to even remember having that kind kind of energy... I look at my 3 year old and think "how could you 'Not' want to take a nap?" *g*

I've done the Flat Stanely project twice. It's fun, but (insert nephew and niece names here) kind of annoying that you pay for tourist attractions just to get a shot of a flat kid riding the Ducks or up on the Space Needle. ;)

I've got the general health benefits from what I do, but I would love to tone up my arms. Nothing I've done at home has stuck (or worked, even after months of sticking to it). It's sad that I could probably lose an inch off my stupid fat arms, and that it would make the rest of me look so much more fit if I did.

Ah, equal portions need to be proportionate to size!

Yes, I could use a work out buddy for motivation.

i keep telling you that you could go with MOM to the "y" instead of her going with me... (sigh) please, won't you bond with her? PLEASE?!?!

M - good luck with the gym :) the personal trainer thing sounds great...

j

ps - Flat Stanley MUST DIE! :)

I've been torturing myself for - god is it ONLY three days now??? it seemed like YEARS! - 3 days and I have to say that sitting in front of the computer, vegetating, is looking even better these days. *sigh* I'm at that stage of sore where my calves constantly feel as if they're on the verge of cramping. This, too, shall pass and then I won't be a bundle of hurt but until I reach that happy Zen place, I'm a hurting girl. :)

The personal trainer is probably going to be necessary to keep me from quitting but for now we're doing the, "evaluate precisely how out of shape" I am. Which is, not surprisingly, a LOT. I guess it's a good thing that I can achieve my target heart rate so *quickly*? It means I start the clock on my "maximum effectiveness" workout that much sooner and am done that much sooner. I forgot to inquire about hair follicle workouts, though. I am *determined* to show up in NJ this year with an even bigger head than ever because I know how much the two, er, people behind me love my hair. ;-)

I think we should have a ritual burning of the Flat Stanley this year.

wow... you're going to look like a lollipop girl at the nj con ( if they can find any guests / or people to host it!) you know, the girls with itty bitty bodies and big heads :)

maybe sel and i should get big 80s perms so we won't feel left out sitting next to you :)

hope you won't be too svelte to talk to us :)

j

We drove all over for these pics, so it was a bonding moment for the family. :P We did meet someone who knew a flat stanley that went white water rafting in Alaska. Alas, he was swept out to sea, so she had to tell her grandson that Flat Stanley was sleeping with the fishes.

Fortunately, we had plenty of stunt doubles for Stanley.

I wish! I'm afraid that Dori will still be our only lollipop. I have a thyroid problem and even though I'm on medication to replace some of what it isn't producing, I have real issues moderating my weight. For instance, I've been eating 1500 calories a day and spent 4 days in intensive aerobic activity and two days working on building muscle. I'm in the first week when one's body hasn't adapted and the weight melts off. Some people will lose as much as 7 or 8 pounds in their first week. How much have *I* lost? A pound? No. A half pound? No. A quarter pound? No. Nothing? Yup. I have lost not even an ounce in 4 days. Believe me when I say I've considered a medical coma/liquid starvation plan in my really down times.

You and selmak need change nothing, silly. I love your geeky and slightly off kilter selves. :)

p.s. Need I mention that every time I see that icon, my first thought is that he has an amazingly big and speckled penis?

That seems like waaaaaaaay more trouble than I ever want. Again, there's a good reason I haven't procreated. Yup. *nods*

Yup. I have lost not even an ounce in 4 days. Believe me when I say I've considered a medical coma/liquid starvation plan in my really down times.

i understand completely about the thyroid problem... before the introduction of the "happy drug" (i swear, synthroid acted like prozac for me) things were horrible... fortunately, it sounds like you're not having a problem with your hair... otherwise we might have to buy you a big foam cowboy hat to wear...

any chance that you're retaining water... i didn't realize how much of a problem that was until i started trying to keep an eye on things...

i understand the discouragement... i went to the gym 5x one week, tried to eat better (not perfectly, but i'm trying) and was stuck... hopefully next week will be better for you!

You and selmak need change nothing, silly. I love your geeky and slightly off kilter selves. :)

you are too sweet! wish you would be going to Shore Leave..

p.s. Need I mention that every time I see that icon, my first thought is that he has an amazingly big and speckled penis?

LOL - i use this icon on my class reunion site with an account name from the dragonlance series... (i wanted to remain anonymous) i sent a reply to someone... she thought i was a gay porn site...

j

Synthroid didn't make me "happy" but it did make me able to think again. I never had the classic signs like hair loss, dry skin, constipation, and so I discounted that it could be part of my troubles. I noticed that I had weight control problems, I healed far more slowly, and that finally I just couldn't *think.* I figured out something was wrong but even when the doctor asked about my thyroid, I told him I didn't think it was. Luckily, he said, "let's test for it anyway since not everyone has the same symptoms." Bingo.

When I first started sythroid, it was like speed. I felt 18 again, totally wired and full of energy. Alas, I quickly adapted and now I'm just as lazy as before.

I do enjoy the irony that the cretin behind me at the con thinks I have "big hair." :)

It's a good question about the water. I thought yesterday that answer was, "no" as my rings weren't fitting any differently. This morning, though, the scale says I've lost 3.5 pounds since last week. That's in line with what I expect in a first week of diet/exercise. Since I doubt I burned up that fat overnight, I need to consider that I was retaining water even if I didn't have the usual symptoms in my hands.

I wish I were going to Shore Leave, too. That one sounds like fun. I'm seriously considering, if the con stays in where ever it is this year and the hotels suck as much as the internet reviews indicate, trading a different con for that one. In which case, maybe I'd trade to Shore Leave. I'm undecided but I won't be spending my vacations in a hell hole, no matter how much I love seeing all of my friends.

*snort* Oh yeah, I can see where she got that idea. I must be used to LJ now to have known it was "just another great icon." ;)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Took the Plunge

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject