As a part of my initiation, however, I have been introduced to the 30-Day Fitness challenge. Every month, these girls pick a calendar of exercises to do each day of the month. They seem deceptively benign at first glance, but as I have just found out, they are not for the faint of heart - or for that matter, the fat of ass. Yesterday was Day 1 of the newest challenge, and it seemed easy enough: 20 jumping jacks, 10 squats, 10 sit-ups, and 5 push-ups. I was so proud of myself for completing it, that I only barely noticed that my quads were a little wibbly when I got done. (Wibbly: a combination wiggly and wobbly, which is the perfect word for what I have going on.) Fast forward to this morning, when I attempted to jog across the parking lot after a kind motorist gave me the go ahead. I almost went down face-first on the pavement as those quads (not to mention hamstrings and gluts) are in a full-scale revolt. Seriously, I believe if they could leave my body, they'd be sitting in a surly pile on my brand new ottoman in the living room.
The best part of this story, though is yet to come. Remember that I said it's a DAILY challenge. That meant that today, there was more to be done. Never one to shirk from a challenge, I gamely pulled up the website and saw: 20 high knees, 10 lunges, 10-second plank, and 5 push-ups. The high knees actually felt pretty good because I got to stretch those tight, tight, tight hamstrings a bit. The lunges hurt like the dickens, and I'm pretty sure I will pay for them tomorrow. The plank, I'm humiliated to say was SO HARD. You wouldn't think that 10 seconds was a long time, but I really was concerned I wouldn't make it. Embarrassing, when just 10 years ago I could hold a plank for 4 minutes and shock my physical therapist. What has motherhood done to me? And the pushups were fine, but I fear my delts may be heading the same way as my leg muscles if I'm not careful.
There is more slated for tomorrow as well. If memory serves, I think it's a repeat of Day 1 with an extra pushup thrown in. I'm not telling my thighs about the squats or they really may just give up now, and I'll head to church in the morning a boneless chicken.
I'm really not trying to complain however. There's a part of me that is sore and grumpy, but the bigger part is sore and grateful to be so. I'm still missing the gym, as this plague is long-lasting and breath-reducing; I'm glad to be doing something physical to remind myself that the hiatus is only temporary. I did miss my Weight Watchers meeting today - overslept - bad me, but I did go and weigh in. Down another 2.6 pounds, which is awesome for a week that I couldn't work out and ate like crap. I didn't eat much, though, as my appetite was completely gone from the lack of a sense of smell or taste. I'm down a total of 11.2 pounds from where I began back in February, and pretty close to my first goal of 5% body weight lost, which is 14 pounds. I sent a note to my doc, and he was pretty happy with me too, and my latest biometric screening at work came back with amazing numbers that I was relieved to see. I love this tool that I found online a while ago. The picture on the left is what I'm shaped like now, and the picture on the right is me at goal. Pretty fabulous, isn't it?
None of this is easy, but it is necessary. It definitely seems easier this time than it has before. It might be my determination - my desire to at last get this ridiculous weight off my body. Whatever it is, I'm grateful for it. When I graduated high school, I weighed 220 pounds. A year later, after my first serious relationship crashed and burned I got down to 192. When I married my first husband, I was at 220 again, and when I left him I'd gained to almost 250. During my separation and moving out on my own, I got down to about 215, and it's been a steady climb over fifteen years to where I am now. I know that I purposely gained weight during my first marriage so that I wouldn't be attractive to the other men my husband kept trying to get me to sleep with (the joys of an "open" marriage), and I know that I gained weight as a teenager because food was my friend and constant companion when there weren't any people around. What I can't figure out is why I've allowed myself to gain over these last years that I've been with my current husband and supposedly happy. He's a good man, and we have a good life, but yet the weight has piled on just as before. Figuring that out is going to be the key to getting the weight off, and harder still keeping it off when I get there.
It's nice to know that while I'm figuring, I have a group of wonderful women to support me, and a burning in my major muscle groups to let me know I'm on the right track!
MR
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