You Can't Always Get What You Want . . .

. . . but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. I had a fabulous workout with Seann today. We did lots of push-ups, tricep extensions, dead lift squats, lunges, and fun ab work. It was the first time since I broke my leg that I could do actual lunges without some kind of support.

Here's the crazy thing.  I've been feeling like my workouts with Seann weren't hard enough. First, I dismissed it thinking that he's starting easy and will make it more difficult as he gets a sense of what I'm capable of. Then I've been justifying it by focusing on the parts of the workout that were harder. But I really knew I wasn't working out like I wanted to be, and I wasn't saying anything. I was more worried about Seann feeling bad by me telling him I wasn't working out hard enough than I was on getting what I wanted. I realized yesterday that I'm half way through my two month training, and if I really wanted to accomplish my goals, I needed to say something.

So I told Seann today. He was fine about it and immediately gave me the kind of workout I wanted. It was hard to do and know I'm going to be sore tomorrow, which is what I want. Afterwards I realized that I was somehow expecting Seann to read my mind--to know what kind of workout I wanted. That's really crazy, and I wasn't being fair to either Seann or myself.

Do you want to hear something even crazier? When I use the Wii balance board to weigh myself, it always asks me if I want a fitness tip. Usually I say yes, but lately, I haven't had much time in the morning, so I've just been weighing myself, and saying no to the fitness tip. And I know part of me is worried about hurting the Wii's feelings because I don't want its tips. The WEii's feelings--and I think that even though I know the Wii doesn't have feelings. Hmmmm--I think I was too well socialized as a female and as a Minnesotan. It's a bad combination. Because most of the time, in order to get what you want and need, you need to be able to ask for it.

Lord of the Rings

Yesterday was Day 2 of my training. My quads and glutes were still sore from Wednesday, but I figured after 160 lunges Wednesday, we would be doing other exercises. I would be wrong. I did lunges, along with squats and rows, but this time it was all done with rings.

First, I started with 20 lunges. The secret to this exercise is that I'm pulling myself up with my arms.It's effective--my forearms, triceps, and back muscles are all sore this morning, along with my quads and glutes.

     Then I did 20 squats, again pulling up with my arms.

 Then I did 20 rows. For this one, I balanced on my heels with my arms fully extended, leaning backwards, and pulled myself forward to the position on the right. After doing 20 of those, I started over and did another set of each--who would only want to do those exercises once--not the Lord of the Rings!












Then, the most fun exercise of the day--I forget it's real name, but I'll call it the flying lunge on the rings. I don't remember how many sets of 10 I did--was it a hundred? No, maybe 2.

Looking at that movie, I know I'm going to be in incredible shape in 2 months! We rounded it off with a bunch of planks--can't ignore the abs--and cobras, so I'll have a nice, erect posture. I've only done this ring workout once before, but I have to say, it's really fun and one of my favorites.

Preparation H

The H is for health, of course. What were you thinking? After 6 months of not being able to work out because of doctor's orders, I've forgotten how much preparation is involved in being fit and eating well. I have my first training session for my new program at 7:30 tomorrow morning. That means I have to get up early enough to have some breakfast, pack a lunch and snacks, pack up what I need to shower after my workout and dress for work. And in order to prepare breakfast and lunch, I had to previously purchased the food I need to be able to make healthy meals.

The amount of preparation it takes is difficult with the busy lives we lead. It would be so much easier to stop for a bagel after working out and get take-out for lunch. Actually, the easiest thing to do would be to shower and get ready for the day at home, and skip the work-out. I was excited about winning the Fitness Together contest because I know I work out much harder with a personal trainer. I'm seeing that another equally important benefit is that I can't rationalize my way out of tomorrow morning's workout. I have an appointment. How many times have I told myself something like, "It's too much to get everything together to work out in the morning, and I need the sleep, so I'll work out at lunch or after work." I don't know the number but I can tell you that it wouldn't take many fingers to count the number of times I actually worked out at the alternate times.

Hey--taking spinning classes two days in a row, followed by going to the Patriots-Jets game did not hurt my leg, even though getting from the parking lot to our nose-bleed seats was by far the longest walk I've taken since I broke my leg. It was worth staying up until 3:30 in the morning to wath the Patriots decimate the Jets. What fun!!!!!

Psycho Trainer Que'est-ce Que C'est

Yes, I was a psycho today about training. My training program with Fitness Together starts on Tuesday, but I have a commitment to work out 4 times a week and had only worked out 3 times. I took a spinning class yesterday at the Y, and was debating whether or not to take another one today.

The main issue is that I don't know how much stress I can put on my healing left leg. Two months ago I set myself back a few days by doing the grocery shopping without crutches. A month ago, I did the same thing by taking a spinning class and then going to a play with Bennett at the Eric Carle museum (it involved a lot of walking and standing).

After the spinning class yesterday, I spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon shopping with Bennett. Yes, shopping. I hate to shop, except for sporting goods and electronics, but I discovered yesterday that taking a 3 year-old to Barnes & Noble, Petco, and A2Z was like going to three playgrounds. We had a great time. Here's a picture of Bennett with Curious George at B&N.


So what was driving me crazy (not a long trip) was whether spinning again today would hurt my leg, not only because of everything I did yesterday, but because tomorrow I'm going to the Patriots-Jets game with Bob, and that means many hours without my leg elevated, and lots of walking--taking the stairs alone up into the very top of the stadium will be a workout--think of Rocky.

The main thing is--I don't trust myself. I don't trust that I won't do too much and hurt myself and I don't trust that I'm thinking that because I'm being lazy and rationalizing myself out of working out. And I realized that one of the great things about the training program I'm going to be starting is that I don't need to worry about playing those psycho mind games with myself for the next two months. All of my workouts have been scheduled--no thinking needed. I also realized that I have a trainer who will be a partner with me in this. I don't have to engage in this internal debate--I can ask Brandon what he thinks.

So what did I do? After debating back and forth from early this morning until 2:30 this afternoon, I took the class. And felt great. Here I am at the end of class. I'll let you know how the stair-climbing goes tomorrow. Go Pats!

I won!

The day I found out I won two months of training at Fitness Together I had weighed myself for the first time in two months. Not good news. I had put on another 8 pounds, for a total weight gain of 15 pounds since I broke my arm and leg. I'm not at my all-time high weight, but I can see it from here. I made a vow to start doing something about it, but have made that vow many times, and knew I wasn't likely to do anything.

And then I found out I won. It is amazing the difference it is making for me to win the contest. Now what I eat and how much I exercise doesn't just matter to me, it makes a difference for Fitness Together. I need to earn the amazing gift they have given me. One of the first things I did after getting the news was to go to the supermarket to get some nutritious food, and any time I think about getting some take out or buying some ice cream, it's easy to dismiss that thought, because of my commitment to Fitness Together.

I've been thinking a lot about what a difference it is making to have a commitment to something beyond myself in my ability to control what I'm eating and how much I work out. Because I'm not a hermit living in a cave in the forest. My fitness has always had an impact that goes way beyond me. I have a commitment to Liz to do what I can to grow old together as healthily as I can. I have a commitment to my employees to be healthy to run my company. I have a commitment to my family and friends to be healthy so I can be a person they can count on. And I have a commitment to the world to work for all people and cultures to be honored and respected for the gifts they have been providing the world. Once I complete my commitment to Fitness Together, I need to keep my other commitments front in center in my mind, and not pretend that my actions only have an impact on me.