Category: fitness

Life in the cube

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, fitness, health, movies, yoga

I was sitting in my cube at work (hour 10), checking out Mayo Clinic’s website for anything new. I found a video of people working at treadmill desks.

I do not have a treadmill desk. Currently, I sit in my cube (to borrow a line from Sandra Bullock in the movie While You Were Sleeping) for 10.5 hours a day  “like a veal”. I am not burning the 10% more calories that people who are blessed with bad backs and get notes from the company’s contracted physical pherapy associates and are awarded “sit-stand” stations. So I sit, not stand.

I recently attended a yoga workshop led by Judith Hanson Lasater. I learned many things from listening to Judith, including that the optimal angle for the hips while sitting in a chair is 120 degrees. I am currently sitting in a chair at my job that gives me about a 45 degree angle of hipness. Not good.

I attempted to remedy this. I rolled up a blanket and put it on my desk chair which afforded me a hip angle that more closely approximated the goal. I was feeling smug about having saved about $50 on a new cushion for about an hour, when I started noticing that my right shoulder (which was now clearly at an untherapeutic angle) was killing me, thereby proving once again the theory that “the thigh bone’s connected to the shoulder bone”.

Darn! I guess I also need to attend a workshop about shoulders. Or ergonomics. Back to square one.

Magical thinking (or: the 80/20 rule revisited)

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, fitness, health, restaurants

This summer, for the first time since losing weight, I put some back on. In reviewing my behavior over the past 3 months, I realized what happened: I reversed the 80/20 rule of maintenance. Instead of staying on track with eating 80% of the time so that the other 20% I could eat whatever I wanted, I ate whatever I wanted 80% of the time, using magical thinking to hope that staying on track 20% of the time would balance the wild abandon of the other 80%. I did the same thing with exercising (ugh!).

Coffee gelato

What happened? Well, for one thing, I guess I got smug. For a while, it actually didn’t matter that I did that; my body compensated for the excess until it just couldn’t anymore. Also, I got lazy about portion sizes and, in many instances, doubled what I knew was the amount that I should have been having. What can I say? So much (goooooood food); so little time.

Plus, hello?  Tiramisu, gelato, sweet potato fries every week? Cinnamon buns and (just today, as I recall :)) blueberry muffins as big as your head? How did I think that would turn out?

Okay, time to put the 80/20 back in the 80/20 rule; time to lose the magical thinking. Goodbye maintenance; hello active losing: points counting, writing everything down, exercise of some sort 6 days a week for 30 minutes instead of 3…um, or 1.

It ain’t gonna be easy.

The foods of the summer of 2010 will not be soon forgotten. Here’s a (small) sample:

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Exercise? Ugh!

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, fitness, gardening, health, local fun

Some people love exercise; I am not one of those people. I like to eat big, however, so I have to (at least sometimes) engage in physical activity of some sort to avoid doubling in size.

I subscribe to the idea that little (read: bearable)  increments of exercise throughout the day that add up to a half an hour are as good as 30 consecutive minutes. Better, maybe. So.

Here’s what I do in increments on the days that I can’t talk myself into going to the gym (ugh!):

  1. Hula hoop. I keep one in my cubicle at work. Some days if I get in early (eg: before any potential witnesses) I go into an empty conference room (one with enough clearance!) and hoop for 10-15 minutes.

    Hooping!
  2. Yoga. There are several yoga poses that you can do at your desk, in line at the supermarket, even in the car.
  3. Gardening. Depending on the time of year, that might mean berry picking (straw, blue, black, in that order), weeding, dealing with tomato staking and harvesting, digging potatoes, watering, and so on.

    Yukon gold potatoes from our garden
  4. Walking. Go to the ocean for a walk. Also, getting out for 10 or 15 minutes to walk on a work break is usually doable. Problem: I often walk to the gelato store…nothing like a caramel turtle or a cappuccino fudge brownie gelato to lift one’s spirits… 🙂
  5. Bike ride. Not in “treks” or “marathons” of any sort; just in circles in the driveway or around the block on flat pavement.
  6. Dance! Crank up the stereo/iPod/mp3…almost painless. 🙂

A bonus is that all of the above can be done with your child present. Maybe they will even participate. You can feel good because a) you are setting a good example for him or her and b) not having a babysitter is not valid excuse to blow it off.

What do you do for exercise? Do you love it or hate it?

Saying goodbye to a friend

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, fitness, good grief, health, tweens

My daughter’s friend delivered some unexpected news last week. Without preamble, she sent a one line email declaring that she was moving. To California. Like, soon. 

Chocolate chip cookies

 

Well. It’s not the first time that one of her close friends have moved away; it’s the third time, actually. It seems to be hitting her in a different way this time, however, which I imagine is due to her developmental stage. She is feeling it more, so of course, I am feeling it more as well. She was visibly sad, and was telling anyone in the family who would listen about how her friend was moving and how much she was going to miss her. 

Then a funny thing happened: as I was busily trying to think of a way to help her to feel better, she was busily figuring it put for herself. This is what she did: 

  1. She took construction paper and crayons and made a book for her friend. The book’s title? “Things I like about (name of friend)”.
  2. She asked me if we could bake some chocolate chip cookies for her friend, having ascertained beforehand that these were her favorite kind of cookies (note: date stamp on photo is incorrect; it’s a new camera and I’ve yet to set the date!).
  3. She obtained her friend’s new phone number in California, and in addition to placing it in a safe place, she made sure I had saved it in my cell phone as a safety measure.
  4. She hunted down a gift bag (purple! purple is her friend’s favorite color!) that was big enough to hold the construction paper book without folding it, the container of cookies, and an “I’m going to miss you!” greeting card, then assembled the gift.

So, she did all of these things just by instinct. She thought she was putting together a nice present for her friend and making sure they could stay in touch. I realized that she was processing her grief, and doing it by instinct, and in a healthy way. 

Then, she put it all aside and went out in the yard to hula hoop for an hour. 

 

Isn’t it amazing how much our children teach us about life (see note about picture date stamp, #2 above)?

Date night

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, fitness, no fear

After 19 years of marriage plus 2 more of courtship, I’ve learned something new about my husband: he’s ambidextrous.

How did I learn this? I stepped out of my comfort zone for an hour. Way out, actually. My idea of a night out is dinner, maybe a drive to or walk on the beach, ice cream, maybe a movie. So, when my husband mentioned that he used to like to shoot pool and did I know that there were two pool halls not far from where we live, a little warning bell went off…I mean, sure; I’d seen pool tables. We even had one when I was growing up. You know, in the dining room. Under the plywood. It majored as our dining room table. Oh oh, I thought.

Well, in the spirit of  “do the thing you think you cannot do” (a la Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote) I decided that I “must” do it. So I kept my reservations to myself…well mostly. I did ask my husband this: “What if we get there and I decide that I don’t want to go in?” to which he (graciously, and smartly) replied, “Then we won’t go in!”.

Which was exactly what happened at the first place we visited. I looked around at the building exterior, and with quip about it’s bad feng shui, declined to enter. Bill said, “No problem!” …and so on to the next stop.

Old Port Billiards on Fore Street was the next stop. I was not put off by the exterior this time, so in we went. There was a woman tending the bar and six pool tables.  I glanced at the menu and noticed right away that they had brownie sundaes, so then I knew everything would be okay (see? even when on an outing to play pool, it’s really all about the food! 🙂 )

No one was renting a table yet, so we were the first, but within an hour, all but one table was rented by two others by couples like us, and 2 others by groups of (male) friends.

We played for an hour and had a great time. And I found out that after 21 years, it’s not too late for me to try new things (and that I don’t know everything about my husband!).

hula hooping for beginners

by Karen, posted in family, fitness, health

after i wrote my prior post about hula hooping, i took things one step further and actually signed up for the WOCSD class, Hula Hooping for Beginners. it runs for 6 weeks on monday evenings and started may 17th.

when i called to sign up they said it was a big class. it was; there were 17 other brave women like myself who were daring to do something different, and risking looking like a fool for the sake of  fitness.  we ranged in age from twenty-somethings to over fifty-somethings. we all dropped our hoops and bumped into things, but it didn’t feel foolish, it felt…FUN!

the instructor, Christine MacDonald, is engaging and encouraging. she brought everything we needed, which turned out to be the hoops and the tunes (on her ipod). oh, and the enthusiasm!

you know how half an hour at the gym can feel like half a day? well, an hour of hula hooping for beginners felt like ten minutes.  so, if you are feeling like trying something different and coming out of your comfort zone, consider hooping.

Christine MacDonald teaches…well, wherever you are, most likely. here’s her website: http://www.missfithooping.com/

summer wish list Top Ten

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, books, family, fitness, gardening, health, restaurants, shopping, tweens

Remember every fall when your new teacher would ask you to write an essay on “what I did on my summer vacation”? and you could never think of a thing? Well, how about getting a jump on things this year by writing “what I am going to do on my summer vacation”!

Inspired by Laura Dolce’s column in the York County Coast Star this past thursday, who was talking about her summer wish list, I decided to put together my own. I actually do this every year, but not usually this early.  see if you can notice any recurrent theme in my list.

First, the pre-to-do list (it’s short):

  1. Read the Tourist News every week. it’s not just for tourists anymore.
  2. Check out the local library for summer programs for your kids. they’re free, and fun!
  3. Get online and google the dates of the annual events

Now, here’s what i want to do this summer (this is the top 10):

  1. Big Daddy’s in Wells for a Kahlua  Browie ice cream cone.
  2. Mini-golf at Wonder Mountain in Wells…although a friend told me about Shaw’s Ridge in Sanford, which we may be checking out instead
  3. The (annual) Strawberry Festival in South Berwick. Every year we mean to go and never make it. this year it’s on saturday 6/26, and it’s been on my calendar for 2 months already.
  4. Scarborough Downs Family Fun Day on sunday august 8.
  5. Congdon’s Doughnuts at least once, for blueberry donuts (me) and blueberry turnovers (my daughter) for breakfast.
  6. Ogunquit Playhouse; there are shows for adults as well as for children all summer. note: please do not bring kids to the evening adult shows…nothing will cramp the style of the actors more than a bright-eyed 12 year old front and center when he is trying to say his risqué lines.
  7. Kennebunkport, to walk and poke around in all the little shops.
  8. Kennebooks…visit the bookstore near me as often as possible!
  9. Go for a trolley ride…
  10. Old Orchard Beach for pier fries.

This is my jumping off point. I will add to it as necessary, and hopefully not have to cross too much off from it!

Do you make a summer vacation ‘to-do’ list?

hula hoops; not just for kids anymore

by Karen, posted in education, family, fitness, health, tweens

who knew? hula hooping is now being touted as a way to get aerobic exercise and stay fit, even to help aid weight loss efforts. 

if you are thinking about trying it, you will find that there are options.

  1. the color, the size, the heft of the hoop…all can be predetermined by you, depending on your goals (have fun? lose weight? Have fun with your tween or teenager? ) and your budget (extra colors can cost ya).
  2. if you’d like to order your own custom made hula hoop, check out HoopaLula! or maybe you’d like to try making your hula hoop yourself? here’s online instructions from hooping.org.
  3. if you investigate, you probably can find a hooping class to “try before you buy”. there’s one upcoming in Wells offered through WOCSD Adult Ed: Hula Hoop Fitness for Beginners.
  4. are there risks? well, if you have any history of back problems, you may want to check in with your doctor before trying this. check out the mayo clinic website fmi.

have any of you out there over 12 years old tried hula hooping lately?   what did you think?

yoga workshop with Doug Keller

by Karen, posted in education, fitness, health, no fear, yoga

Doug Keller came to give a series of workshops at Newburyport Yoga Center ; i attended one last night.  the schedule includes 4 workshops friday4/30  through sunday 5/2.  as i headed there with a friend, i realized that i didn’t even know what the title of the workshop was; i had chosen it because it was the only one of the four that my scheduled allowed me to attend! in the end, it really didn’t matter; i was going to meet him and find out why my yogi friends speak so highly of him and to see if i agreed with their assessment. i DO.

reasons to take a yoga workshop with Doug Keller

  1. it will pull you out of your comfort zone.
  2. the price is really reasonable
  3. he is not threatened by questions from the class
  4. Doug is a very mellow, calm, kind teacher
  5. do the thing you (think you) cannot do

here’s Doug’s website: http://www.doyoga.com/

if you are interested in attending a workshop, there may still be some space: contact Newburyport Yoga Center fmi:  http://www.newburyportyoga.com/index.php

the gym

by Karen, posted in books, fitness, health

when i go to the gym, i bring a book (for distraction from stairmaster), am if it’s a day i have to go immediately to work, a clothing change. oh, and car keys (except for once, but that’s another story).  goal: get in, work out, then get out as fast as i can. it’s interesting to me that others do not. i am constantly amazed at what i see when i get there. what are some of their agendas?

  1. the sitter: today there was a man at the gym; there is one like him every time i go. he arrives. he chooses a weight machine. he sits. he waits. he stretches. what is he doing? he rests his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. perhaps he is thinking, “how did i get here?”.  i, on the other hand, am thinking: “please get up sometime today because i need to use that machine!”  doesn’t he have chairs at home?
  2. the baggage carrier: sitting (!) on a weight machine bench. has a gallon of water. a notebook. an ipod. sunblock. gym bag. “hello? are you unaware of the locker room directly to your left?”  perhaps he has no peripheral vision?
  3. the poser: this may be a man or a woman. they are decked out in their finest gym-wear. they have their hair done. they choose weight machines that are near the mirrored wall. then, for a moment, you think they may actually be going to, you know, exercise…but no. they drape themselves over the machine and strike a pose, then look in the mirror. they adjust the pose, then look in the mirror again. “hello? you aren’t alone here; we can all see you!” this begs the question: don’t they have mirrors at home?
  4. the laundress: there was actually a woman in the ladies’ locker room doing her ironing. standing there in her underwear doing her ironing. okay, so you know where i’m going with this, right? don’t you have an iron at home? actually, come to think of it, i don’t. hey, maybe i could make this work for me! i could bring my ironing and do it at the gym, instead of working out! is that worth $10 per month plus the $29 annual fee?

what do you take with you to the gym? how long do you stay?