Monday, August 9, 2010

One Thing Leads to Another...

A couple months ago, my husband and I learned that his younger brother was shopping for engagement rings; my brother-in-law was apparently smitten with his girlfriend and knew she was the one, as often happens throughout history. Needless to say we were very excited for him... but then a stark realization punched us in the gut. We're going to have to get back into wedding shape! Especially my husband, who will likely be in the wedding. Yikes!

I have in previous posts mentioned my "fatty saga" and professed my intention to get back into a better routine at the gym and start actively logging my Weight Watchers points again. So a couple of weeks ago I threw my hands up and said "TODAY IS THE DAY!", and with the possibility of a family wedding coming up, now was as good a time as any. I am proud to say that in the first two weeks back on Weight Watchers I've lost six pounds. Heck yes! The biggest motivator ever is watching that number on the scale go down week by week. I think the key to making a healthy-eating plan work (b/c "diet" is a four-letter word) is just planning ahead. Menu planning, packing your lunch the night before, even keeping a stash of good-for-you snacks in the office... ALL forms of planning ahead. All good things to do. And it makes sticking to your plan so much easier. Ask the high-fiber granola bars and 100 calorie bags of microwave popcorn in my desk!

Sidebar: I noticed with my re-entry into WW that they FINALLY added "grooming a horse" to the list of Activities. And let me tell you, cleaning a horse before you even ride is absolutely a cardiovascular, muscle-toning workout. Ask any horse owner. No... go ahead, I'll wait right here. Yeah. Its WORK. Especially when its muddy out in their pastures... getting all that mud off is about an extra 10 minutes of working out. And THEN you get to ride and really get sweaty. But I digress...

Then last weekend my brother-in-law popped the question to his girlfriend, now finacee. And my husband is also now super motivated to get back to fighting... I mean wedding weight. I'm really proud of him. He has had... well, lets just say that he has taken issue in the past with other people telling him what he should do, and eat and not eat and all those kinds of fun things that everyone loves to hear. In the nine years that I have known him, I have learned that I can only lead by example when it comes to exercising and eating healthier, and cannot nag or even mildly suggest that he do something. It backfires. And I can't blame him one bit; after living the better part of my life being made to feel badly about myself and my choices, I'd be pissed off hearing it again, too. So that he decided all on his own to make healthy, positive changes made me very, very happy for him.

And then he got this wild notion about going to the gym this weekend. Wha-wha-WHAT?!

OK, you know what? Fine. Lets go. I haven't even been to the gym in like 6 months, and thats just terrible considering we pay the gym every month. So instead of going out and doing something fun on Saturday night, we went to the gym! I kid... I kid... We did go to the gym, and I guess--while it wasn't exactly fun--it wasn't terrible. I thought for sure I'd be completely wiped out after 15 minutes of brisk walking on the treadmill, but I did better than that...

Nearly 8 months ago my friend Lynda fell off of her young, green horse, Rasta, when he spooked at some kids driving around in a golf-cart (waving a UGA flag... clearly they were not smart enough to know thats a bad idea near a horse). In the fall, Lynda broke two vertibrae in her neck, and by miracle was not paralyzed. She wore a halo for 6 long months, but never lost spirt, as her doctors promised her she would be back to her normal activities within a year. Good thing for Lynda, who is a very active runner, and rider. You can't keep a goo woman down! Last week, Lynda was given the green-light to begin running again. Only about a month before, she sat on her horse again for the first time since her fall. She's an amazing woman.

So I decided right there standing on that treadmill, if Lynda can run, there is no reason I shouldn't be running either. Even though I'm not a runner. At. All. But when I got the the gym on Saturday, I decided to work some running into my session. One minute turned into two. Then a couple of minutes of walking... then another couple of running. And wouldnt you know it, I did about 25 minutes of 2 run/2 walk, and it felt really good. I think I pushed myself just enough that it was hard, but I didnt over-do it.

Lather, rinse, repeat on Sunday evening. :)

Of course today, as I write this, my body is only functioning from the waist up, despite my best efforts to stretch before and after my workouts. But I'm really proud of myself, and of my husband, for getting back to the gym.

Strike that... also having trouble lifting my right arm up above my head, since I pulled Alfie's mane yesterday (without a fight mind you! That is h-u-g-e HUGE for him!). But thats another story.

So... brother-in-law goes ring shopping... I start back on Weight Watchers... Brother-in-law gets engaged, we both start going back to the gym... my friend makes a miraculous recovery, and I become a runner. Things happen for a reason... I think its up to us to recognize that reason and respond to it.