New Year, New Focus

1/12/2015

Wow, a new year yet I’m not a believer in resolutions.  It really comes down to decisions, decide to do something that will benefit you or decide to do something that won’t make much of a difference.  So what have I decided to do?  I, along with countless others, have decided to get in shape.  How?  Why now?  How will this time be any different then the multiple other times I have tried?  I don’t really have the answers to those questions, all I can say is that I am going to try.

I am 5 1/2 years post accident that changed my world.  I do get discouraged and I loose faith at times but ultimately I know that if I make the decisions that are the healthiest I will be happier in the long-run.  

I have been trying to loose this weight and get on the right track for several years now.  I get going in the right direction and I feel a difference, I see how my clothes are getting looser and then somehow I loose focus and undo all of the positive changes I seem to have made.  Part of it is food, part of it is laziness and part of it is feeling sorry for myself.

So, what’s the plan now?  I’m taking it a day at a time but I’m headed to a healthy place.  I am a Weight Watchers member, I will be re-focusing on everything I have learned thus far and I will be applying those lessons to my life on a daily basis.  I will be putting a solid fitness plan in place.  I did pretty well last year until about September and then I seemed to be on a downward spiral until here I am today, trying again.

I started the year with a scratch on my right eyeball, sadly I was prescribed medicated gel that made my vision wonky and I was unsteady on my feet (more so than usual).  It was rough and I got no exercise in.  My follow up appointment was on 1/6/2015 and I got the approval to start wearing my contacts again which meant I could get out and exercise.  Although I missed the first of the year my journey really began on 1/7/2015.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

3 x a week I walk to the gym and go to a Yin Restorative Yoga class, 1 hour class.  While other yoga classes concentrate on muscles this practice focuses on your joints and connectivity.  It’s great for someone like me who used to be ridiculously flexible and is now a blob.  You get into the positions and hold them from anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.  Sadly it shows me how inflexible I have become but I have hope that I am on a good track to get some of that flexibility back.  On the days that I go to Yoga I also walk/run the trails at my condo complex, I think it is about 2.3 miles.  I have never been a runner, even when I was incredibly fit I was BAD at running.  I am determined to be able to run a 5K by the end of this year.  Last year I did a 5K for a fundraiser for my nephew’s school, I ran about a mile and then walked the rest, hopefully I will do better next time.  One running/yoga days I also do 3 sets of 20 shoulder rotations with a pole ( an exercise a trainer at my gym showed me to help with the movement in my busted shoulder), 25 modified push ups, & 25 squats.

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

I walk to the gym and get my cardio burn in.  This includes:

2 different elliptical machines, totaling approx. 48 minutes thus far, I am working on increasing this.  2 set if 25 squats in the Power Plate that jiggles.  Not that I need any help with jiggling, I am hoping it will help me with my balance.  Walk on the treadmill 30 minutes + (I got up to 40 minutes last Saturday)

A few days a week I will sit in the sauna for 10 minutes.  I know this sounds like a crazy amount of time to a lot of people.  Please keep in mind that since my accident I am not working.  I walk to the gym because I am still not driving, I hope someday this changes, if it does I would probably still walk to the gym, it’s less than a mile away and it gets me in the right mindset.  I have been successful with some programs you do at home but this is what works best for me right now, it gets me out of the house, around other people, the possibility for social interaction is there - not that I’m chatty at the gym.

This is where I can hold myself accountable and note what is and what is not working, wish me luck!  Please keep in mind that I am not a professional, I have no special training in the area of exercise, I am simply talking about what I am doing and we will see if it makes a difference.