RockTheDesert

Fitness Friday - Working Out with Friends

OK, so it's Saturday, not Friday. I guess I'm a day behind. We are running at full speed right now, trying to wrap up details for our e3 mission trip to Africa. We leave on Wednesday - It's almost time to start counting down the hours. I just ran out of time and energy to finish my fitness post yesterday.

Friday was our first time not working out at Fitness Together with our personal trainers! After 24 sessions and some intense instruction, we are ready to strike out on our own!

It is really great working out with a group of friends. Debbie, Lisa and I met in Debbie's garage yesterday for a 597 calorie workout. We started by power-walking through Debbie's neighborhood. Then we set up 3 circuits: Upper Body; Abs and legs; and Cardio. Lisa was our official trainer, keeper of the stopwatch, and cheerleader. It took 90 minutes to get it all done. I drank 2 liters of water. Debbie bought powerful fans to install in the garage and didn't get them assembled in time for us to use them. So we sweated and turned beet red and practically melted into the pavement then we were done.

We've had a lot of friends inquire about joining our workout - and that makes me insanely happy - somehow, just by jumping in and following through with our workout plan, we've created culture - fitness, friendship, and food. Did I mention that we almost always head over to The Good Egg after we workout? We usually split protein-packed, egg white omelettes or dig in to loaded, steel-cut oatmeal...so fun, so yummy, and now we're all grown up and going at it on our own - so proud of ourselves!!

Fitness Friday

It's Fitness Friday - 2 weeks in a row, how's that for disciplined? I spent quite a bit of undisciplined time last week searching for great pictures of women working out. Here's one of my favorites...

Today, Pam and I worked out with Alex at Fitness Together. I nearly died at least 3 times. Alex is a 22 yr old superstar trainer, very nice, but extremely tough and disciplined. Hmmm. Seems to be a theme developing here. Discipline, or lack thereof, is something that I struggle with and have struggled with for about 42 years, maybe longer. I have an artistic, self-willed nature and I allow myself to get caught up in everything except what I'm supposed to be doing. And this transfers to all areas of life, not just fitness. I have the best of intentions, but it seems that life goes buy in a blurry, undefined, organic whirlwind of activity. At the end of the day, most things on my "list" are nearly accomplished, yet I and others closest to me most likely paid a high price, i.e., stress, anxiety, running late, running in circles, short tempers, etc.

I've realized that my lack of discipline has shaped me into a "skip the journey" kind of person. A person who lives life at a frantic pace, can't be bothered with the day to day details and is ready to skip to the happy ending. Quickly. And that's not the kind of person I want to be. It's not the kind of person God created me to be. I've bought into the instant gratification lie. And the take shortcuts lie. And the "you can always go back and do it tomorrow" lie. There is so much life to be lived in the day to day part of my journey. Like making a meal for the family and actually enjoying the creative, multi-sensory side of cooking. Like truly listening while my sons talk to me, watching their gestures and listening to the inflections in their now grown-up voices, instead of waiting for the bottom line summary sentence. Like waiting patiently in line at the grocery store or Starbucks and soaking in the sights and sounds and smells. A disciplined life will allow me to live a more well-rounded, enjoyable, "dig your toes into the sand, close your eyes and breathe in the smell of the ocean" kind of life. That's what I want. More than anything.

Fitness Friday

Today is my first themed blogging day - Fitness Friday. My purpose is to share snippets from my physical fitness journey as well as my spiritual fitness journal. Please comment...much more fun for everyone!

My typical Friday involves making final preparations for our worship celebration on Sunday. Last minute bright ideas - phone calls - stage set - charts in order, placed on music stands - tech station organized - tech elements tested. For me, it's not the end of the week but the beginning of the weekend. I like beginnings. They fuel my creativity and increase my overall excitement and energy levels. All in all, though, there's not a whole lot of physical activity involved in these tasks. If creativity and procrastination could be turned into a massive- amount-of-calorie-burning activity, I'd be really grateful - God???

Today I will be working out with friends at 8:15am at Fitness Together. We only have half a dozen of our prepaid sessions with a trainer left. Getting my body physically fit has never been so difficult, although, on our recent assessment, I improved in a lot of areas - my one-minute push-up test went up from 12 to 33. My bench pressing went up from 10@75lbs to 9@95lbs (don't mess with me!). Weight was about the same, measured in at 5 inches smaller overall, flexibility a little better, resting heart rate improved. This whole fitness deal is another beginning for me...beginning to live a different way, choosing to eat differently, making health & fitness a priority.

Earlier this week, I went to a "big box" gym with my sons. We took a tour. Listened to Ernest talk about the benefits of joining this particular gym. It wasn't a hard sell. My sons went ahead and joined. I sort of wandered through this maze of equipment and fitness-seekers, slightly depressed and terribly overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, smells of everyone trying to whip their bodies into shape. It was like I had discovered this whole sub-culture of society that I never dreamed existed. I thought I'd be more ready to join the gym. More eager to get started on a regular routine with 100s of others, treading, climbing, swimming, sweating, wolfing down ostrich jerky and drinking powdered mega-shakes, searching for my missing abs among the various pilates, yoga, and spinning classes.

How did our ancestors stay in shape? Did they have abs?










Evidently they did...

The Monster Workout

Well, I've been working out for 6 weeks, minus last week due to my whirlwind travel schedule (Nashville to Phoenix to San Diego to Phoenix). I hardly had time to rest last week, let alone work out. I did have the best of intentions, as did my traveling companion and fellow Lifework 2.0 attendee, Krellfish. I even dutifully packed my workout clothes & tennis shoes just in case the Country Inn Suites had an acceptable work out facility (it did but our timing was all off).   

So, in addition to being dead tired on Monday after an incredibly intense yet wonderful Mother's Day service on Sunday, I managed to acquire a massive head cold fueled by a raging seasonal allergy. I've been miserable all week and we've run out of kleenex more than once. I was in no mood nor physical condition to get out of bed on Monday and drive 30 minutes to Fitness Together, yet somehow, probably, mostly the "pay-in-advance" incentive, I found myself riding the Lifecycle at 8am, heading in at 8:15 for a brand new workout with Joe, called "The Monster Workout." I guess Joe is trying to keep our muscles and fat-burning mechanism at optimum levels by switching up our workout routines fairly regularly.
Let me just say, The Monster kicked my butt. As is our usual practice, we (the golden girls) headed over to the Good Egg for a quick, protein-packed meal and wind-down time together. Debbie insisted on paying for the food. That is, until the manager approached our table with the surprising news that a generous patron had paid our bill anonymously. Wow! That has never happened to me before. Quite overwhelming and confusing and humbling and touching all at once. We should have ordered the smoothies too!

Working Out Is Hard To Do

We have started working out with a trainer 2x per week for the next 12 weeks. We = myself, Lisa, Pam & Debbie. We've paid in advance (great motivation to never miss a session) at Fitness Together for the privilege of being tortured. Oh yes, it is pure torture. For the record, jumping jacks are from the devil. My trainer's name is Joe. He is a compassionate yet firm drill sergeant.  I'm old enough to be his mom. After the first session, I went straight out and bought an extra-firm sports bra. Now I need a decent pair of running shoes.

The catalyst for this body-altering, mind-shaping, life-changing decision to choose fitness is a brown, sleeveless, strapless, satin, long, halter-top bridesmaid dress which I will be wearing in public at a wedding on April 26, 2008. That's this year. In a couple of weeks. Yeah, that soon. The physical torture of working out is nothing compared to the torture of trying on dress after dress at David's bridal, all of which were sleeveless and strapless, some more form-fitting than others. The dresses and the three-way mirrors all pointed to one major thing - the time has come to stop wearing baggy, all-black clothing (quite slimming?) and come to grips with the fact that my health, my well-being, and the energy level required for the life I choose to lead, all could be dramatically improved by becoming physically fit. I realize that it will take time and monumental effort to overcome years of poor eating habits and pure laziness, but it's never too late to start.