Thursday, September 15, 2011

Halfway through the 30-day push

Quote du Jour:
As a real person, he wouldn't last a minute, would he? But drama is about imperfection. And we've moved away from the aspirational hero. We got tired of it, it was dull. If I was House's friend, I would hate it. How he so resolutely refuses to be happy or take the kind-hearted road. But we don't always like morally good people, do we?
- Hugh Laurie


That quote isn't especially relevant to anything. I just liked it.

I'm still pushing through on this 30-days of 3-hours-a-day exercise, even though I'm dead tired from lack of sleep. I'm halfway through now. I haven't noticed much weight loss -- a few pounds, but my weight fluctuates so much that's negligible.

What I have noticed is a change in the way the body feels. This may sound like an odd statement for a sedentary, overweight, middle-aged female to make, but I'm starting to feel like an athlete. It feels good to move, to use my muscles. I feel like I'm getting stronger. I can bend Damn Knee back almost as far as Good Knee now, and it's no longer buckling under me at odd moments. (Hope I didn't just jinx something by typing that.) I'm starting to feel like I enjoy exercise again. Not the getting up out of bed to exercise part, nor the getting started part of exercise, but the actually pushing of the body to go a little farther each time part. Damn Knee isn't quite up to the point of doing something that involves impact, such as running; I can't use the elliptical without following up with the ice pack and ibuprofen. Even so, the exercise that I am doing feels good. Satisfying.

P.S. Not that I'm becoming one of them Math people or anything hung up on numbers (much), but as of today I will have done over 40 hours of exercise this month. Unless my mad Math skillz are leading me astray, that's one friggin' work week's worth of exercise. Me. Hard to believe. (Now, if only I could figure out a way to get paid for this...)

Exercise du jour: I'm falling into a pattern of alternating one day of mostly using the elliptical, the next mostly doing core muscle DVDs. What I should be doing is including more gardening, but for some reason that seems a lot more work than the other two. Probably that's why I should be doing it. Even after all this working out, the inner slug is still trying to call the shots.

Morning: Elliptical
Done.



Noon: Elliptical Walking, gently
Done. Turns out that I kinda sorta pulled a muscle in my hip during last night's core rhythm DVD. That's always the problem -- you start feeling good, you go a little further, then you find out that you went a bit too far. Exercise is educational, at least.



Night: Gardening, damn it.
Done! Well, the 'damn it' part, anyway. The omens look good toward the prospect of my getting another job. Which concept has thrust me into a) the heights of exultation b) the depths of despair and c)the middle ground of "oh, well, it could work out okay."

10 comments:

Shelley said...

That is AMAZING, to have over 40 hours of exercise already this month. And I love how you are feeling the changes in your body - it's not always all about the scale - but the power that you get from doing these workouts. Great job!

Spilling Ink said...

You're beginning to feel like an athlete, eh? It's a good feeling, isn't it?

You go girl!

Judith said...

Have I mentioned how impressed I am? 40 hours! A full work weeks worth of exercise.

I like the Hugh Laurie quote. He is a very smart guy. One of my favourite Hughs, in fact.

The Merry said...

Thanks. I wish it were all hard exercise, but sometimes... like today... I pull a muscle and have to do something like gentle walking. It's still moving, the muscles still get put through their paces, but I want to get back to the point where I can push myself more. Argh.

Lou said...

Yay Merry!!! We miss your voice elsewhere but understand how much dedication this entails!

You go, woman!!

Anonymous said...

Question for you then, Ms Athlete... (not being facitious, really, I don't actually KNOW any athletes I can ask this of)-
how come all of my trudging around the neighborhood has NOT helped me to lose weight? Has, in fact, brought more weight to the scale? And I don't want to hear about muscle weighing more than fat, I have not gained that much muscle, but I have been noticing an increase of almost a pound every two days. For like three months now!
Julie

Anonymous said...

Feeling good is the best part, much more important than how you look :) I'm so glad Damn Knee is doing better, too! Sending happy beams your way *beams*

Crabby McSlacker said...

Wow, I'm so impressed! And glad to hear you're taking care of the knee too even as you're taking on these heroic feats. Three hours a day is amazing.

Hope the interview went well? (And I'm like you about suffering vicarious nervousness when others make speeches. And if it's someone I'm friends with or related to, I'm a basket case).

messymimi said...

Excellent work. Wonder if you can put this on your resume as you job search -- proof that when you set out to do something, you get it done.

London Mabel said...

Great job!