I'm not having a lot of new thoughts to share at the moment, but I am thinking quite a lot about my progress or lack thereof. And thus this post is born, a bit of a recap of all the things. As it turned out, my recap was quite extensive, so here is the exercise instalment! More to follow!
Exercise and health
Why?
The last time I was a healthy weight was about 7 years ago, since then I was plagued with mostly auto-immune health concerns. Two years ago while pregnant it was discovered that I had high blood pressure. Everything turned out fine with the pregnancy, and my blood pressure did the expected dropping after bub was born, however my Dad was re-admitted to hospital three months later and my blood pressure hasn't recovered!
What?
I have spent the last 18 months or so concentrating on improving my health. In February 2012 I began Tai Chi classes to assist my pain from psoriatic arthritis and my hypertension. Tai Chi was brilliant, and still is, however I managed to gain 10kgs in December while sitting at Dad's hospital bedside, which prompted a visit to my GP and a renewed effort specifically for weight loss to improve my blood pressure. I did excellently for the first few weeks, losing 5kgs and getting a cholesterol reading of 3.5. The next few weeks proved harder and I was feeling a little bit desperate, when along came my first Bruce Springsteen concert! Especially since seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Melbourne last month I have been a woman possessed with a need to get on with my life as healthily as I possibly could, with no excuses. I was inspired to reach my goal of weighing 90kgs by the end of this month (today). While this goal appears to have eluded me, the scales are stubbornly saying I've lost only 2 of the required 5kgs in the past 6 weeks, I have continued to exercise, walking almost every day for half an hour.
What I've learned!
The benefits I’ve noticed are simply terrific, and I've learnt some things along the way too. For starters, I've always hated runners or joggers, and preferred to walk in sandals than in a closed in shoe. That is until I bought a pair of 'reef boots' on the cheap. I am now firmly of the belief, that regardless of whether they're designer expensive trendy new 'ultra-thin-sole' runners or cheapies like mine, that the best shoes in the world are the 'barely there' variety. Of course your mileage may vary, but they're worth checking out!
It really helps to get a decent
song mix for the time you spend exercising, obviously at the moment I'm
listening to Bruce Springsteen, but anything you find uplifting that gets you
inspired to lift your feet higher, move faster and generally pump out that
energy! Speaking of which, today marked the latest instalment of Bruce Springsteen concerts in Oslo. This seems to have made me a little bit lighter on my feet, even though I am not going to any of them!
I've also learned that exercise affects a whole lot more than your body size and shape. The changes I've noticed in myself go across the whole spectrum of being human! And they're all beneficial!
Benefits of Exercise
- I am much happier and calmer. It is
considerably easier to be calmer now that I exercise regularly. I am
surprised at how much easier it is for me to be polite and reasonable in
stressful situations, and how I am far less ruffled than usual! Exercise
really seems to help with keeping cool emotionally.
- Many people seem to think I've lost weight, so
I'll take that. It seems that either muscle really does weigh more than
fat, or I'm simply a nicer shape for the walking.
- I have more energy for playing with my
children
- I can now run, jog and jump - I couldn't do
those things at the beginning of the year
- My arthritis is far less inhibiting. The
joints that are severely affected (right Achilles and left wrist) are
still agonising frequently, but I just carry on through the pain, take the
occasional paracetamol and don't give in to the temptation to feel
disabled.
- My psoriasis is far less present. I've had
psoriasis for 5 years now, and it is quite extensive, all over my arms and
legs mostly. The psoriasis on my arms is now almost gone (just scarring)
and on my legs is quite mild compared to just a few months ago. It leads
me to wonder if exercise plays a significant part in maintaining a healthy
immune system. It’s certainly not something my rheumatologist mentioned,
but perhaps something as simple as exercise does not pay for her
contribution to scientific research with drug trials!
- Gone are the excuses for not exercising! There
are no 'reasons' for not exercising, only excuses! If you are injured,
seek rehab, if you have limitations, set out to break them or at least
bend them with professional help! I am finding I am also slowly
eradicating excuses from other areas of my life, in fact I feel another
Jedi post coming up based on Yoda's "Do or do not, there is not
TRY"
- Much as I lament the brown snakes, hills and
crooked footpaths, I really do love my neighbourhood and walking under the
stars in my streets is a precious gift, that I am fortunate enough to live
somewhere so nice, safe and friendly. I'm not so sure about the reptilian
population though.
I am going to keep up the walking, increase the Tai Chi, and spend some of my effort on consulting a personal trainer to make sure I'm doing everything I can and should to get as healthy as possible, as quickly as possible. I still have the goal of 80kgs before the end of winter. Apparently healthy weight for me is ten more kilos lighter again, but I'll see how I go getting to that first goal. If we could afford it, I'd be taking the family skiing this year, so that might yet happen, we will see how budgeting fares!
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