Getting off my arse! Inspired to Exercise!

You might by now realise that I have a sizeable hoard of inspired feelings happening as a result of going to three Bruce Springsteen concerts. He and the band put on such marvellous shows and have such incredible positive energy that it’s hard not to bring home life lessons to apply. I already mentioned my amazement at Springsteen's energy in this post.

The most glaringly obvious lesson for me was that of health. As I sat on the first night I was amazed at the incredible vigour and energy of this man.  It wasn't until later that I found out he was 63 years old!  I was stunned, thrilled, and quite honestly put to shame at the pitiful state of my health by comparison. It was a sobering thought, as my own Dad, who was 63 when I was just 17, was possibly just as fit and vigorous at the same age, playing Badminton fixtures and doing hard physical work without breaking too much of a sweat. I have been complacent and lazy. There is no other way to describe it. I have indulged in the first-world habit of plenty, used my boring desk job as an excuse for sedentary behaviour and suffered the health consequences including rheumatoid arthritis and high blood pressure.

It seems obvious that turning forty this year is a sure indicator that theoretically my fittest years are behind me, and those to come will be harder health wise. I see no reason therefore to make them harder yet by holding onto all this excess weight, or to ever again blame my circumstances for what is quite simply, poor prioritising.

These revelations haven't all come from concert-going. Earlier this year I had a conversation with my doctor about the value of health.  I saw him in January after gaining considerable weight spending almost five weeks by my father's beside in hospital when he had pneumonia. I sat around on my arse enough in December to gain 10 kilograms. This didn't count Christmas foods as we had a salad picnic in the backyard on Christmas Day, because my father was still in hospital. It was just too much arse sitting, and probably too many sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria.

The result of this weight gain was an increase in my blood pressure, that required more medication. In January, I was given a form to have my cholesterol tested, in 6 weeks time, and told to go back home and make every day count with my diet and exercise. In that 6 weeks I lost 5 kilograms, my blood pressure improved, and I was walking on the beach and doing tai chi regularly with no excuses. I thought I was doing well. I aim for a raw diet (I miss, but that’s the idea), high in Kale and Cos Lettuce, and theoretically low in empty carbs and sugar (no bread, and little pasta or rice). That’s just the type of food intake that works for me. My cholesterol came back at a spectacularly healthy 3.5 and my doctor was thrilled, told me to go home and keep doing what I was doing.

March didn't prove quite so fruitful, my weight has hovered, I've missed Tai Chi classes, and I didn't go to the beach at all. Seeing Bruce Springsteen in Melbourne became as much a mission to get in 3 hours of non-stop dancing and jumping and arm waving as it was about the show! I was certain I needed that time, in the GA standing area to get the absolute most out of my experience. Sitting down for so much of the Brisbane concert really grated on me as a wasted opportunity (shame on your oldies who insisted my daughter and I stop dancing!)  Going back for a second session of exercise for Melbourne night 2 was a no-brainer for my health!

The Melbourne experience of 2 concerts and spending time with my exercise conscious friend taught me that I was more capable than I thought. I hadn't jumped up and down for years because of arthritic pain in my achilles. Yet mid-concert I found myself jumping up and down with excitement, and then again a few days later, playing in the park with my children!

I’m finding it very easy to keep up with the persistence to exercise and to eat healthily because of the realisation that there is such a large gap between my fitness, and that of someone more than 20 years my senior. I think that part of the inspiration comes from the Joie de Vivre that exudes from not only Bruce Springsteen, but the E Street Band, and indeed, the crowd at his concerts! I have been doing Tai Chi with a 92 year old, managing to just keep up with her and had never felt the same urgency to step up the pace. Tai Chi isn't really a discipline that encourages hastiness, although it has increased my fitness, it is surprisingly energetic, but very non-competitive.

Sharing my enthusiasm and determination with friends has provided me with some extra moral support to stay focussed this week.  Two of my friends are now exercise buddies, both from Melbourne, who are keeping me company on my fitness journey through texting reminders to walk, and motivating each other to keep at it, even on a 'lazy' day.

So far I don't seem to have achieved any shift in weight at all for the past 6 weeks or so, however, today a friend commented that I'd lost weight; she reasoned that I'd had 2 workouts at the concerts and that muscle weighs more than fat! I love her thinking! My skirt is doing its best to fall off over my hips, which is good enough for me, and the stubbornness of the scales is motivating me even more to see them shift back under 90 kilograms.

My big goal, which will take quite a bit to achieve, is to be 80 kilograms by my birthday at the end of winter! It’s been 8 years since I was that weight.  Having written down these goals, I realise that I am going to call in the assistance of a personal trainer, to at least help with planning a realistic strategy, in keeping with the wise words of this article, which notes that successful people do not simply repeat an activity over and over again, but seek expert feedback on their performance.  The article has contributed a great deal to my motivation, and partially inspired this previous post about 'Motivational Thursday". 

I'm looking forward to checking my progress in a few weeks time. At the moment I'm walking every day, and doing Tai Chi at least 4 hours a week. Whether my diet intake is strict enough to make a difference remains to be seen. I think I mostly eat healthily, however there is always the temptation of sweet biccies and too much dairy. This uncertainty is the reason I'm going to employ the principles of seeking expert feedback on my progress from a personal trainer, because a good trainer will give assistance with a food diary and be able to provide advice on nutrition as well as moral support.

I'll probably send the occasional tweet about exercise and update the blog if there is any significant news or change to the routine. I'm still a complete twitter noob, but you can find me here if you want to follow my day to day updates. 
I would love to hear your experiences with illness, exercise and health. Did anyone who went to all 10 Australian concerts spontaneously find themselves feelng fitter and more well I wonder? I know I came away standing taller and with a greater sense of belief in myself :)