Fitness

It Started with a Whoopie Pie…

06/22/2011

Actually, it started with a no-good, awful, very bad mood a week ago Friday. And the mood, which I can only imagine had something to do with hormonal imbalances, led me to one of my mother’s recipes a week ago Saturday. We’d found the recipe weeks earlier and tacked it to the refrigerator with the intention of trying it at some point. But when Saturday afternoon rolled around and the no-good, awful, very bad mood had not subsided, I knew I needed some serious comfort food to help fight the battle. Out came the Crisco—yes, you use Crisco in this recipe–the sugar, the cocoa powder, the white flour, the sour milk, more sugar…. and I began assembling and baking what would turn out to be just like my mom’s Whoopie Pies. I have to admit the process at least distracted me from the mood for a while. And then...

‘It’s ok to show up and suck until you can show up and shine’

04/04/2011

The other day, my daughter sent me a link to this article: How Yoga Changed My Competitive Life Forever. In short, Deborah Dunham (the author), a highly competitive, perfectionist triathlete decided to give yoga a go, only to realize it’s not as easy as it looks. Does it look easy? I didn’t think so. For any one of us attempting something we haven’t done before or don’t do as well as we’d like, it’s a must-read. The take-away for me is that it’s ok to keep trying, even if we don’t do it so perfectly the first time or the 10th time or the 100th time. Being a perfectionist myself, this is a tough lesson to grasp. I started doing Pilates with the daughter a couple of months ago, in addition to my triathlon training. I knew I needed to strengthen my core, and Pilates is all about strengthening...

My 10-Day Pilates Challenge

03/16/2011

I’ve been doing the running, the biking, the swimming to get ready for my upcoming triathlon on May 1. And I’m making progress… slowly. While my legs and arms have gotten more toned, my core (my midsection, my belly, my abs, my problem area) has retained the jiggle. I know that until I drop this last 20-25 pounds, that’s not going to go away. I also knew that I needed to be working that area a little more regularly, not just for the aesthetic benefit, but to make the running, biking and swimming better too. So I started doing Pilates. My daughter, a Pilates advocate from a weight-loss adventure a few years ago, pulled her dvds back out about two months ago as she restarted her fitness regimen. She’s doing great, and Pilates is reshaping her lithe frame. When she started, I started with her, but my commitment to...

I Am Stuck

10/15/2010

I am stuck. I am suffering from blogger’s block (different from writer’s block, since I now write for a living and that would be detrimental to my paycheck). But writing about me and my ever-so-exciting fitness adventures has been escaping me. (Sarcasm, since I’m feeling kind of bored and frustrated in this space). I keep starting blog posts, and they end up in my drafts folders, abandoned because I just can’t seem to get my thoughts in order to get past the second paragraph. ok, on to the third paragraph… Maybe the reason I am having trouble writing about fitness is because I’m blocked here too. I am suffering from weight loss block. I’ve gone back to Weight Watchers, had a couple good weeks (okay, one), and I’ve again hit a plateau that frustrates me right into a bag of Hershey’s Kisses or a pan of brownies. (Gee, do...

Where Your Feet Can Take You

08/30/2010

I live on Long Island. It’s a big place with lots of beautiful beaches on the South Shore, cliffs on the North Shore, farms out east and, of course, lots of congested suburban neighborhoods. We spend most of our time in the congested neighborhoods. When my kids were small and even still today, one of my favorite pastimes has been to drive to the less congested areas and see what there is to see. And trust me, I thought I’d seen just about everything. Then I started walking and running. It’s amazing what you miss when you are in a car. I’m just sayin’. This weekend, my friend Jen and I went walking in an upscale neighborhood (an understatement). The neighborhood is probably one of the most upscale in central Suffolk County. The couple mile walk up the main road is spectacular. Million-dollar-plus homes with the Long Island Sound...

I Know What To Do

08/25/2010

This has been a summer of ups and downs, challenges and successes. Mostly challenges. Some of the challenges have been physical. Hurt hip. Cranky shoulders. Blistering heat. Raging hormones. Yes, I will admit, I am at that later point in my life where the hormones all go wonky again for a while. More though, the challenges have been mental. I’ve had trouble staying on top of my food intake. Don’t get me wrong, I have good days. Heck, I have good weeks. Hence the successes. But I’ve had bad food days too. Very bad food days…and weeks. Where once there was discipline, there are now cravings that will just not be ignored. Where once it felt fabulous to know I’d gotten a substantial amount of nutrition in a reasonable number of calories, now it sometimes takes everything I have to not eat cookies all day long. Or Hershey’s Kisses....

Not Ready To Race

07/06/2010

While my hip feels somewhat better, I am not back in racing form. I’ve been working out, but not getting very far very fast. This past week, I went on three runs. A 2.5-mile run that I finished with some walking, a 3.5-mile run where I got 2.7 miles before packing it in and a 3.2-mile run where I made it only 1.5 miles. Race distance on Sunday is 3.5 miles. With my hip screwed up, I hadn’t been running for almost a month. And it’s going to take me longer than two weeks to get back in racing form I’m realizing now. Add to that it’s been 100 degrees here, which kind of limits training, for me at least. My run yesterday, the 1.5-mile run, was cut short mostly because of the heat– 85 degrees at 8:00 am. I know hard-core runners don’t let the heat stop them,...

Who Has Inspired You to Get Fit?

06/15/2010

I’ve been feeling a little like Debbie Downer lately, dealing with some nagging injuries that are just not letting me be at the top of my game. I’ve been frustrated, which just ends up sabotaging any ground I do gain in my quest for fitness. So I decided to take a step back and think about how this all started in the first place, and rev myself back up. What was the trigger that got me started? Who were the people I looked at and said, if they can do this, I can do this? I think after a long time of being unhealthy and unfit, a bunch of things just converged for me that got me on the right path. One I can tell you was the thought of turning 50. Since I couldn’t escape the number, I could do it feeling good about myself. And I plan...

Weight Loss Maintenance Is Hard and Other Random Thoughts

06/08/2010

Random thoughts from FatGirl2FitGirl (that’s me of course): • I think weight loss maintenance is a big old joke. I’ve been on a maintenance plan since, I don’t know, January, even though I have more weight to lose. My body seemed to want to take a break…reaaaally long plateau… so I decided to go with it. I’ve gained 12 pounds. Not exactly maintenance. I know I’m to blame. When you eat more, you gain weight. And when you eat bad stuff, like brownies, you gain weight. I’ve been having trouble finding the balance for maintaining. I’m either going up or I’m going down. This week, I’m back on the going down side because now I have to lose those 12 pounds, plus I’d like to lose the last 15 that I’m hanging on to. At some point, when I hit my goal, and I will hit my goal, what...

Fresh Start

05/14/2010

For the past few weeks, maybe even the past couple of months, I have had so many projects up in the air, I’ve become completely unfocused. This is not a good thing for me. Being that I am already somewhat unorganized, trying to juggle too many things at once tends to overwhelm me and then I don’t get anything done. This lack of focus has crept into my exercise/eating routines as well, something I had managed to avoid since I started my “get fit” journey. Really not good. As my focus has crept away, the numbers on the scale have crept up. Just a few pounds, but this is the wrong direction. And it’s enough that I’m worried that if I don’t get back on track and get back on track quick, I will be starting all over again, something I vowed this time was not going to happen....

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