Body Image

Right.  Blogging.  So.

I tried a new cleanse that eliminated the following: animal products, alcohol, gluten and refined sugar.  I made it for four days, which I counted an accomplishment.  I have since stopped eating meat, and cut back on the gluten and sugar.  I’m not a big drinker, so it wasn’t so much of an issue either way.

I feel amazing!  I’ve been debating the merits of going vegetarian for years, and making the leap has be a LOT easier than I thought.  There are still going to things that bring me to the brink of temptation: my girlfriend’s lambchops, Hooters wings, juicy cheeseburgers, but I feel like I’m doing the best thing for myself right now, and if I do eat meat occasionally, well, no big deal.

I’ve been trying to work out more (because I might as well, right?  While I’m eating so well.)  The fact that it’s summer is making that easy; my three dogs are mad for the dog park, and there’s one twenty minutes away that has a great swimming lake (plus there are lots of other dogs to play around with).  We’ve been hiking all over, and it’s been good for them, too.

We also got a Wii Fit.  I’m not using it to work out so much as track my progress.  According to it, I’m down eight pounds in the past month.  Woo!  Skinnay!

I was out last night with a few girlfriends, both who are super cute and sweet.  My friend S. has one of those bodies that is naturally thin and muscular, and she has to be careful not to dip underweight.  Her abs are INCREDIBLE.  Unfortunately for her, she’s at her “confused with life” phase where she wants so much out of life and is not sure (but really, “too scared”) at how to go about achieving it.  Girl’s got “issues” if you know what I’m saying, and the conversation turned to how I seem to have it together; I have an amazing marriage and (despite being a bit of a dissatisfied housewife), I’m pretty happy.  So is our other friend, C.

“Whatever!” she said.  “You know you’d both kill for my body!”

I eyeballed her.  “No.  Nope.  I wouldn’t.”  To be honest, I was a little annoyed that she thought she was better looking than me (I mean, she IS fitter, but you don’t SAY such things!  Goodness!)  And my snappy “No.” was out as my gut reaction before I realized that it IS actually true: I don’t want her body, killer abs or not.

“I mean, of course there are things I want to change, but” I continued, “I feel pretty good.”  I suppressed my smug smile.  I was going to add: “and I get to have sex.” but I thought that her head might explode; she’s got no suitable husband on the horizion and is frustrated, and I’m not an ENTIRELY mean person, you know.  But I thought it.

Walks, Lots of Food, and My New Sigg Bottle

The warmer weather has been a call for long walks, and the dogs are all very happy, as am I.  Of course, it’s New England, so I’m fully expecting the weather to take a turn for the worse… oh… tomorrow!  But for now, we’re tearing up the woods on monster-sized hikes, and it’s been beneficial to my “flab-ay boo-tay”!

I’m having food issues again.  Everything is mega delicious, and I keep EATING.  I’m bottomless!  This is pretty new, and I’m not appreciating.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been so much more active with the hikes?

My Sigg bottle arrived, and it’s been helpful in keeping me hydrated.  I highly recommend them.   Check out mysigg.com if you’d like one.  They’re $20 more or less, and better than Nalgenes which are made from plastic that will leech into your drink.

Walk The Dogs!

There’s a new dog in the house. This makes three for us! He’s a tiny little guy that we found, homeless and VERY hurt, in Puerto Rico. We fixed him up and had him flown up here, and now he is home forever. I’m thrilled. The other two dogs are a little wary of this newcomer, so, to speed up the acclimation process, I’ve been doing daily walks. It’s good for them, because it gives them a chance to hang out in a fun environment, kind of like going bowling on your first date! It’s good for me, too. I’m pretty sure I’m getting in at least a mile, and I don’t have to use the treadmill. I really don’t care for the treadmill anyway, and the fresh air is nice. Plus, the vet said that our biggest, older dog could drop a couple of pounds.

Hey, you and me both, buddy.

Burn, Baby, Burn!

My fat cells?  They can suck it.  After months of having my dad’s treadmill sitting around my house, I got on it today and used it.  Now I’m kinda hoping that he doesn’t come get it.  It’s a great workout, and, thankfully, it fits in my bedroom now that I’ve re-arranged.  No excuses now.  I did just over a mile, which I know is kind of puny, but it’s my first day after a long hiatus… one I don’t plan on repeating.

Special thanks to Weezer (I know, so 90’s of me!) for rocking me through it.

Lament

Samba attempted.   Samba failed.  I am never going to be thin if I can’t find a workout that I feel confident doing.

New Workout Video: Dancing With The Stars – Cardio Dance (2006)

I bought this yesterday on a total whim at Target and, since the husband was at an industry meeting, I had time to attempt it without embarrassment.

The good part is that the DVD is fully customizable. You can do the warm-up and then pick and choose what dances you would like to attempt, or you can “select all” and let the full, hour long work out play. This gives
you a variety of dances to choose from, and some are easier than others. Also, the music is upbeat (although kind of corny) and if you like to dance (I do!) it’s a really fun workout.

The downside is that it’s really corny, and I alternate between getting into the video and mocking it. The over-sincere, ridiculously perky and flawlessly beautiful people moving fluidly to the over-produced music make it a little hard to swallow. Maybe, though, that’s just the “Curse of Workout Videos”. Also, they use dance terms to describe the moves frequently, which makes it difficult to follow along if you’ve never taken a dance class. They also move too quickly; once I figured out how to sort-of do a dance move, they had moved on. A few more times through, though, I expect I’ll be tearing it up.

Mostly, though, I dig it. I’ve spotted some moves that I plan on busting out when I’m out dancing! It’s a good workout if you’re not looking for something REALLY strenuous, and I’m not.

I find getting super winded discourages me, and concerns me; I don’t have a good gage of what is “working hard” and what is “working too hard”, and I’m scared of hurting myself. I don’t know if that’s a valid fear or not, but with no personal trainer to cheer me on and keep an eye on me, I’d rather not find out the hard way. Or maybe I’m being a weenie.

Pilates

Winsor pilates. Not easy. Just sayin’. My stomach is chubby, so the bendy sort of moves are difficult.  The fat literally gets in the way. It’s ironic, because I feel the fattest during exercise. It gets easier as time goes on, and some days it’s better than others.

The alternative: Being fat. Being weak. Heart disease.

Hey, I’ll take the embarrassment now and eventual stellar bod over cardiac arrest at forty-five.