I was reading the March issue of Runner's World and they had a really interesting article about running through the ages. It chronicled how your body handles running from the late teens to the 80s. It also gave some sound advice to avoid injuries, how to focus your training for your age, and featured a male and female runner.
Then a day later I heard about a 102 year old runner doing a marathon!! It got me to thinking about things from more of a wellness point of view, not just healthy eating. So...
How have your motivations changed from the time you first started to where you are now?
Can you think of anything you might face down the road that would change what you're doing now?
How do you keep things fresh?
Life is like a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs, but the curves, spirals, loops and corkscrews are what make life interesting.
How have your motivations changed from the time you first started to where you are now? I was motivated to do NOTHING in the area of exercise. "Queen of I hate Exercise" was I. But now, I know that I am feeling better, functioning better, and happier with exercise. Even my family notices when I am not there. So I still have the motivation of being healthy, plus the added benefits of liking it.
Can you think of anything you might face down the road that would change what you're doing now? The only things that keep me from swimming are our extremely cold weather in SD; illness; functions at the motel; and me. Swimming is an exercise that people can do well into their 90's and do. It is gentle on the joints, and a very good work out in all areas of your body. Can't think of much that would change in that arena.
How do you keep things fresh? I am always looking for sites and books or magazines that give different exercises for water workouts, mixing up my ways of doing things, going at different times, bringing a friend with me. OR joining a water class at our University pool.
Summer Challenge Goals:
1. Get out of the house and in the pool four days a week. 2. Schedule meals a week at a time. 3. five fruits and vegetables a day, along with water.
Posts: 3437 | Location: Central USA | Registered: March 11, 2004
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: If you had to cut back on your shampoo consumption for some reason... (or had to go on a shampoo diet of sorts), would you use "I'm bored" as an excuse not to shower?
Maybe.
Subconsciously, by keeping a vault of the stuff at the house, I'm avoiding that circumstance.
Of course I wouldn't. And I wouldn't skip brushing my teeth, either.
Susan...my 2nd and 3rd reasons are vanity. On my Beck card, Reason #1: "I want to lower my risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes." Reason #2: "I want to buy cuter clothes." Reason #3: "I want my hourglass back."
I don't think there's ANYTHING wrong with vanity as a reason. Whatever the reason is, it's a good one.
Challenge Goals: *10 minutes of unplanned exercise five times a week *Gym time twice a week *Socialize at least once every two weeks.
Originally posted by D in St Pete: Ahem. I have approximately 20 shampoos/conditioners/soaps/shower gels in the linen closet in the bathroom, all in various stages of use.
If you had to cut back on your shampoo consumption for some reason... (or had to go on a shampoo diet of sorts), would you use "I'm bored" as an excuse not to shower?
Originally posted by D in St Pete: Ahem. I have approximately 20 shampoos/conditioners/soaps/shower gels in the linen closet in the bathroom, all in various stages of use.
That sounds just like dd! Her grandmother is always complaining that there are too many bottles of shampoo in the bathroom.
1. do 4 laps on walking track without "resting" 2. do 1 mile (17laps) in 20 minutes (3miles per hour)
Posts: 3895 | Location: NE Atlanta (Chamblee, Doraville, Norcross, Duluth) | Registered: March 15, 2004
"hair is dead. just buy the cheapest thing. i use soap on my head."
Don't use bar soap on your head. I did it once in a hotel with no shampoo. It stripped every last bit of oil out of my head and turned my hair into straw. It was crunchy for a week!
As much as I hate to admit it, my primary motivation was, is, and probably always will be, vanity. I want to look better. When I'm vigilant about what and how much I eat and I'm exercising regularly, my clothes fit better, my skin and hair seem to look better, and I just feel better in my skin.
There's also that little competitive streak in me that wants to outdo myself. How many more pushups can I do? How fast can I row on the erg? Can I do an unassisted pullup?
I never reached a point where my health was at risk (at least not that I knew about). But I watched my parents -- both overweight smokers -- struggle with lifestyle illnesses and I just don't want to go there. No amount of food would be worth putting my son through what I went through with my parents.
As far as keeping it fresh, I think it just happens naturally. I try new exercise DVDs or new recipes. Exercising with a trainer helps, too, because the workout is never the same twice.
I just want to add something about keeping things fresh.
Lots of research on successful weight maintainers shows that lack of diversity is actually a positive attribute.
People who eat the same types of nutritious foods routinely are more likely to lose and keep their weight off. Same with exercise - it's OK to be in a rut as long as you are moving every day.
Personally, I eat the same thing for breakfast at least 5 days/week. I rotate through problaby 3 or 4 things for lunch and maybe have about three weeks worth of dinners that we rotate through. Seasonal foods will get added into the mix when available.
As for exercise, I do change up my weight routine but that is more for performance/results than boredom. I'm also in the camp that I can run outdoors the same route daily and not be bored.
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
"hair is dead. just buy the cheapest thing. i use soap on my head."
ok, i don't use soap but i do buy whatever is on sale.
Goals: 1. Stop thinking like a chronic dieter and start living to inspire. 2. HALT (hungry, anxious, lonely, tired) I will stop and tune in with myself should I experience these things, and respond with something healthy. 3. One word 2008: courage 4. Eat slow and mindfully.
Originally posted by D in St Pete: Ahem. I have approximately 20 shampoos/conditioners/soaps/shower gels in the linen closet in the bathroom, all in various stages of use.
OMG!!! I've been buying Suave... since I was a teen I think. Unless "White Rain" is on sale. Whatever is on sale when we are on the verge of running. I did try some "for colored" hair kind... but didn't seem to make any difference... so I just buy what's on sale.
Nobody worries about keeping their shower experience new and interesting. We just do it.
Ahem. I have approximately 20 shampoos/conditioners/soaps/shower gels in the linen closet in the bathroom, all in various stages of use. I rarely...alright, NEVER...start a bottle of shampoo and finish it without switching it out for another three or four. I have three shampoos, two conditioners, and three soaps/shower gels in the shower right now, and now that I think about it...it's time to switch those out with some "new" ones...
I'd put my lotion/body cream/hand cream total at close to 20 as well, with 5-10 out at any one time.
We need more shelves in the bathroom.
Challenge Goals: *10 minutes of unplanned exercise five times a week *Gym time twice a week *Socialize at least once every two weeks.
Originally posted by Sandy: Plus, my food and exercise change naturally with the seasons. I am looking forward to lots more walking/running outside as well as spring and summer foods.
Me too. I had strawberries yesterday for the first time in months and months and months... since I don't buy strawberries in October or November. They were awesome.
I feel compelled to offer a bit of a counter point...
quote:
How have your motivations changed from the time you first started to where you are now?
I am not nearly as focused on this part of life right now but do feel as if things have slipped too far away. Going to try and regroup after my move and in the meantime, try to eat some veggies for Pete's sake! LOL I think I would SAY my motivation is to keep my BMI in the healthy zone but I'm not living as if that's the motivation. Will have to see if I can get back to living that. When I first started, I was trying to lose 10% of my body weight. That type of loss now would put me squarely where I need to be.
quote:
Can you think of anything you might face down the road that would change what you're doing now?
I can be pretty lazy on healthy eating and living right now because I don't really have a health concern. I would imagine if I came face to face with a health crisis, I would have to get my act more together. I am moving next week and I think that might change what I'm doing now in a GOOD way. I've always been best at 'new beginnings' and can see me getting back to cooking at home more (and having someone to cook for more often) and I can also see an opportunity to find some new exercise options (either a gym or home exercise of some sort).
quote:
How do you keep things fresh?
I do struggle very much with the fact that I've not succeeded so far in establishing much routine in my life (in any arena, not just healthy living). I don't get bored with eating the same things (and no I didn't eat the same bad food every day before I started eating more healthy either) because I don't eat the same food! LOL It would be easier that way really...it's much easier to eat healthy if you can limit your variety but I can't seem to pull it off. It seems to take a lot more planning to eat a huge variety of healthy foods than it does to eat a huge variety of unhealthy foods (mostly because of dining out I guess).
I am SICK of walking in the mall but by virtue of having someone counting on me being there, I still go but can honestly say that I would've totally canned it by now. I don't tend to get as bored with walking the same route outside but that's an easier problem to solve. Fortunately, CO is very pedestrian friendly and there are dozens of walking options w/in a short drive of my new home. I've fallen out of getting my hiking and showshoeing in but will be trying to get that going again this spring/summer. I'm not sure what will work for me going forward. I have grave doubts about the gym or home exercise plans as they have been wholesale failures in the past but maybe I'm in a different place now and will pull it off.
Honestly, I’m sometimes baffled by some posts that say, “I tried doing (WW, counting calories, counting points, etc, etc,) but it made me crazy and didn’t work and was too hard.”
I will admit that counting points and calories(I keep a running tab in my head) makes me crazy and obsessive but I do believe that it DOES work. It just does not work for me, at least for right now. But, I know it works for many.
Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
My motivation seems about the same. I want to feel happy and pround and strong and clear and loving. Being over weight really got in the way of those feelings for me.
As far as things I will have to face--- I know things and people will change. Thankfully, today I am coping well with my life in ways that are not food related. I hope to keep building those coping skills to meet more challenging times.
As far as keeping it fresh--- I don't tend to bore of routine at all. I find comfort in it. Plus, my food and exercise change naturally with the seasons. I am looking forward to lots more walking/running outside as well as spring and summer foods.
Originally posted by Coaster Girl: I was reading the March issue of Runner's World and they had a really interesting article about running through the ages. It chronicled how your body handles running from the late teens to the 80s.
My stepfather is 76 or 77 or 78 or something and still runs every day. I think that he has been running since 1973. He has run the Boston marathon a few times. He doesn’t run marathons any more, but runs 3-4 miles every morning. As far as I know, he’s never had a serious injury.
He also plays tennis every Sunday and has done that for about a million years. Plays with the same group of guys every Sunday… and plays pretty well, too. My sister is a good tennis player and he ran her all over the court.
He’s never had a weight problem, but a) he is REALLY active and in addition to exercise, he spends some part of every day sweeping the garage or pruning trees or other stuff. He walks around the neighborhood and will knock on people’s doors and ask, “Are you going to pick the persimmons (oranges, plums, grapefruit, apples, etc, etc,) off your tree? Do you mind if I pick some?” He has this whole network of people now that give him free fruit… and he takes care of their trees and picks up the dropped fruit from the ground.
Gets up every morning and cuts up some fruit and goes for a run.
* * * * * * How have your motivations changed from the time you first started to where you are now?
I think that my motivations are fundamentally about the same. I want to be healthy and happy and being overweight made me unhealthy and often made me feel depressed, frustrated, angry, etc, etc.
Honestly, I’m sometimes baffled by some posts that say, “I tried doing (WW, counting calories, counting points, etc, etc,) but it made me crazy and didn’t work and was too hard.” I found that being overweight made me crazy and was REALLY hard. I can’t think of any (rational) thing that I have done to lose weight that was more difficult than being overweight.
Can you think of anything you might face down the road that would change what you're doing now?
I used to worry that I would go “insane” again and start eating whole cakes again. I don’t worry about that too much any more.
And ditto to what Brie said. Life throws curve balls. Stuff happens.
How do you keep things fresh?
I don’t worry about that. I’m like D and I really enjoy walking outside and don’t find it boring. I HATE walking on a treadmill… but I don’t do it. I’ve done the elliptical hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times, now. I don’t hate it. I don’t love it. It is like Cathy’s week end homework… I just do it. I don’t worry that it isn’t “fresh” or fun or exciting. I need to get a certain amount of exercise a week… and jumping on the elliptical is an convenient and relatively fast way to get in 30-35 mins.
I know that I’ll be glad I did it next time I go skiing. Or Nelson said that he wants to go camping on Angel Island again… Which requires that we backpack about 1.5 miles thru San Francisco from Bart to the Ferry and then about 2 miles across the island. Doing this kind of stuff is a LOT easier if you exercise the rest of the year.
Or, I don’t know… I’ve done knee exercises for almost 3 years now. They are BORING… nothing fresh or interesting about them. But my knee aches when I slack off…and feels good when I do them.
I’ll have to call my mom… but I don’t think that my stepfather even considers keeping running fresh or interesting. I saw him post on a website, “Running is my rock. It keeps me sane”. I think that he feels about running the way most of us feel about showering… we would feel gross and disgusting if we slacked off and didn’t do it for a while. Nobody worries about keeping their shower experience new and interesting. We just do it.
That is how my my stepfather is with running. He enjoys it and it makes him feel good. I’ve never heard him complain about it being too hot or too cold or too rainy. He’s never lived any place with a LOT of snow or ice… but he is out there, pretty much every day... and doesn't worry that his route is getting boring or that he needs a different challege. Just leave home and runs and comes back in 30-45 mins.
I don’t know if I ENJOY all of my exercise. I find a lot of it “tolerable”, which is good enough. And I do feel better when I do it… and worse when I don’t… and it does make me feel more sane and helps me cope with stress, which is good.
I also find it sort of interesting (and baffling) that in a time when we have more foods available to us than anytime in history… and access to SOOOOO many recipes - either via cookbooks or the internet… people worry about being bored with their foods. I’ve also seen (mostly on the WW boards) people who ate at Burger King and Pizza Hut most meals when they were overweight… and are now “bored” eating healthy.
I’m not sure when the whole thing of we must never be bored and must always be entertained and that food and exercise must always be fun and enjoyable came from. Even at my kid's school... they change exercise or the game they are playing for PE every two weeks. DS complains that they never get any good at anything... or really learn how to play anything. Just as they are figuring out a game... they move onto something else. And in ds's words, they play "some of the worst games ever invented".
I remember doing track for half the year and swimming half the year. Or tennis half the year and gymnastics for half the year. They literally switch games every couple weeks at ds HS. It drives him crazy. They do have the kids run/walk 1.3 miles every Thursday, but I think that the rest of the program is kind of nuts. And I think that it must be driven by "let's show them that exercise is fun and is never boring".
How have your motivations changed from the time you first started to where you are now?
Well, I have started this weight loss thing over and over so a lot has changed. Originally, I was motivated to drop to the size I was (and weight I was) when I graduated high school and it was all about appearance. A lot of my motivation is still appearance based, but is slowly transitioning over to wanting to lose for health reasons.
Can you think of anything you might face down the road that would change what you're doing now?
There are so many things that could happen that I just don't know how to answer this question. I feel that I've come a long way in how I deal with stress and that has helped me tremendously. I hope that it does not take hearing a doctor tell me I am diabetic or have high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. to kick my butt into high gear.
How do you keep things fresh?
This is a big problem for me. I sometimes think this is why I dread exercise. I get bored very easily. I know that many here follow very repetitive exercise routines but I cannot stand doing the same thing all the time. I have a number of DVD's so I am trying to overcome this by changing them up every week or so. I also am always looking for new recipes/ideas for in the kitchen because while some can eat broiled chicken and veggies every night for dinner, I need variety. I can eat the same breakfast and lunch every day for weeks or months before I want to change that, but for some reason dinners I need variety so trying new recipes keeps it fresh for me.
Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
Originally posted by D in St Pete: (I wanted to answer with, "I use Febreeze throughout the house!")
I love Fabreeze!
quote:
How have your motivations changed from the time you first started to where you are now?
I am not really sure when I "frist started". I was a skinny kid but gained weight as an adult. After dd was born I really packed it on but it was not due to the pregnancy, it was in the years after. After I got sick & started watching KD during my recovery I started thinking more about my healthy but it is still pretty much about losing the weight. Losing the weight will in and of itself make me healthier and I will have to continue to eat healthier than I have in the past in order to keep the weight off.
quote:
Can you think of anything you might face down the road that would change what you're doing now?
If I get sick again, I might have to give up eating fresh uncooked fruits & vegetables. When I had my first appointment with my new "primary physician" under Wellcare, (so that I could get a referral to the oncologist I have been seeing since 1999), she did a blood test to check my thyroid levels. I had told her that my bone marrow doctors said I would always have to take Synthroid. She said my thyroid levels are fine but I have a high level of calcium in my blood and wants my oncologist (whom I am to see today for the first time in a year) to do a para-thyroid test. I looked up high calcium levels and that test on WebMD and what I read there has me a bit nervous about it.
quote:
How do you keep things fresh?
In a word, "I don't". Well, I guess that was two words . I am a creature of habit & I have a tendancy to do the same things over and over. This includes, what I eat, what I watch on tv, what I do for fun and my exercise routine. Actually, I had no exercise routine (other than walking) until I started to Curves in July last year.
1. do 4 laps on walking track without "resting" 2. do 1 mile (17laps) in 20 minutes (3miles per hour)
Posts: 3895 | Location: NE Atlanta (Chamblee, Doraville, Norcross, Duluth) | Registered: March 15, 2004
How have your motivations changed from the time you first started to where you are now?
I'm not sure I can answer this one, as trying to figure out "first started" is going to take more room than this forum has. I cannot remember a time when I was not acutely conscious of what I weighed and wanted it to be different.
quote:
Can you think of anything you might face down the road that would change what you're doing now?
Moving to a colder climate and working in a different place would both put a stop to my mile-a-day habit. Our new building's completion sometime next year will put it closer to my parking lot...so I'll need to find a new one. I'd like to think that losing more weight would mean I might be able to learn to run without feeling like a goof.
quote:
How do you keep things fresh?
(I wanted to answer with, "I use Febreeze throughout the house!")
I might be in a minority, but I don't ever find walking outdoors to be repetitive and boring. I love it, really. So walking outdoors is ALWAYS "fresh." I also enjoy changing up my iPod playlists, so when I walk/bike at the gym, I can listen to new stuff. I dunno. "Interesting" has never been a requirement for my workouts. I spent 8 years staring at the black line on the bottom of a pool for hours a day. I don't have to be interested in what I'm physically doing, because I find working out to be a time to either rest my brain or work it out, both of which are always more interesting than the workout itself.
Challenge Goals: *10 minutes of unplanned exercise five times a week *Gym time twice a week *Socialize at least once every two weeks.
I love Fabreeze!
. I am a creature of habit & I have a tendancy to do the same things over and over. This includes, what I eat, what I watch on tv, what I do for fun and my exercise routine. Actually, I had no exercise routine (other than walking) until I started to Curves in July last year.