Discovering, Rediscovering, and Renegotiating
Putting this list together was very enjoyable, taking stock of all that went well these past few weeks.
Definitely carrying forward:
Detox! It was definitely a knock-you-down, grit-your-teeth challenge some days, particularly early on during coffee withdrawal. But the feeling of lightness and energy at the end was worth it, and I’ll definitely do it again this summer, when I have all the benefits of summer produce.
Juicing and Smoothies: So, so fun. The power tools aspect of it helps, but more than that, it’s opened up a whole new category of breakfasts and snacks for me. I love it when a new tool widens my horizons.
Planning Meals: I’m a fairly compulsive scheduler, but I'd never really planned out meals before. Planning ahead of time made the week go much better: it forced me to think through the amount and variety of vegetables we’d eat, helped with the mindless snacking whenever I got too tired or hungry to make good decisions, and prepared me to eat ahead of time if I was out socializing.
Random, miscellaneous things I tried and loved this month: photographing my food, coconut water, sesame bars, kale, quinoa, and yes, beets.
Rediscovering with great pleasure:
Meditation and journaling: Getting up to speed again was tough. But I’ve found that if I don’t spend some time recharging by myself, and dump my worries onto the page, they tend to reverberate in my head. And even my worst efforts are better than surfing online, right?
Walking with my iPod: The only way I could get movement in some days was to grab the headphones and walk, and when it’s only regular Chicago cold and not double-digit negative-windchill cold, I find winter walks to be such a sensory pleasure — the brisk air, the sound and smell of dogs snuffling as they pass by, the landscape of snowbanks and bare branches against the sky, and the rhythm of my breath speeding up as warmth spreads through my body. And after five years of listening to kids music and generally longing for peace and quiet, my youthful soul thrilled to rediscover all my old CDs, and venture into new ones.
Yoga: It’s the perfect balance to running. However, I’m still struggling to find a class that evokes the whole peaceful spirit of yoga. At my last one, the class was split into people doing headstands and people in modified child’s pose (that was me.) A 200-lb. man kept crashing down from his headstand right next to me, over and over and over. Not relaxing.
Renegotiating my relationship with:
Whole Foods: Yes, I realize I could never have made it through the diet without you, but damn, you are expensive (and vaguely evil in a corporate way.) I’m going to take Sarah Rose’s suggestion and subscribe to a CSA this summer, and make farmer’s markets more of a routine.
Coffee: Oh, I love you so. You really are my happy juice. But I have come to realize that I am much, much hungrier when the caffeine leaves my system. So, you’re still in my life, but you have to be worth it. (And Starbucks, I'm breaking up with you entirely, even though you just gave me gold member status.)
Looking for a new solution:
Strength training: I’m finding it deadly dull. Yes, I’ll regret it the second we’re out of sweater weather, but fiddling with workout printouts and counting out reps kill whatever buzz I get from cardio. I tried mixing up cardio and strength training, but that only made the workout last forever. It’s helped to do just one set of reps with the heaviest weights I can manage, but it’s still a struggle. Any suggestions, other than DVDs (kids won’t leave me alone long enough) and classes (cannot fit anymore into my schedule)?
What a list! Happily the highs far outweigh the lows — I hope they do for you too.
Definitely carrying forward:
Detox! It was definitely a knock-you-down, grit-your-teeth challenge some days, particularly early on during coffee withdrawal. But the feeling of lightness and energy at the end was worth it, and I’ll definitely do it again this summer, when I have all the benefits of summer produce.
Juicing and Smoothies: So, so fun. The power tools aspect of it helps, but more than that, it’s opened up a whole new category of breakfasts and snacks for me. I love it when a new tool widens my horizons.
Planning Meals: I’m a fairly compulsive scheduler, but I'd never really planned out meals before. Planning ahead of time made the week go much better: it forced me to think through the amount and variety of vegetables we’d eat, helped with the mindless snacking whenever I got too tired or hungry to make good decisions, and prepared me to eat ahead of time if I was out socializing.
Random, miscellaneous things I tried and loved this month: photographing my food, coconut water, sesame bars, kale, quinoa, and yes, beets.
Rediscovering with great pleasure:
Meditation and journaling: Getting up to speed again was tough. But I’ve found that if I don’t spend some time recharging by myself, and dump my worries onto the page, they tend to reverberate in my head. And even my worst efforts are better than surfing online, right?
Walking with my iPod: The only way I could get movement in some days was to grab the headphones and walk, and when it’s only regular Chicago cold and not double-digit negative-windchill cold, I find winter walks to be such a sensory pleasure — the brisk air, the sound and smell of dogs snuffling as they pass by, the landscape of snowbanks and bare branches against the sky, and the rhythm of my breath speeding up as warmth spreads through my body. And after five years of listening to kids music and generally longing for peace and quiet, my youthful soul thrilled to rediscover all my old CDs, and venture into new ones.
Yoga: It’s the perfect balance to running. However, I’m still struggling to find a class that evokes the whole peaceful spirit of yoga. At my last one, the class was split into people doing headstands and people in modified child’s pose (that was me.) A 200-lb. man kept crashing down from his headstand right next to me, over and over and over. Not relaxing.
Renegotiating my relationship with:
Whole Foods: Yes, I realize I could never have made it through the diet without you, but damn, you are expensive (and vaguely evil in a corporate way.) I’m going to take Sarah Rose’s suggestion and subscribe to a CSA this summer, and make farmer’s markets more of a routine.
Coffee: Oh, I love you so. You really are my happy juice. But I have come to realize that I am much, much hungrier when the caffeine leaves my system. So, you’re still in my life, but you have to be worth it. (And Starbucks, I'm breaking up with you entirely, even though you just gave me gold member status.)
Looking for a new solution:
Strength training: I’m finding it deadly dull. Yes, I’ll regret it the second we’re out of sweater weather, but fiddling with workout printouts and counting out reps kill whatever buzz I get from cardio. I tried mixing up cardio and strength training, but that only made the workout last forever. It’s helped to do just one set of reps with the heaviest weights I can manage, but it’s still a struggle. Any suggestions, other than DVDs (kids won’t leave me alone long enough) and classes (cannot fit anymore into my schedule)?
What a list! Happily the highs far outweigh the lows — I hope they do for you too.
Comment
-
Comment by Terri Trespicio on February 1, 2010 at 10:19pm -
Well, it is an investment...but consider a trainer. I did--and I tell you, following an adorable young thing around the gym is a great way to stay interested in strength training!
-
Comment by Audris Wong on January 28, 2010 at 11:21am -
Julie -- it's actually stunning to me to realize how little attention I paid to what I was eating, compared to how religiously I schedule work and playdates. I love the idea of matching the schedule up with the seasons. I can't tell you how many times last summer we had a "picnic" outside because I heated up the whole house with cooking!
-
Comment by Julie Sargent on January 27, 2010 at 10:02pm -
I can't believe you aren't a menu planner already, considering your affinity for spreadsheets! I think there is a correlation there.
I like menu planning very much. While I'm menu-planning, I pull up google calendar (where our family keeps our schedules) and the weather report. I can plan extra-warming meals like soups and stews on cold or rainy days or no-stove/oven meals on especially hot summer days. Menu planning fits nicely with a Sunday assessment of the week ahead - who's doing what each day of the week ahead, what have the kids got going on, which office do I have to be at which days, etc. It allows me to balance the meals well - add a new recipe or two in every week (otherwise I'd go overboard and be cooking new recipes until 9pm every night), arrange chicken/vegetarian/beef dinners with pleasing frequency, use up leftover ingredients and plan the menus so as to provide leftovers for lunch most efficiently. And with a CSA it helps to use up all the veggies!
-
Comment by Sarah Rose Cavanagh on January 27, 2010 at 3:24pm -
awesome. You know what else improves cognitive function (in this case, memory performance) in older women? Regular COFFEE intake. aww yeah.
-
Comment by Audris Wong on January 27, 2010 at 3:03pm
-
And of course, what article did I run across today? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/health/research/26exer.html?em
Basically, that strength training increases cognitive function in older women. Damn it!
-
Comment by Anna Salerno on January 27, 2010 at 1:32pm -
If you're walking and not running, may I suggest podcasts, particularly short story podcasts? They've become the staple of my walking audio.
I really like your list - it made me realize that while I haven't been perfect or nearly as invested in the challenge as I would have liked, I definitely have made some changes. Today I didn't manage exercise and I ate chocolate covered almonds and leftover takeout for breakfast, but a month ago this would have been a day-long slide into sloth. Now I feel sated, like I had my fill of being "bad", and I'm ready to approach the rest of the day on track. Journaling helped. So later it's the greek quinoa burgers from this site for lunch and a big pot of turkish lentil soup because the kids are all feeling under the weather, and some fun cuddling with them in my bed while we watch mindless TV. Not a bad day after all.
On the weight training - I try to do weights every other day, alternating upper body on one weight day, lower body on the next day, etc. I find that cuts the weights portion of my workout to just 20-30 minutes, which I find doable for mixing in with cardio on those days.
-
Comment by Audris Wong on January 27, 2010 at 1:16pm
-
You are very persuasive, and I would like some muscle definition! Maybe that's the trick -- commit to going to a class at least twice and see if it spurs enough good effects to make it a habit.
-
Comment by Sarah Rose Cavanagh on January 27, 2010 at 11:05am
-
Love it!
Re: strength training, I have no magic wand! But what I do know, and almost blogged about, is that strength training is so worth it. Most of my adult life- college and until I had my daughter and stopped being able to focus on anything other than her for a few years- I had always done exactly like you and prioritized cardio (for heart health and weight loss... ok, mostly weight loss) and yoga (for relaxation/stretching). It wasn't until that Group Power class that I started doing strength training at all. What I've found is that it TROUNCES either cardio or yoga for increased energy and body sculpting. I felt more energy doing step classes or cardio kickboxing or the like, but it wasn't dramatic. And cardio burns more calories, but my body was mostly just smaller. When I started regular strength training (1-2 times a week hour classes), I could not BELIEVE the effects on my energy level. And I lost weight - probably b/c of the muscles burning more than fat thing. AND I couldn't believe my body- I kept saying to my husband, "LOOK at my muscles!" Ha. Being a bookworm my whole life, I'd never had any muscles. But- definition! Yikes. Love it.
I'm so mad at my gym for messing with their schedule and me for having too much to do on the other time I go, because I've ended up slacking on the exercise and then going to that Basic Training (cardio) class because it fits my schedule.
Anyway. Again, doesn't really solve your problem, but I would advocate for occasionally swapping out a cardio class for a strength training one, to get the best of all worlds!
Weekly All-Star Members
© 2012 Created by Whole Living.
You need to be a member of Whole Living Community to add comments!
Join Whole Living Community