Bringing It

Now that I'm back in town, it's time to get back to work on improving my health. I have decided to kick it up a notch and do the impossible, which is to get into good enough shape to feel the way I did when I was young. What a challenge the aging body is. When I was young, I had to deal with the changes brought by puberty and hated the monthly bill when it came due. But now that menopause has claimed my body and nothing works the way it used to, I have been investigating ways of improving my health and quality of life.

Not being able to do my weight training during the winter (due to extreme cold in my gym... which is on my list of things to correct), I started walking at the campus near our house, got an ellyptical and a training program called P90X. Okayyyyyyyyyy... so maybe I bit off more than I could chew here. But I'm gonna try it. I'm on Day Four and hurt in places I never knew existed. I have worked out for years, and conventional programs don't even come close to what I'm doing now. This program is extremely intense (hence the "X" in the name) and is definitely not for anyone with any kind of chronic injuries or illnesses. I probably shouldn't be doing it either, but I figure if I don't try it, I may never progress beyond what I was able to do on my own. I'm learning how very difficult this is for someone my age and body composition.

So... this program is heavy on pull-ups. I can't do a single one. How embarrassing. Fortunately, I'm not failing in front of anyone I don't know. My boys are taking turns making sure I'm not doing something stupid and overdoing it. Case in point... on Day Two I decided to try the Ab Ripper workout. Jay sat down to babysit me, and after I started it, he got this look on his face that clearly said "This is not going to end well." Boy, oh boy... It's 15 minutes of pure rip and I could only do 10. Again, embarrassing. This particular session is scheduled to be done after an upper body session, which I had done the day before. Oh. You mean RIGHT after it. I couldn't even MOVE my arms after the upper body workout. How was I supposed to work the abs?

So I did what I could. I'm taking this first week or even two weeks to get familiar with the program and what kind of equipment to use, as well as familiarize myself with the nutrition aspect of the program. I have ordered a pull-up bar and some other necessities for this program, and can't wait until they arrive. For those of you who, like me, can't do a single pull-up, you can use a chair at first to get you up to the bar and steady you as you build the upper musculature necessary for this exercise. I am giving myself a drop-dead date of April 1 to begin the entire program in earnest.

Can I do it? I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes. I've come a very long way from where I was 18 months ago. At that time, I could barely walk and had a bodyfat composition of 44.89%. Today I'm not only walking, but pushing it, and bodyfat has gone down a whopping 11%. I've got a long way to go, but it's a journey. Do I have a goal? Sure. I want to be strong, healthy and flexible and at 20% bodyfat. Did I give myself a date to do it by? Nope. But I'll settle for a 1 or 2% drop in bodyfat per month. At that rate, in another year I will either have reached or almost reached that goal. Just gotta keep bringing it. Film at 11.

Nazdrowie'

Paczki Puta