Week 3

Someone recently asked me how it is that I am the only one in my immediate family who is health and exercise conscious. I couldn’t answer when or why it started, but I do recall always being super active as a kid. I would ride my bike for miles up to the mall to see a movie with my best friend (side note: this was in the mid-80’s when it was perfectly acceptable to allow your 10 y/o daughter to ride 5 miles from home with no one other than her 11 y/o companion). Playing kick-ball in our neighborhood court, tag, freeze, jail-break was the norm throughout my childhood years. I was also lucky enough to have female babysitters who were also active and kept us busy by showing us cheer-leading routines or how to catch a softball. Additionally, I vaguely recall doing some exercises with my mom in the living room of our first house to a cheesy audio recording of some routine or another, although the only clear memory is one of the songs being “Just the Way You Are,” by Billy Joel. Looking back, how ironic that tune would be chosen for an exercise tape encouraging one to lose weight.

In 5th grade I received a sweet set of “Get in Shape Girl” audio cassettes that were geared towards keeping young girls active. I would spend hours in the basement doing push-ups, sit-ups and running laps around that 600 square foot cave. That is, until I hit middle school and graduated to Sweating to the Oldies with Richard Simmons. And while I’m sure my mom had every intention of making this guilty pleasure a part of her routine, it was I who kept it going well into my late teens.

Despite all of this activity, it was rarely done on a regular basis. Although I was thin (by genetics more than anything), I wasn’t exactly strong or had more stamina than the average bear. When I was 19 I bought a hybrid bike and was honestly surprised to find myself out of breath with wobbly legs a half mile down the road. I hated running, and couldn’t run a full mile (in my defense I was probably doing what most people do, and went balls-to-the-wall from the onset: bad idea).

I kept up these periods of working out, then not working out, for years. Again, because I was thin I thought I could get away with those slacking months without much consequence. Even after I got into running on a regular basis, after beginning to date a man who ran marathons, I would only really run/workout during the training for our races and do little in between. It wasn’t until spring 2014, and the introduction of Orange Theory Fitness, that I began to work out on a regular basis. Here was a place I could come and get a quality workout without having to think about it. They planned the routines for me, which included both strength and cardio, and all I had to do was show up for 60 minutes at a time and give it as all, or as little, as I wanted. Since then, I have been a regular and have attended anywhere from 2-5 times a week.
I share all of this because my “Give it up, Add it on,” goals include hitting OTF, yoga and doing strength training at home a certain number of times per month. Three weeks into this challenge, I’m beginning to see that I may have set my sights a little high, and devoting 6 days a week to physical activity may not be achievable.

For the months of March and April, I have changed my OTF membership from Unlimited to Premiere – meaning I can attend 8 sessions per month for one standard price, with the option to add on more if needed for an additional fee. I feel I must also add that with the Unlimited option there is a $12 penalty if you cancel within 8 hours of a scheduled class, and so far I’ve accrued $24 in cancellation fees this month (ouch)! My yoga goals continue to pan out as I’ve been going once a month on Sunday mornings, and the only thing that would hamper those plans would be if I were out of town or have a race that day. The strength training at home though – ugh. That hasn’t happened at all. I don’t want to give myself an excuse, but after working 10-hour days the last thing I want to do is come home and lift some weights. For this reason, I’m going to change my goal from 12 times a month to 4 times a month. I figure I’d set the bar low enough that it’s more achievable, and if I end up doing more – great! There’s just something that happens mentally where if I believe that 12 isn’t fully obtainable, then why bother to do any at all? Darn psychology!

So, there’s the scoop on the physical portion of my GIUAIO challenge. Don’t be surprised if there are some other changed that take place after May when my Half Ironman training begins. I already plan to cut back OTF to the Basic plan of 4 times a month, but am optimistic that my weekly yoga can continue as usual.

Next week, I’ll be giving an update on how the eating out/Heine Bros. portion of the challenge is going. Spoiler alert – I’m on track so far but it’s not been without its difficulties.