I love reading blogs, because I can be easily motivated by reading or hearing other people’s success stories. I am not so great at the posting part of blogs, because it worries me about how precise and permanent words are once they are posted on someone else’s blog. Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of this blog!
I particularly like the quote by Emerson on the right side of the page, because it really nails my fitness goals at the moment.
Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The person who makes me do what I can in regards to fitness is my thirteen year old son; I exercise to keep up with him. Luckily for me, he isn’t into anything too stressful, and at the moment I can keep up with him! Like Honor, who blogged before me, diabetes runs in my family, and I am aware of how quickly lack of exercise and poor eating habits catches up with me. I want to be around to nag and embarrass my kids and husband for a long time, so I hike with my son many miles and many hours each month. We are training for a crazy, long hike in June, and I have spent about ten months working out very hard just to be sure I don’t get left behind on the side of a mountain while a group of Boy Scouts just laughs at me. Usually I tell the boys that my goal is not to end up on CNN’s Nightly News – they think I am joking, but I am not kidding!
Unlike Katie and Janet, I don’t have a set routine that involves weights, but I wish I did. I don’t enjoy working out at the gym, because I get intimidated by all those people that actually look like they know what they are doing on the machines. You know those guys…the ones that spend lots of time clanging/changing the weights and grunting and groaning? Do they know they do that? I am not sure, but it’s gross! I can’t even make myself go wait in line behind them.
Today I rode on the Silver Comet starting at the Hiram Trail Head and last weekend I was up at Vogel hiking on the Coosa Trail. We took a side trail up the back of Blood Mountain which I had never even dared to do previously, because it tacks an extra four miles on a fifteen mile hike, and I never thought I could do it. I felt great at the end of that day, and I could see my last ten months have really paid off! During the week I hike from the Kennesaw Mountain Visitors Center to Burnt Hickory Road and back to train for my June hike. (I need to go up/down big mountains at the moment.) I like to be outside, but I’d like to incorporate more squats/lunges/ sit ups into my daily routine. I just find that once I get in the house, I am looking to totally relax and not workout.
My big challenge is always food. My hiking is a great workout, but then I overeat to compensate for the hike. Once I eat a piece of candy…it’s all down hill. I’d be buff and tough if I could get a handle on the food aspect of my life!
3 comments:
Yay, Christine! Welcome aboard the T & B blog!
Your comments about the crazy gym men cracked me up! For a few months when we first moved to GA, my hubby and I went to a Gold's Gym, and the scene was exactly as you described. And I agree, it IS intimidating!
Now, we have a membership at our YMCA, and the clientele is a little tamer. Plus, YMCA trainers provide all new members with an orientation to the equipment, so now I feel like I understand how to set up the machines.
On the other hand, I think you can get the same results from just doing strengthening exercises using your body weight with, as you said, squats and lunges, push-ups, dips, pull-ups, crunches, etc. Those types of movements are probably more useful anyway because they're movements your body already does naturally.
Your food woes are the same as mine. I tend to rationalize my overeating and snacking by saying to myself, "You worked out today. A few more chips won't hurt." I definitely need to be more mindful of what I'm consuming and whether or not I'm even hungry when I consume it. For crying outloud, there are people starving worldwide, and I'm a freaking glutton sometimes. I should be ashamed.
On a lighter note, what is the big hike you're doing in June??
My son and I are backpacking two hundred miles starting this Thursday. Part of our hike is with my older brother from A.S.U. (!!) which is a big deal, because he is always sooooo busy. The other part of the hike is with Boy Scouts. (Contrast that with my Mother/ Daughter Girl Scout weekend in Savannah this weekend where we ate our way though the town!) Hiking should be a lot of fun, and training for this has kept me in shape for a whole year! Janet knows, though, that at times staying on track with the training was more stressful than I had intended!
Wow--this Thursday!! That's incredible. Go, Christine! I can't wait to hear about it. How long will it take to go that far?
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