Random Musings: It's Christmas Eve. It is a day of wildly mixed feelings including the joy of seeing your kids get something they really wanted and the smoldering anger when it is apparent they got something they didn't (I mean don't they know there are kids with nothing! Yes I'm a cliche). There is hope though. My 10 year old seems far less self-centered than my 7 year old, so perhaps time=progress?
If you are lucky like we are this year, you get some time with extended family. Of course my family is extended in so many directions, I'll never see them all, so someone always feels left out I suppose. Like I said, the holiday season is a mixed blessing.
As for my health and fitness, I'm still stuck a bit in neutral. There has been marginal improvement in my blood pressure, but my weight has actually increased and my diet is still a nightmare. I also managed to not get any real exercise for two weeks, Rather than write another "now I'm making a stand" blog posting. I'll just get on with the business at hand.
Exercise update: As noted earlier, I haven't been doing much other than walking my dog and going to my daughter's basketball practices this month. I am pleased to say that I got myself to go to the Y yesterday and just did 30 minutes on the elliptical. It was eye opening. I have really been struggling with mood lately. In fact, I'd say I'm struggling with some moderate depression. This is a particularly stressful year at work and my reaction is always to get tunnel vision and drop everything to get through what needs getting through. At first this feels ok as I eat junk, sleep poorly, and skip exercise in a faux heroic effort to shuffle paper or get through grant season or whatever ginned up crisis I have at work. However in hindsight, I get moody and difficult at home and my health (mental and physical) goes south.
I was struck yesterday at the palpable positive change in my mood from just 30 minutes of cardio. It is certainly a lesson worth holding onto. Walking the dog doesn't relieve stress and depression, but getting the heart rate up in the 150's does. Of course the Y is closed today but the lesson remains.
Nutrition update: In the spirit of doing something different, I have signed up for a rather pricey health promotion program through my company health plan. Starting in January, I will be attending classes called A New Me. it has weekly classes and bi-weekly small group coaching to help you make the positive changes that lead to better health. In other words, it's a de-porking program:). The part I really like is that there is a lot of bio-metric screenings and measurements over a year, even after the classes end in April. The coach in me likes to have numbers to try to beat.
Here's to hoping I finally realize I need to eat differently and act differently to be healthy, much less to be the middle aged athlete I want to be.
I'm sure you'll hear lots of New Me updates in the blog.
Anyway, sorry for the gigantic gap between posts. I'm working on it.
Happy Holidays
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