This Week! Pt. 2 Stress and Exercise

 For the longest time I honestly believed that people were either born athletes or not. I was born and wasn’t a particularly overweight child. But as I went into school I could always tell that I developed faster than my peers. I was taller and wider but not FAT. 

My cousin Daniel helping to open my diaper

That's me in the inner tube age: 9

I'm in the striped swimsuit age:12 ... see how much bigger I am than my 2 cousins who are the same age as me (girl in glasses to the right of me and boy facing the camera next to girl in red towel)

I grew up playing soccer but I loathed running. My fitness was not the best nor my diet and that probably contributed to why I found running so difficult. It was not something I took joy or pride in and I didn’t find it relaxing. I quit playing soccer competitively in high school when I couldn’t keep up with the conditioning. My goal was to run the same trail where I gave up the game and this past summer I ran it quite a few times. But how did I ever get to the point where I actually ENJOYED running and being active??

When I started this process I was 270+ pounds and could barely walk around without tiring easily. I started first worrying about my food intake and getting that under control with the help of Jenny Craig. Between 20 and 30 pounds lost I decided it was time to reward myself. I went to the local GameStop where you can buy video gaming systems secondhand and bought myself a Wii and Just Dance Greatest Hits. I started out slow and uncoordinated but it was FUN. I danced for ten minutes to start and built up to doing 30-45 minutes without stopping.

Yes, I look like a dork but it's fun!!!

Then I was given a gazelle by a former coworker. This was different than the dancing and I could barely do two minutes without getting tired and looking at the clock every 15 seconds to see if my fifteen minutes were up. So I changed my game plan. I DVR all my television shows and I started by using the gazelle during commercial breaks and resting when the show was back on. As this became easier I reversed it and worked out during the show, pausing at commercials. After awhile I could keep it up for a whole show.

Then people on the Jenny Craig forums started talking about c25k. It’s an app on your phone or computer that you use to ease into running a 5k. It literally stands for Couch to 5k. I started out very apprehensive but the program couldn’t have been any easier. I set up a music playlist and the app would vibrate and turn down the music slightly in order to tell me when to walk and when to jog. Each day and week had a different amount of walking and jogging. I would come home ready and raring to get my running shoes and hit the sidewalks of my neighborhood. I invested in more workout clothes, an armband for my ipod, and a camel back water bag. During all the craziness at work, coming home and running was what I looked forward to so that I could unwind.

I credit that program for the strength I feel and for pushing me to try new things. With a great "new client special" I got a $30, 30-day unlimited pass to a gym where they specialize in bodypump and spinning. To be honest, spinning was a little intense for me and I HATED not being able to stay up and out of the saddle with everyone else but I would like it more if it was a 30 or 40 minute class. I also really like the bodypump and wish I would have had more free time to fit it into my schedule that month.

Hip hop has been the class that was introduced to me that I’ve loved the most!! It’s so fun and challenging. A friend brought me and in turn I’ve been urging my friends to come with me and try it out.

What kind of activities have you done that changed your fitness style? What do you want to try?