Wii Fit

Finally! I found one today at Target. I was in line 40 minutes before they opened. I was number 15. They had 25.

My test found me obese. SURPRISE! It weighs you every time you step on. It tells me my ideal weight is 119.5. My weight today is 252. So I have 132.5 pounds to lose, more than my ideal weight.

I ran through the fitness test. There was the second surprise, especially considering how obese I am. My Wii Fit age is 55 -- 10 years less than my actual age.

I did a little bit of everything today. I counts the actual time I work, not the fiddly parts in between, a nice touch. I did 19 actual minutes. I ran out of steam. I also figured out that I need a lot more space to work in, yoga-lying down room. Push-up room. I'll work on that.

Turkey Bacon

Doesn't taste like bacon. It doesn't taste like turkey. It tastes a little bit like dried out fake pastrami. I don't get the attraction. Seriously people.

Ouchies!

Tried some more Pilates today. Didn't do much but after 10 minutes my abdominal muscles are sore as anything. So now I'm saying to myself "No, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it. It means you have to keep doing it."

And Pilates

Well not really Pilates. Pre-pilates. But I put a DVD into the machine and tried to do it. (I've had these DVDs for two years but never put them in a machine.) And I hated hated hated it. After ten minutes I took it out.

Then the victory. I put the other one in. No, I didn't get pissed off. I didn't decide that Pilates is doomed or filled with bad karma. I put the other one in the damn machine. Now I admit that I wasn't feeling too hopeful. And that woman on the first one put me off like crazy. But the second one, Pilates for Inflexible People, had a nice menu and a lovely woman -- named Maggie -- who didn't piss me off. I did "pre-pilates," breathing, slow awareness of the core, and some yoga-like exercises for 15 minutes. Amazing really.

I even got the notion that I ought to rearrange my space so I have room to completely roll out a yoga mat and be able to move without breaking any body part. Most of me is ashamed that I am in such bad shape, that 15 minutes was so hard, and that I didn't do more. But a tiny part says "Yay me!" I'm trying to remember what Jenette told me while reading her archives about having compassion for my younger self. (She thought she was telling herself, but she was really telling me.)

So I have another growth opportunity -- being compassionate to my younger self. And being compassionate toward my present self. This year is just filled with them so far.
Thank you Jennette.

And Pilates

Well not really Pilates. Pre-pilates. But I put a DVD into the machine and tried to do it. (I've had these DVDs for two years but never put them in a machine.) And I hated hated hated it. After ten minutes I took it out.

Then the victory. I put the other one in. No, I didn't get pissed off. I didn't decide that

Journaling

I got a fabulous incredible Moleskine Journal in red leather today. Perfect perfect for weight/food/fitness only. I hope by writing things down I can learn a little. I don't mean just weight but feelings, weather, health, and the like. I hope I'll be able to teach myself what works with some consistency and what doesn't. I also hope by just investing some time in thinking about it daily I might increase my probability for success.

That all sounds so negative but I'm not feeling negative. I'm feeling like "I can do this." and I'm really trying to maximize the time and energy investment. And overcome the inertia as much as possible.

Small Victory

I was out running around and fell into Five Guys, a local fabulous burger joint. I got a child's cheeseburger and small fries, to go. When I got my food home I realized that they had given me a regular cheeseburger. Oh well, sez I. I ate half of it AND THREW THE REST AWAY!!! Yes, I know children are starving in wherever it is today. I mooshed it up and wrapped the moosh in foil and pitched it.

Good for me. An obstacle moves a tiny bit and I am closer to where I want to be.

Talisman

Hope springs eternal. I spent some time today flipping through the growing pile of Health and Self magazines that seem to arrive at my house. Don't you think that thinking about getting in shape should burn calories? I certainly do. Mostly they are pure advertising but I tripped over one of those articles that take 4 minutes to read on tips the contestants use in The Biggest Loser and two called to me.

The first is a simplifying device for calorie counting. I knew there must be a rule. To lose weight multiple your current weight by 7 for your daily calorie intake. (If you weight less than 150, use 150 as the weight number.) So for me that is 1680 a day. Now that I have the formula, though, I can adjust while losing weight. And for maintenance multiply your weight by 12. So when I weight what I want to, my calorie intake should be 1500. I'm quite struck by how little difference there is between the two, actually. Wheee, now I have a formula. What a geekette I am.

The second is a talisman, although they don't call it that. They suggest buying a bracelet or ring that symbolizes "I can do it!" Now that doesn't work for me, but I like the idea. When I quit smoking wearing a silly rubber band on my wrist helped. On reflection jewelry that reminds me of my goal, that I can fiddle with instead of nibbling, and points me in the direction of looking terrific works seemed like a fine idea. I've never worn bracelets so I just ordered a black gold chain bracelet so that I can wear it all the time, including while I work out.

Just Do It

I've been reading Crabby McSlacker (an name I can surely relate to) over at Cranky Fitness (yeah, yeah, instead of moving my butt I've been reading about moving my butt. I'm sure if I do it long enough I'll just waste away.) and honestly she is one of the few people who actually speaks to me. Unfortunately she is in much better shape than I am.

In my heart of hearts I love that she tells herself and, vicariously, me to "get over yourself and do it anyway." I never believe that crap about how it isn't that bad. It damn well is. That doesn't mean I don't have to do it. Just like I have to brush my teeth and go to work. Life isn't all fun and games, right? So I'm putting down my keyboard and doing some damn thing now.

Just What I Need Today

diet blog offers me exactly what I need to help get back on track. They think they're telling me about New Year's resolutions but really it is about how to persist. I need a summary here to remind me.

1. PERSIST. Don’t quit. “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.” Sir Winston Churchill
2. MAKE THE EFFORT. Work hard. Great comebackers use all the hours in the day. You can find your comeback right in the effort you make.
3. UNDERSTAND TRANSIENCE. Don’t extrapolate temporary setbacks into permanent defeat. “This, too, shall pass.”
   
4. CHANGE DIRECTION. Quincy Jones was a talented trumpeter, but after a stroke, he had to quit, and then became a legendary music producer.
5. EMPLOY SUPPORT. Stay away from the nay-sayers. Pack your corner with friends who won’t let you quit.
   
6. REPEAT. It took Sir Edmund Hillary two attempts to climb Everest, Peary eight times to reach the North Pole, and various authors scores and sometimes hundreds of tries to get their works published. Go again, and again, and ………
7. DREAM BIG. Your effort and ideas are worth many times what you may imagine. J.K. Rowling wrote her ideas about one “Harry Potter” during a train ride. It sold 100 million copies, and $4 billion movie box office, and counting. You can do much more than you imagine. Dream big.
8. STAY HUMBLE. Attitude -- is everything. When tennis master Andre Agassi fell from No. 1 to No. 141 (1997), he started over, went back to the minor leagues, upped his training, including weightlifting. It set the stage for greater things than ever before. Attitude – not image – is everything.
9. SELF-PROGRAM. Get a mantra. A psychiatrist-hypnotist provided Rachmaninoff the composer, who had a writing block, with a positive self-talk mantra: “You will begin your concerto. You will work with great facility. The concerto will be excellent.” It worked. He wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2.
10. PERSIST. It’s not over until you say so. Don’t say so.