It’s a wrap

by Patricia Parker on December 4, 2009

Dear Readers,
First of all, let’s talk about the elephant in the room…Why haven’t I been blogging since September? I’d like to say I was kayaking on the Amazon or Trekking across the Arctic…Sadly, no great adventures. I was tending my family and my mind.

Second, let’s talk about the goals I wrote about in July:

1. I walk at least 5 km everyday. I haven’t hopped on the shuttle across campus once. I feel better and I haven’t had a sniffle (I’m not smug about that, oh universal fates, just noting)

2. I have altered my cooking habits and snuck healthier foods into my children’s lunch sacks.

3. I’ve lost some weight and reduced one pant size. Not gynormous accomplishments, but a nice serendipity.

4. I haven’t started training for a triathlon, as was my secret goal….I think I will have to wait til my children are grown.

Rather than focus on what I haven’t done, lets focus on what I did do…Because I had more zip after 4pm, I enrolled in an evening class. The main assignment was to write a children’s book. Check that off the “to do” as complete. I am meeting with the publisher who taught the course this month to edit the little book and get it to a press somewhere.

I’ve spent time celebrating holidays, growing with my children and getting ready for Christmas.

We promised you “real life” when we started, and I like to think it was real life that we delivered. Thanks for joining in!

Til next time
P

{ 2 comments }

Wrapping up

by Grace on December 4, 2009

It’s been about three months of blog-writing and this is my last post.

My main complaint three months ago was that of back and shoulder pain.  This has improved significantly over the months through a combination of chiropractor visits, stretching, and yoga.  I still have some soreness from time to time but not nearly as often as I used to.

As for fitness, it’s been a constant struggle to keep motivated and my workouts have been on and off.  I’m currently on another “off” phase.  Despite this, my fitness assessment last week showed improvements over my assessment in June, albeit minor improvements.

One thing that has been a bit of a concern for me is the fact that I have been sick quite often this year.  Nothing serious but I’ve had a cold about three times in the past year.  My latest ailment is an allergic reaction to i-don’t-know-what.  I woke up on Monday morning and my face was very swollen.  It was so bad that my eyes were almost swollen shut.  I also had a rash all over my body.  The swelling in my face has since gone but the rash is still here after five days.  I’ve been taking antihistamines and that has helped somewhat.  The problem is that I don’t know what I am allergic to so I don’t know what to avoid.  I had an allergy test done some years ago and the only things that came up were cats and dust.

Thanks for reading!

Truth is…Nothing’s changed

by Juliana on December 3, 2009

banner

To refresh your memory, when I started this blogging journey I freely admitted to the world that I was a vain and shallow person and the only reason why I exercise is to look good.

Has anything changed?

NOPE!

I am still vain.  I am still shallow.  My reasons for exercising is to look good without depriving myself of all the food that I love to eat.  Has it worked?

Of course.

I am starting to look leaner and cms have dropped my hips.  In addition, all this happened without me restricting myself to a diet of salads 24/7.  For those of you who have been following my weekly blog, I have been quite plain and honest of the culinary delights that I indulged in during these three months.  The only reason why they didn’t stick to my bones is because I did increase my activity level.  Initially, I did start working out in the gym.  Then with the increased improvement of the weather, I then started to go for 1 hour and 15 minutes walks.  Now that the weather is starting to go downhill again, I am now going back to the gym and working out while watching TV.

My dietary changes do include eating more fish and salads, but I still enjoy my chocolate, potato chips and steaks.  May be in smaller portions, but I still enjoy them.

Now I know the big question that everyone is wondering the answer to.  Do I enjoy working out now.

Not at all.  I still only do it to ensure I can eat the food I want and only if there is a TV around or if it nice and sunny.  I don’t think that will ever change about me.  You will never find me signing up for a marathon, triathalon or anything of the sort.  I am definitely a slower pace person when it comes to physical activity.  I don’t like to sweat and I don’t like to be in pain and I will only exercise if it isn’t a miserable experience.

So I now end this blog, much in the same way that I begun it….with food in mind.final blog pic 2

Evaluation Time!

by Ted Sedgwick on December 3, 2009

 

time-flies-clock-10-11-2006

I must admit that until I started to write this blog I had not paid close attention to the results of our last fitness assessment.  Somehow that didn’t seem like the most important part of the ‘Blog’ exercise anymore. 

  I think we have all learned something from this, whether it was related to our own personal habits of exercise and diet or those of our colleagues.  I enjoyed hearing about the approaches the rest of my fellow bloggers used to help achieve their goals.  It has added a personal touch to our department that often is lacking.

  I have covered a lot of topics during these blogging sessions, the initial ones directly related to physical fitness goals, but after the ‘Ribs’ episode these tapered to mental fitness – no less important.  So now that I have compared my fitness assessments I find that I improved in all categories – including the dreaded core flexibility.  I still do have fitness goals – the main one being to establish an all-season  regime that works for my lifestyle.  It gets too easy to put things off.  What are we waiting for? 

Thanks to all my fellow bloggers for sharing their experiences!