Getting healthy and fit in real time, in real life…

My top 5 reasons for why I don’t like to do exercise (in no particular order):

1. Would rather watch TV
2. Would rather eat chocolate icing
3. Makes me tired
4. Makes me all sweaty
5. Muscles ache the next day

You think I’m kidding, but I’m dead serious – I really don’t like to do exercise.

So why have I joined the gym and committed myself to working out 4-5 times a week and joined a running club that meets once a week?

The answer is so that I can eat whatever I want and still look good. It might sound shallow and vain, but it is totally and absolutely true.

I like to eat. I love food. I think eating is one of the most wonderful and sensuous experiences a person can have. I have been moved to tears after an especially decadent slice of chocolate mousse cake and I have transcended to a state of heavenly bliss after a particularly delectable piece of coconut cream pie…..

But I digress.

In order for me to continually have these transcendent experiences with food, I will need to work out. If not, those blissful, heavenly transcendent experiences will go to places that I choose not to discuss at this time and they will give me a shape that I will not be happy with. Vain and shallow, I know, but the truth.

So my exercising journey began 2 weeks ago. I went to the gym and spent a half hour on the elliptical. I wish I could say that it was a great experience and that I was now embarking on a love affair with the gym, but that would be a BIG lie. After working out I was all sweaty, achy and tired. The only reason why I didn’t quit in the middle of the workout was because my gym had installed a flat screen TV and I was watching an episode of “The Real Housewives of New York City”.

And the only reason why I kept going back to the gym after a week of this torture, was because I kept getting complimented by random people on how refreshed and bright my face looked. I know it’s vain and I know it’s shallow, but it worked.

Perhaps as the months progress I will start exercising for other reasons, such as improving my health, managing stress levels and increasing my energy levels.

I sincerely doubt it, but you never know…miracles do happen.

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"The Box" : assessment tool to measure hip and trunk flexibility.

I was asked to participate in this blog as a means of capturing one side of the demographics of our UBC community in our fitness initiative. (You will deduce more about this demographic in future blogs, suffice it to say that sunscreen is more important for the top of my head than shampoo). 

But following the fitness assessment that was provided at the start of our program I began to think that this wasn’t quite right. Although I ‘scored’ excellent in 3 categories I was cautioned that these values are based on population statistics, and I should not become too complacent, content even, with my physical state.  So I can’t represent a demographic. I am unique.  I am not a statistic.  At most I am a demographic of one. 

But back to the box.  It doesn’t believe in demographics either. As part of the fitness assessment it did show, in its simple, cruel, embarrassing, one-to-one, non-demographic way that there is room for improvement.  Core flexibility. The object of the test was to sit on the floor and try to reach beyond your toes.  No cheating by bending your knees!  Right.  You can guess where that went. So my goal in this project is to continue what I consider to be a reasonably active lifestyle and put some emphasis on increasing flexibility.  As step one, I’ve dusted off a copy of Richard Hittleman’s 28-Day Yoga exercise program (1978 edition: another clue to ‘my’ demographic!) and begun again with a renewed sense of purpose. Stay tuned.

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Me climbing. Four pitches up on the apron of the Stawamus Chief (just outside of Squamish, BC).

I was a passenger in a car accident in 2005 and I have had chronic headaches and neck and back pain ever since. The pain is horrible and can take me out of commission for at least a day (sometimes a couple days in a row).

Top Ten Reasons I Hate My Sore Neck and Back (and the Headaches That Come With)

1. I keep trying to fix them and they are stubborn and go back to bothering me
2. The car accident wasn’t very severe, so I’m still struggling to have insurance pay for even SOME of my medical fees. (and they always make me feel like a faker and a wuss).
3. You can’t see when my neck/back are out, so people don’t understand/know when I’m in pain.
4. I get moody (so it can effect my personal relationships) and I lack mental clarity when I have a headache (so I have problems focusing at work).
5. I’m never sure when they’ll come around or what brings them on, and I’m never sure how to get rid of them.
6. I should be better by now. It’s been four years.
7. Every time I have a little fall or do something physical, my neck/back get royally messed up again. It’s my greatest weakness now.
8. I worry that if it hurts this much in my late 20’s, how will I feel when I’m 80?]
9. If I get sick and have to stay in bed, then I end up being sick and getting a really sore back and neck and headache.
10. As an administrator, most of my job is at the desk in the office. This is really hard on my back and neck.

What I’ve Tried Thus Far

• Chinese acupuncturist (once a week for 6 months)
• Cranial-sacral therapists (once a week for a few months)
• Neuomuscular and massage therapists (once a week for a few months)
• Chiropractors (1-3 times/week for months at a time)

New Strategies

1. Drink More Water
   • Starting this week, I will replace coffee with water in my diet. I’ve been drinking 1-3 cups of coffee every day since I started working at UBC in April. This can’t be good for my digestion, let alone staying hydrated. Dehydration has been linked to headaches, so I think this might help me.
2. Incorporate Stretching (my health assessment stated that I should work on my flexibility)
   • When I’m at the desk for hours, I need to get up and move. Starting this week, I’m going to actually put into my work day a few little reminders in my outlook (for the first couple of weeks) that will pop up on my computer to remind me to stretch, or at least get up from my desk.
   • I’m going to start taking a yoga class once/week. Yoga is supposed to help with neck/back pain, and I know my muscles are regularly really tight. It will also help prevent injuries for my main physical activity: rock climbing. I’ve only taken a couple of yoga classes before, so this will be an interesting (and amusing) challenge, I’m certain.

Ultimate Goal: Reduce my neck/back problems to a point where I only need to see my chiropractor monthly (at most!), and I don’t have headaches on a regular basis.

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