Love it or hate it?

My life would be a lot easier if I were part of the group of the human race that innately loves exercise. One of those sporty junkies, of whom I know many -  and I admire them greatly. Those whose day is not complete without a run or a workout, who genuinely experience endorphin highs.
However, I can exhaust myself just convincing myself to do exercise. Or not. Even when I am on a regular schedule as I pretty much am now, I will drop off the exercise if I can justify not doing it to myself. I just don't really like it much.
I especially don't like anything high impact - mainly because it is hard for me and I am not especially fit in that regard. Running - yeuck. Team sports - not my buzz, always felt I was letting the team down as well. Even my weekly PT sessions are generally approached with the thought that I'd rather be somewhere else, though I do admit that once I am there I don't hate it.
Because it's weights and resistance training, I actually can confess to liking it. Most of the time. Only competing with yourself. Love getting stronger. Don't mind that much if I don't get tinier.
Here's Leanne getting the bar ready for my squats today. Our favourite :)

PS Of course I walk the dogs regularly, and love it. But I don't count that as being exercise for me it's for them!

A first time for everything...

... and maybe a last.

Back at the beginning of the year I posted twice about the Boot Camp that was being run at Kauri Point Reserve, where I walk the boys.

I admire exercise enthusiasts who put themselves through an hour of relative public humiliation as they work to reach their fitness goals. Personally, as I have mentioned before, I prefer to be individually challenged, and to have my personal weaknesses kept under wraps.

But, as my P.T. (who I really like working with) also runs these sessions, and two workmates are attending, I decided to give it a go tonight.

My absolute HATE is running. I am not good or fast, and lack stamina (Translation - unfit in this regard). So 20 mins of running first up was never going to win me over. Thank goodness for the push-ups-on-toes to fail, at the end of each leg... that I can do. Then to include monkey jumps in the next circuit - my other HATE - in sets of 50!!! for goodness sake - well I was not impressed!

But I got through it without dying. And now I have a whole week to talk myself out of ever going again.

Choose Your Attitude

It's been a busy, busy couple of weeks at work - a lot of balls up in the air and I actually dropped one today  - missed securing a reliever for a class - oops.

However despite the juggling and busyness, I am so grateful that I have a job that I actually like going to, as opposed to one I have to go to. Part of that is because I work with a terrific group of fun professionals.

We had an excellent staff meeting tonight, which included a bit of ball play, literally, and other activities designed to continue to facilitate a climate of effective communication. The photos are of some of the fun and hilarious activities we participated in. Might look a little silly, but they were really enjoyable and relevant.

We also revisited the Fish Philosophy, the components of which we actively try to live by in our work lives.

A shame I could not follow through on 'Choose Your Attitude" at training tonight. Didn't wanna go. Tried but could have tried harder.

Pretty hard to miss - you'd think

I took my Big Swiss Ball to work today as it's flatness was making some of my exercises difficult, and we have a pump at school - and a teacher who is handy with the pump. So handy he emailed me this afternoon to say he'd taken the ball and pumped it up for me while I was in one of my many meetings today. Very grateful I was.
At the end of the day do you think I could find it? I mean where does a big ball like this hide? I had nearly given up hope when I took a last chance look in the Principal's office and found it there nestled beside her own. (Just deleted an inappropriate comment about the duo of large spheres)
I squeezed it into my car and unloaded it back home, where it sat on the couch (as in the photo) making it's presence known, reminding me of my Thursday Exercise Obligations.
Somehow though, my tired brain talked me out of doing my circuit after the dog walk, so my punishment is that I need to be up early to do it in the morning. Oh balls.

Muscle Development

Well tomorrow I have my first Personal Training session. In a strange chain of events, my trainer Leanne is the one who barked this command.

Rather than join her boot camp, I have taken the route of less potential public humiliation, and chosen the one-on-one option. I think we will get on just fine, so long as she does not model her motivational techniques on Jillian from The Biggest Loser.  (This clip shows her in true form!) I hope she's more like my Vanessa was :)

Anyway the pic is of course mussels a different kind! I love mussels but somehow had never cooked them, so inspired by a meal at De Fontein last year and Masterchef Masterclass, I had a go. I think that leaving the butter out was the reason they lacked the flavour I would have liked (funny that), but they were... OK.

Anyway here's hoping the muscles of the other kind are OK this time tomorrow!

The Dangers of Early Morning Exercise

Was this some kind of justification for my resistance to climbing on my aging Orbitrek before the sun has even begun to get up?
As I clambered on to this god awful machine this morning, I opened the window behind me in an effort to make things a little more bearable. The wind this morning was apparent and I felt the curtain brush against me as I began to amp up the action. Sighing, I stopped and shut the window and resumed my 'work'. That's when the curtain rail came crashing towards me. I had not noticed that the curtain had already wound itself around one of the paddles and so a single further rotation had done the damage.
I am not impressed. I resent having to fix these things.
I need a fix-it fairy.
If you know one, send it over.

PS When I cleared the curtain from the paddle I also discovered two bolts or washers or something on the carpet. Do I risk stepping on to this contraption again tomorrow? What if something else comes crashing?

"Stop patting the dog, Dorothy, and do some exercise!"

Let me confess to how the post-work afternoon hours for me went today. It was muggy as, and second-day-back fatigue had set in. Before I knew it, the quick relax on the couch had become a Nana nap - in the sitting position - of about 30 mins. Once awake, I did not feel refreshed, quite the opposite. Certainly did not feel like walking the boys, as planned. I did the cheat's option, threw them in the car and drove them to the reserve.

Talk about make a person feel guilty and inadequate. A group of people, not too dissimilar in age and fitness level to me, were being put through their paces by a pert, young female trainer. The dogs and I were  heading in their general direction, though still some 10m away from the group. Then they were all sent to run to a cone that we had just reached. I felt bad for getting in the way of their exercise, and could tell they were all 'feeling it'. I think my dogs - and an exuberant extra spaniel puppy who had joined the fray - were a welcome distraction.

One lady suggested to me "Yes we are all mad!" and I replied that I was actually envious. And I meant it - it is so hard for me to motivate myself these days, especially when the tangible motivation is meant to be this archaic exercise machine that has been gathering dust in the spare room for the past year. I moved it back into my bedroom tonight, as I have officially rejoined the dub-dub-club and am trying to make some commitments to myself re upping the exercise.

So when I wake in the morning, I will replay as a mantra, the voice of the trainer at the reserve today, directed at one poor woman who dared to greet the spaniel puppy. "Stop patting the dog, Dorothy, and do some exercise!" Maybe that will get me up and on me bike. No more exercise excuses. No more patting the dog.