Sunday, March 14, 2010

Getting active......again!

Last week (Friday 5th March to be exact) I had a moment where I realised that I HAD to do something with my health! I don't know exactly what made me think this but I decided that I had to do something with my overall health.

The last few weeks have been ridiculous in terms time management. I just felt that I had nothing working the way I had hoped. I was so tired and lethargic and really didn't want to get out and greet people. This is not a good place to be.

Then I had this very interesting time when three friends told me outright that they were concerned about me. None of these friends work with me. They were just concerned with the frenetic energy I was dealing with everything. One friend told me that I seemed to have forgotten how to breath.

Another friend reminded me that no matter how much I put into the work place it will not replace the life I have afterwards. The question she put to me was to think about what I would be like when I am 70 and all I really have to show is a lifetime of successful concerts........at first I was peeved with this but then I reflected and knew that she was right.

Where is that balance that I had demanded of myself two years ago?

Two years ago I was searching for that balance but forgot that I had started on that journey. The weight that I had worked so hard to remove had crept back on. I had/have little or no energy for doing things away from the workplace and basically I was becoming an awesome couch potato.

So - I had a wake up moment. I was leaving work and thought that I should do something......what? I remembered that at the beginning of last year I had joined the local gym run by the council and that maybe I should get back to that. I rang and made an appointment with a personal trainer for the very next morning.

It was fantastic! The trainer I met was the woman who had started to help me at the beginning of last year. She remembered who I was and was genuinely concerned about what had happened in the past 14 months.

With her help I have developed a program. It isn't much to look at at the moment, but you do have to start somewhere. I have been to the gym 3 times this week and I have also been for a swim at the same venue. I started with just cardio work - and boy am I unfit! When I went swimming I discovered that I can only turn my head one way and developed a crick in my neck! I have enquired about stroke correction classes.......

Yesterday I found out how to use the equipment - and thoroughly enjoyed the process. My weights are puny.......but considering the fact that I have been dealing with rehabilitation from my back issue from June last year, I am quite impressed! The trainer setting up my program only allowed me to do certain gym work AFTER she had spoken to both my osteopath and physiotherapist. So thorough!

This morning I went for an hour walk along the beach. I feel quite energised!

The program that the trainer got me on is basically to get me moving every day! Make time to get out and get active. I have noticed that I am feeling a lot better as a result. I have to work on the diet part - which I seem to have been working on a little, but this is the week to get that sorted. Food diary at the ready.

For those wondering about local council gyms, get out and join one. They provide everything that a brand name gym provides but at a fraction of the cost. I have a personal trainer - or a program manager, full gym facilities and then there is the swimming pool that I have complete access to. I paid under $700 for all of that for 12 months and then got a month free. I can also go to any of the group classes that I want!

I feel really happy that I have done this!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great plan. Good luck!

Bayjb said...

That sounds like a great plan, I tend to get too frantic and distracted by things too but having that wake up moment can really put you on the right path, it helped me.