tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222177826288189762024-03-05T19:51:15.798+13:00Reasonably FitA fitness and health blog for people who actually have a life too.Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-27433953937092587282019-04-18T20:38:00.000+12:002019-04-20T14:43:30.519+12:00Control Freak<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anyone who knows me, knows that I like to have things under control. I was chatting with my hairdresser yesterday (as you do) and describing how my desk is a bit like a metaphor for my life - it's either tidy, organised and everything in its place, or it is utter carnage. There is no in between.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This term seems to have been more out of control than usual and I'm not sure why. I spent probably the last month getting by on coffee and jaffas, which, while entertaining for my students at times, is not really the way ahead. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So by the end of the term I was completely knackered, and I need to do something about it if I'm not to go completely loopy or have my blood pressure go through the roof (like it might have at one point there ... oops) next term.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I figure there are two variables that I need to work with; what I <i>have</i> under control, or don't, and what I <i>need</i> to have under control, or don't. So I end up with four possibilities:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Things I have under control and need to have under control</b>. These things are the best! If things are in this part of the equation, then I don't need to worry. I don't think I have very many of these just at the moment. And ideally, I wouldn't want to have too many that I need to juggle either.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Things I don't have under control and don't need to have under control</b>. These ones can also be really good, because once I have worked out what they are, I can stop worrying about them. The most important thing here is to make sure that I <i>recognise</i> that I don't need to have control, so that I don't engage in a pointless struggle to take control of something that isn't worth using my energy on (see the next section...). I suspect that I have some of these that I haven't worked out yet, which for now is not so good, but once I sit down and work out that I can let them go, I should be able to take some of the pressure off myself.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Things I have under control but don't need to have under control</b>. These are a waste of energy. I'm probably hanging onto some of these, because then at least I feel like I have something organised, but these are also things that I need to recognise as unnecessary, so that I can deal with them in the right way. It's nice to think, "o well, at least I have something under control", but that isn't actually helpful, as it distracts from the more important stuff, and the feeling of control is false. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Things I don't have under control, but I need to have</b>. These, obviously, are the worst. Often, these are the really big things, where once they have slipped, or if you never had them under control in the first place, it is really hard to sort out. These too are often the ones that I just don't want to think about, because they involve the work of getting them back in line. But, these are also <i>the most important</i>! </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The ideal with this would be to have just a certain few particular things that need to be under control, and then not worry about the rest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So this is the part where I think I will have to resort to my journal, some reflection and actual list-making. What do I even need to have under control? What can I let go? What will bother me? And what can I do to make it not bother me? Are there things that I can park, while I sort something else out? Which are the higher priorities? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't think I will sort this out just in one blog post... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The thing with all of this is, I think, that it's only when things do get a bit challenging that you actually sit back and assess things. When things are all fine, there is no need. And it's probably not a quick process where you can just make a check-list and tick things off as you go, but a longer-term reassessment that is necessary. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Maintaining health, both physical and mental, is ongoing. It needs self-awareness and a stepping-back from routine and the everyday to simply observe. I know that I am the type of person who needs to have a clear picture of things, and I also know that not everyone is like that, but I think for everyone, knowing what to let go of is really important. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now I just need to work that out for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">#controlfreak #reasonablyfit #healthandfitness #healthgoals</span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-33420475692214779782019-01-06T22:04:00.000+13:002019-01-06T22:04:42.903+13:00Who inspires you?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I need real people to inspire me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I know that those inspirational speakers and sportspeople know what they are saying and doing, and that it probably is true - but to me that isn't real. This blog is about health and fitness for real people, and to me, those who are paid to do it are lucky that it has worked out for them to be doing what they are passionate about and believe in, but I just can't relate to what they are saying and doing as it is so far removed from my life and experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let me tell you about some people who do inspire me:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first is a colleague at work, Andrea. Andrea puts up her Endomondo posts on Facebook because for her, getting out there and running at all is in itself an achievement. I'm not sure if she actually enjoys it, yet (see what I did there, HPSS people?), but she keeps going, making small improvements and passing milestones, and most of all, she perseveres. Keeping going with running is harder for Andrea than for me, and that is why, when I feel like I can't be bothered, I look at what she does in admiration, and then go and do something myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think that people who do stuff that is hard for them are much more inspirational than those for whom it comes easily. They are the ones who show why it is the right thing to do, and they bring the attitude that will keep both themselves and others going. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second is my boss, Maurie. Having recently moved into a new, higher, age bracket, Maurie just keeps going. He delights in being outside and doing challenging things. He montain-bikes, kayaks, runs, and adventure races, amongst other things. And he does it for no-one except himself. I really admire this, because he fits all of this into a very challenging and busy work schedule as well, and has a real balance in what he does, as well as pushing himself to his best for everything. I freely admit that I don't have his dedication, but I think the inspiration that I get here is that I can see what is possible, and real.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think that people who do stuff because they really want to do it, for themselves and the satisfaction it gives them, are also much more inspirational than those who do it for some sort of other gain. Those other gains are valid, but they don't mean anything to me, whereas someone who does something for the pure pleasure they feel has all the right things to make me feel that I can do things to make me feel good too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The third is my mum, Jessie. I've mentioned mum before because she is who I want to grow up to be like. Recently (3 years ago) she had a fight with cancer, and won it, and now she is back out there. In May, she is going to walk the Whitianga half-marathon, and I am going to run it with her. Mum is out there walking </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">not only </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">because she enjoys being out there, but because she knows it is a good thing to do. She has always been my role model for doing the right thing and making the right choices and this is just as much in health and fitness as any other aspect of life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I suspect (and hope) that for many of us, our parents are the ones we look to for inspiration, because if they've done their job right, we're doing okay too. People who are close to us, whether it is our parents, significant others, or someone else, should and will always inspire us to be our own best, and that is the most real inspiration of all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't need the internet gurus, I enjoy but don't rely on the Ted, and other, talks. My inspiration comes from real people doing real things that have real meaning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I hope that you have people who can make your dreams and goals seem real for you too.</span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-15102743919350074152019-01-04T15:52:00.000+13:002019-01-04T15:52:18.661+13:00Injury - O no!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or: why do I seem to start all over again, every single year?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKZ0exDLV8JWxq1yqodutvpAC7wUIdwLuPvr2NAIlTgKPROWIC5g5x-D9dIn02L8U2U9h0UUo76VrE4AgBGhWHDyXP_AcjSSOPhyphenhyphen50zcBOIzgqXuWO4ktlHAAIVFiv_vxAEcG5Q7BTPw/s1600/hand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKZ0exDLV8JWxq1yqodutvpAC7wUIdwLuPvr2NAIlTgKPROWIC5g5x-D9dIn02L8U2U9h0UUo76VrE4AgBGhWHDyXP_AcjSSOPhyphenhyphen50zcBOIzgqXuWO4ktlHAAIVFiv_vxAEcG5Q7BTPw/s200/hand.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How does a cricket injury to my hand bring all of my other exercise and activity to a screaming halt? I'm not sure I understand, except that it has - a broken finger and a sprained wrist mean that my fitness bootcamp was a complete write-off even before the holidays, and if I try running, they just ache. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And now I'm feeling scratchy and want to get back into things for several reasons:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I have had a very enjoyable holiday season, and I need to counter-balance that (we all know what I mean...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I want to feel strong and healthy, and I just don't.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I am lucky to have been selected to roadtest some new shoes but they arrived three days after I broke myself, and I haven't been fulfilling my part of that bargain #asicsroadtest #gt2000roadtest #newshoes - more about this in my next post!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- I need to score some runs before the pink small person pulls ahead again, so I need to be fit for the resumption of play!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All this means that I have been doing a bit of self-review, again. It seems to happen every summer holiday/New Year, which I suppose is appropriate for the season and I think it is a good thing, as just carrying on with stuff doesn't get me anywhere and so, in the same way as I have the last two years, I am starting over with my health and fitness plan. I have a few different things to think about:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What are my goals? What do I want or need to do, short-term, long-term, or in events?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What is my purpose? And how is this different from goals, or, are my goals actually helping my bigger purpose be fulfilled?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What things are actually good for me? And if they are good for me, how and why do I keep breaking myself, and how can I stop doing that?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How on earth can I fit everything in? I have work goals for this year (last year having been pretty average) and family focuses for this year (last year having been very challenging!) and study goals for this year (not to leave everything until the last minute but actually see what my best work looks like) and 5 acres to keep landscaping and developing. Am I mad? (short answer, yes, probably)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, a bit of thinking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I need to remember first of all my overall purpose. (This is because I am a big picture person, and if I don't know what that is, the rest won't make sense.) I want to be fit and healthy, particularly the healthy bit, so that when things do get challenging, as they always seem to, I can be resilient. This is the most important thing, and what gets me motivated to keep doing stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, goals. I am going to do the Whitianga half with Mum in May; that is, she will walk it as her first half since being sick, and I will finally break that 2 hour mark. And Nicholette has talked me into doing a full marathon - the Queenstown one, to make it worth it - as a bucket list event, which is November-ish. Whenever she talks about it I get all enthusiastic, and when I stop and think about it, I wonder if I'm mad, but there we go, it <i>is</i> going to happen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's goals. I don't need too many because looking quickly at that fourth bullet point, I will be doing plenty of other things too. But at the same time, they are good solid goals that I will need to work towards and commit to, which is important, to make them real.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think the main thing I need to do a bit of reflecting on is injury, and prevention. The current one was a sheer fluke, but I did notice last year that I seemed to have a lot of little muscle pulls and several injuries in my fingers and hands (I can write really well left-handed now!). This is not really ideal, not least because it is hard to be consistent in anything - and because as a teacher, I do actually need to be able to write!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or maybe, to rephrase that positively - what is good for me? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hmm, that one I don't know. I'll get back to you...</span></div>
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Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-89100234273265091212018-10-28T15:30:00.000+13:002018-10-28T15:30:34.660+13:00Where is my motivation?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I will go for a run this afternoon... later... probably...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I forced myself to go for one yesterday morning too, which will be two in a weekend. Which is way better than the about four in the last month. But it was hard, and I did more walking than I should really need to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What has happened? I was doing so well! I was going out for long runs and enjoying it and now suddenly it's all just got hard. I don't understand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Maybe it's because the weather has got warmer and I get really overheated and fainty. And because running when it's warm is not my favourite that either means I have to get up early (hmm, what?!) or go out around dinner time, which is just a little inconvenient. I love daylight saving and summer, except in terms of exercise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or it could be because things got a wee bit busy for a while and I got out of routine with the school holidays and my fitness all just fell off. It does that, which is very discouraging. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or it could be because I haven't really been eating properly - the pink small person is really getting into her baking and been making things that I really shouldn't be eating, but really like, such as cinnamon doughnuts. Who could say no when their child offers them a home-made cinnamon doughnut? Not me, either to the child or the doughnut.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And there's also the fact that my gear is getting a bit old, so that there are holes in my shoes behind my heels that rub if I wear the wrong socks, and I may have done that, and got blisters, and then run funny to stop them rubbing any more till I got home, which put my back out just enough to be annoying. O dear, sorry for myself much?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or it could be because I was so set on the goal I had at the event I did about a month back, and then I just didn't quite get there. 32 seconds of not quite getting there can actually be quite demoralising because <i>surely</i> I could have gone just a little faster earlier on... That has motivated me to go back to the event next year and try again, but it isn't helping right now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I do have another event coming up! I am already changing my goals on that one, because I don't know if I can get anywhere near the big goal I had. It doesn't help that the course has changed, so I won't be able to compare really and I don't have any idea if this one will be easier of harder, or just different. But either way, I don't feel the impetus to beat that time that I thought I had.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So where is my motivation? I feel like it has been sucked into the vortex of getting-through-and-doing-the-things and not yet come back out. I'm guessing it will at some point, but I need to have a plan about what to do in the meantime. Yes, if I don't have the mindset, I can at least make a list!</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Diarise a training plan. This is what I will do first. Next. After writing this blog post. If I have a plan of how far I must run and when, I won't schedule other things into that time, because if something is in my diary, then it is real. But if I say that I'll fit the running in around other stuff, then it will never happen, because other stuff always takes longer and there is always more and more of it.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Reward myself. So if I am not getting an intrinsic reward from getting out there, then I need to think of something else. I haven't got too far down deciding what this might be, but I feel that I should be able to think of something. If you have any suggestions, please comment!</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Give something up. Actually, I am not too sure how much of a viable option this could be, as I think I have already pared back the things that I have committed to, but it's worth doing a reassessment of things, and maybe choosing the easier but less thorough option for getting some of them done. I have already accepted that my study grades will not be as good as I am capable of, but they will be what I deserve given the amount of time I haven't given to them. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Remember what the point is. The point is not to be some sort of event-driven creature, but to enjoy myself, to be fit and healthy. And if that means going out for a trot and doing some sightseeing on the way, well actually, that's just fine. <i>I'm thinking this one through as I'm writing it, and it is resonating the most of what I have just written, which tells me that this is probably what I really need to be doing</i>. I don't need to worry about pace per km, I don't need to worry about distance, I don't need to feel guilty if I walk - I just need to go.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I will. This evening, at dinner time, when it cools down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And just like that, I feel better about the whole thing, and more motivated again. Yay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#healthandfitness #fitnessgoals #motivation </span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-53530605694096733272018-09-09T19:25:00.000+12:002018-09-09T19:32:36.228+12:00Throw away those scales!<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">About, ummm, maybe 6 weeks or so ago, I'm not sure, my scales ran out of batteries.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And they were warning me for about 4 weeks before that that the batteries were low, so I can't say that I haven't had plenty of opportunity to get a new battery. But I haven't. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Generally I am a religious scales watcher, every morning before breakfast, watching myself track up and down, being happy with the losses and working out the whys </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or justifying</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the gains. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuvkYOdZ9QgtQ_gMz-30UShQ9pGSOquo6cSYDm7UeJ6czv_al4D54x-LDRKfcyDfRAgo2JqoqLC77WelK-lOrzfzFJN14D1MS89qxaOogzhWcSeKxbqPCQuUxrlhRwzejJciNWcZgY_c/s1600/20180909_192842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuvkYOdZ9QgtQ_gMz-30UShQ9pGSOquo6cSYDm7UeJ6czv_al4D54x-LDRKfcyDfRAgo2JqoqLC77WelK-lOrzfzFJN14D1MS89qxaOogzhWcSeKxbqPCQuUxrlhRwzejJciNWcZgY_c/s200/20180909_192842.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The scales in question, relegated to the far <br />corner of the bathroom.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But in the last however long it has been, I have found a kind of freedom in not doing that. I have begun thinking that it is not about numbers when I measure my fitness and health, or at least, not about <i>those</i> numbers. I kindof started feeling this way when I was getting compliments for looking trim, but it was because although I was running, I was in the throes of worrying about the blue small person, and so not eating properly, and I was feeling tired and bleah. And I wondered if that was actually healthy...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So when my scales died I started to use other measures:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How am I sleeping? Sleep is so important, and I need quite a lot of it. But when you wake up because a small person is unwell, and you wake up because you are worrying about things, and you wake up just because you can ... One of my first things to change was my evening routine, so that I could sleep properly and get up far too early without becoming exhausted.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How is my fitness going? Exercise is also so important, both in terms of endorphins to make me feel good, and wearing me out to sleep properly (see point 1). So I have to ask myself if I am keeping up some sort of a routine, and watch how many bits of exercise I might be doing of a week. I can feel if I am hitting harder or quicker in my boxing fitness class; I can track the distance and speeds I am running ... So another of my things to watch, rather than change, was that I was doing what I needed to. That may only be 2-3 bits a week with the carnage that has been going on around me, but at least I can be consistent.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How are my clothes fitting? And do I feel good in the outfits I put on? Much more important than being skinny is confidence; if I can put something on in the morning and feel good about my day, then I am winning. And there are a couple of reasons why this is actually a much more reliable measure than weight; firstly because, being of the female persuasion, my shape and weight change quite radically over the course of a month and not always in a logical way, but if I suddenly put on 2kgs (which can totally happen) I may not actually feel or look that different, so I shouldn't stress about it. Also, I have been told often that muscle weighs more than fat, so if I have less wibbly bits, I can quite possibly weigh more, which seems counter-intuitive, and sure isn't a motivation to exercise!</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are several advantages to this approach; well there must be, because I am feeling a <i>whole</i> lot better than I did 6 weeks ago.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's about quality rather than numbers. The maths teachers at school tell me that a qualitative approach gives you more depth and understanding than a purely quantitative one - well at least I think that's what they tell me, as Maths-lish is not my best foreign language. So what I think that means is, if I feel better, then I am better. On a fit and healthy scale, perception is all-important.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't have to be down on myself. This is quite good just at the moment because now that the blue small person is feeling better, he is really getting into his 'Food Bloggers' module at school (maybe not so much the blogging bit, but definitely the food!) and so he has been coming home with delicious things to share - as a good mother I am hardly going to say no to cinnamon biscuits, or chocolate cake that is halfway to brownie, or especially his latest offering, chocolate eclairs! And then the pink small person decided she wanted to do some baking too, and made <i>gluten-free</i> lemon meringue pie, just so I could share it. The best choice here is definitely NOT to say "o no, I can't, I shouldn't" ... is it?! (Besides, everything has been <i>so yum! </i>And this week he's making macarons...)</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Because I am not having to focus on the scales, I can focus on those other measures instead, and that gives me a lot more balance. Balance is key. Getting the right things done and not stressing about the things that don't need to be stressed about also makes me feel better. Those other measures can fit nicely into my day, or my week, and long-term they are far more sustainable.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having the batteries run out on my scales has been very good for me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I keep coming back to that big idea that this blog is about fitness and health, and, well, fitness and health are about feeling good <i>in</i> yourself and <i>about</i> yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And at the moment, I don't need scales to help me with that.</span></div>
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Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-75567059488121167012018-09-02T21:01:00.000+12:002018-09-02T21:01:31.332+12:00Flying beneath the radar<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was going to write a completely different post, and I might try to get to that one next week, but a couple of things have happened this weekend, just small things, but significant, that have made me think that I might do a bit of reflecting about well-being right now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first of those things was that I ran into a friend that I hadn't seen for quite a long time outside the supermarket; we're both local and up until ... actually I'm not sure exactly when, we have both been going to the same fitness group, but we just haven't seen each other at all this year. In the catch-up that we had, we discovered what each other has been doing and just why we had no idea what each other was doing and it came from a comment that I hadn't been blogging and posting for a while, so what was I up to...?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, this afternoon, I read my boss's blog (<a href="https://principalpossum.blogspot.com/2018/09/well-being-how-dirt-church-radio-came.html?spref=fb">Principal Possum</a>) and began to feel a bit inspired, and to feel that I too might have turned a corner in the things that have had to be dealt with in the last while.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My conclusion from all that thinking is that health and well-being are the most important things, and really, if they aren't okay, then everything else just has to take a back seat until they are again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week marks the first time that the blue small person has made it to school for a whole week this term, and although I can't be sure, I don't think there were any last term either. It has taken a very long time to work out what has been wrong (thankfully we finally have him on medication that is working and making a difference!) and in the meantime I have had said blue small person asleep under my desk at work, on a beanbag, a couple of days a week; numerous medical appointments at whenever they tell us to be there; and random days off when it all just got a bit hard - and not only for him, I ended up being sent home on what was effectively stress leave as well! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Needless to say, my work has suffered and my organisation of pretty much anything else hasn't been any better. Luckily I have a very supportive workplace (you guys know who you are and hopefully how much I appreciate you!) and colleagues who have covered for me when I have had to blat down the road to collect the sick blue small person from his school, or needed to take him home. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What this all comes back to, in my title, is that sometimes you do just need to step back from all that other stuff and just go under the radar until it is at least vaguely sorted out. The stuff that seems important, keeping up with all of the things, and all of the people, actually just isn't, and the people that matter will be the ones that understand, so that when you do re-surface, they'll still be there. There are some fluffy memes about all of that which keep going around all the social media, but under the fluffiness, there is an element of truth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I <i>have</i> been hiding under the radar. I'm still keeping my head down. But, mixing my metaphors in a very un-English-teacher-ish way, I think I might be able to pop my head above the parapet a bit now and see what has been happening in the rest of the world while I've been ignoring it. I'm certainly starting to feel more positive about the whole health and well-being situation, and that is the main thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure things are good for you yourself, and don't try to keep up with all of the other stuff if they aren't. It's okay to fall off everyone's radar for a bit, and it's also okay to have to rely on other people for things you would usually be fine doing yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's hard to admit that the big plan for world domination might be a bit much just now, but sometimes, you just have to. </span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-4784460114578354662018-07-29T13:09:00.000+12:002018-07-29T13:09:13.821+12:00Because ... All of the things.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes there are just lots of little things that you have to do, and they are not necessarily hard or bad things, but there are just so many of them. That's what I feel like at the moment, and I'm trying to find various ways of dealing with them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Method 1: Run away. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_FU0OothKAbmWRTsH5CA3f40ogmvja0Kxkp91qPL_fU5HlCMcRGbqfZq5V4NhoAmBU_B2sX3OWb_mg_glv4Hs3ITvAoAlaKQL8EQbm85UM6UejJzA4hdTMSU4a56KmCVDWOmrbcJ8-I/s1600/Screenshot_20180729-115803_Spotify.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_FU0OothKAbmWRTsH5CA3f40ogmvja0Kxkp91qPL_fU5HlCMcRGbqfZq5V4NhoAmBU_B2sX3OWb_mg_glv4Hs3ITvAoAlaKQL8EQbm85UM6UejJzA4hdTMSU4a56KmCVDWOmrbcJ8-I/s200/Screenshot_20180729-115803_Spotify.jpg" title="" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well not quite, but this morning I just had to stick Skrillex </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on shuffle and see how far a slow jog could take me - quite far as it turns out, even if I did walk the big hills. I don't recommend this for everyone, but your music and your activity should work. For me, this gives me time and headspace to think about how I might attack </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">all of the things</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8cUyG1j1z8Jsi5xVskwfA3dCQ6oWuCaEA8LFbuGW4UbahXrchUBokCNLRjwWGvBV1qGQmNn_z9e4G5brZNlNvLO9tJS9fRntp3wXXxsgOYHdlZC5P4Pfj__oB3JP_cNsR1yyONOFJwA/s1600/Screenshot_20180729-115741_Endomondo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8cUyG1j1z8Jsi5xVskwfA3dCQ6oWuCaEA8LFbuGW4UbahXrchUBokCNLRjwWGvBV1qGQmNn_z9e4G5brZNlNvLO9tJS9fRntp3wXXxsgOYHdlZC5P4Pfj__oB3JP_cNsR1yyONOFJwA/s200/Screenshot_20180729-115741_Endomondo.jpg" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I find that this kind of assessment phase is really important, because if I don't take a step back from what's bugging me, it will keep on bugging me without any sort of plan for resolution, but if I take a reasonable amount of time to look at possibilities, I can usually come up with some sort of a plan that will get me organised with <i>all of the things</i> in the best way rather than just the quickest reaction. In most of the things I do, a thoughtful reaction or process is <b>much</b> better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, having done the assessment phase, there are a few different alternatives I could choose from:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Method 2: Make a list.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is what I will be doing once I have finished this blog. The stuff that has to be done straight away will be at the top and the stuff that I need to get onto but that I have a bit of time for will go further down. Being the stationary fiend that I am, it will probably be colour coded and have tick boxes, and I will feel a sense of accomplishment when I do tick things off, which will encourage me to do more. Simple things, but I am that kind of person and it does work for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Method 3: Journal and/or blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Which of course is what I am doing right now. This is another way of getting my own thoughts straight, by writing, which is a slower process than thinking. (It is especially slow when there is a kitten trying to decide if it would rather bite my hand or climb on the key things that are making such an exciting clicky noise - all typos are his, not mine. Getting a pair of kittens last weekend is great, but definitely contributes to <i>all of the things</i>). Sometimes, putting it out there is good, like this, but sometimes some of the stuff is a bit personal to share with the aether, so whatever works is good. I do both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Method 4: Talk to people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Quite a bit of the stuff that is going on for me is also going on for the Husband, funnily enough. Whilst it is making things hard work, it is also making us talk to each other more, which is a good thing. It's not that we don't talk, but a lot of life is all the day-to-day stuff which doesn't really matter that much. Taking the time to talk about the things that do matter is definitely important, so whether it is a significant other, your bff, a colleague you can trust, your mum, or whoever you know who will genuinely listen, do it, because you will often get support and perspective that you can't get or see for yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are probably other things you can do as well; please feel free to make suggestions in the comments!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But how does this fit in with fitness and health, which is what this blog is ostensibly about? The other week I wrote about <a href="http://reasonablyfit.blogspot.com/2018/07/self-awareness.html">how you need to check in</a> with your physical health before you do stuff. Sometimes <i>all of the things</i> stop you from even doing that. Integrating your health and fitness into <i>all of the things</i> and not letting those things put your health and fitness on hold is pretty damn challenging, but it's important, and that's why.</span></div>
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Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-17896211416394214122018-07-17T21:59:00.000+12:002018-07-17T21:59:43.398+12:00Self-awareness<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or: When not to do stuff.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today was the perfect day to get out for a run, the sun was shining but there was a chill in the air, the small people were elsewhere, and I just really wanted to try a new way that looks longer but flatter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I forgot a few important things:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like; that I had given blood yesterday evening, and as well as the pint I gave them, I also did an extra bit of bleeding, you know, just because I could. And like; that the pink small person spent the later part of the evening having a couple of casual vomits, you know, just because she could, and so my sleep was half listening to see if there were any more. And like; I had just driven three hours to drop the fully-recovered, box-of-fluffies pink small person to the Grandparents but retained the blue one as his head had imploded. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But well, who thinks of that stuff, and anyway, does it really matter?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It turns out that it does! Even as I was running up the driveway (which is not steep) I was thinking that it seemed a bit hard. After that the next couple of kms are downhill, but by about 3km I was contemplating the slightly shorter loop alternative. By 4km I was reminding myself that change is okay and one of my goals at the moment is to be flexible, and at 5km I just turned around. At 6km I started walking because I knew that the last 3km would all be the uphill of the downhill that I started with, but if I want to get there, home is at the top of the hill.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the whole time I just felt blurk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sometimes you feel like crap and you should do exercise*, and sometimes you feel like crap and you just shouldn't. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today I just shouldn't have, but because I had set myself this goal, I didn't stop to actually consider how I was feeling. I think I've written before about being self-aware, but more along the lines of state-of-mind; today I didn't check how I was physically feeling, which is just as bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The husband calls it situational awareness. I am not sure if this is a general thing or specific to his former military-ness, but it is something that we are constantly trying to get the small people to consider. If we are going to get kittens, maybe you should be aware of the state of your room, so they don't choke to death on your lego ... if I tell you that dinner is in 5 minutes, maybe you should get off that game and get a drink, or set the table even ... before you jump around on that, stop and think about what could <i>possibly</i> go wrong ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But me? Maybe I should consider that if I have been doing tiring stuff, I could possibly save that longer distance until I'm not actually knackered. O, didn't think of that...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A lesson learned I think. Now I'm <i>really</i> tired, I think I'll go get some sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">* like last week when I had to escape the constantly-bickering and inherently-mess-creating small people before I killed them in an excess of blood and gore.</span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-17249944698528958412018-07-01T21:35:00.000+12:002018-07-01T21:35:20.989+12:00When the going gets tough ...<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">... the tough reassess and re-prioritise.</span></h3>
<h3>
<div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Life has taken one of those turns where it all just gets a bit complicated. Part of that is my own fault - I might have taken on a few too many things all at once - but part of it is just the way things happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">There is a big difference between being busy and having <i>things</i> happen. Usually I am busy, and that is fine. I chase around after the small people and their multifarious (wow, see that word!) activities; get my planning, marking and reporting done at the very last minute; do a bit of volunteering at the local Cricket club and a bit of extra-curricular study; unpack a random box or take stuff to the Sallies from the move that happened a couple of months ago; catch up with my MTB crew or the Wine Ladies; and try and be a bit fit and healthy around all of that. However, the last couple of months have brought <i>things</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Firstly, the blue small person has been unwell. We have had a couple of hospital visits and all sorts of testing, but we still don't really know where he's at. It's not life-threatening, but he has spent several random days under my desk at work asleep, which is extremely unusual.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And then the husband is having a bit of a stressful time at work, which kindof affects how everything else happens around the place and means I am the one keeping the day-to-day going relatively smoothly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So, for me to be able to deal with everything and everyone else, I have had to do a bit of thinking about myself. I have had to ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Reassess:</span></div>
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</div>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">What <i>are</i> my priorities? Well, clearly the health of small people is the first priority, no matter what, so anything else comes a distant second.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">What can I stop doing? The extra nutrition and fitness course had to go on hold, as that was becoming more stressful than helpful. The study also took a definite back seat - which meant my exam was pretty rubbish, but you can apply for what is called 'impaired performance', which mine was, and see what happens. I can definitely stop myself from being too worried if I'm not getting the grades I would usually expect of myself.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What can I change? The main thing I can change is my attitude - I have been learning to let things slide, or to arrange that things can happen later rather than now. And if it doesn't happen the way it should, well I shouldn't really expect otherwise. This has been hard for me, to start with, but has meant that over the longer term, I have been able to focus on what is important. Also, generally </span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I like to be in control of things, or at least to know what is happening, and the unwell small person does too. We have both had to do a lot of learning about compromise and sudden change and not knowing the answers. This has been </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">challenging</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">And ...</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Re-prioritise:</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It sounds really basic, but making sure <i>everyone</i> is okay has to be the first priority. This means not only making sure the unwell small person has painkillers that work (always a bonus), but also that the other small person (who is very sensitive) is holding up in the chaos around her, that the husband's work stress and home worries don't get mixed together, and that I can also find a calm spot here and there for just me.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another really good thing is to work out which deadlines are hard deadlines and which ones are a bit softer. Some stuff you can shift and some you can't. Then just do the stuff that needs to be done now. Some deadlines aren't even real, they are often the ones you set for yourself, just to get something done, but I am finding it easier and easier to say "That will get done sometime, but not this week/month. It doesn't matter."</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A third thing is to make your priorities really clear by saying no. This is really hard, but people understand when you tell them that certain things are just more important. I am getting quite good at letting people know that I just can't do all the things, but I will pick them up again later if they still need me to. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What this means in terms of my own health and fitness, which is what this blog is actually about, is that they have become not a high priority in themselves, but a means for me of dealing with the other stresses. This is an important thing to realise.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">So I can fit a bit of exercise in when the small person feels okay, but I can miss a class or a run or even an MTB with my crew if that's what it is. I can eat well and sensibly most of the time, but if an extra coffee a day makes me feel that I can deal with things better, then that's just fine. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It's a balancing act between the physical and the mental, and the important thing is work out where that balance might have shifted to, not to let one or the other just fall off entirely. This is also an important thing to realise.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Things change. Things happen. Being flexible and resilient are far more important than being tough.</span></span></div>
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</h3>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-3831932620828068072018-05-26T20:47:00.000+12:002018-05-26T20:47:30.308+12:00R.E.S.P.E.C.T<h3 style="height: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and blind corners...</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I've been mulling this post for a while as it's not really a health and fitness one, so much as a shout-out to where I live and the genuinely nice people who also live here.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I live in the country. It's not so far out of the city that I can't go shopping or anything, but I am surrounded by farmland, and bush, and serenity, and community. All of these things are really important to me, but it's the community that I appreciate every time I go out running.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Living in the country, I run on country roads. Some of them have footpaths, but not many. Some have a hard shoulder, but not all. Some of them are gravel, even, but not too many. Some of them are so narrow there isn't even a centre line, including my own road.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But what I find is that no matter where I am, people driving on those roads are respectful of my right to be on that road too. Every single car on the road moves over and gives me plenty of room. They pretty much all cross over the centre line and drive down the middle of the road. A lot will go all the way across and drive down the wrong side entirely. And it's not like these are straight roads where you can see for ages, either. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And it's not only the drivers. Everyone I encounter, other runners, walkers, with or without dogs, cyclists, whatever, everyone says at least hello or gives a nod in passing. Many make a comment, about the weather, about how far I might have run, and I respond. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A while back, running up a road which did have a footpath, there were a couple of road-workers with a concrete cutter doing something to the path. Just before I got to the cloud of dust, the guy working the cutter stopped it, pulled his mate who was facing the other way off the path so I could go past, and then <i>apologised</i>. So that I could run past without having to breathe in their debris. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">People don't have to do these things. But they do them anyway. And I appreciate it so much. I can go out there on those tiny narrow or gravelly rough roads and I know that people will slow down. I can run on the hard shoulder of Highway 16 (such a lovely piece of roading) and feel completely safe. Because people are thoughtful.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The only exception in my experience was a little wee blue-rinse granny in her little wee blue-rinse Honda - she had her foot to the floor and she. owned. the. road. I had to jump a drain that time.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And what does this have to do with blind corners? On my standard running route, the short one, there are three particularly blind corners where there are either trees or a bank alongside. I have nowhere to go. I have never yet managed to get around that circuit without encountering someone coming the other way on at least one of those corners. I <i>have</i> managed the trifecta of oncoming traffic on all three in one run. But every time, those drivers come around those corners, see me, and swerve well out of the way. They haven't actually got anywhere to go, but they see that neither do I, and so they give way to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You have no idea how grateful I am for all those thoughtful people, and that's why I'm telling you.</span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-39052728886566349252018-04-18T20:43:00.000+12:002018-04-18T20:43:20.646+12:00"And now for something a little bit different,"<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">as Kermit the Frog once said...</span></h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago, my fitness coach shared a facebook post for another trainer who had a special offer on. I had a look into it and decided to do the particular 6-week course that she was advertising. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Why? Well, because I think I just need to do something a little bit different to get things underway again. I have been running my own programme and whilst I know that I can ramp up the running fitness for an event if I want to, the health side of things is a bit harder to know what to do.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've been a bit busy lately, and feeling rather exhausted. I don't feel that I've been eating that well, or maybe that I have been having a few more extra bits added into a generally healthy menu than I probably should have. I've also been having some of those 'wonderful' things happen that many ladies in their late forties (horrible thought) naturally start to have. And I haven't figured out how to deal with those - <a href="http://www.chrissiemcdonald.com/">this course</a> is designed to help with that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of course, anytime you start on something that involves some self-discipline and organisation, life sets out to make it harder... </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first week was good. That was the easing-into-it week. Then I was supposed to start on the more strict part of the course, taking things out of my diet for a three-day period and seeing what effect that has on my well-being. So of course, the very day I started that, a massive storm came through and we lost power. Takeaways. The power didn't come back on. More takeaways. Then we moved. Yet more takeaways. Then I left the husband to do the moving clean-up (sorry...) and went to a conference. Conference food. It is <i>very</i> hard to follow a particular regime of eating when you just don't have choices available!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But, I am on it now. All is good. Coffee with Stevia doesn't taste as nice, but as I am in the sugar-free stage, I have to say it is a lot better than nothing. Not sure what the caffeine-free stage will look like, but really, when I get to that bit I think I will feel more sorry for other people than myself. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm not planning to do this long-term, as it isn't meant to be done that way, but I think I will be able to see what things affect me in which ways, and make sustainable changes to my diet that will make me feel healthier. I imagine that there are other courses I could continue with but I think I won't, I want to do the learning and then be certain that I can manage myself. It's a personality thing, but I don't like to leave control to others if it's something I should be able to do for myself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think the main thing for me is that it is good to get another perspective on things, and to try something different. As the saying goes, if you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got. </span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-40380732936821500132018-03-18T21:02:00.000+13:002018-03-18T21:02:15.241+13:00Two whole weeks of Nothing<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well not quite nothing, I have been to my fitness class the last two Tuesdays, but apart from that, <b><i>nothing</i></b>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">In </span><a href="http://reasonablyfit.blogspot.co.nz/2018/03/taking-opportunities.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">my last post</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> I was doing so well, fitting the run things in around all the other things. There is only one problem with that; it is very easy to let the other things get bigger and not quite manage to fit the run things in. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To start with, it felt good. I was giving my body a rest. Because maybe I had been pushing things a little too hard with all those fitting in bits here and there, and it felt like everywhere. And as I've said before, I'm not that person who can do everything; possibly I was trying too hard...</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The second week of nothing, though, I started to feel a bit scratchy. Now I couldn't fit things in and I was starting to resent it, and get grumpy. But the pattern of that first week off held for the second.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are lots of reasons why I couldn't quite get out there. We have a provisional move in date for the new house (yay!), which is less than three weeks away (eek!), and I have had to do a couple of urgent missions to get stuff. And I am actually doing a pretty good job with keeping on top of my school work for a change. But my reasons start to sound like excuses when I list them like this, and that's how I was feeling about them during the week too.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bigger picture, there are always times when we just can't, and as long as I recognise them for what they are, honestly, then I can work on them:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li>lack of motivation - I still haven't found a goal for the interim between now and the Westcoaster in December, so I'm not pushing myself at all. Any suggestions for August-ish are very welcome.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li>exhaustion - I can only do so much; I need to remember that and not push too hard.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>priorities - with a moving date just around the corner, house stuff has to come first; getting to the butcher and vege shop of an afternoon is often kindof crucial as well, if the family wants to eat.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>meh - sometimes it's all just a bit much, can I just go hide in my bedroom and eat chocolate, please?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLm0D2BmqXzY9FfHm3dmjQqjOakr1CQPA1twY0Br882Maj7ifXDbHX1OQUijGLFC1kFN2x4n6h471c9Ei9hyY5TZChyphenhyphenH-qFiANFVS7gULTGrpkzXcnDTImDeyGIYur6pfFo9l_SaEb_0/s1600/20180318_204552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLm0D2BmqXzY9FfHm3dmjQqjOakr1CQPA1twY0Br882Maj7ifXDbHX1OQUijGLFC1kFN2x4n6h471c9Ei9hyY5TZChyphenhyphenH-qFiANFVS7gULTGrpkzXcnDTImDeyGIYur6pfFo9l_SaEb_0/s200/20180318_204552.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My diary - with two definite runs <br />and two question-marked ones.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So there's a tradeoff, or maybe a conflict, between the opportunities I can take on the fly and the need to have something scheduled in. If I am able to fit things in, that's great, but if I can't, it seems that I need to be a bit more organised.<br />
<br />
You would think by now that I might know this about myself, but it's always a learning curve, and it seems that I might have to a bit of repeat learning before it sticks. I have definitely learned a couple of things:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Don't make wholesale changes - it's really hard to change a whole way of doing something so make small changes over time.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Know how things work - I should know that I am a lists and diary person; I often say that if it isn't in my diary, it doesn't exist, but if it is, it will happen. It's also why I call my diary 'my life'. You should see my planbook for school, it's colour-coded and everything.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>It's very easy to make excuses - haha, that's not really a new one. But I am reminding myself about noticing false priorities, which is progress.</li>
</ul>
<div>
How do you keep going? What do you do to stay motivated? What do you do when you start making excuses?</div>
</div>
<div>
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<div>
#healthandfitness #fitnessgoals #organised</div>
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</span>Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-83587020980460181432018-03-03T16:59:00.000+13:002018-03-03T16:59:25.697+13:00Taking opportunities<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and making opportunities...</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the last few weeks, since I have been back at work, I have found that life has been incredibly busy - prepping classes, doing stuff for the house build, getting small people to all of their places, beginning my next uni paper, co-ordinating cricket things*... These are all things that I enjoy doing, they are all very satisfying, but they all take a lot of time!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having started again, again, with a burst of motivation, I have been wanting to keep things going, but to fit things in around all that stuff seemed almost impossible. Then I thought to myself that actually, the small people are not so small any more, they do not need me to be there all of the time, and things like sports practices are pretty boring really...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago I decided to test my theory. The blue small person had three weeks of football trials of a Wednesday afternoon, for just over an hour, surely I could fit a sneaky 5km in there? So I put my gear in the car in the morning and when we got to the football club and he got into his gear, I got into mine as well, and went off for a trot. I did question my sanity, as it was around 30 degrees, and I did walk the last k, but it felt good, and it worked. The blue small person didn't care that I wasn't there to watch him, either. And I did it the following week too. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5kUkPmfXD0aimoyBrhYb86hiZYmNF40ibi_blsTAYUWXF4xNHCJgdIcVT6VMFsLKy5eINWU6KqaVPhh0Ii4_xzOvD-UIiYtYSeXziiR5UpLq2oudF6gFcXtb4AfFqhIeXHsCiIvdhAk/s1600/20180222_174747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5kUkPmfXD0aimoyBrhYb86hiZYmNF40ibi_blsTAYUWXF4xNHCJgdIcVT6VMFsLKy5eINWU6KqaVPhh0Ii4_xzOvD-UIiYtYSeXziiR5UpLq2oudF6gFcXtb4AfFqhIeXHsCiIvdhAk/s320/20180222_174747.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By the third week, on the Wednesday I was knackered and feeling a bit unwell, so I postponed with myself. On Thursdays the pink small person has cricket practice. It's not so local as most of our activities so, seeing as there was nothing else that I could be doing at the same time, and there is time in between to get changed at home, I decided to see what I could manage at a different venue. I don't know the area that well, so I just set off. I enjoyed the exploring just as much as the run, especially when I came around a corner and had a view all the way down the harbour to the city! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've also been sneaking a quick couple of kms in of a Monday evening. At the start of the week I am (generally) not so tired, so although we don't get home from the the pink small person's dancing until quarter to six, I figure that seeing as the husband doesn't get home from work till 7, I have a window then too, that I can exploit a bit. That run is generally a small one because I'm really not ready for the stairs or the hills around home, but it fits neatly into that slot and I just feel like I am keeping things ticking over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmXrPbWEmPTSV2Rskc9vmGPd8g8NWo4povRNqW-9nCK9-5AYaq4xDORFNKbYyDCJqSM9XtqG0cu5t72y2HDoUbbe-Duy6UVKaOxpcTlWMod5_ZhEJBLz9QLdhqP6_4W0gpiQsdJJa4wM/s1600/20180303_084112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmXrPbWEmPTSV2Rskc9vmGPd8g8NWo4povRNqW-9nCK9-5AYaq4xDORFNKbYyDCJqSM9XtqG0cu5t72y2HDoUbbe-Duy6UVKaOxpcTlWMod5_ZhEJBLz9QLdhqP6_4W0gpiQsdJJa4wM/s320/20180303_084112.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then this morning, I decided to be a bad mother. I have been very virtuous about watching <i>all</i> of the pink small person's cricket games, scoring some of them even, but even a twenty-twenty game takes three hours... As it was such a lovely morning, and I hadn't managed anything since my fitness class on Tuesday, I decided that seeing where she was playing was relatively flat, I would go and have an explore there too. I had no idea where I was going, as the game was in a part of the city I hardly ever go to and not on the main roads, but I set off in a likely direction to see what I could see. And again, I found another amazing view, had a casual trot around some nice suburbs, and even got back in time to see the pink small person bat (which she did very well). She didn't mind that I hadn't been there (although she was a bit grumpy that I then fell asleep on the sideline and didn't see her team get their second win of the season, oops) and I now feel that I can do all the stuff that has to be done of a weekend without resenting it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZdM-oMFzptZflQUHc-W0qyw4FBKyY2eiLz15rDUYsrNF4FZvBxHYoNObbWn1QegJAtexW1GG6FbZPL5qXmzZJhoww39bFHcyshWikp4VgpiPLP9Rn59v5q0imRgnK5JhEOwwkDaNEMo/s1600/JPEG_20180303_152304_1009168275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZdM-oMFzptZflQUHc-W0qyw4FBKyY2eiLz15rDUYsrNF4FZvBxHYoNObbWn1QegJAtexW1GG6FbZPL5qXmzZJhoww39bFHcyshWikp4VgpiPLP9Rn59v5q0imRgnK5JhEOwwkDaNEMo/s320/JPEG_20180303_152304_1009168275.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fitting more small bits of activity in around all the other things rather than trying for one or two longer runs when there just is too much to be doing seems to be working for me, for several reasons:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don't feel pressured if I don't get out there. I know there are other small bits of time that I can steal later on down the week if I need to.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am more consistent in just getting out there; and because I don't have to look for a bigger piece of time, I actually feel that I am doing more overall.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am building my fitness; if I know it is a shorter run, I can push it a bit quicker, but if I don't have to worry about it, I can just trot along and see how far I get. I think when I do the same run or series of runs in the same area, and I get to know them all really well, I don't really push myself, but changing things up a bit and not knowing my course challenges me.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am still waiting to get to the point where life might slow down a bit. I'm hoping that it might even happen soon, although I am definitely not holding my breath on that one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the meantime, I feel that I am making the time I have work for me, because I am still getting all of the things done that need to be done*, but not at the expense of the things I want to do. The things that I am doing for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">*You will notice (more than once) that I don't mention housework or anything like that; no-one can do everything, so I just don't.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#fitnessgoals #healthgoals #healthandfitness #chaos? #opportunities</span></div>
</div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-66037474555043539662018-02-26T21:13:00.000+13:002018-02-26T21:13:23.111+13:00Just why am I doing this again?<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spoiler alert: this is another introspective mental health one...</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">As I was out running this evening, after a full-on day, feeling half-knackered before I even started, I actually asked myself out loud - "why am I even doing this?". Why was I trying to fit yet another thing into a crazy Monday? Why wasn't I at home leisurely making dinner? When was relaxing</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> even going to start?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But then I thought about one of the events in my crazy day, which was intense, but very rewarding, and that reminded me. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Earlier today I spoke to one of my colleagues' classes. It is a Health class and they are looking at resilience in the face of challenging health circumstances. So I was speaking to them about my series of miscarriages before we managed to find the small people, and then my post-natal depression afterwards. Like I said, pretty intense, both for me, but I suspect also for the poor year 12s who had no idea what was about to drop on them. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of my strategies for being resilient is to talk about the issues openly, because too much of society doesn't, which makes it really hard for people to go through. I felt that at the time and it is still important to me now.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But one of my other strategies particularly for dealing with the post-natal, which I discussed with that class, is to exercise. As I said to them, I still have post-natal now, probably as something I will have to manage for the rest of my life. Time for myself as well as the endorphins that come from exercise are both hugely important to me; take those away and I rapidly have a sense of humour failure that is not nice to be around. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I was glad that I came to that conclusion, because I <i>was</i> wondering, when I asked myself what I was doing, whether I was doing it for myself, or because the health and fitness gig is just another thing that society expects of women.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Speaking with that class earlier today about how society places pressure on you as a woman to be a mother, and how hard it is when that doesn't happen the way it is supposed to, and <i>then</i> how hard work it is to be a mother when the small people do arrive, and that societal pressure makes you feel that motherness should be natural, and why the hell isn't it for me... And how even now, with the small people being medium-sized, I still question my good motherness when the blue small person shouts at me and so I shout back... (If this paragraph doesn't make sense, I wouldn't be even vaguely surprised, just roll with it)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was actually wondering whether being out there today was just another example of that insidious pressure to be that woman that does everything. I do believe there are some that can manage it - I am not one of them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Which is all a very roundabout way of saying:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do exercise because you want to. And say that sentence twice - the first time emphasise the word "you", and the second time emphasise the word "want". Both of those emphases are equally important.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Remember that exercise is as much about mental health as it is about physical, and in so many ways, if the mental side of things isn't working for you, the physical won't sort itself out either. </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Know what is right for you, and know too, that what is right for you is personal and no-one else can tell you what that is. They might be able to make suggestions, but no-one else can make those decisions for you.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enjoy it. The only way exercise can have a positive effect, either mental or physical, is if you <i>like</i> what you are doing. Don't follow the latest fad just because everyone else is. But feel free to follow it even if you are the most unlikely person, if it's fun. (I have another colleague in mind here, who has just started cross-fit, and is the last person most of us at work might have thought would do it).</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Know your why. And remind yourself of it. That's a far more powerful motivator than any goals or external events.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And so I enjoyed my run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As always, comments are welcome.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">#healthandfitness #reasonablyfit #mentalhealth #hpsschool #knowyourwhy </span></div>
</div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-8243233533148943212018-01-28T22:21:00.000+13:002018-01-28T22:21:03.897+13:00Starting again ... again.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I love summer! And this summer has been a particularly good one - hot weather, great family Christmas, fantastic, amazing holiday away ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/ldcVN3WLl-U4vxDxN_igX9Me9YFcRIQCvYBPjU-zPXujjK7taEAmsEMgerL5jz0MqehWzfZm2xPU2r6GE45R4Mash78=s400" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/ldcVN3WLl-U4vxDxN_igX9Me9YFcRIQCvYBPjU-zPXujjK7taEAmsEMgerL5jz0MqehWzfZm2xPU2r6GE45R4Mash78=s400" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I did manage to get to the little lookout!</span></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But just that amazing summer-ness can also be a bit of a downfall to the health and fitness regime. By the time you have a busy end-of-year, the crazy lead-up to Christmas, all of the food and drink of the Christmas period itself, a holiday where relaxing is in and routine is out, and the days at home where the small people are asking "what can we do today?", eating even vaguely sensibly and regular exercise just don't tend to be a happening thing - for me anyway. I admire those people who manage to keep a regime going through all of the other stuff, but I freely admit, I am not one of them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So this week, having added two weeks of my first ever flu onto the end of my excellent holiday, and now being back at work, I have finally started to get myself organised into something resembling a health and fitness mindset.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And it really does feel like I am starting again. I am so knackered from being sick that I am not even trying to run; a walk is all I have managed on my two outings so far. And eating healthily is all very well, when you don't really feel like eating at all...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, at the same time, I am trying, and that is the most important thing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Because there are always going to be setbacks, or times when you just can't. The important thing is not to say to yourself that this is the end, but to remember that although it might take time, you can always start again, right from the beginning if necessary, and as many times as it takes. So, </span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">be patient with yourself - just before Christmas I completed an insanely challenging off-road half-marathon and now, less than two months later, I can barely manage a 5km bushwalk. That's okay, I've until this December if I want to make that same event a goal again, and if I don't, I can work out what I do want to do, and then work at it. I have plenty of time, and it's not like I'm competing with anyone. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">be realistic - everything in life has great bits and meh bits. It is completely unrealistic to perform at a high level (relatively, for me) all the time, unless you are some sort of performance athlete, and I'm not. So, take the not-so-stunning bits and remember that they are the way back up to the better ones. Life happens too, and whether it's your job, or relationships, or hobbies, accepting the reality of ups and downs is important to be able to do. And don't stress about it.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">be mindful - because my over-riding goal is my health, both mental and physical, that's what I need to keep in mind. The whole stronger, further, harder (or whatever it is) thing is all very well, and challenges and goals are important in terms of keeping things going, but they are not actually the point. My well-being is the point, and doing what is right for me, and what I am able for, is how to maintain that well-being.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, I am not going to be hard on myself. There's no point. I am going to start again, again. I am going to set myself small goals. I am going to look for larger milestones. I am going to enjoy myself.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And I am going to accept what is, and run with that.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-76760727773233809472018-01-23T16:33:00.000+13:002018-01-23T16:33:18.766+13:00New Year's Resolutions?<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To goal, or not to goal, that is the question...</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I haven't made any New Year's resolutions this year, in fact, I generally don't. When I have, I have done like most people, and they have lasted about three weeks and then gotten all too hard. Most people find that's the case, but so many of us still do make resolutions - I wonder why?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think it might be because we like to have goals. I have written about goals, and how they help me to achieve things that I want or need to do. Having both <a href="http://reasonablyfit.blogspot.co.nz/2017/06/small-goals.html">small goals</a> and <a href="http://reasonablyfit.blogspot.co.nz/2017/09/bigger-goals_17.html">bigger goals</a> allows me to work what I want and how I am likely to get there, as well as giving me something to measure against, which I personally need.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, goals are good, right?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, no, not always. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_gyKWkf-q0oWgTjxlgI8-C9xg46JGk9dugi5AN1MaesPKsidTLVKRMXrRyptBlEg2Pg7Cu2R3zu_UZ6EmRbAA02B8Zczti7BtkeM_ymfC0eyhwth3l4SslkDwJyo902SztDr0zoZLRU/s1600/west_coaster_2017_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_gyKWkf-q0oWgTjxlgI8-C9xg46JGk9dugi5AN1MaesPKsidTLVKRMXrRyptBlEg2Pg7Cu2R3zu_UZ6EmRbAA02B8Zczti7BtkeM_ymfC0eyhwth3l4SslkDwJyo902SztDr0zoZLRU/s320/west_coaster_2017_1.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Determined, or knackered?</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are some problems with setting goals. The biggest one that I find is that when I achieve one, I am a bit lost until I find another one, particularly with the bigger ones. What if I don't want to do that thing again? What if there isn't something else I can think of? What if the time frame is so long that it doesn't have any meaning for me yet? I'm a bit like that at the moment - having completed the Westcoaster event in December, I was swearing that I would never do it again, but now that the boss has convinced me that I really do want to get under the four hours (he tried to convince me I wanted to do the full marathon, but I wasn't having that!) for the event, I now have ten and a half months till the next one...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another problem with goals, particularly those resolutions, is that they deal with ideals, and not so much with reality. Resolutions tend to go along the lines of what we know we <i>should</i> do, but not necessarily what is realistic. It's very easy to make sweeping statements about "I am not going to do such-and-such any more" or "I will do a certain amount of exercise every day!" but that's exactly why they are so difficult to maintain, because they don't allow any breathing room or allowance for actually being a normal person. I am all for normal-person-ness but it's still been really hard to stop myself from making unrealistic plans about what I can fit in between coming back from holiday and returning to school. (Never fear, the holiday was awesome, but I have had the flu since the day we got back and have done absolutely nothing fit or healthy or unrealistic...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Resolutions' biggest downfall is that they are aiming at an immediate result, and when that doesn't happen (which it mostly doesn't) or can't be maintained (which it practically always can't), it is very hard to stay motivated for something which isn't working the way it was intended. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So goals are bad then, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, no, not always.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am setting myself some goals at the moment, for the reasons that I've said before, but I am not making resolutions. I am making changes, but they need to be sustainable, reasonable, and enjoyable. I need to keep making changes not because of some unrealistic view I have of my possible self (we all have those, but I try to ignore it) but because health and fitness are ongoing lifestyle things.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sustainable means that I will be able to keep going with things, even when it gets a bit challenging, like now, having the flu (I've never had the flu in my life, what's with getting it in mid-summer?!)</span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOienk5yx0yVXjC8kUYcWpQQ53ZgxusFd8Ee8I98pMcRzj_Q6HhB_kmgGeYHVDa82W_FOTcX9tOLYiGD_Q0EYb5vLdWo8zn2xPO8uGLuOqi57BgdTohw-XW7aDVGv6UDd0rXJ-Kn4oa0/s1600/20180123_162013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOienk5yx0yVXjC8kUYcWpQQ53ZgxusFd8Ee8I98pMcRzj_Q6HhB_kmgGeYHVDa82W_FOTcX9tOLYiGD_Q0EYb5vLdWo8zn2xPO8uGLuOqi57BgdTohw-XW7aDVGv6UDd0rXJ-Kn4oa0/s320/20180123_162013.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Me, working on my goals, and my blog.</i></span></td></tr>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Reasonable is to do with normal-person-ness. I have a life, and as of later this week it is all about to start up again; so are the small people's commitments and the daily round of everything. I will do what I can do.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enjoyable means that I will keep doing it because I like it, not because I feel some obligation. How many of us do things just because we have to, and then keep on doing them? Not me! </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm still working on the actual shape of my goals at the moment, both the small and the big ones. They are something which needs thought, so I am not going to make some sudden stroke-of-midnight decision. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As to whether to goal, or not to goal, I guess that is not so much the question. For me, it is how to goal effectively, so that the journey is ongoing and each goal met is a waypoint rather than a destination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How do you goal?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#healthandfitness #healthgoals #fitnessgoals </span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-50809486680050244372017-12-05T22:45:00.000+13:002017-12-05T22:45:03.049+13:00You are what you eat...<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And what you drink - she writes while having a cider and some snacks after her run...</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I began this blog, it was in response to reaching a weight threshold that I didn't really want to contemplate. In the meantime, I have been up and down over that threshold on a pretty much weekly basis - but I am not as bothered by that as I thought I would be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are a couple of reasons for that:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Firstly, although I haven't lost any weight at all, I am fitter and more in shape than I was when I started back into all of this. Where I struggled with with a 4-5km slow jog, I am now able to go out and run for an hour and a half to two hours, and although I am still definitely walking up the steeper hills, I feel good when I get in at the end of it, not knackered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I feel that I am healthier than I was as well - apart from the not-actually-asthma, and also not-bronchitis with a bit of not-laryngitis added in, that totally knocked me for a few weeks there, I haven't been sick all winter. My body feels like it is working right. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I am not skinny, and I never will be I think, but just now I am really happy with how I am, because fitness and health, and feeling good in myself, are far more important to me than the numbers on a scale or the wibbly bits that just won't go away. (I did try skinny once, I even managed it for a while, but it was <i>hard work</i>!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Secondly, I <i>like</i> food. I know that there are things that aren't physically good for me, so I try and be gluten-free most of the time, but because I'm not actually coeliac, I'm also okay (haha, more than okay) with having some of the wonderful yummy stuff that comes out at this time of year (and my Mum makes the <i>best</i> Christmas mince pies!). I'm also not one to go out for a nice dinner and be careful what I'm eating, except in terms of being careful to choose something that I really want. I <i>appreciate</i> good food, and especially given that one of the things the husband and I do as us-time is go out to dinner at nice cafes or restaurants, it would be silly to not enjoy the experience. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I also like the odd drink. Mostly I drink fizzy water or ginger tea, but a nice glass of wine or a cider of an evening, for me, does add to the occasion. And again, I'm not going to say no just because of the vague possibility of skinniness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think it is important to appreciate food, to be mindful of what you eat. I'm probably not being mindful in the same way as all those gurus, but what I mean is that I don't eat just for the sake of eating. Whatever I have, whether 'good' or 'bad' for me, is a conscious choice that I am making. That is far more significant in terms of my well-being than denial would be, in my own opinion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, there are a couple of things to consider:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Know what you are eating. I try to prepare as much food for myself and my family from ingredients as I can. That doesn't mean I make everything from scratch, (life is far too short and the small people have far too many after-school activities) but I do try to cut up and throw everything together myself, or to use jars and tins that have actual things in them, not a whole meal. I use sachets of stuff for flavours and sauces too, because there isn't too much of whatever crap is in them. I don't do packets, because I know that those are going to be way more processed and have way more random things in. It's a very broad brush to make choices with, but I think it works because I have thought about it.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Know the effect of food on your body. I know that if I eat gluten my digestive system will lock solid for a week. I know that if I eat carbs, particularly with dinner, I will weigh at least half a kilo more in the morning. I know that if I have more than two coffees of a day I will totally spin up, but if I don't have any I will be grumpy all day. A lot of my knowledge is through noticing things happening and working backwards to a cause, but having done that, I can make more of those conscious choices about what I want ... and sometimes that third coffee is totally worth it.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Be balanced in your choices. The most important thing, I feel, for me, is to remember that it's always a compromise, and there is no definition of 'right' or 'good' that fits all situations all the time. I value my sanity too much to add another stress factor in, and if eating 'healthily' is stressful, then the physical health benefits may be completely outweighed by the mental health disadvantages. I like running and I like work morning teas, and you know what? I can have both. And Christmas cake. My Mum makes awesome Christmas cake too.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, although 'you are what you eat' is one of those cliched old phrases, and I'm not sure I even mean it in the same way as whoever made it up back in the day, I am in fact what I eat and drink, and as long as I am happy with the choices that I am making, then I must be happy as who I am. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#healthgoals #fitnessgoals #healthandfitness #christmascake</span></div>
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Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-45866369176947430732017-11-26T21:39:00.000+13:002017-11-26T21:39:29.926+13:00Having the right gear.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyone who knows me will know that this is not going to be a post about appearance - the right gear for me will never be 'what I want other people to see', because I generally couldn't care less, but what works for the activities I am doing. And that is why having the right gear is actually really important.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having said that, I'd better make a bit of a disclaimer, because about a month ago I was lucky enough to win a competition through the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/asicsRT/">Asics Roadtesters</a> NZ group and I have received some <i>awesome</i> gear from them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyway, with the <a href="https://www.thewestcoaster.co.nz/">West Coaster</a> coming up, I have been going through all my gear trying to work out what will actually work best for me through the off-road half-marathon that I will be competing in (well, at least completing...). There are a couple of reasons that I need to think about this.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If I get too hot, I faint. It's a blood pressure thing, but basically I have to wear stuff that breathes really well. I have a couple of favourite running leggings, but they are either really long, or they are quite heavy material, which means with the unseasonably summery November we are having, I just can't wear them. So I have been working out which of the lighter shorter ones I have are the best, and won't fall down (a very important consideration!).</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I also have wibbly bits (doesn't everyone?). Not a lot, but enough so that when I run, my arms chafe. That can be <i>really</i> uncomfortable. So I need a top that is loose enough to breathe (see above) but fitting enough that my arms don't rub on it. I'm finding t-shirts are just not a thing, and even tank-top type ones are not ideal, but I do now have a couple of singlets that have good big armholes and are really light fabric, so that's looking good too.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like every other woman out there, I have boobs. Not much in that department, to be fair, but even so, they need to be kept under control. I usually wear a crop top that holds everything in place and nothing moves, but here is where that lucky competition win has come in really handy, because on one of the bits of gear I got was this technical thing which is a cross between a running bra and a crop, and it is fantastic! </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shoes! I have to get this right. I have some new ones, courtesy of the competition, but I won't be wearing them for this run. There are a couple of reasons. Even though they are the same model shoes that I have had before, they seem to have changed the specs just a little, and so now, when I run downhill, my feet slide forward and my toes get a bit squished. I have the weirdest toes anyway, they don't need to go any more out of shape! And also, I'm not going to wear my new shoes on a run that is through the bush, along and through a stream, and on a black-sand beach as well. That would be silly. So, I am going to wear my most recent older pair of runners. Sorted.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The reason this is important for me is that the event coming up is going to be a challenge; I don't want to make it even harder for my self. I would like to run with a camelback or something, as I do get really thirsty/dehydrated when I do a reasonable distance, and I've tried out both my own one that I use mountain-biking as well as the blue small person's (without him knowing, don't tell) and that just isn't a goer - see bullet points 1 and 2. So I still need to work out something, let me know if you have any great ideas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The really important thing about any sort of sports gear is that it <i>must</i> be functional. It must work for you to help you do the things you want, not hold you back. It is really important for me to know what my specs are, what things I need from the stuff I wear, and then make sure I am wearing the right things for the purpose. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No matter how mix and match I look.</span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-52459940100181808122017-11-12T21:13:00.000+13:002017-11-12T21:13:00.300+13:00Fitting it all in<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and not losing your mind in the process...</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Although, it has to be said, I am not sure about the not going crazy bit, just at the moment...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the moment I am training for an event - the half of <a href="https://www.thewestcoaster.co.nz/">the Westcoaster</a>. This is going to be huge; I have never done an off-road half before and when I did the 13km section of the team marathon of this a couple of years back, I nearly died, it was so hard. I have a training program which should work me up to the right level of fitness to complete it - and completion is what I'm looking for - but trying to follow that program is a logistical nightmare!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I addition to me training, the small people between them have activities <i>every single day </i>of the week. This means drop-offs and pick-ups, and staying at the venue if it's too far to go home, and then getting home and trying to get dinner eaten before it's the small people's bedtimes. And the husband does his share where he can, but that's mostly the weekends, because he works stupidly long hours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Did I forget to mention that I teach full-time? You may scoff at my 8.30-3.30 work day, and I'll freely admit that I try to keep work at work, but that doesn't always happen. Marking waits for no-one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">O, and I study. This one is totally my own fault. I know it is taking on another thing that really is too much, but I really enjoy it. My workout for my brain is as important as my workout for my body.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And we're building a house ... And I'm on the committee of the local Cricket Club ... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blimey heck, how on earth did I end up doing so much <i>stuff</i>?! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I'm not looking for sympathy here, I know that all of these things are my own decision, and all of these things are things that I really want to be doing. I'm certainly not the only one who has far too much on my plate. But what can I do to make sure I don't turn absolutely nutty in the meantime?</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Plan things. I know this sounds obvious, but if I don't write something down, it doesn't exist and it won't happen - it's as simple as that. This is mainly because my brain isn't so flash at multi-tasking, so I focus on one thing at a time. Which is fine until I should have changed focus a while ago and now I have forgotten what I was supposed to do. (When the small people were very small, I used to call this nappy brain. Now I'm not sure that applies, maybe I can blame menopause coming on?) So I have a diary, which I call my Life*, and I write <i>everything</i> in it. Having everything all in one place is the best, because I am so random that if it isn't, I'll even forget where I am supposed to look to check what's next! It's real, people.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stick to the timetabled stuff. This one is obvious too, but if there are deadlines, or pickup times, or scheduled activities, these <i>have</i> to come first. It's good to have things where other people rely on me, because I'm committed to those things and I'll make them happen. This is also a good first step in ...</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Prioritising. Having a system that lets me decide which things are more important is vital. Because I write <i>everything</i> in my diary, I have to decide which of those things I am actually going to be able to get done in the timeframe - some things just have to be, and some things can wait a day or two. Whether it's the different coloured pens I use in my diary; the must-do, should-do, could-do we use with students at school; or some other system, I just have to accept that not everything is going to get done just now.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let it go. Some things aren't going to get done at all. Which means that if I have to do 73 loads of washing of a weekend, undies are going to be done first and sheets and towels can wait. Or emailing that isn't work or money-related. The only thing that makes me feel better about this is that my exchange sister in Germany is equally bad at emailing me, and for the same reason.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">So, coming back to this training thing. I do e) all of the above when it comes to training. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">I have written <i>all</i> of the program I have into my diary, what distance to do on which days. I also have my fitness class in there, which I always go to, because it is a timetabled thing. I have prioritised the long runs in the weekend, because that is how I am going to extend my endurance out, and even if that means not doing something with people, I have to get it in there. And I have accepted that two weekday runs is pretty aspirational - if I get one in, then I will be happy with that, and if it is shorter than recommended, well, at least I've done something. And if I don't get any weekday runs in, well, that's not ideal, but I'm not going to stress about it.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Now is an exceptionally busy time of the year, and not letting everything get too much is really important. Stuff needs to get done, and when it is done, more stuff will come along, this is just the way it works. Making sure that it doesn't all overwhelm me, and that I have some time to do silly things with the small people, but that I reach my goals as well ... this is not easy.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">How do you manage to do everything and not go insane? What tools or strategies do you use? Please tell me, because I think for me the busy-ness levels are still quite high, and I could do with some chill.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">* I have always maintained that people can't tell me to get a Life, because I have one!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">#fitnessgoals #healthandfitness #brainturnedtomush #lovemydiary</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Any responses or queries, please feel free to leave a comment:</span></div>
</div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-3064801158507445902017-10-09T16:57:00.001+13:002017-10-09T16:57:29.239+13:00Listen to your body<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Although I don't really want to admit to growing up, there are times that I notice that I am getting older. This doesn't mean that I am falling to bits or anything, but it does mean that when my body has an issue, it doesn't just clear up by itself any more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having said that though, most of the things my body has to deal with are more day-to-day stuff, not really those side-effects of ageing. (especially since I stopped dying my hair and discovered my natural colour is grey marle)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Like the sore ankle that I can hardly walk on the next morning after I do leg presses not-quite-right at my fitness class. Maybe I have had my feet too far apart, or too far back, but now I have adjusted my stance a bit, and it seems to be working.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Or the four day headache that I have at the end of term that lets me know just how tightly wound up I have been - it only hurts when it's letting go. A good massage or the osteopath can set that one right, but really I need to work more on the not getting stressed through the course of the term thing more. That's still a work in progress...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Just recently, since getting back into the running, I have noticed that afterwards I have had this stupid little cough. I thought to start with I had just the edges of the flu the husband had (actual, not man-flu) and the cough had come from that, but as time went on, I began to wonder. And then there have been a couple of times in the last week or so that I have felt really breathless and tired, not normal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I thought about it some more and realised a couple of things. I have been doing this sort of thing off and on throughout my life, but never really seriously or to the point of having to stop doing something. And my sister had been telling me about my niece, who is an excellent swimmer but had to stop and cough at the end of races. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">I had never really heard about exercise-induced asthma before, but those couple of things added to my recent experiences made me wonder. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I went to the doctor and yes, I now have an inhaler for just-in-case and/or pre-emptive strikes. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had a wee practice with it while I was there to make sure I could use it properly, and then she basically told me to go out for a run and see if it made a difference. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, the difference it makes! I ran down that hill and climbed those stairs like I was light and free (poetic licence I know, but it was such a change!) and the only thing slowing me down was how tired my legs were from going faster.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Because I could feel that something wasn't right, I listened to my body and worked out how to make it better:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If it hurts when you're doing something, feel it. Then think about changing your technique so that pull or pressure doesn't happen in the same way. Good technique in anything will not only make you more effective, but will also make you far less likely to ding yourself.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you are injured, it's okay to rest it. It might mean you have to start again, like me, but it's better than the constant re-injury and weakening that happens if you start again too soon. I've done <i>that</i> with a calf muscle and it really wasn't worth it.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If it's stress-related, you need to attack it from two sides at once - do something about the symptoms, like my headache, but also do something about the situation. There are plenty of other people who can give more informed advice on that, I only know that for me, by the time I have a headache, it's too late, I should have been aware of how I was feeling three weeks or so beforehand.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If it just doesn't feel good, then listen to what your body is feeling and what particular thing isn't right. Decide if it's something you can sort out, or if you need more specialised help or advice, and then do something about it.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm not advocating mass hypochondria or anything, but most of the time, if something feels wrong, it probably is. Especially with exercise and activity. We're supposed to feel <i>better</i> when we get out and do stuff, and it might only be little, easily fixed things that get in the way. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So listen to your body. It will tell you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">#healthandfitness #fitnessgoals #listen</span></div>
</div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-28616948177142889282017-09-17T11:24:00.001+12:002017-09-17T11:24:43.450+12:00Bigger Goals<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuJ8SR_SDwyiCpoj6U_AFkaxXUu1gi8XsZSlnXsWFhRq6lQK6q9wFXvFtUuGg-FStghJaACNBfB0THatxGC3MF5_tgWiw3h3lr_JiRT-kTPkhWS5GSB_W90bVG-3WyW9b1lyTuJsPtuc/s1600/stairs+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuJ8SR_SDwyiCpoj6U_AFkaxXUu1gi8XsZSlnXsWFhRq6lQK6q9wFXvFtUuGg-FStghJaACNBfB0THatxGC3MF5_tgWiw3h3lr_JiRT-kTPkhWS5GSB_W90bVG-3WyW9b1lyTuJsPtuc/s320/stairs+view.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lately I have been finding that those <a href="https://reasonablyfit.blogspot.co.nz/2017/06/small-goals.html">small goals</a> just aren't enough to keep me motivated. There have been so many things going on in my life that is has been far easier to say that <i>those</i> things need to be done and there just isn't enough time left over for exercise. And to a certain extent that has even been true - things like moving house (again, and not for the last time), and Home Shows, and students' assessment marking, and kids' sports and cultural events can't be put on hold in the same way that a half-hour run can. What does it matter if I skip one?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But it does matter, and that's where the bigger goals come in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">In the same way that for me my weight was a catalyst but not a motivator, small goals </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">alone</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> are a benchmark but not a motivator. Not all people do, but I need something to work towards, and/or something to measure myself against. There are a few things I can do:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">pick a challenge - find something that I have not done before, that is going to extend me. It doesn't matter if this is a personal goal or something external, but I need to find something that is way bigger than my small goals, but doable if I keep extending them.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">pick a milestone - and then think how I could beat it. This will be something that I have done before, that I feel I could do better on another go.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">pick an event - this could be something that I have done before, or not. There are so many different types of things that this could be out there, and so many opportunities. An event gives me something to work towards.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">pick a date - give myself a deadline. This could be with the smaller goals, so that as well as saying that I have this goal, I can compare that extension to where I am now, and choose a realistic time frame to get to the next point. Or it could be on a larger extension, or the challenge, and again, pick a realistic timeframe within which I could reach that goal. </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">I have at the moment committed to something that will cover three of these possibilities; with a team of colleagues (who are all entering different variations) I have entered for the half-marathon distance of the local off-road marathon, the <a href="https://www.thewestcoaster.co.nz/">West Coaster</a>. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">This will be a challenge; I have never done an off-road half before, and this one is seriously off-road, with river-crossings and some serious climbs, as well as cliffs to run along, eek! This will be a great event; as well as my colleagues, there will be some friends from my fitness class doing parts of it as well, and we can all collapse in a heap at the end together. And this is a really clear date; there is even a count-down clock on the website which tells me that it is 83 days, 18 hours and 34 minutes until it all happens, o hell.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">All of these things motivate me. All of things make me feel that I <b>must</b> get that run in there. And all of these things make me make a plan of how to make it happen. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">How am I doing that?</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Take advantage of those moments - there is some interesting weather now we are out on the coast, so I am waiting for those equinoctial thunderstorm squalls to pass over, spotting that bit of blue sky and saying what the hell, if I get a bit wet, that's okay. </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Or those other moments - when I get home with the blue small person on the days when the pink small person is dancing, I often have a window between that getting home point and the going out again to collect said pink small person where I can fit something in, and with daylight saving time around the corner, I might even be able to do it after getting both small people home!</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Realising that more small bits of exercise are just as effective as less big bits, and easier to schedule, so if that's what it takes, I don't have to do 10km (or whatever) every time.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0FohNg4-Yq3OdS88aDLLUHEHb4Qm8WNnXxcRZ-eVvdj7T3yDicT_f2U9p-kDA7vT07zRUG2mCI1titUmeq4c5nKT13EEZWcndits1PtscI6FC-MIKkhgvxMD1Hzw86UxUknMN5L-rDyw/s1600/stairs+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0FohNg4-Yq3OdS88aDLLUHEHb4Qm8WNnXxcRZ-eVvdj7T3yDicT_f2U9p-kDA7vT07zRUG2mCI1titUmeq4c5nKT13EEZWcndits1PtscI6FC-MIKkhgvxMD1Hzw86UxUknMN5L-rDyw/s320/stairs+up.jpg" title="" width="240" /></a>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Making the small bits hard. Haha, that's easy now. <i>This</i> is the beginning of the 640-odd steps that go straight up the front of the Muriwai hill; it's about a kilometre, but it takes me twice as long as any normal kilometre. I'm sure it must be good for me, and, as part of a 4km circuit, I can do it a couple of times and know that I have done a serious workout. And the view at the top, which is the picture above, is pretty damn stunning!</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Doing parts of the event - I now live close to the mid-point of the half, so just along the road, I can duck in to either part and do some of it. I can definitely include the loop section, once I get up to that sort of distance, although I don't think I'll be doing the clifftop bit as practice, because that scares me more than a little.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">Having a schedule - thanks Nicholette for sharing the 12 week plan from one of your other events, now I have in my diary the distances I need to run on the days that I will most likely be able to do them. For me, it is good to have something concrete, rather than a nebulous idea of "<i>I need to do something like...</i>"</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">And the last thing I need to do is keep prioritising my exercise on the same level as all the bigger stuff. Having a bigger goal, for me, is the way to do that.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><i>How do you make things happen? What sort of bigger goals do you have at the moment? What do you do once you have reached your bigger goal?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">#healthandfitness #fitnessgoals #muriwai #goals #westcoaster</span></div>
</div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-60171045072258757972017-08-19T14:15:00.001+12:002017-08-20T18:07:58.462+12:00The Health edit<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In which I ask what health actually is.</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This being a blog about fitness and health, it's about time I got to the health side of things, because essentially, that is what the goal is. But although I have been meaning to write a blog about food since about the third one, this isn't it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Recently I've been doing a bit of re-assessment; a couple of things have happened that have just added just the right amount of chaos to my life to be too much. I've been deciding which stressors in my life I can control or get rid of. As well as thinking about some of my roles at work, I have been thinking about my fitness goals too. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The main thing that got me into this whole journey was hitting that certain top weight and feeling pretty bad about it. But I have realised that whilst the fitness class and the running are making me feel good, being also focussed on trying to lose weight has actually been more stressful than helpful.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I like food, you see. And in all the time since I began this blog (nearly four months) I have lost about a kilo, no more than that, several times. So that at the same time I have definitely been getting fitter, I haven't effectively lost any weight. So I have to ask myself a couple of hard questions. </span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What actually is my goal? </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Does weight matter to me enough to really do something about it, or am I really aiming at something else?</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is that quest for weight loss healthy or not? </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The point of my fitness is to make me feel better. It's not to do this event or beat that time or distance. Those might be factors in increasing my fitness, but they are not the overall point. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The overall point is not even my physical health. It is how I feel about myself. I take a lot of inspiration from people like <a href="http://fatgirlrunning-fatrunner.blogspot.co.nz/">Mirna Valerio</a> who remind me that it isn't about how other people perceive you, it's about feeling good and enjoying what you do. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I decided:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Do it, if it's good for you</b></i> - my fitness class and running are good for me, but so, on a completely different level, are my snacks and cider on a Friday evening, or my random night out with The Wine Ladies. Each are as necessary in their own way as the other, and I shouldn't be negative about the fact that the one kindof counteracts the other.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><b>If it's not good for you, don't do it</b></i> - counting calories and watching what I eat only make me feel guilty, because I'm just not ready for that to be a focus too. Feeling guilty adds to my stress levels, which counteracts the good I am doing with the running and classes. Yes, as an absolute, losing weight would be good for me, but right now, the process of doing it isn't.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After a pretty intense week, at work yesterday an unexpected, heavy-duty-topic seminar tipped me over the edge and I got really upset. And I was still fragile, and exhausted, at the end of the day when I was having that necessary cider and making pizza for the small people. And when the Husband sent me to bed, and brought me a cup of tea and a bar of chocolate, while the family were all still watching tv, I realised </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">The most important part of health is mental health</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Everything about being 'reasonably fit' is to do with <i>thinking</i> about what you are doing and why you are doing it. It's about being <i>reasonable</i> about fitness and health. It's about reducing stress, not adding to it. Sometimes I forget that.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How do you manage stress? How does physical stuff keep you mentally healthy? How do you decide what is and isn't good for you? What do you do when you work out that something is less positive than you thought it would be? </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">#fitnessgoals #healthandfitness #fatgirlrunning ('cause she's really cool) #mentalhealth</span></div>
</div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-59892844513361708152017-07-20T21:06:00.001+12:002017-07-20T21:11:09.814+12:00Today I did lots of walking.<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">All of the uphills, 'cause today was HARD!</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">And I was wondering why. There are several things that it could have been, I guess.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtyZdDAubi1X7mTiLZpMp0xMftXoknsG3YRuXrePLs20CecaarX-iU1LmY04eTU61FbNeMSMsnFNADpJBJixtTTugBbHLzpmr9kcC13tZAesqRwNjFVSkkEFbIIZvRuzewRWtQZKzMT4/s1600/20170720_201031%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtyZdDAubi1X7mTiLZpMp0xMftXoknsG3YRuXrePLs20CecaarX-iU1LmY04eTU61FbNeMSMsnFNADpJBJixtTTugBbHLzpmr9kcC13tZAesqRwNjFVSkkEFbIIZvRuzewRWtQZKzMT4/s320/20170720_201031%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Maybe it was that I am still stiff from the <i>hardout</i> fitness class on Tuesday (thanks, <a href="http://www.personaltrainermuriwai.co.nz/ladies-group-fitness-classes/">Beth</a>!). It was a combination of boxing and strength stuff, but it was the chest presses and jump squats that really made me sore. And I could really feel my running muscles protesting as I was attempting to run up the hills, which is why I walked so many of them - usually if I am a bit rough to start with, it usually gets easier after a few kms, but not today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Maybe it was some random time of my cycle that is just making me feel really tired. Who knows <i>where</i> I might be in that, as, being 'a woman of a certain age', my cycles are somewhat unpredictable, and I never quite know what is happening. At least none of the other symptoms of being in my mid-forties decided to rock up, as then I truly would have turned around and gone home! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Maybe it was the weather. It looks a lot sunnier in that photo than it really was, and I was running most of the uphill bits into a headwind, which was pretty demoralising. The last 2km was in a downpour as well. But before I start the pity party, last week was about 8-10 degrees colder and I got hailed on, and I <i>enjoyed</i> that run, and did my best time round that loop to boot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Maybe I am getting the man-flu the husband suffered under last week...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As I was plotting this post on my way around, I was intending to write something about resilience and perseverance. Something that would be a good teaching point when I get back to school and remind my hublings that the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5rocMJEo7b7SaYb_Yqk7fIX-z1A4kayF3EQdfHwJUrrJGs49y4_Qlvwkv44lbxKxEmWkaxAa3fsRQEnEmDg_P-c2QKPg1cIihvhz1yD_Nqrr8hyOTb9oOOAl8aP1nayqdvdQge_UlRo/s1600/Hobsonville+habits+.jpg">Hobsonville Habits</a> (photo credit <a href="http://lea72.blogspot.co.nz/">Lea</a>) are useful and relevant in real life - which they definitely are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why I was having to wonder at so many possibilities to work out why I felt so rubbish. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In fact, I worked out that it was probably the fact that I had spent most of the day rushing around and hadn't drunk much except a couple of coffees. And being dehydrated drops my blood pressure, which is low enough to start with. Result: tired, sluggish, heavy, <b>hard</b>. At least I didn't go all fainty, which is more usual when my blood pressure drops...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anyway, once I had worked that out, I realised that I haven't been thinking about how my body is feeling, except when I actually get to the point of doing the exercise. Really, I need to be <i>mindful</i> and <i>aware</i> of how my body is feeling, what I am doing with it, <i>all the time</i>, so that when I do come to an exertion point I am prepared. I can't just say 'o, I'm going to go for a run this afternoon' without knowing that my body will be able to hack it, that going out won't be counterproductive and I won't just end up feeling like rubbish. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think this is relevant for both physical and mental health (there will be a post about that, soon I hope) more than it is for fitness as such. Fitness is, for me at least, a stepping stone to health; it is the health bit which is the key.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, I learned something today that all scouts know already - Be Prepared! Or who was it that said 'Know Thyself'? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Being healthy is a combination of mind and body, and being self-aware on a physical level seems to be something that I will have to work on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How do you know that now is a good time to exercise, or not? How do you keep yourself prepared for random attacks of exercise? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">By the way, if you like what I'm writing, feel free to share.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">#fitandhealthy #fitnessgoals #startover #dohashtagsevenworkinblogs?</span></div>
Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-28861585569277225762017-07-01T15:06:00.000+12:002017-07-03T08:31:34.526+12:00Moving the goalposts<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Or: I did it! Smashing the <a href="http://reasonablyfit.blogspot.co.nz/2017/06/small-goals.html">Small Goals</a>.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> So now what?</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay, not so much 'smashing'...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today I managed my 5km loop in 29 minutes and 40 seconds; last weekend I got all the way around my 8km loop without stopping. I am really pleased with myself, because it has taken about 6 weeks, but those small goals I set for myself have been achieved. And achieving something you have been working towards is always a good feeling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The big question now though is, what next? Having reached the metaphorical goalposts I set for myself, I now need to shift them out further, to keep making goals that will stretch me, but be achievable. At the risk of using too many cliches, I can't rest on my laurels at this point, I need to have a series of goalposts stretching out into the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Usually when we talk about shifting the goalposts on something, it is meant in a bad way. That's often <i>is</i> the case too, if it happens when we are partway through something (which is typically when it seems to happen). However, it's not always a bad thing - <i>if we make the choice and do it for ourselves</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, now I need to set my next goals. To a huge extent, they need to follow the same rules as my original small goals did: be measurable, and be achievable. I also think that they should relate to the actual other goals that I have just achieved too.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think I will aim for 6 minute kilometres around my 8km loop as my next speed and cadence goal. This is quite a big jump though, and I do have a 6-6.5 km one that I could try as an interim. What I really have to do is be realistic about it, and realise that if I do make the 8km one my goal, it will take a while. Which is okay. <i>Achievable doesn't mean easy</i>. Right, so that's that one sorted.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now I need to find a 10km loop. Where I lived before, I had a really good one, and it was my standard running loop for fitness maintenance. Now there are two arguments against using that one; I don't live there any more (funnily enough), and I'm not yet so fit I can just blat that out as a standard thing anyway. Neither of my 8km loops has an obvious easy extension that I can add, either. What both of them <i>do</i> have is extra sections which I reckon to be about 3-4 km, with serious hills in. And the one other loop that I can think of as a possibility, I have no idea how long it might be. So, do I just go out and try each of them and see what happens, or do I sit down with a map or something? I'm thinking this through while I'm writing, and I haven't come up with an answer yet, so feel free to let me know what you think.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As far as the 3 bits of exercise a week goal, I am managing that one too, but I don't think I am going to change and add to it. There are a couple of reasons for that: one relates to the '<a href="http://reasonablyfit.blogspot.co.nz/2017/06/dont-go-nuts.html">don't go nuts</a>' idea, because I don't realistically think that I can fit another thing into a week without pressurising myself; the other is that if I am changing goalposts on myself, I don't <i>have</i> to change <i>all</i> of them, and in fact, I think it would be silly to change all of them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The most important thing is that I am going to be challenging myself in a sustainable way. I can take the extensions slowly, I don't have to do them straight away because I have plenty of time. And having something a bit aspirational that I am going to find challenging is a good thing too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It looks like I am shifting those goalposts a little further than I anticipated! Okay...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How do you extend yourself when you reach your goals? What goals do you have now? What do you suggest for me?</span></div>
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Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222217782628818976.post-59306352247373914012017-06-24T16:06:00.001+12:002017-06-24T18:54:16.672+12:00Don't go nuts!<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Or, buzzword bingo: 'sustainability'.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">(But not in a Social Studies teacher way)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fitness and health are not short-term things. When you start to build back to that level where you were before, or where you imagine you could be, or start at all, you want to see results. You want things to happen. And so, many of us are tempted to hit that latest 12-week-plan or celebrity diet that we see in facebook or wherever, we spend up large on gym memberships, and we hope that this time it will be different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">What I have found, through <i>lots</i> of trial and error, is that this just doesn't work. When I get to the end of the 12 (or however many) weeks, I just go back to doing what I did before, because that plan or diet or programme was just too hard to do all the time. And as the saying goes, "if you always do what you've always done ..."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">But, if I just make one or two small changes at a time, then I am far more likely to keep going with them, and to see effects that last. This where that idea of sustainability comes in, and how I am managing my fitness re-start. (and here I go with <i>another</i> list...)</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Don't do too much</b>. I am aiming at one fitness class and two other bits of exercise a week. The fitness class is good, because it makes me accountable. I have known my instructor since our small people were at playcentre together, and many of the others in the class are people I know and am friends with. The two other bits of exercise could be anything - mostly they are both a run, but last weekend, after dropping the pink small person at dancing I just didn't feel like doing that. So I thought about what I did want, came home, and did a half hour of yoga with the <a href="http://yogawithadriene.com/">online yoga class</a> recommended by a colleague, (thanks Andrea). I felt good, and that, added to the run I had done earlier in the week meant I didn't need to get out for my longer run on Sunday when the weather was rubbish.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Fit it around what you already do</b>. We are all busy people, but there are generally gaps that we can fit something into without the logistics getting too hard. My fitness class is scheduled by my trainer to be on at a time when small people are generally fed and another parent is likely to be home to look after aforementioned small people (Yay, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FitYouLadies/">Beth</a>!). My during-the-week run usually happens either when the blue small person has a football practice or the pink small person is dancing. (Luckily both small people are not so small any longer, and so the not-dancing or -footballing one can be trusted left at home for an hour or so by themselves.) The weekend activity is easier to fit in.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Don't feel guilty</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">*. Sometimes the logistics get too hard. Or I get sick. Or there is something scheduled that I have to do. </span><i style="font-weight: normal;">That's okay</i><span style="font-weight: normal;">. I can skip one, and just do the others for the week. I don't have to make some supreme sacrifice to catch up. And I don't have to drop the whole thing as too hard forever, just because that one part of it was. I am doing what I can, and I feel good about that, rather than feeling bad about what I can't or am not doing. </span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">What this all adds up to is making my changes <i>sustainable</i>. Because they are not big changes, and they are designed to fit in with my life, I can keep them going over a longer period of time. This means that they become part of my lifestyle, rather than something which is fighting against it like those 12-week programmes do. If I want to, later on, I can add something more in, but what I am doing now works really well for me, and so I am going to keep doing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">What do you do to make your fitness goals a sustainable part of your life? How do you fit everything in? Or, what might be just one change you could make that you could start you back in?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">#fitandhealthy #fitnessgoals #startagain #startover #fityou</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">*I'll be doing another post about the big-picture version of this later on.</span></div>
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Trace Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588388901812154133noreply@blogger.com0