Noon Time Crowd

The workout is working better.

I got there at 10:30 this morning!  I don't live near so I am not a fan of driving the rush hour to do a work out.  Susy was working with a client, and there were women of all ages.  I was happy to see women who are significantly older than I looking so fit.  There were others there who were just getting a start, and larding their exercises for the first time.

I got to use the rubber bands for resistance training. I like to put the bands on my ankles and do a side step with them.  A trainer a long time ago shared that one with me.  It makes my hips feel really strong and just right when I am walking. I can feel the effects the same day!

I have a question?  Doesn't anyone in Auckland do a lunchtime work out?  I think it is the perfect time to go.  You have a snack before, lots of water during and something light after and you get to increase your metabolism and eat less and lose weight.

I think most gyms have a slow time.  At the pool it was between 10:30 and 2:00 everyday.   Here it is lunch time.

There are times when I prefer the energy of a full and active gym.  There are other times when I prefer quiet and solitude.

Nothing exciting about the infrared today except that it was very relaxing!!!!  I like relaxing with a book in there too.  Have you ever seen a water pick?  It is a dental device for cleaning teeth.   I remember seeing it on the TV commercials.  They all looked so happy using it.  But then when I got my own I got so wet with water dripping out my mouth!  That's what it is like reading in there.  I always get sweat on the book.

+K

It was Much Overdue and Yet. . .

I had gone nearly a year without the infrared sauna.

The reasons are several, but the bottom line reason is that the treatments I did last year helped me for that long. I went the whole winter last year without any spinal pain where the arthritis is.  That was just a little confusing, but welcome.  Weather conditions didn't matter.  Lifting reasonable weights didn't send me to the cabinet for Nurofen. Pain didn't come back again until this winter, and I knew exactly where I needed to go: the sauna.

I purchase the sessions 10 at a time, for a slight discount, and I go once a week to keep it going longer although I think that 2 - 3 times a week is better, a lot better.  I just don't have the cash flow right now for more than what I am doing. It's okay.  Today is cold and raining and I feel fine.  There is a little irritation but not a lot, and that is unusual for me in this climate.  Usually, (before infrared) when the barometric pressure fell the pain increased. Even when there isn't all that pain, I can tell you if the weather man is right or not just from the pressure I feel in my bones.

The contours system, keeps track of my sessions with my little membership card, and I think I have 6 more to go before I have to make another purchase.

Also I have started swimming again.  It has been two years since that, and I am so happy!

One way I know things are going well is when I feel that uncontrollable need to stretch, like a feline.  Muscles are calling out to me that they are alive and want to get on with the business of being strong and limber.   Infrared does that for me faster than anything else, even the swim.

Can't wait for my next session.

Cause I'm Happy!!!

I loved it today. . .   there is something about being on the treadmill and feeling like "is this over yet?" and  then a fitness coach comes in saying, "Hello Ladies!"   None of us said "hello coach!"  But she knew, she totally knew that it was energising for us to have that little bit of recognition. She was right.

That is why I drive 30 minutes to get to this place,  and it is worth it for me. . .  that and the Far Infrared Sauna.

What can I tell you about Susy the personal trainer who talked to us today.  She talks to us like we are all her sisters, her cousins, like we are all a close family. She expresses respect for us wherever we are at in our fitness journey.

I am sure plenty of women who go there would think "What do I need that for?" and they would be right. Maybe those are the ones who come to stay fit. They don't grow out of their dress sizes easily.  Most of us however are there to maintain or lose weight. Most of us don't have a clutch of friends to chat with when the weight loss pressure starts to hit.  Doing it alone, or doing it at all,  takes courage, and some kinds of courage need real, validating, friendly support.

Perhaps you think courage should stand on its own?  What about the young man who goes to war and hopes some young lady will be waiting for him when he gets back?  Consider as well the woman who decided she is going to have a natural birth before the real pain starts.  We all lean on someone in one way or another to make life work. Courage in community is what  I see at this Contours gym.

Remember too, no one is paying me do write this.  I do it because I want to be a real part of this courageous community.

So when Susy came back, she noticed I was not doing my floor exercises quite right. She walked right up to me, out of concern for my well being, and showed me what I was doing wrong, and how to do it right.  When I felt the difference it was making, I got so happy!  Suddenly my effort didn't feel like a gamble. It felt like a purpose surely was going to be fulfilled.

Thanks Susy!  YOU made my day.

As for Far Infrared today?  I went in with sharp pain in my upper spine and I left pain free.

In-fra-red Mood

It was the week of the longest night, and the shortest day, and I realized something:  I wasn't in a low mood.  All my life, as it happens with many, many people, during the 2-4 weeks before and after June 21st, I have lower energy, and a less than cheery mood.  Not this year.

I took a look at my diet.  It was admittedly not the healthiest I have done. I like to keep red meats and cheeses at bay.  I stay away from hydrogenated oils and other ingredients in processed foods.  We just flat out avoid processed foods.  But I haven't been eating the larger amounts of veggies and fruits that I should be eating.  I had been eating more sweets and it should have been draining my energy and such.  So I couldn't attribute my improved mood to the diet.

Although I had increased my exercise, it wasn't my best effort, like I had done when I was going to the pool 3 or 4 times a week and working out for 35 -50 minutes each time.  I miss that!  Nope.

The only thing this year that I can say was different was the infrared. I am not a professional scientist, and this isn't a research study.  It's just me. However, for me, I think I am onto something.  My back feels better and I am less depressed in the winter.

Now I want to try to look up something on it. . .   I think it is a little crazy.

Opps I Slipped-Up!

   
     No I didn't fall or anything.  These past two weeks there's been almost no exercise.  I do miss it.  Its just that things in the house have been full on.  That's good too. It means there's life and activity in my home.  I plan to go back at the beginning of next week.
   

     Getting back into exercise isn't as easy as I make it sound in this blog, but the results are good, and I have chosen to focus on that.  As far as not being in the gym goes, I am a mother and caring for my family is good for me too.  I don't begrudge them anything. Regardless, I need to get back to it.


     While I was away,  I still had a lot of thoughts about the work out and the infrared.

     I miss the infrared.  It was so good to my aching back. I still am enjoying the increased flexibility that I gained, but I can tell that I will need to continue if it is going to be a real therapy. And the relaxation that goes with it, there is none that compares except for a couple of hours or more in a Rotorua hot bath.  And that's not a bad idea either.

    Pich had called to ask me how my work out was going.  I think I need to ask her about strengthening my upper back without stressing it out.   When she called I was in the middle of cooking and couldn't give her my undivided attention. I think I will go back with a list.

     So I hope they will still be there when I get back (wink wink).
Opp

This is NOT Your Grandmother's Gym.....

. . . .  and then again it is.

I never imagined that fitness could be so serious and so nurturing at the same time. Not that nurturing isn't serious, but we tend to take it more lightly.  Most adults feel like their time of nurturing is over. We need to be only nurturing others.

I haven't seen everything they do at the Contours on Apriana Rd, but  I hear-tell the employees are going to hula hoop instructor's training this weekend, and that soon we will be able to take these fitness hula hoop classes.   Will they stop at nothing????   HA! I have to see this for myself when the time comes.


So much you can do to stay fit, and so many levels available. Lots of times I don't know what I want to stick to.  When I was swimming it was easier.  But here it's not just the range of activities but also in the kinds of people who come. Grannies are doing the zumba here, (I may be one of them in the weeks to come -just don't film me) and 50 year olds look like athletes, while beginners of any age go into it with all the confidence in the world.

I remember a previous personal trainer in a previous life told me ....

 changing your exercise really helps to keep you in better shape. Doing the same old weight lifting and sit ups doesn't get the results.

Last week I was approached by Emily to see if I wanted to attend one of her classes. I mean, I was on the cycle doing my two hills that Pich recommended, and she just came right up to me.  See this is what I mean about nurturing:  there is always room for the spontaneous human connection as well as the disciplined work stuff. No one ever did that before, not at any gym I have ever used, and Emily was well....

How can I begin to describe Emily?  She gives you the impression that she was raised by warrior elves, in an enchanted forest near a glistening waterfall, eating pink and chartreuse fruits and drinking bubble tea.  She has this adorable unassuming (truly unassuming) way with us, and yet, you know she is really fit, so I guess that warrior has to come out somewhere right?

How could I say "no"?  After all, although I liked my work out, it was getting easy . . . sort of, and I needed to find some new tricks in the business of getting the abdominals to start fending for themselves a little.   That's why I like all the training that goes on around me. It keeps me curious,  They KNOW things, and are very willing to keep us in the know.

Lucky me.  I was the only one who said sure!  So I got to have a private session and the nurturing began.   She showed me some floor exercises and some of them were hard and some were easy, and some were funny to do, like the one where you lie on your back and catch a ball first with your hands and then with your feet.  The elves must have taught her that one.

As for the sauna, it was great. It is always great. I have found that I like to keep my head covered when using it though.  It somehow feels better to do that. Just a simple cotton scarf or  an old t-shirt seems to work.

About the infrared combined with exercise: My clothes zip up better everything buttons and my "fat' jeans are starting to be my "fat" jeans again, after only 4 weeks.  It is a relief. I don't have to buy new clothes..... bummer.  Maybe I can go shopping for smaller clothes a little later.

Celulite

One of the claims of the benefits of infrared sauna is that it gets rid of cellulite.

From the get go I wondered, "Well, even if that is true, how long is that going to take?", expecting to read something saying that - 10 years of regular infrared sauna used along with regular exercise and a vegan diet will diminish cellulite by 20%.  I didn't actually read anything like that.

I have been out of the loop a little where natural health remedies are concerned. It is as if I learned all I wanted to know about 3 years ago, and I'm just going to go with that. Cellulite was not a top priority for me.

I am into doing whatever it takes to stay young, not skinny, not sexy, but young. I'm am a little bit of a fanatic. It is fun, and it is worth the reads in the health magazines.  I get to have something to talk about that isn't gossip, and everyone learns something.

Youthfulness is basically a healthy lifestyle, clean food, low fat, plenty of water, exercise, certain vitamins, natural sugars (not refined), the right amount of sleep. . . Anything else is expensive, cosmetic, surgical, and perhaps unnatural.

That motivation to stay young is in all of us no matter what our age. Think only of tales of the Fountain of Youth.  Take a look at the cosmetics industry, the place where we gladly put our money in exchange for beauty. Sadly, staying young has been so commercialized that it takes a lot of fun out of actually doing it.  You know, the standard is the media standard which equals pressure. The look is the photoshopped look, more pressure. The goal is the unrealistic goal of trying to be a better version of who we once were, instead of the best person we can be now. . .  and at this moment I can hear my father saying, "real beauty is in the heart".

Cellulite is definitely in the skin and it is a sign of something.  I never cared to know.

I guess one of the signs of aging is the presence of cellulite.  That hard fatty substance that lodges in your upper legs and maybe arms and torso.  It keeps your skin from looking smooth and soft and .. wait for it, .... wait for it...  YOUNG.

What is Cellulite and what are the available treatments for it.

Cellulite has been hated as the menace of womanhood since I can remember hearing my aunties complain when we would all be poolside. All I ever heard was that treatments were expensive and unsuccessful overall.  Like it only works on ballerinas and olympic swimmers, and Hollywood celebs because they can't afford for it not to. I dismissed any thought of trying to rid myself of it. It seemed a waste of time. When I got to the infrared claims a couple of weeks ago, I merely dismissed them too. Frankly I didn't care.  

How to treat Cellulite  :  another perspective. Notice they end the article with the words "good luck".  Do I detect a tone of sarcasm?

Here is the reality:  infrared is working  to get rid of cellulite from me.  ME???  .... the one who didn't care!  HA! Unbelievable: I'm really glad about something I didn't care about. That's funny! It feels good that it is going away.  I am inclined to believe that toxins and the lymphatic system are how cellulite gets is unwanted resting place in our thighs, and I am convinced that exercise and infrared are getting rid of it.

My experience is this.  After the sauna, I drink a lot of water, and try to keep my diet really clean and healthy.  By evening I start to feel mild cold symptoms.   After a few hours of that, I feel better.  Then I start to notice that the cellulite is going away.  Often I don't believe it myself so I do a little test pinch or something and surely it is already looking better.  How many visits to the sauna?  I think only 4 so far.

Gosh I feel like a blooming revolutionary or something.

I'm going to get another glass of water.