Category: Exercise
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Thankful Thursday
[Another weekly exercise in gratitude.] 1) Spent ~3 hours walking through exhibits at the state fair earlier this week with the man of the house and I felt fine :) 2) Wonderful weather — low 70s, not too sunburn-y but not raining. :) 3) Two members of my chosen family started new jobs. 4) Yoga. 5) I’m thankful for the man of the house, who loves — and likes — me…
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Book Review: Ultimate Fitness by Gina Kolata
“Exercise is my obsession,” states Gina Kolata on page 3 of her book Ultimate Fitness. Why does Kolata love exercise? “I discovered that if I work out really hard and for at least forty minutes, I can sometimes reach an almost indescribable state of sheer exhilaration.” By the end of the book Kolata admits to belonging to three gyms. The book is nearly a love letter…
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Thankful Thursday
[Another weekly exercise in gratitude.] 1) I am thankful and honored to read the comments people have made in response to yesterday’s post. 2) Hugs from the man of the house yesterday. 3) Elevator repairs at work this week mean I’m walking more stairs. I’m managing this MUCH better than I was afraid I would ;) 4) Experimenting with a new-to-me yoga routine from Megan Garcia’s book Megayoga. 5) I feel…
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Vacation Planning
Last August I took a vacation which required a great deal of walking. The opportunity for me to join the man of the house at a convention came up just 2 or 3 weeks before the event, just 5 months after I’d used all the physical therapy my insurance company covers per year so that I could walk. I was keeping to my PT exercises and walking a…
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How Do You Comfort Sore Muscles?
As littem noted today, sore muscles are a big reason to not exercise. It’s not uncommon to start a workout program and end up pretty sore the day after exercising. (Or to end up sore after going dancing or walking all over Disneyland.) What to do? First, the bad news: It’s supposed to hurt some if you’re trying to build your muscles. It’s called delayed onset muscle…
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Fat Women Feel Uncomfortable Exercising. Film at 11.
This isn’t new, but since I’ve been posting about exercise recently I thought it was relevant. A Temple University study of 278 women who were enrolled in an exercise-encouragement program comes this gem on comfort levels with exercise: The women completed a questionnaire when the study began and during three- and 12-month follow-up assessments. The questionnaire dealt with mental barriers to exercise, including: Feeling self-conscious. Not wanting…
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What’s Enough Exercise?
This started as a conversation over at Spoonforkfuls’ blog. living400lbs Says: […] One of my recurring issues with injuries is finding the line between working out too much and not working out enough…. spoonfork38 Says: Yeah, it’s that definition of ‘enough’ that gets me almost every time. I mean, enough for what, exactly? living400lbs Says: In my case? I’m working out enough if I avoid that nice…
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Thankful Thursday
[Another weekly exercise in gratitude.] 1) A week that is going well. 2) I can lay on my back for half an hour or more and not have it “lock up”. 3) The annual summer drought has ended, or at least is in a lull. 4) I now walk half a mile in 15 minutes (used to take me 25). 5) Discovering a way to get grease stains out…
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What Exercise Won’t Do
I’ve been writing more about exercise, so I thought this worth pointing out: Exercise won’t make you skinny. Yes, some people exercise for weight control. But it requires working out a lot, not a little, and you don’t necessarily lose a lot of weight. Some people gain a little weight when they start exercising. Bodybuilders work hard to gain weight. Exercise can improve your mobility, balance,…
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Stretching for Flexibility
Ah, the relaxing bliss of stretching. Strength training I do to get stronger, walking I do because I think it’s silly to always drive, but stretching? Stretching is a joy. Stretching helps me to relax. Stretching helps relieve muscle soreness. I did chair squats Sunday night; Monday my leg muscles were a bit sore. Stretching those muscles Monday morning* hurt a bit during the…
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Starter Strength Training Moves
[In response to the “You weigh 400lbs and you exercise??? How can I start??” emails, I seem to be doing a “how-to” series on exercise. Skip it if it doesn’t interest you.] Strength training is often seen as weight lifting, but you don’t have to use weights, so for this post I’m going to assume there aren’t any. You don’t have to already be able to do…
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A brief, humorous note
It’s reassuring when a treadmill (or stationary bike, or whatever) will let me enter my actual weight. ;)
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Aerobics at Home
(This is based on Paige’s comment on the Why Go to the Gym? post. My reply was getting awfully long, and I thought other folks who read this blog would have good input too. ) [J]ust going outside to walk isn’t an option 8 out of 12 months in the year… Reason being, going outside the heat is so intense that I get far too near passing…
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Why Go to the Gym?
During a discussion on another site, someone mentioned in passing that “many – if not most – people join a gym to lose weight”. This made me think a bit. Do I hear gymgoers talking about losing weight or wanting to lose weight? Some. But I also hear gymgoers talking about getting stronger, or faster, or increasing endurance — and I’m glad I’m not the only woman…
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Small Pleasures
Tuesday I got tired of feeling stiff each time I got up from my desk. I started an experiement: even if I’m just getting up to get coffee/tea or go to the bathroom, I “take the long way”. I walk through more of the office than strictly necessary, then downstairs a flight and back up. I don’t feel stiff after doing this, and also more awake. Why…
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Thankful Thursday…
…just under the wire :) Today I’m thankful for: My Making It Big order (BOGO, on clearance) arriving and all four items fit. I’m taking a long weekend just because I feel like it ;) Being able to lift some boxes today a lot easier than a few months ago. Going out to the French place for a Bastille Day special on Tuesday. New bras that fit.…
Living ~400lbs 