My relationship with exercise has always been a little fraught. I never really hated exercise though sometimes I have resented the hell out of it. Quite a few years ago, I lost a lot of weight to get in to my healthy weight range and one of the biggest parts of that was through exercise. I did some mini triathlons, ran quite a few fun runs and even ran a half marathon and the Oxfam 100km walk in 48 hours. I was really fit and within my healthy weight range – it was a great time in my life, though I do realise now that even though I had lost all of this weight and gotten really fit, I had never really changed how I saw myself. Even at my lowest weight and my fittest, some days I still felt like that obese person that I was previously and along with an unhealthy relationship with food this caused me to put on more and more weight until I found myself in the situation where I had the lap band surgery. Unfortunately, at the time when I was at my fittest, my exercise routines were more of a punishment to myself rather than a healthy gift.
So, one of the things that I have been very careful about since have the lap band surgery is to institute a gradual exercise program. For the first few months I didn’t exercise much at all, a walking a few times a week but that’s about it. In the new year, I decided that I wanted my fitness back but I was loathe to start any punishing exercise routines so I decided on Bikram Yoga a 90 min session of 26 poses in a room heated to 38 degrees. I picked Bikram yoga because it has the benefits of building strength, endurance, concentration as well as it being a pretty good cardio routine! I have found it excellent and have definitely been sleeping better and having a lot more energy. So I do Bikram yoga 3-4 times a week and now I have also added a few gym sessions into the mix – a mixture of cardio and weights. Now I am loving exercise again and not least because I have put together some friends to go with so it is a lot more fun!!
Fun is definitely the secret! I am putting as much fun into my sessions as possible. Along with my team, we do a cardio session followed by some weights and then – considering the past few weeks of Melbourne’s sweltering heat – we will have a swim in the pool. Not laps or anything mind you, a paddle around catching up on what’s going on with each other. We also rotate who is choosing the routine for the day which helps to keep things fresh and interesting and we also will have a session and then a coffee afterwards. It is important to factor in an additional 20-30mins onto the exercise routines for swimming, coffee or just a sit down and catch up as it really adds the incentive to get to the session as well as go pretty hard in the session. I love it so much more!!
So, the upshot of all this – I am really loving my exercise again and each day, I look for more and more ways to inject a bit of fun into the routine – what’s life if it’s not fun, right?
Here are some questions for you to think about this week:
· How do you see exercise, is it a chore or a health gift to yourself?
· What can you do to make your exercise more fun?
· Can you get a network together of people to exercise with? Who? Write a list today and contact them!
Well, I am off for a walk with the gals, outside since the searing heat has subsided for the moment.
My thoughts and best wishes are with anyone who has been affected by the bushfires over the weekend – there are no words for what you must have been through.
Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com
So, one of the things that I have been very careful about since have the lap band surgery is to institute a gradual exercise program. For the first few months I didn’t exercise much at all, a walking a few times a week but that’s about it. In the new year, I decided that I wanted my fitness back but I was loathe to start any punishing exercise routines so I decided on Bikram Yoga a 90 min session of 26 poses in a room heated to 38 degrees. I picked Bikram yoga because it has the benefits of building strength, endurance, concentration as well as it being a pretty good cardio routine! I have found it excellent and have definitely been sleeping better and having a lot more energy. So I do Bikram yoga 3-4 times a week and now I have also added a few gym sessions into the mix – a mixture of cardio and weights. Now I am loving exercise again and not least because I have put together some friends to go with so it is a lot more fun!!
Fun is definitely the secret! I am putting as much fun into my sessions as possible. Along with my team, we do a cardio session followed by some weights and then – considering the past few weeks of Melbourne’s sweltering heat – we will have a swim in the pool. Not laps or anything mind you, a paddle around catching up on what’s going on with each other. We also rotate who is choosing the routine for the day which helps to keep things fresh and interesting and we also will have a session and then a coffee afterwards. It is important to factor in an additional 20-30mins onto the exercise routines for swimming, coffee or just a sit down and catch up as it really adds the incentive to get to the session as well as go pretty hard in the session. I love it so much more!!
So, the upshot of all this – I am really loving my exercise again and each day, I look for more and more ways to inject a bit of fun into the routine – what’s life if it’s not fun, right?
Here are some questions for you to think about this week:
· How do you see exercise, is it a chore or a health gift to yourself?
· What can you do to make your exercise more fun?
· Can you get a network together of people to exercise with? Who? Write a list today and contact them!
Well, I am off for a walk with the gals, outside since the searing heat has subsided for the moment.
My thoughts and best wishes are with anyone who has been affected by the bushfires over the weekend – there are no words for what you must have been through.
Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com
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