right,
Diabetes Blog Week day 3 - On Thing to Improve - "Yesterday we gave ourselves and our loved ones a big pat on the back for one thing we are great at. Today let's look at the flipside. We probably all have one thing we could try to do better. Why not make today the day we start working on it. No judgments, no scolding, just sharing one small thing we can improve so the DOC can cheer us on!"
And all my loved ones and friends who aren't diabetic, you can still be part of the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) via me - cheer me on, dammit! And you can be in our cool D-club. (sorry to be a smart-ass, but picking just one of the myriad things I'd like to improve is really difficult).
What I really really need to improve is making time for exercise. I used to be really good at this, carving time out of lunch hours, quick after-work jogs, even early morning jogs or yoga. I used to really include exercise as just a part of my life that was a given. Somewhere in the past few years, we had a second child, and my job responsibilities and travel went up. And "poof!" like mysterious magic I found myself plumper, lumpier, and with more volatile blood sugars.
Boo.
Lately, I have started going to a yoga class once per week (when I'm in town). I have the option of 2 other exercise classes per week (went I'm at the office) on Mondays and Fridays too. but I haven't really committed. And the expensive gym membership that has bee under-used for over a year now? yeah. like I said...underused.
So what should I choose? Obviously exercise is on my brain so I think something physical. What gives me the most well-being feeling for the buck? yoga. What gives me the most feeling that I've created a few muscle fibers? A good strength/weights workout. What gives me the feeling I'm breathing hard and will be burning calories and bG for another couple of hours? Something really aerobic like running (meh.), eliptical trainer (eh), or Zumba! (okay, fun). Walking will count for me in a pinch, like when I'm traveling - if I can get an hour or two of "casual" walking, relatively brisk, around a city, I'll let myself off the exercise hook. Otherwise, my goal is to exercise at least something like that or a yoga session (not always vigorous or aerobic), but preferably with 2 resistance workouts, and 2 high intensity aerobic workouts minimum per week. The most recent studies say that women my age need to exercise moderately to vigorously for 60 minutes every single day to maintain our muscle mass. I don't think I can commit to that right now, but 20-30 minutes minimum on the days I can't find any time would be an achievement at this point.
Let's see... My schedule could look like this:
Sunday - Gym for strength and/or aerobic workout depending on week plan, or Yoga session
Monday - bootcamp like class at work (or you'd better pick a suitable alternative, wimp!)
Tuesday - minimum 30 minutes run/walk (gotta start again somewhere
Wednesday - Yoga class
Thursday - gym for some resistance/ weights
Friday - bootcamp like class at work (or you'd better pick a suitable alternative, wimp!)
Saturday - Zumba! with Wii
Well, it's Wednesday night here in Basel Switzerland, and I can tell you that I did Zumba and Yoga last week, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - each day I did some city walking (30-60 minutes), so I'm letting myself off the hook. But I should have squished in a gym visit in the morning (oh, well it's already 2:30 in the morning now!). No. I'm not going to do that because sleep is something I also need.
I will do something tomorrow, preferably yoga or somatics, then Friday I can go to the gym and/or do Zumba.
On the weekends, we are full of excuses because the whole family life thing is pretty full without a need for padding with exercise. But that is of course the completely wrong way to look at it. Today I realized we haven't done any family bike riding for awhile. Maybe it's time to bring those to the outdor parking spot for the summer!
(move along)
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