I just backed into my closed garage door on my way to drive my son to school. I know I should be forgiving with myself, but I feel like such an idiot right now. #ADHD
Category Archives: health & fitness
A narrative of my journeys with diet, exercise, and various healthcare professionals
Belt Promotion
We made it! Red-black belts for both of us.
Mr. Turner seems to think I’ll be testing for my black belt come June… we’ll see.
Connor is surprisingly motivated to prepare for his own black belt test. I suggested that we could practice together to ramp up to the 100 non-stop push-ups we’ll need to crank out, and he was totally on board. He even coaxed me to run a mile with him on Saturday afternoon, since that’s also part of the belt test.
I’m curious to see how long his motivation lasts. (Or my own.)
What Wagon?
Back in June, I started a blog post that I never finished:
It’s not the number on the scale that’s getting me down; it’s the reappearance of my double chin and my spare tire. It’s the added jiggle in places I’d once made unjiggly. It’s the tightness of the waistbands in my work slacks. It’s the fatigue.
At that point, I weighed ten pounds less than I do now.
Continue readingComfort Zone
I was just chilling between Connor’s karate class and my Krav class, sitting outside at the picnic tables while he played with the other kids.
Nothing really to say… except all the things I still have in my head that I haven’t blogged. I gave up on Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for the summer because I couldn’t bring myself to blog about anything else, knowing that there’s something else I “should” be posting. Hopefully that will free me up mentally to write about the stuff that really matters, like… well, like me and Connor going to visit my Mom for a long weekend, or like my BFF Amy coming to visit for the day.
Mr. Turner came outside and chatted everyone up while the teenaged black belts taught the little kids’ class inside. I opted not to tickety-tap a stream-of-consciousness blog entry in favor of actually being social.
The adult class was fun, but definitely got me out of my comfort zone — especially pairing up with Mr. Turner for a couple of drills and exercises. Having the teacher show you how to do a proper bar choke — on HIM — is a little weird. So is boxing the teacher, although that’s more frustrating than weird.
Funny how frustrating can also equal helpful. I’d miss blocking a jab, and he’d remind me of the drills we did earlier in class. I’d get mad at myself and start to let loose, and he’d remind me to only punch as hard as I want to be punched.
After class, I came to him with a technical question about blocking those jabs, and he spent a few minutes going over it with me until I had that “a-ha” moment. Then we chatted a while about how to get the most out of class: asking my training partners to step up their game if necessary, giving tips and help to others, making sure I get the most out of each interaction. Getting out of my comfort zone.
“That’s the most fun part,” I told him, “but also the scariest. That’s why I’m here, though.”
That earned me a huge grin and a big, sweaty hug from Mr. Turner.
I needed that.
Wellness Wheel
I saw a therapist for the first time in my life this week — not because anything in particular is weighing on my mind, or anything tragic has happened, but just because my primary care physician (and the mental health community in general) assert that antidepressants work best in tandem with talk therapy.
After a few years of stalling, I finally did it. Even so, my opening argument of sorts was, “I feel like I shouldn’t be here.”
The first session was, as expected, a getting-to-know-you session, with a combination of brain-dump from me and required questions from her (e.g. “Are you in any legal trouble?”). As it happens, we found enough in common (including our love of Studio Ghibli and our dark senses of humor) that it wasn’t nearly as awkward as I expected. The outcome of our first one-hour session was a realization that journaling/blogging is an important factor in my mental health, and that I need to get back into the habit of getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head so I can recognize them and acknowledge them.
She also gave me some homework: a “Wellness Wheel” to fill out. I’m supposed to rank my satisfaction with each of eight areas of my life from 1 to 10. The instructions specifically say, “Go with your gut on this one,” so instead of first analyzing each one carefully with positives and negatives like I normally would, I’m just going to throw some numbers out there.
Me being who I am, though, I will present the results using an Excel graph instead of coloring in the worksheet she gave me.
| Category | Description | My Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Health | Eating well, exercising, quality sleep | 8 |
| Mental Health | Healthy mindset and emotions | 7 |
| Relationships | Feeling connected to others | 4 |
| Finances | Budgeting, saving money | 9 |
| Career | Satisfaction with work | 9 |
| Spirituality | Personal growth, seeking understanding | 7 |
| Home | Safe and comfortable living space | 7 |
Now for some details.
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