Category Archives: health & fitness

A narrative of my journeys with diet, exercise, and various healthcare professionals

mental health, randomness Leave a comment

Lunch Break Freewriting

When I’m working in the office, I find that I rarely take an honest-to-god lunch break. I’ll eat at my desk, I’ll take a few minutes to check my phone, but mostly I’ll work through my allotted 45 minutes. When I’m working from home, I’ll set a timer on my Apple Watch and do some tasks around the house to get away from my work — unload the dishwasher, put away some clutter, whatever other randomness catches my attention — then assemble my lunch before taking it back to my desk to eat while I work.

In the Before Times, I would occasionally walk next door to Starbucks over my lunch break and do some blogging on my phone and Bluetooth keyboard while enjoying a tasty beverage. Since the indoor passageway between my building and the adjoining one has been demolished, that’s not a routine that I’ll be reviving anytime soon, since it’s 25°F outside and I’m not down with bundling up just to go get a coffee.

The blogging part, though… that’s going to need to make a comeback.

I’ve been going to a therapist about twice a month for the past six or seven months, and I really wish I’d started therapy sooner. It’s a huge help to have someone listen to me talk about what’s been going on in my life, then bring my attention to aspects of my narrative that I wouldn’t have thought twice about. The whole experience reminds me of going out for coffee with my BFF back during college: we’d talk about our problems, talk around them, dive into what their causes might be, and brainstorm actionable solutions. Adding a licensed behavioral therapist into the mix gives that conversation more direction, as she can pick out key points and lend her expertise in helping me recognize certain behaviors and reactions in myself.

In between sessions, though… writing is a valuable tool for me to get my thoughts and emotions out of my head and into a space where I can see them, acknowledge them for what they are, recognize what they aren’t, and generally get myself into a healthier headspace.

Taking time to blog is a gift to myself… and my family. We all deserve the best version of me.

krav maga, parenthood Leave a comment

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.)

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What Wagon?

My weight has gone up and up

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.

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Comfort 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.