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Readers’ Workouts — July 16 — 4 Comments

  1. How are you doing with exercise this summer?, you ask?

    I think it depends on what you mean by “how.” If you mean, I am exercising consistently, then I’m doing brilliantly. I set a challenge for myself and have been doing sun salutations every day. Today I’ll begin my yoga practice with 16! It’s amazing how sweaty one gets doing these things, especially so many. I do feel myself getting stronger and able to move through parts more easily. The muscles that support my knees also seem to be getting stronger.

    So yes, I’m consistently exercising. Woohoo! Unfortunately, this weekend I had reached the 4 week before-and-after point in one of the exercise programs I’ve been doing and I was so disgusted by what I saw in the photos that I had to step back and weigh myself because I had to assume my mind or the camera was playing tricks on me. Nope. Only one pound lost.

    Imagine my disappointment when I could visually see no difference and then weighed myself to see that there wasn’t much difference either. I know the “party line” is that muscle mass weighs more but I have not lost inches either and while I do feel stronger the end result is that I look no different whatsoever–just as fat and flabby as I did before.

    And I exercise 3 hours a day. Definitely discouraging.

    So if your “how” is asking about my intrinsic pleasure and appreciation of how I am doing my response is: not so well. Did that stop me from getting up yesterday and doing my yoga? No. Did it stop me from taking my dog for a walk? No. Did it stop me from doing my strength training? No. Did it stop me from using the bike? No. Did it stop me from adding pilates to my exercise routine? No. Did it stop me from walking 2 more miles so I would reach my step count goal for the day? No.

    So if your “how” is asking me about my determination and tenacity then I’m back to being brilliant. Hopefully, four weeks from now when I take another set of “after” photos, I’ll see something, anything, that will assure me it’s all worth the effort. Because I’m really putting in a lot of effort here.

  2. My schedule has changed so I am not able to go to they gym in the mornings, but I started taking Tae Kwon Do in the evenings which has the added benefit of doing an fun activity with my kids.

    • That’s great to get a family activity and exercise in at the same time — also a good role model for the kids.

  3. I have been feeling quite lazy this month. The heatwave has me not wanting to be outside until it cools (it’s a big change from the dry cool days in Africa, it’s winter there).

    Loving your France posts!

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