We have acquired a couple of very cool things in the last little while. The first is an electric piano. While we've been using our (ancient) Korg M1 for a long time, the limitations of a 5 octave keyboard were creeping in on Taryn's lessons and we made the plunge.
What surprised me is not that Taryn is playing even more, but that I am. I touched those keys and remembered what it felt like to pour myself into music. I have felt for a long time like I was forcing myself to play. Now I understand why. A truly responsive instrument (yes, it's electric, but the sound is amazing, I can't tell it from real) was what I needed to engage me again.
We also got a treadmill, and I have been very disciplined in spending 20 minutes every morning. It has a feature that tells the approx # of calories burnt, and while I realize it's not completely accurate, it is rather discouraging to realize that my average workout can't even delete 2 pieces of toast, never mind the constant parade of energy dense foods that seems to arise wherever I go. It reminds me that my health will not improve just through exercise, but that I have to get back to addressing my eating issues. I don't want to do this. In Stages of Change, I'm at pre-contemplative.
What surprised me is not that Taryn is playing even more, but that I am. I touched those keys and remembered what it felt like to pour myself into music. I have felt for a long time like I was forcing myself to play. Now I understand why. A truly responsive instrument (yes, it's electric, but the sound is amazing, I can't tell it from real) was what I needed to engage me again.
We also got a treadmill, and I have been very disciplined in spending 20 minutes every morning. It has a feature that tells the approx # of calories burnt, and while I realize it's not completely accurate, it is rather discouraging to realize that my average workout can't even delete 2 pieces of toast, never mind the constant parade of energy dense foods that seems to arise wherever I go. It reminds me that my health will not improve just through exercise, but that I have to get back to addressing my eating issues. I don't want to do this. In Stages of Change, I'm at pre-contemplative.
posted by Jude | 11:04 PM
3 Comments:
Hey Jude
Don't look at that calorie thing! Remember that the effects of your 20 min exercise stay with you the whole day! They bring oxygen to your muscles, and make your body a fat burning machine thruout the day, not just during the 20 minutes you are moving.
And did you know that in a recent study....those who did 20 minutes of jogging had the SAME physical benefits of those who did 30 minutes?
Cheer up! Your exercise daily will change how your body works. When in doubt...stay with a low fat diet. Remember the Susan Powter 1990's thing? "Eat just about all carbs you want, just make sure they are non fat. As long as you are moving for 29-30 min a day, your body will work off the calories"
That totally works....so when you have a night when you feel like snacking...stick to things like licorice and non-fat popcorn.
I'm so motivated by you! Keep going! (and bash out that calorie counter on your treadmill!!!!)
You're right - the effects of exercise do last. I know I'm gaining muscle, and muscle burns more calories than fat does even when at rest.
The up side of the calorie readout is that it is a quick and easy measure to demonstrate that the intensity of my workouts are increasing. That and the reminder that I can't rely on exercise alone.
I have some possible genetic predispositions that would make me wary of the high-carb/low-fat approach: heart disease (from both my Mom and Dad's side of the family - my dad was only 69 when he died of heart failure) and diabetes (from my Dad's side). Low fat foods often tend to boost the sugar content and often use refined grains, too. All those do not bode well for blood sugar and sets the stage for Type 2 Diabetes. It's great if low-fat foods are decreasing saturated fats, which are horrible for arteries, but our bodies actually need the unsaturated fats and Omega fats to work well. Unsaturated fats protect against heart disease. I need that protection. Incidently, our brains have a very high fat percentage and work better if we are getting the right kinds of fats. so for me, it's more of a total philosophy. In general, I eat fairly healthy, but have trouble controlling portions and resisting certain foods.
I think that even if you just watch how many saturated and trans fats you eat and cut that down it would help. I've been trying to cut some of the so valled "bad" fats out of our diet and having the kids eat healthier. THis week we tried the garbage free diet for school lunches. I never realized how hard it was not to feed my kids a nutrigrain bar for a snack for school... Garbage free is definately harder to pack, but so much healthier, mostly because we had to apck things that didn't come in a bag... like veges or fruit or homemade cookies :)
20 minutes a day is great for your body! I was thinking the other day that I want to buy a treadmill. Now I just want one more!
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