Today I am up to my ears in homework. So I am going to let someone else do the heavy lifting. This is a great article/video from Studio 5’s Fitness Correspondent, Melanie Douglass.
http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=56&sid=21275419
Check it out!
One month ago I was running 26 miles. This week I’m topping out at 6. And even then I’m going slower than molasses.
But that is the point. After an injury, it’s tempting to try and make up lost time. I know that’s what I’m itching to do. I’ve just had 3 weeks of low impact exercising which means that I have burned about a 1/4 of the calories per week than I normally do. My weight loss is slow and I can see my calves turning to jello.
But if I tried to pick up where I left off, I would injure the healing muscles and be out for even longer. So when coming back from an injury, take your time. Literally. Make each mile a minute or two slower than pre injury. If you were at 60 minute sessions on the elliptical, try 30 minutes with stretching before and after.
Most importantly, listen to your body. If you feel sharp pain… STOP. Right then. Not after you’re done with your workout. Sore is ok. Pain is not.
Injuries happen to athletes at every level. Stretching and slow increases in intensity will not only help your recovery, but help prevent injuries in the first place.
I truly believe that the Serenity Prayer, used in AA and other support groups, fits perfectly for people with body issues.
Here’s my version of the Serenity Prayer for weight loss.
“God grant me the strength to stick to a healthy lifestyle. Give me the will to persevere and change the things I can and accept the things that I can’t. And the wisdom to tell the difference.”
I can change my body into a healthy, fuel efficient machine. It can be smaller and sleeker and stronger. But no matter what I do, I can not be in my 20s again. I cannot change my body type into one of those slight elf like creatures. I can’t get any taller. And my face will always have chubby cheeks.
So why spend precious time and energy bemoaning the aspects that I cannot change. Next time you get discouraged, think of this post and say my Serenity Prayer. Save your energy for the stuff you actually can change and let God bless us with the acceptance to love ourselves as we are.
Weekly weigh in 152.2 -1.8 lbs
Are you trying to lose weight? So you automatically pick the salad off the menu? Sadly, salad does not always equal low calorie or healthy.
Most commercial salads have cheese, croutons, some have breaded chicken or bacon, maybe guacamole. None of these things are bad per se. But they certainly hike up the calorie count. The worst offender is the dressing! You can easily use 300+ calories just on 2 tablespoons of dressing. Ugh that’s a bag of M&Ms.
So make your own fresh and yummy salad. Here’s mine: fresh diced tomatoes, cucumber slices, fresh lettuce. Tossed with balsamic vinegar straight from the cooking bottle. Not the vinaigrette dressing. Yum and under 150 calories.
Long title. I know. But nonetheless that is the question I find myself asking.
Little background info. BYU (Brigham Young University) and the LDS church are seeking to build a 9 story addition to the MTC ( missionary training center) in a little neighborhood named Pleasant View in Provo, Utah. To say some residents are a bit unhappy would be an understatement.
Normally if a company or organization wanted to build something against city code, they would present their case, residents would object, the planning council would decide. End of matter.
This story is a wee bit trickier considering the organization in this case is the church to which most if not all of the residents belong to. In fact the leader of the neighborhood resistance is also employed by the church. How’s that for tricky?
Initially when opposition was voiced to church about the matters, the LDS church stated the matter was secular and would be dealt with as such. The residents of the neighborhood were free to voice their conscience.
That ended about a week ago when stake president Chris Randall read and spoke from the pulpit on Sunday July first. He reiterated a message that is purported to come from Elder Nelson of the 12. A higher up in LDS church organization. Anyway, the message “invited” the neighborhood opposition to support and “sustain” the church leaders in their decision that the building is necessary to the church and an important ecclesiastical matter.
Hmm. Anyone in the LDS community knows that when you are invited to sustain something, there is a deeper implication at hand. Those words in particular imply certain things with a certain religious connotation.
When I related this story to my friend, she immediately said it smacked of fascism. Perhaps. I think that is a little far personally though. It is interesting to note that immediately following the “invitation” the leader of the opposition and a good many members, dropped their protests. Did the leader, Paul Evans, feel like he might lose his church standing and more importantly his job if he dissented? It could definitely be implied as such. He does not state that as the case though, let me be clear.
What about the members on the planning committee? If they are LDS will the “invitation” from church leadership put them in an awkward position? Or put undue pressure to cede to the will of a church versus the city?
I don’t know. It’s an interesting quandary to say the least. In my opinion, the notice from the pulpit was in poor taste and poor wording. But the Mormon faith is one where the needs of the gospel, God and church comes first. The view from your front window would be second. There is definitely a doctrinal case that could be made for a member of faith.
I’m not disputing that. Not questioning whether or not you can be a faithful member and disagree with the church at times. Just questioning the transition from stating it as a secular issue then changing to an ecclesiastical one when the chips were down.
Faith and politics is not a new discussion. Nor is it unique to the Mormon faith. I have seen people using this case as a reason not to vote for Romney. Because the church would influence his decisions. What about a Catholic? Would the Pope order a justice or president to strike down Gay marriage or face excommunication?
As Americans we like to point to a separation in church and state, but the lines are never drawn as clearly as we might think. School prayer, in God we trust, one nation under God, etc.
So I ask you dear reader, did the LDS church go too far bringing a civil city matter into church meetings? Exerting pressure or merely asking for help from the congregation? And the broader implications… Can anyone truly consider themselves a member of faith and not have that leak into their political decision?
Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
And before the haters start hating, I am a member in good standing with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Just looking at some hard questions.
Most of us don’t have a manual labor intensive job. That means that if we don’t set a piece of our day aside, the exercise often doesn’t get done.
Case in point. Last night I thought that it would be nice to run or walk a few miles today. If I got up early enough before school I would fit it in. I didn’t set my alarm. Do you think I rolled over naturally at 6 ready to move. Uh no.
Now it’s the end of the day. It’s hot. And there’s no one to watch my kids. All this adds to a day that I won’t fit it in unless I shift some stuff around.
It would have been so much easier if I had planned for it in the first place. Look at your calander, set aside an hour and pencil it in. Just like any other appointment. Then keep it. Because your health is everybody as important as lunch with your mother.
My husband and I have been indulging recently in last year’s Christmas present… the full series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but the show is brilliant. Joss Whedon is a freakin’ genius. It is my fervent belief that if every writer watched Buffy, the quality of books would vastly increase. Here’s what I learned.:
1. Witty irreverent dialogue makes characters interesting. Even the unlikable ones.
Principal Snyder is not a character you should like. He constantly causes problems for our heroine. It would be easy to cast this character as a throw away. Just a boring voice of authority. Instead, Whedon has given him some of the best lines, making him worth watching instead of a snoozefest.
Principal Snyder: That’s the kind of wooly-headed liberal thinking that leads to being eaten.
One of the biggest reasons I was fat was a lifetime of inactivity. As a kid I never played a sport. Didn’t ride my bike. The only thing I exercised was my fingers by playing video games.
I’m making sure I don’t fall into the same trap with my kiddos. So I’m indoctrinating them into the cult of physical fitness now. I’m not pushing anything about body shapes or weight, just that we need to be healthy and strong.
I could just put them on a machine at the gym, but I want it to be fun and a family way of life. So this weekend my 5 and 3 year old ran their first race with me. It was a mile long and at the end we got covered in colored chalk like in Color Me Rad. They had a blast and got their very first finishers medal.
Hopefully I am not only teaching them to enjoy an active lifestyle, but also the value of completing things vs competition. We came in dead last, but it didn’t matter. Because we finished.
Today’s weight 153..2. change . -.8
A little note about weigh ins. Weight fluctuates. Daily. Hourly. Weekly. Monthly. Keep this in mind.
You will weight less after a good nights sleep after emptying your bladder. Obviously, the more you eat and drink, the more you’ll weigh throughout the day. So resist the temptation to weigh again.
Also water and waste weight can make day to day fluctuations. Sunday morning I was 152. Yesterday I was 155.
These little dips and rises used to freak me out. Not anymore. If I’m doing the right thing and sticking to my budget, the weight will come off. Some days more than others. And faster once I can workout again.
But if you stress you can create cortisol otherwise known as the fat hormone. We don’t want that. Plus stress can cause emotional eating. We don’t want to blow our budgets either.
So just keep at it and the pounds will do their job and melt off like Popsicles in this 100 degree heat.
There is a fine line between the day after soreness and real pain.
After any good workout, you should be sore. That is the sign that your muscles have been worked to their limits and pushed just beyond. This kind of soreness should last around 2 days. Being sore shouldn’t prevent you from exercising more. In fact, moving, stretching, and ridding yourself of lactic acid may in fact help.
But if you are in true pain, the kind where regular activity is painful and the pain is sharp or tearing rather than dull and generalized – then you might be more than sore. If that’s the case, further activity might make it worse.
Take time to evaluate and be honest with yourself. Are you using regular aches and pains to get out of a workout? Or could you be really injured?
I’m stuck in the latter category, much to my dismay. The quad and knee injury from the marathon are not going away. I keep trying to run, but have to stop after one mile. This is where I need to take my own advice and assess. Even though it kills me, my leg needs time to heal. It will hamper my weight loss not to mention the training for Park City half marathon next month. But sometimes not exercising can be just as important to your health as exercising.
So in the meantime, it’s lots of yoga, Pilates and arm work. Running will just have to wait.