Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Planning for fitness success while on the road

I'm currently away from my townhouse, making my way south to L.A. for my best friend's wedding. I am the Matron! This week, I've stopped off at my parents' house in Central California to make my dress. (My mom is helping me with the fittings...we're both seamstresses.) I have accepted that I'm not going to reach my goal of 300 lbs. by the wedding (now less than three weeks away). That's just stupid. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up on achieving what I can by that event, so I'm continuing with the healthy, balanced eating and the exercise. And I'm now convinced that to gain success in the weight loss arena, planning and execution are everything!

When I packed up the car yesterday, I remembered to include fitness DVDs. No matter where I am, I can toss one of those in my laptop's DVD slot and get in some fat-burning activity. This morning, I did my Gaiam A.M. Stretch DVD, followed by the full workout of my Core Rhythms DVD. That was hours ago, and my abs are still fussing at me! This is good. Still, it was strange to have my son and my mother hovering in the kitchen, watching me exercise. In the past, I would have given up out of embarrasment. I just don't like being watched when I'm exercising at home. But this time, it just didn't seem to bother me as much. I guess I'm really on this path towards losing the excess weight, and nothing is going to get in my way!

Tomorrow I have to leave the house early to take my son on a field trip to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, but afterwards, it is my plan to go for a long walk around a nearby park, and then spend an hour with my Spri-tube in a good upper-body resistance workout back at my parents' house. I can also do some lunges and squats and other lower body stuff to strengthen my knee support. I found a cool site for that here.

Since I only have osteoarthritis (and nothing worse, thank God!), I can do exercises (as long as no deep squats are involved) to strengthen my quadriceps, hamstrings and hip abductors and adductors. I started taking SamE as well as a joint health supplement that includes glucosamine/chondroitin. After just a few weeks, I'm already feeling better, and recovery is much faster after exercise. As long as I move my joints throughout the day (and avoid sitting for long periods of time), I feel pretty good about moving around.

We head for Los Angeles on Friday. My girlfriend is a member of 23-Hour Fitness. I got on their website and they will let me come in to try out their facility for free for a week. There are other gyms in the area that offer similar deals, so while I'm in L.A., I have no excuses for avoiding going to a gym to get in some quality time with the weights. And by the day of the wedding, I may still have to take in the seams of my matron-of-honor dress!

I'm hoping to have a good picture of myself in that dress to post on this blog. It's a Vogue Pattern #2607 by Guy Laroche. I'm making it of a periwinkle Thai dupioni silk. I bought a really cute pair of champagne-colored strappy sandals and a blue/cream mother-of-pearl handbag to go with it. I'll be wearing my new diamond bracelet with it. I just need an amazing pair of pave CZ earrings to complete the outfit.

One thing I learned from my 3-hour drive to my parents' house on Monday, that I really need to prepare for meals as well fitness. I didn't eat a really good breakfast that morning. (I indulged with my son...homemade biscuits and gravy - something I make once a year.) Then we left just before lunchtime and I thought I could make it without stopping, but during a brief bathroom break at a gas station I was distracted by a really creamy-looking egg salad sandwich in the deli case. I caved, and later looked up the calories online. 700 Calories!!! I'm so glad I skipped the soda! So, on Friday, when we head south, I'm going to be prepared! I'm packing homemade tuna-salad sandwiches, made with water-packed tuna, lots of chopped celery, olives, parsley and spring onions, a little mayonnaise, and some non-fat yogurt. On whole wheat bread. We'll also have apples, carrots and a couple of individual-sized bags of Sun Chips, and my trusty Luna Bar and unsweetened Almond Breeze for snack. Plus, lots of water and homemade iced herbal tea. And when we stop to eat lunch and snack, we can do some walking and stretching to keep the joints from stiffening up.

Saturday will be the bridal shower. It's an afternoon tea, which no doubt means tea sandwiches, cakes and other illicit delicacies. Perhaps we'll spend the morning walking around Hermosa Beach before heading for the shower. And I'll make sure to practice being mindful as I'm popping finger sandwiches. Maybe I can play with my food some, slowly peeling off the layers of the sandwiches, making patterns in the frosting of the cake, and I'll drink lots of tea, which will cause me to visit the little matron's room a lot more frequently.

I'll try to keep in touch over the next three weeks to let you know how I'm progressing. My girlfriend has no Internet access at her place! OMG!!!

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