“Nifty by Fifty”

This past week has been a slow one – not in terms of time passing, but in terms of motivation – a continuation of “Tortoise on Ambien” progress. I exercised only a couple of days, and not my former full routine at that. I didn’t have a single day when I got down all 64 ounces of water I would set myself to drink, nor did I repeat all my affirmations. Plus, I gave in to “self-medicating” food cravings of Burger King and chocolate two days in a row. Nevertheless, as the immortal Scarlett O’Hara used to say, “Tomorrow is another day.” And this week is another week.

Simplistic words indeed, and yet, what would we do without tomorrow?

* * * * *

The late Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, used to say that “a lady who will tell her age will tell anything.” Well, I’m not sensitive about my age – why should I be? It’s not like I’ve done anything wrong by approaching the half-century mark! And it’s primarily the shadow of that milestone that set me on my new path, no matter how many detours I make along the way.

In a word, I’ll be fifty in four years. Fifty! It doesn’t seem possible. Mentally I feel about 21. Fifty doesn’t scare me, but it is sobering, when one hasn’t achieved what they feel they should have by that age. But I have four years, and a person can accomplish a good deal in that time, “detours” notwithstanding. My goals, stated here for the first time, are relatively simple:

- Financial security
- Home ownership
- Maximum weight of 145 (my doctor’s goal) or 130-135 (my desired weight)
- One novel published
- Three books of poetry published

As you can see, I’m not out to become president of the United States or achieve world peace. And frankly, considering the number of tools I’ve amassed so far to help me along the way, it will take me four years just to get through them all!

Remember the saying “Fabulous at forty?” Well, how about “Nifty by fifty?” Of course, once I reach those goals –and that milestone age – I’ll have to figure out what to do with the years still ahead.

But that will be the subject of another blog.

* * * * *

I promised last week to introduce you to two people I’ve come across in my Internet wanderings who also have something to say about fitness. The first is Jamaican-born Misha Newman, who published a wonderful article titled “This Body That I Wear” in the Christian online magazine Relevant. I haven’t yet received permission from the editors to reprint quotes from Misha, but I encourage you to stop by www.relevantmagazine.com and search the site for her article title. Misha talks about how she no longer has the “ideal,” male-attracting body that she did as a teenager, partly due to medication she must take for bipolar disorder. Yet she sees beyond the surface of stretching skin to the life within her body, the experiences that have been expressed and continue to be mapped by the circumstances of everyday living. It’s a thoughtful and well expressed view, and I hope you’ll be blessed by it as I was. Misha also blogs at www.barefootandreal.blogspot.com. Drop by and tell her hello!

Spotlight Number Two shines on California resident Sean Perkey, who has taken on a remarkable quest to lose nearly half his body weight. You read that right – almost half! And he’s sharing his journey with the world on his blog, “Watch My Loss.” Sean has changed his eating habits and begun an exercise routine in his effort to go from “Fat to Fit; from Huge to Healthy.” As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also attempting to raise $50,000 for the American Diabetes Association. Personally, I think he’s going to make it on both counts, and if you read his blog, I’m betting you will, too. You can find him at www.watchmyloss.blogspot.com. These are two people with an attitude, folks, and I’m proud of both of them, even though we’ve never met. They encourage me, and so I want to encourage them, partly by sharing their stories with others whom I hope will do the same.

* * * * *

Once again it’s “Tool of the Trade” time. This week’s focus is on the simplest tool of them all – my 70-ounce bright pink plastic water jug. “Pinky” and I are regular companions at work and sometimes on the weekends, although I don’t give her nearly the attention she deserves. She takes a lot of abuse, too, from being ignored to being frozen overnight and strained almost beyond her limits. But she’s hung in there, so I continue to cart her around and swig from her when I think about it…which isn’t often enough, most days. Let’s face it – water may be good for you and a necessity of life, but getting down 64 or more ounces a day can be a sheer pain in the patootie, even if you flavor it with lemon or lime juice or what have you. So I came up with the “five on five” rule to try and help me meet that goal – that is, five sips every five minutes. That’s something of an annoyance as well – all those interruptions – but it does help to make the level go down. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

* * * * *

Promises, promises…they’re in the air and everywhere. On magazine racks, in our newspapers, on our televisions and computers. But when it comes to fitness, how many of them are what Mary Poppins called a “piecrust promise” – easily made, easily broken?

I’ll take a look at that next week in “Standing on the Promises.” See you then!

-Treader Lucie-

“Forgetting What Lies Behind”


This last week has been one of some retrospection, which I suppose I should have expected following my last entry about the power of words and their occasional “constipating” effects. Remembering my own list of harmful comments for an ediets exercise took me back in time to a place I’ve concluded I don’t need to revisit, although on more than one occasion there’s been an odd kind of satisfaction in doing so – like picking at a scab, I suppose.

I also concluded that there was something more I wanted to say on last week’s subject: That no matter what your weight, you are not a number! You are a human being, marvelously, almost unimaginably complex. Why, then, do you and I allow our perception of ourselves to be reduced to mere phrases uttered by someone else?

Can we agree that we’ll work towards not allowing ourselves to do it again?

This past weekend I bought a new book called The Shaolin Workout. The book’s author likes to say that “Everyone is handsome. Everyone is beautiful.” My immediate reaction to this kind of statement is normally to dismiss it as gooey hooey, yet after a moment or two I realized he wasn’t talking about popular culture’s version of beauty, but the fact that people possess beauty simply because God made them. As the old saying goes, “God don’t make junk.” And if He doesn’t – well, I guess that means we’re all diamonds, even if we need a little polishing!

My homily is almost over, but I want to add that part of a saying of St. Paul has been repeating itself in my head these last several days – “forgetting that which lies behind.” I don’t think the apostle really meant we should forget the past entirely – after all, it’s made us what we are, and sometimes we need to look back – but rather that we shouldn’t carry it with us like a heavy parcel on our back as we move into the future. So I know what I’m going to tape to the bottom of my walking shoes this week – just two words, on two pieces of tape. On my left shoe will be one word: “The.” On my right shoe will be another word: “Past.” And my feet will know exactly which parts of it I’m talking about.

* * * * *

Last week I promised to “get down to the nitty-gritty.” What that means is admitting that when it comes to weight loss – one of the key factors that inspired this blog – my progress in the past six weeks could be likened to a tortoise on Ambien. Part of this is due to the fact that my desire to lose weight fluctuates like a seesaw, notwithstanding health concerns, and part of it is due to the fact that I’ve been busy blogging about other things and got sidetracked.

But the fact is that of today I’m about 61 pounds away from my doctor’s goal weight and 76 pounds from my own…when I actually care about reducing. I don’t know if I’ll make it to that higher number – some say it’s unrealistic at my age. I don’t know if I’ll really be happier if I make it there. One thing I’m finally learning is that peace with my body involves more than a scale number.

“Getting down to the nitty gritty” also means that from now on I’ll be open about how steady my steps have been – from whether I’ve drunk my minimum 64 ounces of water each day, or exercised, or voiced my affirmations, or eaten sensibly, or done any of the other things that are part of my walk, to whether I’m even motivated to do those things. I’ll do this not to brag or give anyone else a chance to feel superior, but to remind myself that I set out to be an example, and leaders of any kind, no matter how small, have to be accountable. Besides, I said at the beginning of this journey that I would share my progress with you – so I’d better start making some!

* * * * *

Time now for this week’s Tool of the Trade. The spotlight today is on another AmeriSciences product called “Carb Right.” This supplement was also recommended by my doctor when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic late last year, and is something he uses when he wants to be “adventurous” at mealtime. Carb Right, according to AmeriSciences, “Aids your body’s ability to regulate carbohydrate, sugar and starch absorption to help you lose weight and stimulates the cell’s sugar-burning capabilities and reduces food cravings with a unique blend of Banaba Extract, Chromium and Gymnema Sylvestre Extract.” A 30-day supply – that’s one pill 30 minutes before each meal – costs $65. For further information, click on over to www.amerisciences.com.

* * * * *

Seems like there’s always more to say than space to say it, but I don’t want to lose my readers by talking them to death. Next week I’ll introduce you to a couple of people I’ve come across recently in my Internet ramblings who also have something to say about “this fitness gig,” and whom I’ll hope you’ll visit at their respective homes on the Web when you have a minute or two.

Who are they? Tune in next week for “Nifty by Fifty” to find out.

-Treader Lucie-

Mental Ex-Lax

"You can tame arything, son, exceptin' the human tongue." - Penny Baxter in "The Yearling"

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." Proverbs 18:21

"A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day." - Emily Dickinson

* * * * *

Do you ever wish you could take a mental laxative to rid your brain of negative thoughts and feelings that bring you down and "stop you up" - mentally, at least? Sometimes those thoughts constipate us physically, as well. They can keep us from trying new things or achieving new levels. But where do they come from? There are many sources, but the one I believe is probably the most prevalent is the human tongue.

As I mentioned in a previous post, several years ago I was on a program called ediets (for information, see http://www.ediets.com/). Ediets looks at the issue of weight loss from a mental as well as a physical angle, and I will never forget one exercise I did while a member - one which may, in fact, have been the inspiration for something I'm going to share with you later on in this post. Participants were asked to make a written list of all the hurtful things others had said to them about their weight, and then submit them to a message board designed especially for that purpose. Folks, I was shocked at the level of cruelty some of those comments displayed - and I don't shock easily! It struck me yet again that while being overweight may be a taboo in our society (and yet, was ever a societal taboo so frequently broken!), criticism of the overweight is certainly not. Reading others lists actually brought me to tears at several points. Perhaps the worst of it, at least to me, was the fact that family members seemed to be the greatest offenders. Yet the purpose of making these lists was not to indulge in a mass self-pity fest - or even to give us an excuse to go after somebody with a gun that might stand up in court on the grounds of "temporary insanity." Far from it! It was to cleanse ourselves of these destructive comments by getting them out in the open before they were collected in one mass pile and burned.

Have you ever thought about what prompts these types of remarks in the first place? It may be low self-esteem - a need to bring someone else down in order to feel superior. In many cases, I believe it's simple thoughtlessness, a lack of imagination that would permit us to feel how our comments will make others feel. At other times, it's societal bias. In my own case, a close relative whom I'll identify within this blog simply as "M." insisted that it was concern for my health - even though not one of the comments I collected for my own list held the slightest reference to that subject!

What's really important are the aftereffects. Without repeating specifics, I have been offered money to lose weight (a dollar per pound. What do you think - a good deal?); been told, in essence, that my weight rendered me undateable; and had it strongly suggested that my excess pounds denoted "a lazy lifestyle" and might keep me from getting a job I wanted (this has never proved the case, by the way). When I rebutted that my friends told me I looked fine to them, I was told that there must be something wrong with them. Later, when a blind date never called me afterwards, it was because "most men are really turned off by fat."

Who was right? Am I correct in believing, years later, that the above opinions expressed far more about the speaker than myself?

Ultimately, we are the only ones who can answer such questions. But getting back to that ediets exercise, while I can't speak for the others who participated, I can tell you that I felt a definite sense of relief afterwards. And yet, I guess I'm just not that good at letting go, because sometimes phrases from my own list come back to me with twinges of the pain they once caused. It's times like those that made me think of the phrase "Mental Ex-Lax." Unfortunately, outside the realm of science fiction, I'm not aware of any pill that can actually perform a mental purging. But several weeks ago, while I was out for my evening walk, an idea occurred to me that fit right in with my "treading" theme, and I'd like to share it with you.

Are you ready? Good. Now, I want you to get out your walking shoes, some masking tape, and a pen. If you don't have any masking tape, just use any kind you can write on. Put a strip or two on the bottom of each shoe. Now write across that tape any destructive comments or thoughts that are mentally constipating you, whether they have to do with weight or some other topic. Use shorthand or other symbols or abbreviations if you have to in the interest of space. Then put on your shoes and go for a walk. That's right, WALK. And with every step you take, remember that you're treading on those hurful words, and that if you walk long and hard enough, you'll eventually rub them out. Put those words in their rightful place - under your feet! TREAD on them, STOMP on them; heck, DANCE on them. Do it as often as you need to. You'll kill two birds with one stone by getting more fit mentally as well as physically!

Hey - I'll do it if you will. Don't forget to let me know if it helps. I believe that, given enough time, it will.

* * * * *

Time now to take a look at this week's "Tool of the Trade" from the list in my last post. This week's feature is a supplement called Slim, made by AmeriSciences. I was introduced to it by my doctor, who took it himself, along with his staff. Slim contains Serotain™, which, according to the AmeriSciences website, "provides 5HTP to help elevate mood, which in turn decreases appetite," and green tea, which "contains potent antioxidant compounds which improve the efficiency with which we burn fat." I have no idea what 5HTP is, and more than half the time I can't recall what an antioxidant is, either, but I can tell you that it works. The normal dosage is one tablet 30 minutes before each meal.

Slim is rather pricey - one bottle contains 90 capsules, which means a 30-day supply will cost you $75, which amounts to $900 per year. (I did the math so you wouldn't have to.) You might not need or want to take it for that long. Or you might feel that's not an unreasonable amount spread over a year's time, if it helps you with your weight loss goals. Whatever the case, I can honestly say that I have found it helpful, and you may, too. If so, just mosey on over to www.amerisciences.com.

* * * * *

In closing, I've been blogging for five weeks now and some of you may be wondering, just how is she doing at this fitness gig? I haven't posted any stats yet, such as beginning weight, pounds lost or, heaven forbid, gained, decreasing measurements, etc. And frankly, it's easy to get sidetracked with product reviews, recommendations, quotations and stories. But the time comes when you have to ask, even if no one else has lately, "How am I really doing?" That's what I call getting down to the nitty gritty, folks. And it's what I'll be doing next week. So stay tuned!

-Treader Lucie-

http://www.addurlblog.com/

Tools of the Trade

In any profession, from building houses to designing computer programs, a worker uses tools of his or her trade to get a job done. While gaining fitness, in any sense of the word, may not seem like a "profession," it also requires tools. Following is a list of those that I'm currently using or will be using in the future on my journey. Some of them may already be familiar to you; those that are not, I'm happy to share with you for the first time.

Books

Body Sculpting Boydweight Exercises for Women by Eddie Baran
Combat Abs by Matt Furey
Combat Conditioning by Matt Furey
Flexibility by Alan Gordon ("Get Fit" Series)
Getting in the Gap: Making Conscious Contact with God Through Meditation by Wayne W. Dyer
Kick Ass - Take Names: Confessions of a Fitness & Fighting Guru by Matt Furey
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Magic of Believing by Claude M. Bristol
The Power of Intention by Wayne W. Dyer
Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz
The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles
Workouts for Dummies by Tamilee Webb
Zero-Resistance Living by Maxwell Maltz

Cassette Tapes

30 Days to Personal Power by Anthony Robbins

Compact Discs

Combat Cardio Teleseminar by Matt Furey (2-Disc)
Furey Fat Loss Teleseminar by Matt Furey (2-Disc)
Magnetic Mind Power by Matt Furey (2 CDs, 2 DVDs plus pamphlet)
Psycho-Cybernetics: Subliminal Programming for Health & Success by Maxwell Maltz
Secrets of the Power of Intention by Wayne W. Dyer

DVDs

China Underground Sports Rejuvenation Secrets by Matt Furey
The Chinese Long-Life System by Matt Furey (3-Disc)
Combat Stretching: How to Double Your Flexibility in One Evening by Matt Furey (3-Disc)
Dynamic Deep Breathing by Matt Furey

Miscellaneous

Combat Conditioning and Kick Ass - Take Names Memory Cards
Pedometer
70-ounce pink plastic water jug (color optional)
10-pound dumbbells
Walking shoes

Supplements

Carb-Right by Amerisciences
Slim by Amerisciences
Women's Master-Multi by Amerisciences
Organic Flax Seed by Arrowhead Mills

Whew! That's a lot of stuff, isn't it? As much as I would like to have unlimited time to explore all these resources, I don't, so I have to use them at intervals - which, I'm sure, is just as well. In this and future entries I'll be focusing on one at a time, much as I do in real life.

Although it's now June, I'll start with my May focus - Matt Furey's "Magnetic Mind Power." After all, every great work, as well as every ordinary endeavor, begins in the mind, with a thought - and that includes a fitness tread.

"Magnetic Mind Power" is a course consisting of two DVDs that feature Matt talking to you from his home living room, two CDs, and a pamphlet. While its full title is actually "Magnetic Mind Power for Peak Athletic Performance," due to the fact that Matt is a former world champion wrestler as well as a current personal trainer, its principles can be used by anyone and applied to any endeavor. As he says in the introduction, "Success is truly up for grabs. Whoever thinks about it the most and wants it the most - gets it." The purpose of MMP is to give its users the "how to" information that goes hand in hand with thought and desire in the pursuit of success.

In easy to understand terms, Matt describes the goal setting and focusing techniques he's learned and used over the years that have led him to his own current level of success - visualization, speaking aloud, writing, and "picture books" or collages. None of these methods are new, and you may well have heard of them or used them already. Nevertheless, listening to Matt tell about how he incorporated them into his own life, and the results he experienced, is entertaining as well as informative, as he puts his own personal flavor on them, including what I call an "Asian spin" - his wife is Chinese and Matt has practiced various martial arts. Hearing of other high achievers' methods is also interesting - did you know, for example, that the creators of the wildly popular "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series cut out bestseller lists from such publications as the New York Times, pasted them on their walls where they would see them daily, and inserted their own names and prospective book titles in the "#1" slot? Or that author, businesswoman and speaker Glenna Salsbury, following a divorce and job loss, bought a number of magazines, cut out pictures of everything she wanted manifested in her life - from the types of flowers she liked to receive to the vacation spots she wanted to vist, all the way to the type of man she wanted to attract - pasted them in a book, put the book away for a while as she went on about restructuring her life - and eventually acquired every one of those things? What was her secret? A simple formula: "I + V = R - Imagination plus Vividness Equals Reality."

Matt also describes a "mirror technique" featured in the Dale Carnegie course, in which one looks into their mirror every day, and says with as much force as they can possibly muster, "I'm going to win! You want to know why? I'll tell you why! Because I have faith, courage, and enthUsiASM!" Now it may feel a little strange at first, and it may take a while to work up a full head of steam, but try it for at least 30 days and see if you don't notice that it helps get your day - and your attitude - off to a better start.

With Magnetic Mind Power you'll learn not only these techniques but the importance of asking the right questions - how to ask them, and of whom to ask them - as well as "27 Universal Laws for Turning Goals Into Reality." There's even more, but I don't want to steal Matt's thunder - partly because he put a lot of work into this product, and partly because, if you've ever seen a picture of Matt, you will understand why I don't want him coming after me! So if I've piqued your interest sufficiently, mosey on over to www.mattfurey.com and check it out.

Finally, perhaps one of the most important tools you'll take away from MMP is simply the power of words. Like all tools, they can be misused and cause harm if not properly taken care of and applied. In fact, words can even cause constipation!

What's that, you say? Word constipation? Better believe it. Tune in next week to find out what I mean.

-Treader Lucie-

Lucie Meets the Fure-Cat

He popped up on the Internet at the oddest times - a broad-shouldered, bald man with a strong resemblance to the "Mr. Clean" icon (minus the thick white eyebrows) and abs that could have served as a Merriam-Webster entry under "six pack" - always bare-chested, the better to display his highly trained physique, and always in an advertisement for something called "Combat Abs" or "Combat Conditioning."

Military man, I thought. Must be. He keeps using the word "combat."

I decided that he was, at the least, a master of marketing, because his ads seemed to follow me. Then again, perhaps it was coincidence. Perhaps it was even fate. After all, I was lugging around a gut I call "Big Bertha"* and the word "abs" can usually get my attention faster than almost anything except a piece of chocolate.

Finally, out of sheer curiosity, I clicked on one of his ads. There he was, wearing what looked like a Speedo and crouching in a position I'd not only never seen before, but knew perfectly well I was incapable of reaching except in the realm of fantasy. It was called a Hindu Squat, and his name was Matt Furey.

If you've seen the movie "Jerry Maguire," you'll recall that Tom Cruise had Renee Zellweger at hello. Well, I had never heard of a Hindu Squat or Matt Furey, and furthermore, I didn't particularly care for men who were bald or wore Speedos, but Furey had me at the line "Five Second Abs Burn Fat From Your Waistline" that appeared on one of his ads.

I read. I was intrigued. I bought. Big Bertha would shortly be on her way to the history pile, I decided.

My copy of "Combat Abs" arrived quickly and I sat down to study it. I read the introduction and the opening comments, but I didn't actually start the exercises until the upcoming Monday, because, as I've previously noted, I always start a new diet or exercise program on a Monday. That way I can have the weekend, as well as any remaining days in the week, to have a good time. Last meal of the condemned man, you might say. I'm sure some of you have also done this. Don't worry, you don't have to admit it here. That's my job.

At any rate, "Combat Abs" begins with a set of exercises called "The Magnificent Seven." I looked them over and decided, yes, I can do those with little problem. If anything, they seemed almost too simplistic to work on something as challenging as Big Bertha. But what came afterwards? I started leafing through the book.

Yikes.

Even some of the "Basic Exercises" looked pretty challenging. I wasn't sure I could get into a few of those positions. I put the book down and tried.

I was right.

I kept leafing. There were several moves that I'd seen or done before in years past, and I was fairly sure I could still manage them, even in my present condition. But what in the heck was this thing called a "bridge"? It looked like a back bend. I had been able to do back bends when I was in grade school. Granted, that was a long time ago and I had lost a good deal of flexibility since then, but surely I could still manage one.

HA!

There was no other word for it. The first time I tried what is called a gymnastic bridge, using the technique that Matt himself described, I managed to lift my upper body perhaps two inches off the floor. Originally I thought it was about four inches, but I have since come to the conclusion that I was being generous. The attempt was such a dismal failure that I actually had to laugh out loud.

Okay, I thought. Let's just start with the Magnificent Seven.

So I did. I started getting up earlier in the morning just to do them, no little sacrifice since I have never been "a morning person" by any stretch of the imagination. And I discovered that those seemingly simple exercises were a bit of a challenge for someone like me, because they all involved something I wasn't used to - deep breathing.

I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that Americans in general, or perhaps people in the West, tend to breathe more shallowly than their counterparts in the East. It was certainly true of me. All that deep breathing made me...dizzy! I'd have to pause for a moment. Do a couple more repetitions. Holy cow, was that nausea? What was that about? Why did my ears seem to close up when I did the "Trunk Rotators"? And why the heck did my forearms itch so much when I tried to do those "Hands Overhead Side Bends"?

I still don't have an explanation for the latter, which continues (to a milder extent) to this day, but the dizziness was not entirely unexpected. I knew I was a shallow breather, and now I was sucking in oxygen as far as I could suck it. My poor brain just wasn't used to that. Over time, it got better, as did the nausea, and the itch. It wasn't long at all before I could do the required number of repetitions without pausing. But Big Bertha, and her counterpart, Big Beatrice* (my protruding posterior) were both still a Big Challenge. After about a month I thought I could see some reduction in both, but it was clear that I had a long way to go. As Matt himself said, "Rome wasn't built in a day...but it was built."

And as it turned out, the Fure-Cat had a few more things to show me.

Next week: Tools of the Trade.

-Treader Lucie-



*No offense whatsoever is intended to any readers named Bertha or Beatrice.

Starting at Ground Zero!

I didn't think losing weight would be an easy process. I've tried it too many times, in too many different ways. I've tried the Weight Watchers plan (twice), Slender Now (I'm dating myself!), the Weight Loss Clinic, and ediets. The latter is the only one with which I stuck for any length of time - about five and a half months - and I managed to drop 25 pounds, the most I have ever managed to lose, in that period. But as with every other program, once I quit, I gained back the weight - on this occasion, in half the time it took me to lose it.

Can I get a witness?

What does it take to find a program that works for one, and stick with it, either until a specific goal is reached, or for a lifetime? Until fairly recently, if you had asked me this question I probably would have answered with one word: willpower. Now I am beginning to realize more fully than ever that the answer is deeper and more complex. But that will have to wait until a future entry. Right now, I want to give you a little background on myself and the very beginning of how I came to be writing this blog.

If someone had asked me only a few months ago to assess my physical fitness level, I would have said something like, "Oh, moderately fit." Moderately. A safe word, smack in the middle of the fence between gymnast and couch potato. Yes, moderately sounded good: I could do a few pushups if I absolutely had to; I could walk a few miles; I could do some crunches...you know. So what if I couldn't touch my toes? A lot of people couldn't. At least I could still see them. So what if even a couple of flights of stairs put me out of breath? I could still climb stairs. I walked in the evenings...occasionally. Yep, I was, at least, moderately fit.

And even as I would have said this, I would have been mentally crossing my fingers behind my back.

I would, however, most likely have continued on this path indefinitely, in spite of my dislike of my body's appearance, had it not been for a visit to my family physician. Almost all my life I had been aware of a ticking time bomb that lodged in the maternal side of my family tree - diabetes. It had reared its ugly head yet again, this time in a relative whom no one had expected to be diagnosed. For the past several years I had made a habit of having my blood sugar checked in a laboratory at least once a year. And each time the results came back as acceptable, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, for the first time, I was truly worried, for not only was this relative the last one anyone would have expected - as they frequently said! - but he was not a sweets addict like me. Wasn't excessive sugar intake, after all, what caused diabetes?

It was not. For the first time I began to learn of the connection between diabetes and weight. Between diabetes and age. Between diabetes and a sedentary life style. Between diabetes and excessive carbohydrate consumption. I began ticking off warning points on a checklist - too many of them. I began to worry... and I went to the local laboratory to give blood.

That was in October, 2005. I was fortunate then - the diagnosis I had dreaded was "only" pre-diabetes, but it was enough to scare me straight - at least for a while. For a few months I monitored my blood sugar daily. Watched what I ate, exercised at least semi-regularly. And then I learned from a call to the American Diabetes Association that the readings on the monitor didn't tell me whether or not I had crossed the line into the actual disease, but how well I was managing if I had the disease.

Well!

I am not proud to say this, but for someone like me, that was enough of an "excuse" to gradually slip back into my old habits. The unhealthy eating patterns, once chastened, came crawling back and the exercise all but vanished. Both friends and family were concerned that I was heading straight down the hill to the land of diabetics. In the back of my mind I knew they were right. I was puffy, flabby, and too often stiff. I had reached my heaviest weight ever, at least as far as I knew, since I didn't weigh myself on a regular basis - I really didn't want to know! Something had to be done. I had to start over. I just didn't realize exactly what "starting over" meant until I met Matt Furey.

Who is Matt Furey? Tune in next week to find out.

-Treader Lucie-

Put On Your Walking Shoes!

Tread: To step or walk on or over, to walk along. To beat or press with the feet, to subdue or repress as if by trampling.

Greetings! On this 15th day of May, 2006, I welcome any readers who may find this tiny corner of the Internet, by direct invitation or by "accident," to "Treading Towards a New Horizon." If there had been room for a subtitle, it would have been this: "One Woman's Journey to Physical, Mental and Financial Fitness." When this blog was still a mere idea, I envisioned it as being a year-long journey. Then as I began to write today, I realized - what nonsense, if not arrogance!

It's true that I hope to accomplish a good deal by May 15, 2007. But true fitness, especially in three categories at once, is more likely to be a lifelong journey, isn't it?

Some of you may wonder why I chose May 15 as my "start date," rather than the more common January 1. Like most of you, I've made - and broken - my share of New Year's resolutions. A few years ago I stopped making them entirely, refusing to fool myself into believing that I'd really keep them. (Does anyone?) Actually, there is nothing particularly special about May 15. It just happens to be a Monday, and I always start a diet and/or fitness program on a Monday. That, after all, gives you leeway to do whatever you want for a weekend, at least! And this is at least the third time I've begun this latest journey. I hope it will be the last for a long while.

But why blog about it? I have to admit that I approached this new venture with trepidation. After all, blogging would make me more accountable! People would be reading my entries - hopefully - and would know when I cheated as well as succeeded! Being a sometimes painfully honest person, I would be revealing some things about my current physical state, such as my beginning weight, that are embarrassing!

I had other concerns, too. What if I ran out of things to say? I'm not normally a very talkative person, nor an extraordinarily deep thinker. So much has been written already. Would the people I wanted to reach find me?

Because, you see, there are specific people I want to reach...people who, like me, have spent much of their lives sedentary and when they set out to change their physical state, discover that the joints and muscles don't move as smoothly as they expected, that the shouted claims of advertisments are too often false, that pounds and inches don't vanish as quickly as they hoped, that the scale is both a kind friend and a harsh enemy, depending on a variety of factors, some of which are unseen and unguessed at. People like me who are dissatisfied, at least sometimes, with their current level of mental and financial, as well as physical, fitness. People who wonder if it's too late for change, or at least the amount of change they would like to see.

If this describes you - especially if you're in middle life, as I am, when fitness at all levels is more challenging - it's my hope that the personal experiences, thoughts, observations, quotations, and questions I post here will be of help to you. And I hope that you will have many things to teach me! Along the way I'll be sharing the practical tools I use, as well as how well they work (or don't work) for me. I'll share my failures and temptations as well as my successes, and I hope you'll share yours as well.

To tread is to "walk," but it also means "to subdue or repress." What a fitting meaning for this blog, because there are things I'll be trying to "subdue or repress," from a mid-life identity that fights change with a sharp sword, to cravings for food that stem more from self-medication than hunger, to simple but deeply ingrained habits. If you'd like to tread with me, then put on your walking shoes and...

Come along.

-Treader Lucie-