Archive for the ‘My Workouts’ category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Leading A Charmed Life?

March 30th, 2011

Joslin directed me to a WebMD Health News article today.  The title: Why Some May Avoid Type 1 Diabetes Complications: researchers say more than just blood sugar control may be at work for some patients.

So of course I read it.  (Especially after my eye visit yesterday when my doctor said she saw no diabetic retinopathy!)  I didn’t understand the other proteins, the ones referred to as advanced glycation end products… there are times I just need to draw a line in the sand of how much of some of these things I need to understand in a day.

Continuing on through the article, they quoted one of the experts as saying “those with diabetes who are free or mostly free of complications [after 50 years] are leading a charmed life.”  That one didn’t make me happy or motivated to seek that guy out.  I think a large part of what he calls “charmed” involves quite a bit of work every day over the course of several decades.

The author won me immediately back when she quoted another expert who said that most of the [Joslin 50 years of living with type one diabetes] medalists “do fairly rigorous exercise at least three times a week, 45 minutes or more.”

So check it out: EXERCISING DOES NOT REQUIRE LUCK, GENETIC GIFTS, TALENT OF ANY KIND, COORDINATION, INTELLIGENCE, MONEY, or anything, really.  You’ve seen that people without legs can exercise, and do!

Since exercise, and I do mean rigorous exercise, can lead to so many benefits and is one hallmark of a long life with type one diabetes, and since exercise requires so little of us other than carving out the time it takes to work up a sweat, my vote remains in favor of exercise as a way to deal with and combat some of the unwanted outcomes of type one diabetes.

In fact, I’m now re-energized and heading out for a nice long run to celebrate.

Who’s with me?

No comments »

Posted in I Can't Believe Someone Got Paid to Conduct This Study, Living with Type 1 Diabetes, My Soapbox, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

A Weekend of Workouts

March 28th, 2011

I know some of you saw me posting on facebook all weekend long about the different lectures and workouts I attended at my fitness conference.  I hope it wasn’t annoying to you as I broadcast my activities every 90 minutes!

It was so fun. 

I had such a great time!

I did notice as the weekend progressed that my blood sugars were running higher than I expected during rest times, and I also saw my heart rate was higher than I expected it to be during the same periods.  

I was more exhausted than I thought! 

The adrenaline I must have relied on to keep me going as my physical energy dwindled workout after workout was making itself known.  When I’m at an event and I’m excited to be there and do whatever the activity is, sometimes I confuse the excitement and the adrenaline.  Seeing my blood sugars and heart rate rise cued me to recognize the adrenaline.

Dang!  I wish I could have the energy of the Energizer Bunny who can keep going and going and going.  I need to rest way more than I’d like.  (I have a lot of exciting things to do, thank you very much!  And it’s fun stuff!)  I know with absolute certainty that the exercise I do and the active life I lead gives me a great amount of energy that I probably wouldn’t last a moment without it.

 I still haven’t processed much of what I learned this weekend and many of the ideas that passed before my eyes I’m afraid continued through my brain and out: it is nearly impossible to retain all of that information and those ideas in such a concentrated amount of time.

But it was so much fun.

So I’m taking today off of exercise, and I might take tomorrow off as well.  I went back to bed after I got home from bootcamp this morning and re-woke at 11am.  My muscles are recovering, but this whole week I’m going to try and get extra sleep when I can.

I think I’ve probably earned it.

No comments »

Posted in Living with Type 1 Diabetes, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

Exercise as Medicine?

March 25th, 2011

I’ve said food (more specifically, simple sugars or juice) is medicine to me to young kids who question what’s going on if I’m low.  I’ve said that exercise is like medicine, as well, particularly for those of us living with type one or type two diabetes.  But is it?  Have I been thinking about things all wrong??

 I read a newsletter yesterday that put a different spin on the “exercise as medicine” idea.  I hadn’t thought of it this way in the past but I love it a lot and I’m thinking of changing my opinion!

 The newsletter comes from Brett Kilika via Todd Durkin at Fitness Quest 10; I’ve blogged about FQ10 and Todd in the past.  Love him.  One of the FQ10 trainers wrote a piece for the newsletter:

“Exercise As Medicine”

By Brett Klika, Director of Athletics at Fitness Quest 10*

In America, too many people view exercise as medicine for an ailment. When you get fat, take exercise until you’re not fat. Exercise is not medicine. You take medicine for a brief period of time until you are no longer sick. Exercise is merely using our body the way it was designed to be used. It’s a lifestyle we were created to lead, not some trendy novelty.

Years ago, we didn’t have to think about creating opportunities to be physical. Very few things in our lives were automated, so our daily activities were enough to keep everything going. Right now, we have very little, if any daily activity requirements. We have to create them. If you don’t use it, you will lose it. You’re body runs a tight ship. It frequently goes through a “spring cleaning” process to get rid of anything it doesn’t need. If we don’t create daily reasons for our body to keep moving, it will stop. When your body stops, it hurts. It’s debilitating and you begin to suffer.

How do you plan to live your later years? You want to be able to walk? You better be walking quite a bit right now. You want to be able to pick up your grandchildren? You better be picking up heavy stuff on a daily basis right now. You want your heart to beat? You better be giving it good reason to beat hard every day! You don’t have to go to aerobics class, lift weights, or play a sport. You don’t have to strive to look like a model. You do, however, need to do something that gives your mind, body, and soul a reason to show up to work.

 _________________

Perhaps we should re-think exercise in our lives.  As a means to an end we all want.  Let’s work toward that end every day and see what happens! 

I’m here if you’re struggling with exercise and your diabetes. 

*Brett Klika, Director of Athletics at Fitness Quest 10 is an international speaker, educator, author, and motivator with 17 years experience in the realm of training and coaching. Through writing, speaking, and various other forms of media, Brett educates and inspires trainers and clients all over the world to optimize their lives through wellness.

No comments »

Posted in Living with Type 1 Diabetes, My Soapbox, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

More On Motivation

March 23rd, 2011

I seem to be on a “motivation” kick and I’m not sure what that says about me. 

I talked last week about motivation to exercise and motivation to keep exercising.  But what about the long haul? How does one keep at it?

Sure, there are peaks and valleys in anyone’s fitness routines.  I’ve been struggling since the time change, for example, and I usually take time after a significant running event (10k or longer) to work out differently– without running a step—for a few days or weeks.

I sometimes dedicate a short run (less than an hour is short when it comes to marathon running) to a specific idea or specific problem I’m having in my life that I want to work on.  It gets me started and by the end of the route I am always thinking about something else… there is something zen-like about working out, for me, and that is something that keeps me coming back for more. 

In general, though, the following ideas from Breanne George, editor of Women’s Running, are ones I find particularly useful on days I just can’t believe I have to work out.  You can find the full article here, but what follows is my take on four of the seven ideas listed.

Set Goals

If I’m feeling like I’m happy to sit around in the background and while away my days on the couch, I contemplate signing up for a run.  Or, I look at the runs coming up in the next month or so and figure out whether or not I want to do any of them.  If that still doesn’t do it for me, I try something I’ve never done before, just to see if I can do it.  (It’s the kind of thing that gets me searching out the Army physical fitness tests.)  Even if I have to put in some work to accomplish the goal, I’m not laying around eating bon-bons so it’s all good.

Keep Track

This is one I really wish I had started a long time ago.  I thought it was so cool last year when I pulled up the report to see how many miles I logged in 2010.  (Then, of course, I made a new goal to beat that number in 2011.)  I absolutely know I have gotten faster as I devote more attention to my running and I absolutely know I have gotten stronger by lifting heavier weights, but I wish I had a really good “before” snapshot of what my training used to be.  I would love to be able to quietly pat myself on the back for all the work I’ve put in, and all of my achievements.

 Share Goals

I realized a couple of years ago that I actually benefit from sharing my workouts and my running goals with my bootcampers. (I can’t explain why, but I used to think for sure they didn’t care what I was doing for my own fitness.  I was wrong!)  If I tell them I’ve got a marathon coming up, they will check in with me and it just feels nice to have that kind of support.  More support = better living.

Spice Things Up

I do this one all the time.  I can’t stand to run the same route!  I think it’s fun to purposefully run on a street I’ve never been on before, or run a regular route in reverse.  (Although, this weekend it did backfire a bit because I got lost a little and ended up running an extra mile.)  It changes what I do and what I see just enough to keep my mind in the game.

A lot of staying in the game and working out is mental.  That’s what makes it so fun!

No comments »

Posted in My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

Sticking With Exercise (Part 2 of 2)

March 18th, 2011

Yesterday I wrote about the first two of the four most critical factors that stop people from sticking with an exercise program; today I’m tackling the remaining two.

As you know, Dr. Bryant listed the four most critical factors for exercise adherence:

  1. Injuries
  2. Time
  3. Boredom
  4. Results

Now to the tough ones.

BOREDOM.  I’ll put it right out there: this one confuses me a bit.  I think that I get bored all. the. time.  Really!  My attention span is remarkably short; I just hide it fairly well most of the time.

But that boredom, or rather trying to avoid that boredom, is essential when it comes to fitness.  Our bodies get bored with the same workout just like our brains get bored with the same old, same old.  By mixing up our workouts we can kill two boring birds with one stone! 

Get off the cardio machine at the gym and go outside for a walk, run, or interval workout.  Get on your bike and go someplace new.  Try a Zumba class.  Try a rockclimbing class!  There are so many gyms, classes, parks and rec offerings that are currently at rock bottom prices (check out any of the daily deal websites!) I simply don’t think there is a valid excuse for being bored with your workouts.

RESULTS. We all want them.  It’s a major motivator for most of us!  But geez they can take a long time to show up.  Bryant recommends keeping an exercise log, and I absolutely agree.  When you can look back on your log and see how many workouts you fit in, how many miles you logged, how many minutes you spent improving your physical self, that’s pretty cool.  It’s nice and free of judgments—it’s only listing what you’ve already accomplished—and is a silent little pat on the back every time you look at it.  You are capable of making progress every day—why not recognize that?  That progress is a result in itself.

Staying free of serious injury, making exercise a priority, beating boredom and seeing results are each necessary for continual exercise success.  Good thing we are all capable of this success in our lives!

Don’t let anything stand in your way; go for it!!

No comments »

Posted in Living with Type 1 Diabetes, My Soapbox, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

Sticking With Exercise

March 17th, 2011

If you have ever battled the motivation gods, emerged victorious, and started following a regular exercise program, you probably know what can happen next.

You stop exercising.

Augh!  That wasn’t supposed to happen!!  You were supposed to start with your New Year’s Resolution and stay with the program!! 

Ah; but we’ve all been there.  Looking through one of my old fitness professional magazines, I came across an article written by Cedric Bryant, Ph. D., the chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise, about sticking with exercise programs.

And, as I am wont to do, I thought I’d share his wisdom here.

Dr. Bryant summarizes the four most critical factors for exercise adherence are:

  1. Injuries
  2. Time
  3. Boredom
  4. Results

Each one makes sense!  You don’t want to exercise if you’re hurt (or fear you will get hurt).  You don’t want to exercise if you feel like you barely have time to get dressed in the morning much less spend 30 minutes sweating!  You won’t keep doing something that bores you (unless you are unusual), and you won’t keep doing something if you have to wait 5 years to see any result. 

So how to battle THESE potential roadblocks?  I’ll go through the first two today and the rest tomorrow.

INJURY.  Of course, first plan for injuries when exercising is to avoid them.  But how often does Plan A work?  You need to make sure that you are being smart when you exercise—don’t go so hard too quickly that your body won’t recover.  Exercise really is breaking down your body, resting and rebuilding, and then repeating the process.  Give yourself enough rest and start slowly and safely.  If you do twist your ankle, rest until you are itching to get back… and then wait another 2-5 days to make sure. 

TIME.  I think a lot of people just don’t put a lot of importance on exercise in their lives.  Chances are you have a load of time in your day that you don’t even know about!  If you make exercise a priority, it will happen.  I read something once about a science teacher who gave his class a jar and both large and small stones; the assignment was to put all of the stones in the jar. 

After several tries, the students saw that the stones all fit in the jar only when they placed the big ones in first.  (Turns out the same exact thing happens with dishes in the dish rack; try it!)

Make sure that your exercise is one of the big stones in your life, and the other smaller things will still fit if you need them to.  I promise.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

No comments »

Posted in My Soapbox, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

What Motivates You to Exercise?

March 16th, 2011

I was thinking about motivation this morning.  (As I lay in bed, waiting for the next snooze alarm to blare my poor husband awake for no reason.  Poor guy; his wife’s alarm clock blares Spanish radio every three minutes every morning until she finally gets up… and neither of us speak Spanish…)

Anyway.  Motivation.

When it comes to exercise, how do you get out there and start moving every day, or every other day, or three days a week, or very hopefully not every three years?               

It isn’t logic.  Logic isn’t enough to motivate any of us to exercise each day.  Sure, I can speak and type until I’m blue in the face and develop carpal tunnel syndrome about the benefits to exercise—health benefits, mental benefits, emotional benefits, caloric benefits, anti-aging benefits, physical appearance benefits…

But that isn’t always what we need.  If knowledge were all the motivation we needed, we would all eat right all the time and exercise just the right amount without needing anything more.

It’d nearly put us fitness professionals out of business!

So what else could motivate us to exercise?

Fear is a potential motivator.  I don’t think it’s a good one, though, so I don’t ever use it.  At least, I try to never use it.   Although, knowing that nothing good comes of being inactive, there may be an element of fear in the motivation to exercise.

Then again, if you’ve got a beach vacation coming up, you’re probably scared enough by the thought of yourself in a swimsuit to get you moving!  So maybe fear can be put to good use as a motivator.

Positive feedback is a great motivation to exercise.  I see and hear about it all the time: bootcampers and clients who have been working out for a few weeks love to report all of the comments and compliments they’ve received from friends, coworkers, and family members.

Not to mention their own feedback on how strong and energetic they have become!  Exercise can be very rewarding on several different levels, and that feedback can be powerful enough to keep you motivated.

Another aside: I Googled “what motivates you” and got all kinds of results on job interview questions.  I can’t believe someone asks a potential employee what motivates them.  Isn’t money #1 but we can’t say that so what they’re really asking is how well you can blow smoke in an interview?  What does that tell a potential employer?!  Sigh.

But that’s a good point: none of us amateur athletes get paid for exercising.  I wonder if we did, if it would be just as difficult to get out there?

For me, I rely on many different sources of motivation every day to work out.  Yes, sometimes I just enjoy it but there are a lot of other days I would rather be doing something else.  Fear motivates me sometimes, positive feedback motivates me other times, seeing friends on a run motivates me too.  Sometimes it’s a vague sense of competition (Peggy did lunges because I did lunges and because she did lunges I have to do more lunges), a lot of the time I rely on the knowledge that exercise is good for me for so many reasons I don’t have time to list them individually.

Yet I do still need to be motivated every day.

And I’m still left with the Spanish radio blaring every 3 minutes.  Enough to motivate me to get out of bed in the morning, but not enough to motivate me to get into bed earlier each night!

Are there other things that motivate you to exercise?

1 comment »

Posted in My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

“Mice Prove Exercise Is Anti-Aging”

March 8th, 2011

I’m so glad I’m not a mouse. 

Especially when I read about a study like this one. (I’m keeping my comments short so you have time to read the NYT article.)

The mice in this study have a genetic mutation that makes them age at an accelerated pace.  (If you weren’t already happy you aren’t a mouse…)  Researchers took these mice and separated them into two groups: exercisers and non-exercisers.

The exercising mice at 3 months of age (the human equivalent of age 20) were allowed to run briskly on a wheel for 45 minutes three times a week for five months. 

The non-exercising mice were left to age at their (mutated) “normal” pace.  After 8 months (human equivalent of 60 years) they were extremely frail and decrepit.

The exercising mice were still youthful and maintained almost all of their muscle mass and brain volume.

Good work, exercising mice! 

So who’s up for some quality exercise today?  I am, after reading this!

No comments »

Posted in I Can't Believe Someone Got Paid to Conduct This Study, My Soapbox, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

Exercise Motivation: As Elusive As A Double Rainbow…

March 7th, 2011

I was thinking to myself as I ran this morning before D.O. it Bootcamp! that there must be a reason I was one of only four people out and exercising at 5:00am.  (Two walkers, Two Runners, 1 Dog who I’m not counting attached to the other runner.)  I remembered my mom asking me a number of months ago if I ever skip a workout.

And I realized maybe you’d be interested to read how I get myself to work out at ungodly hours or inconvenient times six days a week.

 1.       I think of a reason for now that will get me to work out now.

It may be a blood sugar reason (if I have started a temp basal and skip the workout I’ll be high), it may be a scheduling reason like today’s 4am wakeup call (don’t have time to do it later), it may be a separate motivation altogether (I think my energy level is better at bootcamp if I’ve already gotten a run in beforehand).  Whatever that reason is, I value it and use it to get me that much closer to the start line.

2.       I think of a reason for later that will get me to work out now.

The “later” here can come in many many different forms: it can be 3 months away when I run a marathon; it can be 20 years from now when I schedule an appointment for a bone scan to evaluate my bone density.  It can be an upcoming trip, an upcoming 5k event, an upcoming season and clothing options that accompany that season.  It can be a dinner out later in the week. 

There are many different future goals and times and events that I know are coming, but what I pay attention to is how much I will appreciate THEN at that point what I invest NOW in my workout.  It’s a big part of my motivation.

3.       I stop thinking and DO IT.

I can procrastinate a workout a lot better than I can procrastinate writing a blog—and that’s saying something!  I can procrastinate a workout so well that some days I opt to not set a temp basal in advance since I can’t depend on when I will actually begin my workout. 

Yet in the end the only thing that really matters is whether or not I actually did work out.  So one of the most effective techniques I’ve found to motivate myself to work out is… to… go… work… out.  Just get out there and go.

When I have what feels like a potentially stressful month coming up, I will sit for 15-30 minutes in front of a calendar and write down what workouts I will do what days.  (For marathon training this kind of planning is essential.)  This helps me later in the month when my mind is going a mile a minute to simply look at the calendar and do as it instructs. 

When I STOP THINKING and START WORKING a lot of things fall into place.

Nice.

Then again, I am what some might call a Professional Motivator.  Maybe your March Challenge includes me!  Think  about it:  Do you need some additional accountability to someone when it comes to your workouts?  Do you want some extra help planning what to do what days or how to get across a certain finish line?  I’d love to work with you no matter where you are if you want to face Spring and Summer with a more fit self.  Check out the Be Fit page at Diabetes Outside!

No comments »

Posted in Living with Type 1 Diabetes, My Soapbox, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized

Can You Recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

March 3rd, 2011

I happen to know that I have forgotten a piece of the Pledge of Allegiance.  I know this because I had my bootcampers doing pushups while they recited it a couple of weeks ago… and realized I couldn’t get much past “to the flag of the United States of America” without needing a prompt.

To be fair to myself, I didn’t have the same 8 years of daily recitation in grade school into junior high that most people did—my French class was at that time for my last two years of it so my last two years I “jou’ed fidelite” en francais rather than in English.

But that is so incredibly not my point here it’s somewhat embarrassing.

My point was to share this study.

Essentially, the researchers took 14 non-competitive runners (I’m not sure precisely what that means, for the record, as I think every runner needs to have SOME competitive streak inside them to get them across whatever finish line, even if the finish line is back at their front door) and tried to find out where they reached their best training zones. 

They found something that doesn’t require fancy gadgets or contraptions or tortuous death traps.  Nope, they just used the Pledge of Allegiance.

When exercising at about or below the level appropriate for their level of training, all runners were able to recite The Pledge of Allegiance comfortably.

Please notice, this was NOT a maximal training schedule or interval work to increase lactate threshold: the point of the study was to confirm a specific level that everyone could reach on their own and gauge independently. 

Looks like they found it in the stars and stripes!

So take this with you today: are you able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with comfortable difficulty or is it so simple you could sing it?  Try to reach a speed when you are walking or running that makes your recitation of whatever you choose just this side of a challenge.

If you want help figuring out a plan for your springtime fitness, I’m here!  We can meet in person, over the phone, Skype, email; whatever works for you!

Another aside: The Diabetic Youth Foundation is holding two fundraising walks this spring!  One in Sacramento CA and the other in the Bay Area (Fremont).  They are looking for walkers and for FUNraisers!! https://www.facebook.com/familiesintheforest

One month to get 20 more teams and $30000 for the Sacramento walk. Can it be done??? I do believe it can. If Bearskin Meadow Camp, Families in the Forest Walk & FUNraiser for DYF or diabetes has been a part of your life, it’s time to register and FUNraise!!! Go to www.firstgiving.com/dyf to join the Sacramento 2011 walk on April 10th :)

DIABETIC YOUTH FOUNDATION

www.firstgiving.com

The mission of the Diabetic Youth Foundation is to improve the quality of life for children, teens and families affected by diabetes. The Foundation provides education and recreation within a supportive community, encouraging personal growth, knowledge and independence.

No comments »

Posted in I Can't Believe Someone Got Paid to Conduct This Study, My Soapbox, My Workouts, Random Musings, Uncategorized