word wrecker

Goal Post #19 intention: schedule visit to a doctor It isn't obvious, but if you track certain details about my life scattered through these posts you might have figured something out. Working a dizzying variety of crappy and not so crappy jobs means I didn't have any health or dental insurance at all in my twenties or the first part of my thirties. When the affordable care act passed, I was in graduate school happily utilizing the on-campus health services. For those three years, my lady bits and brain were taken care of beautifully. Before that, my reproductive health had been wonderfully cared for by Planned Parenthood and I am endlessly grateful to that organization. Access to affordable health care and birth control means I've never needed an abortion. But, for almost twenty years I didn't go to the dentist at all. Not one single visit or cleaning. At first, this was simply because it wasn't affordable. Then, after about ten years, it had been so long I g...

Goal Post #18 follow up At the beginning of this month, I thought finding a primary suspect for extra salt intake was going to be easy. Potatoes are one of my favorite things and potato chips are almost the best form potatoes can take, besides french fries, tater tots, home fried, roasted or mashed potatoes. Did I mention I like potatoes? Just like trying to reduce sugar, instead of a blanket ban I started by focusing on limiting problem foods. In February this meant dessert, so this month it meant chips and other salty goodness. Ten days in and I was at a loss. Even without my beloved spuds, my sodium intake stayed above average seven out of nine days. My approach clearly wasn't working. Attempting a more blanket approach limiting all foods that tend to be high in sodium  was intimidating because that list gets looong , but it was worth a shot. By the end of the month, I had tried, believe me, but I exceeded sodium intake fifteen out of thirty days. On the positive side, the...

Side Post #2  Phantom fat and the magic number The Magic Number  Saturday, November 10, 2018 I went below my secret goal weight and kind of freaked out. Let me explain. Starting this process, I told myself the goal was to lose thirty-three pounds and at least 10% body fat. The ideal weight for my height is between thirty and forty pounds less than I weighed two years ago, so these were reasonable goals. But, when I finally hit those marks it was fine. Like, I was glad, but didn't feel a sense of real accomplishment like when I finished writing Gently or even the rush of excitement I'd felt when I saw I'd lost twenty pounds. Loosing those thirty-three pounds was a good thing, a goal achieved, and I was happy with my success. Just a little sad I'd somehow missed the endorphin high. Then without warning, my weight fell below the number I'd hidden in my head. My secret goal weight, if you will. When I saw I'd lost thirty-five pounds reflected on the scale it...

Goal Post #18 intention: reduce salt intake My family is a salty bunch, literally and figuratively. Early in their relationship my mom actually stopped cooking with salt because of how liberally dad salted everything before tasting. My sweet tooth as a child kept me from identifying with dad's sodium obsession until suddenly in my twenties savory became my favorite flavor. Right now, salt probably isn't hurting my health. After all, dad (who regularly snacked on saltines topped with cheddar cheese) didn't have to start taking blood pressure medication until he was well into his fifties. Plus, I am routinely accused by Nic of not salting enough when I cook. But, according to my fitness app, I often exceed the daily recommended intake. So I'm willing to take a moment to figure out how to reduce my intake.

Goal Post #17 follow up When I chose titles for these two goal posts I had a completely different intention in mind for the month of March (to eat more veggies) and it wasn't clear how the alliterative idiom would relate. When I changed the intention to a workout I hoped the injury part wouldn't happen. Oh well. Ten days into the new HIIT workout routine my right hip started giving me trouble. Aching, popping, generally feeling old, etc., but I kept at it. After all, a slight ache shouldn't block the goal. However, I did start paying better attention to form and slowing down with things like squats to avoid really hurting myself. Seventeen days in it was time to change things up a bit. First, I removed the bent over delt-raises and replaced it with a bear crawl shoulder tap  and moved triceps extension to just after squats. At the literal half-way mark in this five week experiment some results were already apparent. First, my yoga poses felt more stable and I could ...

Side post #1 Earlier I've discussed my attempts to start practicing meditation and how taking even five minutes can help when you're stressed. What I haven't talked about yet is how meditating, even sporadically 5-15 mins at a time, influenced my workout habits. Starting out with exercise almost two years ago, I needed lots of distraction during walks, yoga, and on bike rides. Music and audiobooks provided this in spades. Music especially helped during planks and burpees. With planks, the time goes faster and a good quick tempo helps set a pace for burpees. Late last summer I realized that not only had it become easier to walk, practice yoga, and bike ride in silence, there were times it was preferable. This ties into meditation because becoming comfortable with silence is a big part of finding stillness and peace of mind. No space is ever completely silent, but turning down my own noise lets us hear all the smaller sounds that surround us. Right now, I just comple...

Goal Post #17 Intention: regular HIIT workout Daily planks and yoga have done wonders for eliminating my back pain and overall muscle tone, but my cardiovascular, bone and joint health could improve if I occasionally did more intense exercise. After all, just saying I'm considering doing more burpees didn't actually translate into more burpees. Additionally, the workout I'm starting includes weight lifting so we're way into uncharted territory now. Also breaking with routine, I started doing this workout the last Friday in February, a full week before March started. The goal is at least three HIIT workouts per week without scrapping daily five minute yoga and 90 second planks on the off days. After getting comfortable with the current rotation of moves I'll see if mixing it up works for me or throws off the whole routine. After all, I am a delicate system who does not handle change easily. HIIT workout with 30 second intervals with 15 second rests burpees  ...