pollyblog

My first blog entry, EVER

My friend Cindi said she saw blogging in my future. Well, the future is here people. I am now officially a blogger. Thank you for joining me. I haven't a clue what I'm doing but I'm sure, like everything else I do, I'll learn as I go along.
 
So yesterday I went to the new health club with my younger, more fit neighbor Carie. She told me about this class called Total Conditioning that focused on strength building using all kinds of contraptions like weigh bars, rubber bands, dumbells, a step. There may have been more torture devices but those are all I can recall at the moment.   Part way through the class, after wiping the sweat out of my eyes so I could see, I look over at Carie and she is looking fit and  perky as ever while I’m wondering if maybe I should have bought that heart rate monitor afterall. I may have looked like I was doing push ups and squats and lunges but really I was planning my strategy for how to get to the first aid counter before passing out. I did find some comfort in the fact that Carie is a physician and would surely recognize signs of distress in me before I dropped dead.
   
I’m happy to report I made it through the class. I was feeling pretty good before bed last night, too, but took a couple of ibuprofen just in case.
   
Fast forward to today….walking up the stairs has taken on new meaning. Every step is done with conscious awareness of the muscles in the back of my thighs, buttocks, and inner thighs. I would have happily convalesced today but luckily for me my 12-step (as in walking buddy) sponsor, Deb, called to say, “we are walking today, right?” That loosened me up some but I think a sauna and steam room are in order this evening. 
   
Look forward to my entry in a few weeks when I’m boasting about how fit and strong I feel, if I don’t end up in the hospital first.

Later that day

It seems people are starting to wonder if I have too much time on my hands, what with my recent obsession with youtube and now blogging. But I’ve had some great responses to my blog so far. Apparently I’ve been very inspiring, too. I inspired Veronica to exercise - in her own unique way. She had been reading about shaping up for summer and getting rid of belly fat, hoping that the mere fact that she took the time to read the article and study the pictures would start the process, when she decided to make a quiche.

She wrote:
Actually your blog has motivated me to walk quickly through the grocery store to gather the ingredients for my quiche. I will use exaggerated motion while shaking the cream. Who knows, I may pull a muscle beating the eggs with my old mixer. As I bend over to put the quiche in and out of the oven I will try to use my core strength and squatting type movement. When the kids leave some on their plates I will not eat it until I am back in the kitchen over the sink doing calf raises with every bite. Through all of this I will try to remember to hold my stomach in and do Kegels for the rest of the day.

Well done, Veronica. That’s the way to replace old, unproductive behaviors with new ones.

Having talented, creative friends in my life is a bit like my theory on owning a boat. Boats take so much upkeep and mechanical prowess and money - it’s really better to have a friend with a boat. Well, that’s how I am regarding talent and creativity. I surround myself with talented, creative friends who do the work for me and then all I have to do is relay the information to others. Voila. Another blog entry is born.