Fit Friday

This is my first Friday since starting C25K to report I did NO exercise this week (unless tackling laundry counts). We were in Savannah for a long weekend and I did walk almost the whole time (including up stairs) but otherwise, this whole week has been a wash…and I don’t mean the laundry.

But, it was interesting timing. And I started thinking about health differently. I’ve done several posts about my quest to learn more about what I’m fueling my body with, what I’m indulging in and how I’m conditioning my body to make sure it takes me through this life for as long as possible (to keep experiencing new things of course!).

Being aware of what I eat and burning the calories I consume…yeah, yeah, I got it.

What I am now considering is all the things that you don’t directly control or often figure in as you are constantly bombarded with slimming undergarment commercials and chia seed recipes…the value of mental and internal health.

I’ve shared before that our dog, Alaska, was diagnosed with cancer last December.  Mr. Greenhorn had surgery today. And lately, I’ve been feeling stressed and a little glum about my workout progress. Like I was slipping into sedentary old ways. But it wasn’t until I read Susan’s post about a health body image being more important than just a healthy body and Emily’s post about not having to run a marathon to did it all tie together in a nice little package.

Thanks Oprah!

 

If you don’t follow Emily’s or Susan’s blog, they’re amazing and worth visiting right away! But two points about Susan specifically: a) she’s 25, a personal trainer and wellness specialist; and b) she has cancer. She is an extremely healthy person…with cancer. It blew my mind to think of that way. Not that a healthy person could get cancer, but that she was still healthy, she just also had cancer.

Following her perspective has given me just that–a broader perspective. It wasn’t a lack of green vegetables or 90 years of chain-smoking hard living catching up to her (not that anyone “should” have cancer!). But I want to be grateful for each day and that perspective was a great reminder.

Grateful that I’m a person who doesn’t have to take blood pressure medication or sit through dialysis, but also, should that happen, still grateful and hopefully finding ways to incorporate things I love into each day.  Not giving up on myself. Especially just because I didn’t run this week.

I think I’ll look into a (as much as I hate even the sound of the phrase) gym membership. I have loved running outside but it’s not as sustainable as I had planned. I think I’m also up for a new challenge. Maybe trying a treadmill workout again. Maybe spinning. Maybe incorporating my first love, dance.

Hmmmmm…I guess spending 7 hours in a waiting room has left me feeling melancholy. I certainly don’t mean it as a whiny or cliche post. It’s an honest recount of my recent revelations (no matter how overdue to obvious they seem once I re-read this). What do you consider healthy? How do you sustain a workout routine? Or how do you make peace with yourself regardless?

Have a great weekend. Make it great! Because that’s healthier 😉