Tag: workout

Workout Express Circa 2004

I found this picture from December 2004, from when I was going to Workout Express three to four times per week (after working 9 to 5 at an office).  I am even wearing their t-shirt in the picture, and my cheeks are flushed from having just done a workout, and then driven home.

I was dedicated.  Until I wasn’t.  

It is truly exceptional to not only get fit, but to also stay fit.  I tried to get fit and stay fit many times since my year at Workout Express.  Did I even make it a year?  Yes, I think I made it a year and a half.  I quit when I changed jobs in April of 2006, because by then I was not going as much as I used to anyway.  When I changed jobs in 2006, I was actually working on “building a career or business.”  Both of those things, in fact.  Helping my husband build his business, and going back to school part time to build myself a new career too.  We were not raising kids full-time, but we were dealing with our fair share of “handling chaos.”  

By the time I started this blog in 2019, I was trying to get fit, for the umpteenth time, and it took me a while to get to where I am today.  Now I am trying to stay fit while “aging.”

Aging has added a layer of difficulty to staying fit, just like building a career and business, and handling chaos did.  Maybe even more of a layer.  And, of course, staying fit while handling chaos still exists.  Unexpectedly this week, a huge sheet of ice slid off a cube van that we passed on the highway going 60 miles an hour, and it basically wiped out the whole front end of our truck!  We were lucky we were not hurt, because it hit our front end, breaking everything through to and including part of the radiator.  But luckily we did not get pushed off the road, and it did not hit or go through the windshield.  Even though we have insurance, there is plenty of chaos filing the claim, extra traveling for repair estimates, then waiting for all repairs to be done, all the while being without the use of the vehicle until it gets completed, etc.  That’s just life.

I have to remember aging is just life too.  I need to adapt to the different signals from my body, and it’s fluctuating and/or changing capabilities.  20 years ago, because I was changing jobs, I basically abandoned Workout Express without a clear plan of what I was going to do instead.  I have now learned that staying fit means staying with fitness routines, and adapting and changing them as necessary, but never abandoning them.  

Walking is Excellent Cardio

Today, I got a “2 for 1” special.  First, I went for my stress test, which overall went very well.  A few “premature ventricular contractions” at the start of the test, and then more PVCs again at the end, when I bent over to re-tie my shoes, (because I told them bending over is when I feel…out of breath…sometimes, so I bent over for a minute with all the leads still hooked up).  

But otherwise, all the walking I do…has paid off.  I have “above average for my age” exercise tolerance.  I know it’s silly, but it was nice to get a “good grade.”  I have identified that I rely far too much on external validation like feeling as though I have just “passed” a test, even a medical test, but overall, I still feel good to have got it done today, and to have confirmation that my consistency with regular cardio exercise—simply walking—has paid off in keeping my heart healthy enough to handle the extra stress of this valve issue.

And instead of having to go back for the 24-hour Holter monitor on Thursday, they saved me the drive, and hooked me up right after my stress test.  It was truly lucky, as at first all 7 units the hospital had at hand this morning were all booked for people today.  But then someone brought one back from their appointment yesterday, and they were able to rebook it out to me before I left.  Woo hoo!

I am so glad all these tests will be done by noon tomorrow!  I am also able to drop my unit off at the health lab in town (15 minutes from my house—small town), instead of driving it another further 25 minutes to the next town—larger town, where the hospital is.   Also, there is a free public skating tomorrow too, so I can go skating, then drop off the monitor.  Perfect! 😊