Apr 14, 2013

It’s Been Awhile

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Hello there. The title of this post refers to a number of things:

1) My last post – this is my first post of April and I just realized the month is practically half over. How the heck did that happen?

My work held its annual national convention last weekend and the week leading up to it was really busy at the office. The convention itself was quite tiring – four 15-hour days on my feet without much sleep, fresh air, healthy food or exercise. I spent most of this past week recovering from that, as well as tying up loose ends back at the office, so I guess that’s how the first two weeks of April flew by without my even noticing it. Or posting anything. Oops!

2) My last run – inspired by the somewhat decent weather (relatively speaking – we had a nasty freezing rain storm last week), I went for a run this morning, my first run since October. As you can imagine, it did not go well – I was done after 30 minutes. I was feeling kind of discouraged about it until I read this post from last April about starting up running again after winter. The same thing happened last year too. No big deal. I’ll build up my endurance again (and let it all go the second it gets cold again).

3) My last climb – I haven’t been to Climber’s Rock since my last post at the end of March. Josh and I are planning to go with some friends this afternoon – hopefully, I won’t suck too badly after a couple weeks off.

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4) I set a goal – I haven’t done a monthly goal post in forever, so here are my goals for the remaining weeks of April:

  • Write more – in January, I started writing a book and actually got a decent amount done. Then Josh and I went on vacation and I got out of the habit of writing and it’s been a struggle to get back to it since. My goal is to commit to just 30 minutes a day, even when I don’t feel like writing (that’s how I got the ball rolling in the first place).
  • Save more money – Josh and I want to finish our basement this year so we need to start putting away more money every month. We’ve been really good and consistent about saving since we moved in together but I just want to up the ante a little.
  • Eat just a little bit better – I love how relaxed I’ve become about my diet in recent months but at the same time, there’s a difference between letting go of silly food rules and completely abandoning basic nutrition principles. I ate really poorly last weekend and want to eat a little better – more home cooked foods, more vegetables, fewer treats – going forward.

That’s all for today – is it too late to say Happy April?

Filed Under: Running ·
Aug 21, 2012

Songza Saved My Run

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It’s no secret that I’m not exactly in love with running these days but sometimes it’s my last resort for a good workout. Like on weekends when all of my regular Les Mills teachers are at Can Fit Pro.

That’s the situation I found myself in on Sunday and, honestly, I probably would’ve skipped my run had it not been for Songza.

Songza is a free iPhone app that lets you pick streaming playlists based on the time of day and activity you’re doing – for example, working out, relaxing at home, driving, getting ready to go out, etc.

Music is a big motivator for me when I’m working out (I think that’s why I love Les Mills classes so much – the music is such a big part of the workout) so I was actually excited to go for a run and check out some of the playlists. Some of my favourites so far: “Feeling Good in the 90s,” “Buns of Steel Workout” and “90210 Slumber Party” (can you take a wild guess as to which decade I grew up in?).

Having all of these songs I hadn’t heard in years (think Hanson, Savage Garden, OMC, The Gin Blossoms, C+C Music Factory, Color Me Badd) pop up during my run made the whole thing really fun. Instead of fixating on how much longer I had to go, I was pumped up to hear the next long lost 90s gem Songza would throw my way. In fact, I’d say the unpredictability of it is what makes it such an awesome app.

Definitely check out this app next time you’re in a workout playlist rut.

What are your favourite sources for new workout music?

Filed Under: Motivation, Running · Tagged:
Jul 17, 2012

Run Fat Bitch Run

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I read about this book in the paper yesterday and just had to check it out on Amazon.

The basic premise of the book is this: if you’re overweight, you need to cut the bullshit, admit to yourself that you’re fat, stop procrastinating and start running. Even if you absolutely hate it, force yourself to run daily.

When you don’t feel like running, stand in front of a mirror and berate yourself into going by calling yourself names and pinching at rolls of fat.

As for diet, don’t worry about that. Changing your diet is too hard and you’ll only set yourself up for failure if you try (which kinda flies in the face of the whole “just suck it up and do it because it’s good for you” approach, but anyway…)

And my favourite part – don’t bother trying to find activities you like. Running is the only exercise that’s challenging enough to result in weight loss.

So many things wrong with the above, I don’t know where to begin:

1. You can’t out exercise a bad diet and if you’re not keeping track of your food intake, it’s likely you’ll end up eating even more as a result of all that running. Telling overweight women that they don’t have to worry about making healthy dietary changes is just dumb.

2. There are many other activities that are arguably more effective for weight loss than running. Hours of steady state cardio is a very inefficient and, in many cases, ineffective way to lose fat. There’s a reason why many people gain weight while training for endurance events.

3. It’s pretty hard to commit an hour a day to an activity you hate (even if you adopt a tough love approach). Discouraging women from trying out a variety of activities until they find something they like or at least can tolerate seems counterproductive to the cause of getting women to incorporate fitness into their daily lives.

4. What about strength training?!?

5. The whole standing in front of the mirror and calling yourself a fat bitch seems a little cray-cray.

The only part I agree with is that a lot of people do need to suck it up and stop making excuses for not exercising. Sticking to a healthy lifestyle requires discipline and occasionally you have to stop being a baby and just accept that, no, you can’t have that slice of cake and, yes, you do have time to get to the gym.

Beyond that, I think following this woman’s advice is a recipe for disaster.

Running is not the holy grail of weight loss. No one exercise is. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now – the most effective workout is the one you’ll actually stick to. If you have to resort to negative self-talk to get yourself to run, maybe you should find another activity.

What are your thoughts on the approach Ruth Field is advocating? 

Filed Under: Motivation, Running · Tagged: ,
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