Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Give it a Break

Are you working out, balls to the wall, 7 days a week, and are still a chunky monkey? If you really want to see RESULTS then XtraXtreme fitness is for you!! You will be, LITERALLY VOMITING UP YOUR STOMACH LINING 3 times per workout!
Just kidding! You just need to stop eating crap and give yourself a break. I like fitness professionals. They are my friends and coworkers. I have worked with a personal trainer, and I have a blast in group fitness classes. One strange observation I have made however, is how workouts are getting more and more intense, yet people are not getting more and more fit. It is like scaling a mountain and doing jumping jacks at the top. Lame - settle down and take a photo! I am of acquaintance with a woman who spends an exorbitant amount of cash on her gym rat lifestyle, and I am quite sure the effort is only going of offset takeout meals and binge drinking. To each his own, but I get exhausted just thinking about such a "work hard, play hard, die young of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress lifestyle." Ugh. She has great intentions, and I must admit that I am choosing to pick on her because she was recently close talking me in the locker room when I really needed some personal space to put on my underroos. In defense of my seemingly lame, low-intensity workouts -- My favorite workout is walking. Walking outside is definitely the best. Take a friend and some cash, get lunch, get your vitamin D, practice socializing outside of Faceworld. When it is chilly, I like to walk on a treadmill on an incline and listen to music that makes me feel like I am clubbing. This is from a walk in Dundee on Underwood Street. I took a picture becuase it WAS pointing toward my home!
I love a crazy wild workout that leaves me sopping wet and delirious, but humans are not made to exert that much intensity every day. Pretty soon we will be paying for boot camp for kids sponsored by McDonald's. Just think about the whole idea of eating something that you will have to "burn off" later. It is really a strange concept - and a big sum zero game. Gimme an apple and a yoga class - you can keep your chicken fingers and aerobics Xtreme. When I feel overwhelmed I {try} to meditate on a calming mantra to refocus. This one is particularly good for when I notice myself pushing a little too hard for no reward beyond exhaustion -- Be strong, it isn't always going to be easy, but have faith, it doesn't always have to be hard.
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About Sam

I am a writer in Omaha, Nebraska sharing my adventures in the foundations of healthy living - nutrition, being active, and being funny.

I was born in Kansas City in the sweltering summer of July, 1986. I was nearly born in the car because I was so pumped to get my life started. I have been bouncing off of the walls ever since. Growing up I hung out with the big kids who were even older than my sister (and best friend) Allie. I quickly developed an "I'm over it" 'tude toward kids my own age whose pastimes seemed juvenile - an interesting perspective coming from a preschooler. My snobbish worldview was hard earned however, as I was forced to learn both multiplication and division early to keep up when we played "school," and I was always forced to do dangerous stuff first to make sure it was okay, like eating unidentified berries and making the first run on super steep hills while sledding. We biked all day, ate wild honeysuckle, painted the house with mud, and collected cicada shells for no reason other than they stick to fabric and freaked my mom out.

I quickly realized that even little legs can get you as far as a car can, and as a young child, you really have nothing but time. My adventures were only restrained by the fact that adults do not find it acceptable for young children to explore the town on foot unaccompanied. I prematurely developed a desire to be an independent self-supporting person, so I opened a Kool-Aid/popcorn business to finance my big plans. Looking back, I would say that the only issues holding me back were my limited advertising budget and the fact that I was still too short to ride roller coasters. People just don't take you seriously when you can't go on the upside-down rides.

I was moved to Omaha in the second grade. I continued walking all over the place, exploring surrounding neighborhoods and visiting grocery stores to pick up my favorites: Goldfish, Sprite, and sugar cigarettes. I don't even think you can buy those anymore, and for the record, I never started smoking.

I never lost my hard work ethic, and I needed to increase my income to afford my new hobbies of beading and Polaroid photography. At the age of ten I mailed in a response to an advertisement for paper delivery routes without discussing the issue with my family. Sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands when people don't share you vision. The people at the Omaha World Herald must have had a good feeling about me becuase they contacted my parents to tell them that they wanted to hire me but would feel better if there was an older family member onboard. I still wonder if Allie holds any resentment toward me for pulling her into the labor force when she was only twelve.

In third grade, I followed Allie's lead and began taking dance classes at Mary Lorraine's Dance Center. For the next eleven years it became "what I did." Nowadays, I train more like an athlete, but I will always move like a dancer, and being in a studio will always feel like home.

After high school I relocated again (this time of my own volition) to study "everything" in the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I acquired a degree in marketing and finance that I may use someday. More importantly, I became a close friend and Alpha Phi sister with a cross country runner who easily persuaded me to train for the 2005 Lincoln half-marathon. I have been running ever since. In April 2011 I developed plantar fasciitis after jumping into an intense 50-70 mile/week schedule. This is the first athletic injury in my life. Although it has been indescribably frustrating both physically and emotionally, the silver lining is my increased receptivity to more variety in fitness disciplines.

I enjoy Pilates, yoga, enjoy Zumba, plyometric interval training, running, walking, and seeing how quickly I can run up stairs without losing my lunch. When I am too exhausted to move, I read and write. I love fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, poetry, philosophy, song lyrics, and comedy. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I love spell check, and felt tip pens.

I am happy and optimistic most of the time. I enjoy living simply and deeply. I hope you enjoy what I have to share.







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