Oddly enough, I haven’t gained any weight (no, really!) and Chris has lost quite a bit, though I’d have to say that’s as much muscle mass as anything else. And of course, he’s eating better - when you have to eat what someone else brings you, it means no extra salt, no sugar, etc. We’ve broken away from all of the white flour, white sugar, potatoes, etc because I was very concerned about the potential for diabetes; I won’t say it’s been cheap or easy, but it has definitely been an improvement.

Before this happened, I’d have to say I knew nothing about dealing with a back injury. Now I give joint compressions (a friend who’s an occupational therapist taught me how to do them), I know the difference between moist and dry heat, and I supervise as he does his exercises, trying to push those discs back into place. The amount of pain he’s in is like something out of an old horror movie. Hopefully, though, we will get him to a point where he’s functional again - soon.

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And now Westin Hotels is getting in to the act. They have signed a deal with Nintendo to place this new exercise system in ten hotels initially, and if it’s successful moving to a nationwide roll out.  Of course, they won’t be using the same Wii console you have in your living room; the Nintendo Wii Travel system will include a hard drive, several games including Big Brain Academy, and an automatic update  and networking feature to make it easier for the hotel to manage the entire system.

Although it certainly is a great PR move and a headline grabber (I’m blogging about it, aren’t I?), I’m not sure that any video game system, however well designed, takes the place of a more traditional workout when it comes to weight loss. This article on Wired points out that the system as a whole is great for balance type exercises but that the author didn’t really lose any significant amount of weight. Of course, if you’re just looking for a way to stretch out and get your blood flowing, then this might be just the ticket - which is probably why Westin Hotels was interested in the first place.

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So when this new club opened up only a couple miles away, my fella and I hopped in the car for a look around. It’s actually very nice; not even five minutes away and opening at 5am so I could pop in for a workout before work.. or afternoons, even evenings. Plenty of machines, free weights and so forth, and the monthly fee is really reasonable.

For the three of us (my fella and I, and a friend) it’s going to run us $31 a month. That’s not even a dinner out, and I’m in favor of it. I may even splurge and get a trainer once every week or two - they run between $15 and $20 a session, again not too expensive. I think the main thing here is I need to get serious about working out regularly, and hopefully this will give me the incentive to do it.

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“In an overwhelmingly overweight nation that worships thinness, many describe prejudice against the obese as one of the last socially acceptable biases. Advocates for the plus-sized, particularly activists in the “fat acceptance” movement, want obesity to become a category legally protected against discrimination, like religion, race, age and…”

On the one hand, it’s hard to be overweight in social situations. You have to worry about things like, will I fit between those clothing racks or should I go around? Will I be able to fit in the seats at this show, or should I skip it? And of course, if you get to a certain size, people look at you. I know! Even now that I’m getting slimmer (and I still have a long way to go) I am all to familiar with stares and whispered comments.

But - a protected class? I just don’t know. Do I want it to be easier to be heavy? Sure, but maybe in the long run it would simply remove one more incentive to lose the weight. It isn’t easy to lose a large amount of weight - in fact it’s a Herculean task. And I have been really worried about the idea of companies not providing health care to overweight employees. But I just have a hard time picturing myself walking with a picket sign or marching on Washington for “obese rights”.

What do you think? Should obesity be considered a disability? Should the rights of the obese be protected by legislation?

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#1 - Early to bed, early to rise.

With so many activities jam packed into every day, I never slept past 7am and was in bed and snoring by 11pm. Not something I normally accomplish here at home! It’s true that getting enough rest will help overall fitness and well-being, and I don’t have to be on vacation to schedule my day more effectively.

#2 - Eating like a king in the morning and a pauper at night.

Each day we started out with a trip to the breakfast buffet - fresh fruit, eggs, bread pudding and so forth. I normally NEVER eat breakfast at home and end the day with a big meal, but on vacation the exact opposite was true - I woke up famished, and slowly through the course of the day I ate less until I finished the day with a light dinner of fish and veggies. I usually ate my last meal at 7pm which left me with three or four hours before bed to digest it.

#3 - Get out there and exercise!

I spent almost every day walking on one of the many tours they have on Oahu. Not a day went by that I spent less than an hour on my feet and in some notable cases, I ended up covering four or more miles. Was I tired and footsore? Sure, but then again I felt better after a few hours of exercise than I have all spring. Since I got home, I’ve been getting up and getting out for exercise every day and seem to have kept that great "strong" feeling.

#4 - Morning Sunshine!

At home I spent much of every day indoors where the light of the sun never reached. But on vacation all that good exercise was outdoors where I got plenty of sun (wearing sunscreen, of course!). I’m trying to get outside for an hour every day - concurrent with my exercise.

#5 - Hydration is key

By dinner time I was not as hungry and made sure to drink water with my meal (as outlined in one of my earlier posts) but throughout the day I carried water with me to help stay hydrated in the warm tropical sunshine as I walked. It was never easier to stay hydrated (and the water there tastes great!)

The fact is that I can do most of these things right here at home - but sometimes it takes a vacation to get focused and really examine your behavior. I’ve learned a lot and although I haven’t lost much weight the last two weeks, my waist size is definitely decreasing. I may have to change my blog and remove the "weight" tally to be replaced by a "waist" tally since I feel that’s a more accurate representation of my overall health and fitness. What do you think?

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So I found a better way and it’s darned simple. Only drink water with your meals. No pop, no juice, no milk. Just a glass of nice ice cold water. Right out of the gate, you’re getting 3 full glasses a day which is bound to be better than zero. Also, all those other beverages are throwing calories at you. For example, get a pop at a restaurant with free refills, and let’s crunch the numbers:

The average 16 oz. pop - about 200 calories (!)

Now add two refills (pretty average if you’re sitting relaxing with friends and chatting while the friendly waitress refills your glass. Mindless eating or drinking is always dangerous!) Suddenly you just took in 600 calories and you haven’t eaten a thing yet!

Worse still you’re going to be dehydrated because that pop acts as a diuretic, meaning you’re more likely to want another one because you’re thirsty! Switching to water means you’ll drink less, feel more satisfied and also cut your calories This is one of those great mindless changes that results in an effortless health improvement. I’ve also found that drinking more water seems to reduce my headaches. Apparently I wasn’t just migraine prone - I was also running around dehydrated and didn’t know it. Try it for yourself!

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I’ve always had a problem getting up in the morning. Yup, I have a clock, and it has a snooze alarm which I hit WAY too frequently. I often work until the wee hours of the morning (freelance writing sometimes makes for really weird and tight deadlines) Maybe I’ll try moving the clock further away?

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Cheeseburger In A Can

I mean, the GOOD thing about this is, that now I am completely put off from eating cheeseburgers. This can only be a help to my dieting efforts (which are stalled. Not gaining, not losing - don’t you just HATE the doldrums?) It’s just ODD, the idea that you could stuff a cheeseburger in a can, take it out, and still want to eat it. I guarantee it would not look anything like the picture - lettuce? Tomato? Don’t make me laugh - in the future, we get all our vitamins and minerals from PILLS, citizen! No need to ingest anything remotely healthy.

Just imagine how squishy the bun would be when it came out of the can. Ewwww. Has anyone out there ever eaten one of these? What’s the most disgusting “in a can/packet/bottle” food you’ve run into? My close second runner up was at Sam’s Club today - it was “Cappuccino Juice”. I have no idea what it actually was, but it looked exactly like it had been drained out of my septic system. Anyway - I’m interested to hear your nominations for most disgusting packaged food product. Maybe it ought to be a contest…

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I especially liked the idea of housework being part of my exercise routine. Honestly just running up and downstairs to get the phone - why do people always call the office when I’m upstairs, and call my home when I’m downstairs? - can be a real aerobic workout! I’d like to add a couple ideas of my own, also.

11. Doing your housework the hard way? Add another level to it by turning on some loud, dance-able music and boogie out while you’re running that vacuum. You’d be surprised how much fun it is!

12. Running errands? Park at the far end of the parking lot and hustle your butt to the door of the store. The cold works as a great incentive to move and you’re getting in a mini-walk at the same time.

13. When was the last time you cleaned your garage/basement/attic? If you have one, this is a great time of year to get ready for spring by moving all those heavy boxes (strength training), getting the clutter thrown out, and of course running up and down all those stairs (yay for cardio!). Just remember to not make it a ten hour marathon - set yourself a goal of 30 minutes or so a day and you’ll be getting an area cleaned and decluttered while you’re burning some calories!

Remember, when you get right down to it, exercise isn’t about a gym membership or a fancy sweat suit or even the latest equipment. It’s about getting off your butt and moving! And you can do that any time of year.

Read the original post here - Tips for Exercising in Crappy Weather

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