Fitgeek!

If you've kept up with this long enough, you know that I keep changing the focus of this blog.

Hey, guess what? This is another one of those changes.

Recently, I've begun working out with REAL consistency. I've been doing the Couch to 5K program and Camp Gladiator for a few weeks now. (If I was fancy, those would show up as hyperlinks, but I forget how to do that.) I can't outrun all the zombies or punch all the werewolves in the face....yet...but I feel better than I have in I-don't-know-how-long.

A little bit of backstory here: I've never been an athlete, thought of myself as being athletic, or been thought of as being athletic. In fact, I was teased pretty badly as a kid for not being good at kickball, soccer, softball, tetherball...you get the idea. (I was pretty good at dodgeball, because, frankly, it made sense: if a foreign object is flying at you at top speed, YOU GET OUT OF THE WAY.) P.E. was not a good time, except for on rainy days when we watched After School Specials. (There was also that great equalizer, square dancing. Even the coolest kids couldn't make THAT look cool.)

By the time I was a teenager, I was apathetic towards fitness and sports and the like. I bought into that whole adolescent clique-y mentality, even while insisting that I hated cliques. The "jocks" didn't like me. I didn't like them. It seems stupid now, but it was what it was.

What changed? I don't really know for sure. I tried "working out" at different points in my 20s, but I never really felt like I knew what I was doing, or that there was a real point to all, and I didn't have the peer motivation that I have now. Maybe that's what changed. I got older, and all those stupid little differences that seem so important when you're fifteen just don't matter when you're thirty. I met people who had changed themselves for the better, for whom being in shape was a part of that change. And some of those people had my same geeky interests.

Which leads me to my new blog focus: I've realized that I can be physically fit AND still be my unique, quirky self. I don't have to buy into stereotypes about "nerds" and "jocks". That seems like such an obvious statement to make, but really,when you think about it, those stereotypes can be powerful things.

So you'll probably see a lot more of me fusing health/fitness stuff with other things that I geek out on (Simpsons, zombies, books, music, books, movies...did I mention books?) Hopefully, the consequences will be amusing (at least to me). BTW: I'm open to suggestions regarding new health foods, workouts, etc. to try. Could make for some good blogging.

Running Reasons: A Partial List from a Beginning "Runner"

1. Stress reduction
2. Better sleep
3. Improved overall mood
4. Cardiovascular health
5. Increased awareness of what I eat and how I otherwise treat my body
6. Realistic, concrete goal-setting
7. Competition against self ("personal best") as opposed to others
8. Can be done while listening to music
9. No gym membership or special equipment required (other than shoes)
10. More time spent outdoors
11. Potential for new friendships
12. Self-confidence boost
13. Possible redemption from unathletic youth and dropping out of cross country

No! Drama!

A lot of people say they're "not into drama". You see this a lot on dating sites and what have you. It sounds nice, doesn't it? No drama...no worries....freedom from the messiness that is human conflict and emotion.

But is it realistic?

The more I think about it, the more I think, not so much.

Maybe "drama" is like the common cold. No one likes laying around, sneezing and coughing and watching daytime TV while in a Sudafed fog. And there are certainly things we can do to avoid the frequency and intensity with which we get sick. (Everyone else washes their hands after using the loo, right?) But sooner or later, everyone gets a cold, if only once in a snotty green moon.

I can't help but think that drama is like that. You can do things to avoid getting involved in frequent (and unnecessary) drama. You can steer clear of self-proclaimed drama queens (and kings), practice active listening and positive thinking, not sweat the small stuff, etc.

But sooner or later, even if you strategically avoid drama, it's gonna find you.

Sooo....I think the focus needs to be, not "no drama", but how you deal with drama. Do you fuel the emotional fire? Throw a spaz on social media? Or do you step back, refocus, reframe, and determine how to deal with the situation from there?

The same can be said, I think, for "baggage". We all have baggage. We all have issues. The question is, what are you doing to deal with, live with, or rid yourself of what holds you back or weighs you down?

P.S. -- This is as much a note to self, if not more so, as it is to anyone else reading this.

Goals Update and Unicorns

Okay, just kidding about the unicorns. I just wanted my title to look less boring.

Goal: Try to look my age: Specifically, try to dress less like a teenager and more like an adult.
Progress: Doing somewhat well, thanks to the Christmas gift of heeled boots.

Goal: Run at least one 5K in 2012.
Progress: I'm currently on Week 3 of the Couch to 5K program. So far, I'm really enjoying it. It's gradual yet challenging. Yesterday I walked/ran 4K in about half an hour. Also, I've talked at least one other person into running the Firefly 5K with me at the end of March. If I stick with my current regimen, I should be able to run the whole thing in a respectable amount of time. On the days I don't run, I try to work on some simple strength training (side plank, crunches, push-ups, yoga). I have to keep it simple since I lack strength, and I won't end up sticking with anything that's too complicated.

Goal: At least once a month, participate in some sort of community outreach.
Progress: Not yet met for January. : /

Goal: At least once a month, go on a date or do a MeetUp.
Progress: I attended a fantastic MeetUp last night (DFW Words and Wine). We discussed The Night Circus, which is really an amazing book if you're into fantasy or magical realism.

Goal: GET A JOB.
Progress: Still searching and shooting out ye olde resume...

Goal: Gain 12 more pounds over the course of the next year so I can give blood.
Progress: Will discuss with my doctor once I get health insurance again. In the meantime, will focus on maintaining 100 lbs. (Please don't tell me you wish you had my problem, or that if you were me you'd eat cheeseburgers all day, etc.) Will also focus on eating more healthy food and less crap, and drinking more water.

Retro-Blog 2007

I wrote this four years ago:

Now is the time to love you beyond the lined spaces and into the margins. I do this for days that marginalize us. Today I will pour out my love until your cup runneth over. Later you will need this to quench your thirst. Hold on to these leftovers; I will not have you begging for scraps. I love you richly today to prepare us for a lean and mean tomorrow. My love causes walls to tumble, boundaries to crumble. It throws everything off balance, off kilter, out of orbit, and out of whack.

I don't know if I still believe in any of this. I'm not even sure to whom, if anyone, I was writing. Just more questions I get to live...

Retro-Blog: Chile 2009: The Bulleted List

·         Jumbo – The Chilean Target

·         Casuelo de invierno – chicken soup with rice, corn, potato, cilantro, carrots

·         Once  -- Chilean dinner – usually a light meal (bread, meat, cheese ,fruit, tea)

·         Lemon soda

·         Juliana and Michel, the Colombian couple who took us in

·         Sofia, their adorable 1 ½ year old daughter

·         Different meanings of the word taco: traffic jam, food (obviously), heel of a shoe, notepad/Post-Its

·         “When I think of Texas, I think of religion and guns.”

·         Riding the acensor in Valparaiso and feeling like a character in The Motorcycle Diaries

·         Ocean Pacific, a submarine-themed restaurant

·         VIkingos, a Viking-themed restaurant where they light your soup on fire

2012 Goals

I figured for this upcoming year I'd focus on setting tangible goals, rather than abstract or vaguely formed "resolutions" that I may or may not keep. Here are a few that I've come up with so far (and yes, I'm open to suggestions):

1. Try to look my age: Specifically, try to dress less like a teenager and more like an adult. Maybe rock heels a little more often. (Might as well take advantage of the fact that I'm short.) Also, make more of an effort when it comes to wearing eye makeup.

2. Run at least one 5K in 2012. Even if it's just the Turkey Trot. Currently, I can do a little over 2 miles on a treadmill, so this seems like a realistic goal. I'm also determined to do at least a few yoga poses and crunches on a daily or near-daily basis.

3. At least once a month, participate in some sort of community outreach.

4. At least once a month, go on a date or do a MeetUp. (This would be an attempt to broaden my horizons, since I can be cautious to a fault.)

5. GET A JOB.

6. Gain 12 more pounds over the course of the next year so I can give blood. Do so in a HEALTHY manner.