My new gym has a Stairmaster. It has been a few years since I have ventured onto one of these machines.
I was on it for ten minutes and it felt like I was exercising. While I was in graduate school I used to love the Stairmaster and would listen to some exciting music and workout on that thing for a good twenty to thirty minutes. It would excite me. Not so much anymore!
The Stairmaster is a good component of a cardio workout because not only is it cardio, but it helps to build muscle mass. I've also heard it said that working out on the Stairmaster helps one to lose body fat faster. Both of these are good benefits in addition to burning some calories.
The Stairmaster is on the second floor of the gym in front of a very large window which left me with the oppotunity to people watch. Watching people come and go from the parking lot wasn't as interesting as I expected so I began to look around and I noticed a tent city for homeless people under some large trees just beyond the fence on the side of a hill. It was interesting to see and it isn't the first one I have seen here in Atlanta. Next week I will check to see if they are still there when I get my climb on once again!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Ode to Spinning!
I haven't gone to a Spinning class since I was in graduate school. Today was the first one and I am feeling it! It felt really good to be with a group of people who were hardcore about exercising. It was a good class and I liked the instructor.
The thing I enjoy about Spinning is that it is different from other workouts and from other group exercise. You use almost all of your muscles in your body, it isn't boring, and you keep moving. By the time I climbed off of that bike I felt like I exercised. I also enjoyed using the bike to stretch. Those stretches felt so good!
Spinning is a cardio workout that increases and decreases tension, is done sitting and standing on the bike, and is low impact. In addition it burns a lot of calories. I love the intensity of it.
I am looking forward to the next class!
The thing I enjoy about Spinning is that it is different from other workouts and from other group exercise. You use almost all of your muscles in your body, it isn't boring, and you keep moving. By the time I climbed off of that bike I felt like I exercised. I also enjoyed using the bike to stretch. Those stretches felt so good!
Spinning is a cardio workout that increases and decreases tension, is done sitting and standing on the bike, and is low impact. In addition it burns a lot of calories. I love the intensity of it.
I am looking forward to the next class!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wellness in Families
I taught my first class today on "Family Issues" with a group of about 20 men and 1 woman putting their lives back together here in Atlanta. This is a class I will teach weekly for the next few months.
We made genograms of our families today. A genogram is basically a family tree with more information. It is used to track generational patterns and cycles of things--conflict, distance, addiction, disorders, career paths, number of children, choice of religion, etc. Whenever I do this with someone they are always shocked to see the things that repeat themselves through the generations. Research has documented that alcoholism is common in multiple generations, just as violence, career choice, and religion are. It always amazes me that people never think about these patterns in their families until they scribble it out on the paper. Some families have negative cycles and patterns that continue to repeat generation after generation, while others have positive things that repeat.
My favorite genograms are the ones where there is a lot of negativity and then all of a sudden there is a generation or a group of siblings where there are only positive things.
That happened to one gentlemen today. He was looking at his genogram and noticed that all of his sisters children didn't have any of the drama, trauma, or conflict that multiple generations of his family has experienced. This was profound for him to look at and when I asked him about it he said, "something must have broken the pattern."
When I pause to reflect on my own family and the cycles and patterns that exist I am astonished to think about how good God really is and has been to my generation in my family. We have broken many of those negative cycles and other generational curses that have existed in my family for a very long time.
This brings me to wellness in families. The Bible is pretty clear about bringing your children up in the way should go and they will not depart from it. I need to be healthy--physically, emotionally, and spiritually--and break the negative pattern that has existed in my family for so long. This healthy living will be passed on to my children and grandchildren.
I am joining the YMCA and not some other gym because I support the idea of community based family health and wellness. There are so many people who are suffering and there are so many broken families. We need to teach and model wellness in families.
We made genograms of our families today. A genogram is basically a family tree with more information. It is used to track generational patterns and cycles of things--conflict, distance, addiction, disorders, career paths, number of children, choice of religion, etc. Whenever I do this with someone they are always shocked to see the things that repeat themselves through the generations. Research has documented that alcoholism is common in multiple generations, just as violence, career choice, and religion are. It always amazes me that people never think about these patterns in their families until they scribble it out on the paper. Some families have negative cycles and patterns that continue to repeat generation after generation, while others have positive things that repeat.
My favorite genograms are the ones where there is a lot of negativity and then all of a sudden there is a generation or a group of siblings where there are only positive things.
That happened to one gentlemen today. He was looking at his genogram and noticed that all of his sisters children didn't have any of the drama, trauma, or conflict that multiple generations of his family has experienced. This was profound for him to look at and when I asked him about it he said, "something must have broken the pattern."
When I pause to reflect on my own family and the cycles and patterns that exist I am astonished to think about how good God really is and has been to my generation in my family. We have broken many of those negative cycles and other generational curses that have existed in my family for a very long time.
This brings me to wellness in families. The Bible is pretty clear about bringing your children up in the way should go and they will not depart from it. I need to be healthy--physically, emotionally, and spiritually--and break the negative pattern that has existed in my family for so long. This healthy living will be passed on to my children and grandchildren.
I am joining the YMCA and not some other gym because I support the idea of community based family health and wellness. There are so many people who are suffering and there are so many broken families. We need to teach and model wellness in families.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Food: Fuel or pleasure?
I have a confession: I, Monica, am an emotional eater.
I know this may come as a shock to some, especially to those who have had to work for or with me when I am stressed, frustrated, or have been with me when I have experienced some form of personal injustice. This may also be a shock to those who have grown up with me, listen to me when I am having a pity party, or otherwise have had the unfortunate pleasure of putting up with me when I am in an unmotivated state of positive being.
Eating for pleasure if usually just wrong--not always, but usually. The "usually" wrong is when I get myself into trouble. I eat when I am bored and not hungry, or when I am too lazy to do something else...or when it is just right there in my face screaming "eat me!"
This is why I am re-focusing the role of food in my life. Food is fuel for our bodies. I think if I viewed food this way I would think differently about the way that I eat and would make better choices. I am doing just that now.
For the month of September I am veggie/vegan/ish. I am not eating meat for a few reasons. The main reason is because I want to be healthier and every now and again I need to get back on track about what and why I am eating. Being a vegetarian, or really a wannabe vegan, is an attempt to focus on giving my body the fuel that it needs and focusing less on the pleasure aspect of eating. My husband doesn't help this because he eats so much grease, fat, and other junk and is still really thin.
I am also focusing on what I eat because I have yet to get back into the routine of working out consistently. I am definitely feeling it and am on the cusp of getting back into it, but balancing everything else I have going on is making it difficult. I am just still making excuses (I visited a local gym and will be joining it within the next week. I just can't do the gym here where I live. It is not motivating enough for me).
Which brings me to this question: when you eat, are you eating because your body needs fuel or are you eating for some other purpose?
I know this may come as a shock to some, especially to those who have had to work for or with me when I am stressed, frustrated, or have been with me when I have experienced some form of personal injustice. This may also be a shock to those who have grown up with me, listen to me when I am having a pity party, or otherwise have had the unfortunate pleasure of putting up with me when I am in an unmotivated state of positive being.
Eating for pleasure if usually just wrong--not always, but usually. The "usually" wrong is when I get myself into trouble. I eat when I am bored and not hungry, or when I am too lazy to do something else...or when it is just right there in my face screaming "eat me!"
This is why I am re-focusing the role of food in my life. Food is fuel for our bodies. I think if I viewed food this way I would think differently about the way that I eat and would make better choices. I am doing just that now.
For the month of September I am veggie/vegan/ish. I am not eating meat for a few reasons. The main reason is because I want to be healthier and every now and again I need to get back on track about what and why I am eating. Being a vegetarian, or really a wannabe vegan, is an attempt to focus on giving my body the fuel that it needs and focusing less on the pleasure aspect of eating. My husband doesn't help this because he eats so much grease, fat, and other junk and is still really thin.
I am also focusing on what I eat because I have yet to get back into the routine of working out consistently. I am definitely feeling it and am on the cusp of getting back into it, but balancing everything else I have going on is making it difficult. I am just still making excuses (I visited a local gym and will be joining it within the next week. I just can't do the gym here where I live. It is not motivating enough for me).
Which brings me to this question: when you eat, are you eating because your body needs fuel or are you eating for some other purpose?
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