Archive for 'Getting Healthy'
See why I run
Posted on October 12, 2008, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Sports.
I got on the treadmill today, over a month since my last workout. I did 5km and gave up, more out of boredom than exhaustion. Running does not come naturally to me, and in my weak moments, I wonder why I ever wanted to attempt, in a respectable time, a 10km in the first place.
Today, I noted less than two months before race day in December and for a brief flicker, thought of just showing up and “winging it”. I’m fairly certain the adrenaline of the occasion mixed with the determination not to fail embarrassingly before thousands will be enough to propel me across the finish line; the question is how long it will take.
Then I gave myself a mental smack. Because “winging it” is not why I paid money that could just as well have been spent on clothes and shoes. Since packing up a good third of my wardrobe for charity last weekend I’ve been feeling rather forlorn in the clothing department. “Winging it” is not, should not ever be, my policy. Unless it comes to subjects like math, physics and history, the last of which I am ironically rather appreciating these days.
I signed up because I wanted to experience a foot race. Because I wanted to train with a goal in mind. Because I wanted to give my best in a physical endeavour and push myself as far - and fast - as I can bear to. I did not sign up to “wing it”. I signed up because I have always admired runners and I want to pretend, just for a morning, that I can be one of them. I did it because I was kind of hoping it would force me to develop some semblance of endurance.
Today, as I obediently, repeatedly, put one foot in front of the other and kept telling myself to focus on watching August Rush, I reminded myself of all the reasons why I am going to do this 10km run in December. And I reminded myself that I should never give less than my best. It was the first time I’d run with my new shoes and boy do I have a lot of work to do.
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I’m going to run!
Posted on September 1, 2008, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Learning Curve.
45 minutes. That’s how long it took me to run 5km yesterday, while I tried to stave off boredom with a High School Musical DVD. My biggest challenge in training, I can already tell, won’t be having to run 10km so much as having to keep myself from being bored while I’m running. But because I’ve officially registered and paid for this, I’m past the point of throwing in the towel. And I like it that way just fine.
Now to get me a pair of running shoes and start working on my stamina, not to mention that atrocious time. Is aiming to complete the course in an hour far too ambitious?
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I’m going for a blood test tomorrow
Posted on July 14, 2008, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Uncategorized.
and to be honest, I hate blood tests. My first was when I was suspected of having dengue fever sometime during high school and it totally freaked me out. Like, the crying kind of freaked me out. I think my crying traumatised me more than the test itself.
My second was insisted upon by my mother because I was some 20 years old and didn’t even know my own blood type. I do now.
My third was when I was applying for Australian permanent residency and had to do a medical. I was perfectly outwardly calm because I was a married, fully-grown woman and freaking out would have been rather embarassing to say the least.
Tomorrow will be my fourth. I’m doing it because I know I should make a habit of it, along with regular medical/gynaelogical checkups. Ugh.
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Cooking up a Chinese concoction
Posted on July 1, 2008, by soph, under Getting Healthy, It's a Girl's Life.
My mum has been on my case about drinking this Chinese herbal concoction for a few months. It comes in ready-mixed packs (one serving per pack) and is supposed to be good for my health and complexion. Well, that’s what my mum - and the label - says anyway. She gave me two packs a few months ago and I was supposed to take one a month. I took the first and forgot about the second the next two months. Or was it three?
Anyway, with Y out of the house, I decided to finally make the soup today before my mum asked me about it (again). Y hates strong smells and this is definitely a whopper of a whiff. It couldn’t be easier, really. All I had to do was chuck the herb mixture into a pot with water, leave to boil and drink the soup. The label says it’s called ‘eight treasures’ so maybe it’s a mixture of eight herbs - I didn’t bother counting.
The first time I did it, I turned off the fire too early and was left with a huge bowl of soup that was really quite ugh. This time, I decided that I would leave it to boil for longer so I would have less to drink. I’d rather have it more condensed (read: bitter) but in a lesser quantity.
I think it worked. This is what the herbs looked like after boiling - you count the ‘eight treasures’:
And I assure you the soup is almost as yucky as it looks:
It’s interesting that my parents never relied on Chinese medicine for us kids while we were growing up, but when it comes to ‘building a strong body’ and ‘getting a good complexion’, this is probably the third or fourth Chinese concoction I’ve semi-consistently consumed towards that cause. I still don’t know if I believe in this stuff but I suppose it won’t hurt. Plus, it’s a lot easier to take this quietly than to try and dispute its alleged benefits with my mum, or even more challenging, my grandma.
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Tennis mad
Posted on June 24, 2008, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Sports.
I’m completely spent. Physically. It feels great. After an interval of several months, I’m playing tennis regularly again. Today marks the third time in a span of a week. I love going out there and just whacking the ball as hard as I can. It’s not a good workout unless I’m totally pooped after, and if I’m going to sweat I might as well go all the way, right?
If only I can clock 11am to 7pm so I can get in some tennis in the mornings, though tiring myself out for an evening in front of the telly also feels pretty good. I highly recommend strenuous exercise for the angst-filled; it’s the perfect channel for pent-up frustration and unreleased anger, and it’s guaranteed to leave you too exhausted to be worked up over anything.
While I’m on the subject of tennis, Wimbledon has begun, and Y and I are keeping a close watch on the proceedings. My die-hard Roger Federer fan hubby is hoping the Swiss world number one will take the trophy, but I reckon it’s time someone else is crowned champion. I don’t care if it’s world number two Rafael Nadal or world number three Novak Djokovic or even some dark horse like Marat Safin (that’s almost impossible but I like Safin because he’s good-looking so there).
So the rivalry is on. With Federer and Djokovic drawn in the same half, only one of them can make it to the final, and we’re both betting the other finalist will be Nadal. Fingers crossed.
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Getting active again
Posted on May 28, 2008, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Sports.
It’s been a while since I last swung my tennis racquet, so when the noncomittal rain of the last few days finally let up today, the four of us decided it was too good an opportunity to let pass by.
The weather held up - it was perfect actually, I was relieved to find that I still have a stroke, and we had a good two hours of play. It felt good to be out and active again; the last time I did something outdoors that resembled exercise was when I went walking in the rain in Mulu, Sarawak, over a month ago.
The urge to get off my bum and start moving on a regular basis has made a somewhat sneaky return. This should go nicely with my ongoing effort to eat healthy. As part of my resolution, I’ve been having cereal for brekkie at least a few times a week - the rest of the time I usually end up having an early lunch instead.
I watch the Nadal vs Bellucci match from my sofa after a good shower, relishing that clean, fresh and very relaxed/pleasantly exhausted/recuperating feeling that comes from using more than three muscles and getting a good sweat.
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Mullings
Posted on April 7, 2008, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Psychobabble.
Sivin brought up an interesting thought yesterday: are we lost in transition? As time passes me by faster and faster, I feel a desperate urge to grab on to each day and really live it, as opposed to letting it pass me by while I spend the ticking minutes waiting for the next big event. In other words, while I spend it in transition.
He talked about getting stuck in traffic, a brilliant example. Everything can be a transition - waiting to get to work in the morning; waiting to get home while at work; waiting for the weekend during the weekdays… Then it gets bigger - waiting for the next holiday while the weeks pass us by; slogging mindlessly away and waiting (or hoping) for that next promotion or pay-rise; wishing the days would pass until maybe your wedding day or something…
Am I getting lost in my everyday transitions? Am I so busy looking forward that I forget to look around me where I am? I’ve actually been mulling this over (on and off) for a while now.
On a TV note, a random episode of Oprah has ignited a resolve to eat healthy. Ironically, I think I ate healthier as a high schooler than I do now. I know I ate a helluva lot more fresh fruits then than I do now. And so, thanks to a combination of Dr. Oz’s health quiz and this, I am inspired.
I am also going to do something about my posture. I have lousy posture - this is what happens when you reject those seven-year-old ballet classes, though all those years of Taekwondo should have done something, surely. I can’t touch my toes, but I don’t really care. Right now, I’ll just settle for standing straight and tall, all the time.
I want to live in the HERE (HEAR) and NOW. No regrets, that was my sort-of New Year Resolution.
I am determined to eat healthier. But I’ll be damned if you think I’m giving up chocolate. I don’t believe in depriving myself and I don’t have the discipline to diet, so it’ll have to be less processed foods and more raw fruits for now. More cereals and grains too.
I will make a conscious effort to get better posture. It’ll make me look taller and slimmer anyway.
Oh yes, and drink more water. Dr. Oz says we’re drinking enough water if our urine is clear enough to read through. That’s the aim, folks.
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Should I, Should I Not
Posted on August 9, 2007, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Sports.
I’m toying with the idea of going for a run. No, not that kind of change into sloppy tee after work and crawl a couple of kilometres effort, I mean actually signing up for a full-on, proper 10km run with other people!C’s going for it and I must say, I really like the sound of me running 10km. Actually doing it, of course, is another story altogether. But it’s a novel idea, isn’t it?
Now I’m torn. Do I really want to pay RM30 and commit myself to a race which I’ll be happy to finish within the alloted time, or shall I just content myself with imagining what it would be like to participate? Oh dear, put it that way, the latter does sound kind of pathetic.
Okay, I’ll give it more thought. For more info on this head-scratcher, click here. Anyone who wants to join me/bribe me is more than welcome. It just might give me the kick in the pants to get going.
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e-x-e-r-c-i-s-e
Posted on January 24, 2007, by soph, under Getting Healthy.
In the past three days,
I have played tennis three times (my tennis is lousy but I love it),
gone for one run (every time I am not physically running I am filled with fresh resolve and I forget how pathetic I look trying to cover that measly distance),
vacuumed my entire house from top to bottom (I get to mean it literally because my house has an upstairs and a downstairs).
I’d be feeling a whole lot fitter if my arms and legs weren’t quite so sore. But you know what they say about pain.
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Night Nigglings
Posted on June 1, 2006, by soph, under Getting Healthy, Learning Curve.
Twice in a day. Can’t say it’s happened too often, especially in recent times. I normally spend my nights in a fairly productive manner, i.e. watching telly (Grey’s Anatomy is a new favourite), studying, working, hanging out, reading, or catching up on my list of Oscar-nominated-movies-I-want-to-watch. Basically anything but blogging.
Guess tonight’s the exception.
I’m actually waiting for Y to come home so we can go out.
Feeling rather healthy today after my Jazzercise class. Some weeks I’m all psyched up to go, and other weeks I toy with the idea of stopping because I’m just too butt-lazy. I suppose the fact that I lasted this long is a miracle - me, who refused to succumb to the corporate, money-sucking, fancy-wancy gym craze; who declined the path of the trendy and flexible by declaring yoga way too boring. I have now been attending Jazzercise religiously for, I believe, eight months or thereabouts.
When this comes to end, as it inevitably will someday, I wonder if I will ever find a replacement. I see three possibilities - number one: no financially viable alternative, i.e. does not involve me paying vast sums to said corporate, money-sucking…; number two: I’ll just get comfy sitting on my butt and doing nothing; number three: I’ll get off said posterior and get jiggyin’. Literally.
I like Jazzercise because it’s like dancing. Except with way simpler steps of course, so anyone can come into class and keep up just like that. I miss dancing. Not to say I was some ballerina before or anything. My mother got me started on ballet when I was six and I quit after six weeks because I said it was boring. (In my defence, all I learnt in that six weeks was how to skip. Six weeks of skipping? Of course the six-year-old was bored.)
I did do several spots of dancing with the youth church back when I was in high school though, before I up and left for Melbourne. Then there was the free short course on funk tap that Melbourne Uni offered in conjunction with their Arts Festival thingy (funk tap is way cooler than the classical hands-on-hips stuff by the way).
I should really stop reminiscing and start doing something about it. For now I have Jazzercise, but when the time comes, I fully expect to do number three. So hold me to my word.
(And speaking of words, it’s officially June now so I can bug you-who-said-you-would-be-coming-to-KL. When are you coming?)
