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Tuesday on the Soapbox

For Anyone Dealing with Bullies

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I was bullied for 9 years in public school, and I’ve shared about my experiences, both emotional and physical, before on this blog. The worst part about being bullied, though, was the fact that I believed everything my bullies said about me, because I could not fathom that someone would tell me lies about myself. Others’ opinions mattered so much to me, because I believed that others dealt with me as honestly as I dealt with them.

If I could go back in time and tell my past self anything, it would be the following:

“Why do you believe what the kids at school say? They pick apart your outfits, but are they fashion experts? They bully you about your weight and what your body looks like, but are they fitness gurus? They make fun of you when you miss questions on a test, but are they at the top of their academic class? What makes them fit to judge you?

That’s right–they’re NOT fit to judge you. They are lying to you. They are just insecure about themselves, and trying to establish their own identities. They want to fit in with everyone SO BAD that they are willing to stomp on your head to scrabble up the social ladder. Pity them, don’t listen to them. Theirs are the voices of desperate, pathetic people who just want to be important.”

If you’re dealing with bullies, no matter how old you are, read the previous two paragraphs over and over again until you believe them. It’s truth. It’s a truth that took me almost two decades to figure out for myself, but it is truth. These people just want to be important, and they nitpick everything about other people because they’re terrified of being nitpicked themselves. Debunk everything they say, because it’s worthless.

So, the next time someone bullies you, pity them, mentally debunk their opinion, and keep going. And, if they give you an opportunity to speak, ask them “Why are you so obsessed with me and what I do? I certainly don’t care about you.” Being told that they are acting ridiculous and pathetic may just shut them down, especially if you answer that way consistently. These bullies may just become decent people later in life, but until then, you’ll just have to let them be pitiful little haters until they grow up.

This all sounds harsh, I know. But bullying is a real problem, and it begins with insecurity. Instead of caring so much about their opinions, just point out their insecurity and leave them to stew in it. They’ll learn and grow up, someday. Trust me–I’m actually Facebook friends with some of the people who bullied me back in the day. 😉

Saturday with the Spark

When Your Brain Says “No” to Creativity, Try This Instead

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If you’re a creative person, you know that usually the mental “juices” flow well. The ideas slide into your brain as fast as a baseball player sliding into home plate, and it seems as if nothing can stop them.

But, inevitably, there are the times you sit in front of your blank canvas, your blank craft table, or your blank Word document and just have no idea what to do. You want to create SOMETHING, but…it’s almost as if your creativity is constipated, for lack of a better analogy. 😛

What do you do? Before now, I’ve often just sat there and tried to make an idea come forth, wasting minutes (or sometimes hours) trying to be creative and feeling utterly useless. But I discovered a trick, quite by accident, that can help you get unstuck pretty quickly: doing housework.

Whaaaaat? Doing HOUSEWORK Makes You Creative?

Well, no, doing housework won’t make you a master of the arts in ten seconds flat. But it does give your brain critical time away from the arduous effort of trying to be creative. In the minutes while you’re cleaning or just straightening a few things out, your brain can relax as you focus on getting these small tasks done.

An example: the other evening, I was finally tackling the kitchen, which had become a little (read: a lot) messy. Wiping down the counters, sweeping crumbs off onto the floor for later pickup with the broom, bagging up trash, unstacking and restacking the dishwasher…I knew it all by rote, and so I could kind of zone out, not particularly thinking of anything.

I was in the middle of finishing the task, sweeping up all the crumbs and randomness on the floor, when I realized I was humming a little melody. And I didn’t have any music playing, nor was it any melody from an established song that I could recall. It seemed that in the 10 minutes since I had begun my kitchen-tidying, my brain had come up with the beginnings of a new composition, without my actively thinking about it at all.

This could have been considered a fluke, except that something similar happened a few days later while I was finally clearing the front porch of last year’s fallen leaves and other detritus. While I was bagging up the trash from the front porch area, I suddenly had an idea for a new character in my novel…it was totally unrelated to what I was doing, but it popped into my head nonetheless.

The Key Here: Relaxing/Refocusing Your Mind

Often, we say we’re relaxing, but our minds are still doing 140 on the mental autobahn. I know at least for me, trying to relax by being in a still, quiet room doing nothing doesn’t really help my brain turn off (see: my 4am actual falling-asleep-time); I lay there jittery, feeling like I should be doing something instead of laying there useless. But, somehow, when I’m doing little tasks like housework, my brain slows down a little, takes its foot off the mental gas, and actually takes a breath for once.

Try this if you feel absolutely stuck in a creative rut and have no ideas. Instead of forcing yourself to keep plugging away and getting nothing accomplished, try doing a little housework, or something less mentally intense. You might find that you clear some mental clutter away as you clean and straighten your physical environment!

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Getting Fit the RIGHT Way, part 6: Wrapping Up With Encouragement

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To conclude my series on getting fit and staying fit, I want to offer encouragement, and a few final tips for your own fitness quest:

#1: This is a Lifestyle Change

When you begin your fitness quest, remember that this journey is full of steps toward a better lifestyle. This is not a diet you will only adopt for 90 days, nor only an exercise goal you’ll hit in a year. All of the steps I’ve outlined in previous posts are new habits and routines to adopt so that you can lead a healthier lifestyle.

Don’t think that you can just go back to your old lifestyle after you’ve lost however many pounds or inches. To go back to your old lifestyle is to go back to your old weight and your old level of fitness. Do you really want to do that to yourself, when you’ve come so far already?

#2: This is Not Impossible

I admit, some of the “healthy lifestyle” routines and habits are difficult to adopt at first, and you end up craving your old life quite a bit, especially if you’ve overwhelmed yourself with a ton of changes. That’s why I suggest changing one or two little things at a time, so that you can slowly shift your lifestyle over the course of years. If you feel that a certain lifestyle change is impossible, break it down into possible goals, and achieve them one at a time.

For instance, to start on my “healthy eating” goal, I shifted from sugary sodas to flavored water six years ago, and now I couldn’t imagine going back to drinking all those drinks I used to love. (Though I still have random Cheerwine cravings…LOL) At first, I thought I’d hate it and would never be able to stick to it, but by removing every soda from the house and choosing to drink only tea or water when dining out, I found that slowly the craving for sugary drinks went away. I’m nowhere near eating “healthy” as most people conceive of it, but that choice of water over soda is one important step toward it.

#3: If You Mess Up, It’s Not the End of Your Quest

So you broke down and had a slice of cheesecake…or perhaps 4 or 5 slices. Does that mean that your fitness quest is over and you might as well give up?

Absolutely not. And actually, it’s perfectly okay to have a treat once in a while. Just make sure that that cheesecake, or those hot wings, or whatever tempts you, is purely a “once-in-a-while” treat. Take time to fully enjoy it, savoring the experience, and then continue with your regular diet again. (I have to use this trick with chocolate chip cookies–I allow myself two a week as part of my regular diet, but if I end up eating more than that, I just factor that in as next week’s allotment and move on.)

This goes for exercise, too. If you miss two or three days of exercise, pick it right back up the next day, or the next week, and continue on as if nothing has happened. In my early days of Zumba, I would sometimes miss a couple of classes in a row because of terrible nerve-ripping headaches and joint soreness. But I always knew there was next week’s class that I could return to. Soon, as my joints got better and my headaches were treated, I missed less classes, until I was attending regularly.

The point? Don’t give up on your goal just because you got off-target for a few hours (or a few days). Fitness is something that is maintained, not gained and then kept forever. It’s a constant process, which can be put down and picked back up at will.

#4: Think of How Much Better Your Life Will Be

When we’re first trying to get fit, we think of all we will lose–access to our favorite foods, less time to enjoy our favorite TV shows, etc. But to change your thinking, think instead about all the things you can’t do right now because of your fitness level, and how much you want to get back to doing them.

For instance, I had to quit basketball–and pretty much every other physical activity (even running)–because of all the joint injuries I suffered in college. When the doctor says “your knees and ankles can’t take high-impact activities,” it means everything high-impact. And for years I felt stuck by that; every exercise I tried hurt, and felt like the worst kind of punishment.

But now, thanks to getting a little more active in Zumba class and staying with it for a year and a half, my knees and ankles are more capable. Just last week, I walked around the entire outlet mall near my hometown, a feat I have not been able to do in seven years because of joint pain. I was a little sore the next day, but not bedridden like I would have been even 3 years ago.

It might be a small victory to some, but to me it meant I am actually returning to normal life as a young woman ought to experience it. I don’t feel like I’m in a body that’s over 70 years old anymore. That’s my point; if you stay with your fitness quest, you can regain physical abilities that you thought you’d lost forever. Physical capability through fitness is something many people take for granted, but when you lose it, you realize how important it is!

Further Reading

Here are a few other articles I’ve written about exercise and fitness, to keep you more informed. May you be successful and happy as you start your fitness journey!

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Getting Fit the RIGHT Way, part 5: Have “Fitness Buddies”

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As I well know from my failed attempts at fitness, trying to get fit alone can be painful, lonely, and boring. It feels like there’s no one to talk to about what kind of exercise you’re doing, no one you’re specifically looking forward to seeing when you work out, and worst of all, no one to commiserate with. For me, at least, the lack of companionship hurt more than I cared to admit; I found myself quitting on my fitness goals largely because exercise isolated me too much, and I ended up hating it.

Many people fear exercising in the presence of others because of the judgment factors: “What if they think I’m fat/disgusting/ugly/etc.?” “What if I’m not doing it right and they laugh at me?” If you’re feeling that way, I want you to firmly push that aside. There is a way you can exercise around other people who will not judge you and who love you–exercising with friends (both old and new), as well as family.

Assembling Your Fitness Buddies

When you pitch this idea to your family and friends, remember to talk about and find answers to the following questions:

  • What are some activities that all of you enjoy?
  • Who is physically able to do what kinds of workouts?
  • When is everyone available during the week?

Remember that if the whole group can’t work out one time to all be together, you can break up a big fitness group into smaller ones. You could end up doing a Monday afternoon yoga class with one or two friends, a Wednesday morning walk with your sibling, and a Friday afternoon basketball game with two or three other friends/family members.

Don’t be afraid to get creative when you brainstorm ideas for group fitness activities. I knew a group of three friends in college who got together after their afternoon classes and did jump-rope in the campus Quad, for instance. All you have to do is make sure the activity is something you can easily fit into your schedule, and that it’s fun for all of you to do. Whether it’s attending a group exercise class together three times a week, or doing exercise videos in somebody’s living room every Tuesday night, choose something that gets you moving!

“But What If None of My Friends/Family Want to Do My Exercise Routine?”

Has this question occurred to you? Don’t worry, it occurred to me, too. I wanted to work out, but it seemed like so many of my friends and family were too busy with work. What to do then?

#1: Ask Around in All Your Social Groups Till You Find Someone to Work Out With

Once I realized so many of my close friends and family were busy, I began asking about where some of my other acquaintances worked out, and finally one of my Choral Society friends told me about a Thursday night Zumba class that she really enjoyed. I came to that class one evening just to observe, to see whether I could physically do the workout. Once I came and saw that I’d like to try it, the next Thursday night I was there with bells on. And, as this blog post proves, that began a huge life change.

What helped me stick with it? Well, for one thing, it really helped to have someone I already knew in the class with me. My Choral Society buddy gave me an “anchor” for the class, so I knew I wouldn’t be in a room with total strangers. But that wasn’t the only thing that helped….

#2: Talk with the People Working Out Around You

It doesn’t take much to start a conversation, even if you’re shy. Just saying hi to the people near you, smiling and being friendly, can make your workouts (and theirs) a much happier experience. Observe those around you, see who looks friendly/amenable to conversation, and then introduce yourself. That can be all it takes.

For me, I started out not knowing anybody in my Zumba class, but I set myself a goal to introduce myself to at least one new person every time I went to class, and to talk a little with everyone I had met before. Now there are at least 10 people I look forward to seeing in Zumba class, and we have more fun in class because we can joke back and forth about being uncoordinated or missing a few steps.

#3: Invite Close Friends to Join You in Your New Workout

Once you have a fitness routine established and a couple of casual fitness buddies at your workout place, start inviting other friends to try it with you. In this way, you can be their “anchor,” helping them try out a new activity without feeling like they’re in a roomful of strangers, and they can give you an even stronger social connection to your workout if they continue on with you. (And if they can’t continue for whatever reason, it’s perfectly okay, because you’ve already made connections with others who come to work out with you.)

The Bottom Line: Fitness Can Be a Party

I find that the more social connections you have to your fitness routine, the more likely you’re going to keep doing it. That’s really the only difference between my current Zumba workouts and all the other workout routines I’ve tried in the past–this time, I’ve made friends who Zumba, and we all laugh and have fun together while we exercise.

Next Week: A Few Other Small Details, and Other Fitness Articles to Read

As a way to conclude this series on beginning your own fitness journey the right way, I’ll cover a few more minor points, as well as including some more “exercising the right way” strategies I’ve written about on my blog before. Catch it next week, just in time to start working on your New Year’s resolutions!

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Getting Fit the RIGHT Way, part 4: Start Slow, and Be Patient

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When we finally do make the resolution to get fit, we usually want to see results quickly. “I’m putting in all this hard work at the gym–why aren’t my pant sizes going down every week?” “I haven’t eaten anything but ‘healthy food’ for two weeks; when am I going to see the pounds going away?”

Unfortunately, our bodies do not change as fast as infomercials would have us believe. And actually, if you push your body to lose too much weight too fast, you may only end up wrecking your muscles and packing on more fat when you’re done with your “fitness plan.” (How do I know? It happened to my mother in the sixties, when the “yo-yo” fad diet was all the rage, even with some doctors; she suffered long-term negative effects from the prescribed “starve yourself and then go back to eating regular food” diet.)

Fitness is Not a Certain Weight/Muscle Mass

Fitness is not about being skinny and fitting into itty-bitty clothing sizes. Nor is it about being able to lift tons of weight and having huge, rippling muscles. Fitness is about having a body that works efficiently, repairs itself swiftly, and can do everything you need it to do. Ideally, every food we eat and every activity we do should support our bodies’ health so that we stay fit.

But realistically, almost nobody lives this way. When it comes to food, most of us either make unhealthy food choices (guilty as charged), or we have gastronomic illnesses that keep us from eating properly. And in terms of physical activity, we either choose not to be as active as we should, or we have injuries or disabilities that prevent us from doing much.

Thus, we start “getting out of shape;” our bodies slowly lose the ability to do the things we’d like to be able to do, or eat the foods we’d like to be able to eat, even once in a while. For instance, my dad’s Type II diabetes keeps him from the vanilla milkshakes he so loves, while my bad ankles and knees keep me from playing basketball like I used to do.

Getting Fit = Slow and Methodical

Lack of fitness is not just a weight or body shape issue–it’s a quality of life issue. But getting fit again is not a short-term process. After all, we didn’t get out of shape in only a few months, so what makes us think we can get back in shape in a few months?

If you’re serious about getting back into a healthy physical state (which is what fitness is), then you must not punish your body by overdoing exercise or going on crazy fad diets. That’s a quick way to make yourself sick or injured. Instead, you must take it one tiny but firm step forward at a time.

What do I mean by “tiny but firm” steps? Make small changes one at a time, changes you can gradually adapt into your lifestyle so that they become routine; then, once one change has been adapted, move on to the next change.

Here’s an example–my own fitness journey thus far:

  • Began drinking mostly flavored water (2006)
  • Took out about half the volume of sweet and salty snack foods (2007)
  • Began cooking/eating more meals at home (2007)
  • Shrunk my portion size by a little at each meal (2008)
  • Began taking anti-inflammatory medication to help reduce joint swelling (2009)
  • Began doing ankle-strengthening exercises at home (2009)
  • Changed out my potato chips for whole-wheat crackers, and my candy for peanut butter (2010)
  • Began walking more–parking further away from buildings’ entrances, for instance (2010)
  • Started Zumba classes (2011)
  • Began to eat more “healthy” foods–more salads, etc. (2011)
  • Added AquaZumba classes during the summer months (2012)

From this calendar, you can see that my own fitness journey has stretched across six years so far. Each change I made was a small one, not particularly spectacular, but it was a stepping-stone toward the next. I had to get my joint inflammation down before I could even think of taking Zumba classes; I had to take out many of the snack foods I was eating before I could replace them with healthier options.

The important takeaway here: each time I made a change, I made sure it had become natural and routine before I demanded another change from myself. If you force too many changes on yourself in too short a time, you’ll never stick to any of them. Trust me on this–I’m quite experienced at quitting diets and exercise plans because of this very reason.

Most Important: Don’t Be Angry at Your Body, or Yourself

As you begin your own fitness journey, you will most likely feel terribly exhausted after your first workout (or two), or you might feel a little deprived after your first “healthier” meal. Do not be angry with yourself or your body because of these feelings. You’re not “weak” or “stupid” for needing to take it slow. Every person’s fitness plan will be different, just as every child in school learns at a different pace.

I’m making this serious warning about anger because anger can push you to do more than you’re physically capable of, or to try risky or dangerous tactics to get results. For instance:

  • I got so mad at my stomach rolls back in 2005 that I starved myself to try to get rid of them, and I ended up passing out in the shower at home.
  • I got mad during one of my first Zumba classes because I couldn’t do every move the instructor did, and I ended up hurting my ankle because I stomped down too hard with my foot.

Anger has been responsible for these and many more fitness setbacks in my life; don’t let it sabotage you.

Don’t compare yourself to other people, or compare yourself to your younger self, even. What matters right now is making changes that you can stick to, one at a time. Who cares how fast someone else is completing their fitness journey? You’re not in competition with them, or anyone. You’re trying to get back to a body that can do all you need it to do, no more and no less.

Next Week: Have a “Fitness Buddy” (or 3)!

Finally starting on your own fitness quest is great–but trying to do it all by yourself is NOT great. Every story’s hero needs friends to adventure with, and as the hero of your fitness journey, you’ll also need friends to keep you in line and keep you motivated. Learn more about that, in next week’s episode of “Getting Fit the RIGHT Way!”

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Getting Fit the RIGHT Way, part 3: Feed Your Exercise

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Fitness is not achieved just through exercise; you also have to feed your changing body the types of fuel it needs.

This week I’m stepping on my own toes here, since I am a very picky eater and have a lot of difficulty eating what I “should” eat. I’ve often rebelled against the bland or nasty flavors that I discover in “healthy” food as opposed to unhealthy food…but I’ve noticed that when I do not provide my body with enough nutrients, I get tired faster, I hurt more, and I’m more likely to quit my exercise routine. I would guess that I’m not alone in that.

Eating “right” has become such a cliched phrase in our culture, and yet no one seems to know what it means anymore. What I have discovered is that you should plan your eating around your exercise and your daily routine, rather than the other way around. You’ll need different kinds and amounts of foods than you might be used to eating…and, as I discovered during my research for this post, there ARE tasty healthy foods you can eat to fuel your body!

Pre-Workout Snack: Light, Easy to Digest

Yes, you CAN eat before a workout without getting sick! I didn’t think it was possible until I tried some of the following ideas; I didn’t realize that my heavy food choices were the main culprit behind my waves of nausea during intense cardio exercises.

Small portions of lighter foods (which don’t take a lot of energy to digest) will kick into your bloodstream faster and provide you with more energy during a short workout. You’ll want to avoid foods that will kick your blood sugar up too high, though. Don’t do what I did one time and scarf a bunch of very sweet cookies before my workout; I ended up lightheaded 30 minutes into Zumba because my body’s insulin response to the cookies was so strong.

One caveat: if you’re going to work out for longer than an hour, you’re going to need foods that take just a little longer to digest, so you have some fuel left over for the long haul. Foods that have a little more protein, fat, and/or fiber (like beans, cheese, egg, etc.) are best bets, but still keep the portion small so you don’t end up with stomach cramps.

In general, a pre-workout snack, consumed about an hour before your workout, made up of fruits, whole-wheat bread/crackers, cheese, yogurt, eggs, or legumes (beans, lentils, etc.), will be good for you. Here are some specific snack ideas:

  • Bread with cheese or egg
  • Grapes and cottage cheese
  • Banana with almond butter
  • Whole-wheat bagel topped with jam
  • Half an avocado spread on toast
  • Black beans with brown rice
  • Multi-grain crackers or pretzels with hummus or cheese
  • Protein shake with fruit and oats
  • Small sweet potato with steamed broccoli in olive oil
  • A slice of whole-wheat bread with crunchy peanut butter
  • Apple with a handful of walnuts
  • Oatmeal with your favorite fruit added
  • Half a banana blended into half a cup of yogurt
  • Greek yogurt, with fruit if possible
  • Brown rice with chicken

During Your Workout: Just Water and Honey, Honey

You can take in food/drink during your workout? Sure, why not? If you find yourself in need of a little energy boost, it’s not a sin to munch or sip on a little something. It’s better than passing out in the gym!

Hydration is mainly the key here; since you lose a lot of fluid while working out, you need to replace what you’re sweating out. You want to avoid very sugary sports drinks, though, as they are little better than sodas.

Read the labels carefully on any sports drink you’re thinking about getting, and make sure that the drink will provide carbohydrates and sodium as well as fluid. The folks at WebMD suggest that a good sports drink has at least 14-15 grams of carbs in 8 ounces of fluid, and should also have 110 milligrams of sodium and 30 milligrams of potassium in 8 ounces of fluid.

Flavored water with very little sugar or other additives has also proven to be a good idea mid-workout, especially for people like me who hate the taste of plain water. This option is better for weight loss, whereas the sports drink is a better option for athletes.

As for actual foods to eat during a workout, some studies have shown that honey, especially darker honey, can provide not only a carb boost, but antioxidants and vitamins as well. A spoonful of honey might be just the thing when you’ve been going hard and need a little sustenance!

Post-Workout Foods: The Foods to Rebuild and Recover

After their hard work, your muscles need protein and carbohydrates to recover and repair themselves. It’s best to eat as soon as you finish your workout–giving your body immediate fuel helps it absorb more of the nutrients from your food, and it also stokes your metabolism, helping it burn more for a longer period of time.

You can generally eat the same kinds of foods after your workout as before your workout, but you can have a little larger portion post-workout to help keep your metabolism going. Here are some more food ideas:

  • Burrito made with 1/2 cup beans, 1/2 cup brown rice, 2 tbsp. guacamole, and a little salsa
  • Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole-wheat bread
  • Protein shake: 1/2 banana, scoop of protein powder, some almond milk, and some hemp seeds
  • 8-ounce glass of chocolate milk (or plain milk)–I’m not kidding!
  • Salad with 1/2 cup roasted chickpeas, light olive oil and vinegar
  • Banana with peanut butter
  • A cup of sauteed/steamed vegetables with a half cup of tofu
  • Tart cherry juice (helps with sore muscles)
  • A cup of quinoa, mixed with a cup of black berries and 1/4 cup pecans
  • 2 slices of multi-grain bread, spread with raw peanut butter and agave nectar

Other Real-World Nutrition Hints from My Experience

  • I find that trying to drink very cold water during my workout leads to chest pains–the chill of the water shocks my working muscles and leads to not-happy time. To combat this, I set my water bottle outside the fridge for about an hour before my workout.
  • Sometimes I get really nauseated during my workouts, especially if we’re doing very intense cardio work. If this happens to you, don’t be ashamed to step back completely from your workout for a few seconds and take a few sips of water; I’ve tried this and it helps me a lot.
  • One of my favorite post-workout meals is a small serving of fettuccini alfredo; I ate this one evening because it was leftovers from lunch, and I noticed I felt much more energized and didn’t crave all the sugary stuff in the cupboards. (I admit, this is a calorie-laden snack, but it did the job of restoring protein and carbs!)
  • Pre-workout, I enjoy eating either a cheese stick (usually the low-moisture part-skim mozzarella kind) or a slice of bread spread with peanut butter. I had chosen this because it was lighter and was made up of some of my favorite food–funny that these two snacks appeared in similar forms in my research for this post!

For Further Reading

I couldn’t have written this post without the information included on the following pages. Check them out for even more nutrition-linked fitness info!

WebMD: What to Eat Before, During, and After Exercise
USNews: Best Workout Foods: What to Eat Before a Workout
Shape.com: Best Foods to Eat Before and After Your Workout
FitSugar: Bad Weight-Loss Technique: Exercising on an Empty Stomach
EatingWell: The Best Fitness Foods: What to eat before, during, and after a workout
SportsMedicine @ About.com: What to Eat Before Exercise
Bonus: USNews: 8 Foods to Help You Lose Weight

Next Week: Starting Slow

Want results from your workout quick and easy? Unfortunately, your body doesn’t work that way. We’ll see the importance of getting in shape gradually in the next installment of “Getting Fit the RIGHT Way!”

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Getting Fit the RIGHT Way, part 1: The Pre-Exercise Doctor Visit

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Are you going to resolve to lose weight for this New Year? Then take it from someone who knows: when you’re starting a new exercise routine, whether you’ve not been exercising for a few months or a few years, you can’t just jump into some kind of hardcore workout schedule. If you do, you’ll end up hurt and you won’t continue the good work you tried to begin.

I think this is where a lot of New Year’s weight-loss resolutions end up dying–we start out trying to do too much too fast, and we don’t take our bodies’ needs into account. I know I certainly made that mistake, all the times I tried and failed to begin an exercise regimen. Given that my past experience of exercise (counting humiliating gym classes in school) had largely been painful and arduous, without a scrap of fun or reward in sight, I didn’t know how else to exercise but to do some repetitious and painful movements that made me feel 3 times as fat and ugly as everyone else in the room.

But there IS a way to begin an exercise regimen that you’ll stick to, and I’m living proof of it. I’ve been doing Zumba now for a year and a half; I never thought I’d stick to any exercise plan this long, but I have, because I finally managed to start my regimen off right–with a visit to my family doctor.

Before You Begin: Doctor Visit First!

This is important for everyone who is trying to get back in shape, but especially anyone who has had sprains, twists, or any other major bodily injury. It’s physically dangerous to just start an exercise routine without proper medical advice.

One reason I say that: I see all these infomercials on TV for “hardcore” and “quick” exercise regimens (the Insanity workout regimen comes to mind). These infomercials make you believe that all you have to do is work out extra hard to see results in record time.

Unfortunately, your body doesn’t adapt to such a huge lifestyle change that quickly; I would like to point out that most of the people giving testimonials for these “quick exercise” plans didn’t have that much weight to lose in the first place, and they never mention being perpetually sick or injured before starting the plans. If I had tried going from laying in bed to doing incredibly strenuous exercise, I would have probably ended up in the hospital, simply because my fitness level was somewhere around -50.

My worry with this kind of “get-fit-NOW!” mentality is that people who are trying to get fit will try to do too much, just as I did, and end up hurting themselves worse–which will begin a vicious cycle of starting exercise, getting injured, quitting, and then trying another exercise routine.

Get A Physical, and See What Your Fitness Level Really Is

Before you start doing any kind of exercise, you need to have a complete physical if possible, so that you and your doctor both know about any current health problems you’re having. In my case, before I started Zumba, I had exertional asthma, a family history of heart problems and high blood pressure, and several old injuries to my knees and ankles.

My doctor told me before I began Zumba that I would need to avoid the hops and jumps that were part of the dance routines, because the high impact of my larger weight landing on my injured joints could do more harm than good. Plus, I would need to be aware of my heart rate and breathing during exercise; he warned me that because I was overweight, had not exercised much in the last few years, and had the family history of heart problems and high blood pressure, I would likely have some difficulties with the cardio part of any exercise program at first. “If you feel any kind of discomfort with your heart rate or breathing, don’t be ashamed to back off a few moments to rebalance,” he said. “Your heart and lungs will not be used to all the activity at first, so you have to give them time to adapt.”

Fast-forward to a year and a half later, and I am SO glad he told me that. Though I did have to stop and rest 3 times during my first Zumba class, I was not as freaked out by my rapid heart rate as I would have been if I had not seen my doctor first. Because I sought proper medical advice, I knew that my crazily elevated heart rate was not my heart threatening to bust out of my chest, and so I didn’t quit the exercise entirely; I just rested about 20-30 seconds and then started moving again. And, after a couple of months, I didn’t have to stop during Zumba class at all–my heart and lungs DID adapt to the increased activity.

Following his advice about avoiding injury to my knees and ankles has also helped greatly. Not only have I kept myself from further injury, but I’ve noticed that my knee muscles seem to be getting stronger, and the joints don’t hurt quite so much. I don’t know whether I can completely reverse the damage that was done, but at least something is feeling better in there!

Similarly, before you begin your own exercise routine, check with your doctor to see what kind of exercises and how much intensity you can handle, and whether there are any specific moves you need to avoid. This will make your workout experience a lot less painful, and you’ll be more likely to stick to it. The key to beginning an exercise routine you can maintain is to do what you can and push yourself little by little at first. (At least, that’s been my experience.)

Next Week: Gear Up Appropriately

You can’t just go to the gym in any old clothes; you must be dressed for battle. No, I’m not talking fashion statements here–I mean clothes and shoes that work with your body so that you don’t end up overheated and in severe pain. Want to know more? Tune in next Tuesday!

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Slaying the Clutter Dragon, part 10: A Look Back

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In 10 weeks, I’ve come so far in my war on clutter. From barely being able to swing my bedroom door fully open, now I can walk freely through nearly half the room, and I’ve cleaned out over half the closet. Who would have thought?

I certainly didn’t think my war with the Clutter Dragon would go this well, since it never has before. But then again, in my past battles, I tried to de-clutter and clean all in one day, and I ended up tired, defeated, and nothing really changed. And in the past, I didn’t really try to get rid of anything that wasn’t just trash.

This time, I made up my mind to sell or donate anything I didn’t need, and that was the big change. Plus, I tackled one small area a week, and documented it with this very series of blog posts, so I held myself accountable.

What Have We Learned from Battling the Clutter Dragon?

Part 1 (The First Sword Charge): Start with a small area to clean out. Don’t try to tackle a whole cluttered room (or a whole cluttered house!) in one day all by yourself, especially not one as cluttered as mine was to start!

Part 2 (The Valiant Sword Sweep): Clearing the floor of clutter is often the most important part–you have to have clear places to put your feet when you’re cleaning, otherwise you’ll get hurt.

Part 3 (Horrors in the Hidden Abyss): If you don’t clean out your storage spaces from time to time, you will end up with clutter so bad you can’t live in your space anymore. Clean out the storage places, and you create places for your new favorite/important items to live.

Part 4 (Blundering in the Dark): When you tackle a cluttered storage space, you have to divide it up into small areas just like a cluttered room. Try to tackle too much and you’ll just get discouraged.

Part 5 (Nitty, Gritty, and Dirty): Arm yourself with cleaning products (dusters, disinfectant, paper towels, wipes, broom, dustpan, vacuum cleaner/sweeper, etc.), especially if you’re cleaning out a storage space that has lain untouched for many a year. You’ll thank yourself for having cleaning stuff at the ready!

Part 6 (A Swipe at the Dragon’s Leg): If you find yourself daunted, take another look at the clutter situation. What’s keeping you from working? Once you’ve found the reason you’re suddenly too tired/discouraged to de-clutter, then set about getting rid of it. Believe me, this helps so much!

Part 7 (A Desperate Sally Forth): Even if you don’t feel like tackling a usual-sized small area of your clutter, do SOMETHING to battle the Clutter Dragon in your life. Even if it’s just half a tiny closet shelf, or one box of books, or one corner of your room, keep fighting the war on clutter!

Part 8 (Where the Beast Hides): Don’t just move clutter around your house thinking you’re “dealing with it.” You haven’t dealt with it until you’ve sorted it out, thrown away everything that’s too broken to repair and sell, and sold/donated the rest of the items you’re not using and don’t want to keep.

Part 9 (Hacking Away at the Cache): Be ruthless about what you’re going to throw away and what you’re going to sell. If the item doesn’t make you happy, isn’t useful anymore, and/or is too broken to use/display anyway, what good is it doing you? When you’ve spent your life trapped by clutter, you can’t afford to be overly sentimental. Keep what is truly meaningful, but make room for yourself to live in your house with your precious items, too.

Closing Thoughts

In closing this series of blog posts, I hope you’ve found courage and motivation to fight your own Clutter Dragons. It’s an ongoing siege, a state of constant vigilance against the problem of “too much stuff and not enough space,” and I’m not nearly done with my own war on clutter. (I’m just done blogging about it for now, since I think 10 weeks on the same subject is quite enough. LOL!)

This series stands as proof that you CAN reclaim a room, a closet, even a small shelf, even if you are a hardcore hoarder like I’ve been in the past. And what’s more, you can maintain the change, just by being a bit more aware of how much stuff you own. (And don’t worry–when I finally reclaim my entire room from the Clutter Dragon’s terrible reign, you’ll hear the shout of joy all the way over at your house, no matter where you live in the world. xD)

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Slaying the Clutter Dragon, part 9: Hacking Away at the Cache

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The siege on the Clutter Dragon’s hidden hoard continues, with another week and another installment of sorting clutter. ONWARD! 😀

This week, I began with this mountainous pile you see below:


This pile, affectionately nicknamed “Clutter Mountain,” was yet another obstacle to the process of cleaning. I had to scale Clutter Mountain and conquer it, like Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Everest.

Unexpected Philosophy Amid the Climb

The actual process of de-cluttering progressed much as the last post did–removing items one at a time from the top of Clutter Mountain, making a decision about each item on the spot, and putting it in one of three areas: keep, donate/sell, and toss. Another big black trash bag served as the Toss zone, so it could be easily removed from the house when it was full.

But I found myself waxing philosophical about the journey as I worked. Contrary to my expectations, I was beginning to enjoy myself, even if I had put off the work as long as I could. And once I was finished conquering Clutter Mountain (which actually only took about 15 minutes once I got down to it), I was even energized enough to think about tackling the more grown-up clutter that lay on the table where the mountain of childhood had once stood.

It led me to an interesting realization: the more you de-clutter, the easier it is to do, mentally. Even though I had dragged around part of the day trying to avoid the task, once I got around to doing it rather than mentally whining about it, it was much easier, especially since I had set the hard and fast rule of “make a decision about each item RIGHT NOW.” (You wouldn’t believe how freeing that is, not until you’ve experienced the kind of quick de-cluttering it engenders.)

The Results


At last, Clutter Mountain has been conquered! WOOT! Only the slight layer of grown-up junk that was there before remains, and that might even be gone later, if my cleaning bug gets me again. 🙂


The chair I appropriated for my “Keep” zone gained only one new item–a little Paddington Bear, much-beloved from my childhood. He ain’t goin’ anywhere. 😀


As for the “Donate/Sell” zone…well…it got more piled up. LOL! But that’s a GREAT thing–there are plenty of toys here in good to almost-new condition, just in time for Christmas. Just think, some of these toys in this pile could make a little girl’s (or even a little boy’s) Christmas that much brighter!


I even had to start a new “Donate/Sell” box on another surface in the basement, because I had so many toys I sorted into this zone! This represents another step forward for me–not only am I sorting these things to be taken out of the house, but I’m getting more comfortable with the idea of getting them out of the house, instead of hoarding them.

As for the Toss zone, I didn’t photograph it, but the big black trash bag, empty at the beginning of the task, is already 3/4 full. WOW. :O

Next Week: The Philosophy I Thought Of Today

In next Tuesday’s post, I’ll share some of the clutter and cleaning philosophy I came up with while busy doing the work for this week. What I came up with might surprise you!

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Slaying the Clutter Dragon, part 8: Where the Beast Hides

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Throughout this series, I’ve been cleaning and de-cluttering, reclaiming my bedroom inch by inch.

Wait, let me rephrase that. Throughout this series, I’ve been moving junk around and not really dealing with it, getting one space clean at the expense of another space. LOL!

This is how a lot of us deal with clutter, actually–we move stuff around instead of getting rid of it, or we shove it into corners and under furniture so that we don’t have to look at it. Neither approach treats the disease of “too much stuff;” it only makes the symptoms a little easier to live with.

In my case, my bedroom’s dumping ground has been part of the finished basement, seen below:


Yeah, all of that mound of toy clutter came from my closet upstairs. I stacked it all down in the basement instead of dealing with it weeks ago, mainly because of low energy levels and wanting to get closet shelves clear first. But as I decluttered the closet, I ran into a problem:


The closet clutter did not just confine itself to one section of the room, but began to crawl into other areas…


…hiding in plain sight…


…spilling forth onto the floor…


…commandeering other tabletops and various surfaces…


…and generally taking over the basement room, as it had taken over my bedroom closet so many years before.

I surveyed this with a weary eye in my last installment; I thought I had been routing the Clutter Dragon, defeating it where it lay, but instead, I only moved its habitat. Now the Clutter Dragon reigned over its hoard in the basement, rather than my closet. 🙁

I simply could not put off the job of sorting and donating/throwing away any longer. If I kept delaying, I would end up with nowhere to put the rest of the clutter from the unfinished closet, nor would I be able to use the basement space for anything. So, with a tired sigh, I began to attack the clutter problem directly, finally dealing with the cache of childhood that had been stored so long.

Invading Clutter Valley

Since I knew I would not have the energy to deal with all the items today (especially not the mound of items in the first picture), I decided to tackle what I could–the valley of clutter between the coffee table and the love seat (both of which are hidden by clutter in these pictures).


This floorspace absolutely had to be cleared first before I could even begin to scale “Clutter Mountain.” Thus, I began to sort and deal with items as I could.

Zoning the Room: Keep, Sell/Donate, and Toss


First, I established part of a nearby tabletop as the “sell/donate” zone, with several small boxes to hold items that still had good life in them. For instance, the box above holds small toys, dolls, and game pieces…


…while this box holds various children’s literature, and so on.


I even did establish a “keep” zone as well (the seat of a broken computer chair), though I made sure it was a lot smaller than the “donate” zone. (Since this basement room has been pretty cluttered anyway, I had to work with the zones and the space I had–thus, why a chair seat functioned as the “keep” zone.)

As for the “toss” zone, that was the big black trash bag I carried around the large room with me, which you’ll see later in this post. This was possibly the most important zone of all, the one I had to make big decisions for, and the zone that, as a hoarder, I hate and fear the most. There’s just something so wrong about throwing away items one has paid good money for, even when they’re irreparably broken or otherwise ruined.

And yet, I couldn’t just leave them scattered about. Not if I wanted to be able to live in my house rather than just tiptoe around teetering piles of junk. If I was truly going to reclaim my room from the Clutter Dragon, I had to start actually chasing it out rather than just chasing it around the house.

Sorting, Tossing…and Surprising

So, with the makeshift zones established, I began to slowly fall into a rhythm of picking up items and deciding where they went. I did not move on from one item until it had been solidly put in one of the three zones, and I forced myself to move quickly through the items, making decisions that should have been made years ago.

Nor did I allow myself to fall too far into sentimentality as I categorized. Some objects that did have fond memories attached were put in the keep pile, but anything that didn’t have a memory with it, or didn’t absolutely have to stay because of the memory, got put into the sell/donate pile. Not only that, but I kept the trash bag with me so that if I found an item that was too broken or ruined, I could quickly put it in the trash and be done with it.

I really hated this part at first. My ankle was hurting, I was tired already, and I detested having to make quick decisions. But I also knew that if I didn’t do it right then, and do it quickly, I would never get it done at all. My record of cleaning and organizing (or rather, procrastinating about such tasks) showed that plainly.

So I kept moving…and as I did, I began to enjoy myself. It felt–GOOD to purge some of this old stuff. (Yes, I just admitted that; I just admitted that it felt good to throw stuff away. You may check my identity later. XD) The rapid decision-making, the firm, decisive action being taken after years or decades of hem-hawing, was in some way electrifying. The process became easier and easier, until…

Clutter Valley Cleared!


While it may not look a lot different from the “before” picture of Clutter Valley, now you can at least tell that there are furniture pieces and floor under there! And now I can walk through without stepping on Legos or tons of other tiny little toy pieces! YAY!


This is the “Donate” pile, rife with toys–the other items seen in this picture are not part of the “Donate” pile officially, but there was nowhere else to put them in the room. This pile will grow larger in the weeks ahead!


And this is the itty-bitty “Keep” pile–it’s mainly made up of empty boxes and small crates that I can use for categorizing later, as well as some very special memory items. Can you believe it? I have committed to keep less than 10% of what I categorized today! :O


And this is the “Toss” pile, stuffed inside this giant black bag. It’s pretty much stuffed to the brim…


…and this picture proves it! WOW!

The Real Victory Today: My Mindset

Though it may not look like much of the war on clutter was won today, there was an important mental victory scored–me actually learning to like the de-cluttering process. I’ve put it off for weeks and weeks, hating and fearing it because of its time-consuming, hair-tearing decision-making…but I learned that it can actually be a rapid, freeing process, if you let it. That just might be the most important lesson you can take away from this whole series!

Next Week: Scaling Clutter Mountain

You remember that big mound of clutter on the hidden coffee table? Well, it’s getting conquered in next week’s post–just wait and see!