I Completed Insanity!

Many of you know that the year 2011 wasn't a favorite year for me in terms of my personal fitness. I started the year battling elbow tendinitis and to my surprise it completely threw me off track, mentally as much as physically. So if something is injured on your upper body you just work the lower body, and vice versa, right? That's what I would say. Until it happened to me. I learned a lot about myself in 2011. I had a great physical therapist and a husband who would call me out on my attitude and so I made it through. Hopefully it will make me a better coach and friend, and I can help others have an easier time of it than I did. 

2012 started shaky. I spent much of my time in the early spring with my sisters, taking care of our Dad. We lost him on April 12. I wouldn't take anything for the privilege of taking care of him. I was not ready to let him go, and I am still in some phase of the grieving process. 

Two days after we buried my Dad I started Insanity. I can tell you that I cried my way through more than one warm up. There were days I didn't want to work out. I was really out of shape for me, and carrying more weight than my frame needs. I called Shaun T all sorts of names. I couldn't believe how much I was sweating during the STRETCHING. 

Three people really helped me through this:

1. My husband Jimmy

I can be really mouthy at times and he just pushes forward anyway. He worked hard to keep the schedule clear, help me protect my time and encourage me. He fixed meals, snacks, Shakeology, post-workout drinks, whatever. On some really tough days for me he got out there and did the workout with me. I could not have done it without him. 

2. My Dad

The realization of how hard he fought Parkinson's is very prominent to me right now. He persevered. During some of the tough times he could get more done in a day than some people get done in a week. If something that used to take him 2 minutes now took him 30, well that's just the way it was. And the thing that suddenly stood out most to me was that he NEVER COMPLAINED. I mean ever. He would fuss at us when we wouldn't let him do something he wanted to do, but I never heard him complain about having Parkinson's. How could I not push forward when I had that type of spirit for an example?

3. Shaun T

In 2011 I met Shaun T in person. You cannot help but love the guy. His word of encouragement for me that day - "when you think you cannot possibly do one more [rep, jump, minute]...then do one more, and you will get there." He's probably told 1000 people that. But it spoke to me that day. There were days when I'd push play and think "there is no other word for this program, this guy is nuts!" but I adore him. I can't tell you how excited I was to tell him this year that I'd completed (not mastered) Insanity, and I was calling it Round 1. 

Whatever you are going through right now, do not neglect your physical exercise. If you think you cannot get going, put on your shorts and do 10 minutes. If you can't push on after that, stop for the day. But chances are you will keep going. True fitness doesn't happen in spurts, or randomly, or short term. It's a long term commitment to be the best you can be. It's cummulative and it takes deliberate effort. 

You are worth every second of it. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Make it a priority. Do you have to do intense workouts like Insanity? No. But for the love of all things holy, do something! Everyone has to start somewhere. Set your goals and own them. You never know what you might end up accomplishing! 

MOVE IT and Improve Your Quality of Life

In my mind's eye I see him.

He's mowing, raking, sweeping and bagging the grass. He's washing and waxing the car. He's painting the house his favorite shade of redwood. He's teaching me to ride a bike, and patching me up when I have a wreck. He's building a rabbit hutch, or a play fort, or a swing for a neighbor. He's preparing a vegetable bed or trimming the hydrangeas or planting a tree from a sapling. He's cleaning his golf clubs, or his rifle, or untangling some fishing line.

Then I look up. And I see him in his hospital bed at home. Fragile, thin, and tired. What does this have to do with fitness? Everything. As I sit here in the middle of the night at his bedside and watch him breathe, I realize that the magnitude of the fight he has given this disease called Parkinson's is quite impressive.

My Dad didn't play sports. He didn't lift weights or "do cardio". He wouldn't have been described as athletic. He worked most of his life in the food industry. But the most important part that prepared him for his challenges later in life was his capacity for physical work.

Because he was so strong and active and conditioned, and because he had determination that some disease called Parkinson's wasn't going to stop him, he was physically able to deny and delay the effects of it for a long time. I know that every patient has different symptoms exhibited in different ways and at varying levels of intensity. But I literally watched my Dad fight back. He has been diagnosed for 17 years. Which means its onset was even prior to that. By the way, he's 83 years old.

So what is my point? I am concerned that there aren't too many of us who can say that we are making healthy enough physical fitness and nutrition choices right now that we can fight hard if we get a disease, much less ward one off or flat out prevent it. My Dad is not the norm. Too many of us would be grossly unprepared for a catastrophic or progressive disease. Typically even those of us who consider ourselves in shape get our tails kicked by a half day of yard work. I don't think my Dad always made the healthiest choices with his physical activity. He didn't rest enough, he scared us to death climbing ladders, he drove his car way too long. But we can all learn something from him.

It's not just that our sedentary lifestyles are prematurely aging us, or making us ill-prepared for a potential future disease. Our sedentary lifestyles are slowly killing us. I truly believe that. What other outcome can we expect when we're complacent in sitting around, spending hours on a computer, watching TV and moving only from the kitchen to the couch with our salty, fatty, sugary processed food snacks? What about hours in a car, or at a desk, with loads of stress and no activity other than finding the closest parking spot just to go in a restaurant for a huge meal? Some studies are now showing that even a good hard workout several days of the week may not be enough to offset all the sedentary hours we log.

We MUST get serious about this and we MUST do someting about it. Now. Not later, not when we feel like it, not when we're getting ready for a short term event like a wedding or beach trip or class reunion. Now and every single day. My Dad has given this disease a hard, determined fight. He didn't give up. He didn't just sit in a chair and let it take over his life.

What are you going to do? Do it now, for you, and for the people who love you. Decide. Get started, and tell me about it!