4 posts tagged “health and well being”

Steve and I recently combined our Shoppers points and had $150 to redeem.  I was contemplating whether I should purchase a Nintendo DS or the Nintendo Wii.  I did a bit of research online and decided to buy the Wii b/c I wanted to try out the Wii Fit Plus.  We bought the Wii three weeks ago when Shoppers was having a promo where if you have 75,000 points (which we did) you can redeem $200 instead of the regular $150.  In the end we purchased the Wii for $116 (tax included) which is a total steal.

We went home so Steve could hook it up and I created my Mii profile.  I did the body test where you stand on the balance board and some calculations were made.  I learned that my balance was mediocre, my BMI was borderline normal/underweight, and my Wii fit age was............ 43!  Gawd damn I was floored.  Am I really that out of shape?  I vowed to get into shape ASAP.

I was then prompted to create a goal to gain 2kg in a span of one month and put together a workout plan.  The whole process took about 20-30 minutes and then I finally started the training.  The next day I followed the same workout plan and redid the body test.  My BMI improved a little, but I was now underweight, and my Wii fit age was..... 30!  So awesome since that's way closer to my real age!

Today, which is 14 days after my second attempt at the Wii workout, I turned on the Wii and played some of the other games instead of following the workout plan.  I tried: Perfect 10, Island Cycling, Rhythm Kung-Fu (so much fun!), Segway Circuit, Rhythm Parade (totally rocked this!), Boxing, and Basic Run Plus.  I also did some Yoga and strength training. 

In total I spent 40 minutes working out and I felt good.  I was anxious to try the body test again, unfortunately the results were not that impressive.  BMI is better than last time.

At least I'm on my way to reaching my goal.  However.....

On Saturday morning Steve and I had an appointment booked for a side by side couples massage.  My sister and I normally go for massages once a month and our husbands felt left out so we decided to bring them along this time.  We booked a 60 minute full body massage and I told my massage therapist to focus on my lower back.  She was extremely good in the sense that her pressure was strong and never wavered but I felt she worked too much on my shoulders and not my lower back. 

I tend to tense up if the pressure is too strong around my neck and shoulders, and I think she thought she had to put extra focus there b/c my muscles were stiff.  A word of advice for those new to massages: tensing up is probably the worse thing you can do during a massage b/c if the massage therapist is working on the tense muscle, you're going to feel pain.

It still felt good but I wasn't completely satisfied after the 60 minutes were over b/c my lower back was still stiff and uncomfortable.  This was totally my fault though b/c afterward when the four of us were comparing notes in the car, I found out that it's not my lower back that's the problem, it's the part where my back meets my butt which is called your glutes.  Or the top of your glutes.  It must be the way I sit at my desk all day that makes my glutes sore.  I have the worse habit of bringing up my legs and sitting cross-legged or crossing one over the other... almost like the spine twist yoga pose but on my chair instead of the floor.  Next time I'm not going to ask for the full-body massage but a 60 minute back massage with a focus on my upper glutes. 

Unfortunately Steve didn't get the great experience I was hoping for b/c his massage therapist sucked.  Apparently she'd do a full 2 minutes on a left muscle and slack off and do 1 minute on the right.  And THEN she massaged his face with the eucalyptus oil (awesome btw!) right after massaging his feet.  LMAO!!!  Only Steve would care about that.

Luckily Steve's a sport and said he'd go back b/c I promised him I'd book him with Vicky who's probably the best massage therapist there.  She's the one who realized my glutes were sore and needed attention before I even knew it.  I'll probably book our next appointment for 3 weeks from now. 

Gotta love Steve's work benefits =)

I've never been a very physically active person.  In high school I hated phys-ed and dropped it the first chance I got b/c I was always one of those people who ran away from the ball and was scared of the opposing team.  Being naturally thin all my life, I never understood just how important exercise is and I'm beginning to realize that being thin does not always mean being healthy.  Luckily my regular check-ups with my doctor confirm I'm healthy but I know I'm not in the best physical shape.  During my last visit to my doctor, I was telling her how I was feeling blah, exhausted all the time, and just not motivated to do anything.  She asked me if I exercise to which I responded no b/c I have no time or energy.  She encouraged me to exercise even if it's just once a week and I told her I'd think about it (as if I was doing her a favour!).

I knew I didn't want to join a gym b/c I tried that a few years ago and only went 5 times throughout my 1-year membership.  My neighbour and a co-worker suggested Yoga which I thought was a great idea b/c it seemed more suitable for me than lifting weights or running on a treadmill.  I started doing research and found a hot yoga studio near my condo.  Then I recruited my sister and the two of us went to our very first hot yoga class, except we didn't know we were walking into a Power Flow class which is one of the hardest classes they offer.  We got through the class and after that we were hooked!  After a couple classes I could already start to feel the benefits of Yoga.  I was more energetic, happier, and able to focus a lot better at work.

We've been to 5 classes now and decided this past Saturday to buy a 20-class pass.  I have absolutely NO upper body strength so my goal is to be able to do the plank by the 10th class!

I feel like I'm putting my health on the back-burner while I work like a slave for a project that seems so meaningless to me.  Unfortunately getting sick is not an option for me right now.  There's gotta be more to life than this.  Sure, I'm making some good money but sometimes (a lot of the times lately) I feel like it's not even worth it.  I need a vacation but I probably shouldn't take one b/c I'm trying to save for my wedding.

Speaking of the wedding, it's been confirmed that the pastor we've approached will NOT be able to marry us.  Apparently the church board has refused to ordain her b/c she is a woman.  They believe women should not be allowed to marry people.  Wow... gender discrimination in the church.  For some odd reason, I'm not surprised.  I wonder though, what the church thinks about all the married people out there who have been married by a woman.  I also wonder what their reasoning is.  How can they allow a woman to become a pastor yet just b/c of her gender, lacks certain privileges?  If I were her, I would feel extremely offended.

So now Steve's parents are going to approach the deacon to see if we can still be married at their church by someone else.  I'm starting to get annoyed with all the politics involved in this church.  I'm not even a member there yet and I'm already getting turned off.  Why do we need "special" permission to get married at the church of our choice?  Also, there's a chance we can't get married there b/c Steve's not baptized.  HOWEVER, each "case" is different and there have been some cases where unbaptized people were married in that church b/c of their relationship with the church.  Just say it.  It's b/c they know someone who can hook them up.  OR their families have generously contributed to the church.  Take that however you want to.

Plans to go wedding dress shopping on Saturday have been squashed b/c I have to work.  I've been working everyday since last last Monday.  Sometimes I find myself forgetting to breathe while I'm sitting at my desk in front of my laptop.  Thank God I have my co-worker there who keeps me sane by going out for coffee breaks and having our bitch-fest with our coffee.  Today we went out and got the best Indian curry I've tasted so far.  It was supposed to be the spiciest... "the hot spicy way we normally make it" is how the man there described it.  But you know me... it's never hot enough and it wasn't this time either.  It was pretty close though.  We also got free ice-cream at work which was a pretty sweet deal considering it wasn't even for my team! 

That made me happy for 5 minutes.