It's here now.
Come visit. :)
Thanks!
Gina ;~}
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Unifying the Challenge
Hey folks:
Writing posts on The MegaChallenge 200 got me through some of the largest and most intense transitions of my life. I lost some serious weight back in 2005 while returning to grad school, ending my first marriage, and homeschooling my kids. Over the next 6 years, I rediscovered my happiness and my purpose.
Part of being happy and on purpose is feeling like your life is somewhat in the flow, but my online life has become a disjointed collection of idea silos. I have disability-related sites, art-related sites, my inclusion blog, my all-things-gratitude blog, and this long-time friend, too.
I’m in the initial week of building my first-ever, authentically-me, including-my-really-real name website. The catchy blog titles and URLs -- like Happy and Included -- that I’ve created previously seemed too specific and narrow when I wanted to talk about something new — do I really want to create a whole new site every time I see something shiny? So I decided that I wanted a site with my name on it. If it’s an online extension of Gina, let’s just call it that.
Once I got past the “It’s conceited to name a site after yourself.” hang up, I began thinking about what I wanted my site to reflect — about me, about my life, about my professional strengths, about the stuff you can’t pay me enough to do, about my passions, and about the stuff that just irritates the fire out of me.
So, in a nod to a more holistic approach to my online presence, I'm moving The MegaChallenge 200 to www.ginalynette.com. I'm just about to blog about Workout 3/200. I hope you'll come on over and check it out.
With abundant gratitude,
Gina ;~}
Writing posts on The MegaChallenge 200 got me through some of the largest and most intense transitions of my life. I lost some serious weight back in 2005 while returning to grad school, ending my first marriage, and homeschooling my kids. Over the next 6 years, I rediscovered my happiness and my purpose.
Part of being happy and on purpose is feeling like your life is somewhat in the flow, but my online life has become a disjointed collection of idea silos. I have disability-related sites, art-related sites, my inclusion blog, my all-things-gratitude blog, and this long-time friend, too.
I’m in the initial week of building my first-ever, authentically-me, including-my-really-real name website. The catchy blog titles and URLs -- like Happy and Included -- that I’ve created previously seemed too specific and narrow when I wanted to talk about something new — do I really want to create a whole new site every time I see something shiny? So I decided that I wanted a site with my name on it. If it’s an online extension of Gina, let’s just call it that.
Once I got past the “It’s conceited to name a site after yourself.” hang up, I began thinking about what I wanted my site to reflect — about me, about my life, about my professional strengths, about the stuff you can’t pay me enough to do, about my passions, and about the stuff that just irritates the fire out of me.
So, in a nod to a more holistic approach to my online presence, I'm moving The MegaChallenge 200 to www.ginalynette.com. I'm just about to blog about Workout 3/200. I hope you'll come on over and check it out.
With abundant gratitude,
Gina ;~}
Sunday, May 22, 2011
And This Is Where We Begin... Again...
Workout 1 on the new elliptical trainer is on the books.
36:41 minutes -- 4092 strides -- 301.1 calories
I do love me some numbers.
But even more than that, I love me some progress. So it feels kind of strange to be starting back at 1 almost exactly 6 years after this MegaChallenge got started. But... here I am.
The good news is that I'm not doing a complete rewind. I haven't regained all of the weight I lost 6 years ago (and kept off successfully for another 4 years). I'm starting out about 10 - 15 pounds lighter than last time. I'm also starting out much wiser and -- um -- 6 years older. This means I know what works for me and what doesn't and what needs to change to get my body into decent shape -- even if my 40 year old self knows that it isn't ever going to be 20 again.
I also know that the scale and my jean size don't measure my progress. My stamina and ability to say yes to the things I want to do are what actually matter.
Being happy. Feeling good.
Those are my ROI categories as I restart this quest to exercise on a regular basis.
So, why the home version of the elliptical trainer -- besides the fact that walking and dieting aren't what keeps my butt fitting in my wardrobe? Because it means:
36:41 minutes -- 4092 strides -- 301.1 calories
I do love me some numbers.
But even more than that, I love me some progress. So it feels kind of strange to be starting back at 1 almost exactly 6 years after this MegaChallenge got started. But... here I am.
The good news is that I'm not doing a complete rewind. I haven't regained all of the weight I lost 6 years ago (and kept off successfully for another 4 years). I'm starting out about 10 - 15 pounds lighter than last time. I'm also starting out much wiser and -- um -- 6 years older. This means I know what works for me and what doesn't and what needs to change to get my body into decent shape -- even if my 40 year old self knows that it isn't ever going to be 20 again.
I also know that the scale and my jean size don't measure my progress. My stamina and ability to say yes to the things I want to do are what actually matter.
Being happy. Feeling good.
Those are my ROI categories as I restart this quest to exercise on a regular basis.
So, why the home version of the elliptical trainer -- besides the fact that walking and dieting aren't what keeps my butt fitting in my wardrobe? Because it means:
- I don't have to wait 20 minutes for a turn on the gym version
- No one will tell me that I only get 30 minutes to do my 70-minute workout.
- I get to sing out loud. (I love singing while I work out!)
- I get to be in my home -- which I love, love, love.
- It eliminates the drive to the gym and back.
- My kids get to do what they actually want to do while I work out rather than my being called 14 times to deal with an issue in the childcare area (only to re-start my wait for a machine.)
- I get to sing out loud. (I love cranking up the stereo and singing!)
- I get to enjoy my runs to nowhere without being forced to watch shows that gross me out on screens all over the room.
- My own private shower -- complete with my soaps, scrubs, shampoos, and soft towels -- is only steps away.
- I get to sing out loud. (I may even take up singing in the shower, too!)
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Bringing it Home...
Believe it or not, it has been months since I last ran to nowhere.
My life is a scrambled egg of kids and work and homeschooling and grad schooling and partnership with my hubby and, well, somehow the gym doesn't get on my schedule much. At all. Ever. Unless, of course, it is to take some complement of this crew to the pool.
I don't get on the machines.
Ever.
Ever.
Instead, I'm walking our 80-pound collie twice a day and eating pretty well and sleeping pretty well and managing to creep back up the scale. Because, as we learned in my initial post on ye ole blog, unless I'm doing something incredibly sweat-inducing, my metabolism will not budge.
Ever.
I've had an elliptical trainer on my wishlist since about the time I last bought a swimsuit. It's really the only reason (besides access to the pool) that I pay for a membership to the gym. Yes, I've done the math over the past 10 (15) years of working out at the gym and know I could have bought 4 elliptical machines with those membership fees. But I've watched folks turn treadmills into clothing racks and didn't want to end up doing the same thing.
Ever.
Ever.
It's time. So, I scoured the ads and picked what I wanted and called up a guy who will have to figure out what to do with his clothes now that I'm adopting his elliptical-trainer-cum-clothing-rack for my own home gym.
The machine arrives this weekend. Hopefully it marks the rekindling of my long-term-love affair with running to nowhere... and perhaps even -- I know! -- blogging.
My life is a scrambled egg of kids and work and homeschooling and grad schooling and partnership with my hubby and, well, somehow the gym doesn't get on my schedule much. At all. Ever. Unless, of course, it is to take some complement of this crew to the pool.
I don't get on the machines.
Ever.
Ever.
Instead, I'm walking our 80-pound collie twice a day and eating pretty well and sleeping pretty well and managing to creep back up the scale. Because, as we learned in my initial post on ye ole blog, unless I'm doing something incredibly sweat-inducing, my metabolism will not budge.
Ever.
I've had an elliptical trainer on my wishlist since about the time I last bought a swimsuit. It's really the only reason (besides access to the pool) that I pay for a membership to the gym. Yes, I've done the math over the past 10 (15) years of working out at the gym and know I could have bought 4 elliptical machines with those membership fees. But I've watched folks turn treadmills into clothing racks and didn't want to end up doing the same thing.
Ever.
Ever.
It's time. So, I scoured the ads and picked what I wanted and called up a guy who will have to figure out what to do with his clothes now that I'm adopting his elliptical-trainer-cum-clothing-rack for my own home gym.
The machine arrives this weekend. Hopefully it marks the rekindling of my long-term-love affair with running to nowhere... and perhaps even -- I know! -- blogging.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)