Tag: physical

fitness and nutrition

WHOOP Intro

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It took me a while but I finally took the plunge and invested in a WHOOP fitness tracking device. Not sure how this will work out but it is officially on my fitness craze list for 2023. In this post I will document the process of starting it up and maybe what I learn initially. Thereafter I will post anything of relevance down the road once it adapts to me. This should be a fun blog to reread down the road.

Step one: taking the plunge with the order. Pretty easy process but I needed to snag a code from a friend to get a little discount. They got one too as a bonus. Hint. Hint. Find a friend or send me a message if you need a code. 

Step two: the wait. They shipped pretty quick so it was here in no time at all, but I seemed to want it yesterday. As if UPS should have been on standby to just know I was going to need a WHOOP delivered. That is the instant gratification girl in me. Zero patience for the newest toy in my toy box.

It’s like Christmas Day agin. The unboxing began. To my surprise it didn’t have an initial charge. The wait continued, I had to figure out the charging process. In my mind I couldn’t grasp how I would sleep with it if the device had to charge. I won’t ruin the surprise but it’s doable.

Then how to situate on my wrist was the next challenge. It seemed weighted at first. It really wasn’t but I perceived it was. Weird I know, but in comparison to the Apple Watch it felt heavy.  Then I had to balance it alternately to my Apple Watch on my other wrist that has been with me for years. It was a process to feel like it was invisible for the first 48 hours. I’m good now.

Sleeping with it. This was a little weird day one. I was also conscious it was there. I wanted to sleep well yet my mind raced a bit. This was annoying because the device needs to calibrate with your sleep four days to establish a baseline. Guess I’m not being helpful! Day two was an odd sleep night at my house creating another benchmark of wake sessions. Next day the same. So far I learned my sleep has a long way to go to improve.

Again learning if you don’t monitor something, it’s basically out of mind. Sleep just isn’t something I’ve monitored before since I’m asleep. Well now the guesswork is out of the way. WHOOP there it is. Recorded for me in an app. Bite sized pieces of information to digest. This girl couldn’t be more happy to review this new data. My data. All about me. My sleepless nights. My wake wake bathroom sessions. The to do list dancing in my head while I try to fall back asleep.

Deep sleep.

Not so deep sleep.

How long it takes me to go to sleep.

Disruptions.

Geez my heart rate just seems so incidental with all the other jazz going on. Whoop. Whoop. Such a funny device name. Yet whoop there it is keeps playing on repeat in my mind. Can’t wait to see where this journey takes me.

Benchmarking. This process will continue and evolve over time. The device is processing away.lots and lots of data. Hopefully I can sort out my movements, my rest and my recovery to improve my overall health. We shall see.

Biking, tennis and CrossFit have been logged. A two-a-day workout. A strenuous workout. A recovery bike ride. Hopefully the movement on the front end will become consistent over the year and the trends or information I’m tracking will give me the statistical data that can fine tune my performance thus combating my aging process and love of fitness. Did I really just acknowledge I’m aging?

Just another tool I’m putting into the mix for now. Bracelets are on hold for now while the wrist real estate is used up with electronic devices tracking my every move. I’ll keep you posted on my likes or dislikes down the road. For now I’m in the honeymoon phase. Whoop

challenges, change

Oh My Aches

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Well 50 has been glorious thus far. So many aches creep up after the big 5-0. Today, I thought I would jot a few down.

The tennis ache: I have a love hate relationship with this kind of ache. I love tennis. I hate the ache in my forearm from overuse. A year ago the ache seemed insignificant. Could the big 5-0 really cause aches?

The CrossFit ache: this ache comes and goes depending on the programming of movements and/or the frequency of my attendance on a regular basis. The ache however is the same. It’s a graduating ache. You must move to keep the tightness from settling in any one place, especially the buttocks. Nobody likes a tight ass. Consistency helps with this ache but age does enlighten you when evaluating aches.

The knee ache: this one is ever so annoying. I can walk. I can bend. I can ride a bike. However, if I sit in a plane seat or a car seat for any length of time my knee is locked. The unlocking part leaves a lingering pain deep inside. Could this be old age? I have no idea what a bad knee feels like but now that I’m fifty I think about it.

Although there are physical aches, there are also emotional and social aches. The social aches come and go with time conflicts and scheduling for adults. Those who want to spend time together but then schedules and life gets in the way. The emotional aches can swing from one side to the other.

One side of the emotional ache could be with growth. Watching your child or young adult grow or not grow. The other side could be emotional aches resulting from the loss of loved ones near and far. Add that 5-0 menopausal self and you might get a an emotional wreck, front and center.

Environmental aches sneak up on you too. The annoying neighbor. The boss who is a pain. The co-worker who slacks causing you extra work.  The weather might even throw you off or makes your aches worse if it’s cold or rainy. One seems easily shaken or disturbed as into that crotchety self over fifty.

I never used to notice aches and pains as much as I have this year. Menopause. Aging. Life. It all hits at once. Or so it seems to me. My forty-five year old self was so much more indestructible. My forty-seven year old self was so adventurous. My fifty and challenged self is changing daily. Likes. Dislikes. Wants. Don’t wants. Needs. No’s. Do’s. Dont’s. I can’t even name them all because change is on the horizon, daily. I also think snoring magnifies over 50.

As I write today, I think of how much I enjoy the still of my day today. The fall air. The cool breeze. The comfy sweatpants. As day shifts to night, I will enjoy something different. The outdoors. The giggles. The challenges. The competition. I hit the field tonight with my new team. I will enjoy some fall memories with this group that will surely keep me on my toes and easily make me forget my aches of the ages.

For now I focus on moving as much as I can and as often as I can. I try to stretch my mind to try new things to counter balance my aging. I often remember to giggle. I also disregard those around me who attempt to suck the life out of me. This is a necessary step to keep the other aches at bay.

Nobody wants to add heartache or worse on top of the other aches I listed above. Well not me anyway. Time to throw my frisbees to my dogs and breathe fresh air.

perspective

Reflections

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What do reflections tell us or teach us? If you look at your reflection in the water, the image may be distorted. If you look at your reflection in a mirror it may also be distorted. However if we reflect upon a picture, not much is hidden. A still moment of you. Marked in time.

Photos are often snapped by others. Said photos may show you a side, an angle, or a view of yourself you are not used to seeing. Or maybe it’s a version or portion of yourself you ignore purposely. It may even be a rude awakening of how you really look to others.

When you look at a picture you see you. The good. The bad. The ugly. How you reflect upon the visual image is completely up to you. 

You can focus on the negative or find the positives in any photo of yourself. For me, I have my moments where I look at the aesthetic piece and say ugh… but then I shift to what I can control. My attitude. My desire to improve. My ability to create change.

Can you look at your reflection and do the same? It’s a challenge of sorts. Take the blurred self-image and create the you that you want to see all the time. The look you want others to see of you. 

Maybe you want to smile brighter. Maybe you want to dress sharper. Maybe you want a new hair color. Maybe it’s a fresh haircut. Whatever you reflect on, you can change if you so desire.

My reflection inspired me recently. I won’t bore you with the details as the point of the post is I reflect on myself to improve. I mapped a plan in my mind to execute the improvement.

I did that! I invoked the desire to change. I charted the path. I put the work in. I valued me. I valued my time to change what I wanted to change in my reflection.

My change could be physical but it doesn’t need to be. It could be a spiritual change. A mindset change. It could even be an emotional change.

I noted in a previous post about how others are watching. They may watch whether you strut or walk timidly. That’s right your gait can tell a lot about you. It used to be the handshake in business that defined you but now thanks to corona and the digital arena we live in today we must adapt. Adapt our reflection to meet today’s demands.

I did just that. I asked myself or my reflection how I can up my game. What can I modify within to recreate, repurpose, reposition or redirect to suit my forward-thinking self.

I’m a work in progress. An artist piece that is moldable and remoldable. Never boring. Never stale. Dynamic. A modifiable masterpiece.

My reflection is shifting. Just like life.