A latta pilates

Wow. So, more and more I'm starting to believe that the key to sucessful weight loss has less to do with diet and more -- a lot more -- to do with exercise. This is not a concept that has come easily to me because I loathe -- LOATHE -- exercise. It's a reaction that has been ingrained in me since childhood, when my elementary school PE teacher would make us run the mile, which I couldn't do, owing to my asthma, and then line up according to our times. I was always last. Six years of elementary school and I was ALWAYS last. To top that, I have all the "picked last for every team sport" stories too. The thing about me is, if I enjoy a thing, and I'm good at it, I will persue it to its very ends. If I am not good at something and don't enjoy it -- the two go hand in hand -- I will abhor it at all costs. Hence, my extreme distaste for exercise.

Well, my asthma has gotten much less severe since those days, and, with my weight loss journey well under way, I have frequently tried different exercises that might appeal to me. In Santa Fe when I lost the first 40 pounds, I swam at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center. Not very often, mind you, but I did swim, probably an average of once a week, for 30 minutes to an hour. That was a big step for me. I also walked a lot when I was in college; it's just the name of the game when your campus is as tiny as mine was.

Then, more recently, I have tried other things. Over the years I have bought several workout tapes of different styles, and I like all of them... once. OK, once a month is more fair. But I get increasingly bored of them and more and more likely to find excuses not to do them with every repetition. I also tried walking and yes, even jogging. I can tell you that I jogged an entire mile without stopping for the first time in my life this year. That was a HUGE accomplishment for me.

And yet, none of this motivates me to stick with it! Toe the line! Feel the burn! I feel the burn-out more often than not. And this, I have come to realize, is the real reason my weight loss efforts have somewhat stalled. I am 30 pounds lighter than my highest (known) weight, but I've kind of come to a standstill.

So today, I took yet another big step in my life. I went to a Pilates class on my lunch break. I have a Pilates DVD (see above) and so I kind of knew what it was about: it's a series of exercises meant to strengthen your entire body while focusing mainly on your abdomen. It's a little like yoga, but with more moving and less meditating, although breath control is highly stressed. Anyway, I got up the courage to just go today, and it was wonderful. But let me tell you, I am EXHAUSTED. The only reason I can type this is because it only requires the use of my fingers and my brain, neither of which were particularly worked out. If they had been, I would be a vegetable. I went to refill my water bottle at the water cooler just now, and I bent over and put most of my weight on one leg -- and I started shaking. Yeah, that's how exhausted my muscles are. But I don't hurt. Not anywhere. Yeah, parts of me hurt while I was doing it, but now, I feel fine. Just unable to get up out of my chair.

The way this place works is you can either pay by the class for $15 a session, or you can buy a number of classes in advance and then use them any time within 90 days for less. I bought ten classes. Hopefully, I can stick it out at least that long. =)

P.S. This is post number 101 on this blog! Hooray for milestones!! =)