Dumbbells and Crunches: Day One

When I was younger, I loved aerobics, crunches and dumbbell workouts, and I also took a series of courses to become a certified personal trainer, but over the years, I let my enthusiasm for living a fit and healthy lifestyle get pushed aside, and now I'm writing this (hopefully motivational) blog as a 240-pound, size 22, peri-menopausal, overweight woman.

Dumbbells image courtesy of Pixabay

So, anyway, I'm back, looking at my past passion for fitness and exercise physiology and wondering what, other than my body, has changed over the years. 

A Flawed Approach to Fitness?

I never bought into the no pain - no gain line of thinking, because so many people give up after the first workout or two because of the pain, though I of course understand the breaking down and response of rebuilding stronger muscle part of the human body. 

So, I'm going to take myself through the process as I relearn how to become fitter and healthier - as a woman going through the menopausal phase of life - and I'm going to share a lot about that here in the coming year. 

Wherever possible, I through in sources from experts currently working in the field of fitness, and I'll enlist my doctor's assistance and share her inputs, too, though I will only directly quote her if she gives permission, of course.

Dumbbells and Crunches

First Workout of a New Fitness Regimen

So, for today, I was pretty busy with laundry and new year's cleaning and organizing, so I kept my first workout kind of light.

• Stretches: I started with a few minutes of yoga-type stretches to warm up my muscles and get ready for the harder part of my workout. 
• Dumbbells: I grabbed my 3-pound dumbbells and did 10 standing presses, 10 bicep curls on each arm, 10 toe-raises, 10-straight-arm lifts, 10 squats, and 10 tricep curls.
• Floor Work: I then dropped to my exercise mat and did 30 crunches. By this point, in spite of this being a light workout by my old standards, every muscle in my body was kind of burning, so I cooled off with some more yoga-like stretches.
• Hydration: I also drank extra water today, though I didn't track how much, and i haven't even started to look at my eating habits. 

(I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about this, and I feel kind of vulnerable just from including my weight and blouse size in this post, but I think without authenticity, I would be wasting your time and mine. I'll eventually probably add photos of me instead of exercise equipment, but for now, I'm still feeling embarrassed and shy, so this... openly sharing information... is my starting point.)

So... this was my first post about starting my journey to a healthier lifestyle as a 'mature' woman - I hope you'll follow along, and if you want to make healthy, positive changes in your own life, I hope you'll be inspired to join me. 

If you don't have dumbbells, don't worry, you can start with no dumbbells, or check out information on isometrics, and then you don't need actually need exercise equipment to get started anyway. 

Thanks for joining me on day one of my 2017 journey to a healthier, fitter lifestyle, and if you're ready to join me for real, I'll be back tomorrow and I look forward to your company. 

By: Laure_J

New Year... New Goals for Fat and Cranky

So, here it is... the first day of 2017. A new year always gets me thinking about my new goals, and my plans for my blogs and websites, and relationships, and my health.

Fat and Cranky 2017 Goals

I've decided, for this year, I'm going to mostly maintain my focus for Fat and Cranky, and keep it about the challenges of menopause, but I'm going to shift the focus just a bit to share with you about my own fitness (yeah, I'm feeling the 'fat' part of it today) journey as a menopausal, or maybe peri-menopausal woman (my doctor has never specifically given me a word for what phase of life I'm in), and make it a bit more personal, because I think it may be more helpful to you that way.

Would You Like to Guest Post on Fat and Cranky?

I'm also looking for guest posters, so if you want to share your story, please drop me a note or leave a comment. 

For today, I am going to just relax and get my breath, 2016 was... well... it was something.

I hope you'll drop in often, and I hope things I share here help and inspire you.

Laure

Happy New Year!

I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy New Year on behalf of Fat and Cranky!

I hope 2017 brings you peace, prosperity, and anything you want and need from your life.

Please check back often, and feel free to leave a comment anytime you feel inspired to do so.

All the best,

Laure

How to Wake Up Happy

It's easy to wake up happy when things are going right in your life, but if life is getting to be a struggle, it can take a bit more effort.

How to Wake Up Happy image courtesy of Pixabay

How to Wake Up Happy

By: Laure Justice

Make it easy to wake up happy by creating positive surroundings.

• Put something pretty like flowers or pictures of something/someone you like seeing by your bed so the first thing you see is positive. 
• Clean clutter out of your bedroom so you don't roll out of bed and trip on the laundry or find yourself surrounded by chaos. (Clutter creates stress.)
• Make your bedroom into a haven of things that bring you peace.

Put yourself in a positive mindset before you go to sleep.

• Make your last thoughts of the day about the good things in your life.
• If nothing about your life feels positive, think about your goals or dreams, but not in the sense of longing for things because that enhances their absence.
• Give yourself the freedom to believe you are on the path to everything you want - because you are - if you choose to be.

Before you roll out of bed, reaffirm the positive thoughts you enjoyed right before bed.

• If you woke up cranky, and we've all been there, turn it around before your feet even hit the floor.
• It's a new day, even if yesterday or the past thousand yesterdays sucked, today is a fresh day, you get to choose how you feel about and deal with each moment of the day.
• Look in the mirror, smile at yourself, and say something nice to yourself - about anything, even if you feel silly doing it. 

I used to wake up feeling overwhelmed and depressed every day - and I mean EVERY day. It took a lot of work and a lot of goal-setting, and a LOT of self-motivation to reach a  different place emotionally - and do you know what? It's nicer here on the positive side, and if any of the tiny things I did to get here can help someone else... Well, let's just say I sure hope they inspire someone, somewhere, to feel happier and more positive.