Workout...In A Pickle

Well, not literally...I mean that would just be weird...would I be trying to workout in a pickle costume?! I mean, I know I'm short so I couldn't fit in a real pickle but...Ok, ok, enough humor for a dreary, rainy Monday. This is serious matter of the utmost importance: I am in a pickle (figuratively)!

I NEED WORKOUT CLOTHES!! To clarify: I need "office" workout clothes. I've got my old drabby working-out-inside-my-house-where-no-one-can-see-me clothes, but I need something for my walks that I take on my lunch breaks at the office. For the past few weeks, I've just been walking in my office clothes and I didn't think much of it until I realized that I had nearly worn a hole into my slacks from my daily two-and-a-half mile walks. Not good. Slacks are way too expensive to be (literally) walking holes through them. And I've tried walking in jeans; much more comfortable, but still not very practical as "workout clothes." And I'm not confident enough to slip into a pair of tight little yoga pants to walk around this city for an hour...my rather rounded rotund romp says no. (How's that for alliteration, by the way? *high-five*)

Instead, I was thinking more along the lines of something like those nylon exercise pants (without the nylon-ness or the tacky "track suit" lines...nylon's just so...crackly...). Is there even such a thing as non-yoga-style or non-nylon exercise pants? And besides sweat pants? Sweat pants make me look like I'm wearing an elephant's legs (figuratively). I've been to a few stores, like Target, JC Penney, Walmart...and there's just so many yoga pants! Even the "relaxed fit" styles of exercises pants seem like they were designed for already-fit people...I need the I'm-just-now-trying-to-get-fit-and-don't-want-to-"show-off"-anything style of pants. And I've done some looking around on the interwebs, but I'm so leery of ordering anything online because there's nothing worse than ordering something online and being SO EXCITED for it to arrive, then getting a paper cut on the tip of your index finger while ripping apart the unnecessarily secured packaging and pulling out something that is most definitely NOT going to fit. Then you have to fill out the return slip and purchase a new shipping box and pay for the return shipping charge only to have to wait another six weeks for a different item or remain stuck back at square one. It's rather difficult to shop online for clothing when you're only 5'1" but on the plus-size in width...I prefer to pick out my clothes face to...face(?)...face to fabric(?)...anyway, I want to try them on in an actual store. So, on that note, anyone have any recommendations for a comfortable pair of walking-around exercise pants for a vertically-challenged potato-shaped gal?

Unfortunately, while I continue my search for the ultimate exercise pants, I haven't been going for my hour-long walks on my lunch breaks since last Wednesday (sad face). I have still been doing some morning and evening stretching/toning exercises, but I miss my walks...it's such a nice break to get out of the office for a bit and spend some time outdoors. But until I find the perfect pair of exercise pants, I don't want to put anymore pairs of slacks at risk. I'm hoping I'll be able to find an ounce of spare time in the next few days to rummage through the "Get Fit" sections of more stores; but in the meantime, please send me your advice on where to find the best pair of exercise pants. Thanks!

Workout Flow

So I'm starting to take my blog in a new direction. I'm still doing arts and crafts and whatnot, but in light of my recent health issues, I'm trying to get myself to a healthier place. For the past couple weeks, I've been routinely exercising in the mornings and on my lunch breaks. First, I do several sets of stretches followed by some basic Army PT exercises (like flutter kicks, leg spreaders, overhead clasps, planks, push-ups, toe touches, squats, ski jumpers, donkey kicks, and finally mountain climbers). I do two sets of each exercise, for a full minute per each set. It takes 20 minutes, but it helps me wake up and I feel great afterwards. Then on my lunch break at work, I walk about 2.4 miles, which takes me about 50 minutes. When I started this walking routine a couple weeks ago, I was only able to walk two miles during those 50 minutes. I have to say I definitely feel better overall when I exercise, but there are a few issues I have to work around when I'm exercising, like: having ASD and asthma, so I can't push myself too much, and I have all the precursors of arthritis, including both my parents having arthritis, and I can already feel it in my joints. The worst is when I'm walking and my knees, ankles, and feet feel like they're popping off and crack loudly and then go numb...I may actually have plantar fasciitis too...I should probably get that checked out. But the great news is, I can already tell a difference...I haven't lost but a few pounds yet, but what's most important to me is my body mass index.

When I was in high school, I was taking Tae Kwon Do regularly and constantly running/jogging/bicycling and I had a BMI of only 20 (which is ideal for my height and weight at the time)! I would love to get back to that level...right now I have a BMI of 37.6, which is considered "severely obese." :( But I'm not going to the gym or dieting, I've never been successful at those things; instead, I'm just cutting out fast food and as much sugar as I can stand (until I go into a sugar rage and HAVE to eat something sweet) and staying active. And as I start lessening my body fat, I'll start losing the weight too. My goal within the next 6-8 months is to have got down to a more healthy weight and a BMI of 25-30. That's still considered "overweight," but it'll be out of the obese range. I'll need to loose about 40 pounds and that's gonna take some real focus and dedicated work, but once you tip the scale at 200, you know it's time to make some changes...and yes, I just revealed my weight to you interwebbers, dun-dun-duuunnn! But it really doesn't matter what you weigh because you have to start somewhere and once you start to make changes that will benefit you, you've got the right mindset and you just need to maintain the willpower to keep it up! So, yes, for a while I'm going to be concentrating mostly on my exercising regimen and my weekly updates will focus on my progress with getting healthier and any drawings that I do or anything that brings me great motivation that week, I'll be sure to share that too!

(And for the record, I really missed out on joining the Army right out of high school. I wanted to join and I was in perfect physical condition, but I was so focused on going straight to college and majoring in art; however, that really hasn't done much for me as of yet, and I regret everyday that I didn't join the Army back in 2001. I'm a huge supporter of our Armed Forces, especially the Army (even though my entire family has been Navy) and I wish that I was a part of it).