omg kill me now

[wordinista]

Okay, so... yeah.  I've made a disturbing discovery. Actually, it's not so much a "discovery" as an "acknowledgment."  I have fallen so completely out of shape it's not remotely funny.  I was doing pretty good last summer, taking regular trips to the college fitness center.  In fact, I was doing damn good.  And then we moved a half hour away from said fitness center, and I got a lot less "good."  So, then we moved back closer to where we lived before, and I'm rather close to the fitness center -- again.  But I feel kind of weird using it, since I'm not exactly teaching this semester.  I'm still an employee, so I suppose I COULD use it, but... yeah.  Feels weird.

So, this past weekend, I found this.

It seemed like a good idea, actually.  "Seemed like a good idea at the time," as they say -- famous last words.

Holy shit, kill me now.  I knew I'd fallen out of shape, but this?  Is ridiculous.

Of course, it reminded me why I prefer to go to fitness centers and use equipment -- I like seeing my progress.  It's harder to see progress when you're working out at home.  (And I'm constantly afeared of catching my fingers in the ceiling fan -- yes, I'm that tall.) 

I'll keep using it, because I'm just that much of a masochist, and I feel as if maybe I haven't given "Maya" a fair shake.  For an animated "trainer," she's far more tolerable than most aerobics instructors I've seen.

My plan is -- and I do have a plan -- is to shed some poundage and get my lower body back in the shape it used to be, and then see about taking riding lessons again.  I've probably forgotten all I've learned (heels down, dammit!), and I'm probably too old to start up again, but after reading so many of vitanifyrewolf's posts, it's hit me that I really miss riding.  I mean, a LOT.  I even got a new pair of riding boots after I moved up to Alexandria, with the belief that I'd start up again.  Unfortunately, grad school took up a bit too much time for that.  So I've got a sweet pair of boots I've never even USED, and a definite itch to ride again.  Lessons weren't that expensive, if memory serves, unless I wanted to lease a horse.  (Ohhh, that was tempting for a long while. Still is, except for, you know, the money part.)

I'm sure I'm not the only 30 year old out there yearing to recapture her halcyon days of old.

...

Dear god, is this the start of a mid-life crisis?

Comments

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

*hee* I know what you mean about the "days of old." I'm not even sure I had any since I've been fighting the fat demon my whole life, but I do know what you mean.

Getting old is teh suck.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

See, that's why I loved riding so much. I was always battling with my weight, but when I started riding, I loved it so much, I didn't care about aching muscles, or any of that crap. And then one day I was like, "Huh? Where'd this muscle tone come from?" ;)

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

I've ridden a horse twice...both in the same day when I was 13. One was named Big Ben and he was old and pokey. Perfect. The other was named Ferarri. Not so perfect. I ended up jumping over the corral fence to escape his fury. No more horses. The end. ;)

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

Could be worse...a few years back I bought a workout DVD with the intention of getting in shape...it was 'The New York City Ballet Workout'. In a general sense, it was a good idea. I did dance for years, I'm familiar with the type of exercises involved and I still am more limber than I have any right to be given my general sedentary behavior.

Of course, the one time I put the DVD on to assess the difficulty level I fell asleep watching it.

No...I'm not kidding. I was waaay overtired and the damned thing had a classical music soundtrack that just lulled me straight to sleep.

Of course, I probably could do the majority of the exercises...if I didn't live in apartments. You see, most of them involve jumping which is something I'm reluctant to do when I've got people living immediately below me. So...yeah. No NYC Ballet Workout for me.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

*SNERK* Oh, that's lovely.

Mostly I just feel stupid doing aerobics. I have next to no coordination. However, the selling points for me with this Xbox disc (I refuse to call it a "game") was that it has yoga workouts. For a long time now, I've wanted to dip my toes into yoga and give it a whirl.

....Of course, I tried it after I did my "normal" workout, and my muscles were like, "You want me to hold that pose for HOW long? Are you INSANE?"

So, yeah. Maybe I'll do the yoga part tomorrow.

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

Heh. I believe that's the reaction most peoples' muscles have the first time around with Yoga.

For my part, I'm willing to settle for 'able to walk to the third story without an asthma attack' right now and will worry about any of the rest of it another time.

[ankoku-jin.livejournal.com]

Whoa, I'm stunned, the virtual trainer doesn't look like a Barbie doll. @_@ Boi brought an Xbox (hisss) along with him, I'm tempted to give that thing a try as an "active recovery" exercise on my non-weight-training days. (I do find that if I do something besides sit on my arse on those days, I recover much more quickly.)

I'm pushing 30 myself, which I suppose is part of my motivation for taking up weightlifting again (not to mention having the constant example of my super-thin 22-year-old bf in front of me, egads). At his age, I was 5 feet tall, 146 lbs, and a size 4. I had fabulous arms, shoulders, and legs. I find that I miss that. T_T

Anyway, it's only a midlife crisis if you dump your man for a younger one and buy a fast car (or maybe a fast horse). XD

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Yep. Ten years ago, I was (at 5'10") about 165, and had muscular legs like whoa. One of my fondest memories was going to the gym with teh boi and his brother (the latter of which is omg total gym rat). He sat me on the adductor/abductor leg machine, and was like, "Okay, let's start out slow. How about 80 lbs to start?"

Teh Bunneh, having no concept of how much 80 lbs was, shrugged and pressed my legs in.

...And nearly broke the machine.

Turned out I was better off with about 125-135 lbs.

[ankoku-jin.livejournal.com]

*snickering* Damn, woman! That's some serious weight! I'm jealous. ^~

It makes me laugh so hard when I see those silly girls in there doing a bajillion reps with like 10 lbs because they "just want to tone". 9_9 They give me such an amusing look of horror when I get on a machine and stack that sucker into triple digits. It's as if I'm growing a penis before their very eyes!

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Damn, woman! That's some serious weight! I'm jealous.

What was even better was the expression on teh boi's face at the time. I don't know if he was scared or awed. ;)

Frankly, I always tried to avoid the gym when there'd be a lot of people there. I had no patience for the posturing, the flirting, or the women working out in full makeup. I used to like to just go, do my thing, and get out of there. (Of course, this usually meant going at the buttcrack of dawn. *sigh*)

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

BTW, did you see my 8/16 post? You haven't said yay or nay, so I wondered.

[smtfhw.livejournal.com]

Dear god, is this the start of a mid-life crisis?

No, but it may be the start of the dreaded early-30s crisis I've seen so many women go through. Trust me, it gets better!

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

*sighs* I have a feeling I started that crisis when I got my tattoo. And I continued it when I got the chunky blond streak put in my hair (which is a short, trendy, assymetric style).

I was such a boring kid in high school, and so unadventurous in college, that now I'm getting the itch to do all the things I never had the guts to do when I was younger. Of course, the horseback riding is something I've been wanting to take up again for a long time now.

So what else have you seen these unfortunate women do, blinded by the big three-oh?

[smtfhw.livejournal.com]

All sorts of things including collecting deeply unsuitable men, because they have to have one and it doesn't matter if he's unsuitable so long as he's there... and in the case of one of my friends, after a long term relationship with a man broke up, deciding she was a lesbian after all, having a 12 month relationship with a very fine woman, and then deciding that actually, she wasn't a lesbian any more. She's with a new man now...

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Ah, well then. I've got no use for unsuitable men; I've got a rather suitable one at the moment, and I think he'd be rather vexed with me if I decided he was no longer suitable. ;)

[scorpionocean.livejournal.com]

aww, Niamh one can NEVER be too old for horses! I take care of 5 of them every day, I wouldn't trade them for nothing ;)

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Hee -- you see, it's not so much the horses I think I'm a bit too old for. It's the falling flat on my ass of it all. I'm a bit more concerned with hurting myself than I was ten years ago. ;)

[vitani]

Um, my best riding friend at our barn, the one I trust the most, is 35. So, no, you're definitely not too old ^^. (Although she doesn't know if she'll ever be able to ride again because of a back injury). Plus, we've got a lot of women who started by sending their kids to lessons and then thinking - "Hey, I want to ride, too!"

There's nothing quite like it, and you're right - being in shape (strength wise) is a necessity, but it's an afterthought. It just happens. It does wonders for your legs, for instance - especially if one is a jumper. I've been riding for 10 years, and a few years after my legs had gotten so good that I discovered I really loved running, too! So now I run every day, because I want to.

In fact, my summer schedule consisted of getting up in the morning, going to work at the Zoo until 5, then driving to the barn and riding until 7, then going home and eating dinner, and then going for a run.

Start riding again. Really. Once you're on that horse, you won't regret it a bit.

(And if you ever visit, you're welcome to ride my horse, as well. XD)

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I know what you mean. When I was riding, it was because it was something I'd wanted to do for AGES, but never did, for whatever reason. So I started taking lessons, and honestly, I looked in the mirror one day and was like, "....!!" because I'd somehow, without realizing it, gotten into the best shape I'd ever been in.

The one thing I'm concerned about is my knee. It's always been a bit weak, and used to bother me when I rode. I know I'm going to need to get a good brace for it, but I'd really like to build up my lower body strength BEFOREHAND so I don't stress it quite as much. I know it's going to be a lot of strain, but ... I'm actually ready, willing, and able to look past that discomfort.

What I've decided is that I'm going to give myself a solid four weeks of workout before I start up again. But I really, really loved it, and I miss it SO much.

(And if you ever visit, you're welcome to ride my horse, as well. XD)

*Squees and glomps!*

[vitani]

Let me let you in on a secret - my knees kill me. *laughs* That's why I usually have a brace on hand, just in case. But I also notice the more I ride, the less my knees hurt.

Yeah, it'll hurt at first. Your butt'll hurt. XD But you'll get over that, and eventually, you'll feel so much stronger.

*is glomped*
EEP!

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

LOL! You just reminded me of the afternoon after my first lesson. I was filthy, and collapsed on the couch, vowing never to move again for as long as I lived. Ohhhhh lord, my butt HURT. OMG.

But I was so totally ready to get back up on that horse (he was a quarter-horse named Spencer), and after each lesson, I hurt less and less.

And then they went and leased him. Dorks. :P

[vitani]

My horse is a Quarter ^^. A Racing Quarter.

Haha, it wasn't the first lesson that hurt, it was the ones afterward - after I was sore! *laughs* I have to go through it again each time I'm back from college on break.

I'm looking for someone to part-lease my horse ;.;

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Awww -- if I didn't live on the other side of the country... *hugs*

[everstar3.livejournal.com]

....I'll be damned. Something I had absolutely no idea about. I didn't know you rode horses.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

...You didn't? I'll be damned twice over. Yep -- I took lessons about ten years ago. Had to stop when the stable leased the horse I was learning on. It was a small stable, and didn't have a horse tall enough for me. I meant to call around to other stables, but... actually, I don't remember why I didn't do exactly that.

...Ah, I remember now. It was the only stable that was within a comfortable driving distance. The joys of living in the middle of fuck-nowhere. Of course, over the past ten years, I'd be surprised if there weren't more stables around here now. I remember seeing one in Vero once, now that I think about it. I'll have to call around and price lessons. (And get a helmet.)

[everstar3.livejournal.com]

It's so nice that we can still discover things about each other after all this time. ;P That's cool, though. I tried riding when I was about twelve or so, but my learning depended on the friend of my parents who had the horse, and that was fairly inconsistent. I still like horses though.

Yes, get a helmet. We likes your skull.

By the way, if this is a midlife crisis, it's a) somewhat early, and b) not as bad as it could be. You could be trying to figure out how to buy a Ferrari. ;)

[mishakatt.livejournal.com]

I can completely feel for you about being out of shape. I have been since I had my kids. It's only gotten worse over the years with developing health problems caused by The Shot. I curse that damned thing and how it threw my hormones completely out of wack, then to be told it's not for everybody. No, really!? and I hate how I look.

I've been slowly working on getting myself in shape for the past several months but I need to do more. I walk everyday, watch what I eat, but I need to join a gym or something. My mother reminding that at my age, 35, getting into shape won't be easy for me as it was years ago doesn't help me much. Love the woman but sometimes she just doesn't know how to give encouragement. I also don't have the complete dedication I did once before. Raising kids can distract a person.

I want to be in shape again, like I was back when I was modeling, or at least close to how I used to look back then. Of course this time, I'm eating right and not starving myself. I also don't want to have a bluish tinge to my skin and have my damned ribs showing. Yeah, I modeled between the ages 19-21. Can you believe I looked like I just mentioned and was told to lose ten more pounds!

I told myself once the PCA job gets approved I'm joining one of the gyms in my area.

[somnambulicious.livejournal.com]

Oh, goodness, no, you're not too old. My aunt took up riding again when she was in her 40s, and she does roping for crying out loud. And she wins, too. Of course, this is the same woman who used to sneak into rodeos after dark when she was a kid, to ride the broncs; and then there was that time when she was a teenager and rode her horse OFF A DAM into a river, and the time a few years ago when she lost her thumb while roping a calf...so...yeah. But you should totally take up riding again! I will be uber jealous when you do. ;)