Green Smoothies and Heavy Duty Treadmills

This is one of my Green Smoothie Jugs, into which I put a combination of greens, fruits and water. Sometimes just the act of buying the ingredients and putting them into the blender is an uplifting experience all by itself. The bright colours, the sharp, clean, fresh smells, together with the knowledge that every bit of this concoction will be fantastic for my body and give me the gift of a brighter morning.

Sounds a bit far-fetched doesn’t it? But it isn’t, I promise. Try it and see.

My usual smoothie is made with greens (kale, baby spinach, parsley, or whatever I have in my fridge), a green apple, an orange, a handful of mint, a chunk of ginger and some cold water. Delicious, healthy and gorgeous.

50c a kilo for Granny Smith apples!

Not everything I eat is so healthy of course, else I’d not be heavier than I’ve ever been before, which is a rather neat segue into the next part of this post….The Heavy Duty Treadmill…..

After doing some more research and reading some more reviews, it’s come to my attention, that though pretty good value and reasonably sturdy, the treadmill I’d decided to buy may not be up to the job and that the Confidence Fitness MTI Motorised Treadmill might be better suited to my starting weight.

It’s a bit of a lowering reflection but heigh ho, getting healthy and losing weight is the name of the game. It’s a bigger machine but I’d rather have something that will carry me, and the motor’s bigger, which feels strangely comforting.

I’m looking forward to not even thinking about stuff like that. You know…whether something will carry me, or whether it’ll groan and collapse with a sigh and a wheeze….

 

 

A Fidgety Meeting

So today I went to a meeting, held in a hotel conference room, complete with men in suits. It was an interesting subject and I was glad to be part of the discussion but I couldn’t help but notice that around the table, for the duration of the meeting, people were clicking their pens, taking off their jackets, smoothing their ties. All signs of restlessness.

It occurred to me then, that since everyone there was fully engaged and it wasn’t that they were bored or wishing themselves elsewhere, that it might be a restlessness born of excitement…or just the need to move as they talk…..and unbidden, the image of this same meeting being held while we were all walking on treadmills popped into my mind and I smiled broadly. The woman sitting across from me was gracious enough to smile back despite her momentary puzzlement.

Something like this

It seems entirely sensible to me and I’m pretty sure it would have worked beautifully with this group. Sitting still, waiting for your turn to speak, being mindful that everyone is allowed their say, is admirable but if we’d been moving, there’d have been less leaning on the table, bad posture and that clicking….I had to physically restrain myself from leaning over, placing my hand on the arm of the man sitting next to me and whispering quietly “That’s enough now”

Treadmills, treadmills, everywhere…

Today I went to, gasp, a real shop instead of researching online..

Of course, as wonderful as these particular machines look, I won’t be buying any of them. To start with, they’re HUGE! I mean really, really big. I want something more compact and frankly less expensive. It was interesting though, to look at them and I’m glad I did. The mother whose child was scampering all over them, chuckling with glee obviously hadn’t read this sign;

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Since the treadmills were all off, I don’t suppose there was actually any danger to him though and his stream of consciousness chatter was pretty amusing to listen to while I took photos.

In the end, I’ve chosen the Confidence Fitness Power Motorised Electric Treadmill, which is smaller and cheaper and might actually stand a chance of fitting comfortably into the space I’ve chosen for it. 

I found this video review, which gives me the hope that it’ll be just what I’m looking for. 

Now to create a desk of such creative fabulousness that even I can’t believe how awesome it is…

 

 

 

 

But What Does It Mean?

Well what does it mean, ‘Walking Back To Myself’?

Simply put it means that somewhere along the way, the me I knew and loved, my authentic, healthy, happy me, and the me that I am now, parted ways. It’s not like she and I had a falling out, more of a “Hey, I’m just going over to check this out, see you later”, that turned into a long absence through distraction and lack of directions home again.

But I miss her. It’s the little things that make me think of her. Like walking past a shop window, absently noting the plump, middle-aged motherly woman in the window and realising with a jolt of shock that it’s me.. Or walking around the supermarket and becoming breathless. Perhaps it’s my perennial weariness and my reluctance to commit to anything that will take me away from my computer screen, lest it tire me too much.

From that description, you might think that I have some illness, but I don’t. I’m just sedentary and overweight. My mind rockets all over the place but my body simply can’t keep up because it’s been so long since I asked it to.

For quite a long time, I was very fit. I cycled and swam and walked. I was healthy and strong, I loved to dance and dress in lovely clothes. I was adventurous and excited by life. I loved that.

So…..

while looking at Pinterest one day, as you do, I found this image and a spark of something flickered in me. I could do that! I spend time at my computer anyway, what if I walked while I did it? What a revolutionary idea! Why had no-one thought of it before?! Of course, it turns out they had. That in fact, all over the internet, there are websites and video clips devoted to the treadmill desk and all the advantages of walking as opposed to sitting, or in my case, often lying in front of a screen. Just look it up, they’re everywhere. Apparently sitting for long periods of the day is killing us….slowly…which made me laugh, until I remembered that these days I sometimes have to use a Ventolin inhaler and that my back aches significantly when I walk any distance. It’s definitely a case of ‘Use it or Lose it’ for me.

What ensued was a two day research frenzy. It wasn’t pretty but it was exciting and sometimes frustrating, as I tried to find the very best way to make my work station into a walk station. I use the word work loosely, since I don’t actually work at my computer, so much as read, write and communicate on it

This is the beginning of my journey. A journey which, though it may have twists and turns, will eventually lead me back to myself. I imagine her standing with open arms, walking towards me and saying, when I reach her “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you”