Fighting the Good Fight

It's amazing what can make you happy. Take now, for instance: I'm ecstatic to be sweating. I just finished a 16-minute workout on my elliptical trainer, having repeatedly upped the speed and resistance for a few seconds at a time throughout the workout. I was wearing my new knee brace and it felt pretty good. Of course now comes the real test: will my knee and hip complain? I know I have to be careful and increase my time on the machine by very small increments if I don't want to hurt my various arthritic and/or bionic joints, but I'm still going to let myself bask in the moment. At least a little bit!

I have a Tunturi elliptical trainer and I highly recommend this brand, especially if you're on the small side. A few weeks ago, I was at a hotel out of town and decided to try out the elliptical trainer in the gym. It was a Precor--a monster with all the bells and whistles--but literally so big that one stride on it sent my operated hip into paroxysms of fear. I switched to the treadmill. So, if you are looking for a nice little elliptical trainer that does the job, doesn't take up too much space and isn't too massive for those of us who are on the petite side, try a Tunturi. They also make awesome little stationary bikes. And BTW, I am neither a paid nor an unpaid Tunturi spokesperson--just a fan.

Yes, friends. As you can see, I'm trying to fight the good fight, getting myself into better shape than I've been in years while shedding a few pounds.

Here's one of the reasons why my attitude took a change for the better this year:

I think I've mentioned before that I have had zip luck with traditional hypnosis. A few years ago, I invested in hypnosis to help me lose weight. All I got was pissed off because of a) the poor grammar on the tapes and b) having a male hypnotist who kept saying how easy he found it to lose weight. Well duh, for men it's way easier and faster to lose weight than for women.

However, I am quite sure that the CD that came with Paul McKenna's book, "I Can Make You Thin", actually did insidiously work its way into my subconscious, at least in terms of exercise. I listened to the CD pretty much every day for a couple of months and the one message that I really latched onto was doing more exercise. McKenna doesn't bully or tell you how much to eat or to exercise. He just plants the idea of doing just that bit more...and enjoying it.

So here I am: not a poster girl for exercise or diet, just a bit more positive about my ability to work towards a happier, healthier me. Excuse me while I bask in the thrill of it all for a few minutes. Then I have to take a shower to get all the sweat off!