Chapter 12 – Exercise, NO, I don’t want to!!!

I honestly thought this would be the easiest part of my whole journey. I’ve always been pretty good at exercise if not obsessive about it and let me say obsessive means consistent, it would be part of my daily routine. Sometimes every day other times, at least, 5 times a week for a large part of my life.

Netball of course had helped, but I always knew that some netball games weren’t fitness for me, they were just games so I always made sure I did fitness, to be fit enough to play netball. That might sound stupid but, touch wood, it also means I haven’t had a major injury and in ‘netball land’ that’s pretty unheard of.

Anyway, I had a plan, starting February I was going to walk 4-5 times a week and add in some running. Netball was kicking off in mid-March, so I figured I had about 6 weeks to build some fitness. It was a no brainer.

February came around and I didn’t make it out the door. Well I did to pick Teddy up from school but I literally didn’t from a ‘time to walk’ perspective. Everything literally came in front of it – and I let that happen.

All good I thought, I’ll start next week.

The following week would come and go and I’d maybe walked once. Yep, that was it.

Ok, no problem here, let’s start next week.

And you guessed it, Feb rolled into March and ‘shit’ I have to get on court to play netball and I don’t even know if I can survive the first minute.

I attended netball trials as a helper, and when I was asked if I wanted to get on court I said ‘nah, it’s ok you have enough players.’

They did have enough players and I looked at the young girls and I knew I couldn’t keep up with them, let alone have something to offer. It was hilarious – that’s all I had, laughter.

I really hoped something would change and that came after a conversation with Christine.

It was our third session and in each session she’d brought up exercise and made recommendations. They all sounded plausible, moving my body for about 20 minutes 3-5 times a week. I could go for a walk, get on my exercise bike (which is right next to my desk), do yoga, stretch…ok I’m not really getting my heart rate up now but there were options right.

I’d leave my sessions with Christine and feel inspired, I can do this, I thought and then nothing. Well maybe a walk but really nothing.

So funny!

I knew Christine was going to ask me what I’ve done for exercise and then make recommendation. I knew it’s coming. I confess, saying, I know I need to do it, I have a reason to do it but it just doesn’t align with me any more.

Once upon a time all someone had to say was ‘netball starts in a month’ and I’d be out there getting fit for it or I’d stayed fit from the last season – sitting chilly so to speak. I’d ‘stayed in the room’ balancing the impact of netball with gentler movement because lets face it, you don’t see a lot of smiling runners out there but you do see a lot of smiling walkers – and they can be very chatty!

But this time Christine didn’t tell me what to do, she didn’t make recommendations, she just asked me one question:

‘What do you think you commit too with movement?’

What did I think I could commit to? Well I knew that I wanted to move my body, I knew it would help with all areas of my life if I was able to create some sort of movement so what could I commit to?

‘I’m going to commit to 5 days a week of some sort of movement.’ I said, ‘and I’m going to track it, because tracking it helps me stay aware of it.’

‘Great.’ She said. ‘You’re going to commit to 5 days a week of movement, and lets just say if you achieve it 3 times that’s a win.’

My brain started chatting ‘I can do 5 times, she doesn’t think I can do 5 times but I can, I’ll show her.’ LOL

Determined to show Christine LOL

After our session I printed off a tracking sheet. I already had one for meal tracking, so I just printed that off and changed the title to ‘movement tracking’. I was done.

Of course, I didn’t move that day – just like every day before me and the following day was looking the same until we had a delivery of wood for our new deck.

It has been dropped out the front and I was about to go out but I needed to get it around the back. I had time to move it, but as I looked at the wood I wondered how long it would take.

I started with one plank. It was bloody long and heavy, but I got one done. I then went back and got the next one. I kept going until all (about) 20 planks were around the back. It took me 20 minutes and I was sweaty and hot.

My heart rate was up and I knew I’d worked out.

I’d done it, my first day of movement – through incidental exercise.

YAY, success!!!

Incidental Success

My approach to exercise through incidental movement continued, digging soil out for where the deck was to go, moving road base, mulching the gardens, there was always something to do and this was enough for me to start moving and then eventually on the days where there was no incidental exercise options, I’d walk and I built that over time.

Initially, I walked around our block, then added in side streets and eventually went down a long road, aiming to get 5km in.

In May, I decided to start running, doing the App Couch to 5km. I did ok for a while but then my body felt sore and it was hard on my body. I felt that it was adding stress to my body, rather than taking it away, so I had a break for a while.

Yoga also came in, and on Monday mornings I’d head to a local community space for a 1.5 hour session of Yin Yoga – lovely gentle movements which felt divine. Unfortunately, the lovely lady running it couldn’t access the space any longer so yoga stopped but I did do some occasional Yin Yoga on YouTube – it was so good, lots of nap time!

On Easter Saturday, I went down to our local shops and there were two ladies selling raffle tickets for the local Outrigging Club. I had no idea what it was so got chatting to them about it and they suggested I go down on Monday to try it out, so I did. I really enjoyed it and I’ve been paddling ever since. I’m not super consistent but I turn up when I can and it’s so lovely to get out on the water, first thing in the morning, seeing the wild life and enjoying the sunshine.

Now, a year on, in March 2023, I’m swimming in our pool most days doing at least 500 metres, sometimes 1km. I’ve joined a gym to do weight training – helping to build bone density and also my biceps were looking very floppy and old!! I’m back at netball and I’m about to bring in some sprint work. Just some short runs and recovery to help with my netball so I don’t feel so useless on the court.

This was a massive journey for me and I had to find my why. Netball wasn’t enough any more, which was a shock to me because I’d always just done it. Now I’m exercising for me – just me, not for anything or anyone else. I know the health benefits, I know that as we age our bodies need more love and support. I know intellectually what I needed to do, but I wasn’t doing it, so tapping into doing it for me, just because and because it made me feel better, was enough. So I’m tuning in, listening to my body and loving up on it as it needs.

 

My next step

It was time to get my bloods done again and see where I was at. It had been about 3 months since my last bloods were taken and given everything that happened in January with my period, I also wanted to check where I was at in terms of menopause. Had it started? Was it coming? etc. Given my age, 47, the answer was definitely yes to both of those questions but up until January I was still bleeding monthly and not for 9 days – ever.

Let’s see what 3 months of herbs and supplements, and changing eating habits had done for me and my body.

You can check out everything about my Project 22 over here and Chapter 13 – New Blood Test Results.

 

Share with me

Are you going on your own journey in 2022? Then tag me and use #project22 so we can connect xo

 

Disclaimer

Everything shared in this post and across my website is my story and recollection of conversation and events. They are in no way medical or mental health advice, prescription or diagnosis. Should you be interested in what I’m sharing and what this could mean in your life, then I’d encourage you to engage with the relevant health professionals or if you need support please seek out the health professionals that can support you.

In relation to my podcast, the information shared is mine or my guests. Again it is not medical or mental health advice, prescription or diagnosis. If you need support, please seek out relevant medical professionals.