gwennefarrell

Well, we are back from Mexico and at least the weather at home is decent. I have to say after being away for 5 weeks it was hysterical walking into the house and having the dogs going absolutely bananas! Sadly we are already counting the days until the next trip in September (95). At least we have some time to enjoy our garden for a few months.

I have not been successful in losing the weight that I have gained over the last 18 months. While I still workout most days I acknowledge my eating habits have gone back to where they used to be. Unfortunately when we were in Mexico I was not good at sticking to the commitment of only eating out once per week so gained more weight. I did manage to do 10k steps 23 of the 35 days we were there which is at least something.

Before we left I realized I needed to do something drastic to get myself back on track. But I also realized that in order to be successful at this point I needed help. Trying to get my weight back to where it used to be and feeling that my fitness level is where I want it on my own was no longer working despite everything I had tried. So, I did some research and found the help I think is right for me.

I discovered a local gym that offered what they called the 6 Week Challenge. They start out doing an assessment of your current condition and your goals. Then you meet with them for an initial appointment where they weigh you, check you BMI and take pictures of your current appearance. At the end of the 6 weeks they redo all of that to compare how successful you have been.

The reason I feel this is going to work for me is that someone else is holding me accountable and will know if I succeed. However, they also provide tools and information to help get you to the end goal. I had to commit to following the nutritional plan (it isn’t a diet that excludes anything but rather maps out how to balance your food each day to help lose weight). I also had to commit to attending a workout class at least 4 times a week (I’ll likely aim for 7 during the 6 week period). The types of classes vary from cardio to bootcamp to strength so there is a good variety. I also now have an app into which I have to input everything I eat or drink during the day as well as all of my exercising so that I have an accurate picture of my net calories for the day.

Well, today was day 2 of attending classes. Yesterday I went to a bootcamp and I didn’t die. It actually was pretty good though I sometimes felt like an uncoordinated buffoon. Today was the power strength training and I thought my arms are pretty buff so this should be pretty simple. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! They had me doing snatches with a 25lb weight! By time the hour was over my legs we shaking and I was already feeling a bit stiff. Pretty sure that I’ll be using anti-inflammatory cream before bed tonight. However, it made me realize that I just need to stick with it for the first 6 weeks to see how it goes. The good thing is they have classes at 5:30am which I think is the perfect time for a heavy workout. That leaves me plenty of time the rest of the day to just get in a walk or 2.

The bottom line is that it ok to realize that you need help on this journey. I was able to do this mainly on my own before (except for Coach of course) but now I acknowledge if I want to be successful this time around someone needs to be leading the journey.

Well, it is almost over. After 5 weeks at our condo in Playa del Carmen we are heading home today. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown while we have been here. We have been fortunate that the weather has been awesome the entire time we have been here. We learned that our new tv system is well worth the money we are paying for it. We have further expanded our network of friends and look forward to seeing them all again soon.

So how did I do down here? Well, my goal was doing a workout 5 days a week for a total of 25. I came pretty close though slipped a bit this week. I did a workout 23 days while I was here which I figure is pretty good. It is actually the best I have done on any trip here since fitness became important to me so I am actually quite happy.

But, we are heading home in a few hours and it is now time for me to get back on track. I haven’t been able to lose the weight I have gained in the past 18 months so I have decided to make a massive change. It all starts on Monday and on my next post I will explain what I will be doing. My goal is in 99 days when we return to Playa I will be comfortably back in my 2 piece swimsuit. Here’s hoping that the next journey I am about to embark on will be a success.

Yesterday morning I got up at my usual 6am and headed out the door for my walk at 7am. I hadn’t even got all the way to the street when I felt a couple raindrops. I looked up at the sky and immediately turned around and went back to the condo. You see here it doesn’t rain like it does at home. When it rains the sky opens up and pours out tons of water. This was a good call on my part because less than five minutes later the rain was teeming down. Moreover in the evening a massive thunderstorm came through (and I love thunderstorms). Not to worry though, I did get in a bike ride later in the day.

Sunday morning I woke up and horror of horrors, my Fitbit wasn’t working. By that I mean the screen was completely black and no info would sync to my app. I spent most of the day researching what I could do about this and trying everything I read online. But to no avail, my Fitbit is dead. Now I do have a backup one (not the same model so not sure if I am going to like it) but of course I hadn’t brought it with me. I suddenly realized I am about to spend a week without my Fitbit and I don’t think it is going to go well.

I recognize I am obsessed with my Fitbit. One of the first things I do every morning is sync it to the app so that I can check my sleep score and resting heart rate. That Fitbit has driven all of my workouts and I use it to challenge myself in terms of heart rate zone minutes and steps each day. I fear without it on my wrist I won’t work as hard as I should. I am the type of person who needs that visual result on my app to keep going. Sigh, I’m just going to have to suck it up for the next several days and keep walking (today I took a day off but it is a long explanation as to why). I do know the route that I walk and how many steps it involves. I also know how to check my heart rate to keep it in the zone that I want. But really, I miss my little friend and can’t wait to put on a new one.

I will note I have another obsession and that is knowing the time. You would not believe how many times I check my wrist to see what time it is. Yes, I know I could simply look at my phone but to me it is not the same. Moreover, as my friends here reminded me, I am on manana time and don’t need to know the time but then they don’t quite get how neurotic I can be. And so yesterday my husband bought me a cheap watch to tide me over until I get home. It is actually quite pretty as it depicts the Mexican artist Freda. I can barely read it without my glasses but what the hell, it is better than nothing.

Well, 1 week today and we will be returning home. I can’t believe how quickly the past 4 weeks have flown by. Now the goal is to enjoy ourselves as much as possible during the next 7 days as we can. And, tomorrow is our 29th anniversary which we will be spending with some good friends.

When I was working I used to facilitate a course on stress in the workplace. It was always presented to labour activists who should be the most understanding but I often realized the stigma around mental health issues was alive and well even amongst this group. While the course talked about the physical impact of stress, it also focused on the mental impact as well. One thing I always emphasized was that there is no such thing as ‘stress leave’ rather it was sick leave due to stress related illness. Changing the thoughts around how ‘stress leave’ should be considered made a difference because it made people think of it in a completely different way.

I was surprised the other day when one of my friends told my husband and I about her mental health issues. I didn’t (and still don’t) define her in that light rather I define her by the fact that she is a kind person. What bothered me was when she apologized for having mental health issues. That is when both my husband and told her to stop doing that, she had nothing to apologize for. We don’t look at mental health issues any differently than we do any other disability. Hell, it would be like my brother apologizing for being an amputee or my sister apologizing for being blind. You just should not have to feel the need to apologize for any disability or illness and it is time that everyone starts to get that.

You know when I was still working I would get angry at people who scoffed at coworkers who took sick leave due to stress related illness. Where I worked to take more than a few days of sick leave you had to have verification from a doctor. It was almost like these people were saying somehow doctors were providing false information because you know for some reason they were in cahoots with their patient to scam the employer. I myself took that type of leave when my Mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The doctor to one look at me sitting there sobbing and not being about to speak and immediately provided the information my employer needed. And quite frankly, I was never embarrassed at having to take that leave nor should I have been.

And so, if you have mental health issues you have absolutely no reason to apologize to me or anyone else because of your condition. May it not define you, may it just be like any other disability or illness that yes, you have to deal with but that no one has the right to judge. Moreover, I hope anyone reading this who was part of placing stigma on people with mental health issues may this particular blog make you see things in a different light.

Ok, I am still not doing a good job at posting blogs. It’s not because I’ve lost interest it is simply because I am just having such an awesome time here in Playa del Carmen. We now have a decent sized social network and we love spending time with our friends. And, if given the choice between opening my laptop or going to the beach, the beach tends to win. However, today I have some work to do so I had to open the laptop anyways. I will note, I am on week 4 here and I have managed to keep my walking goals which is the best I have done on any trip here. I’m still determined I will not miss walking every weekday until we leave.

Sometimes it’s good to find someone in your same situation. One of my friends down here is going through the same struggle I am in the fact that she had lost a lot of weight and it has been creeping back on. She is taking a different path than I am in the she is trying to lose the weight again through a Keto diet. I of course try to do it mainly through exercise (you will learn more about my new plans in a couple weeks). We had a great discussion at the beach the other day about how we both hope when we see each other when my husband and I return in September that we will both have some success in our weight loss.

But there was another thing we had in common, self-esteem or lack thereof. Both of us are uncomfortable with how we look right now and therefore are avoiding 2-piece bathing suits (other than tanktinis which hide a multitude of sins). What we learned was both of our spouses felt the same way about us, they think we should just accept who we are and show our bodies. I know I have written before about this and the fact that I am very self-conscious about how I look. I actually admire larger women who have no qualms about strutting down the beach in a 2-piece because they obviously have confidence in themselves. I’m not quite sure I am ever going to get there but after the conversation with my friend I have decided I am going to try.

What really was great about this whole conversation was learning it is not just me. It’s note just me who is struggling to re-lose the weight. It’s not just me who is self-conscious about their body. But it is also not just me who is determined to get back to feeling good about themselves.

Yep, that conversation on the beach made this trip worth it.

Ok, my apologies that I haven’t been keeping you up to date on how things have been going at the condo but a good friend arrived last week meaning I’ve been having too much fun to keep up my blog. Having said that, I have been keeping up my workouts doing an hour workout at least 5 days a week. I haven’t done such a great job with my strength training but am hoping to get back to that when my friend leaves on Sunday.

Monday I got up at my usual condo time (6am) and was out the door by 7am for a walk. As soon as I opened the door I knew there was going to be a problem. First of all, it was going to be hot but since I had walked most days in the heat I wasn’t too concerned with that. What hit me through the the smell of smoke and I knew exactly what had happened. Down here the farmers at certain times of the year burn their fields at night and it was pretty obvious that is what was going on. It’s not that you can see smoke as it has dissipated by time the sun is up but you can sure smell it.

I went through this before so this time I knew what to expect, by time the walk was over I was fully congested. There was not a lot I could do at that point but try and stay inside and wait for the congestion to go away. However, we were going out for a bit of shopping and our favourite taxi driver was scheduled to pick us up. This is where it gets even worse. Unfortunately down here there is no fragrance free zones and men wear a lot of cologne (I suspect because of the heat and the fact you sweat all the time). Our taxi driver is not the exception to this practice so by time we arrived back at the condo I was completely stuffed up. By the end of the day I was worried I might be coming down with a cold but when I woke up yesterday morning I was fine.

Both yesterday and today that smell of smoke was still in the air but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Monday. Because I committed to at least 5 days of workouts each week the entire trip I have told myself I cannot give in to excuses so I hit the road at 7am again both days. I am confident I am going to meet that goal despite the challenges that are thrown at me (did I mention it is really hot?) so that I am ready for the next stage of my fitness journey which is starting when I am back home. Not to worry, I will tell you what I will be doing once I am back home.

My apologies to anyone who was looking for a post on Saturday. I am just so enjoying myself here in Playa del Carmen and completely forgot. It is not just the beautiful weather but also getting reconnected with our friends. I do admit it has been really hot the past few days. Sunday it got up to 43 degrees Celsius and all we could manage was to stay in the pool. Oh ok, and drink a bunch of beer and wine.

Sunday when I was sharing some wine with a neighbour she suggested we do a morning workout in the pool. I thought, hmmm, not sure what that looks like but I am willing to give it a try. So, yesterday we met at the pool at 8am and we each started with a swim. Now I am not hugely fond of swimming so I got bored fairly quickly. Then I decided I could try some other exercises to get my heart rate up. I did some stairclimbing, elliptical type moves and even some running (though I admit that was on my tiptoes). At the end there was some awesome stretching before finishing up. When I was done I felt like I had done a good workout and because it was in the pool I was not soaking wet with sweat.

This morning I decided to try it again but with a difference. I stood on the lowest step in the pool and proceeded to spend the next hour running in place. It was a little boring but you know I preferred doing that to walking and arriving back at the condo looking like I had walked in a thunderstorm. I didn’t quite make my zone minutes but that is ok, I’ll just work a little harder next time.

I think going forward I am going to mix it up a bit. I plan on one day doing a good walk and then the next day doing a pool workout. I know the most important thing is for me to just keep moving and so far I have been successful at doing that.

Holy crap it was hot today. We went down to 5th Ave to do some shopping and go for lunch. Then we had to pick up a few groceries for the condo. After that it was get together with an awesome group of women to play Bunco (a funky dice game at which I am apparently really bad at). When that was over it was having a few drinks by the pool. Yep, an awesome day.

Yesterday I went out on my walk and after about 10 minutes I realized the humidity was definitely getting to me. By that I mean the bad knee was reminding me that the change in atmospheric pressure was not a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those people who claims to be able to predict the weather by the pain in my leg, it really just bothers me when there is a change in the barometric pressure and the arthritis starts screaming. That means going from White Rock, BC to Playa del Carmen Mexico makes my knee hurt.

So what to do, well for me it means suck it up and keep walking because really keeping that joint moving will be the best solution. But there is a few other things I can do. Firstly, instead of a 2nd walk yesterday I did a bike ride with my husband. This was actually quite comical because he ditched me about 1/2 way into the ride because apparently I was going way to fast for him. In all honestly, he wanted to do a leisurely ride while I wanted a workout. Eventually we met back up at the condo. On top of that I started using and anti-inflammatory cream to make my knee a little happier.

Going forward a neighbour has agreed we will do 1 hour swimming sessions 3 times a week and I can’t wait. The biking and swimming are the perfect type of exercises to keep me working but not aggravate the arthritis, Here’s hoping the neighbour keeps to that commitment.

Just a heads up, Saturday is the King’s coronation which means getting up really early. Please forgive me if I don’t post, either I am way too enthralled by the coronation or I am exhausted from getting up so early.

We left Vancouver at 11:05pm on Saturday arriving in Cancun at 6:45am. When I booked this trip I thought this timing was perfect as we would be at the condo by 8:00am, have a quick breakfast then head off shopping. Once the shopping was done we would be able to kick back and relax the rest of the day. This was a very bad plan. I was so exhausted that when I did my shopping list I forgot 1/2 of what we needed and then in the grocery store I forgot 1/2 the things on the list. Seriously, I came back to the condo without milk and butter! I then got to the point in the early afternoon that I was literally falling asleep at my computer. I’d do the red eye flight again but next time I’ll get one of our neighbours to pick up a few necessities for us and hold off shopping until the following day.

I’ve posted before about how challenging it is to work out while I am here. This time I am more determined than ever to avoid giving into the urge of being lazy (I’ll have more to say about that when I get back home). I do hate running here in Mexico because it is so hot and humid but I can work around this. I have committed to 2 hours of walking at least 5 days a week while I am here and in a perfect world I will actually do 6 days a week. I do still want to do at least do a few days a week of interval running which is a good compromise at getting in some decent cardio workouts. I am also hoping to do some bike riding but I’ll be honest, I get a little bored riding around the complex and there is no way I will ride in the crazy traffic down here.

One of the obstacles I have already found is with regards to doing my weight training. At home I have 8 lb weights and I am up to doing 3 sets at 8 reps on my 4 weight exercises. Unfortunately here I can’t find any weights above 3 kg (6.6 lbs) and I don’t want to lose the momentum I have built using the heavier weights. So, I have changed it up to doing 3 sets of 15 reps. I’m pretty sure it is a fairly equal workout to what I have been doing at home because today by time I finished the last set my arms were really feeling it. I just have to make sure I keep at my weights at least 5 days each week and I should be fine.

Yesterday was a long day in terms of shopping and I admit there may have been a little to much alcohol involved. When my alarm went off this morning I was so tempted to just go back to sleep but then I thought hell no, if you give in this early in the trip your goals will be sunk. So up I got and off on a brisk 5k walk. Really, I felt better for it when I was done. So here’s to keeping to my commitment.

It’s travel day. Unfortunately our flight to Cancun doesn’t leave until 11:30pm so it is going to be a really long day. However, despite my best attempts to talk myself out of it, the weather was so beautiful this morning that I went out for a quick 5k run. I’m actually glad I did as it got me going for the day. Now I need to find things to keep me occupied until it is time to head to the airport.

Today I am going to talk about my 3rd volunteer agency, Elderdog. In the last post I noted how I started working with Brella Community Services through my volunteer work with the United Way. Well, it is through volunteering with Brella that I ended up with Elderdog. Last October the volunteer coordinator at Brella forwarded an email to me that she had received from Elderdog looking for volunteers to walk dogs for seniors who are no longer able to do this with their pets. She knew I loved animals and that I am an avid walker and she was right, I jumped at the chance. Now, I walk the wonderful Miss Keeva, a 13 year old Australian Kelpie Shepherd who just makes me smile. Despite her age she is quite spry but is also very stubborn and it is her that directs where and how long we walk. Still she is sweet and I love the fact that when when she is happy (like when she is rolling around on the grass) that she smiles.

Last Sunday at the volunteer fair I was surprised at how few people knew about Elderdog but then I had to admit I hadn’t heard about them before I got that email. That’s kind of what prompted me to do this series of posts, to let people know what these fabulous organizations do. Obviously Elderdog provides volunteers to walk dogs for seniors but there is so much more. For example, when I get back from Mexico I am going to be assisting with the rehoming program. This is where a senior who has a senior dog (10+) can no longer care for them. We will assess the dog and find a new home for the beloved pet and make sure they are well cared for. We also provide fostering services when a senior’s dog needs a temporary home such as in the case of a hospital stay. Other work we do includes assisting seniors with pet care and pet grooming, picking up pet food, and taking the pet to the vet. As you can see it is a wonderful organization that is just there to help. We have ‘pawds’ all across Canada and you can check them out at elderdog.ca

In this series I have only hilighted my 3 main volunteer agencies. I actual have several others but I felt these 3 would be enough to show the kind of awesome agencies we have out there helping our communities.