Saturday, November 9, 2013

Off the Deep End

Post Number: 35
Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily Points Left: 48 of 71 (Goal: 15)
     Weekly Points Left: 49 of 49 (Goal: 49)
     Meetings Attended: None Scheduled
     Exercise Completed: YMCA Aquatics Class

As a college instructor, I have been witness to many situations in students lives: Joyful, frustrating, sad, heart wrenching, etc. All things from astoundingly sad to wonderfully good. I witnessed this most directly and personally at ITT, but I saw it at CWI and TVCC, although not as much at BSU. Even before teaching, I came to the conclusion that when someone starts to push their life in a better direction, the universe tends to push back. It seems to me, that the universe is testing change seeker to see if the change seeker is truly serious about the changes. This happened yesterday with my tummy not needing to explode until right before my OA meeting. And it lasted for most of the length of the meeting to keep me tied down. And it happened again this morning. I leave at 7 am for a 7:45 am class, having learned the traffic lesson on Monday. And a train came through to keep my parked for 20 minutes. But I went on to class. The aquatics class was too important to miss. I was late, but I joined in. These aren't the only examples of the universe pushing back. And they are minor in comparison to how serious it could be. Among my ITT students that have been pushed out of school, the example of one of the most serious situations happened to a lady with three kids. Her husband left her, so she moved in with her parents. Then her parents kicked her out of the house, so she was moving into a shelter. And with the loss of husband and parental support, she lost her transportation. I still sometimes wonder about her and others that have faced serious issues that pulled them out of school. And I am grateful that though I am feeling opposition, it is both easily overcome and I am also well supported against it.

There was also large amounts of support at the Aquatics class. The exercises varied from traveling exercises (speed skating, skiing, and others) and stationary exercises (jumping jacking, kicking a foot forward and then sideways, etc.). While I was the youngest by far, as a middle aged man among senior citizens, I was made to feel very welcome among this very friendly group. Everyone was introducing themselves. There was Diane, Lisa, Wayne, and several others. I liked the activities but not that pace. I was also surprised at how much my knees and ankles hurt when I was done. I spoke with Deanna, the instructor, she said it was okay to push past people or to turn the corner early when the exercise involves traveling. She also recommended staying at the deeper side of the pool as much as possible to help with the knees and ankles. The instruction pool is between 3' 0" and 4' 0" across the short length of the pool. The depth doesn't change going along the length of the pool except near the ends. I'm wondering if bending my knees to be deeper in the pool will help. I also asked her about the deep water class that was going on at the same time. I'm thinking I might try that eventually. I want to work the current class for one week before trying the other. Deanna said this group is very friendly and very chatty. I had observed the same, with so many people introducing themselves and small groups in corners of the pool or traveling along slowly.

I was traveling slowly the rest of the day. But I was grateful to have been able to attend the class. I am looking forward to attending next week. I hope I can convince MBWM to join me. That would be the icing on the cake.

Hmmm... I need to start a new metaphor...

That would be the fat-free cottage cheese on the salad?
That would be the weight loss not on the diet plan?
That would be the sugar-free cherry syrup in the diet coke?
That would be the no-sugar-added peanut butter on the celery stalk?
That would be the unlimited talking on the free data plan?
That would be the carrot stick in the fat-free humus?

Hmmm... This really isn't going where I wanted it to.

In other news, I am going to post my actual tracking one of these days. That would allow me to show how I am tracking my food selection. Hopefully, I will be able to work in how I am selecting the foods that I eating. Since I am fasting today and tomorrow, I will post my food selection and point values another day. Probably Monday.

Yours in the joyful experience of gettin' 'er done,

Eliot

P.S.:
When it comes to dieting, it's not the minutes to spend eating, it's the seconds.

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