Equilibrium

c.1600, from L. aequilibrium, from aequus "equal" + libra "a balance, scale, plummet"
1. A condition in which all acting influences are canceled by others, resulting in a stable, balanced, or unchanging system.
2. Mental or emotional balance; poise.


One of the lectures at H3 given by Bob Wright that had a big impact on me was regarding goals, habits and the idea of set points.  One thing we discussed was the possibility of not setting a final weight goal.  It took some of us aback.  What?  Not have a final weight goal?  But then the discussion went on and we talked about  the idea of "set point" and something clicked.  It started to make sense.  Whatever it is you do regularly, whatever it is you eat regularly will get you to some point of equilibrium.  I have been at my current state of equilibrium for 15 years.  It's the weight I was shortly after my daughter was born and I have been at or near the same weight, eating the same things and doing the same amount of activity.  There might have been some short periods of variations along the way (diets that didn't last), but for the most part my habits since then have kept me at about the same weight.


So to be at a different weight, I have to do something different, and that something will eventually get me to a new state of equilibrium.  I don't know where that is now.  When I get there, if it isn't where I want to be, I'll have to change my habits again, if I'm willing, to find a different state of equilibrium.  We have to accept that a number we've pulled out of thin air (trust me, it's thin) may not be at a place that we are willing to habitually live. I have to decide how I want to live, and that will determine the state (in health and weight parameters) in which I will live.  The good news is that you get to the "how you are going to live" goal faster than the "where you are going to live" goal.  Remember the story of the kids on vacation that keep asking "when are we going to get there" while the adults know that the journey is the goal?


So for now, I'm quite comfortable with the changes I've made and my new habits.  I'm eagerly awaiting the day when I find my new equilibrium.

Dinner and a Movie

A last minute sleep over for my daughter turned into an opportunity for us to see a movie and to have dinner before the movie.  It took a while for me to finally commit to a place at which I was willing to eat.  Nothing looked as good as what we could make at home, but I finally picked something I could live with that was close to the theater.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get reservations and we waited as long as we could until we decided we would miss the movie.  At that point, we decided to eat after the movie, and made our way to buy tickets.  The theater we go to gives assigned seats, and when we saw what seats were still available (the ones in the front where you get to look up the nostrils of the actors), we decided a movie at home would be better.  Man we are getting picky.  Dinner is better at home.  Movie is better at home.  Is it picky, or are we just better at cooking and making things right. 

As we drove home, I started thinking about what I would have done four weeks ago.  We would have eaten bad food someplace else.  We would have picked a crummy movie with better seats so we could sit and eat salty popcorn.  But that's not what I do now.

Still driving home I also had the thought that "this is how it is now, this is just what I do now."  It was a different sort of thought.  It wasn't a "this is what I do while I'm on this diet and things will be different when I'm done."  I realized that I was done. Done with diets.  This is just how I am now, this is just what I do now.  I eat good stuff and I won't compromise.  I do fun stuff and won't sit in a bad seat.  There isn't a done.  And I like that.  I'm not waiting for some magical scale event for the "fun stuff to start".  This is what it is, it's now, and it's fun!

The Whirling Dance of the Dervish

Spinning.  I googled it, and after the Official Spinning Site (registered trademark and all), I came across a dictionary entry that referred to the "whirling dance of the dervish".  So now you are going to wonder how I am going to link my morning fitness to this sufi ritual of which the purpose is to reach religious ecstasy, right?  Well, rest assured, the spinning class at my wellness center is no where near ecstacy of any type.

How did I end up in a 5:15 AM spinning class?  It's the only class at 5:15 AM, and that's the only time I can guarantee I won't schedule something else instead of working out.  While I was at Hilton Head Health, I took every class that was available at least once.  I did things I never considered doing.  So when I decided I would have to work out at 5:15 in the morning, I didn't question what the class was.  It was whatever it was.  And that "was" is spinning. 

So what is my take on spinning?  Well, humans created a simple machine called a bike wheel, then made the bike not go anywhere.  And instead of the difficulty of the ride being determined by the trail

it is instead determined by a red knob below the handlebars.  We are then told to pedal across non-existent flats and over non-existent hills, and to then purposefully make our journey more difficult.  We've made going nowhere really hard to do.

It produces great magnitudes of sweat, and after 40 minutes, I miraculously feel better than I did before I started.  Well almost.  One part of my body feels worse, or if I am lucky, it just feels numb.

So, no I do not feel like a whirling dervish as I spin, and I have not yet experienced religious ecstacy on my Spinner bike.  However, the word dervish comes from the word for door and it may be that this spinning is a way in which a door will be opened.  I just wish the triangular torture device, a.k.a. the seat, was more comfortable...

Coach, Business, First Class

I was riding my horse, Pacino, on Saturday.  We were doing fine, but then my trainer came out to watch us and said "why are you riding him as a first level horse when he is a Prix Saint George level horse? You need to ask more of him."

I did and he obligingly complied.

He's very willing to do anything I ask, I just have to ask him.  When it comes to exercise and physical activity, I guess I'm like that, too.  If someone tells me to do something, asks me to do more, indicates I can put more effort in, I do. That's why I need a coach.   Just like my horse needs me to ask him to perform to his ability, I need someone to remind me how much I should be doing and to make sure I do it correctly.

Dan is my business coach, Judith and Debbie are my dressage coaches, and Jeff is my fitness coach.

Are you working to your potential?  Maybe you need a coach.

“If you only do what you know you can do- you never do very much.” -Tom Krause

“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself” - Bill McCartney