Kayaking

Went kayaking with friends on the Harpeth River today. Lovely, easy float with only a few rapids and no flips for me. Burned both knees and my rear end may never want to sit in a kayak seat again, but had a great, great time. I want to do that again this summer. We went early to avoid the crowds and had some long stretches to ourselves. Saw snakes (not so good), turtles (cute), fish, birds, and various and sundry other creatures. Lots of trees with poison ivy and sumac. I’m very aware of poisonous vines after the blisters I got from a little touch of poison sumac while cleaning out the weeds in the garden behind the forsythia bushes. My husband let the weeds almost overtake the forsythia while I was on a fellowship out of the country for two years. Forsythia is rescued, but I am afraid to weed. It is now his job when he gets back this summer

Wii Dancing with the Stars

Okay, I know some people don’t like dancing or they think they don’t have rhythm, but the Wii “Dancing with the Stars” game is the best calorie burner on Wii that I have found. No doubt Dance, Dance Revolution will have a higher burn factor, but I don’t have that yet. Even though it gets mixed reviews for the Wii version, I will get it just to test it out. In only half an hour of Wii “Dancing with the Stars” I am sweating like mad, huffing and puffing, and in general getting ticked off that I cannot get the waltz down at the professional level. Have I said before that I hate the waltz. I cannot seem to get the beat of the music right.

Had friends over yesterday and we played Wii and they loved the bowling (and yes it is a lot of fun) and the Wii Fit. I think they especially liked the skiing on the Wii Fit. None of us were very good at the Tree of Life yoga pose (though C was the best of the bunch). Fun, fun, fun. We have never played video games before, but all of us had a great afternoon and evening playing with the Wii…I swear I think we were at it for about 7 hours. The Wii is addictive (and burns calories…especially the dancing games).

Calorie Burn on Wii (measured by Bodybugg)

Mike asked about the calorie burn on the Wii. Using the bodybugg as my measuring device, I burn from 7.9 to 10.6 calories a minute doing “Dancing with the Stars.” I have to admit that I jump around like a mad woman trying to beat the game. I might do better if I slowed down, but then it is no fun.

On my first day on Wii Fit, I burned about 4.1 to 7.1 calories a minute. That was the first day and I did yoga (low calorie burn), jogging, hula, and step aerobics. The jog was the highest calorie burn, but not as high as “Dancing with the Stars” because you have to stay behind the cartoon figure in the jog. I’ll let you know how it goes as I get more into Wii Fit. For now, I have to admit that I like “Dancing with the Stars” much better than Wii Fit.

Carpal Finger

I am not going to get repetitive stress injuries, but I can definitely tell that I have been “dancing with the stars” on my Wii. It is fun, so I continue to use the Wii. Tracked down the newly released Wii Fit today and added it to my growing Wii collection. Target had sold out all over town, but Wal-Mart (and I really try not to buy things at Wal-Mart) had three left, so I dashed over and I’m now the proud owner of the Wii Fit. Will let you know how it goes.

I have decided that I am not going to post my food logs. I am recording everything again and I’m on track. I think that will do for now.

I have also decided that I am going to take some “me” classes this summer. I am going to the Tennessee Fitness Spa the first week of June. Take a look–down home country style fitness spa–great people and great fun.

I wanted to take a pottery class, but it starts the week I am at the spa, so that is out. Thinking about the basics of drawing instead. Nothing university-oriented…need to get off of that for awhile.

Wii

Okay, I finally broke down and bought a Nintendo Wii. Now I am addicted to the Dancing with the Stars game. I feel like a jive queen even though I cannot even get 25 points. I have managed to numb my right index finger because as a novice I cannot get it into my head that you do not need to hold onto the Wii console and nunchuck with a death grip or push the buttons like if you don’t get it right a nuclear war will start.

I say..”Ok, one more dance.” Then I score less than the time before and say, “well, just one more try.” Hence the numb finger. Is there such a thing as carpal finger?

You do much better if you get the rhythm to the music down, so even though you aren’t really dancing the jive or the mambo, you get into the rhythm of the song. If I could only get those pesky dance moves (for extra points) in. I think I am pointing my stupid console/nunchuck in the wrong direction. Who knows?

The only thing I do know is that I will get a perfect 30 on the jive before I quit. No giving up.

On another note, I have my bodybugg back on and I’m logging food.

On Track Again

All right, after considerable harassment by friends (thank you), I have decided that I need to get back on track with my journey to health. I let the poison ivy and various and sundry other stressful items (like a husband stuck in Lebanon–the country, not a U.S. city–freak me out too much). So, to get fit, I have to deal with stress of all types and remember that fitness is my number one goal and NOT the part of my life that I can let slide. I still want Adam to have to pay to send me to the Ironman Triathlon–though truth be told, I cannot imagine doing a 2-mile swim, a 100-mile bike ride, and then a marathon. I can’t even do the 2-mile swim.

Anyway, back on track and will keep everyone posted about my progress on this journey. It is not as exciting as my husband’s journey in Lebanon, but a journey nonetheless.