Today’s Fit Five Friday features Krista from Wisconsin. Let’s see what she has to say about health, fitness, and her body.
1. What do you love about your body?
Oh dear. Well, I used to love how strong my feet looked to me. I thought they were earthy and kind of reliably capable of carrying all my loads. Then I had this second pregnancy and I have, believe it or not, spider veins and dark blue veins on my right foot. So, predictably, I don’t love anything. Maybe my face minus my chin! Well, I do love my breasts, but that’s because I love that they are able to feed and comfort my kids, our species young. Yah, so I guess I love them.
2. What would you like to change about your body?
I would like all of my muscles to be stronger and to have a less saggy belly and arms. I used to love how quickly weight lifting made an impact on my sense of strength and also the look of my muscles.
3. Have you ever been or are you currently on a diet?
I am gently following the new Weight Watchers plan, now that my son is 3 months old. I did the same after my daughter. I like it because I am more likely to be mindful of what I eat, because typically I have no memory of what I do put in my mouth. I also like Weight Watchers now because it seems quite committed to its plan of encouraging people to eat vegetables and fruit and high protein. All the junk that people used to eat that was fat free and sugar free and preserved has higher points now. And all fruits and most veg have no points. I find that very practical, as I believe the best way to fuel the body is heavily centered on fruit/veg and high protein. Incidentally, outside of these 2 times I have done Weight Watchers, I have never stuck with any diet more than a week. My personality doesn’t like diets.
4. Have you ever or do you currently belong to a gym?
Many times in the past, not now. Mostly because of lack of childcare to do so. I do enjoy going to the gym a few times a week. I really found Couch to 5k to be doable, and I think I can do that again in the fall. I only made it to 3k when I found out I was pregnant last time. Gyms are hard. Can be intimidating. There is a small gym in the building where I have my practice. It is owned by a PT and they (PTs) are wonderful. But I have commonly found trainers to be either condescending or not very aware of what is pushing people too hard. They tend to be loud voices that do not understand body mechanics, and so it is really easy to be injured because trainers focus on pushing you, not perfecting your posture/mechanics as you work out. I see a lot of injury from that as an acupuncturist. The trainers who work out of the gym in my building have all been vetted by PTs, and the difference is pretty obvious.
5. What does fitness mean to you?
It means feeling strong.
Bonus: What is your current fitness goal?
I would like to just get my muscles back and be more mindful of what I eat. I imagine I will continue until I get a few sizes smaller, and then think again. I don’t really do long term goals, since that has always been an uncomfortable process for me, personally. I prefer little goals that feel constructive and doable.
