My muscles are not too happy with me

Tags

boots, carving, exercise, postaday2013, sking, skis, snow, the slopes

Today was day two of skiing and even though I walk every day at least two miles a day, that wasn’t sufficient enough to prep the weird grouping of muscles that are engaged during downhill skiing. On second thought it wasn’t really the downhill skiing that put my muscles through a workout; it was the pulling of the little ones around the ski area by my poles; me, straining to pull their weight as they held onto my pole with their hands while I walked with my skis in a crisscross pattern from the beginner’s lift to the tow rope for the little ones.

When my hubby and I were skiing, just the two of us, we were both going very fast and there, at those moments, I felt my muscles straining with the speed. It was a good feeling; my eyes were streaming with tears from the wind and I could hear my skis carving the turns against the snow. I could feel my muscles reacting to the commands that my brain was sending them, shift my weight from the right to the left and then back again as I cut my path down the slope.

The conditions were even better today than they were yesterday; the wind went away and the temperature was 37 Fahrenheit. The lines were non-existant; we would come speeding down to the lift and slam on our brakes and slide right to the lift, ready for another pass down the trail. The kids and my sister were even happier with skiing today than they were yesterday; no one was cold, no one fell and everyone felt really good about their progress on skis.

Ch-ch-ch-ch changes!

You need to make a major change in your life. Do you make it all at once, cold turkey style, or incrementally?

My major lifestyle changes have all been made cold turkey; the cessation of smoking, albeit at different times with aides or cold turkey; the decision was made to stop physically smoking immediately. The withdrawal symptoms were very hard to deal with, as is always the case when you stop an addicting behavior. Trust me when I tell you that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances out there, it is also a habit that becomes associated with so many of your other habits such as coffee drinking, drinking alcohol, finishing a meal and driving. It is hard to do all these things anew without your trusted cigarette. The challenge is to make these habits non-smoking habits, it is harder than it seems. Moreover struggling with an eating disorder, the encroaching pounds that came with ceasing to smoke made the whole non-smoking thing especially hard to bear; it is so hard to deal with putting on weight and being miserable due to nicotine withdrawal, but despite all of this tough stuff, I stuck it out, took my weight gain with a sad face and gradually brightened up when my pounds stared melting away as I became accustomed to and appreciated my new non-smoker lifestyle. It has been five years and one of the best things that I have ever done for myself.

Ch-ch-ch-ch changes!

You need to make a major change in your life. Do you make it all at once, cold turkey style, or incrementally?

My major lifestyle changes have all been made cold turkey; the cessation of smoking, albeit at different times with aides or cold turkey; the decision was made to stop physically smoking immediately. The withdrawal symptoms were very hard to deal with, as is always the case when you stop an addicting behavior. Trust me when I tell you that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances out there, it is also a habit that becomes associated with so many of your other habits such as coffee drinking, drinking alcohol, finishing a meal and driving. It is hard to do all these things anew without your trusted cigarette. The challenge is to make these habits non-smoking habits, it is harder than it seems. Moreover struggling with an eating disorder, the encroaching pounds that came with ceasing to smoke made the whole non-smoking thing especially hard to bear; it is so hard to deal with putting on weight and being miserable due to nicotine withdrawal, but despite all of this tough stuff, I stuck it out, took my weight gain with a sad face and gradually brightened up when my pounds stared melting away as I became accustomed to and appreciated my new non-smoker lifestyle. It has been five years and one of the best things that I have ever done for myself.