The Winter Flu
Posted by Jeff Plumb on August 15th, 2008
It all started with my son who came home from play group having picked up the flu from one of his friends. He passed it on to my wife and you can guess what happened next! That’s right, they passed it on to me.
I haven’t been so sick for years. I was getting hot and cold, had a massive headache and my muscles were aching. I don’t think I handle being sick very well as I was complaining a lot more than either my wife of my son. We thought our youngest son was going to get away without getting this dreadful flu but unfortunatley he caught it too!
Right now I am feeling so much better but I still have this lingering cough which just won’t go away. All of this has got me thinking about my health. Right now, I am probably the least fit I have ever been. I’ve always loved sports and have generally been pretty active. I don’t think I’m hugely overweight or anything and have never really bothered weighing myself on a regular basis as I think it is much more important to monitor “how you feel”. However during this winter I have not done nearly enough exercise and it’s easy to make excuses like I’m working really hard now and I’ve got the kids and family, there’s just not enought time. It’s time to make a commitment to be more active.
I think it is important when starting out on an exercise campaign to make sure that you set goals which are achievable. It’s fine to say I’m going to exercise every day but then as soon as you miss one day you have failed and it is too easy to give up completely. You need to make small promises to yourself that you can keep.
When I first got back into playing the Table Tennis Victoria Super League I decided to start some running for fitness. To help out with my motivation I set up a website to track my running times. I found that by recording my times, it really helped with my motivation. It also allowed me to sit back after each run and be proud about my small achievement.
So for the next 3 months I’m going to commit to myself to running twice a week around “The Tan” which is a 3.8km running track in Melbourne that goes around the botanical gardens. It’s not a major commitment to do this twice a week but it is something that will get me started to being more active and that is an important step. I’ll let you all know how I progress and then reassess my position after the 3 months is up.
Alois
commented on August 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Great idea Jeff. Now we will all be watching…
In 2006 I started on a lose weight campaign. The thing that helped me was keeping a record of what I did. That is how I operate best. I set up an excel spreadsheet with how much walking I was doing. I set myself a goal of walking for 180 minutes a week, eating 2 pieces of fruit a day and drinking 1.5 litres of water a day. All pretty easy things but things that I could achieve for a prolonged period. I maintained that for over a year. The goals and recording really helped me to keep motivated… and lose weight…
Glenda
commented on August 18th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Good for you mate. it is easy to fall back and become lasy and keep having excuses about not walking in the cold,
You have given me the enthusiasm to get back to walking 3 mornings a week and I have just started with an exercise group on Tuesday mornings. I hope your Dad will join me in the walking again. Glad your feeling a little better, just keep those fluids up too. I will keep an eye on you too and Alois has a great idea there too which I will take aboard.
Glenda
commented on August 22nd, 2008 at 10:05 am
HI Jeff, hope your campain goes well, I know of a website that may help if you want to use it. It is calorieking.com.au you can track your calories by putting in what you eat you also put your excersise in and it calculates how many calouries you burn during your chosen exercise good luck