Julie Parkes's Blog

I'm finding it so hard to believe, I have just completed, as of May 8th, a year at the Clark County YMCA. It just doesn't seem like it could possibly be a year. I've just been having so much fun. So much has changed during this year. I went from two classes a week to nine classes a week. I have developed a wonderful Deep Water Program and I have become an Aquatic Exercise Association Certified Fitness Professional. The YMCA has also changed. Several people who were there when I started last year have moved on and some others have moved up. The YMCA is now completing a huge renovation that has added a wonderful lap pool, indoor track and so much more. Students have also come and gone. Looking back on this year really tells me how far I've gone. I wonder what is going to happen this year.

I had a nice conversation this morning. One of the ladies in my class was so frustrated. She has been working out so hard and even though her clothes are fitting better and she is feeling better, she is frustrated with the scale. I don't blame her. The scale is a mean thing. And when you think about it, the scale really doesn't mean that much. The most important thing in a healthy life is that you feel well, eat well and stay active. When you eat well, you feel good and have lots of energy. When you exercise, your joints feel good and you have lots of strength to do everything that you want to do. So when that scale doesn't show what you want it to, don't worry about it. Just be healthy.

Sometimes life can throw curves, but you just need to keep swinging. The month of March was really difficult. I had a friend pass away at the very end of February, then had my Aquatic Certification Exam. Not long after another friend went into hospice, right after celebrating my sons 11th birthday. The month was like a roller coaster with huge downs and wonderful ups. Yesterday I received notification that I passed my latest certification exam and felt like I could fly. The big thing is, even though things get hard, just keep moving forward. You never know where that road your on is going to take you.

Every New Year, many people make resolutions. I am making a resolution too. I resolve to cut out most of the processed food this year. Resolutions to work out more. Resolutions to give up sugar. Resolutions to lose weight. Then by the time March rolls around, most of those people have given up and gone back to what they were doing before. But that doesn't make New Years resolutions worthless. After all, this is a new year and you have 365 days to make lasting changes that can really improve your life and health. So set yourself up for success. For example, Instead of saying tomorrow I'm going to give up sugar and never have another ice cream or cake in your life, make your change a little more gradual. Instead of a sweet every night for dessert, try having a yogurt or piece of fruit. Maybe a nice glass of cold water with lemon or mango. Or instead of dessert, a nice cup of tea with a good book and a warm blanket. Do this three times a week, then four times a week, then five times until you would much rather have the piece of fruit than a piece of cake. Your body gets used to things like sugar. So a gradual change is much easier to make into a permanent change. I plan to spend the whole year working on my resolution. Gradual change goes for exercise too. If you decide to exercise every day for an hour, you will soon have illness, family, soreness and a multitude of other reasons to not work out. So instead, maybe start with an exercise class three times a week. Then later add going to the weight room, start swimming, go on bike rides or something else. Make your exercise time as important as going to work. Whatever your resolution is, the big thing is to love yourself. For the most part, the changes you are resolving to change will change your life. These changes will give you health. You will have stress relief, sleep better, have more energy, look better, and be stronger. So remember, when you make this resolution, make the changes slowly and stick with it. In the end, this resolution will make your life better.

I haven't posted on the blog for a while. I just haven't been feeling well. I've been tired. I've had stomach pain. Just not feeling good. I haven't felt well for a while now. Everything came to a head a couple weeks ago when I went into the hospital with severe pain. It turns out that is was a huge kidney stone. Kidney stones always seemed to be such a small thing to me. The reality is, kidney stones are a BIG DEAL. It's more than just the extreme pain. A kidney stone can damage your kidney and can cause infection. One of the best ways to avoid kidney stones is to drink water. It's such a simple thing and yet so hard for me to do. I've never liked drinking a lot of water. Not even when living in Arizona. But ignoring your bodies needs can really cause problems with your life. So don't ignore what your body says. First drink plenty of water. The easiest way to make sure you have enough is to take your body weight, cut the amount in half and drink that amount in ounces every day. So a two hundred pound person needs to drink 100 lunches of water every day. I have started carrying my britta bottle with me everywhere. I try to drink the whole bottle worth of water at least 4 times every day. Listen to your body and care for your body. It's the only body you have. Even a little thing can make a big difference.

Today is the first day of Fall. The perfect timing of weather, the wind is blowing and the rain is falling. Soon the leaves will be turning and falling. Also, with Fall, the kids are back in school and for me that means a full calendar with a multitude of different things. Running my daughter to school early for volleyball practice, picking my son up late after patrol. Then the Boys and Girl Scouts have started their meetings, rehearsals for the Christmas program have started and soon and so on. As a busy working mom it's so easy to get caught up in all the activities, every one is so important. But where does that leave me? Often, with so many of us busy working moms it means too little sleep and what is the easiest and fastest way to feed those little bellies. That can also lead to some bad choices made. First, us Moms need to remember, we are the glue that holds these families together. So we need to make sure to take care of ourselves. It may take planning and work, but we are worth it. I know the husband and kids will agree with that. With that being said, we need to get enough sleep every night. A least 6-8 hours is most beneficial. Second, we need to have time to ourselves to read a book, take a bath, or dance a jig. Take the time to exercise too. Take a walk, do some push ups, climb the stairs or hit a punching bag. Everyone needs some peaceful time for themselves. And finally, eat good food. There is so much being said about eating clean, but do you know what that is. Eating clean is eating food like great grandma ate. Fruit and vegetables out of a garden instead of a can. Bread made with things like flour, salt and yeast instead of high fructose corn syrup. And dinners put together with things other than dyes. Yes it takes more time, but isn't your family and your worth it? So plan your meals. Have fresh fruit and sliced vegetables on hand for snacks instead of chips and crackers. Organic Yogurt instead of ice cream.

When I first started this journey to health and life, I started by walking the kids to school in the morning. It has been difficult because of my going back to school, the kids going to two different schools that didn't leave me time to do it, and adding a new job. This week the kids are back in school and with my daughter playing volleyball, I drop her off early. So that leaves me time to walk my son to school. I have done that over the past two days. I can't believe how hard it's been. I have been working out a great deal in the water. Working on land has been so different. I tell my students in my aqua class that we don't live in water, we live on land so it's important to do both water and land exercises. This really comes to life for me right now. Doing just one type of exercise is NOT the key to health. Just as when it comes to food, variety is the spice of life. So as you go out in the world, do all kinds of things. Walk, hike, bike, swim, weight lift. Fill your life with every kind of activity you can and enjoy your activity. Enjoy your life.

Sometimes one of the best things to do for your fitness is to create a challenge. A friend of mine started a challenge for this month and I joined in. It's called ten down. What you do is choose three exercises. I chose sit ups, push ups, and squats. Each day you do ten of each, then turn around and do 9 of each etc. all the way down to one. By the time you get done you will have competed 52 of each exercise. There are two days off allowed each week and the challenge goes for the entire month. Wow, what a great way to challenge yourself to kick it up a notch.

This week I took my son to Cub Scout Camp. It was a Wonderful experience. One of the things I will remember most about this trip is the hike to the neighboring Boy Scout camp. I had hurt my knee last year and my ankle 6 months ago. Since my injuries I had fallen back into my past ways and have been a bit lazy in my work outs. I paid for it this trip. We were at the furthest camping spot from everything and after the first day of pushing myself so hard hiking everywhere, I was really sore. I had tight calves and other sore spots too. The third day of camping was the hardest. We hiked to the neighboring Boy Scout Camp. It started with a steep climb down, a mile hike across the deep sand dunes, then a horrendously long hike up a steep switchback trail up to the camp. It took twenty minutes just to get to the top. Even the boys were worn out from the climb. After that we walked for another three miles around the camp to see everything this place had to offer. My son kept looking to me saying how much his legs hurt. I let him know I was hurting too, but we would do it together. He agreed that we were tough. We kept walking one foot in front of the other and one step at a time. We completed the hike, hand in hand. This hike was REALLY HARD. But we survived. We may have been the last ones of the group, but we did it. Just that he kept going, even though it was hard taught him not to give up, even when it's hard. It also taught him about not giving up by my own example too. I could have sat down and I could have gotten a ride back to the Cub Camp. But I think he got a lot out of this by us doing it together. The next day I got to see him challenge himself in the obstical course. As we came to the fourth day of camping, I found that hiking around the camp from one end to the other became easier and easier. Now I'm home. I've been taking a day of rest to get the soreness out of my muscles, then I plan to keep pushing myself more. I'm not going to stop just because I'm home. By next camping trip, I intend to be at the front in the hikes instead of the end. It's never too late to start changing your future.

I was reading in my idea fit magazine about obesity in kids. One of the things it said was that due to the kids increasing weight their lifespan is going to be less than our own. I look at my own kids and as a Mom, of course I am always worried about them. Especially since I have battled my weight. I hope I have been teaching them enough about nutrition and how to cook good food for themselves. I Was watching Joel Osteen who spoke about a person he knew. He said that if we continue to act as we have it will continue to be a problem through generations. But if we stop and make a change now, that change is what's going to happen through those generations. It's so much easier to let them play video games and watch TV so I can get some work done. But what's easy isn't always what's best. Besides, I need to stay active myself. So this week we went for a long bike ride. This afternoon we are going swimming. Tomorrow we are going to camp where we will be hiking and playing. Yes, I would like to be lazy and relax but when it comes down to it, it really is much more fun, for all of us, to go swimming tis afternoon. On our bike ride a few days ago, we saw an eagle, a heron and a bee hive just like out of Winnie the Pooh. When we go to Scout camp we will do some star gazing, hiking and so many other active things. We will be building memories that my kids can share when they have kids of their own. I know money can be a problem with so many people. But it doesn't cost money to go on a bike ride outside of the initial investment of a bike. You can walk to the friend on the corner instead of call or text. Walk through a farmers market. Have the kids join you to rake the leaves, pull the weeds or mow the yard. Go to the local school and swing with them. These are the memories the kids will remember. These are also the memories that you will remember. And you will be helping to break the cycle of obesity.