Self talk

My nephew visited yesterday and we had a really enjoyable time – talking, eating, listening to music and reminiscing a lot. A cool-dude category twenty-three year old, he has always been good fun. I couldn’t help thinking back on the years, from the time he was born, what a cutie he was as a little boy, that hilarious evening when I took him along to my office, and the time when he was around eight years old and brought me two huge packs of marshmallows. It was the first time in my life I actually saw these nice yummy pillowy little melth-in-the-mouth multi-colored squares. Oh yes, it really was lovely to think of those. (Come to think of it, I tasted noodles for the first time when I was twenty-four years old. And cheese a couple of years later.)A trip down memory lane

One memory led to another and I remembered one visit when he wore a T-shirt that said “If you think I am cute, you should see my aunt”, said aunt being yours truly. Big upper that was. This brought on the urge to
go through some old albums. I indulged.

And what did I find? Some great pictures. I’ve always been a shutterbug and while I might not win any photography awards (Oh wait, maybe I would. Who knows?) I do know I’ve captured some great moments on my various cameras. I basked in the happiness. Then, a wee bit of sadness crept in. I remembered how my friends always teased me about being skinny back then. Later, I did fill out, all in the right places. And thankfully stayed that way for decades. So why did I feel sad? Because now, I could do with some major toning. My butt, which is usually the butt of admiration from many of my friends from both genders and has frequently enjoyed being called “cute”, “shapely” “neat” …..oh well, won’t go into all that.

I also recalled how, at one point in my life, I was secretly unhappy about being almost flat-chested. I found a little book that had some literally kickass exercises to tone and enhance various parts of the body. I started doing some regularly and I swear it worked. I still have this little book, except that I don’t get around to doing much more than walking. A little over a decade ago, I used to attend aerobics class regularly and loved it.

What happened now?

Cellulite. Stretch marks. Dry skin. Falling hair. Waiting for menopause. Changes with the magic forty (plus eight in my case). Not a pretty list, no? Worst of all, a bit of lethargy when it comes to self-care. I am guilty of procrastinating when it comes to me-time and doing things for myself. According to forskolin online, it can be less difficult than we imagine to combat cellulite with good advice.

So, on a sudden whim, I decided to look for that little book. I wanted to see if there were some easy exercises to help me tone my assets – my arms, butt and thighs in particular. Hopefully the effects would magically be felt around my waistline.

Here is what I now plan to do

I thought now is a good time as any to get started with getting fitter (notice I say fit-ter – not fit. Because I don’t even want to find out what’s fat).  So here is my action agenda and I am going to start with some butt busters. Any excuse to get new jeans!

Step ups:
I’ll need a staircase with a railing for this. No problem. I live in the second floor. I begin by putting my right foot on the first, second or third step and pull myself up to stand, raising the knee of my  left leg to hip level. This needs focusing on pressing via my heel and gently lifting (not pushing) from the bottom foot. Repeat fifteen times and switch legs, repeat fifteen times.

Plies:
Here I stand with my feet shoulder width apart, toes pointing outwards. I squat towards the floor, ensuring that my knees are aligned with my ankles. Now, here’s the interesting part: While squatting, I do a kegel,  squeeze my bum and press my knees back as I return to the standing position. Repeat this fifteen times. This one’s a piece of cake for me because we’ve been using a western style potty only since the last twelve years. Even when I was pregnant, we had an Indian style potty which required this position. Okay, the difference now is my knees crackle and hurt, but I’ve got an app exercise for that.

By the way, just doing the kegels alone has a lot of benefits. Here is a good how-to guide from Mayo Clinic if you are interested.

I am looking forward to sticking to my regimen, with a little help from my friends, who motivate me all the time.  Since I am still dreaming of this,  I’ll also be doing these great workouts for my butt.

Do you indulge in self-talk? Do you enjoy it?

Share your thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Vidya Sury