The adventures of Andrea in Avatarland

I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!  - Alice in Wonderland

I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night to get myself out of a slump and get rid of my front butt (a.k.a. my butt gut).   After some significant losses in my life this past year, including my step-mother to lung cancer, I became attached to the couch.  Sleeping, bad movies and pizza became more appetizing than the taste of cold water at the end of a race.   All I know is that each day I am feeling a little different. I’m enjoying the benefits of “getting my rear in gear again”.

Andrea Johnson welcomes you to enter Avatarland

Early July, I entered Avatarland with my tail between my legs.  Since I couldn’t fit into most of my work-out clothes, I forewarned my personal trainer, Andrea Johnson, she might have to consider my outfit a uniform.   Andrea quickly made me feel at home by telling me to get used to her favorite pants as they were her most comfortable pair too.   Thus begun the eight week adventure to “feeling good to look good” versus “looking good to feel good”

During our one-hour session three times a week, Andrea has been strict physically and mentally with technique, push-ups, squats and more.  In the three hours I work-out with her weekly, I am to let go of everything in life which frustrates me. To perform in positions I previously thought impossible for me, I have to challenge myself to find inner-peace.  Until now, I reserved that right of peace for the serious yoga people I stared at in class while waiting to move into a new position.

In a work-out class at my health club, my strategy was to get in the last row.  90% of me tried to keep up with the instructor, all the while providing a comedy hour for one of my friends with my lack of coordination.  The other 10% of me was praying that the instructor wouldn’t shout out to do a 180 move.  If the whole class turned 180, that would mean I’m in the front and I guarantee you I wasn’t doing the same move.

There has been no back of the class with Andrea.  She demands precision with positions and movements, yet she is patient when seeing my interpretations of her instructions.  Laughter has complimented her raised eyebrows with my new names for exercises (some can’t be printed). One of the first moves she asked me to execute was what I nicknamed the “Leaning Tower of Me.”  Here is my interpretation of the move:
·         Stand tall like a ballerina
·         Shoulders back
·         Chest forward
·         Legs together
·         Hips pulled forward with squeezed rear
·         Lift one leg and try to balance on the other leg like a flamingo
·         Hold the weight in the arm over the flamingo leg you have lifted off the ground
·         Use my core strength to squat up and down without moving standing knee forward
·         Breathe
·         Put hand on Andrea’s head for balance when she tries to check my squat
·         Try really, really, really hard to not fall

Andrea probably has tears right now from laughing at my description.   She knows how many times she has told me to open the chest only to see my “tucked hips” move out of place and my shoulders crunch-up.  I struggle to do two things at once when it comes to anything requiring balance.  I’m more like the table setting at the Madhatter Tea Party – mismatched.

”I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can’t quite follow it as you say it,” said Alice. (Kristin)
“Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” – The King (Andrea).

Andrea Johnson, coaches life and fitness at Avatar

From the beginning, Andrea has concentrated on ensuring I go slowly in my adventure back to fitness.  This was mentally very difficult for me in the beginning as it contradicts the way I live life. It has been this slow mental training I needed more than I realized.  And, now if I can forever rid myself of Veruca Salt mentality, robotized fitness and overnight weight loss, I just might enjoy a lifetime of healthy habits.  Maybe I’ll be Jack LaLanne’s replacement when I’m ninety and promote the Power Juicer 2050’s model.

Going into my seventh week of training at Avatar Training Studio, I enter the sessions with a smile because I know how lucky I am to have my health.   Happily and easily, I have lost interest in processed foods, lost some weight and done a few pirouettes on paths.  In seven weeks – not one day, I am running again and rarely on the couch.

My adventure with Andrea in Avatarland has reminded me of the gift I’ve been given to move – something often taken for granted.   Like Alison in Wonderland, there is no moral to this story.  If we get off-track with fitness, each of us can find a unique path back to the course and “get our rears in gear” again.

Get Your Rear in Gear Again Series
The Colon Cancer Coalition President, Kristin Tabor is writing about her experiences of “getting her rear in gear” again with fitness, health and nutrition.  She is also highlighting personal stories of colon cancer survivors to understand the role fitness and nutrition play in their diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

The Get Your Rear in Gear Blog team will also be interviewing a panel of doctors over the next several months on topics around fitness and nutrition.  Please help us get the answers you need about colon cancer.   AsktheDoctor @ getyourrearingear

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