Monday, August 26, 2013

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum...


Okay, okay so I didn't go to the Forum, but it's funny how things work out sometimes.

Friday I got home from work and I mentioned to DD and Sonshine that I wanted to bring home the BowFlex and get it set up. My in-laws gave it to us more than a year ago and it's been sitting in pieces in the warehouse of our office space.

Now that I'm getting close to my weight loss goal, I'm planning ahead for how to strengthen and tone what's left. And rather than spend money for a gym membership, I figured the BowFlex would be a perfect piece of equipment to have at the house.

DH left to go down to his mom's mid-day Friday and she'd sent me a list of good carbs from her NutriSystem website.

On Saturday I hung out with some dear friends and fellow writer group members hashing out some writer group business, but once we finished, we got to talking as women tend to do. I'd been happy-go-lucky all day (my new life's philosophy in action, remember) until we hit the topic of losing weight. My personal weight loss is going great and very pleased with my progress. I feel good and I'm very excited about how I look. Then I brought up DH and how frustrated I was with him and his efforts or lack thereof to get his eating and exercise habits in hand. And three of my friends commented on my change of emotion/demeanor. One suggested I have a talk with DH about how I was feeling--which is another one of my goals (to tell people how I really feel).

So Sunday mid-morning DH arrives home from his mom's house and announces it's time to get in shape and watch what he eats and he's gonna set up the garage as a home gym. So he brought home the BowFlex and set it up and then went and bought a treadmill and a big screen television!

I didn't react well at first and I'm not sure why. Wasn't this the very thing I wanted--including the BowFlex? Was it because he took the wind out of my sails? Was it because he planned to invade my early morning quiet?

Most of it was the money, I think. Money's tight right now. We had the cash to spend from fireworks season still, but there were (are) better ways to spend that money. And you guys know I've been trying to get our finances in order. So the expenditure peeved me. I did have a quick discussion with him about the expense and his reason was acceptable, so I didn't make an issue of it.

And also I felt like I had to now give up part of my day to clean up the garage. Most of the mess was mine and rather than him decide where everything got moved, I wanted to make those decisions.

I still had some lingering bad feelings, but while he was gone I gave myself a stern talking to. I want him to set and adhere to a routine. I want him to exercise. I want him to eat right. And I got the BowFlex set up without having to haul it and figure it out on my own. So why was I continuing to harbor anger and resentment? I decided to let it go.

By the time he got back, my pleasant personality had returned and the day proceeded on a mostly even keel.Getting the treadmill setup was another story, but the men finally figured it out. Whew.

And DH was up at 4:30am walking on the treadmill and watching tv on the new big screen.

But he's a noisy riser--not only his alarm, but the dang toilet. So I think I'm just going to be getting up at 4:30 as well. It's only 20 minutes earlier than when I've been getting up. Now I can cook my breakfast prior to my own exercising!

 So-- How was your weekend?

4 comments:

Regina Richards said...

I really admire the way you adapt!

When I'm cooking up a new plan for my life and someone throws something unexpected into the batter, even if it's something great, I don't always like it at first.

But good for you for adapting so quickly!

Unknown said...

I second Regina's comment--you're doing a great job of looking at the positive side of things, and not letting your initial reactions color the rest of your day.

Jen FitzGerald said...

I SOOOO hate change and that was probably a big part of my initial negative reaction. But two days in and it isn't too bad.

Thanks for the encouragement, Regina and Lara. I appreciate it!

Clover Autrey said...

Good for you for deciding to work on your own emotions first. You are awesome.