One of the hardest things to deal with after coming to Taiwan was my weight loss. I don’t mean fat, I mean muscle. All my muscles disappeared. Taiwan is a really easy place to stay thin, but a hard place to have muscles. I also am deathly afraid of getting diabetes, stemming from race, family background, and my fondness for sugary cereals. To combat both of these problems I decided a few years ago to get on a regular exercise routine and not just rely on going hiking and playing sports.
It started with going jogging with my dog every other night after work, but sometimes running outside allows for too many excuses (rain, heat, Tuesday). I quickly found out that exercising at home was better as I could never come up with an excuse. I further motivate myself by being able to watch tv and/or a movie while exercising. Eventually I got excited to exercise just cause it’s the one time I can watch my favorite shows.
I started out doing 15 minutes every other day, then every day, then 30 minutes a few days a week, until now I’m doing 1 hours of exercise everyday. In fact if you are thinking of exercising, but don’t think you have time or motivation, just do ten minutes every other day and I promise you that slowly over time you will just find yourself doing it more often and for longer.
As for what I do. I basically do 20 minutes of aerobics, 20 of weight lifting, and 20 of yoga. Maybe not so rigid, it all depends on the day. If you’re wondering about the name of today’s post, it’s because Maya is my personal trainer. The genesis of my exercise routine comes from an exercise videogame that I have for the ps2. The on screen avatar, Maya, does the routine and you follow along. It tracks your progress and mixes it up for you based on your results.
The only drawback is that it’s really aimed towards women, especially working mothers, so the routines aren’t challenging enough. I quickly surpassed the workouts the computer makes, but I still use them as a guideline while I do my own routine. Also it’s nice to have little interludes for when it says things like “take a walk in the park while the kids are at their soccer practice.”
As for the picture, you’ve probably seen this thing in a few pictures before. It’s basically my exercise mat. What it really is, is a pillow top mattress. Usually it’s covered with a sheet, but that’s getting washed right now, which is convenient as you can see the sweat stains that symbolize years of hard work. It’s not only for comfort when I’m doing ground exercises but it’s also to cushion the sound when I’m jumping up and down doing aerobics. It also doubles as a good place to throw my dogs’ toys inside because it muffles the sound. And it’s one of her seven special napping spots that she has around the apartment.
