I picked myself up from my pity party and decided to take action. First stop, the gym.
I walk into the gym confident that I am finally dealing with my excess weight once and for all. One of the instructors later confessed to me that she thought I was pregnant. I seemed to be eliciting that reaction a lot. Annoying….Nkt! Anyway, I got into the rhythm of the gym after getting over “The Itch”.
Let me talk a little bit about the itch. This is a tear jerking condition where I itch uncontrollably on my legs and thighs when I start exercising and I have not been physically active over a long period of time and the feeling is worse when the weather is cold. Winter should never find me walking on any street in Iceland as I will cry like a baby due to this weird condition. I thought I was the only one who suffered from this strange attack until I started talking about it and found out that we are many out there. Horrible!
Back to the gym. I became obsessed with it, visiting five to six times a week. I was a gym girl. My favorite activity was aerobics especially the step. If I didn’t go to the gym, the instructors would call me to find out if I was unwell. Weight training was also part of my regime.
Did the gym work? I toned, lost some weight, dropped from a size 20 to 16. I believe I would achieved more if I changed my diet. My dedication should have yielded more. I was fit but still not happy with my size. I needed to be size 12 again.
Lesson 1:
Learning points:
According to UPMC Sports Medicine, staying sedentary too long also causes runner’s itch.
If you have had a long layover between workouts sometimes the capillaries and arteries expand, causing a sensation that your brain reads as itchiness. If you can work through the discomfort, the itching should get better as you build up stamina. Some people who suffer intense itching oil themselves with petroleum jelly before working out.
Precious Wellness 