GoGo Girl | Sian D
Email GoGo Girl at: sian@girlgetstrong.com
I’ve always been a “GoGo Girl”
I don’t know about you, but growing up, I never liked to eat. I mean, sitting still and bringing a fork to my mouth was just not something that I wanted to waste my time on. I was much more of a “let’s PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!” sort of girl, always on the go. Action and excitement – now those were things I could really sink my teeth into! When my parents did get me to sit still, they probably regretted it because I was every mother’s nightmare: a horribly picky eater.
Fast forward approximately 30 years and my, how things have changed; most notably, my taste buds. Now, I quite enjoy food. Yes, I enjoy food a lot. As a matter of fact, I might even be a little food-obsessed.
…okay, darn it, I’ll cop to it: I’m INSANELY obsessed with food!
I don’t know exactly what happened to change me over the years; I don’t really have a good story for you- nothing like being struck by lightening or abducted by aliens – but there it is all the same. My love of food has grown to the point where it now encompasses every area of my life: I read about food, research food and dream about food. Even as I’m eating one meal, I’m thinking about what I am going to be preparing for the following meal. Italian or Thai? Sweet and sour or spicy? Buns or baguettes? And on it goes. My wonderful husband sometimes mentions therapy (at least I think that’s what he muttered around a mouthful of my homemade sushi) and when he does, I nod my head agreeably and then turn on Rachel Ray for a little self-help.
I enjoy puttering around the kitchen, nibbling on my favorite comfort foods while I experiment with new recipes to surprise my family with. Imagine the pleasure that my both 9 year old darling little diva and my 11 year old extreme sports junkie get from all the tasty exotic flavors I serve them…or, perhaps not. Sometimes the way we were as children comes back to bite us in the butt as adults and my mom is probably giggling now. But hey, maybe the kids will change into passionate foodies when they grow up too. You never know!
We are lucky to live here in Vancouver because we have an almost infinite number of restaurants and grocery stores that are stocked with tasty goodies from all over the world. With such a smorgasbord of choices I find that there are very few types of food that I don’t enjoy, but I if I were pinned down and tickled, I’d admit that sushi is closest to my heart.
There is more to life than food…sort of.
As you can imagine I do need to make room for all the tasty morsels I sample and I definitely still like action (that part didn’t change) so over the years I have read, gathered, Googled, tried and talked incessantly about every diet and fitness fad out there. After experimenting, I have found that going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week works well for me. Why wouldn’t it, when I can put on the headphones and watch the Food Channel while flipping through the latest magazine!
I also work out with the other Girlgetstrong girls at least once a week. In fact, years ago we started out running together which was fun until we started to train for a 1/2 marathon. Apparently, my core was not ready for that type of pounding of the pavement and I had to stop due to extensive back pain which became increasingly worse. After visiting my doctor and trying every option possible, I ended up having emergency back surgery. It was a very dark part of my life and one I never want to have happen again.
I might be biting off more than I can chew but…
After that I was very cautious about working out, worried about injuring myself again. I started off slowly at first. I decided that I would have to work hard on my core and this has been my focus for the past couple of years. I am getting stronger but there is still a third and fourth breast layer of fat hiding my hard-earned muscles. It’s time: my muscles need to be freed!
Because we’ve had a long winter, my workouts with the other GGS girls have mostly been sweating to fitness dvds and sneaking in some stair climbs, but I am trying to will also get back into the running scene with the girls soon.
I don’t have any pie in the sky goals (I’d rather keep those in my fridge), but I would like to:
- Spice up my gym workouts,
- Indulge in some new classes,
- Get a taste of a couple of 5k races,
- Devour some local hiking trails,
- And most of all, I’m going to savor having fun with friends, old and hopefully, new!
Well, that’s more than enough to fill my plate…and I’m curious, what’s on yours? Are you a foodie too? Have you ever had an injury that’s impacted your life? What sort of diets tingle your taste buds?
Well girls, I don’t want to be all talk and no action so to paraphrase a famous running shoe company, “Let’s chew it!”
Yours playfully,
Sian
