Monday – Meet Me at the (Stair)well
Aug. 3rd, 2009 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninanevermore.
.
.
Candice always takes the lead when we "do the stairs" twice a day at the office. She's the youngest of the 4 of us, a former cheerleader in her late 20s who cheers those of us who are older and slower on. Denise, the oldest in our group and in her late 40s, is always second. The oldest and the youngest also happen to be the thinnest, so they can have the lead positions. I just jointed the Sisterhood of the Western Stairwell last week, two weeks behind the others. I'm in 3rd position. Yvonne is my age and the one who struggles with her weight the most. She brings up the rear.
The building has 12 stories and we all work on the 8th floor. We go up 5 flights to the door that opens to the roof, where Candice, Jan, and I stand and wait for Yvonne. Each of us keeps a pair of practical shoes under her desk for this purpose, because all of us agree that walking the stairs in high heals just isn't happening. Must look a sight in our business clothes and sports shoes, two of us white and two of us black, two of us thin and two us carrying some extra baggage.
"Y'all go on down, you don't have to wait for me," Yvonne says twice a day, every day.
"Nuh, uh – no woman left behind. Come on, you can do it," I say breathlessly in return. The truth is, waiting for Yvonne gives me a chance to catch my breath, so I'm happy to do it. In addition, waiting ensures that she makes all the way and doesn't stop halfway up that 5th flight. I can see the temptation to do just that on her face. She is 40 year old, looks to be carrying at least an extra 100 pounds around, and I happen to know that her blood pressure is far too high. She needs the workout even more than the rest of us do.
"See, that's the difference between you women and us men," my husband commented when I told him about our little routine. "A group of guys would just leave fat guy there. The only reason we would stop and wait would be so we could see if it looked like his heart was about to explode or not."
"Men are evil, women aren't. At least, we aren't as blatant about it," I told him. Actually, supporting each other is part of the fun for women. For guys, the fun seems to lie in competing with each other. If one guy's heart explodes, that’s one competitor down as far as his comrades are concerned.
Last Tuesday Yvonne told us that the east stairwell seemed to be easier. We weren't sure how that could be, but we agreed to give it a try. It turned out Yvonne was right, on account that the east stairwell doesn't go all the way up to the roof so there are only 4 flights of stairs. Poor Yvonne was just goes until she runs out of stairs, and didn't bother to count flights. That day we had to walk back down to 7 on the return trip and then back up to 8 to make up for the 5th flight, and now we stick to the western stairwell.
Denise carries little hand weights so she can work her arms as well as her legs. I've announced that I'll bring some hand weights as soon as I no longer need to use my hands to drag myself up the last 2 flights of stairs by the handrails.
"Maybe ankle weights would be good," Candice mused.
"I've got to haul these thighs up to the roof: that's plenty of extra weight for me, thank you," I told her.
It's been a few weeks for the other 3, and only a week plus a couple extra days for me (I first jointed them on a Friday). As far as any of can tell our clothes aren't fitting any better for our efforts, but we aren't giving up hope. Candice says she tried on a pair of pants that seemed a bit bigger than they did before, at least in the waist. She lamented that her butt is still the same. She has one of those round cheerleader butts and I suspect that working her glutes on the stairs may make it firmer, but that it's not going to go away any.
I still look the same, myself. I'm just glad to get out of my cubicle for a few minutes each morning and afternoon and get some blood circulating in my body. I feel better for it even if I don't look better for it. Besides, I can't stop and give up. I have a moral obligation to keep at it: if Yvonne's heart explodes in the stairwell, it's going to take at least 3 of us to haul her out of there.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
.
.
Candice always takes the lead when we "do the stairs" twice a day at the office. She's the youngest of the 4 of us, a former cheerleader in her late 20s who cheers those of us who are older and slower on. Denise, the oldest in our group and in her late 40s, is always second. The oldest and the youngest also happen to be the thinnest, so they can have the lead positions. I just jointed the Sisterhood of the Western Stairwell last week, two weeks behind the others. I'm in 3rd position. Yvonne is my age and the one who struggles with her weight the most. She brings up the rear.
The building has 12 stories and we all work on the 8th floor. We go up 5 flights to the door that opens to the roof, where Candice, Jan, and I stand and wait for Yvonne. Each of us keeps a pair of practical shoes under her desk for this purpose, because all of us agree that walking the stairs in high heals just isn't happening. Must look a sight in our business clothes and sports shoes, two of us white and two of us black, two of us thin and two us carrying some extra baggage.
"Y'all go on down, you don't have to wait for me," Yvonne says twice a day, every day.
"Nuh, uh – no woman left behind. Come on, you can do it," I say breathlessly in return. The truth is, waiting for Yvonne gives me a chance to catch my breath, so I'm happy to do it. In addition, waiting ensures that she makes all the way and doesn't stop halfway up that 5th flight. I can see the temptation to do just that on her face. She is 40 year old, looks to be carrying at least an extra 100 pounds around, and I happen to know that her blood pressure is far too high. She needs the workout even more than the rest of us do.
"See, that's the difference between you women and us men," my husband commented when I told him about our little routine. "A group of guys would just leave fat guy there. The only reason we would stop and wait would be so we could see if it looked like his heart was about to explode or not."
"Men are evil, women aren't. At least, we aren't as blatant about it," I told him. Actually, supporting each other is part of the fun for women. For guys, the fun seems to lie in competing with each other. If one guy's heart explodes, that’s one competitor down as far as his comrades are concerned.
Last Tuesday Yvonne told us that the east stairwell seemed to be easier. We weren't sure how that could be, but we agreed to give it a try. It turned out Yvonne was right, on account that the east stairwell doesn't go all the way up to the roof so there are only 4 flights of stairs. Poor Yvonne was just goes until she runs out of stairs, and didn't bother to count flights. That day we had to walk back down to 7 on the return trip and then back up to 8 to make up for the 5th flight, and now we stick to the western stairwell.
Denise carries little hand weights so she can work her arms as well as her legs. I've announced that I'll bring some hand weights as soon as I no longer need to use my hands to drag myself up the last 2 flights of stairs by the handrails.
"Maybe ankle weights would be good," Candice mused.
"I've got to haul these thighs up to the roof: that's plenty of extra weight for me, thank you," I told her.
It's been a few weeks for the other 3, and only a week plus a couple extra days for me (I first jointed them on a Friday). As far as any of can tell our clothes aren't fitting any better for our efforts, but we aren't giving up hope. Candice says she tried on a pair of pants that seemed a bit bigger than they did before, at least in the waist. She lamented that her butt is still the same. She has one of those round cheerleader butts and I suspect that working her glutes on the stairs may make it firmer, but that it's not going to go away any.
I still look the same, myself. I'm just glad to get out of my cubicle for a few minutes each morning and afternoon and get some blood circulating in my body. I feel better for it even if I don't look better for it. Besides, I can't stop and give up. I have a moral obligation to keep at it: if Yvonne's heart explodes in the stairwell, it's going to take at least 3 of us to haul her out of there.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 07:33 pm (UTC)BTW, I saw a photo of you once and you did NOT look overweight. But, either way, exercise makes you healthy.
You're beautiful, either way!
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 08:23 pm (UTC)I 2nd this one.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 09:48 pm (UTC)I'm picky about the photos I post; if they aren't flattering, no one sees them. Ever. I've deleted more pictures of myself than you can imagine. That's just since the advent of digital cameras. I used to tear the pictures of me up before anyone could see them back in the days of film.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 09:55 pm (UTC)Sadly, the woman I work directly with gets her excise by repeatedly putting knives in my back. I hear it's a good workout for the upper arms of the stabber. She is getting those older-woman-bat-wing things, so maybe that's why she does it. :P
(catty - it's everywhere and i haz it)
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 10:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-05 04:54 pm (UTC)It hurts less than it did a week ago, though. I guess that's progress. :D
no subject
Date: 2009-08-04 12:04 pm (UTC)Yeah, women are totally different from men when it comes to exercise (and everything else for that matter) Greg approaches it totally different from me. He sees me as competition. If he can do better than me it's good. I see him as an exercise buddy. Someone to keep me going. LOL
no subject
Date: 2009-08-05 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-05 05:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-06 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-11 09:40 pm (UTC)It's best to start kind of slow and work your way up. I should have mentioned that...