Fitness 4 me!

I guess I'll forewarn you that this posting doesn't talk about anything creative or really anything fun, it's about exercise & weight loss. If you're not interested in this topic, you may just want to move on to a creative blog from here. But, if you're struggling with your weight, then you may want to continue reading, just so that you can know that you're not alone with your struggle...

I don't know how many of you are into being physically fit or just trying to lose weight, like me. I have been doing well by exercising 5-7 times a week since January 4th of this year. I'll start from the beginning....I was flabbergasted last year when I managed to gain 5 pounds in the one week between Christmas and New Year's day!! What was up with THAT??!!! So, needless to say, I wasn't very happy with how I was starting to look or even feel anymore, & that 5 lbs. just tipped me over the edge. So I put myself into the mindset that I was going to finally use my treadmill that I promised my husband 5 or 6 years ago that I would use religiously if he bought it for me. And I did at first for about a month, because I had been walking outside before that. But as with many things, life started to get in the way & it got moved out of the way, then it was moved upstairs to where I really did want it to be, but then it just sat there. It's just a cheap treadmill that we got at Walmart, so there's not a lot of bells & whistles, but it does have miles per hour, calories burned & a timer. It also checks your pulse rate, but I have considerable doubts about it's accuracy. I also doubt how accurate it is about the calories burned, but I have nothing else to gauge it by. I think it registers on the low side in this area & that's OK, because I'd rather it show me the minimum that I'm burning so that anything else is just a bonus.

So, since Jan. 4th, I've been doing a very good job of exercising at least 5x a week, plus I alternate every other day by doing my stair stepper one day & then my ab roller the next & I do warm up jumping jacks, as well as doing JJ's at different times through out the day. I do them while I'm waiting for the microwave is heating something up or while I'm watching TV during a commercial break. These help to get my heart rate up at different times throughout the day & hopefully revving up my metabolism. Now here's the discouraging part for me.....I've only lost 3 pounds!!! Why is that I can gain 5 pounds in a week, but only lose 3 pounds in nearly 3 months???? Now, I realize that I'm not overweight to begin with, but I was getting to the upper threshold for my height, which is only 5 ft. 2 inches. I don't want to get overweight like 98% of my entire family on both of my parent's sides. And trust me when I say, & when you hear from others, it gets MUCH harder the older you get!

And now, after walking on my treadmill & slowly working my way up in the speed & the distance that I walk, from starting at a speed of 2.7 mph, I am now up to 4.2. My treadmill doesn't have the nice movable hand poles that you can move back & forth, & the incline even at the max, is barely noticeable, but it prepared me to walk outdoors for the first time on Thursday. I wasn't sure how well I'd handle walking outdoors, because the terrain is quite hilly on the block that I walk around. We live in the country so a block around here is miles in length, unlike in town. In fact, we have what I call a short block distance and a long block distance. To the north of us is a nice subdivision and if you walk through there, it's 3 miles long, but if you go all the way to the main street north of that, then it's 4 miles long. I've never walked the long block. So, on Thursday, I decided that since it was so nice out, I'd walk the 3 mile length to see how I'd do. I was so proud of myself because I was able to walk it in 45 minutes without getting winded at all AND, even though I took water with me because I always needed something to drink before, I didn't need it!

Yesterday, my 18 year old son was here & after we ate dinner we decided to go walk. I thought we should try the 4 mile length this time. We did it in a hour and I still was not winded, even though we jogged short distances 3 different times throughout the walk. I can feel that I'm getting more of a workout walking on the road as opposed to my treadmill & I knew that, but the extra mile I did yesterday actually made feel invigorated. Even though I've only lost a few pounds, I can tell a difference a little in how I look & my clothes aren't as tight & I'm even noticing that my calves don't have any fat dimples in them. I even had those when I was super thin! Now my thighs are another story. I have cellulite genetically built in to those suckers that I don't think will ever leave until I've been buried in the ground for years.

I just wish that my skin was more elastic than it is because you would think that with only losing 3 pounds in 3 months that my skin has had puh-lenty of time to shrink with it instead of sagging. For goodness sakes! How much time does it need to shrink up anyway?? Or will it ever shrink? I'm 45 now, so I may just have to live with it and I know there's much worse things to have to live with.

Well, this has been a long & most likely BORING post from me & I apologize that I don't have anything creative to show you. But maybe, just maybe I've given you some inspiration for your own personal well being & motivation to lose some weight & get in better health.

PS. I have a sort of goal for this Labor Day weekend. There is a blueberry Festival here in Plymouth & they host a Blueberry Stomp that is a mini-race of sorts. They have a 5k walk & a 10K & 25K run. I never thought I'd ever consider do a race, but I think I might try doing the 5k walk at the very least. I'll keep y'all posted on that as time gets closer.

God Bless & have a great day!