Keeping On Keeping On

Well...I'm still at it!  Been increasing my walking...and last night, even ran/jog some of the route!  That is huge for me!  Didn't matter that my inspiration was due to it being nearly dark out side and I was crossing 2 dam's where snakes are known to come crawling up onto the asphalt to absorb some of the sun's heat at nightfall!  It was lighter when I crossed them the first time and then to recross them it was almost pure dark...except for the full moon!  (Which by the way, was shear amazing...tangerine colored....very inspiring!)  I walked about 3.5 miles yesterday and today I have walked 2.5 miles already.  I'm am seriously trying to see how much I can lose this week on WW.  I did go way over my daily points yesterday but still have the weekly points I can dip into.  3lbs would be super duper...5 lbs would be magical...but I will settle for 2!

Yes, I have lofty goals...always have.  I strive to be above average.  My goal.  Sometimes I fail, so I just get back up and try again.  It's me.  

Guess that is not a bad way to be.  Kinda like as a Christian and trying to walk the "Christian Walk".  We stumble, we fall, but God is the God of second chances.  So off we go again....trying to get it right.  God is so good to us!

This weight loss thing is going well.  13lbs in 7 weeks may seem slow...it does to me.  But it sure feels good I must say!  I even bought some new jean Capri's in a smaller size this week.  Now that was good.  I can see it on my body everyday.  No one else may see it yet, but I do.  I love it.  

My goal is to get addicted to exercise again.  I was a few years ago and loved it!  I couldn't go to bed at night if I hadn't walked.  My brain just wouldn't allow it.  I had many a 10:00pm walks that year.   We all have addictions to something, might as well be to something good!  AGREED???!

Well, gonna get home and change clothes.  Rest a little first and then maybe log a few miles....yeah...that sounds like a plan...now let's just see if I do it!

Sue Ellen

The Hate Machine

The treadmill.  I can't believe I spent Christmas money on this contraption about 3 years ago.  Thought I always wanted one. And did.  I've used it seldom in the past years.  But, due to the horrific heat lately, I decided that if I were ever going to start walking for exercise again...it would have to be on the treadmill.

See, I joined, no re-joined WW last week.  This is not a new experience for me.  I've joined several times.  I'm determined that this time will be a new experience...so far it has been. 

I joined an online challenge on the WW site.  Walking...30 Min's 2 times a week and 45 Min's 4 times a week.  I really want to succeed at this.  I use to be an avid walker.  Usually 4 miles per day.  I loved it.  No, craved it.  It was very addictive.  And satisfying.  I couldn't go to sleep at night until I got my walk in after work.  I got out of the habit in 2005 after my hysterectomy.  Two weeks post-op I decided I could walk and started out on my usual trek to realize about 1/2 mile into it that I was in no shape to do this yet.  I thought I would have to crawl back to the house.  The MD informed me that I wasn't allowed to walk for exercise until 8 weeks!!!  OOPS!!!  And haven't ever been able to get back to it.  Good habits are hard to start and easy to stop....

But, back to the treadmill story.  So, I have it set up downstairs in the finished part of the basement.  Usually, it is out of sight, out of mind.  Right now, it is 10 pm and it is 80 degrees outside.  I could walk in that temp...but like I said...its 10pm!  Not so scared of peeps as much as I'm scared of critters.  Remember...I live in the country!  So, I'm walking on the dreadmill...I mean treadmill!

Each night, I've watched TV while walking.  And to be bearable, I've taken a break after 15 or 20 Min's to break it up and make it doable!  And I've been hating it!  Forcing myself to take it one step at a time.  But, while walking tonight, I notice the time seemed to be going by more quickly?!?!?!  Could I be creating a new habit again...?  Yea!...maybe a SPARK is starting.....I sure hope so!

(PS:  If my treadmill were to break...I would be upset...so please don't think I'm ungrateful!)

My Weight....ugh!

I'm so tired of my weight. 

Several years ago I lost about 40 pounds....effortlessly.  We bought a plant nursery and I left from a "behind a desk" job to the nursery.  It was a really small nursery with only 2 active greenhouses...but the daily walking, watering, planting, unloading pine straw....the normal activity of such a place....the weight literally fell off of me without trying.  Even after we closed the nursery and I went back to health care, I kept it off for the most part.  I became an avid walker.  I walked about 4 miles/day and usually about 13 minutes per mile.  That's pretty good for an old woman!  I really was addicted to it.  I found I couldn't rest at night until I walked so sometimes I walked at 10pm!  I know...sounds crazy, but not only is my neighborhood very safe, but also secluded from the outside world.  My fears were never of people but of "critters"!  We've been known to have a stray Bobcat in the "hood"...not a fan of being surprised!

Anyway, I had a hysterectomy in 2005.  At 1 week post-op, I decided I would try a mile walk...after all, I was use to such.  Big Mistake!  After about 1/2 mile...I thought I was gonna die!  I almost crawled back to my house!  Needless to say...that was a major no-no.  So, the Doctor did not clear me to walk until after 8 weeks!  By then the damage was done.  Walking was no longer an addiction.  The magic was broken.  For the life of me, I can't get back into the routine.  So my weight begun it's gradual slide UP the scale. 

See, when I was working at the nursery, I never changed my eating habits.  Hardee's Egg Biscuits and Cinnamon Biscuits for breakfast.  Lunch was hot dogs, pizza or subway.  Supper was a meal but I was usually so tired, I ate very little.  So with the lack of exercise/walking, the weight started to climb.  Every so slowly.  Now, 5 years post-op...I have gained 16 lbs from my then norm.  And actually, I lost an additional 7-lbs immediately post operatively.  I'm not counting those b/c I wouldn't be able to live with myself mentally!

Weight loss is never fun.  I am convinced that since I no longer have ovaries, and take HRT, that that is a big part in the numbers on the scales.  Also, I have developed high blood pressure to boot!  Literally, I'm falling apart after 50 years old!

I am the Queen of dieting.  I know how to diet, when to diet, what kind of diet...what I lack is the stick-to-it-tiveness of dieting!  Trust me, I've been on all of them.....Diet Center, Atkins', WW, Richard Simmons, Michael Thurmond's, Slim Fast, books on nutrition, diet pills....I could write a book...seriously.   They all worked as long as I followed them.  But the key for me in watching what I eat, writing it down and walking.  Simple, basic common sense.

I feel it coming.  I'm gonna beat this weight thing.  I refuse to let something get a hold of me and hold me hostage!  No, not any more!  I deserve better and am going to do this!

Last October, my 2 sisters and I went to Hilton Head Island for a week.  We promised that we would go again this year and that we would all have lost weight by then...significantly so.  Well, I haven't...but I'm going to.  The reservations have been made.  I've got 4 1/2 months until our week there.  Let the battle begin

Ephesians 2 : 10

10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.