Progress

This weekend was pretty good eating and exercise-wise. On Saturday, we ran some errands, which meant a little moving. I had a small bowl of mac and cheese, and a couple of bites for seconds, which is less than normal for me.

Saturday afternoon I met a friend for coffee at a bookstore, and even though I normally would have gotten a mocha something or other with whipped cream, for the first time in years, I ordered a hot tea instead. I put a little cream and sugar, but that was a huge deal for me. I also walked almost the entire length of the plaza and back, rather than get in my car to head to another store. Dinner went pretty well also.

Today, we took a hike in the woods, and got about 40 or so minutes of walking in, including quite a few hills. I seem to recall that same hike being easier late this summer/early fall, but that could have had something to do with the snow and mud today as much as it did the shape I am in.

For dinner, although I did not have my usual second bowl of pasta (cheese tortellini in this case), I did have a few additional bites as well as some cheese sticks. All in all, I ate less, even if just a little, than normal.

And before I got ready for bed, I did some lunges, squats, calf raises, and stomach things. I also did almost three push ups. I don't think I will ever get back to the 25 (or maybe it was even 30) I could do in 2001, but I am shooting for 10 in the next few months. 

I am happy to report I weighed 155.5 both this morning and yesterday. I hate that I have to get excited for that number, but it sure beats the 157-157.5 I have been weighing the past few weeks.

Here's hoping I have some more good things to report this week, but with a dangerous cold front coming, I have low expectations. Still, any days I can cut back on eating and/or move a bit are better than days on end of eating a lot/a lot of bad things and sitting around.

It was kind of like walking on the beach!

This morning in the Burgh the windchill was about -6. Yikes. By the time lunchtime rolled around, the real-feel temp was around 0, which I decided would be just fine for a walk.

I had on a long-sleeve t-shirt, a wool sweater, a very thick Pirates coat, leggings, jeans, two pairs of socks, thick men's boots, a Pens winter hat, and a Pittsburgh scarf. I headed over to Phipps and walked rather briskly. I made it from my office in about 15 minutes, and when I walked in, I was sweating! Only my nose and cheeks were cold.

I spent about five minutes walking around the place, before I headed back for the 15-minute return trip. One thing I noticed about parts of the walk was the uneven snow in some places made it tough to walk, and it reminded me of walking on the sand at the beach. So I figured I kind of got in a bonus workout!

My lunchtime walk also meant I got to walk about up the 75 office steps a second time.

Throw in the usual bus-related walking, and all in all, it was a good exercise day.

And, I did pretty well eating today. Much less than I usually do. I did have a small handful of M & Ms, which I completely blame on my coworker who reminded me about my stash. I resisted for awhile, but gave in later. Still, not bad.

Progress.

Accountability

I am a little embarrassed that I have not written a post for over eight months. Unfortunately, my fitness has gone downhill, and my weight has gone up. I am hopeful if I take the time to write about it, I will be encouraged (or shamed) to get off my butt and move!

This blog was never meant to be about weight loss, but it has come down to that. And since almost no one reads this blog to begin with, I am just going to lay it all out there, in a rather boring way. But I think it will help me.

So let me begin.

The summer of 1989, when I was 17 1/2 and getting ready to head off to PSU, I gained about 8 to 10 pounds and weighed 150. That has been my weight, other than some high and low points, which I will list below, for the past 24 and a half years. To me, 150 is an okay weight for my 5' 8" body. I feel better when I am just below 150, but that is mostly because when I go to the doc, I like it when the scale notch is at 100 pounds, and the nurse has to slide the thing (to the end for sure) from there. I do not like it when I am on the 150 notch and I feel a little embarrassed when the nurse has to move the slider thing five or more pounds past the 150 notch.

My weight has gotten to about 155 probably a handful of times since the summer of '89. Following are the most notable times, not including when I was pregnant:

• Several months into my freshman year, the fall of 1989
• At different points in my sophomore and junior years; the summer between those years my parents separated, which put me at one of my heaviest (156 or so)
• Sometime around 1997 or 1998; I recall my roommate and I looking at pics of ourselves and being horrified.
• The first year I was married (1999-2000); I might have actually hit 158.
• Fall-winter of 2008-2009
• The past four months, and I am now at pretty much my heaviest, 157 pounds

I also have lost weight a number of times since 1989:

• When I first got to PSU in 1989; I did not eat that much at first.
• When I got mono in the middle of 1990 (which helped erase the weight game of late 1989)
• At the beginning of my senior year in 1992 (several months into a new relationship)
• In the winter of 1993-1994, when I broke up with my (last) college boyfriend. I was down to 142, my lowest since my senior year in high school. I was back home and I did a lot of snow shoveling!
• Sometime in 1997 to 1998, after the roommate and I realized we needed to start exercising again. Aerobics was our savior.
• A few months into my second year of marriage (gaining five to seven pounds during that first year was horrifying). I worked with a personal trainer and had pretty low body fat. I could even do 25 push-ups!
• The spring of 2009; I was around 147-149 for over four years; unemployment and swimming, running, and walking kept the weight off and me in shape.
• I also got to my lowest (again) in late 2010, when my mom was really sick. I stayed around 142-145 for only a few months. I don't recommend stress and constant worry as a diet aid.

I can say that when my weight starts to get around 152 or 153, I tend to take action. I am pretty sure once during my four years of hardly working I was around there, but put the kibosh on any further weight gain.

So what is happening to me now? Well, a big part of it is that I used to walk up and down about 600 steps going to and from my office. It took me eight minutes in the morning, and 10 minutes on the way back (because most of the almost 300 steps were up!). My thighs were pretty darn toned.

Unfortunately, since around August 21, I been taking the bus. My walk now consists of almost three minutes from my car to the bus, all flat, and about three to five minutes (depending on when I get off) from the bus stop to my office, just a slight grade. On the way home, I always get on the closer (three minutes away) stop. So 18 minutes and a huge hill has turned into about 13 minutes and mostly flat land. I do walk about 75 steps in the morning, but it is nothing like the almost 300 one way I used to. Some coworkers and I walk during lunch, but not the 20-30 minutes we used to and not every day. And I did next to nothing when I was off for over 1.5 weeks.

I could sense I was gaining weight a month into my bus riding, and I also started eating more. For many weeks I did not get on a scale. Once I did, I was past the creeping up weight. I waited another month or so, and when I weighed myself over break, there it was, staring me in the face.

I don't have a big plan. I can say I did some sit-ups on 12/30 and 1/1. I almost did two push ups on the 30th; pretty sad. Today, did a little jumping and shadow boxing for all of a couple of minutes. And I forced myself to walk up and down the steps at home a bunch of times. But several of those trips were to get food. Sigh. I did take about a 20-25-minute walk in the snow early this evening. Part of my street is hilly, so I went up that hill three times.

So far nothing I have done is great, and I have cut back on my eating only a little (compared to what I ate during the past two weeks, I have cut back).

But you have to start somewhere, and every little bit counts.

Until next time. And here is hoping next time will come soon! A special thanks to my friend Cherlee, who inspired me to get back on the horse!

Over 3,000 steps

Three weeks ago, I started a full-time job. Parking is no easy feat; if you want to park in the garage connected to the building, you have to pay a premium, and even then there is no guarantee there will even be a spot available. So I decided to park in lot that was a four-minute walk away. It worked out pretty well, but if I was not gone within eight hours, I had to pay an extra $2. Several days into the job, I found a lot that was $5 a day cheaper and good all day. But the catch was it was a seven- to eight-minute walk going at a brisk pace and covering about/slightly over 270 steps.

As it turns out, this has worked great for me. Working FT and getting home at around 6 means no more afternoon Zumba, swimming, or running (not that I did that last thing too often). But since I can get in these two shortish brisk walks and close to 550 steps a day, I have managed to stay in decent shape and my thighs are even better. Plus about 240 of the steps are down on the way to work, so I can shave off a minute and not be sweaty. At the end of the day, I actually try to jog up the steps. Sure, I am out of breath before I even hit the 200th step, but since I am headed to my car, it is all good. On top of that, at least three days a week, I also take a 10- to 20-minute walk in the afternoon.

I realize that in the heat of the summer and in the dead of the snowy winter, the allure will end, but for now, it is keeping me moving. In fact, when I went swimming today, for the first time in almost 3.5 weeks, my legs were not tired at all. Unfortunately since my arms no longer get a workout, those babies felt exhausted within two laps. Still, I managed to get in 20 laps, over two sets, plus some water treading. I was pleasantly surprised that I could do 18 arm dips and a dozen push ups. Normally I would do about 20 and follow that up with 20 push ups, plus try to throw in another set. But considering my layoff, I will take what I did.

Here is to the next update, which I am betting won't be for awhile, but which hopefully will not be because lack of exercise. 

Doing okay

This week, I missed Zumba thanks to a funeral luncheon. I followed that up by missing my usual Wednesday afternoon swim because I wanted to see who was chosen as pope, live. So Thursday morning, even though I was not feeling it, I dragged myself to the pool for a good swim.

I swam for an hour straight, with no interruptions. I recently read that one can burn over 500 calories by swimming for an hour. It seems to be that one (I) should burn so much more than that. Anyway, I also did some water treading as well as some leg and arm exercises. All in all, a good workout.

Friday I did only a few laps, but I did manage to tread water for 15 minutes and then jog in the deep end (using a noodle) also for about 10 to 15 minutes. I also played with the kid to get in a good workout.

Yesterday we headed back to the pool, where I swam 20 laps and did some water treading, playing with the kid, and a few arm exercises.

I had high hopes to run today, but the weather is so crappy--freezing rain this morning and just rain now, though at 33 degrees, it is quite chilly.

Until next time...

Steps, walking, swimming and other things

This past week continuing through today, I have had various forms of exercise.

Today I ran the 65ish steps 20 times, for grand total of 16:01. Not my best time ever, but one of my better times. The temps were in the low 60s, and it was cloudy, so I was a bit chilly. Not that I am complaining! I think I was relatively pain-free, so yeah.

Yesterday and Saturday, I walked around my mom's neighborhood in Indiana County with her and my kid. Not a fast pace, but some exercise nonetheless. We walked between 30 and 45 minutes each day. The temps were in the upper 50s, maybe even 60 on Saturday and definitely in the 60s on Sunday. Sunny both days. Great walking weather.

On Friday, I started off with about seven minutes on the stepper. I used the weight machine to do some upper and lower body. Then I moved to the stationary bike and rode for 10 minutes. I followed that up with about 18 minutes on the treadmill where I started off walking for a few minutes then I alternated between short bursts of speed and walking and finished with a couple minutes of walking. Finally, I swam about 15 laps in the pool at a steady pace, throwing in a couple of faster laps for good measure.

Thursday I pretty much did nothing, other than a little bit of walking with the kids in the after-school program I volunteer for.

Wednesday the kid and I spent about three hours playing the snow and sun-filled sky. I probably shoveled for about 20 minutes. I was planning to swim but decided we had done enough.

Tuesday I did Zumba.

I think I gave myself the day off on Monday, but I don't really remember.

I feel pretty good about the level of activity. Unfortunately tomorrow I won't get to do my usual Zumba because I am going to an afternoon funeral, but presumably I will be back in the pool on Wednesday.

Moving on!

I might be ready for the swim team.

Saturday afternoon, the kid read a a book while I swam. For one hour straight, not including her telling me her name was in the book she was reading, which interrupted me for about 10 seconds or her telling me her stomach hurt, which interrupted me for about 40 more seconds (apparently it was not that bad) a few minutes later.

I don't know exactly how many laps I did, somewhere between 45 and just under 60, I would guess. I was going at a pretty good pace for most of it. But for once it was not about quantity and keeping track of laps. I just knew I wanted to swim for an hour if possible. And it was.

I am certain I could have swum for longer, at least another 15 to 20 minutes. In fact, when I was done swimming, I did some leg and arm exercises as well as a little jogging. Still I find it amazing that kids on the swim team often swim for two hours at a time. When I went back to the pool the next day, I did not have it in me to swim too many laps. Instead I jogged, tread water, raced my kid a few times, and just moved around the pool before ending with a couple of laps. I was definitely tired from the day before.

Not sure when I will do that again. But it is nice to know that I can do it.