Sunday, November 03, 2013

And on that same train of thought...

This morning I wrote about joining WeightWatchers, but that's not the only thing I'm doing in an effort to lose weight.

I'm getting serious about walking.  I got some comfy shoes with great support (very important for me) and just started.  Around the cemetery.  Around the neighborhood.  Around the parking lot at work.  Around the engineering pond.  It might sound like I'm going in circles but really, what I'm doing is improving my stamina.

I also have a FitBit.  I've had it for a while.  Mostly I was using it to monitor my sleep (that was an eye-opener), but I also use it to count my steps and staircases in the course of a day.  I am embarrassed to admit that when I first got it, I was lucky to get more than 1500 steps in a day.  Some days, not even that.  Could the fact that I'm a slug have anything to do with my weight problems?  I have some friends who also have FitBits and they put me to shame on a regular basis.  One, I swear, never sits down.  Another has a desk job, but also walks her dog regularly. 

It has adjustable goals, so I set mine low.  3,000 a day.  When I was reaching that on a regular basis, I changed it to 5,000.  Soon I was doing that too - so I set it to 7,000.  Every time I reach those goals on a regular basis, I up the ante.  It's time to move to 10,000.

I also did something I never did before - I registered for a 5K.  I wasn't going to run it (for me, that would be CRAZY), but I was pretty sure I could walk it.

 I joined my daughter-in-law Patty and granddaughter Kylee, both of whom had done one a couple of months before.  I figured that if Patty and her bad knees could do it, I could too.
Except it was a lot harder than I thought.  This picture looks like pretty flat ground but it is NOT!  In fact, the whole course was big ups and downs.  I thought it might kill me....

 I was never so happy to see a balloon finish line in my life.  Patty and I crossed it together while Kylee dashed around totally unfazed by having just walked this with us.

 Once I was off my feet and had some water in me, I was feeling a bit happier.  I did it!  I actually walked, without stopping, that whole 5K.

 The glow still hadn't worn off when I got home.  Or maybe that was the sunburn...

No, it was the joy of having done something so daunting and living to tell the tale.

And the crazy thing is that I've signed up for another one in January.  Signed up my Boy too.  I'm doing lots of walking to prepare, even though it has the somewhat unfortunate-sounding name of  "Run or Dye."

5 comments:

karmyn R said...

Okay - maybe a Fitbit is the answer for me too.

Jan said...

Good for you. To finish is a real moral booster!

Unknown said...

That is great! I'm enjoying watching you move move move. :) And color runs (or walks) are so fun! :)

karisma said...

Yay! Go you! What an awesome effort. I keep saying I need to move to Byron Bay, all I did there was walk and climb mountains. Since being home I am turning into a couch potato.

Pamela said...

hmmm.. feeling sluggish.:)