I worked out and it didn’t kill me…

… I’ve made it half through the second month and true to my word I’ve been exercising regularly.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are my walk days and I walk at a local park for a mile or pretty darn close to it. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are my work out days where I do a 15 minute stair exercise routine after work and do planks, squats, and horrible things to my arms with hand weights.

Sunday I rest because even God took a day off.

I know I said I was only going to step on that accursed scale once a month but I simply had to know.

Current Weight : 280 (down 5 lbs!)

Current Mood : Exhausted, but in a satisfied way.

Projected Outcome : I’m going to be very sore tomorrow.

Things I’ve Learned

– I don’t hate exercise as much as I thought I did
– If you sit down you never get up
– A lot of gyms have free work out days or offer free trails (just ask around)
– You can make exercise equipment out of anything. Literally anything…

Inspirational…

And all my active friends who’ve encouraged me by joining me on my walks, dragging me to Burn Boot Camp, and even giving me a Fitbit Zip (that thing is amazing, btw).

NSV…

– The pain in my knees is nonexistent now
– I overcame my initial fear and stepped inside a gym
– and I stayed for the whole 45 minute work out
– I kicked that gym’s ass

General Thoughts…

On taking care of me.

I never acknowledged it before but I had kind of given up. I was resigned to being over weight and had completely stopped caring. I felt depressed and out of control over my own life. I’m now slowly starting to regain some of that control.

I’m still struggling with feeling like I’m being selfish by turning the focus back on myself. I know this is especially hard for single moms. They are so used to being everything to everyone else that the idea of saying “I’m going to go for a walk in the park” when there’s laundry to fold and dishes to wash seems self indulgent. We neglect our own happiness attempting to please everyone else.

Finish that plate! No snacks before dinner!

Growing up I was always told that if I ate before dinner I would spoil my appetite. So when it was time to come to the dinner table I was starved and overate. Now I have a snack an hour or so before dinner and I encourage my son to do the same. Apple slices and peanut butter or a banana, just a small something so we aren’t famished come dinner time.

Another admonishment I repeatedly heard as a child was to finish my plate because of starving kids in China. There are starving kids everywhere but that is no excuse to eat till the point of bursting just to clean your plate.

I realized I used to tell my son the same thing. Well, not the starving children bit, but instead I made him finish his plate so he wasn’t wasting food. Nothing made me madder than throwing away food – food that is, at times, very hard to come by. It never occurred to me to serve him smaller portions.

So there it is. My week in a nut shell. How was yours?