Awesome Things About My Job (part 1)

During orientation I learned that the site of my new employment has a half mile outdoor walking path. I played it cool on the outside when I heard this, but inside I exploded with confetti and violent fist pumps. I'd been trying for more than a decade to develop an exercise routine that I could maintain through all seasons. Work and school schedules were obstacles I eagerly allowed to stand in my way.

Item #2 on my list of things I planned to do after graduation was to develop that long-delayed health activity. A half mile paved and maintained path inside a secure facility is the answer to my prayers. I go out every day on my breaks and take a lap, sometimes two. I get exercise, fresh air, and natural daylight.

I go out in all weather. There was that one day it rained, and I decided to stay inside. Longest day ever. I felt exhausted and miserable by the time I went home. It was reminiscent of plowing through long days at my desk to make up for time I took off to attend classes. Since then, I've forced myself to go out at least once a day to break up the day and to prove to myself that I'm worth the effort.

Providing the walking path is just one thing my employer does to encourage healthy living. There's a member of the HR department whose entire job is devoted to coordinating events and rewards to promote wellness. I've never worked for a company that put this kind of effort into employee care.

Life is good.

Calories

My treadmill doesn't agree with my Wii Fit Plus.
After walking about 25 minutes, the treadmill says I've burned 160 calories.  The Wii Fit Plus says it's been about 120 calories.

Hm.

In either case, one can of soda or a candy bar or even a serving of my favorite spiced chai will erase every single minute I walked.
What a waste of time, right?

Makes me think twice before grabbing that treat.

Wii Philosophy

It was late at night and The Husband and I had settled in to sleep before I remembered something.
"Drat!"
"What?"
"I was going to tell the WiiFit that I walked for 30 minutes today."
"Do it in the morning."
"It won't let me go back a day.  It'll register as tomorrow."
"You can get up and do it now.  It's not midnight yet."
I considered it.  "Nah.  It's better to have walked and not tell the Wii than to have not walked at all."

Choices (plus snow update)

We all know you need "enough" sleep and "enough" exercise to stay healthy.
But, what if the only time your schedule allows you to exercise is either very early in the morning or very late at night?
If you sacrifice sleeping time in order to go for a walk, aren't you cancelling out whatever benefits you might have earned?

That's why I skipped my walk this morning and slept in.

***update***
Fourteen (14!!) inches of snow overnight.
I got my workout after all!  Shoveling snow.
And yes, The Husband *did* have the snow blower out, but the snow is so deep and so heavy, the blower couldn't do it all.
Currently waiting snow plow to push a pile of yuck into our driveway...
Lovely.

80 extra steps

I counted today.
When I park in the farther parking lot, I walk an extra 80 steps to work.
Make that 80 extra steps to, and 80 extra steps from.
Which, in one day, is not that much.
But, according to my stride measured by my treadmill, 80 extra steps two times a day every day for five weeks equals a full extra mile.

Just because I park in a different lot.
Makes me wish there was another lot farther down the street.

Another reason I'll keep him

He: I didn't shave today. Do I look okay to go out in public?
Me: You look fine.
He: But, you put on makeup and everything.
Me: Are you worried that I look so good I'll make you look frumpy?
He: Well, you *did* go and lose your gut...
Me: *He noticed!*

(Thank you treadmill and WiiFit!)

Yesterday

I didn't realize how rough yesterday was until I took my Wii Fit Body Test last night.
(The husband came through and gave me a Wii Fit for my birthday. I've been obsessed with it ever since... taking a Body Test twice a day and saving the better one.)
Yesterday morning after a mile walk, according to the Wii, I was 28 years old. Twelve hours later, it said I was 41.

Rough day, indeed.

Not so good, but doing

'kay.
I've been walking, but I haven't been able to manage it every day.

Like, for instance, last week, the cable guy was showing up. You know how easy it is (not!) to gauge the cable guy's arrival (precisely between the hours of 8am and 10am), and I didn't want to greet him:
a) sweaty and gross fresh off the treadmill, nor
b) naked fresh out of the shower
Frankly, I was happy enough that the cable company gave me a two hour window and not the standard 4-6 hour window.

Then there was the morning I woke up sick and figured the healthier thing to do was to give my body the sleep rather than the exersize.

Anyway, the intent is still here.
And I've been eating oatmeal (like Tammi told me to) and drinking pomegranite juice (like Hapkido told me to) every morning.
Yum, yummy.

The motivation comes easier when the doctor looks at your chart and says, "Jump!"
Yes, sir! How high?

Getting back on the horse

'kay.

Tomorrow, I start walking again.
Tomorrow, I start kicking butt (mine) and taking names.

I figure, if I get up early and eat breakfast with the husband, not only will I be able to enjoy his company, but I can also take a walk and get in a shower before the kids wake up.
I never ever thought I'd do something stupid like get up early to exercise.
But, it has become abundantly clear that my schedule will not allow me to do it any other way.

A big "crap" on that one, my friends.

So.
Tomorrow, I walk.
I must.

Wii Fit. Got one?

I am excited about the Wii Fit.

I want one.
I think.

Do you have one?
How do you like it?

It's official. I'm a creaky old lady again.

Yeah, I'm waking up sore every morning again.
Like I'd overdone it the day before, only I haven't been doing anything much less overdoing it.
I had forgotten how bad this had felt and why I'd started walking in the first place.

So, now that I've quit, yes, I am feeling the loss.

I appreciated Hapkido's words of encouragement when I officially quit walking.
And I really do plan to get back at it in the fall.
Because I really will have a better schedule then.

When I started out back in September, the half hour walk in the morning worked out okay. But then, a slight change in the ten-year-old's schedule a few months ago threw the whole morning off. I tried to make it work anyway, but...
Both he and I were unhappy.

This weekend I walked a mile... outdoors... just to enjoy the sunshine while we had it.
And while my muscles were sore, they were very happy.

So.
I'll creak through the summer.

But then I'll dust off the treadmill and walk my little brains out when my birthday rolls back around.

I promise.
You have it here in writing.

It's official. I quit.

I hadn't walked more than a half a dozen miles since that crummy work physical came back, anyway.

I folded up the treadmill over the weekend.
It was gathering dust.

I'll pull it back out in the fall when I'll have more time to use it.

Then why bother?

*sigh*

The whole reason I started walking last year was because I took a physical at work. My score was darned near a perfect 100 except for cholesterol. The nurse told me that exercise would probably get rid of most of the bad cholesterol since everything else appeared fine. (Any medical professionals out there that can tell me if this is right?)

So, I walked.
Every morning.

It was never about losing weight, which is good because I never lost any.
I figured I was building muscle which weighs more than fat, so I was even.

It was about the cholesterol.

And when the annual physical at work came up again this year, I thought, "I am going to kick ass on this test."

My score got worse.

Not only had my bad cholesterol gone up, my blood pressure absolutely sucked.
Granted, I wasn't feeling well the day of the physical and had left work early. I was feeling guilty for cutting in line to take my test sooner. That's how I'm explaining away the blood pressure.

But the cholesterol...

Do you know?
Is exersize supposed to eliminate bad cholesterol?
Was I walking for all the wrong reasons?

Because right now, I'm wondering why I should even care to get on the treadmill ever again.

Walking the Walk

I know I haven't mentioned it in a while, but I do still walk a mile every morning before work.
The only mornings I skip it are mornings when I shovel snow.
(No, I don't always make the boys do it.)

Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone considering a New Year's resolution of exercise.
You're not alone!

You deserve it.

Not too late to be a walking buddy!

After six weeks, I'm still walking a mile every morning. (Except for weekends... puhlease, I'm not a zealot.) Somewhere along the way, the 10-year-old mentioned that I needed to use hand-weights, so I told him to hand me some bottled water. Good suggestion, that was; I feel like I'm getting more of a workout.
My neck hardly ever pops anymore, never crackles, and only aches when I'm stressed. I sleep better, and I have more energy to get things done if/when I have the free time.
I really needed to do this.

Also along the line, I found out my neighbor lady is using her NordicTrac about the same time I'm on my treadmill. And a co-worker dusted off her elliptical and started using it again. So, now we all have walking buddies!

Wanna join in?
Doesn't matter when or where you work out. You can imagine the three of us sweating along with you.

And we'll miss you if you don't show. :(

Ten Mile checkup

Okay, another two weeks of walking has passed.

For anyone who needs motivation to exercise, here it is:
It's getting easier.

Oh no, there's not more time to do it. And no, I still haven't figured out how to get to work without wet hair.

But now...
Now, I'm craving it.
Like I crave chocolate.

Because one day last week, I woke up crabby as all get out.
I pitied my family that had to be around me.
I hated everything.
But I walked anyway.

And then I felt better!
As if I had sweat the crabbiness away!

Oh...
This is good stuff.

Also, my posture is just a little bit better.
And I don't toss and turn in the night because my neck doesn't ache (that's ache, not ack) so much, anymore.

(I *do* get a little sore from patting myself on the back, however...)

Two weeks and ten miles later...

My birthday was kind of my New Year's Eve.
I decided I don't want to be a creaky old lady anymore.

So, I've been walking a mile every weekday morning since my birthday.
I thought it would be a pain in the butt squeezing it into my morning schedule of tending to everyone else's needs, and I was right.
But, it is working out so far.

I'd like to report that I've been feeling great, and that I go to work feeling refreshed and invigorated.
But I don't.
I feel frazzled and a bit hurried.
And my hair is frizzy because I no longer have enough time to deal with it properly.

On the plus side...
My face looks about five years younger.
No, I'm not saying I look 36 years old.
But...
I don't look *so* much like my mother anymore.
So, there's that.

Also...
Following me up the stairs yesterday, the husband made some comment about how nice "the view" was since I started walking.

And, there's that. ;-)

How come...

... on days when I'm feeling exceptionally tired and my neck aches more than usual, that is when the gray in my hair is more pronounced?

Today, I feel like a creaky old lady.