Exercise - will you ever be my friend?

I got up early this morning and stepped on the scale in my own home, This whole year I have only been using the scale at Five Seasons. It was good news. I should have a good weigh in later this week. Can it be that I've lost nearly 70 pounds since December 2014???

So the secret to success - eat right and move more!

Sweating Hands -
Great workout

I've been eating right and I've been exercising wrong. Well to be totally honest, I haven't been exercising wrong, perhaps not enough lately to meet my year end goal.  

The exercises that were once working to elevate my heart rate are no longer sufficient. When I was over 250# a leisurely walk would put me into near cardiac arrest. The thought of walking 10K steps a day seemed like a marathon. Now I can walk for hours and miles at a slow pace without breaking a sweat. I average over 10K steps a day, near 13-14K and on a busy day can be over 25K steps!

The Butt Meter

Does this donut make my butt look big?

The answer is probably - yes! Especially if like I used to do, there can never be just one donut :O 

One thing my grandmother said is 'what you eat in private shows up in public.' She knew that when I visited her I would sneak cookies, homemade rolls, cake and other sweets out of the kitchen. My father would take to weighing me at the beginning of a visit to Grandmas and before we left to return home. That didn't help at all! 

The Art of Sideways Sitting

As this blog indicates I've been thinking about butts. It ranges from I'm working my butt off at the office or FiveSeasons or I'm kicking butt or wondering will my butt fit in that chair / space; on the airplane. Essentially - do I have the biggest butt in the room? 

Big changes ahead....

It's been a great week! I decided to hit it again and as a result I feel so much better and the numbers show that. The elliptical is becoming less challenging. This week I was listening to music and working out on the elliptical when my trainer came up along side and said hello.   This I learned later because according to him, I didn't even notice that he was there and just kept on moving it! Now that is focused :)

The big change this week is saying adios to my trainer. Good-bye and a big THANK YOU for supporting me this far in my new leaf journey.  Here is a two-up photo with side-by-side of our first week working out and the last one. Note - smiling faces, we were a good team.  I'm going to assume that he's not happy to be leaving me - but proud of the success. Also note - Goodbye Double Chin! Five Seasons and my trainers have helped me drop 53 pounds so far this year - and it shows. 

Teresa's New Leaf - 5 Month Progress

Working It Out!

In my last blog I mentioned that I didn't feel as though I was working up to my potential with respect to exercise. This week I hit it nearly every day! As a result I lost 0.5 pounds! Whoo Hoo - down is good. A big part of the workout this week was gardening. Gardening Is Exercise! 

I hired a 17 year old High School boy to help me in the garden this past weekend. He showed up on time and said he was ready to work for 4 hours.  After showing him around and providing an overview of all the areas to weed - we both started to work side by side.  He was not working very fast and needed coaching on what was a weed versus a flower - but that was my expectation for a first day on the job. 

It's a highly repetitive job - find  a week, bend over and pull it out, place it in a bucket. Move to next spot, pull out another weed. Full bucket? Walk over and empty bucket in refuse bag. Repeat. Over and over again. 

He asked lots of questions about how long I was going to work outside that day. I said 5-8 hours. He had signed up for 4 hours that day too.  He started slow and then slowed down! After 45 minutes he called it a day - he thought it was too much hard work. OK gardening isn't for everyone - I get that. But what he was complaining about was the physical work. He said it was too hard for him. I said no worries, paid him for the hour and sent him on his way. I feel kind of sorry for him in that for the rest of his life he might recall that one day where an obese senior citizen outpaced him. 

This is that the day in the garden looking like -  26 thousand steps and nearly no rest time the entire day.  This is a new record in terms of steps. And more amazingly - not a single sore muscle the next day! 

Full day of gardening!