Dog FOOD and Exercise

How would you feel if you carried around four 20-pound bags of dog food all day? DOG TIRED! 2 years ago, I used to weigh 80 pounds more and that’s how I felt. Run down. Exhausted.

Now I feel marvelous. Did I take a quick-fix pill or follow a fad diet? No, I just ate less and exercised more. That’s the only thing that really works.

Now that Beth is off to England, I’m getting back to business. I have 30 more pounds to go. It’s time to get busy.

I’m tweaking my exercise routine.

-- Monday and Wednesday, I’m on the treadmill.
-- Tuesday and Thursday, I take Pilate’s. It’s not as tough as last fall. I’m improving … slowly. When we’re on the mats, I can even touch my feet to the floor above my head. Not bad for 55.
-- Then (weather permitting), I’m walking 4 miles a day on Saturday and Sunday.
-- I get Fridays off. (I LOVE FRIDAYS!)

I want to push myself further on the treadmill.
First 5 minutes … 15% incline … 3.7 mph
Second 5 minutes … 15% incline … 3.8 mph
Third 5 minutes … 14% incline … 3.9 mph
Fourth 5 minutes … 14% incline … 4 mph
Fifth minutes … 13% incline … 4.1 mph
Last 5 minutes … 13% incline … 4.2 mph

Not bad for someone who used to be ready to die at 3 mph on the flat.


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

FITNESS: Death by Pilate’s







Back in the BC (again, before children), I started my day at 6:00 with a Jane Fonda aerobics video. My kids laugh when I say this, but I was in good shape. Then, I got pregnant with Eric. She’d start that video with some simple neck exercises and I’d throw up in the first 5 minutes. I put on enough weight to give birth to grade school kid. After he was born, I lost part of it, but I was tired all the time. Then, I had Beth. I don’t remember if I tried very hard after that. In the beginning of my marriage, my husband told me I was fat and I cared. By this point, I was over it. About 10 years ago, I started walking in the morning and lost around 50 pounds. Then things got crazy at work and I stopped.


Today, I’m trying to undo … well Eric is 23, so I’m trying to undo 24 years of over eating and under exercising. I thought a year and a half on the treadmill would put me in pretty good shape. That was before Pilate’s.

I can do the arm workout. It burns … it burns a lot, but I’ve been doing some arm stuff on the treadmill since January, so there are a few muscles there. Not only can I touch my toes, but I can put my hands flat on the floor. It’s gardening. I have bad knees. I bend from the hips, when I weed instead of kneeling. The backs of my thighs are iron … but the inner thighs are a flabby mess.

I have big-gut-flat-butt syndrome. My abs are Jell-O. I’ve got nothing. As I have said before, this fat and I have been together a couple of decades. It will not go quietly. This is my third week, and I have yet to do the whole abs series. That’s my goal, and it may kill me. So if I suddenly quit posting, you’ll know what happened … death by Pilate’s.


The instructor and my friends have been very supportive. They keep telling me I’m getting better. It’s bull, but I don’t care. I WILL get better, but I am just not better yet. Still, I appreciate the kindness

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