Day 38: Keep Moving

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
~ Albert Einstein ~

This was supposed to be yesterday’s topic but I couldn’t find the manual for my treadmill and couldn’t figure out how to work the darn thing ! Well, I found the manual today (in the pantry of all places!) and discovered I had no choice but to create an iFit account AND give them a credit card in order to “unlock” the treadmill !!!! NOT happy about this but I did it. It look me a long time to figure out I had to load the iFit app on my phone or tablet (I put it on both) in order to actually activate the treadmill. It did not tell you this in the manual or on the iFit website. I get 30 days of iFit free and I paid for another month in order to give myself 60 days to see if it’s something I want to continue. It’s only $15 a month so it didn’t break the bank. However, they should call it “ikill” because I tried what they call a “beginner” workout. I was doing ok until they went to a “light jog” at 4 mph ! #1 I do not jog. #2 this is not my idea of a “beginner” workout. Needless to say I moved on to a different “beginner” workout that was all walking with a speed no more than 2.5 mph. That was going ok until they put the incline up to 10 ! Seems we were hiking in the Alps ! Yeah, I don’t hike either ! I will say I liked the trainer and the scenery and the integration with iFit means the speed and incline automatically adjust as the workout progresses. That’s kind of cool if you think about it ! In the end I lasted 8 minutes hiking the Alps. I’m going to keep using the same program and work towards the full 20 minutes that it lasts. This is all about building endurance. The good news is I did break a sweat and hey - 8 minutes is 8 minutes ! I took some “before” photos in my workout gear (no, I’m not sharing them) and wow ... I was not happy. Hello belly fat ! So that will be my motivation. I look forward to taking the same shots maybe every 2 weeks to see the progress. Right now I’m thinking using the iFit programs will be a good way to get an intense workout in a short period of time - which a lot of people have told me is more beneficial. So my first exercise goal is to be able to complete the full 20 minutes in the Alps ! Each workout has a 3 minute warm up at the beginning and a cool down at the end, which is better than jumping right in and then making a sudden stop. Right now I’m going to try and do this every day. I think I can commit to somewhere between 8 and 20 minutes per day ! The Alps hikes are a series of six and if there is no jogging and the speed remains reasonable I will probably stay with it.

We had some snow late yesterday and I woke up this morning to snow falling ! It ended in the early afternoon so we only had a couple inches of the light fluffy stuff. It was nothing to worry about. I hear there is a storm coming in the Tuesday/Wednesday timeframe .. ugh ! I have what I need for food tomorrow so instead of making a special trip to Walmart today I decided to stop on my way home from work tomorrow. I’m like a hermit on the weekends when it’s cold - I don’t want to go anywhere ! In the summer I love to get out there and drive with the sunroof open !

Breakfast this morning was a 1.1 ounce 110 calorie package of sweetened o’s cereal with 1/2 cup of low fat milk and 2 cups of black coffee. My PF with breakfast was a hard boiled egg. My morning snack was a 120 calorie chocolate shake with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter powder (35 calories). OMG ... love the peanut butter flavor with the chocolate ! It tasted amazing. I can see myself making this in the Ninja with a lot of ice for a frosty summer treat ! My SC at snack time was 2 slices of 45 calorie whole wheat toast with a little Brummel & Brown spread. Lunch was a 1.8 ounce 200 calorie trail mix car and a bowl of raw carrots. My afternoon snack was another 2 slices of 45 calorie bread with a tablespoon of peanut butter. Dinner tonight was a 3.8 ounce thick crust pizza. This is one of the shelf stable pizzas and it is one of the few Nutrisystem foods I do not like. My next order will have many more frozen items because I find them to be so much more tasty. No more pizza kits .. ugh ! I had a large bowl of broccoli with the pizza. Instead of adding salt I sprinkled it with some romano cheese. My evening snack will be a 1.2 ounce 140 calorie package of smoky bbq snack rounds. They describe them as multigrain cracker chips so I may have them with salsa. This will put my calories for the day at 1199. As you can see I didn’t really deny myself anything all day and I’m right where I want to be with my calories. I’ve got 40 ounces of water in and I’m working on the remaining 24 now. So it’s been a good day.

Today’s theme is about balance and I feel like getting my weight under control and launching an exercise program is going to help me with balance. Home is in good shape, career remains up in the air (and outside my control at present) but my health and well being are completely within my control - so I have no excuse not to address it. I haven’t seen a doctor in several years so I’m long overdue for some wellness checks. Once the weather is nicer I will be scheduling appointments to take care of that. I’ve been relying on Urgent Care for my medical needs but they are no substitute for a family practice doctor. My excuse for not keeping up with my own health was always that I was too busy looking out for someone else’s. I’ve been alone for over 4 years now, so that excuse it pretty worn out ! 2019 is the year of change and part of that change is taking better care of myself.