Doing Well

Last night I heated up a TV dinner (Lean Cuisine cheese ravioli), sat down at my desk and started to eat, and then went, "Oops!" Then I got up and went to the dining room and ate at the table. Hee.

But that little slip aside, I've done very well with my new rules so far. I had two snacks at work on Monday afternoon, instead of the one I said I was allowed, but it fit into my calories, so I didn't beat myself up over it.

So far so good! I just wanted to check in to let you know the rules were working so far. :)

I also went to the gym on Monday, after three weeks away (I feel like I should hide after admitting that). I was bad! I decided to take a week off, and then my knee started hurting (it still does a little, by the way, but not as bad), so I took that week off, and then it was Thanksgiving week and the gym was closed two out of the three days I could have gone, and I decided not to go the one day I could have (last Monday).

Ahem. I feel like I'm in confession. I went back on Monday, though, so I'm getting back on track with it!

I do have one concern now, though. Since mid-week last week (about a day or two before Thanksgiving), I have been feeling what I'm calling heart flutters. My heart seems to jump or flip (I know it's not really flipping, but it almost feels like it is), or flutter, sometimes. It doesn't do it when I'm sitting at my desk at work all day, but when I get up and walk around, it does. It doesn't hurt, it just feels funny. I also don't have any lightheadedness, dizziness or shortness of breath, so I don't think anything serious is wrong. Still, it's unsettling, and I'm thinking I need to go back to the doctor. I don't want to, and I can't afford the $20 co-pay right now, but I might have to do it anyway. Oh, and it didn't do it at all when I was on the elliptical on Monday, which I thought was strange (it does when I walk, but not when I am basically running on that thing? Why?).

Does anyone who reads this have experience with this type of thing? If so, I'll take any words of comfort or caution or whatever that you may have to share.

Perseverance...And a Cat Story for Sarah

I have two stories for you today. The first is a story of perseverance in the face of exhaustion. The second is a cat story, brought to you by my cat, Zelda, my fiance, Jim, and Sarah's wish for "pictures of the animal-kids." :)

First up, perseverance!

I was tired yesterday. I went to bed a bit late the night before (for me), at about 10:10. I was woken up at 5:00 by Jim tromping down the stairs, and couldn't get back to sleep. You may think that roughly 6 1/2 hours of sleep (figuring I was asleep by 10:30) would be enough - you'd be wrong. I do NOT fare well on less than seven hours of sleep, and frankly I really need a complete eight to be happy and awake all day.

Anyway, I worked all day, and just felt tired and drained the whole time. I left work at 4:00 and went to the gym, and I got on the elliptical. I programmed it for my normal 30 minutes, but then my mind started working. Some of the thoughts that went through my head during the time I spent on the elliptical:

"I should have just done 20 minutes today."

"Okay, I'm 20% done. Unless I only do 20 minutes instead of 30, and then I'm really 30% done."

"I'm 40% done. Unless I only do 20 minutes, and then I'm really 60% done!"

"Okay, I passed 20 minutes. I guess I'm doing the whole 30 minutes now. Sigh."

The updates in my head actually occurred at every 10% interval, but you get the idea. I was tired, it was hard, but I pushed through and did the whole 30 minutes, plus a five minute cool down. Woo! Then I did my resistance training, and then I limped home and barely managed to stay awake until 9:00. I think I was sleeping by 9:15. :)

*****

Okay, now here is the story for Sarah.

This is my cat, Zelda:


Well, it's her face, anyway. :)

My cats all stay inside - there are a lot of dangers in the outside world, and people go tearing down the road in front of my house at 65mph+, and since I have a very large desire to not scrape my dead cats off the side of the road, they stay inside. Well, yesterday Jim had the window open in the living room, because it was a nice day. He came into the room and noticed one of the screens had popped out and was outside - and then he noticed that the reason that screen was popped out was because Zelda must have leaned on it, and fallen outside. She was outside!

As happy as he would have been to just let her go, he loves me more than he dislikes cats, so he chased her around the house for about an hour, until he finally caught her when she ran under the front porch stairs. He grabbed her through the front of the steps and brought her inside.

Silly Zelda. I hugged Jim and thanked him for catching her, and I told Zelda to keep her chubby butt away from my window screens. Here's hoping she listens to me.

Back in the Saddle

I got back to working out on Wednesday. I didn't go full speed on that day, because I was still pretty low energy from being sick, but at least I got there and got it done! Then I went back this afternoon, even though I was wishing to just go home. I'm glad I went, though. I worked out much harder, got my heart rate up about 10-15 beats more per minute, and really felt like I was accomplishing something. I worked up a good sweat, did my resistance training, and then left with that exercise high.

And the best part - while I'm working out, I just KNOW that I'm going to be successful this time. Working out is the key. :)

357 days!

Wedding Countdown!

I woke up this morning dreaming about our wedding next year. I don't remember a lot of details, but I seemed to be stressing about the food - Jim is ordering Dinosaur BBQ, but what about the people who don't like that? Shouldn't we have burgers and hot dogs to cook on the grills, too?

First, isn't it awfully damn early to be stressing about details in a wedding that is going to be about the most low key wedding ever? I mean, damn.

Second, it may be too early to stress about wedding details, especially for a wedding that is going to be very short on "wedding" and longer on "fun," but it is NOT too early to stress about making my weight goal. So I added a handy dandy little timer to my sidebar. It's going to be there to remind me of how fast that wedding date is going to come!

Today is my first day back to the gym after being sick for the last week. It's also my first day back to counting calories on SparkPeople. I was good at working out before I got sick, but I haven't been doing good with food at all! It's time for that to change. This is one weight goal I don't want to miss!

And for further inspiration, I'm posting a before picture! Eek! Jim's Dad took the following picture of me with my new car, shortly after I got it. I'm aiming to be much slimmer than this by 9/10/11! Like, 90 pounds slimmer. :)

Sidelined by the Ick

Not long after I wrote my last post, I started feeling sick, and I'm just now starting to feel good again. I hate being sick!

I think this started out as a small bout of tonsillitis. I'm not sure, since I didn't go to the doctor, but I am prone to tonsillitis because of small craters that I have in my tonsils (I call them tonsil pockets) - spit and small particles of food get stuck in the pockets, and if they don't get rinsed out, they grow bad things. I try to gargle regularly to keep this down, but it still happens.

Anyway, the throat started feeling better, and then I had to go outside to go to lunch last Thursday, and it was wet and cold and just miserable. And then after lunch I had to stand outside having a meeting about signage for a new concession stand. And while I was out there, I felt my chest tightening up, and it was all downhill since then. Friday I started out okay, but got worse and worse as the day went on. Saturday I was okay to start, but felt crappy at the end of the day. Sunday I spent completely in my PJs, and mostly in bed. I slept 14 hours Sunday night! And then yesterday I still felt like crap, so I stayed home and spent the day taking Dayquil (thanks to Jim for getting it for me) and inhaling as much steam as I could while taking a hot shower.

Today I finally feel better, yay! I'm still getting rid of some congestion, but my chest doesn't feel all tight with it anymore, and I no longer have that "sick" feeling. Thank goodness!

Of course, with all this illness over the last week, my exercising has been completely sidelined. I haven't worked out since the 3rd! I just didn't think it was a good idea to go workout when I felt so bad that just walking across the house could tire me out. :) But I'll be going back tomorrow.

I'm glad to be going back, too. My wedding is less than a year away now! It was a year from last Friday, so I'm counting down now. I have 361 days, and that's plenty of time to lose what I want to lose, but only if I do the work! And the work resumes tomorrow. :)

Enjoying Working Out? Me?

I haven't written in a while, but that's not out of any fear of relating bad news - I've actually been doing really well!

I'm on my third week of going to the gym three times a week, and it's going really well! I actually don't mind going, and the hour that I'm there seems to go by really quickly. I've been using the elliptical more than the treadmill - I like it a lot better. This week I added 10 minutes to the time I spend on it, so I'm up to 30 minutes at 120-130 strides per minute (I think it's per minute - it must be!), although the last couple of times I've done it, I've actually climbed up to about 134 strides. I work up a really good sweat while I'm on the machine. Yesterday by the time I was done I just wanted to go into the locker room and splash cold water on my face. I didn't, though, I just went over and did my weights.

The weights are starting to get a little easier, too. My arms were extremely weak going into this program, but they're slowly getting stronger. I could start doing two sets of 15 reps soon for most of them - all but the triceps. The strength in my triceps when I started must have been non-existent, because those are still HARD! I do 15 reps, and for the rest of the arm weights, I can do that without pausing, but on the triceps I'm resting and wishing for it to end by the time I'm on number eight. So hard! But they're slowly catching up to the rest of my arms, I guess.

The gym hours are changing starting next week, so going on Tuesdays and Thursdays won't be an option for me (they're closing at 3, and I don't get out of work until 4). I think I'm just about ready to add cardio to those two days, so since I can't do it there, I'll be having to do it at home. That's okay, though, because I have a few options there. I have our treadmill, which I hate but will do if I have to, I have Jim's exercise bike, and I finally bought the DVD of Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred. I haven't worked out to it yet, but it's there for me. Maybe I'll try it out next Tuesday. If I do, I'll let you know how it is.

Anyway, so yeah - I'm actually enjoying the gym thing. Who knew? Change is possible after 40! :)

The Treadmill Makes Me Walk Drunk

I worked out after work yesterday, then went home and relaxed for the rest of the night. I was in bed with the light off by 10:15, and asleep shortly after. And yet 6:00 this morning felt SO EARLY. Seriously, this bone tiredness after working out needs to go away! :)

I did feel that good feeling when I was done again, though. It's just so satisfying! I hadn't worked out since last Wednesday for various reasons - on Friday I was at work until 5:00 putting together my new desk, which got me all hot and sweaty, and I needed to get home to take care of the dogs once I was finally done - they'd been alone since 7:10 that morning. Monday the gym was closed because the trainer was off. Tuesday I felt like crap and stayed home from work, and basically laid around the house all day (I wasn't really too sick - my period was gearing up, and I was headachy and dizzy for most of the day - the dizziness is what kept me home, really).

But I went last night. I did 27 minutes on the treadmill (a 2 minute warm-up to get used to the treadmill, a 20 minute walk at the faster speed and higher incline, and a five minute cool down), then I did the weights. I think I'm just about ready to start doing two sets of weights, instead of just one - well, for all except my triceps. My triceps are WEAK! :) And I'm going to go tonight to do the treadmill, and then again tomorrow to do both the treadmill and weights.

Oh, and anyone else who uses a treadmill - do you ever get that feeling when you get off that it's like you're still on it? You know, like when you're on a boat for a while and you get off, and your body kind of expects the rolling movement of the ship even when you're on solid ground? Well, I get that feeling BIG TIME when I get off the treadmill. It seriously takes me a few minutes to be able to walk a straight line again. What the heck is that all about? I swear my water bottle actually contains water, not vodka or something! :P

Day Two Done!

For the first two days after I worked out Monday night, my calves were ANGRY. Tight, sore, making me hobble when I first got up from bed or after sitting for a few minutes. Ouch! :) I'm also feeling very tired after my work outs (and even this morning, after working out last night, I didn't want to get up for work because it felt like I needed to sleep longer). But I know that will all go away with time, as my body adjusts.

Last night's work out when very well, though! I decided to try the treadmill, to see if I liked it any better than the one I have at home. Well, when I first got on, I didn't think I would. I didn't like the feeling of having to go so fast so that it wouldn't dump me on the floor behind it. But once I got used to it, it was okay, and I definitely worked much harder than I did Monday night on the elliptical. My heart rate went up to the maximum he said we should shoot for - going between 150 and 155.

I did my whole 20 minutes on it, plus a five minute cool down, and then the trainer took me through the weight routine again. A few more times, and I'll have that routine down, I think. Oh, and I think I'm going to ask if I can do a two minute warm-up in addition to the cool down. I think it would be nice to be able to get used to the treadmill before it starts trying to dump me off the back. :)

I asked my boss today when she got back from vacation if I could keep my summer hours of 7:30 - 4:00 going all year, so that I can start working out at 4:00 instead of 4:30 (we usually switch to 8-4:30 when students are here). As it is, I'm getting there at about 4:05 and not leaving until 5:10 - I don't want that to turn into 5:40 (or 6:00 when my cardio time goes up). Luckily, she said yes, yay! It's nice to have that half an hour extra at home in the evening. Plus when winter gets here (all too soon), maybe I'll be able to get home when I can still see through the snow.

Oh,and he showed me some stretches for my calves, so they're not hurting as much today. :)

Here's a question I thought of when I got done working out yesterday, though. I felt GREAT when I left. Why can I never remember that feeling when I think about exercising and don't want to?

Gym!

I have completed my first night of working out! Woo!

I left work at 4:00 and went over there, and then changed into my workout clothes and went into the gym. I knew some of what to expect, based on the sheet he gave me on Friday, but it was nice to go through it for the first time and really start getting the routine in my head.

First he took my blood pressure and resting heart rate. My heart rate was 88, and my blood pressure was 128 over 86, I think. Then he gave me this thing to put on that monitors heart rate, and we went over to the elliptical machine. He showed me that the monitor I was wearing syncs up with the machine, so my heart rate was displayed on it (cool). He said we wanted my heart rate to get between 132 and 153 (I think). I got into the 140s and stayed there, so I guess that was good.

I did my 20 minutes, at a fairly light resistance, but then it's my first day. I was dripping sweat when I was done, though, so it definitely was a workout.

Then I had a five minute cool down on the elliptical, which brought my heart rate down to about 120, and then we went to the weight machines. He showed me how to set the weights (I need to wear my contacts while I workout, though - I don't like wearing my glasses when I'm getting all sweaty, and things are just slightly blurry without them), and then I did a lot of arm work - my arms are sore this morning. And I did some reverse crunches, and some leg things on the floor, and then he showed me how to stretch out the muscles I had worked, he took my heart rate and blood pressure (heart rate just over 100, blood pressure the same as when I started). And I was done!

So, yay! Now I know exactly what to expect. He'll make things harder on me as my body gets more used to it, and I'll have to increase the length of time I spend on cardio work and increase the number of repetitions I do on weight work, but I can get through this, no problem.

I have just under 13 months until I get married - I'll be in such good shape by then! I'm so glad I'm doing this program. :)

One Minute To Go

One minute until I clock out and go to the gym! Woo! I'm excited. And nervous. And happy. Mostly excited and happy.

I'll write more tomorrow about how it went!

My Workout Plan

I got my workout plan! There isn't anything too surprising in it, really. Here's what it says.

First there is a lot of stuff about heart rate max (HRM), resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate reserve (HRR). I'm not sure what the first and last thing mean, but they give numbers for them all. My HRM is 195 beats per minute (BPM), my RHR is 90 BPM and my HRR is 105 BPM. I don't know what all of that means, but I'm sure I'll have it explained to me on Monday.

Then there is a formula for lower level training zone, and one for upper level training zone, and formulas equal math which equals me zoning out immediately. Zzzzz. :)

But then it says that my training heart range is 132-153 BPM, which I understand. And then is our goals.

"Our goal is to have you do 30-45 minutes of cardio and eventually progressing to 60-90 minutes. I suggest you do this 5-7 times a week." He did say that I may start out only doing 20 minutes, and working my way up from there - did I mention I'm so out of shape I'm basically starting at ground zero here? They have a lot of treadmills there, but I'm hoping to be able to use the elliptical more - I've used one of those once, and I liked it much better than a treadmill.

Exercises that can be done for my cardio, according to this sheet: elliptical (yes!), treadmill (or walking or jogging outside), bicycle, aerobic stepping, dancing, swimming. Of those I like the elliptical, I don't mind walking outside, I love to ride bike (although it's very difficult here because of hills) and I love swimming. But my pool is out of commission and staying that way, so it's not an option. And because of the hills and my bad state of cardio health right now, the bike isn't an option this year, either. I'll pick that up in the spring.

And then there's resistance training (weight machines). My legs are already pretty strong (woo! at least one part of me is), so we're focusing more on my upper body than lower body. I'll be doing 8-10 repetitions for 2-3 sets in the following exercises:

Chest press: 50 pounds
Lat pull-down: 50 pounds
Tricep press: 26 pounds
Bicep curl: 26 pounds
Kick backs: 8 pound dumbbells
Reverse curls: 8 pound dumbbells
Sitting crunch: 26 pounds

I'm not sure what some of those exercises are, but he'll walk me through them all on Monday, so I'll be finding out pretty quickly.

And then there is a cool down to stretch all major muscles that were used. I'm to hold my stretches for a minimum of 15 seconds.

Chest stretch
Tricep stretch
Quad stretch
Hamstring stretch
Shoulder/back stretch

I'm only going to be working out at the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, because he does the orientations on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think if he doesn't have any of those scheduled we can work out then, but those days will be the exception, rather than the rule. So he put on the paper that he wants me doing cardio in my target heart range for 30-45 minutes at home. I can either go for walks or I can do videos (I'll do videos - I want to buy Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred, and before I get that there are videos I can do on Netflix's watch instantly part of their site - I love Netflix).

He also gave me a list of exercises I can do for resistance training at home:

Chair squats
Modified push-ups
Knee ups
Trunk lifts
Crunches

And there we are! That's my workout plan. I have to say, now that the orientation is over, and the stress test has come and gone, I'm kind of looking forward to getting started.

Oh, and he didn't give me any diet plan to follow or anything, but I'm planning on just tracking my food in Spark People, and I'm going to try to stick to around 1350 or 1400 calories. That's the mid-point of the range they give me for weight loss, and combined with the exercise I'll be doing, it should be sufficient for me to drop some weight. I hope. :)

Two more days of sloth-dom, and then the fun begins!

I Survived!

I survived! Well of course, you all knew I would. I knew I would, too, really, but that doesn't mean I was looking forward to the experience.

So I left work just before 4:00 and drove across campus to the Wellness Center. I walked in, feeling that lazy, scared part of my brain yelling to "run away! Danger, danger, run!" But I ignored it. I went in and met the trainer, then went into the locker room (very clean - I was impressed) and changed into my workout clothes. And then the fun began.

We started with a weight and height (I'm still 5'3", and my weight was 230 so yeah, all that junk food I've been eating has given me the expected weight gain). Then he took me over to this nifty little machine that I had to stand on barefooted, and it gave my body fat percentage somehow. I have no idea how it works, but it was cool. I was expecting calipers and fat pinching, but this was much less mortifying. The number was as horrible as I'd feared, though - my body is currently 44% fat. Eek! Wow, it's a good thing I'm starting this program.

Then he took measurements - biceps, waist, hips, thighs and calves. I don't know what the numbers were, so I think I'll take my own measurements and use those for this record. After that we went to the area where the treadmill is that is used for the stress test. I had to take off my shirt (I was wearing a sports bra, though, so didn't feel at all naked), and he attached electrodes to me. He took my blood pressure. He monitored my heart at a resting rate. And then I stood on the treadmill and he gave me this apparatus that I had to put in my mouth, so that the machines could monitor my breathing and gases and all that. (That thing sucks, by the way.) And then the fun began! The treadmill started at a nice walk, and went up from there. I made it to the middle of the third stage and then I had to have him stop it. I am so out of shape! It's really scary. (And another good reason to be grateful I'm starting this program.)

After I had gotten my heart rate down to normal and sat drinking some water and cooling off for a few minutes, he unhooked me from all the electrodes, and I was able to put my shirt back on, and we went to test my strength.

I have no upper body strength. I knew that, though. My legs, though, are pretty strong! At least, since I don't work out, I was happy with how they performed. I was able to do 10 of one kind of exercise, 12 of another (with the weights set at 115), and on the machine that works your thighs and butt, I was able to lift 290 pounds six times. At least part of me is strong!

Once the strength tests were over, he tested my flexibility (I'm not very flexible), and I was done. Woo!

He had three of those orientations to do yesterday, so he said he would have my workout plan for me on Friday, and I could spend some time studying it and start working out on Monday. I have to admit - I was a little relieved to have the rest of the week off, instead of having to start working out today. :)

So that was it! Whew! Thanks for giving me encouragement in the comments - I feel like those of you who read and comment will help me keep going when all of this exercising gets underway and I get tired of doing it. So, thanks. :)

Edited because: I had the trainer send me the measurements he took of me last night, and I just got them in my e-mail. I'll post them in the sidebar. I figured that was easier than trying to take my own.

Nervous

Today is the day! I didn't expect to write in here this morning, but I got up so nervous about today that I just find myself needing to.

I don't know why I'm nervous. I'm a little afraid of finding out exactly how bad my numbers are - weight, fat percentage, measurements, all of it. I'm a little nervous about being in a gym environment, because I've never really gone to a gym before - I've always worked out to videos in the privacy of my own home. So a fear of the unknown is here, for sure. But I've been told it's a very non-judgmental place, so I don't have to be afraid of people watching me with derision in their eyes.

Above all of it, though, I think there might be some trepidation because now I have to find out if I can really do this. It feels like this is the time where I'll really be giving it my all, and what if I don't succeed?

But that's not a good attitude, and the thing is, I know I can lose weight successfully - I've done it before. It's just that I was almost 20 years younger then. :P I lost 40 pounds when I was in 22, and kept most of that off until I was in my late 20s, then life got rougher, and the weight crept back on.

So yes, I can do this! I don't have to be this size for the rest of my life, I don't have to develop heart disease and diabetes like my Mom did, and I can live a long, healthy life.

Okay, pep talk over. Thanks for listening! I'll be back tomorrow with news of how tonight went!

Back on the Horse

I started keeping track of my food on Spark People again. I stopped doing it all those months ago because I just couldn't bear to have to account for every single piece of food I put into my mouth anymore. I had done it for so long with no real results, that I had gotten completely fed up with it all. So I quit. Well, now I'm back to it, and it feels oddly good - I guess I took just enough time off.

And of course I'm starting to count calories again today because I have my stress test/orientation at the Wellness Center tomorrow afternoon. Woo! This is both a good thing and a very scary thing, but mostly I just feel excited to finally get this underway, and to finally feel like the tools to losing this weight once and for all are in my grasp. Time will tell, but I feel like this is something I can succeed at. I'll have a trainer pushing me, I'll have coworkers working out with me, I can't just decide I don't want to and stop. It's a good thing.

I even had a talk with my body this morning, while I was in the shower. :) I told it I was going to start eating less and eating better again, and that I was going to start working out 3-5 days a week (I think I can do three days a week at the Wellness Center, so I plan on working out at home the other two days, so that I'm getting cardio exercise five days a week - the weights I'll just do at the Wellness Center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday), and that I needed it to do its part by burning off its fat and building up its muscle, including my heart. I need that to be healthy and strong, so I can live a really long time.

Oh, and J and I finally set a wedding date! We're getting married September 10, 2011 (so, 9/10/11, which has to be one of the best wedding dates ever). Spark People's website estimated I should be at my goal weight of 140 (although I might shoot for 135 - we'll see how I feel when I get close) in June of 2011, so by the time I get married, I should be at goal and loving my body again! It's very exciting.

I don't know if I'll post in here tomorrow when I'm done with the stress test or not. It's scheduled to run 4:00-6:00, and I'm not too good at doing online stuff at home, so I may not write again until Wednesday morning. But either way, the next time I write, I'll be telling how it went and giving my scary, oh so frightening beginning numbers.

See you then!

Orientation/Stress Test Date!

It took a long time, and I felt like I had to jump through a million hoops to get here, but I finally got my doctor to sign the forms for me to join the Wellness Center at work - I go to her office this afternoon to pick them up. I contacted the trainer, and the first appointment he had open for the orientation/stress test appointment was August 10th. So two weeks from this afternoon, I'll be there for two hours, getting my fat, flexibility and strength measured, as well as having my cardiovascular health tested. Fun! Or not, but it's the next hurdle, and the last one before I'll be able to start working out regularly.

So now I'm feeling an odd mix of emotions. I'm a little scared of the first visit - the words "stress test" are a bit scary for a fat, out of shape girl. And it'll be very embarrassing to have my fat measured. Blah. But on the other hand, I'm looking forward to starting to be more active and losing this fat. I want to be in better shape! Thankfully, for now the part of me that is looking forward to being in better shape is outweighing the part that is scared of that first visit (and of the work of exercising).

I'm thinking I'll post my numbers here when I start, and then again whenever he takes new measurements. I'm going to hate those first numbers, but I can't wait to see them go down!

I got the results of the blood test I had taken for this, too. First the good news: I'm not diabetic! My glucose was normal. My mother was diabetic, so this is always a very real fear for me.

Now the bad news: my cholesterol wasn't as good as my glucose! My total number was 222, my HDL is 47, my LDL is 150 and my triglycerides are 125. So my good cholesterol is too low, my bad cholesterol is too high and my triglycerides are somehow normal. I'm not sure how that is. (I looked online for what normal ranges were, because I had no idea.)

Two more weeks! Then I'll be in here complaining about how sore I am. :)

There Will Be Blood...but First, Lots of Water

Just a short update to say the idea of joining the Wellness Center is becoming a reality! I just finally managed to get an appointment with the doctor's office this morning to get my blood drawn. My veins are hard to find, so I drank 24 ounces of water between 6:30 and 7:15 this morning. By the time I got to the doctor's office my bladder was about to burst, but they got my blood, so all is well!

Now I just have to wait for the blood test results, and for my doctor to sign the papers and get them back to me. At this point I'm figuring it'll be August before I get started, but it is coming!

New Plan

Long time no write, huh? I haven't been in here lately because nothing has changed. I didn't stick with my June challenge for even a day. I've roller skated, but that's ending, because we have things going on in July that will mean we can't use the gym. I'm eating whatever the heck I want. Nothing is changing.

But there is hope. Since I'm realizing that I just can't do this on my own, I'm thinking that in July I'm going to sign up for the wellness center here at work. My workplace reimburses us for half of the money for joining as long as we workout for at least an hour a week, and this place is ridiculously cheap anyway.

Here's how it works. I sign up for a stress test and orientation, which will cost me $25. I'll get evaluated by a trainer, and he'll show me what I need to work on and we'll talk about what my goals are. Then he comes up with a workout plan for me. For this stress test, I have to have clearance from my doctor, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Then, for the first couple of weeks or so he sticks with me while I workout, showing me how to use the various machines and proper form and all that. After that I workout on my own, but he's always around, apparently.

After that initial stress test, it's a ridiculously low fee of $15 a month. So cheap! And once I get half of that back, I'm only paying $7.50 to workout with a personal trainer for a month! Crazy, but true.

So I'm signing up starting in July. I'm hoping to arrange the stress test for either July 6th or 13th (he does them on Tuesdays), and then I would like to workout an hour a day, three or four days a week. They have you work on cardio and also with weights, so it'll be a great all over workout. I'll tell you more about it in July as I get started.

I hate working out, but I like having hope that I will actually start to change myself soon. :)