Okay, lets be honest. I mentioned that nine years ago or so I attempted to lose weight for a short period of time. So, it's been at least nine years that I have gotten this much exercise. I'd almost daresay that I've gotten more exercise in the past two weeks than I have in the past nine years put together. And boy howdy… am I feeling it!
My body is screaming at me. Particularly my legs. Pain in my ankle that shoots up the side of my leg with every step. Random twinges of pain in my other foot that are so sharp it almost takes my breath away. I might be concerned about the ankle one if it were not limited to when I am seriously walking. Because I don't feel it when walking around the house or at work… even if I'm climbing stairs, or walking around the grocery store. Just when I'm seriously walking for exercise purposes. I'm pretty sure it's just my body protesting because it's sooo not used to having to move this much. The random twinges are almost like nerves on rapid fire. Perhaps they are getting woken up after a nice long hibernation and don't quite know how to handle it. They just happen at random times for no apparent reason. They are pretty painful, but they are extremely short-lived and don't cause residual soreness. Both of these are new problems within the past couple of weeks. That's why I'm pretty sure they are simply symptoms of a body that is not used to moving this much. And therefore, will go away in time.
The ankle pain is the one that's really causing me problems. Because it turns a walk into a limp. My sister suggested that the treadmill might be a little too high impact for me right now… simply because my body isn't used to it. She suggested using one of the gliders. So, I tried that today… it's called an arc trainer. Holy, workout batman! It's sure a harder workout than the treadmill! But they don't really have a speed time. I think it was more steps per minute they were measuring. So, it's hard to know what speed I was going in comparison to the treadmill. But I was only able to do 20 minutes on the arc trainer today, where I can usually do 30+ on the treadmill. But much like the treadmill… If I'm going to get my heart rate up to where it's "supposed" to be… I can't breathe! I'm usually able to get it into the "moderate" aerobic zone the fitness trainer wants me to do on the days I'm also doing weights. But I very seldom can get into the "heavier" fat-burning zone that I'm supposed to be getting into on the other days. I suppose it was slightly easier on my ankle to use the arc trainer today… but it was a much harder workout on my body in general, so I wasn't able to go as long. I tried the bike to finish out my time… but that lasted 5 minutes and I decided that it wasn't for me. One, I was bored. Two, it didn't matter how fast I pedaled, my heart rate kept going down. It just wasn't getting me the workout I wanted. I still have ellipticals I can try. In the past, those have been hard on my knees. But maybe it's time I try them again.
But… pain or no pain… I'm still doing it. It hasn't stopped me. And I guess that's the key. To just keep going. My most recent weigh in was disappointing. Maybe a pound lost. It's hard to tell because I checked again the next day in hopes I had read it wrong and it showed NO weight lost. So, now I'm doubting the reliability of the scale. We'll be extra careful on the diet this week. I'm still not counting calories strictly, but I'll try to be more aware this week. What I keep telling myself is that I'm in this for the long haul. I knew that when I started. So, just keep going. If I lose 5 pounds in a week, that's great. But if I only lose one pound… at least it's a loss and those "one pound here and one pound there" add up over time.
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