Treating Myself Like a Child

I made myself a reward chart. Seriously. And just like a child, I am not getting all gold stars. I'm getting some, and some is progress, but I'm certainly not perfect. Haven't we already established that fact?

My big goal was to lose 2 pounds a week before my family Vegas vaction in February, but I don't think I'll make it. I'm not worried though. Whether I've lost the weight or not, I'll have moved forward in my quest to be healthy and strong. And that's something, right?

The first week, I set some goals that were just way too big and I didn't meet any of them. So last week, I dialed it back and did much better. My goals were to, go to Jazzercise once, drink 8 glasses of water a day, and walk 2500 steps each day.

I met my Jazzercise goal and my steps goal. I drank 8+ glasses five of the seven days. I'm happy with that!

This week, my goal is Jazzercise 2x, 3000 steps a day and I'm still working on the 8 glasses of water a day.

What goals are you working on?

Ready, Set ...

And, I didn't go.

See, this is why Skinny Man is not the best partner in all of this. He promised he'd walk with me, but he had a crisis come up at work and he said he couldn't go. Nevermind that Monday's walk was only half a mile and would probably only take ten minutes or something. But did I go without him? Um, no.

And I didn't go without him on all the other walks either. But there's still time to try again, so I'm trying again this week.

Sedentary

sed·en·tary \ˈse-d^ən-ˌter-ē\

a : doing or requiring much sitting
b : not physically active

Yes, I'm still obsessing about this. Because 5, 500 steps a day is really, really hard. Especially when my pedometer keeps getting reset whenever I lean against a counter. Considering it's so hard for me to *just get the "sedentary-level" steps in each day* it's a complete downer when the pedometer resets. I either have to start all over again or give up. Usually, I give up.

But I don't want to be lazy.

la·zy \ˈlā-zē\

1 : disinclined to activity or exertion : not energetic or vigorous
2 : moving slowly

I've been watching the athletes compete in the Olympics (we've been obsessively watching this year, don't know why. I don't think we've missed a single "episode" of coverage yet. Crazy.) And I admire them. I admire everything about them. Everything about what it takes to move your body like they do. The hard work they have invested in their sport. The excellence they have striven for, and, achieved. They are stunning. They are amazing. They are inspiring.

They are so not me.

When I watch the athletes do their thing, when I hear them talk about their work ethic, I think I could maybe do that--I want to do that, I want to work that hard and feel that great about myself and my abilities.

And so I realized something.

I am lazy.

If there's a shorter way around, someone else to fetch me something, or if I can consolidate efforts to avoid having to walk to the kitchen/laundry room/etc. more than once, I'll do it. I'm a cheater. And I am lazy.
So, I'm back to using my little pedometer (I'll just avoid leaning against things.) I will get 5, 500 steps each day. And I will eat less. I will because I am sick of being fat. And I don't have to just let it live with me. It's time to evict that fat.

I will not be sedentary. I'll find reasons to get up and move around--take those extra trips upstairs, or wherever. And I'm banishing laziness to another realm.

Today? 7, 408 steps. Yay for me!

Going Places

I picked up a cheap pedometer at ShopKo the other day. Just $8.00 and it keeps track of my steps and shows me how I'm doing on meeting a daily goal.

Remember how I said that the average woman takes 5, 500 steps a day, and that's considered sedentary? And how I thought I probably only walked 2, 000 steps a day?

Well, I wasn't far wrong.

My world is very, very small. I rarely venture out of my home, and when I do, I park near the places I need to go.

I set the goal to take 5, 500 steps. I know that's just "sedentary," but I still thought it would be an improvement for me.

By 2:00 p.m. today I'd only taken about 1,500 steps. I began to worry I wouldn't make my 5, 500 goal. I had to run some errands, so I parked far from the doors. By 9:00 p.m. I was still 1,500 steps short of my goal. So I took my dog and walked around the cul de sac, then walked around again.

Now as I write this, my pedometer sits at 5, 535. Yay! I met my goal! But it did take conscious effort to get there.

I realized, while walking around the neighborhood for the second time, that my pedometer is taking me places. It's a very small thing, tracking my steps, but already it got me out of my chair and out of my house.
I'll keep my goal at 5, 500 for a while, maybe for the rest of February. But then I think I'll see where else my pedometer takes me. Because I'm going places. I can feel it.