Wow, I can't believe I get to say this, but I maintained on vacation last week! Normally I come back home carrying an extra 5-7 pounds, but not this time. I'm not sure what I did differently last week when we went to my hometown in Florida. I tried to eat lighter, and eat less, but we still had plenty of great meals out at fantastic local restaurants. I'm not sure I was more active than usual- we did walk the beach a few mornings, and did a bit of antiquing, but I would say all of that was at a casual pace. Whatever the reason, I am happy. And I will be able to go into Weight Watchers this week, with hopefully a loss. Normally after vacation, I would bypass my meetings for a week or two, until I could shed the vacation pounds.
I came back home with a feeling of renewed dedication in my heart. I seriously do not want to gain over the holidays. I know I have a lot of out of town dates ahead of me, and family gatherings and meals, and I just don't want to let things spiral out of control over the next few weeks. My exercise routine has been nonexistent for so long now. Although I love my yoga classes, I don't consider that exercise, at least not the kind that burns calories. I made a note to myself that I will commit to a minimum of one mile a day on the treadmill. On the days I can do more, that's awesome. But so many times I talk myself out of going down to the basement because I don't have enough time to get in 3-4 miles. Well, that can no longer be a valid excuse! If I don't have an hour or more to work out, then I'll take 20 minutes or whatever I can squeeze in. It's better than absolutely no activity at all. And what is a mile on a treadmill? Even as slow and reluctant as I am, I can knock out a mile in just 5-6 really great songs on my iPod. Who can't commit and keep up with that!
In the winter months, I tend to be more active anyhow. I have better energy, I sleep better, I crave the outdoors and fresh cold air. In the summer, I always hide away inside under a fan and try to stay cool because I'm so hot-natured. I end up spending my days flushed and irritable and tired. And very sedentary because, well, I hate to sweat. So I'm looking forward to the change of seasons and more than that, a change in my old patterns. The only thing that tends to slow me down in the winter is my lifelong battle with asthma. My breathing is markedly worse in the winter, and sometimes it cuts into my activity level when I have to stop, use my inhaler, and relax until my asthma attack lessens.
I am still wearing my Fitbit, even though I see WW finally introduced their new monitor. And like FB, it now also tracks sleeping patterns. My sleep patterns have been atrocious, I consistently do not sleep for 1 to 1 1/2 hours that I'm actually in the bed. Especially in Florida where I was hot, despite my mom kindly bumping down the AC for me. One night alone, my Fitbit recorded that I woke up 52 times!! I have to admit with chagrin that my earlier reports of kicking ass on my steps per day, were sadly in error. I realized quickly that I was wearing the Fitbit in the wrong place on my bra, and let's just say that extra "bouncing" from that created the false steps on the pedometer. I've got the device in the right spot now, and with that I saw my steps a day plummet from about 9,000 to 3,500. Yep. But that's on a normal day spent at home, with no real exercise. Yesterday, after getting on the treadmill, I saw my TRUE number rise to about 8,000 steps. So, I'm still working on that goal of getting to the recommended 10,000 steps a day. And the key is, I am working on it!
SANDY
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