Here we go again: a new week to restart this healthy journey

Here we are.  It’s the dawn of another week.   Another perfect opportunity to start anew on this healthy journey!  And of course it’s the perfect time to reflect on the past week!  I’ e got lots to talk about today.  I’ve got some deep thoughts about my weight and fitness level and how it relates as I get older.  I have an update on the challenge I accepted and started a week ago.  And of course I have my weekend update to share. (Don’t we all live for the weekends??)

So let’s first talk about this challenge.  Last Saturday I wrote a post and talked about accepting a challenge (or two).  The challenges were quite simple.  The first was my food...keep my food in my goal range 6 of the 7 days of the week.  The second challenge I set for myself was to exercise 4 days of the week for 20 minutes.    The first goal...with my eating I NAILED!  I did very good!  I did use my cheat day, but everything went well!  The second goal?  Well theoretically it should have been easy...remember how often I walk on my lunch break...netting me 20-30 minutes of walking each day?  Now to mention that I walk on my 15 minute breaks!!!????  Yup, I remember!  Ohhh yeah, I don’t do that in the winter because it’s snowy and cold?  Drat!   I knew this though going into the challenge and set my goal accordingly!  I started out the challenge strong with a 45 minute short hike on a local nature trail.

And that was the end of it for the week!  So one day equaling 45 minutes!  I have lots of excuses...serious ones also...it was cold....frigidly so! It was snowy!!!

The cold and snow (snow at least two days...maybe three...they are all running together in my mind) made for some horrible commutes so I got home late!  So valid excuses...but excuses nonetheless!  So anyway, this week I need to step up my game, I’ve got ground to make up!!!

We talked a lot about my mom the other night. . Mom has been struggling for a while.  She is wobbly and unstable when she walks.  She is achy and hurts when she moves. She is struggling.  My brother and I both separately came to the conclusion that she is letting any muscle tone she had slip away.  This is happening as a result of a few things.  She is honestly battling depression still as she grieves over the loss of my father..her husband of over 50 years and that can’t be helped....it’s natural grieving.  But the inactivity and lack of motivation to move is adding to the issues.  The issue?  Mom has never been overly active, so she was already starting at a deficit.  So the inactive has hastened the progression of muscle loss.  Mom is struggling with arthritis...so movement hurts and she struggles to get over the hurdle of ‘it hurts but I keep moving because I know it’s good for me’.   It’s just not  easy for her.   And it’s really concerning for my brother and I ...and Jason and my sister in law also.   So jason and I were talking about it after our visit on Saturday.  We talked about mom but then the conversation segued into our health as we approach a more elderly age. It, in many ways is motivation for us...for me to really get the weight off. It is motivation for me to get stronger.  It is motivation for me to fix my problems NOW.  Each year that passes I see that it is more difficult for my body to lose weight ...and that isn’t going to change!  But if I do it now...it will be easier than next year...which will be easier than 10 years or even 20 years from now!  I’m going to get old, nothing can stop the progression as long as I’m living.  So it’s time to focus on getting healthy so that the progression is as easy as possible!!!   

So we had a full weekend.  On Saturday we ran a few errands.  We spent a few hours with Jason’s parents and then went to my brother’s place for dinner and birthday cake to celebrate my niece and nephews birthday.  It was a nice day spent with family.  Not very active...but good for the soul!!!!

On Sunday the weather was cool but nice!  (40° give or take)  we got out and walked quite a bit....we checked out a new park that we hadn’t been to and walked all around downtown.  We checked out the melting ice sculptures from the Saturday night fire and ice event in downtown Frederick. 

We  ran a few errands and we enjoyed a day together.

So I did walk about 2 hours or so...but I’m only counting 60 minutes toward my goal.   Part of the walk  was strolling a bit...so I figure that’s only right!!!  I’m going to rock this week and not only make my goals...I’m going to exceed!!!