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Archive for the ‘exercise’ Category

I’ve been looking at some marathon walking sites on the internet, trying to find a training schedule and tips for getting from 0-13 miles.

Walk the Half Marathon includes a training schedule that’s pretty light through the week with a long walk day on the weekend. That would work with my schedule. It starts at only 30 minutes a day, but the total training time is just 12 weeks.

Half Marathon Training Schedules for Walkers includes longer walks through the week as well as cross-training. Total time to get ready is 14 weeks. My concern with this one is that 3 miles to start might be a little tough for me.

12 Week Beginner Walking Schedule isn’t a marathon training plan. It’s a plan for beginners to work up to 60 minutes per day. After that, you can begin the marathon training. This might be where I need to start.

Training to Walk a Marathon is for a full marathon (26.2 miles) if you’re feeling really ambitious.

At the Marathon Calendar, you can find marathons and half-marathons where walkers are welcome. I’m not going to think about this yet.

Next step for me? Get some walking shoes and a battery for my pedometer!

I’ve been really lax in the exercise department, except for yard work. It’s summer, and my husband and I have committed to doing our own yard work this year, so that amounts to two days of exercise a week.

But that’s it, and I know that that isn’t enough for either of us.

I mentioned a while back that I was thinking of joining a gym. There’s one available where I work, and they’re currently offering a half-price membership if they can get enough people to sign up for it to make it cost-effective. So…. I committed to joining at that price. I don’t think the membership will begin until the fall, but that’s a start.

I’ve also been toying with the idea of training for a half-marathon. That’s a big goal for someone who hardly exercises and is still seriously overweight. Still, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while.

So I’m officially committing myself to start training for it.

Just so you know,  half-marathon is a little over 13 miles. Yikes.

As you all know, exercise is a real struggle for me and my husband. Where we work we have a gym available for our use, for about $500/year for both of us.

I’ve toyed with the idea of joining for some time now. I’m hoping that it’s just the extra push we need to start exercising. I’m hoping two things.

1. That joining (and paying for) a gym membership will help motivate us to exercise.

2. That I’ll enjoy exercise more when there are so many different options available.

I’m curious though, does anyone have any thoughts on it?  Have you joined a gym and had good results, or bad ones?

First Rule of Walking: Keep Hydrated

Originally uploaded by Sister72

It may still be a bit cold where you are, but as spring arrives, it’s a great time to think about getting outside and being more active.

1. Get some new shoes if you haven’t for a while. Your walking or running shoes may need to be replaced, and this is a perfect time.

2. Take a walk around your house and yard and make a list of things that need to be done. Each item on the list is an opportunity to get more active and get some needed things done.

3. Prepare your flower beds. If that seems like a lot of work, (more…)

I enjoy reading other people’s weight loss stories, tips and challenges. I thought you might enjoy some of these people’s blogs as well.

I think that it can be helpful to watch someone else’s weight loss struggles and successes. Often, I feel that I’m the only person who’s ever gone through it, even though I know that’s ridiculous. It helps to “watch” others work on it too. I hope that some of these blogs are inspirational for you as well.

John is Fit

Losing it, Getting fit 

Fitness for Busy Moms

Plus Size Model Loses Weight

Loving Life with Diabetes

Good for You

Although I keep falling off the wagon, my weight loss is doing better than I expected. Since starting this blog, I’m down 24 pounds. It’s a slow weight loss, but still, it’s loss, and that’s the right direction.

I’m getting back on track with the low carb diet. That’s much easier than getting back in the exercise habit. For this week, my goal is to exercise 15 minutes a day, at least five days a week.

And if I don’t, I’ll spend next Saturday cleaning instead of having fun. Yuck!

The weather is cold, snowy and not at all good for an outdoor exerciser. What do you do? There are some easy, free (or cheap) ways to get your exercise even when the weather isn’t cooperating.

1. Does your employer have a gym? Often these are much more cost effective (and have a friendlier atmosphere) than larger gyms open to the general public.
2. Is there somewhere at work you can walk? If your office building is very large, you could easily get in a nice walk on your lunch break.
3. Walk around your house. Grab a small basket and move from room to room, picking up things that don’t belong and taking them to the room they do belong in. Do this for 15 or 20 minutes a day and you’ll get a walk AND pick up the house at the same time.
4. If you have stairs, start climbing them several times a day. Start at what feels comfortable and gradually increase your number of trips.
5. Go to the mall. It’s a great place to get in some walking. If you’re worried about shopping too much, leave your money at home.
6. Do housework the hard way. Sweep with a broom instead of a sweeper. Clean your bathroom floor with a rag instead of a mop. You’ll get in a little exercise, and you’ll likely do a better job on the cleaning as well.
7. Rent an exercise video. From aerobics to walking to kick-boxing, there are lots of videos you can get that will allow you to shape up. If you’re renting, then you won’t get stuck with one that’s too boring (or too hard or easy). This is also a great way to try a new routine without committing a lot of cash to it.
8. Walk/run in place. You can actually buy videos that are mostly walking in place, and it’s harder than it seems! If you’d rather, try jumping rope instead.
9. Buy a pair of dumbbells and use them to tone up.
10. If all else fails, pull on your favorite wool sweater and cap and go out anyway!

I love the autumn. The cooler temperatures, the colors, the crisp breezes… All entice us outside during this time of the year. With winter around the corner, it’s a good idea to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible now.

With that in mind, here are some ideas for getting you outdoors, and working in a little exercise to boot.

1. Grab your camera and go for a walk. With a little exploration and patience, you can bring back dozens of great photos.
2. Walk the dog! Put on your walking shoes and take the dog for a long walk this time. It’s cool enough to not have to worry about either of you overheating!
3. Get in a few last bike rides before storing them away for the winter.
4. Plant your spring bulbs. Daffodils, tulips, crocus, etc. can go in the ground right now. Get flower beds cleaned up and ready for spring.
5. If you had a garden, trim the plants back or till them under.
6. Mow one last time, rake leaves, trim shrubs. Get the yard ready for the winter. Don’t forget to take time to play in the leaves!
7. Decorate for Halloween! Create a centerpiece for the yard, stretch cobwebs across the porch, or carve some pumpkins. Enjoy the season.
8. Walk around the house and do a quick before-winter inspection. Caulk and paint windows if needed. Put new weather-stripping around the doors.
9. Clean out the garage and stock up on cold-weather supplies. If you have a generator, test it out. Buy de-icer and store it for the winter.
10. Go nut-gathering. Now is the perfect time to gather all types of nuts; just be sure to ask before gathering on someone else’s property. Our black walnut trees have dropped lots in the back yard!

Wow, it’s been a bad few weeks. Work has been extremely stressful, but I think things are FINALLY winding down a bit. I’ll be traveling next week for work, but I’m actually looking forward to being out of the office for a change.

Unfortunately, the long hours and stress have really taken a toll on my eating and exercise. I’ve put on about seven pounds (yikes!), so I have a bit of work to do to get myself back on track.

That’s the issue with weight loss, isn’t it? It’s all too easy to put it back on when life gets stressful. Given that I’m a stress eater, it’s doubly difficult.

I found that when this happens, it’s even more important to keep a positive attitude. I also try to stick to my eating plan as much as I can, even if I know I’m not doing as well as I should. One danger that I watch out for is simply giving up. Taking the attitude that I might as well eat anything I want because things are already going downhill is the wrong approach, but it’s all too easy to fall into that trap.

How many times have you allowed a diet slip up turn into a diet catastrophe? I’m trying to not let that happen!

Work has been hectic, so my blogging schedule is way off track. You’ll probably see some shorter posts for the next few days until things slow down again.

Packing lunch daily is going well. I’m experimenting with different stir-fry recipes, so it’s going well so far. I’m getting used to not eating out, so that’s a plus.

Exercising daily isn’t going so well. I’ve spent some time painting, doing yard work, etc. Unfortunately, I’m only exercising about three or four days a week. Not bad, but not what I was hoping for either. I guess that goes to show how hard this will be for me.

How’s the diet and exercise going for everyone else?