Promises kept

The end of week two is a time of celebration for me.  I kept my promise to myself and have done a Leslie Sansone Walk DVD each of my nights off.  Thursday, I did the Walk Away the Pounds High Calorie Burn 2 Miles.  This was the first Leslie Sansone DVD I ever did and is just a really nice walk.  I liked this DVD so much I shared it with family and friends.  Thursday was also a strength training day so I did 15 repetitions of each exercise on my band resistance bench.  Friday was my 4 mile night and once again I did Leslie's Punch Up Your Walk DVD, one of my favorites.  Saturday I chose Leslie Sansone's Start! American Heart Association 3 Mile Walk.  Like Thursday, Saturday was also a strength training day so I did 15 repetitions of each exercise on my band resistance bench.  I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment.  A sense that I can and will continue taking steps in the right direction!

Afternoon bike ride and early morning 5k

Saturday afternoon I decided, somewhat reluctantly, to take my bike to get the tire repaired.  I had a flat and my bike is my primary transportation to work.  Getting the flat fixed on my last day off before the new work week begins would certainly be a good choice.  But I spent about an hour talking myself in and out of going.  I was tired.  I had a stomach ache and didn't feel up to riding.  I'd be riding against the wind most of the way home.  The weather forecast for the week was rain most of the days I'd be working so I wouldn't be able to ride my bike.  I could get the tire fixed next week.  I wanted to go to 5 P.M. Mass and even though it was only 1:30 P.M., maybe they wouldn't be able to fix my flat quickly.  I might not get home in time to get ready and get the bus to Mass.  Ah, so many reasons, that were really excuses, to choose from to stay home.

Finally I did the right thing.  I put on my newly bought KEEP CALM AND PEDAL ON SHIRT and a pair of shorts.  I called a friend who is a cab driver and he was able to come get me just before 2 p.m. The bike shop is only about a five to seven minute drive by car, depending on traffic.  They weren't busy and I was able to get the flat fixed very quickly.  I also bought a new tire.  The ride home was 1.77 miles and most of the time I was riding south against the crosswinds from the east and/or gusts from the southeast.  The ride was tough except of course for those few times when I was riding west with the wind.  I was home just before 3 P.M. with plenty of time to get ready for Mass.

When I returned home from Mass, I had every intention of doing one of Leslie Sansone's walks after the Miami Marlins baseball game ended.  I had thought about doing a three mile walk, then decided that I could just do a 2 mile walk since I had already done a 1.77 mile bike ride.  I started feeling very sleepy and actually fell asleep just as the Marlins came up to bat in the ninth inning.  I woke up about 35-40 minutes later and decided I was just too tired to walk.  So I did a couple of chores and sat down to watch television. After all, I had exercised already by riding my bike home.  That could be enough for the day and what difference would it make if I didn't do a walk.

But I kept thinking about Debbie Gibson's song Promises and keeping the promise I made so many times to myself to do one of Leslie Sansone's walks on each of my days off and how often I'd broken that promise in the past.  So just after 1 A.M., I decided to keep my promise.  I changed into my exercise clothes. put on the weight belts and the hand weights and put in one of my favorite Walk DVDs: 5K With A Twist.  One of the reasons I really enjoy this DVD is because Leslie talks about believing that we are stronger than we think.  She says there is "never a time when your body won't change.  any stage of your life you can get your body to make adjustments, make the changes, improve, be stronger, be leaner, be smaller. Don't listen to negative talk."

I did the walk and then did 15 repetitions of each exercise on my band resistance bench for strength training. I would not have done the strength training Saturday night because I wasn't going to walk.  When I finished I not only felt good as I always do after exercising, but also felt good because I kept my promise to myself!

Taking more steps

Tonight I did Leslie Sansone's 4 mile Punch Up Your Walk DVD.  I want to do the longer walk on Frdays because I won't be doing strength training on Fridays.  But I tried to talk myself out of the longer walk tonight.  I thought about doing one of the 3 mile walks or even another 2 mile walk.  After all, I haven't done any of the walks since last August.  Perhaps I should just ease back into walking.  Ah, yes, how easy to find reasons to do a little less.  How easy to justify "taking it easy"!  When I went to put the walk I did lat night back in to its case, there was the 4 mile Punch Up Your Walk waiting for me!  One of the reasons I love this walk is that during the fourth mile, Leslie talks about not giving up and not finding excues to not walk.  But for me, her words mean so much more.  They speak to me about not giving up on whatever matters just because I've had a bad day or made a bad choice.  Thank you, Leslie!

A step in the right direction

Tonight I decided to take a step, actually quite a few steps, in the right direction.  I did Leslie Sansone's 2 mile classic walk.  I wore two 2 pound weight belts as well as 1 pound weight gloves.  I felt good while I was doing the walk and  a sense of accomplishment when I finished just as I always have.  I really enjoy Leslie Sansone's Walk DVDs.   I also did some strength training and did 15 repetitions of eack exercise on my resistance band bench.  Good to be exercising instead of sitting on the chair and watching reruns of reruns.

I was motivted to start working out again after watching the movie The Music In Me which starred Debbie Gibson and Gloria Reuben.  The movie premiered Sunday night and I woud have been working but was off because I'd worked for someone else on Thursday, one of my usual days off.  I happened to be looking to see what was on televesion and decided to watch the movie.

Debbie Gibson wrote the song Promises for the movie.    The song is about promises made and not kept, not just to others, but to ouselves as well.  That's what I've done many times.  Promised myself I would do things and then not do them.  I've been promising myself that I'd work out and get back in shape for several years.  Time to keep that promise to myself!

A new start

When I first began this blog last August, I hoped that writing a blog about exercising and getting back in shape might just give me the motivation I needed.  Of course, that didn't work.  I exercised for two weeks and wrote four blog posts.  I stopped exercising because I had a bad cold and just couln't exercise.  But once I recovered from the cold, I didn't start exercising again.  Oh, I thought about it from time to time, but mostly gave in to depression and ordered pizzas.  I even set start dates, but always found some excuse to not start on the date and to eat more pizza.  Fortunately, I am still riding my bicycle to work and back home many of the days that I work so all the pizzas and junk food didn't add more weight.

Ah, of course, exercising was so much simpler back when I taught exercise.  Then I never had to worrying about being or staying motivted or what I ate.  But once the job ended, so did my desire and motivation to workout at all.  I've started this blog again because I plan to start exercising again.  I was motivated by a conversation last month with a good friend.  We were talking about depression and she asked what I really enjoyed doing.  I told her that I enjoyed, but hadn't been writing.  I also told her that the job I enjoyed most was teaching aerobics and group exercise.  I told her that I wanted to get back to exercise but I just couldn't seem to get motivated.  I  keep sitting in front of the television watching reruns of reuns.  She said that I needed to get myself up and exercise.  I really do want to do that.  I've already missed yet another start date.  But I don't have to miss another one!