Last week I shared that my first time out for a walk was excruciating. Anyone else probably would have given up being in that amount of pain. But, the next day, I got back out there again and went for another shorter walk. I avoided the hill down the road and walked back and forth on the flat portion of the road. That walk was just as painful as the first day, but it was shorter only 25 minutes.
Being the rebel I am, I went for another walk the day after. By the third day, I was still in pain, but I noticed only one side of my back/hip hurt, not both sides... and I shaved off an entire 2 minutes on the same walk as the day before.
On the fourth day, I went for another walk outside because the hubster hadn't had the chance to add me to the gym membership. I shaved another minute off my walk and wasn't in as much pain as the days prior. PROGRESS!!!
Initially, I said I would only exercise 3 days a week because I wanted to set realistic goals with my busy schedule. However, now that I got started, I want to keep up the momentum.
The hubster added me to the gym membership on Saturday afternoon, so I went to the gym on Sunday. I had hoped that going in when they opened (8 am) would mean there wouldn't be many people. It may seem silly, but I'm very self-conscious about exercising in front of others when I'm this big.
I did a walk on the treadmill; the treadmill is easier than walking outside because I can regulate my speed better, and there's a cushioned platform. I found that when I walked faster, it aggravated my back/hip pain. So, I lowered the pace and could walk for 30 minutes. Afterward, I treated myself to 20 minutes in the sauna. Thankfully, they have a separate women's sauna, so I felt more comfortable.
Monday and Tuesday, I take my son to speech therapy in the late afternoon/early evening. Instead of sitting in the car waiting for him for 30 minutes, I opted to walk and make the most of the time.
On Tuesday, I went on two walks, one in the morning before work and another in the evening while I waited for my son. To my pleasant surprise, during my morning walk, my pain level was very low, and I could walk a bit further and include a few hills. The evening walk was a little uncomfortable, but not what it's been in the days' priors. I'm making more progress!
Tonight I went to the gym after work. I had an appointment with the fitness director to go over my goals and do a baseline assessment of where I'm at. Ultimately, their goal was to sell me personal training; my goal was to find out how much.
An hour and a half later, and some humbling tears after the baseline assessment (which I failed miserably), the price tag was over $500 a month for twice a week training for only 30 minutes. Sadly, that's just a little too rich for my blood. Even at just one time per week I was quoted $350.
While I would love to work with a personal trainer to build a strength workout routine, I'm just going to have to DIM - do it myself.
Afterwards, I stayed for a workout. I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes until their Zumba class started, I figured I would give it a try. The class was okay, I stayed for 30 minutes. I'm a bit of a Zumba snob having taught it for a few years. I like a wide variety of music and dance routines, so that was a bit lacking in tonight's class.
Wow, what a whirlwind week, eh?
Now, to the highlight... after weighing myself this morning, one week into my journey and I'm down a whopping 9.8 pounds! I went from 294.6 to 284.8!
I know the weight isn't going to continue to come off in such high numbers. There will be weeks when I may only lose a half pound or nothing at all. I'm in this for the long haul!
