Lose 75 pounds

As of today I have lost 13 pounds since the last time I was weighed (maybe 2 months ago?).

Mike and I have been walking and/or biking almost every day for a couple weeks now. It’s been very nice!

S – specific
– Is this goal specific? I’d say it will be one of the most specific of my goals.

M – measurable
– Is this goal measurable? Yes, since I will be able to step on a scale in order to see if it has been accomplished.

A – attainable
– Is this goal attainable? Yes it is. It will take work and time, but it can be done.

R – realistic
– Is this goal realistic? I think it is. There’s nothing holding me back from losing this weight except habit and lack of effort. 75 pounds would not even get me to an ideal weight, it would just get me within throwing distance of it.

T – timeline
– What is the timeline for finishing this goal? Ahh, that is the hard question. I’ll say I should lose a pound a week, putting me on track to finish this goal in September of 2007.

Did a 30 minute walk with DH and the dogs. My ankles were hurting a bit from the hard walk yesterday, so we stayed mostly on grass and dirt. It was a beautiful, balmy day out.

Thankfully, DH’s feet didn’t hurt and his muscles didn’t burn! So that is hopeful for him having no discomfort at all in the next few walks. Then we can try running!

Last night I made whole wheat biscuits instead of white flour biscuits. This is a small change, but it’s a positive step.

Today I walked for 38 minutes, and stretched afterwards. This is a route that usually takes me 50 minutes, so I was going a bit faster than usual. My greyhound certainly had to work harder—the poor thing thought retirement meant laying in the sun all day!

I will measure how long this route is later in the week. It will make a great running route—it is about 2/3 blacktop, 1/3 dirt road, and none of it very busy.

When I was done I was nicely sweaty and hot, and the drink of water afterwards tasted better than it has since I stopped running.

My sciatic nerve was bothering me today, but since I think that problem is largely weight related, it should get better as I get more active.

DH had to be gone during my lunch break (he rode his bike the 2-3 miles to his destination), so he wasn’t around for the walk, obviously. If he were around, I would have been biking, to give his feet a rest from yesterday. We’re still building up his walking so that we can start the run/walk program.

Two interesting things I saw on my walk:
-a single running sock by the side of the road-this reminded me of all the stories about runners having to go while they’re out running

-a guy ran the stop sign at the corner near an elementary school-jerk!!

I dug up a beginner’s plan to build up to running 30 minutes/2 miles straight, and I have it posted on my fridge. I’ve done this before, so I know I can do it. I was just so stupid to have stopped in the first place.

DH has said he wants to give it a shot with me, which is very exciting!

Notes: W=walk, R=run, # in parentheses is total amount of time out, #s usually mean minutes unless it says ‘mile’, all days presume a proper warm-up and cool-down.

Here is the schedule, for those interested:

Week 1
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: W30
Day 3: W30
Day 4: W5/R.5(30)
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: W5/R.5(30)
Day 7: W5/R1(30)
Week 2
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: W5/R1(30)
Day 3: W5/R.5(30)
Day 4: W5/R1(30)
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: W5/R2(30)
Day 7: W5/R2(30)
Week 3
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: W5/R3(30)
Day 3: W5/R2(30)
Day 4: W5/R3(30)
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: W5/R4(30)
Day 7: W5/R4(30)
Week 4
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: W30
Day 3: W5/R5(30)
Day 4: W5/R4(30)
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: W4/R5(30)
Day 7: W4/R5(30)
Week 5
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: W3/R5(30)
Day 3: W4/R5(30)
Day 4: W3/R5(30)
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: W2/R5(30)
Day 7: W2/R5(30)
Week 6
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: W1/R5(30)
Day 3: W2/R5(30)
Day 4: W1/R5(30)
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: W.5/R5(30)
Day 7: W.5/R5(30)
Week 7
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: R1mile/W5/R1mile
Day 3: W.5/R5(30)
Day 4: W10/R1.25mile/W10
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: R1mile/W5/R1mile
Day 7: W10/R1.5mile/W10
Week
Day 1: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 2: R1mile/W5/R1mile
Day 3: W.5/R5(30)
Day 4: W10/R1.75mile/W10
Day 5: Cross-Training/Rest
Day 6: W10/R2mile/W10
Day 7: W10/R2.25mile/W10

About two years ago I went through all the trouble of building myself up so I could run for an hour at a time (completed a 5k). At that time I vowed that I would continue running because I really enjoyed it, and it would be stupid to let all that conditioning go to waste.

Well I stopped running.

But I’m going to start again. I’m pulling out the old plan to work up to running, and I’m going to do it this year, and be better than before.

I’ve exercised 5 times in the last 7 days!

Each exercise session this week consisted of walking about an hour.