End of the first week ... a good try.

It's really interesting how the weather outside can invigorate or dampen your spirits.

I am not good about exercising in the cold. Really awful about it, especially when I do it alone. I'm not all that keen about going out in the dark or when it's raining, either.

So the last few days I didn't get out like I wanted. Either I felt a little bad, worked late or just lacked the motivation. Which in turn makes me need to exercise harder on the weekend than I seem to be able to during the week.

Remember those lofty goals I set for myself just a few days ago? Those weekly minimums? I've learned that it may take me a 100 days to actually get to that "minimum." I might have put larger expectations on myself than I thought.

Days four to seven I worked out exactly once. Wednesday I walked a mile and then rode my bike another five miles.

My totals for the entire week:

• Walking: 10 miles (out of 15)
• Riding: 15 miles (out of 30)
• Sculpting: 40 minutes (out of two hours)

When I got on the scale at the end of the first week, I lost a total of one pound (out of 27 I want to lose). Twenty six more pounds to go in 97 days. I am still thinking it is feasible.

When I was reporting my progress to my Weight Watchers meeting last night, some eyes bugged out when I retold them the story about the standards I had set for myself. My first week's attempt was pretty good, they told me. Some of them wouldn't even exercise like that in a week themselves.

I didn't get frustrated after hearing that, although I did help myself to an extra serving (or two) of a new WW bar flavor. It's the end of the week! Starting tomorrow, I thought to myself, I'll work extra hard.

As long as it's not cold, dark or rainy.

Days 1-3

I wonder what it is about small dogs and bikes. Maybe because of their lack of stature they need to compensate with something else, like barking volume. I was chased down the road by five of these little guys. Thankfully, not all at once.

Circling through the first cul-de-sac on my route, two little Pomeranians  startled me as I rode past their house. The only thing that kept them from biting my ankles were their leash restraints. Thank you, Owner, for thinking ahead like that.

I was cursing a few minutes later when three little terriers ran out of their yards when they saw me.  It was like riding around an obstacle course trying not to hit them. At least my pink bike was faster.

Saturday I might have been overly ambitious with my exercise efforts. My total walking/riding distance was 11 miles. My ass was rather sore.

Here is the weekend breakdown:

• Friday: walk, one mile; ride, 5 miles
• Saturday: walk, six miles; ride, 5 miles
• Sunday: walk, two miles; sculpt, 40 minutes
• Totals: walk, nine miles; ride, 10 miles; sculpt, 40 minutes

Yesterday I stared at the scale and forbid myself to get on it until Thursday, my weekly weigh-in day.
Instead I just frowned at myself in the mirror, groaning at the waistline that seems more jiggly and dimply than it should be, and the legs that look like they have small spots of cottage cheese on them.
Well, this is what I get for gaining 18 pounds since October. 18!!! That is really pretty awful, in my opintion.

97 days to go.

100 days of training

I got on the scale yesterday morning and yelped.
The kind of yelp that makes dogs come running and cats scattering.
184.2 pounds.
Sigh.
"My ass is getting bigger, kitty," I said at my white Scottish Fold who was staring at me with her wide green eyes. "My tummy and arms aren't looking so great, either." I sucked in my stomach and flexed my arms at the mirror.
Not impressed, Yuki just sniffed at me and sauntered back into the other room.

I've been better than this, really. Just last year at this time I was in the low 160s, right where I was in high school. Six months before that I was in the mid-150s range, my best weight ever.

(A little history: in my 20s I really let myself go and gained a whole bunch of weight. My highest was 275 pounds or so. In July 2006 I joined Weight Watchers and lost 100 pounds in a year and a half. I went from a size 20 to a size 6, so you can imagine my current frustration with myself.)

While driving to work, I had a great idea: training myself like some would train for a marathon. I really wanted to do something that would be challenging and hold me accountable like at my WW meetings. I figured out possible exercise plan and contemplated how long I would do it.
Then it hit me. One hundred days.

Why 100 days? The number is significant in some cultures. In Korea, 100 days after a baby is born is called Baek-il, where families have a party to celebrate the child's surviving the first 100 days of life. The tradition is done in Japan as well, but not on a large scale. Also, 100-day anniversaries between couples are important.

So, over the next 100 days I have set these weekly minimums for myself:

• Walk/jog: 15 miles 
• Ride bike: 30 miles
• Sculpt (weights, stretching): 2 hours

I am really hoping I am able to do this. Please join me on my journey for the next hundred days as I try to get more fit, and possibly will be committed to an asylum by my husband before the time is up.