Progress Report

By the Number

I took off last Sunday because I was busy and also I didn’t want to work out!  I’m okay with that, especially since what worried me was:  if I take a day off, will I ever get back to working out?  Thankfully, this week the answer was yes!

I used the 7 Minute Workout on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday. The other days, I counted myself has having worked out if I walked over 10,000 steps in New York City.  I definitely exceeded that goal, since I walked 16,660 steps on Tuesday, 13,700 steps on Wednesday, and 16, 470 steps on Friday.

By My Feelings

I feel okay, I guess.  It feels a bit like a cheat week, since it is easy to be tired and muscle-sore from walking around a cool city and doing amazing things.  It’s a lot harder to work up the motivation to jump around in my bedroom for even a few minutes.  This next week will be the real test!

Goals for Next Week

I’m challenging myself to do the 7 Minute Workout twice a day at least four days this week.  I got to that point at the end of the first week, so it seems pretty reasonable.  And while the majority of this whole deal is to make me feel like I’m being proactive about my health, I would like to actually see some results, aka lost weight and added strength.  I have a feeling I have to work out for longer than seven minutes for that to substantially happen.

Progress Report

By the Number

I worked out every day this week (from when I started on Monday).  And I even worked out twice on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, which, I mean, is a grand total of 14 minutes.  WOw.

By My Feelings

My goal was to do just the 7 Minute Workout once a day, every day.  I am a big believer in not pushing yourself, because if you (I) get disappointed, I just give up entirely.  But by Thursday, I had internalized how quickly seven minutes goes by, so I worked out twice (at different times of the day, though).  By then, I was also getting tired later and later in the workout.  I felt stronger!  More capable!  Still a gasping weakling, but slightly less so.  That’s all I want, so I’m feeling pretty great about continuing this.

Goals for Next Week

I will be in New York City with my mom Tuesday-Saturday next week, and I hate working out in front of people, so I will revise my standards.  If I don’t do the 7 Minute Workout, my goal to replace it will be to walk 10,000 steps according to my Apple Health App.  I realize that some people walk 10,000 with FitBits on the regular, but I think we’ve already established my level of laziness, right?  I’m nowhere near that on a normal day.  SO.  Either the 7 Minute Workout or 10,000 steps.  Should be easy enough, traipsing around NYC, right?  HOPE SO, because I also intend to eat a lot of delicious food.

My exercise bar is set incredibly low.  I don’t actually have one, as in, I don’t actually exercise.  This has never been a huge deal, since I’ve been lucky enough to stay roughly the same size my entire adult life.  But moving home to Peoria (the land of fast food), combined with a road trip where everyone was super kind and happy to buy and/or make deliciously unhealthy food for me in between long stretches of sitting behind the wheel of a car…has caused me to notice three changes.

1.  I had to get a physical in order to put a letter of health in my visa application, and I was shocked when they weighed me.  I’m not telling you, because I hate scales and basing health on a number.  But it was definitely a catalyst to making me want to do something.
2. My winter sweaters do not fit the way they used to, and I am NOT about to let myself gain enough weight to necessitate buying an entirely new wardrobe of pants and tops.
3. While in Seattle, I was confronted by my lack of stamina when Roy and I slogged through snow one day and went bike riding the next.  The number of times I had to stop and catch my breath was embarrassing.

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