Fitness Friday

Okay. So I finally decided it was time not simply to lose weight, but get in shape. Almost 3 weeks ago I brought this up with my doctor. She weighed me, gave me some great resources and since then I've been worked towards the goal of losing about 80 pounds over the next year. So far I'm down 6 so it's going well.

One resource that the doctor recommended was an online calorie tracker at Eat Tracker. It's not bad but being a geek I wanted a piece of offline software that was faster and had more features. A little searching found me a fantastic program, Diet Power. This program will create a calorie budget for you based on your height, weight, activity level and your goal weight date. It has a library of foods with calorie and nutritional information that's easy to add to. It tracks calories burned, water intake and daily nutrition.

Before keeping track of what I ate I tended to eat out of boredom. Funny thing happens though when I put something in place to make me accountable...I find the boredom eating disappears. I actually noticed the same effect with my spending when I started using a budget program I enjoyed. When I can see what goes in and what comes out in a concrete fashion then I feel I have control and don't have a hard time stopping myself from making a stupid purchase or eating the rest of the trail mix. For my modest goal of losing a pound or two a week, I certainly don't feel deprived or hungry and neither do I feel stuffed and listless anymore.

I've also started working out. Before I tended to think I couldn't and had excuses ready. Then I found some free downloadable workout videos that let me workout in the kitchen while watching the kids and the only equipment needed are some canned goods for weights. Rumi is a woman who's set up a site at Women Workout Routines. She's created some workouts that are simple and very easy to follow. They're shot against what I'd guess is her living room wall and her cat occasionally makes an appearance but I like the casual feel that results. The other great thing about her videos is that you don't need any special equipment. I do them with a blanket on the floor and cans of soup or vegetables for weights (don't laugh. I've graduated from 14 ounce creamed corn to 28 ounces diced tomatoes!). To download her videos simply right-click on the titles and choose 'Save Target as...'.

The funny thing in all this is that I've wanted to get in shape for a long time but something clicked July 26th when I talked to my doctor. Maybe it was the death of Whitecree at such a young age (he was certainly on my mind). Maybe it was making my weight known to my doctor and husband. Maybe it was creating expectations in my doctor that I had to live up to. Maybe it was the tools I found after the doctor visit. But there was a switch on that date when what seemed hard and undoable became to only possible course and not simply easy, but desirable.

It may also have been the kids of course. I owe them an active healthy mommy. I owe them a mommy who models healthy eating and a joy for physical activity. I owe them a homeschool environment where nutrition and activity are key focuses. So wish me luck. If anyone wants to join me in this, please let me know!

I'm searching for a weight loss ticker, trying out a personal trainer program that's availible for XBox and PS2 and hunting down resources to use to get fit so hopefully by next Friday I'll have some more resources and some more lost pounds to report.