Happy numbers

So, the crazy workload continues. That is my life these days. It’s all good and I’m grateful to my clients for keeping me busy. It will be great when checks come in. Things are actually beginning to calm down a little and I’m getting a handle on it all. But the big news is, I’m starting to see some measurable.

No, it’s not the whopping, “WOOHOO! I lost 10 pounds and dropped a dress size!” Not quite there yet. But, after breaking through my plateau recently, my weight bounced back up a couple pounds and now I’m back down again. I’ve learned over the years that I will go down, then up, then down again. Once I see the same number for a couple days, I’m really losing. So, I’m back down to a number ending in 7, have been for a couple days, and hoping to hit that 6-mark by the end of the week.

I made a goal to get 10,000 steps on my pedometer every day this week. I’ve been successful for several days in a row, starting last week. I keep going back to things that worked when I’ve lost weight in the past, and this is definitely one of them. As a writer I can get sucked into work and sit on my ass for hours at a time, especially while the kids are in school and the house is quiet. I’m slowly making changes to break that habit, but some days, you just have to keep working.

I also decided to get in 5 cardio days a week, instead of 4. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, I meet my gym partner at 4:45 a.m. She takes Wednesdays off, and I take Thursdays off since that’s my regular errand day. (Amazing how many steps you get cruising grocery store aisles.) On Wednesdays, I work out at home on the Wii. I usually do a Zumba workout and the free step on Wii Fit. It’s not the same as my elliptical workout on Mondays, Tuesdays & Fridays, but I still work up a pretty good sweat. I used to go to the gym on Saturdays, but it’s the only day I get to sleep in, and I’d gotten lazy. So, I decided to get back to the gym on Saturdays, and on top of that, I’ve decided to do a 5K on the treadmill every week. Two weeks ago, my time was just over 49 minutes. Last Saturday, I aimed for 48 minutes, but my time was actually 46:35. I walked most of it, and jogged about 7 1/2 minutes. My best 5K time in years and I’m very encouraged by my progress.

In addition to hitting the gym on Saturdays and doing a 5K on the treadmill, I have committed to keeping active on Sundays. This past Sunday, I went out in the howling wind and took a long walk. I wasn’t trying to log a certain number of miles or reach any particular speed. I just wanted to keep myself from sitting on the couch all day. The wind was yucky, but it felt good to get moving.

I think sometimes we get too caught up in numbers. There are plenty of other indicators of progress, but numbers are so undeniable. The weight loss is still going slow, but I’m hoping that now that I’ve recovered from The Crud, and I’ve built up some better habits, I’m finally going to start seeing the numbers I’ve been hoping to see.