Week Thirty-Four of REAL...

The 10th: weigh in: 233.8 lb. Increasing by 10% One SEAL puppy rep, which means I'm now doing 12 pushups, crunches, and counts of flutter kicks. Two-mile walk. DIstance stays the same, but I'm now talking or singing while I walk to measure if I'm working hard enough without over doing, a little breathless but still able to talk. 40 minutes. One more SEAL puppy rep. Physical therapy consists of upper body exercises my physical therapist arranged for me. I'm up to doing 36 of each of those.

The 11th: weigh in: 233.4 lb. One-mile walk first thing. Then it was off to the Ren Faire, in costume. My friend picked me up, and we arrived well before starting time. It was relaxed and fun. I wanted to see Tartanic, which is bagpipes and drums, the Birds of Prey program, and Cast in Bronze. We wandered around visiting people we've come to know over the years, well, my friend knows them better than I do. My friend enjoys collecting various bits and pieces, and I had fun talking him into some of it. Lots of walking and standing. Worthy of note, I had less trouble standing by myself after sitting on those short benches. Go me! My costume also fits better. Yay!

The 12th: weigh in: 232.8 lb.

The 13th: weigh in: 234.6 lb. Stressed a bit, yesterday. I'll tackle the weight to the ground, today. SEAL puppy rep of 12. Two-mile walk in 38 minutes. One more SEAL puppy rep of 12. Physical therapy, which includes 3 different types of arm exercises given to me by my physical therapist to strengthen my core muscles. I've also added biceps curls and now triceps extensions, to a count of 36, trading the last two off doing reps of 12 each.

The 14th: weigh in 231.4 lb. One-mile walk. I'm trying to learn how to take better care of myself. I wasn't taught, and the usual path won't work for me. It's encouraging to note I used to walk 2 miles every day with my dog. I can do it again. Several years ago, I herniated a disk in my back, and walking next door became a major accomplishment. Really. In fact, it was a major victory when I could walk to the end of the driveway and back, without wishing someone would put me out of my misery. I'm back to walking 2-miles 4 days a week, and have been planning to work up to every day. It's heartening to know I'm on the right path. In fact, I'm already at a mile in 20 minutes, so the next goal is shortening the time. I also already do biceps curls with 1-lb weights as part of my physical therapy workout. I'll look at how I can work in some others. I've started with 1-lb weights and will be working my way up slowly, up to 5 lb. I've never had a lot of upper body strength, though I used to haul 50 bags of dog food and grain for my horse. Oh, wait, I keep forgetting it was before I messed up my back. My goal is to work toward being healthier than I've ever been, regardless of my age. I wasn't healthy growing up, so it really shouldn't be hard.

The 15th: weigh in: 231 lb. SEAL puppy reps 1/12. Two-mile walk, in 28 min. SEAL puppy reps 1/12. Physical therapy to 36.

The 16th: weigh in: 229.2 lb. Waist circumference: 39". One-mile walk, in 18 minutes. I don't need to hide behind the ugly anymore. Besides, it didn't work anyway.