Gym -- Week 11 Recap

Monday -- First day back to work after summer break, so no formal gym time.  I walked quite a bit during the day, and even walked down the stairs four times.  I didn't walk up the stairs; I didn't want to overdo it on my first day. I cleaned the kitchen when I got home from work.  My husband and I went for a walk around the neighborhood in the evening; it felt so good to walk outside, and with him.   We're going to make a habit of this.  When we got home, I made dinner while he did yard work.  Then -- get this -- I cleaned  up the dinner dishes, including (gasp) loading the dishwasher.  All in all, I got in 10,399 steps today, 2582 of which were walking around the neighborhood.  Last year, I averaged between three and four thousand steps per workday.  Today I got way more than that, plus the walk around the neighborhood.  Feeling good!



Tuesday -- Today at work I walked down the stairs three or four times.  No going up the stairs just yet.  Very tired when I got home so I sat and relaxed with my knitting.  I got half as many steps as yesterday on my pedometer, but felt twice as tired.  Go figure....

Wednesday -- Today at work I walked up the stairs twice in addition to down the stairs three or four times.  After work I walked with a friend/co-worker.  We're planning to do this every Wednesday and Friday.  We walked for an hour inside the school we work at, so the MapMyWalk app on my phone didn't map the route, but it did give me the duration and calories burned.  One hour and 314 calories.  It felt really good.


Thursday --  Thursday was a long day at work.  I tried to walk extra, and took the stairs when I remembered to (I've been catching myself waiting for the elevator; habit I guess).  All in all, I got almost 8500 steps in.

Friday --  After work today, where I tried to get lots of steps in, I had an appointment at the gym with Julie.  It felt so good to be back there!

Saturday -- Morning session with Julie.  Invigorating.  First time wearing a shirt with no sleeves in public in I don't know how many years.  Liberating.  And look at that!  20lbs over my head!

Sunday --  Morning walk with my husband around the neighborhood.  Beautiful day for it.  Then some shopping.  I need new, smaller, workout clothes!  Got a little over 8000 steps in today, including the walk around the neighborhood.

Monday morning weigh-in shows a 2.5lb loss for the week, making it 12.25lbs lost overall.

Non-scale victories
-- First day back to work after summer break.
    -- Friend/co-worker: "Look at you, walking down the stairs!"
    -- Not nearly as tired when I got home as I thought I would be/usually am.
    -- Being active from 6am alarm to 8pm bedtime.
-- A pair of pants I haven't been able to wear in a few years fits now!  Not only that, I had to hitch them up a few times.
-- I can put my socks on in the late afternoon while sitting in my classroom chair.  Used to be, I could put them on only in the morning, and while I'm sitting on something like a bed or a couch (that I can turn kinda sideways on).  Might sound mundane to you, but to me it's huge.  I actually teared up a little.
-- I was able to shop in the not plus size section for the first time in over 22 years.  Ugly crying.  Astounded.  All of the emotions.


Observation:  Exercising and strength training definitely makes a difference.  My weight got down to 202 when I was undergoing chemo.  I didn't go down two clothes sizes then.


Read next:  Week 12 Recap