Starting to exercise- again!

Had a detour this week- I was definitely not ready for the school year or my weight loss journey. I still needed some rest and to deal with my feelings after last semester with the stressful living situation with a room mate, and it also coinciding with the one year anniversary of my mom's death from colon cancer.

I'm back on track now-hopefully! I definitely need to get back in shape. My two intensive courses of this semester are both on the fourth floor, which is two levels up from the ground floor. Most of my classes used to be on the ground floor, now I have to huff and puff up two whole levels and hope that none of my classmates are walking behind me as that would be embarrasing. Also, none of my pants zip up all the way any more. Maybe just one even zips anymore- I can't get the others I usually wear to even start to zip anymore. I now rely on my overhanging shirts to cover up, sometimes I have to keep my winter jacket on indoors just to maintain my modesty :(. I felt like a whale leaving my last class of the week in my undersized pants and my winter coat, which incidentally used to be too big, but is now too small. It now rides up because of the junk in my trunk!

I went to the gym today. In the locker room, I saw this slim lady. I'm thinking she's wondering "What is this fat girl doing coming to the gym on a Saturday morning?". I think many fat people feel out of place in gyms, but hey, don't sweat it. A gym is where you go to get back in shape, isn't it? After pacing the gym perusing the various cardio machine options, I decided to try the treadmill. I programmed it for a 5K run. I did not do much running; I walked most of the time. By 50 minutes, I still had not reached 5K and the machine timed me out! I guess it figured that I should have completed a 5K run by 50 minutes and if not, tough luck. I did some weight machines, sit ups and lunges after.

On the walk back home, I felt better. Walking did not feel as cumbersome as it usually is. Infact, it was a breeze. I stood up tall and my legs were strong. Ah, the pleasures of exercise. The effects of exercise are great, but it is the getting myself to get up and go do the exercise that is the REAL effort!

xoxo,
fat dietitian-to-be