Last week I decided that I wanted to get down to my ideal fatitude before seeing my family over Easter. Using the demo scales at IKEA I noted that I was about nine pounds above that level.
So what to do? I haven't been jogging for a long time, so if I'd start I would get sore muscles and would have to stop. But I have fewer working hours right now, so I decided to start walking last Thursday, and then just keep walking. And walking.
5-6 hours a day: one to work in the morning, one back home, the rest in the evening. I was usually finished around 11 pm. I broke it up into four parts, because I have heard that when you walk (or exercise) for one hour, you keep burning calories half an hour afterward. Which gave me a total of four half-hours of extra calorie-burning each day.
I had just changed to new summer shoes, so I got blisters on my feet from the first day. Several. I got sore calves also - my muscles are more used to riding a bike, not walking. That lasted for five days. And an old ache in my lower back started acting up, and that lasted a week because I didn't give it time to relax and go away. So it was pretty painful.
But I did it; I lost 9 pounds, it is the fastest I have ever lost weight. Pretty fun as a project. Normally I would just go with that extra weight for a long time, losing it gradually over several months. My strength exercises at home don't make me lose weight it seems. This time I wanted to see quick change.
Food: vegetables, chicken, fish, eggs. This was hard, because I am used to eating rice, pasta and potatoes, at least one of these every day. The thing about vegetables is that you can vary them a great deal, even if you don't want to take the time to make a full salad. I had boiled paprika and boiled chopped carrots with salt on for snacks a couple of times.
One bonus: I noticed that it is easy to get rid of snacking and late-evening eating if you have a goal to work toward, and you know you have a chance at real change. Much easier than if you are not working out, because then you think "What the hell, this won't change much anyway." I am feeling much better now - I had allowed my food habits to get too lax. Not anymore.
Overall a sense of freshness, a healthy springtime tan, more disciplined eating habits, and 9 pounds lighter. It's been a pretty good nine days.
So what to do? I haven't been jogging for a long time, so if I'd start I would get sore muscles and would have to stop. But I have fewer working hours right now, so I decided to start walking last Thursday, and then just keep walking. And walking.
5-6 hours a day: one to work in the morning, one back home, the rest in the evening. I was usually finished around 11 pm. I broke it up into four parts, because I have heard that when you walk (or exercise) for one hour, you keep burning calories half an hour afterward. Which gave me a total of four half-hours of extra calorie-burning each day.
I had just changed to new summer shoes, so I got blisters on my feet from the first day. Several. I got sore calves also - my muscles are more used to riding a bike, not walking. That lasted for five days. And an old ache in my lower back started acting up, and that lasted a week because I didn't give it time to relax and go away. So it was pretty painful.
But I did it; I lost 9 pounds, it is the fastest I have ever lost weight. Pretty fun as a project. Normally I would just go with that extra weight for a long time, losing it gradually over several months. My strength exercises at home don't make me lose weight it seems. This time I wanted to see quick change.
Food: vegetables, chicken, fish, eggs. This was hard, because I am used to eating rice, pasta and potatoes, at least one of these every day. The thing about vegetables is that you can vary them a great deal, even if you don't want to take the time to make a full salad. I had boiled paprika and boiled chopped carrots with salt on for snacks a couple of times.
One bonus: I noticed that it is easy to get rid of snacking and late-evening eating if you have a goal to work toward, and you know you have a chance at real change. Much easier than if you are not working out, because then you think "What the hell, this won't change much anyway." I am feeling much better now - I had allowed my food habits to get too lax. Not anymore.
Overall a sense of freshness, a healthy springtime tan, more disciplined eating habits, and 9 pounds lighter. It's been a pretty good nine days.
