Week 6 - Heart Attack Hill/Weigh-in day

So, got up this morning, still a little sore (took Ibuprofen before I went to bed tho....because I expected it) and stood on the scale......1/2 a pound.  *sigh*  I so wanted it to be more.  I felt like it SHOULD have been more.  I worked my ass off (or part of it) this week.  But hey, 1/2 a pound is still 1/2 a pound. And it brings me to minus 19 pounds.  And I KNOW that I will hit 20 next week.  (maybe more)

And then I got up and decided I was going to walk.  The roommate came in and said "let's go to Starbucks".  I thought "hrrm.  well that might work".  Because in order to walk to Starbucks you must first walk up .... wait for it .... heart attack hill.  He was excited and wanted to get me going and was saying "let's jog".  I immediately felt like he was pushing me (and this may well have not been the case) and it pissed me off and I announced "I am not jogging.  I am not in shape enough to do it.  I will walk up that hill, but I am going at my own pace so you will have to deal with me doing this on MY terms."  Poor guy was like "you woke up in a bad mood."  To which I responded "nope, but I will not be pushed."  *sigh*  Yeah, people pushing me to do stuff, anything as a matter of fact, get an IMMEDIATE reaction from me.  And it's not good.  Guess I'm going to have to see my therapist (me) about that and figure out why that is.

Regardless, I put my shoes and socks on my sore feet and put on my most comfortable pants (let's just say that walking as much as I have, I need to make sure I have no way to create chaffing....more fat girl issues) and walked up Heart Attack Hill.  I stopped at the top.  Was having a hard time breathing through my nose, and thus a hard time getting enough oxygen (having allergy issues I guess) so I had to slow my breathing to where I wasn't gasping.  Now, the last time I walked up this hill I had flashing lights in the corner of my eyes. Yeah.  It was that bad.  And, mind you this hill is not THAT steep.  Honestly, it's not.  But if you are not in shape it is a challenge.

So, I walked up the hill, stopped for a few seconds and kept going.  And walked the 1.1 miles to Starbucks, got a coffee with equal and half and half (worth the points).  And then walked back.  So far today I have 4 activity points and have walked 2.2 miles.  I was looking at my activity points since I started this and I'm seeing an encouraging trend:
                    Week 1 - 2 points (10 minutes is generally 1 point, so you know...)
                    Week 2 - 6 points
                    Week 3 - 3 points
                    Week 4 - 7 points
                    Week 5 - 20 points (this was my post-vacation week)
                    Week 6 - 4 points so far and it's only day 1

Yep, I will keep going.  I feel better when I exercise, especially in the mornings.  And I tell you this - all it takes is getting up and doing something.  Park further away from work.  Take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Start slow.  Don't put yourself into the trap of trying too much too quickly.  If it's going to be a habit it has to be one you believe you WILL follow through on.  And today's lesson - don't let others push you into doing what you know you can't do, but don't give up either.  Heart attack hill has been conquered.  Once.  It will be again.

One day.  One pound.  One step at a time.
~N