Dusting off the workout gear

Yesterday was my 2 week post op appointment with my doctor. She gave me a clean bill of health and two thumbs up to go ahead with my normal activities. I am completely healed and my stitches will finish dissolving over the course of six weeks. Of course now that I have the green light from my doctor, that means that I can get back on the healthy bandwagon and that starts with exercise.

This morning I had to dust off my workout clothes and shoes and find my headphones for my phone so I could head to the park to walk. I was so excited! After a couple of months of being sidelined I was eager to get back into my fitness routine. I got to the park with no expectations on myself, I was going to take it as slow or steady as I needed to in order for it to be a workout but not over taxing for me. Well my legs sure knew what to do and before I knew it my arms were at their 90 degree angle and I was striding right along with my music. Before the illness caught up to me I was striding at between 15 min 30 seconds and 16 min 20 seconds for a mile. Well my miles today were at 17 min 20 seconds. Not too bad, being out of the fitness loop for a couple of months only added about a minute to my time. I was going 5 miles a day before I got sick, today I happily did 2.5 miles before my body told me it was done. So half of what I was accustomed to before I got sick. I don't think that's too bad at all. I will slowly build back up to where I was and hopefully be able to eventually add jogging back into the picture as well. 

In order to also mix things up and not just depend on walking to help me firm up those not so firm areas, I have some workout dvd's that I want to get back into the routine of using. I'm hoping that by walking and incorporating some cardio and light weight work, I may be able to blast through this plateau and lose the pounds I'm wanting to lose. 

My diet has been kinda iffy lately. I have definitely not been eating as healthy as I was. I have had a few days where I hit up the sushi buffet and went overboard and I went way over my calorie limit for the day. Since I was healing and dealing with health issues, I didn't let it bother me. I recorded what I was eating and continued to track even on days when I knew that I was going to be over my count. Now that I can bring exercise back to the table I plan on tightening up that food intake belt and making sure that I can feel good about everything I am putting into my body. Exercise is great but without the diet being in check it's all for nothing. 

So, October first is my beginning. Day 1 in the many days ahead that will lead me to my goal weight, my goal body and my healthy outlook on my life. I may not be able to control everything, but the things I can control I plan on doing so with a positive attitude and my best efforts!