That's one way to wake up!

So I have been going on my morning walks since May and it's a routine I have perversely come to enjoy. Actually, it's 50-60 minutes that I have all to myself even if I have to get up at the crack of dawn to do it.

Anyhow, in all this time of doing my morning walks, I've only been rained out once which is a pretty amazing record. This morning I woke up to discover it had rained during the night, but aside from being a little windy, it wasn't raining so I headed out. I made it about a mile and a half when I felt a drop or two but determined it was the trees spitting on me. About 5 minutes later, I was caught in a torrential downpour!

I turned around and went home where Rich had a towel waiting for me. All in all, it wasn't that bad, but now my shoes need some major drying out!

The most awesome walking song ever

My iPod is truly an ecclectic mix but I've never been one to listen to just one type of music. Rich got me my iPod mini a couple of years ago for mother's day. It's pretty close to capacity, but I don't think I'd want a bigger one because then it's just overwhelming how many songs are on it. Anyhow, when I updated my iPod the last time, I threw on a few of some of the kids' songs on there because they are quite catchy. Anyhow, today as I was walking, I heard one of my all-time favorites (taking me back to when I had this album on vinyl): Cookie Monster's "Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco". It might not be "American Pie" but it sure put a smile on my face and a spring in my step

Is this really appropriate?

Since I have been on my weight loss journey, I have become a "walker" in the early mornings. I really like it even though I have to get up at the crack of dawn to do it. I have a set "route" that I take but I alterante the direction I take each day (mostly due to the fact that there is a nasty hill and I can't imagine going up that sucker every day!)

Anyhow, I will get to my point. When I walk, I stay on the public streets/sidewalks. Tonight, as I was driving back from dinner with the kids, we passed the local cemetery and lo and behold, there are two women POWER WALKING through the cemetery! It just really bothered me. While I realize that there are paved pathways throughout, I hardly find it appropriate to speed walk through the final resting places of so many. Does this strike you as an odd place to exercise?

A nice way to start the day

I have to admit, when I got the crazy idea to get up and walk before the kids were up and going, I didn't know how long it would last. Then, I missed a couple of days last week because Rich went out of town and I found that even though I didn't have to get up, I got up anyway and kind of missed those 45 minutes of quiet time.

Anyhow, it was very humid here yesterday. In fact, when they showed our city on the map on the "dew point" index, ours was the only city in the area in the "oppressive" category. This morning though, it wasn't too bad, but you could tell it was still humid - so humid, that if you looked up in the clouds as you were heading east toward the lake, there was the tiniest sliver of a rainbow. It really energized me and made me give thanks to God for allowing me the opportunity to start another great day!

A New Pair of "Goal" Pants

So, yesterday we finished up our first cycle of Lean for Life. I even managed to lose 3 more pounds during my two weeks of maintenance bringing my total weight loss for the phase to 18 pounds.

Today we begin the cycle again. The first part of this plan is always a little difficult to tackle because it's three straight days of nothing but protein. Strangely, I am not really hungry when doing this, but it does leave a little to be desired in terms of meal variety. I mean, there's not too many ways to pretty up a chunk of meat on a plate. But, this is what "kick starts" the plan into action and who I am I to judge when I get such good results.

Each time I begin a new cycle, I review how the last cycle went and if I met any goals. Well, of course I met the weight loss goal, but I also now fit into a pair of pants that I haven't worn in probably about six months. So, I now am going to dig through my closet and find a new pair of "goal" pants. This will be another size down from my former "goal" pants. I am also going to make a conscious effort to exercise more. I figure I lost weight the last cycle with some exercise, but not nearly what I should have been doing to really keep my "furnace" burning. So, this morning, I woke up at 6:15 and went for a 30 minute brisk walk. I was amazed at how much ground I covered when I'm not stopping every two feet to look at a dandelion or pinecone (though I do very much enjoy my walks with Kyra). We'll see how I do in the next 4-6 weeks. If I get the chance, I'll have Rich take a picture of me in my "old" jeans.