Exercise

After 41 years, I'm finally discovering that daily exercise really makes a difference to me - not just in my fitness amd weight level, but in my overall mood and motivation.  Who knew?! :)

Since I got back from holidays (ie 12 days ago), I've exercised at least 20 minutes each day - most days over 30, a couple of days up to 45 mins.  I'm mixing it up, some days on the Wii Fit, some days I go for a walk / run, tomorrow I'll have Defendo class (eeeek!).  Today I was feeling really tired and slothful, so mid-afternoon I forced myself to do a couple of 10 min workouts I found on YouTube.  And funnily enough, I got a modicum of energy back.

I'm finding doing my workout first thing in the morning works best for me - then its done and I don't have to worry about it anymore. It also boosts me for the day - making me eat better and have more energy and focus. 

This is all very strange for me - I've never been a sports person, or an exercise person.  Last year when I lost 7 kgs over 6 months was the longest I'd ever consistently exercised and that was generally 3 or 4 times a week.  Daily is something else again!

One thing I've never been able to do is run - even as a kid I avoided it at all costs.  (Especially the cross-country runs the nasty PE teacher used to make us do for sport!)  As an adult - well, its quite easy to avoid running if you don't play sport!  So it was quite a shock to the system when I started Defendo and our warm-ups often involve running.  Not fair!!

Towards the end of last year, I started toying with running.  I'd go out on my walks and would try to run from one driveway to the next a few times (we live in an estate with wide front yards!).  I really had no idea what I was doing or any plan to measure if I was improving.  I made a goal this year to improve my aerobic fitness - one way is by running.  Last week at the library, my attention was snagged by a book called The Complete Idiots Guide to Running.  Yep, that sounded like me.

One of the things I was excited to see (yeah, I couldn't believe it either!) was a schedule for building up from running 0 minutes to running 30 minutes in nice incremental babysteps.  You can find it here if you're interested.  You just had to be able to walk for 30 minutes to start - easy, peasy, I could do that.

So far, I'm up to Workout 3 of Week 1.  Yesterday, as per workout 3, I walked for 10 minutes, then for the next 15 minutes, I alternately ran for 2 minutes and walked 1 minute, then finished off by walking for 5 minutes.  Now, I'm sure those of you who can run are sniggering, but it was a big step for me.  That meant I ran 10 minutes (non-consecutively, but still!)  I plan to repeat that workout again next time I go out for a walk.  (Because while I did it, I really struggled through the end).

I'm sure that it will take me far longer than the 4 weeks they've scheduled, but slow and steady will do me fine.  I hope to be able to run for 30 minutes by the end of the year. 

Any tips gratefully received :)

Oh and I've lost 2kg since I came back from holidays.  I think that was the 2kg I found over Xmas!