Road Trip Check-in
I have been missing in action again. This was an unplanned computer break. To make a long story short, I had an appointment with my doctor Monday afternoon. I forgot to ask y’all to pray for me, but I went to have a place on my arm checked. I suffered a blistering burn in high school and have been watching a spot for years that started changing recently. It turns out that I do not have skin cancer, which is a good thing. It is something else, but thankfully it is not likely to result in cancer. I do believe God led me to schedule this appointment. Peace of mind is nice, but my doctor also gave me a good kick in the butt about my weight. I am having hormonal problems, and I have a weight goal for the Road Trip now. I weighed 216 pounds Monday afternoon. My doctor wants me to shed 36 pounds sooner rather than later. We can regulate my hormones with birth control pills, but it is not worth the risk at my current weight. Several of his patients have lost over 100 pounds in less than a year. I am greatly encouraged because they did not resort to pills or surgery or a legalistic diet. He prescribed cardio, cardio, and more cardio for me. He wants me to do 90 minutes of cardio at least 5 days a week and preferably 6 days a week. My eating and calories are right on target according to him, but he told me that I am not exercising enough. Oh my! I am grateful that he did not counsel me to cut my calories, but I was shocked when he told me that 60 minutes of exercise a day is not enough for significant weight loss at my age and size! Apparently, being more than 50 pounds overweight causes hormonal changes and makes it more difficult to shed the stubborn fat.
I went to my friend’s cardio boot camp class Monday after work. She is in total agreement with everything my doctor told me. It has worked for me in the past. It is the only thing that has worked for me. My Cathe rotation is solid, so I am planning to supplement with a second cardio session after work. My personal trainer friend and my doctor both reminded me that I can split my workouts into more than one session. My friend and all her clients are in amazing shape, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for her.
I figured out how to use the self-timer on my digital camera this week and took a self-portrait wearing my Cathe “embrace the challenge” baseball tee. It does not look as bad as I imagined. I still have a long way to go, but I can do this.
My morning workouts so far this week have been Rhythmic Step Sunday morning, Drill Max cardio leg blast premix Monday morning, Body Max 2 cardio and weights premix Tuesday morning, and Cardio Kicks this morning. I did my friend’s cardio boot camp class Monday after work and bounced on my rebounder last night. I wasted several hours tonight resolving a customer service issue with my phone company. I was hoping to go to the club and jog in the pool with Rebecca, but that did not happen. I am crashing a friend’s wedding tomorrow night, so my second workout will not likely happen. I am avoiding the pit of legalism and giving myself a lot of grace with my second workout of the day. My game plan is to stick with my planned Cathe rotation every morning and supplement with extra cardio in the evening when I have time and energy to do so. I know from experience that wearing myself out will backfire on me in the long run. My second workout of the day will usually be something gentle like rebounding, jogging in the pool, or enjoying a nice walk at the lake. The club just bought all new cardio machines that are equipped with LCD TVs. I can ride the recumbent bike and watch a movie or other show. I want to try the new arc trainer too. As I have shared before, I am a morning glory girl. My Cathe workouts are what I do for results. My extra cardio after work needs to be fun, joint-friendly, relaxing, and not over the top in intensity.
Low Impact Circuit is in my DVD player for tomorrow morning. If I get home too late from my friend’s wedding tomorrow night, I will check-in again over the holiday weekend.
Blessings,
Heather B.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).
