Workout Day 2

Well, I did it again...today I kept my heart rate up for a full hour today, which burned 680 calories! I'm not sure why it wasn't closer to 820, but I'm still happy with it. I worked out for a total of an hour and 20 minutes today... which is impressive for me!!

The heart rate monitor raised my range by two beats... yesterday it was 131-152 and today it was 133-152... I found that interesting, but also hard. I had to do my step routine with 3 pound weights the entire time (30 minutes!! WHEW!), and even with them at times I had to really pump my arms to get the heart rate up in range.

I am starting to feel better, and I lost another pound since yesterday!! I don't know how, but I'm taking it as a reward for two days of hard work.

Ya'll, I've come to a strange realization... all my life - I've been told to follow a 1,200 calorie diet to lose weight... and since that works for Meghan - it's going to be my magic number too. The thing that I find amazing though is that it's taken me a major surgery to be able to do that while being satisfied. How in the world would anyone ever expect me to be able to maintain a diet like that with my original stomach?!

I just find it amazing... because I always thought that I was just a major wimp before when I couldn't hang with the Total Body Makeover program, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and the like... ok - Weight Watchers is a bad example because the problem there was that I'd use all my points to eat bad things and then starve the rest of the day...

Anyway, I just find it amazing that even after the surgery - where I can only eat a fraction of what I was eating - I still find myself today having 70 calories over my 1,200 limit... and yesterday I was 200 over!! I just can't imagine trying it again with a full sized stomach.

I also would never be able to jump back into working out with the vigor that I'm doing it right now if I still had those 78 pounds hanging on to me... I am so thankful for the blessing that God has given me through this surgery.

I also find myself thinking about where I was 1 year ago... 2 weeks away from moving into our new house... and out of our second floor apartment - can you imagine?! I can't imagine that moving is ever easy - but what a different story it would be this year than it was last... I was so overwhelmed and tired even at the thought of the work, and we had MOVERS!! All I had to do was get the little stuff and unpack... and I still was completely exhausted and sick over the physical strain.

Again, what a difference a little time makes... I know deep in my heart that I never want to get back there... I just have to lean on God, make good choices, and keep moving in order to make that a long-term reality.