Wednesday Weigh In: Week One

Okay, this isn't the first official weigh in as I have had weigh ins since the end of January but it is the first weigh in for this blog.  So how did I do on the numbers, I have managed to lose 1.76 pounds making my weight 231 officially.

Every number lower is a boost but I was actually expecting a higher number this week as I am exercising more. With more exercise comes muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so it is not uncommon to see a weight gain while you are building muscle.

But I am down and I have just finished day 4 of my challenges.  Yesterday was a tough day and I didn't get my laps in until late, around 8pm.  After going through my day, taking the kids to their activities and getting through dinner (which hubby made for me), I was exhausted.  My body hurt and my mind just wasn't in it.  I was going to make the day my official "rest" day for swimming.

Finally, at 7:30, I decided that if I gave myself a rest day, I wouldn't go back to doing it tomorrow.  So instead of resting, I slipped on my bathing suit and got into the pool. The kids came with me and for half of my laps, they swam laps with me before they started playing in the shallow end.  I pushed myself a bit harder than the first two days and did 25 laps before my limbs were starting to scream at me to stop.  I pushed a bit harder and finished up at 30 laps completed...or about 0.34 of a mile.  My goal is to reach a mile without having to stop by the end of the month.  Three days in and I am over a quarter mile, which is great!

One thing that I realized is that the times when I need to push the hardest are the days when I want to give up or go into "resting" mode.  Today, I plan on doing 30 laps and then adding a long walk into my regime for my rest day.

Another thing that I realized is that it is important to push myself but not too far.  Yes, I probably could have done 40 or even 50 laps but pushing too far, too fast will only cause me to crash and that is the farthest thing that I want to do.

And finally, I realized that my kids are overjoyed that I am working out.  My oldest is doing a 30 sit ups each day for 30 days (his choice, not mine) and I heard them both talking about how great it is to see me exercising.  My youngest says he will do swim laps with me every day until the end of summer.  I noticed that they have started to challenge themselves when it comes to staying active because they are watching me.  So thankfully, it seems that we are building healthy habits together.

How are you doing on your own goals?  Please share some of your successes or things you have realized as you take a journey towards healthy living.