Ten Months and 25 BMI Points later...

Sep 13, 2011

Wow, is all I can say... I came home after doing my swim, did some gardening -- another great activity over just "exercising," to have my cat bring in his freshly killed bird.  Okay, I do not tell my cat to eat birds or mice, but I will allow him to eat the spoils of his conquest.  Some may disagree with me, but it is one way my cat gets extra protein and some exercise.  After thanking him for sharing with me, I proceeded to take the bird out on the deck, which in all the calling of his name, got my other cat interested -- SHE is out on the deck eating HIS fresh kill.  Ugh.

I think this story is a little appropriate, considering I was wanting to talk about the importance of protein, especially before and after I exercise.  I am currently chewing on left over steak that I sliced paper thin, and laughing at the irony of this situation.  My cat, Killer (he has lived up to the name), loves to spend time with me in my garden, and just caught the bird after I came inside to have a meal.  I think he was bringing me a present, as I heard him at the front door meowing to me.  I ignored him, as my food was hot & I was hungry.  My cat lovingly walked around my house, and up a flight of stairs, just to show me what a good provider he is.  Thanks Killer, but I already have a small steak, I don't think I'll have room for your sparrow... I wonder what the nutritional value - if any - of feathers?

My extreme time in the pool may not be for everyone, I get that.   I wanted to say that even if you break your exercise into a few short bursts, you are still getting the benefits I am!  No, you do not have to spend two hours swimming laps, not even one hour.  I do it mainly because I can.  Not everyone has a flexible schedule, and not everyone wants to work as hard as I do.  If you merely spend 15 minutes a few times a day raising & sustaining your heartbeat, you are getting an aerobic workout.  Before I was swimming, I used to take the flights of stairs in my home at various times a day.  I have two flights, so I will go down two, come up one or two - and just try to do this ten times a day.  Back before I started building my stamina, this was a LOT of exercise for me, but doable.

I am almost ten months out from surgery, and my weight loss has definitely slowed, so I try to push myself harder, as I still have a lot of weight to go.  Being active is a big part of the equation of losing excess weight.  Losing weight also helps motivate me to be active - so it really goes hand in hand.  I may not be able to do some of the activities I did ten years ago, but I am able to do more than I was able to do just five years ago!  What I like to tell folks about exercise, find something you really enjoy doing, it will be easier to make it a daily habit.

Over Labor Day Weekend I spent 18 hours over three days working on my yard.  So much for taking time off!  It was a moment I had been working toward for five years - removing every vine of ivy off of my property.  I was working on a rockery that is also a hill, so it was sort of amusing to my boyfriend watching me & my cat Killer climbing up & down this hill.  Killer loves his new play area, and seems to have found yet another path to get from the front of the house to the back.  You are welcome, Killer!  Blackberry bushes, the limbs of TEN maple trees, and moving a couple cords worth of tree rounds (from a 60 foot fir tree) was what keep me busy Labor Day Weekend.

Activity is something I missed when I was at my heaviest, and is something I actually crave now that I am on my way to losing my excess weight.  Being able to do something physically demanding for more than an hour at a time is very uplifting to me.  Being in a super morbidly obese body used to limit what I was able to do, but being in a merely morbidly obese body makes a huge difference -- you can chuckle here, I did.  I have lost over 25 BMI points, which is the equivalent of an adult body, which does feel like I lost someone riding me piggy back.  With at another 20 BMI points to go, I am seeing a light at the end of this tunnel.

Keep positive, become active, and remember to get as much protein in as you can! 

Brenda : )~

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