I gained weight after high school like alot of people. Though I was an athlete, there weren't sports in art school! Graduated straight into a sedentary job at a desk.

I would always want to loose weight, and would have mild success with home videos...but couldn't break through to meaningful change.

About 5 years ago I decided to invest in a trainer. I realized I don't have the knowledge to push myself or train myself on my own. I'm great at showing up in time for appointments, but not great at being consistent with home workouts. Needed accountability!

Anyway with her guidance, I lost about 30 lbs over a year or so. She taught me so much! I learned to love being strong and wanted to be healthy.

I also got a dog at that time, which was the biggest change. Because of this beast I'm a person who loves to walk, hike, explore...I would never do things like that before! Lots of calories burned.

About three years ago, I knew my trainer couldn't do any more for me unless I saw her more times a week, or had the discipline to do everything she told me. Again, I'm not great at working out on my own. So, I joined a local boot camp gym and have seen awesome next-level results from there.

Definitely a big journey took me longer than others, but I e kept off 40 lbs. Still have 20-30 to loose!

Yes x 3

It's been a very long time since I've deliberately exercised and so I started with two things. I saw my doctor to ensure there wasn't anything medically preventing me from getting active and the second thing I did was realize that being intentional about my exercise would help prevent injury.

I started in January 2019 with the gym treadmill. My goal was (and is) to walk continuously for 30 minutes each day. The amazing electronic readouts for pace, distance, incline, etc. were all new to me and a delight to figure out. For that first month I walked for 5 minutes at a pace of 1.8 mph, 5 minutes at 2.2 mph and then a cool down back to 1.8 mph for five minutes. My body did not rebel, my joints continued to be amazing, and so I deliberately increased my duration. Same 5 minute warm up and cool down but the 2.2 mph became a 10 minute interval. After two weeks I assessed how I felt. I felt ok.

Great! Now to try and go five days per week. I am still working on this goal.

Keeping the same 20 minute duration I increased my warm up / cool down pace to 2.2 mph and the ten minutes at 2.5 mph. Bit by bit that took me through the end of February. As my body continued to feel pretty darn good I started eyeing the weight stations around the gym. More on that later.

My plan is to keep alternating the increase in duration -OR- pace until I reach 30 minutes and slow jogging speed (4.0 mph). As of today I do 30 minutes with a warm up / cool down at 2.5 mph and 20 minutes at 3.0 mph. I keep gauging how my body is reacting to each change by doing it for at least two weeks and assessing how I feel, how I sleep and if I continue to lose weight.

To combat boredom and challenge different muscle groups I try to first assess if I can do something outside. I like to hit tennis balls against the backboard, water aerobics, or play golf. If those things aren't available or appealing, I go to the gym and start on the treadmill as my "go to" daily exercise. In March I began incorporating the weight stations into my routine, again using the principle of start, just start (!) and assess how you feel. I am past the minimum 7 or 10 pound weight for each station and have increased my reps from 10 to 20 and sets from 1 to 2. Lots of opportunity to improve over time, weight by weight, rep by rep, set by set. And that is how I manage my weight station work. If, after two weeks I am feeling ok then I increase one thing, like weight. Two weeks later, assess, increase reps. Do that for two weeks and assess.

To conclude this rather long post, I have decided that daily exercise is part of my life and I chose to manage it on my terms. An hour a day is good by me, it includes me changing out, walking, doing weights and still having balance in my life. This is my "go to" plan if I am not walking at the zoo with my grandchildren, or playing nine holes of golf with my girlfriends, etc. I am ok that my fitness will be a slow and deliberate progression and I have received some positive validation from my recent lab work and lower blood pressure readings in just three months.

Go me!

Pam