Monday, August 14, 2017

I'm back and you'll never guess what I am doing?

Just looked it was the end of March when I last posted???  Crazy, crazy, crazy.  So I'm hoping to be back to posting daily because I am doing something that the long term readers will say, "No way is she doing that!!"

I am exercising.........I know what the heck, for someone who is allergic to exercise (honestly I am!) even I can't believe I am doing it.

First a bit of a back story.  You may or may not remember back at the end of September/beginning of October of 2016, I ended up in hospital with blood clots on both lungs and I was lucky I didn't die.  Now no one in the medical field blamed it on my weight or lack of exercise, but other people said that.  I was a sick bunny until the beginning of this year and have felt better and better with time.  I did the occasional walk, but nothing exciting.

As I live in Canada, we spend half the year bundled up in layers but eventually by May/June those layers come off and up pops our Summer body.  I saw my neighbour back at the end of June for the first time without those winter bundles on, and what a change, she had lost 27 lbs doing the Weight Watchers programme and looked great.  So that is what inspired me to get off my backside and start exercising.

My method of torture exercise: walking.  I put on my dh's Fitbit Flex and off I went.  I then decided to watch what I eat, as the word DIET for me has the following meanings:


  • starving
  • failure
  • not a happy bunny
I was going to join Weight Watchers, but I was not into the whole "lets talk as a group and see who is doing well or not."  Plus I couldn't be bothered trying to work out all those points etc.  I have no issue with people doing that, but it just isn't for me.  So I am doing my own thing and as I said I am not dieting (bad word), I am watching what I eat.

Back to the FitBit, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.  Did I mention I LOVE it?  Who knew walking so you could reach those 10,000 steps could be so addictive.  Add friends/family to your FitBit account and then you add a whole new level of competitiveness to the mix.

As I said I borrowed dh's FitBit flex to start with, then our son gave me a FitBit Alta, which I loved, but as I walk a lot of hills (I know hills!) and I wasn't getting credit or badges (YES you get badges 😄) I decided to upgrade to a FitBit Charge 2.


I should be paid by FitBit for all this praise shouldn't I 😏

So how well is all this working for me you ask?  Well here are some figures for you; since June 24th, 2016, I have:

  1. walked around 250 miles total
  2. averaged over 10,000 steps per day
  3. averaged 70 minutes of exercise per day
  4. lost 18 1/2 lbs
I have a long way to go and what I am doing works for me and may not be the way for other people to do it.  I am into my eighth week of doing this.  Over the next few weeks I will share with you what works for me and what doesn't.

Personally, as someone who hates exercising I am amazed at how much I love doing all this walking.


19 comments:

Northern Living Allowance said...

Wow! Gill! So happy to have you back and hear that you're fit(ter) and well(er)! How fantastic! Well done you - keep up the good work and I have no doubt you'll feel better and better as you go. xx

One Family said...

Awesome on the weight loss and glad to hear you are feeling much better than last you blogged. Glad to have you back!

Jenn Jilks said...

Very well done! Good to read all this. What a time you've had.

Maggie said...

Good for you! and wow, congratulations on the weight loss.

In my mid 40's i used to go to the gym 5 times a week, 2 hours every weekday morning, and i loved it, a change of working pattern meant i got out of the habit. I would LOVE to get back into the habit of doing something, I don't think i would be able to commit to the gym again but i keep telling myself I should go walking, and then I talk myself out of it again.

Looking forward to reading your progress, you might just give me some motivation :-)

Well done!

barbara woods said...

you go! Love that you are walking , it's been my choice for years but maybe you can get me into it again

Meg B. said...

Congratulations!

Frugally challenged said...

Lovely to see you back. I use a Fitbit and love it. There is no way that I could do 10000 steps but it still means I make sure I do as much as I can and I can't cheat!

Jean said...

Good Job!
Happy to hear from you again!

I came across a quote yesterday that fits
"There are no cheat days. There are days when you eat healthily and days you don't. As soon as you label a day a cheat day, you're on a diet. Don't be on a diet."

Keep doing what works for you!

Karen said...

GOOD ON YOU!!!
Those fitbits are great for inspiring people. My sister and daughter each bought one and challenged each other. Daughter has stepped it up a whole lot and started running.....Now she runs marathons!! Sister is a lady of a certain age so I don't think marathoning is on her bucket list.

flowerpower said...

That is great wishing you well.

50 and counting said...

Well done!

Retraining ourselves around food is hard.

angela said...

Well done.
Yes I love my Fitbit. Did you know you can put what you eat into it and it will count your calories
I dropped lots of weight doing that.
I got out of the habit and now I really need to start again
So once the wether gets better I'll be back lnto it.
Keep going. It really is the simplest was and you can maintain it
Unless you go camping and you can't recharge it. Lol

Linda aka Crafty Gardener said...

Way to go Gill, that is fantastic. I've heard lots of good things about FitBit so really much look into it.

Jane Karwat said...

I also walk and use a fitbit. I love it however you are right the Alta severely undercounts and like you, I have moved to a charge2. I use fitbits calorie counter which is also helpful. Just keep walking and awesome job! I live in Ontario as well and I do walk all year round. I dress for the weather.

sandi s said...

Congratulations to you. I wear a Fitbit too but still don't walk as much as I should. I'll be watching for your next to read what is working for you. Hugs,

Anonymous said...

I have a love-hate relationship with my fitbit (more love, but not entirely...). It makes me walk more, which I both love and hate! I call it my ocd-enhancer because of the way it makes me focus on meeting all the goals.

Jackie said...

Good work. I walk every day. A long walk in the morning, a walk to pick up the mail, and a shorter walk just before supper. However I just manage to maintain my weight. I think I need a fitbit so that I can count my steps.

God bless.

Winifred said...

Pleased you've recovered. I didn't blog for a while last year as we were away in Australia & New Zealand for a few weeks so must have missed your post about your health problems.

Nice to hear you're enoying, (maybe that was the wrong word) walking!

William Kendall said...

Good to see you!

I get a lot of walking in during the week. I recommend walking in malls in the winter when it's slippery outside.

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