Step 1: Diet (Eat Less, Move More)

It seems I have hit that magical age where my metabolism has slowed down.  Mom always said it would happen, but I didn't  believe it.  Of course my lack of activity for the last couple of years has not helped with that. So now I am going to work at reversing the effects of my sedentary lifestyle. For me, the scales are not the telling factor in my weight gain, but my clothes are.  In the last 2 years, I have gone up two pant sizes, and my "fat" pants are getting uncomfortably tight.  I have no desire to pick up another size.

Before my last pregnancy, I was very active.  I carried my son so low, that he put a lot of pressure on my pelvic bone, so I slowed down a lot.  Moving in general was extremely uncomfortable. He will be 2 in November, and I am still not moving enough. TIME TO TAKE IT BACK!

My husband and I talk about all the fad diets on the market that people pay big bucks for.  Our philosophy for weight loss is Eat Less; Move More.  It's simple.  If I want to lose weight and get in shape, then I have to burn more calories than I eat. So for 3 days this week, I have been working on that.  We are on a pretty tight budget, so I had to find a cheap workout.  I have 3 children during the day, so I need something that I can do while watching them (I tried yoga in the past, but it is difficult to do while the children are "helping" with the workout).  So I came up with a solution to kick start my change.  Here is a picture of my exercise equipment.

 Yep, it's a reel mower and I have had this about 10 years. It still works well, but could use a sharpening. It takes a little longer than a gas mower (okay, a lot longer).  That's okay, because the purpose isn't to do the whole yard, but to get up and get moving. I am trimming the back yard in 30 minute increments each day to get back in shape. I can watch and hear the children while they play.  I  like that it doesn't propel objects and dirt like the gas mower, so I don't have to worry about hitting the children with debris and injuring them .  Does this mean my husband no longer has to mow...NOPE. We live in Florida where it rains almost every day, and the grass grows very fast.  So I may cut down on how much he has to mow. I am only working in the back yard for now, so he still gets the front and side yards.

I actually started this on Tuesday. Let me tell you, I didn't think my timer for 30 minutes would EVER go off.  I keep taking my phone out of my pocket to see if the timer was still running. I think there may be a wocket in my pocket that is playing with the buttons.  Today the last 3 minutes were the longest ever.  When  I stopped, my heart rate was elevated, and I was feeling pretty good about getting moving. And overall, that is the point of the activity.  

Believe it or not, getting moving actually helps a lot with Taking Back my mental and spiritual health.   Something about physical activity helps clear the mind.  Something about increased endorphin levels and what not.  It's been a while since my college days of physical fitness and my memory is a little foggy on the subject. Walking briskly back and forth across the yard also gives lots of time for personal introspection.

So, let's see if we can keep up this part of  Taking It Back.  I am hoping to see results (my "fat" pants fitting) in a couple of weeks or so.  I have actually been working on the spiritual changes over the last few months just by opening the Good Book on a daily basis.  More on that at a later date.