Exercise - I AM DOING IT!!!

I have this new Exercise Ball - you know - the balance ball kind at the gym - the one that you can purchase at Target or your local store, put air in it and bounce on it - forget the gym, you can do it at home. Well, I got this ball about a month ago from Mer and have not used it but once. I think my son has had more fun with it then I have. Wondering what to do with it besides sit on it and balance was going to have to be researched. Do I look it up on the internet or get a DVD or better yet - what about Mer's sister - she has a Pilates studio - I have seen these balls at her place before - she can help me. I thought that she could just write up some exercises for me to do, but it really is not that easy writing these things down. So, this Saturday I headed down to the South Bay and was excited about this pending workout session. I was correct - it was AWESOME!!

I learned so much about muscles and the stretching that I was not doing and that I don't just sit on the ball. I kind of knew there was more, but was I totally surprised at all the things I learned. I even got an anatomy lesson about the one muscle that goes from my back area all the way to the top of my leg. That when I sit all day (which I do working my 8-9 hours behind a computer) the back part of the muscle is getting smaller as I sit and at the end of the day I really need to stretch it out (and other muscles too). Plus, I am not doing that at all. What is going to happen when I get old - my body is going to shut down faster! I learned that is one reason I have this tinge in the front of my leg when I press down on this muscle - it needs to be stretched. Using just the ball is giving me the chance to work on strength, involve my son in a fun game, stretch myself out and wow - what a concept - even help myself lose weight while having fun.

With Sunday came mowing the lawn - both front and back - I have a huge lawn - this is just part of the backyard...(times this picture by 3 - that is the size of just the back)...(I love my house)...

It took me 2 hours to do the front and back lawn. I had to weed part of the front and did some minor cleaning up. I didn't even get a chance to do the trimming (my trimmer is broken and well, after 2 hours I was done). My yard is a lot of work - even more so since I don't have a bag on the lawn mower (got it free) and until I can replace that free gift I have to rack the lawn trimmings. The whole time I was mowing today it occured to me that I have been here before. I have huffed and puffed, groaned and moaned, been out of breath and just worn out. However, today was a bit different! I don't know if it was the windy bit chilly weather, but I didn't really break a sweat. I wasn't worn out until just about the end. I kept going and only got annoyed at the electric cord once or twice. I felt good after the job was complete and realized that I got through it a bit easier because I didn't have 22 extra pounds to carry around. I then started to think - what is going to happen when I am down another 20 and another 20 - wow - I will be able to do the lawn faster and easier, the rock wall I want to climb will be possible, I can play soccer with my son for longer then 5 minutes. WOW - look what I am accomplishing!!!

This was a great weekend for me!!  But, ouch my legs!! Just getting up and down has been hard for me today. I am amazed at the muscle pain I am feeling. It is good - I know this - and wonder when it will go away. This time I will keep doing my exercises - day after day - the pain will go away - there will be new pains - but it is all good pain!!! I LOVE MY NEW LIFESTYLE!!!! Glad that I decided to make a change, sad that I didn't do this sooner or kept going the last time and the time before that and the time before that - what happened before - but not looking back - moving forward!!!! Doing this for me!!

Staying MOtivated