I always forget how exercise can help clear your head and make you feel better in the span of just an hour. Since I last posted about getting back in the game with my effort to get fit by summer, I haven’t lost any weight. Not at all. In fact, I think I may have actually put on a pound or two. :-/ I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but I’m finding it really, really hard to lose any weight right now. Granted, my kids were sick for a week, then I was sick for a week. I didn’t get to go running for nearly two weeks. I’m sure that contributed. I also haven’t been participating in my fitness group on Facebook, which was really helpful the first time I started losing weight. I desperately need to start hanging out in my group again!

I was pretty disgusted with myself yesterday when I looked in the mirror and saw how my clothes fit. I was even more disgusted looking at the number on the scale this morning. I was up early with the boys to get ready for school, and I decided that while they were eating breakfast, I would go and get my running gear on. I wasn’t sure how running would go, considering it had been a month since my last run… which was two weeks ago!

Everything seemed to be in my way once Adrian took the boys to school. I was all ready to go when I discovered that the dog had peed on the floor. There went several minutes cleaning it up and taking her outside again. On the drive to the park, I realized that I had forgotten my Polar heart monitor, which tracks my calorie burn, heart rate, and time. So aggravating! I turned around to go back home and got it. I was already in a bit of a bad mood.

But then something happened. I got to the park, started walking, turned my music up as loud as I could stand it, and before I knew it, I was lost in my environment and the beauty of the park. My head cleared and my mood lifted.

I took a few loops around the trail so that I could walk by the lake and enjoy seeing the birds sitting on the fence.

Before I knew it, nearly an hour had passed. I ran intervals for about 2 miles and then power walked my way to a little over 3 miles. By the end of the walk, I felt relaxed and happy, with a smile on my face. I was also pumped that I had burned about 550 calories, according to my Polar monitor. 🙂

I’m going to try to maintain my mood this week by continuing the exercise. At least one short walk either Tuesday or Thursday (I am busy on Wednesday) and then another long walk on Friday. I hope I can keep it up – plus, I also have a goal this week to work on tracking my calories better in My Fitness Pal, as I’ve been slacking. With a little dedication, by next week, I will be happy to say that the number on the scale is a little lower, and that my pants are fitting a lot better! 🙂