Don't Burn The Day Away (comments welcome)

[LuLuO]

The last 5 years have really knocked me for a loop both mentally and physically. After open heart surgery to repair a defect and over four months of cardiac rehab, I am finally ready to take back my life.

My ultimate goal is to live a healthy life and to be a good example for my children. I'm done abusing my body. True that my weight gain of about fifty pounds was likely caused by the effects of my heart defect, but now is the time to get up and get moving. I may not be as fast or as strong as some, but I am determined. Life is short and time's a wastin'.

My weight has gone up and down my whole life. I know that I am about fifty pounds heavier than I was before I became pregnant with my daughter in 2006. But, I don't plan to weight myself very often. At this point I am not much concerned about the numbers on the scale. Instead I am going to focus on developing healthy eating and exercise habits which will hopefully lead to a leaner, fitter me.

*I am using the app MyFitnessPal to keep track calories and exercise.
*This month I will exercise for at least 1500 minutes.

Thanks for looking!

 

[princesslvr]

You are exactly right, you are not the number on the scale. ( I keep trying to convince myself of that very same fact) Our children are the BEST reason to be healthy (other than ourselves)

 

[LuLuO]

I decided today would be my last day at cardiac rehab. The nurses felt I was ready to move on also. The goal was for me to get to the point where I could exercise at on my own and I can do that now. I have to keep close eye on my heart rate and blood pressure. I am feeling great and being active is a part of my life again. Go me!

 

[LuLuO]

So far so good. I've been exercising every day, except for one day when the flu knocked me for a loop. I'm watching my calories and general nutrition with the myfitnesspal app. It is helping me to make better choices in order to stay within my calorie range.

My GP has started this new program where some patients with ongoing health issues get to see a nurse practitioner for a health assessment and ongoing support. It's free so I'm taking advantage of it.

I tried out c25k for the treadmill, but I think I'm going to pass on that for now and do the program outside. I did start the 30-day Shred today. I had tried it a while back before I knew I had a heart problem and couldn't keep up. For the most part I managed to keep up this time so I'll be doing it again tomorrow.