The perils of living on a mountain

B-rad & I have been working on losing weight.  He decided that he looked like a giant pumpkin in the pic I took of him & Brady w/ his toolbox at graduation & that was it.

As is B-rad's personality - he jumps in w/ both feet (sometimes more) & he's been doing really well w/ his diet.  He has lost over 20 pounds so far.  I could tell like a week or two in that he had lost weight in his stomach & face.  (Men are bastards...)  He has also noticed a difference this summer when we've gone to the lake & he wake boards.  He has more stamina & can wake board for longer periods of time.  

He's been working w/ Butterfly & Alicia (Thank you, Alicia, for all the encouragement & advice you give him!) to find out what he needs to do for exercise & eat & all that horrible stuff.  Butterfly told him he was NOT allowed to run until he was under 200 lbs because he would blow out his knees.  Now-who would normally know this kind of info?  I didn't.  So really, B-rad's been very fortunate to have two health nuts people to give him advice to do things properly.  

He borrowed a bike from Butterfly to ride because he used to have a bike that he would ride at lunch at work & he really enjoyed that. (He has since bought a more suitable bike for riding long distances.  It's super light...)  He also gets a membership discount at the Y through his work so he joined there & tries to swim a couple of times a week.  

As for me - I'm not so much the 'jump in w/ both feet' kinda person. I have been walking & trying to eat less... sounds simple enough, huh?  I also bought a Fitbit to count my steps.  That's been a really cool way to keep me motivated because on average you should have 10,000 steps a day.  WELL-I sit at a desk all day & if I get 3,000 steps a day I consider myself lucky.  Being able to see an actual count in black & white I get all proud of myself when I do over 10,000!  Plus my Fitbit gives me a big, green SMILE!  (of course 'there's an app for that' & I do love me some apps...)  

I drink water.  And water.  And more water.  When I go out to eat I try to get lemonade rather than coke.  (I don't like tap water from restaurants.  YUCK.)  

As far as eating - I try to eat serving sizes.  If it says I can eat 4 Twizzlers, by GOD I am eating all FOUR Twizzlers I'm allowed!  We still eat out - but we try to make changes there too.  We usually share fries (which I hate doing because I L-O-V-E fries...).  Really - to me - it's a lot about portion control.  I have convinced myself think I can eat whatever I want -  IN MODERATION.  

I HATE walking on the treadmill...it's soooo boring.  I watch tv, I listen to music but I still hate it.  When the weather is nice I like to walk outside...

But we live on top of a mountain so either way I walk - I gotta go UP to get back home...

Ok- so technically it's probably considered a hill...but when you're walking up it huffing & puffing it feels like a mountain...

Our field covers almost 1/2 mile of one of my paths.  See how the beans come to a point there in the middle?  Yea-the road goes right along w/ them...

And ya'll, this hill is TOUGH.  When I get ready to climb it I have already walked a mile & a half...

 I like walking down our road because:

 A) it consists mainly of our field {my property, my business}  

B) There aren't many homes to pass (see reason A).  

(less people for me to think are gonna kidnap & kill me...)

A couple of weeks ago I decided to go down the other side of our road.  There are more houses on that side, but it would get me to another road that consisted ONLY of farm ground (not ours - but still not houses that had people who could kidnap & kill me..)  The total trip for that path is 2.65 miles.  (& while I fully realize you may be thinking, 'HUH.  2 miles one way... 2.65 miles the other - that's not that much.... Well it may not be, but I'm happy w/ it - so there. It takes roughly 45 minutes for 2 miles & 1 hour for 2.65.  I'm happy w/ moving & getting my heart rate up 45-60 minutes a day...)

B-rad warned, 'You know - it's a steady incline from Corydon Ramsey Rd to our house.'

I said, "PSSSSSH, it can't be as bad as our hill..."

Well, it's not as bad as our hill, but it's still a pain in the ass... & of course it's also ALL up hill at the END of my walk.  Hmph.

I did find out that the road I walk that is only fields is seriously heavily traveled for a country road!  I had no idea!  (But now I have to worry about people in cars wanting to kidnap & kill me...)

And when I'm done - I'm red & sweaty & tired.

Now-I'm sure you're dying for all the sordid details of how much weight I've lost... Well, I DON'T KNOW.  Honestly -  I don't weigh myself.  I know me & if I have been walking my ass off & not eating & don't lose weight or only lose a few pounds I will get pissed off, discouraged & quit.  

SO-what I base my success on is the fact that I have to tighten my belt a notch (or 2) tighter, that my clothes fit differently & that my knees don't hurt anymore... (which is what started this whole thing for me - I couldn't stand up w/out my knees KILLING me. {& stairs? OH LORD stairs hurt my knees..}  I'm not old enough for that bullshit...)