If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. Anne Bradstreet

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Ether 12:27

Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season therof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion. D&C 59:18-20

Sunday, May 22, 2011

A new change in my Plan -- Increase steps from 800 to 900

I had just started my steps on Thursday night (5-19-11) when I felt inspired to increase the number from 800 to 900.  I quickly responded that I wanted to wait till  . . . but the thought was cut off in my mind, and I continued to feel inspired to increase to 900.  So I did.  Thursday night is my Odd-Day routine, where I do arm exercises while doing the steps.  When I was doing 500 steps, I only did 5 arm exercises, 100 for each, in sets of 20, and I would work up to doing the arm exercise for about 15 out of each 20.  When I graduated to 600 steps, I simply did 120 for each of the 5 exercises.  At 700 steps, I added 2 more arm exercises to do and still did 100 for each, with 10 out of each 20 steps doing the arm exercise, and the remaining 10 holding the weights in my hands.  By that time I was up to the 10# weights.  At 800 steps, I started doing 120 steps for each of the main 5 arm exercises, and 100 steps for the remaining 2.  Now at 900 steps, I do 140 for each of the 5 main exercises and 100 for the remaining 2.

It was quite a challenge to jump from 800 to 900 steps, but I got it done.  The next night, Friday night, was my Even-Day routine of doing the steps with added weight equivalent to what I've lost during this current plan.  On Friday night, that was 28 lbs.  I use ankle weights, wrist weights, and a weighted vest.  Even though I'm doing nothing but the steps, the added weight is quite a challenge, more so than the Odd-Day routine.

In addition to the added difficulty of the steps, I've been doing a lot of yard work.  So I'm very, very glad today is Sunday and I can rest from all my labors!

I'm getting very close to my 2nd short-term goal of breaking through the 184.2 low that I set twice before -- as the weights for the last three mornings are:  185.4, 184.6, 185.0.    I'll wait until I've broken through before publishing another chart, since I just published one a few days ago.

As far as weights, if I were using a scale that showed only lbs, there wouldn't be any change for days.  It all comes out in the wash, but there is a definite psychological advantage to see some incremental improvement.  At least I think so.

If you are looking for a good scale, I recommend HealthMeter.  I picked mine up at an Alco store years ago, and it's so dependable and consistent.  If you can't weigh yourself 2-3 times consecutively and get the same weight, you don't have an accurate scale.  If you can't weigh and then pick the scale up and move it to another place, and weigh again with the same results, you don't have an accurate scale.  With my HealthMeter, I can do that.

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