Week One - Choices

I lost 13 pounds!

Well I can’t say my first week was unproblematic but I am really happy with my efforts and results. I am making changes here and there and although there was a meal or two I could have done better, there were many that I think I did great.

I went into my first week knowing that exercising several times a week was going to be hard, but not only is it getting easier by the day, I am finding myself excited about doing it.

Another huge motivation for me is figuring out how many calories I am burning. I found a Calories Burned Calculator online which allows me to enter my weight, the duration of my exercising, the type of exercise I did and of course my energy level; and with a push of a button my totals are calculated. I figured out I burned a little over 5000 extra calories this week. I say extra because this calorie calculator can compute totals for things like shopping and sleeping, which I am not counting. Here’s how I did for my first week:

06/19 Walked neighborhood for an hour; 517 calories burned
06/20 Zumba class for an hour; 887 calories burned
06/21 Zumba class for an hour; 887 calories burned
06/23 Zumba class for an hour; 887 calories burned
06/24 Zumba class for an hour; 887 calories burned
06/25 Yard work for an hour and 15 minutes; 1016 calories burned

I started wondering how many calories I would need to burn to reach my goal of losing 75 pounds. The answer, thanks to Natural Physiques is 262,500! Knowing that I have a long way to reach my goal doesn’t scare me cause I know I can and will do it, and when it comes down to it, it’s all about choices.

Speaking of choices, I finally finished The Choice by Nicolas Sparks. It’s been on my to-do list for quite some time and I gave myself a goal to finish it this week. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it. The book is based on a man named Travis Parker who is faced with many hard choices throughout his life. Reading this book made me realize just how indecisive I am. I don’t know why but I have the hardest time making the easiest decisions: what movie to rent, what to have for dinner, what to serve at a party. Last night I had to decide if I was going to stay at my parents to look after my mom who wasn’t feeling well or go home to my apartment, exercise and attend a party I was looking forward to. I decided to keep my mom company. It turned out that I could keep my mom company and work out as well – I ended up working in the yard for a little over an hour and what’s really funny is that this morning I figured out how many calories I burned and it was more than I would have burned at my Zumba class! So not only was I able to be a good son, but I was able to get a better workout in and save myself the sixty dollars I was going to pay the gardener to come do it this weekend.

Somebody once said the biggest room in the world, is the room for improvement. I know that every day, in every way, I am getting better and better. And although I did a lot of activities by myself this week, I know I am not alone. I think pretty much everyone I know is trying to better him or herself in some way. Whether they are trying to overcome an addiction by tackling a new hobby, hiring life-coaches, talking to debt consolidators, checking into rehab, training for their first triathlon or just trying to jog for thirty minutes here and there so they don’t become “grande”...

If there’s one thing I’ve learned this week is that there are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.