HCC Fit Club

I have been trying to get in shape for about a year now. My doctor told me to exercise five days a week. It took me a while to get up to five days, but now I'm pretty regular and I go into exercise withdrawal if I don't make my five days.

I did, however, decide last year not to get on the scale for fear that I'd become number obsessed. So I didn't get on the scale for six months. People were telling that I looked like I'd lost weight and even some of my pants are fitting me different, better. So I decided in July to see how much I had lost. To my surprise, I hadn't lost any weight and in fact, I gained 10 pounds.

You can imagine the pity party that began. I emailed my exercise instructor to ask her what to do to kick start the weight losss and she told me to start a food journal and to increase my cardio. I'm not a big fan of the food journal at all. I did one before and I really didn't know what I was doing. But she told me about a website that would help you keep your journal. Fitday.com fills in the calories, keeps track of your progress and helps you set goals. I haven't been completely faithful to it on a daily basis but I'm getting better.

My exercise instructor also did something else with me. She got me to start walking in the morning, 7:30 am to 8:30 - three miles around the track. Now keep in mind, August in Maryland is hotter than hot. It'll be 90 degrees and feel like 105. In the morning, it's hot, albeit not as hot as noontime. But still hot enough that I have to take a shower after walking. But I guess it's helped because in the past three weeks, I've lost 10 pounds. So it's a good start. She's out there three days a week, walking faster than I can walk, telling me to keep up with her. It's wearing me out, but I'm doing it.

My exercise instructor jokingly asked me if I wanted to be a size 4. I don't know if I was ever a size 4, so I can't really say. I would be happy if I went back to a 8 or 10. I don't want to be thin like most of the people on TV. I really just want to be healthy and I want to feel better about my appearance. I used to take much better care of myself. I want to get back to that.