Fat Dogs, Short Walks, Little Victories

I'm learning to and choosing to take this journey and celebrate each victory one day at a time. My verse this week is 1 Corinthians 9:24, which says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize. So run that you may obtain it."

I feel like God is saying to me these days, "You know what you need to do, so do it." Urgh! That hurts! Especially because what I need to do is exercise. I've dreaded this week, but I knew it was coming sooner or later. I knew God would make this part of my obedience to Him. And here it is!

I've tried to apply my verse of the week and really commit to incorporating exercise into my weekly routine. I'm trusting and letting myself be empowered by the thought that each day I choose to be active makes it that much easier to be active the next day. So, here's what I've done so far:

First, I wanted to set a goal for myself that was reachable and beneficial. Since I'm a WW member and have eTools online, I took their Activity Assessment. It showed that, since I'm starting exercise and haven't been very active, I should set a weekly goal of earning 14 activity points. That's basically going for a 20-minute walk every day, or a longer walk several days a week. It was a goal that I knew was achievable and that I couldn't make excuses for not meeting. Goal set!

Dog Tired... Abby-Li

Now to start moving... I walked two afternoons/evenings in a row with my dogs for 20 minutes in our neighborhood. My poor pups were so excited to go for a walk, but they were so out of shape! Poor things barely made it for the first couple of walks.

Note to self: if your dogs are fat, it's probably your fault.

The next day it rained, so I let my pedometer and a trip to the grocery store with my friend count for my activity. Yes, grocery shopping counts! Walking up and down every aisle in the store, pushing a cart, loading and unloading heavy bags... Yeah, it counts.

Saturday was beautifully cool and sunny outside, so I decided to take the dogs on a longer walk. We went for about 35 minutes, and poor Jaxon, my 10-year-old sheltie, was definitely ready to be home when we rounded the corner on our street. Poor thing! But we made it, and it was a beautiful walk. I felt great, too. The walks have been low-impact, not too fast, but still effective. I'm burning calories and enjoying the fresh air and sunlight instead of sitting on the couch with the glow of the TV. That's huge! It's a victory this week that I'm happy to celebrate.

Today's activity was house cleaning. I worked hard for over two hours scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, folding and putting away laundry, etc. Worked up a great sweat and earned a fresh smelling home as a result! Win-win!

Dog Tired... Jaxon

So how is my "exercise" routine going? So far so good. However, we've had beautiful days most of this week that have made it easy and even inviting to get outside and go for a walk. My house was dirty and needed to be cleaned before company came over. The victory I'm looking forward to the most is exercising and being active as a natural flow in my life. I know that it's going to get hard once the humid Houston summer sets in, and it will take a purposeful effort to find other outlets for exercise than walking the dogs.

But, like I said, I'm celebrating today... this week... not worrying about next week. The result: 20 activity points this week! I not only met my 14-point goal, but I exceeded it easily. Praise God!

The thing God is calling me to do right now, this week, is exercise. That's how He's asking me to live out the verse. My "run" and my "race" are little steps of obedience in a race that is far greater than a weigh-in on Tuesday or a target dress size.

What race has He set before you? Is He telling you the same thing He told me? "You know what you need to do, so do it!"

Faithfully, fluffully yours,