I've only lost a few pounds this year but I'm very happy with my progress because I've lost a lot of fat and gained a lot of (heavier but slim) muscle. Since January of 2008 I've managed to go for regular long walks a few times a week almost every week. I've kept a log of my mileage and have been averaging about 15 miles per week (with the exception of a few lazy weeks throughout the year).
My legs are a lot slimmer than a year ago, my butt has totally firmed up :-) and my middle-age belly is looking a lot better. I think the walking has even helped tone up my upper arms, as I haven't done any other kind of exercises but my arms feel much more toned.
I'm not overweight on the BMI scale but it would still be nice to weigh 10 pounds less. I've got an ambitious goal to walk an average of 30 miles per week for 2009. Doubling my mileage over last year may be a bit unrealistic and I likely won't be able to complete my New Year's Resolution but it feels worth shooting for.
I've really gotten to enjoy my walks and feel pretty keen about trying to meet the new goal. One thing I have to confess is I've been using a little prop that I don't think I could do without.
Walking would seem a little too boring without it. My personal secret motivator for getting out on that walk is the tiny little iPod I bought for under $80. (The price has since gone down to $49 as in the image above). My routine before every walk is to load up my iPod with about one hour of podcasts that I can listen to while walking.
I pass by a lot of other people walking or jogging with some sort of iPod or other type of MP3 device. I'm sure most of them are listening to music as they exercise. But in my case, I never download music as I find the podcasts are way more interesting. All the stuff I listen to is free and my favorite are the daily podcasts put out by NPR radio, the New York Times, Bloomberg News and some free Buddhist podcasts.
The iPod is so tiny that it's hard to find when you misplace it. There's been a few times when I couldn't find it and that was enough (not fully justified) reason to cancel my walk on those days.
I haven't paid any attention to limiting my food intake in 2008 and I don't plan on it in 2009. I think the increased exercise could easily do the trick of losing the weight. I have however been trying to limit my food intake to just healthy foods. Recently I stopped eating as much bread and cheese as this used to be my staple easy snack or lunch. I'm now eating wheat alternative breads but also choosing other types of snacks much more often.
I haven't posted here for a couple of months but hope to post regularily in 2009. A new year is here and there will be lots of success stories to write about.
Wishing you all a lot of resolve and motivation in your New Year's Resolutions!
