I'm not very good at .....

.....many things, but one of them is running/walking on the treadmill. Walking and eventual running have always been my favorite form of exercise (or anything I do with other people) but I have not seen great results since we got the treadmill. Of course, you do have to actually get ON the treadmill in order for it to work. I did start getting on it about seven months after we bought it. Now, my problem is staying on it.

First of all, I am still distracted by home-type things, such as the washing machine finishing and the television shows that are on. Second of all, I get a little hung up on the numbers of laps I am walking (???) and calories I am supposedly burning. My thoughts go to such places as the following: How do they know how many calories I am burning because that is different for each individual? How can it say I have walked two laps when I haven't gone anywhere? Why does the incline make such a difference and if I walk with a higher incline will my quad muscles actually get bigger instead of smaller? AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! In other words, it's like a mental breakdown, Amy style.

Thirdly, and most importantly, however, I am currently struggling with the treadmill because I am lazy. L. A. Z. Y. lazy. Previously in my life when walking, I would walk up to three miles away from home, be ready to quit, but have to get my fat ass back home somehow. This is the most successful running plan for people as lazy as me. That is why I need to be like my sister (who is not lazy and has more work ethic than anyone I know except my workaholic husband). My sister, whom I admire for lots of other good qualities as well, walks outdoors, year round, in VERMONT! I, in southern Indiana, or anywhere I have lived for that matter, have what I call a three-degree comfort zone. It is somewhere between 74 and 77 degrees with a slight breeze. If it is hotter than that, I am complaining, sweating, and light-headed. If it is colder than that, I am FREEEEEEZING, shivering, and loudly griping to anyone who will listen about how uncomfortable the weather is, how I miss Florida, and how my natural insulation (fat) should keep me warmer, but it doesn't. (It's really not quite that bad, but almost.)

Another bonus about walking outside is that I generally spend most of the time praying, listening to worship music, recognizing my blessings and not my challenges, and thinking about things I need to change in my heart. It seems much more focused, mature, and beneficial mentally and spiritually, as well as physically.

Thank God for the girls I have been doing P90X with for the last 7 weeks, because if I had to do it all on the treadmill, I would have gotten nowhere. Of course, I don't know how much I have lost because I am not weighing, but I do feel better about myself than I did when I started working out in January.

Loving the Tony Horton concept of not saying, "I can't" but phrasing it, "I am currently struggling with....." It seems so much more positive and hopeful, even when the fact may be that I truly can't, like basically ANY of the push-up and/or pull-up varieties in the P90X videos. All of us have come such a long way with our strength and our stamina....I am amazed at how exercising makes you feel about yourself, not just how your body feels. I plan to stick with some form of exercising after we return from Cancun.

Hopefully not the treadmill. love and hugs