I’m here! I’m here!

There have been so many times I have sat down with the intention of posting here and at my other blogs, and I have just been way too exhausted. How things are so, so busy even though I’m off work this week, I don’t know…

I’m still getting up about an hour and a half earlier than I usually do every morning to exercise. I am so darned proud of myself! A solid hour of exercise every morning has been hard, but the pride and confidence that I get from doing with it and sticking with it (even if it hasn’t been quite two weeks yet) has made me feel amazing.

While my chiropractor was able to do amazing things with my ankle to alleviate pain, it’s still just not strong enough for a walk every morning (unless I want to limp home on the second day, which is no fun at all I can tell you from experience), so I’m alternating my walking days right now. On the opposite days, I’m doing a solid hour of…

Yep, my old friend. Wii Fit!

The first morning I opted for an hour of Wii Fit, I felt bad. I was sure I was cheating somehow, even though I was determined to do the same amount of time a walk would take, and even though I knew that I had to give my ankle some rest lest I damage it severely. So I did the hour and wow!

As it turns out, the Wii Fit is a more intense workout than the walking by heaps. I know that’s because there is only so much I can push walking because of my ankle, but still. Wow. I was really impressed and finally got shot with the clue gun that Wii Fit is like anything else – you get out of it what you put into it. And I have been putting some hardcore workout time into it.

While some people might not ever pair ‘hardcore’ with ‘Wii Fit’, I do because by the time I am done, I am exhausted, drenched with sweat and puffing. Woohoo!

I am so happy about this because it means that I don’t have to walk on rainy mornings if I don’t want to, and I can strengthen my ankle up slowly while still getting the amount of exercise I want. While my weight is still bobbing around, the past couple of days have showed definite losses. Happy, happy!

So I have the exercise, now I just have to get the eating and the mentality up to par.

I know exercise isn’t my forté, but I didn’t expect to have to stop a week and a half in…

The other night I screwed up my back something fierce, putting myself into a massive amount of pain all the way around my lower ribs and lower back. As you can imagine, getting right out there the next morning for a fitness walk wasn’t exactly my highest priority.

When I did give walking a go, I ended up either limping slightly or doing this very unattractive waddle.

Mmm. Get me some of that fat girl, yeah?

Anyway, so I took yesterday off and I’m taking today off as well. The pain has (thank the health gods) moved away from my ribs and is mostly settled into my hips, which is infinitely more tolerable. The limp seems to have disappeared for today, but I’m still being extra careful, as the husband and I have an overnight trip coming up, and the last thing I want to do is mess things up again.

I know I’m doing the best thing for my spine and my hips, but I can’t help feeling disappointed still. I had a good thing going.

Though cloudy, I enjoyed this morning’s walk a lot. It had the cool, crispness to it that makes you feel more awake.

Unlike yesterday, quite a few joggers, walkers and cyclists came out to play on the trails this morning. A special moment came when a border collie dashed excitedly around the trail, attempting to sniff anything and everything at once.

He ran up to me and stopped right in front of me, completely halting my walk for a moment. I almost reached out to pet him, but his owner didn’t look too friendly. Of course, he didn’t mind. He ran off about three seconds later, and I could just imagine what was going through his mind:

“We’re on a walk! We’re on a – Smells! New smells! Walkies! Oh, I love walkies. Look at that! Wow! Person! Ooooh, new smell. SMELLS! I LOVE WALKIES!”

So adorable. You just can’t help but smile.

I truly wish we had a dog. I’d love to have the wild exuberance and enthusiasm around me all the time.

Do you have a dog? What are your walks like?

Having started my new walking routine in Australia during the winter, I have been quite fortunate to have not gotten rained on during any of my morning walks so far.

Alas, today I traded the hand weights for the umbrella and got out there.

I’m quite proud of myself for having gotten out there on a rainy morning (of course it’s bright and sunny now). I had the thought that I could just put in some time on my elliptical, but I can’t go for a half hour on there, not to mention I’m trying to establish a habit here, people.

Besides the humidity on the last quarter of my walk, I actually didn’t mind walking in the rain. The bike/walking paths were blissfully empty.

For some reason, the rain brought out the – erm – ‘strong animal scents’ along the trail, but they didn’t last long. (Thank goodness!)

I’m still struggling a little with the whole food and mood things, but that’ll get sorted out. I’m just glad I got out there this morning!

Plus one exercise diva points.

This morning I got up early to go for my morning walk. It was a gorgeous, sunny morning (and has continued to be a beautiful day) and I almost regretted going out in my sweater. It’s still winter, but things are definitely warming up Down Under.

I saw a strange sight on my walk…

I don’t know about you, but where I am from, ducks stay on the ground.

Sure, they can fly. They fly around the water, the air, they fly south each winter. But they nest on the ground. They walk/waddle on the ground. Eat on the ground or in the water.

Today I saw not one but three ducks in a tree. A tree.

I have the feeling I am the only person who will find this weird, but where I am from, ducks to not go in trees. They just don’t. I couldn’t believe my eyes for a bit this morning, but there they were. Three ducks on a tree branch. A really, really tall tree branch, at that.

Are Australian ducks just weird or were the ducks we raised growing up just really unadventurous?

Weird…

I need to start bringing the camera on walks.