Challenge Accepted!

                                         sweet new watch that should be somewhere in the middle of the post

Bragging Time!

   I am so excited.  As I sit here calmly with a blah expression on my face. No really, I am.  I am the new face of Sami's 30 Day Weight Loss Challenge!!  The challenge isn't over and I started it so I'm basically paying myself.  I have yet to receive a paycheck. I'm starting to think it might be a scam.
   Ok, but seriously.  Three weeks ago, I was getting frustrated with my laziness, tiredness, and lack of exercise.  It was summer and I was barely riding the bike, definitely not jogging, and just generally being lame.  I decided to challenge myself to walk for 30 minutes* everyday** for 30 days***.
   I weighed myself and got my waist measurement and wrote it down and decided to do that once a week since I've heard weight fluctuates daily and I didn't want to get discouraged.  If nothing much happened, great, fine, at least I got some exercise.  But I was hoping Something would happen.  And oh boy.  Something did.  I sprayed a dog with pepper spray, that's what happened!
   I was pretty good and pretty bland the first week.  Most days I got 30 minutes in, a few were 20 minutes on the treadmill (I just get so bored! And the computer screen keeps going to sleep after 10 minutes when I'm watching netflix!) One day was swimming in the pool, but I actually did "laps" and stuff.  First measurement I had lost a couple pounds and 1 inch!+
  Oh man! I was excited and prepared to watch the pounds fall off!  I attacked the next week with gusto! And the week attacked back - it was mega hot! On hot days, I would usually try to get up early so the heat wasn't so bad.  But when it is 90% humidity the heat is bad at ANYTIME.  So I just sweated through it and drank a cold beverage when I got home and showered.  Not any less sweating than I was doing normally.  I had also read an article in one of those woman's magazines that I got for FREE from the local library and therefore didn't mind the toddler niece "reading" and ripping it up next to me poolside.  She had a lot of fun and kept looking over at me to make sure I was still doing what she was doing.  So cute. Anyway, the article talked about how it was better for a fat burning workout to vary your walking speed than just walk same speed for the whole workout. They had this lovely timetable of:
  3 minutes warm up - slowish walk
4 mins moderate walking
4 mins fast walking/hard breathing
and repeat the 4 mins 3 times and then 3 minute cool down.
   I tried this.  It was difficult.  Because I usually walk fairly fast and it doesn't wind me.  I have to be running to be breathing hard.  In order to walk "fast" I'm basically jogging cuz my legs can't go any faster in the walking way.  And I have to pump my arms ridiculously to make myself go faster.  So people mock me.  Like my husband.  But I still do it.  When he isn't there to watch me. The worst part was trying to time myself on my teeny analog watch with colored numbers in some of the spaces. Some didn't have numbers at all so I did a lot of guessing.
  Second week down, as well as the weight (yay!) and the inches stayed the same! Ok, at least I didn't gain any.  Side note, during this time, I did not change my eating habits.  I bought a box of mini snickers ice cream bars, ok? Also its summer, so I'm eating s'mores and BBQ and hot dogs and soft pretzels (actually no, but I wish), etc. 
  Third week, I'm gonna go to the store, mostly for Starbucks and ice cream and a watch with a stopwatch or something!  Monday morning constitutional...I spray a dog!  Then go to the store and get the previous mentioned things!  Sweet new bright green watch, on clearance, with big digital numbers and stopwatch!
   I mostly do the interval (as I call it, it might really be called something else) walking but if I'm sick of it I just walk normal.  Better than nothing.  Also, some days I get really excited and just start jogging.  Usually its when I'm wearing my running shoes and a dog is chasing me! Just kidding about the dog.  I just spray them. 
  SO now 3 weeks down and I have lost a total of 3 inches!!!! and 6 pounds!!!!  I am so excited and wanted to share this wondrous news of a nice, simple, easy to do and easy on you workout that works! At least for now.  I might have to step things up after a bit once my body gets used to it, but whatever! Now I'm off to have my coffee and eat a bagel with cream cheese! OH yea, carbs and dairy/fat.  YUM.  Those mini ice cream bars are also calling my name.  At 9:30 in the morning.  Boodles?! This is what spell check says when I wanted to write toodles.  Boodles. Apparently its a restaurant and a type of gin.
Boodles!

*I try as much as possible, but if there is a day where time-wise I can only do 20 or 25 mins, then I do that cuz something is better than nothing. 
**Yes yes.  Even Sunday.  Why not?  I still eat ice cream on Sundays! Especially on Sundaes!! hahahaha
***I have nothing to say about this, I just didn't want the days to feel left out.
+results not typical. Actually they may be.  I have no idea.