I Do It To Myself

A vigorous five-mile walk

will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult

than all the medicine and psychology in the world.

~Paul Dudley White

I don't know why I should be surprised. I live in the Mountain west. It is January. I've lived in this environment off and on for most of my life. It snows in Jan. It even rains and then freezes in Jan. It gets windy and cold in Jan. It always does and God willing it always will. Deal, girl. Deal with it. So I'm dealing. I'm on day six of my path to fitness. I've had two good walks and I've resorted to using the stairs the other days. I'm also laughing because the whole week of Christmas the weather was so unseasonably warm and mild. What did I do during that time? Sat on my fluffy rear end and relaxed. I enjoyed every minute of it too. But of course now I'm pumped to make the change and old Mother Nature has other plans. Since I don't have to work today, I can sit at the living room window with my nose pressed to the pane and watch for any sign of a break in the weather. Today we were served pea soup. Thick, heavy and dangerous to be out walking on the roadside in. But the first sign of clearing and I'm out the door.

Update: I made it to the mailbox (3 blocks total) and back. Gale force winds, sideways snow, bitter cold and I suffered every step. I consoled myself with the thought that I must have expended at least 500 calories just keeping my body temperature out of the hypothermic range. Right? I did do the stairs. 15 sets throughout the day. And I moved two very heavy pieces of furniture. As Scarlett said "tomorrow is another day."