Change Up

Our next trail adventure is this weekend. We will leave after my Saturday market, drive to North Georgia, hike for 3-4 hours, spend the night in a hotel, and then hike for 6-8 hours, drive home to see our boys, especially Matthew who will have gotten in from his mission trip to Honduras.
I have changed up my exercise plan -- that is, after I could actually walk upright -- to better prepare myself. Mondays, I still run/walk. I am up to 12 2 minute running segments with one minute rests in between. Tuesday, Wednesday, Fridays, I am on that damn stairmaster and Sundays I do a training hike. These past two Sundays I have gone to the Big Trees Preserve here in Sandy Springs and loved every single minute of my 2 hours walk/1 hour walk with Don each weekend.
My body is definitely changing. My thighs seem thinner, my stomach is flatter and my clothes seem looser, especially in the tummy/hip area. I intend to weigh next Thursday at Weight Watchers, really more to assess than anything and I am going to try not to obsess about that number. I have a hard time in this area, as anyone who knows me will attest.
But what is really changing is my mind. This is the first time IN MY LIFE that I have been excited about about a fitness adventure. I LOVE hiking. I love being sweaty (don't fall down, all my coaches and gym teachers of the past....)at the end of a great walk. It is hard for me to explain, even to myself, the euphoria I feel after stomping around a trail in a nature preserve for a couple of hours. This just isn't a Sylvia thing.
And because of this, I really have put my training stuff, i.e. the gym, in a special place. This is the longest in my life that I have been consistent with my gym workouts. And, I have to say, I have joined a lot of gyms in my day.
There is a lot positive about this adventure and I am thrilled about it.