ME

Here I am at 7:36 pm, with a cup of green tea, the first day down. I did indeed rise at 5:14, throw on some clothes, set the coffee maker, and go out the door. And I did do the exercise tape for an hour, but only 3 miles, not four. I never can do the four, as my stride is simply not long enough. But today, I could not even keep up with the tape. It's called "Walking with the Sergeant", and I have five, all in different speeds, but none less than the four mile per hour pace, and that is not consistent. It starts slower, goes faster in the middle, and then winds down. They are good, but I realized fairly early on this morning that right now at least, I can only do this every other day. At least for the month of August, that's what I will do.

And I did not do any more exercise either. Although I did walk around Jewel finishing the grocery shopping. I guess I must start smaller and build up. Tomorrow I will do the upper body work and stretches, and maybe some dancing in the basement. I have a great Beethoven CD, the Ritterballet, which has some wonderful music.

As far as food goes, it was no problem. Stuck with it all day. Was hungry at times, but not horribly. But now I'm tired. Will probably go to bed soon, as I plan to be up at 5:15 tomorrow. Set the coffee and do the exercises then, just get them out of the way. It really opens up the day.

And I want to add an addendum about The Illinois Prairie Path, which Is what I walk. I have never seen the prairie plants so glorious. Must be all the rain. A stretch even has plants taller than I am. Somebody's lilac bee balm escaped into it also. Cone flowers, yellow ones, all sorts of other stuff. And the morning, soft and lovely. Was a pleasure to be out there. Why do I ever quit? And I was most certainly not alone, even at that early Saturday morning hour. Tons of joggers, a few bikers and walkers, and of course dog walkers. And all slim. It is an exerciser's paradise.