November Walking Challenge - Day 12!

Wow... I can't believe I'm already 12 days into this walking challenge.  I do have a confession to make:

I'm terrible about sticking with something I start!!  Absolutely terrible. 

Even though I posted about the challenge, I really wasn't sure I'd stick with it.  And I knew it when I started it.  Still, I wanted to give it a try.  There have been a few days that I considered quitting.  I have so many excuses I could use... but by God's grace, I am sticking it out. 

To be honest, there has been NO weight loss since I started walking.  It has been very discouraging, yet I remind myself there have been two major factors that, I'm sure, have impacted my lack of loss.

1 - Hormones.  It sounds cliche, but the truth is... I've made a couple personal decisions regarding prescription meds that have wrecked havoc on my hormones.  My cycle is messed up and weird and thus... yes, hormones, has contributed.  

2 - For some reason... when you jump into an exercise program from a somewhat sedentary lifestyle, it seems to send your body into some kind of shock.  My sister, who loves researching these things, has a really good, scientific explanation for what happens.  It happened to both my sisters and myself when we all joined Weight Watchers three years ago.  We walked/exercised faithfully for weeks before it really started affecting the scale.  It is very discouraging, but I know if I can just stick it out... there will be a pay day soon!!

Another big challenge has been learning to curb my increased appetite.  When you work out and burn 500-600 calories, your body seems to think it needs food to replenish those calories. I'm still learning to curb that appetite or to fulfill that craving....

November Walking Challenge

It was back in August that I decided to get control of my weight... and since that day, I've really struggled.  I mean, really struggled.  I've only kept off 5 pounds.  I can't seem to make myself walk/exercise like I should.  It's discouraging, but I'm not giving up. 

I recently found Leslie Sansone's walking DVD's (via YouTube).  Her 15 minute mile is awesome!!  It's easy to do, requires no equipment, and is actually quite fun.  I started following Leslie's Walk At Home Facebook page where each month she posts a challenge.  I modified the November challenge slightly and posted it on the Facebook group (Ditching Plus Size) I am a part of.  I've had two people accept the challenge along with me.  If you want to join the challenge, let me know in the comments below.  You can access the challenge HERE. Print it out... save it to your phone... whatever you need to do to help motivate yourself.  I've included the links to YouTube video's for each mile length.  On Leslie's original challenge, she references her newest DVD's that are not on YouTube... however, I'm trying to make do with what is available to me.  One of my friends is going to simply use her treadmill.  Because I love the outdoors, I may walk outside rather than using the actual video.  The goal is to simply get myself moving!!

Are you with me???