Anytime I exercise, my counselor has told me I need to have a shake about 30 minutes before and then have one no more than 30 minutes afterwards since I burn so many calories. Most of the time when I exercise, I do kick up the intensity, so it's important to follow these guidelines. I don't go for leisurely strolls unless I'm with someone else, I usually powerwalk it. He has advised me that if I am doing extended exercise, I should probably have two shakes beforehand. Man was he right! I had two shakes before and felt really full, but I knew it was what I needed to do. I had some water after I got done stretching out and didn't take my water bottle with me because they have several water stations along the way.
Now, one thing you should know about me is that I am competitive. I'm not competitive with other people per se, just this thing I do in my head. It goes back to the days when I was working out in the gym years ago. I would always challenge myself to see if I could keep up with the person on the treadmill, bike, elliptical or whatever machine next to me, to show them that I might be overweight, but I could keep up with them. Yet, when I am exercising with other people, that competitiveness does not kick in at all. Lo and behold, after about a quarter of a mile, when I picked up my pace to power-walk through the course, Kick-Ass Kathy took over. I would target someone or a group of people walking ahead of me and I would tell myself, Okay, your next goal is to pass that person. Sometimes it would be people not too far ahead, but as I was zooming past them, I would pick targets a lot farther away. I was going so fast that my bad leg was starting to hurt. I would tell myself I needed to slow down, and I would try, but it wouldn't last for very long. What normally would take me about an hour and a half to finish, took me just one hour and ten minutes yesterday. Below is a snapshot of the course from a great website I use to track how far I've gone, www.walkjogrun.net. It tells how many calories were burned, too. The person that did the course took almost 30 minutes longer than I did so the calories count will be different, but take a look at how much was burned at the bottom right corner:
When I finished exercising, the first thing I wanted was my water bottle in the car because the water stations they had around the course were removed. That was a serious monkey wrench I was not prepared for - I got thirsty throughout the course with the sun really beating down on me. I drank my 36 ounces right there in the parking lot. If you'll notice in the picture above, the person who took longer than me burned almost 944 calories. I checked the weight they entered and it was at about my same weight. I did a quick calculation in my head and realized that I only take in about 500 calories a day on Optifast products. No wonder the counselor told me to take an extra shake because otherwise I would start to feel weak. He has advised me that when I need extra shakes, I must take them in.
What is it with me and this competitive spirit? I have nothing to prove. I have come a very long way in my journey and I am no longer the biggest girl in the room. It's okay if I'm not the top scorer and I suppose it's my challenge to find that place that is a nice balance, especially if I end up hurting myself in the process. I will do this course again in the future, though. I love it so much. There are always hundreds of people out there running, walking, rollerblading, biking, boating in the lake or even just having a picnic. It makes me feel a big part of an active lifestyle, which I really enjoy, I'm finding out. I just need to find some balance because I can't hurt myself every time I do it.
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