Katie - 4.2.06

Happy April! Spring weather has definitely come to Lou. In the last hour, we've had crazy storms and a siren blaring every few minutes. Thankfully Luke didn't wake up!

I had a very ACTIVE weekend! Saturday was so beautiful and sunny. I had a very early wake-up call that morning from my elderly neighbor (that's another post), so was up at 5:30am (that's right, 5:30 AM!). After a disappointing trip to Starbucks to see Chris (it was disappointing because the line was to the door, and Chris couldn't take a break), we took a walk to a nearby playground - about .5 miles away. Luke loved going down the slide. The walk also involved a couple of hills, which increased the benefit of the walk. In the afternoon, the mailman brought me a wonderful surprise! My sweet sister Janelle, who knows I'm working on health and fiftness, bought me a workout DVD - Walk Away The Pounds Express - a 4 mile walking workout. Have any of you ever heard of these DVDs/Videos? I had heard of them - my mom does them sometimes, and Janelle's been doing them with some girls in her youth group. This particular workout is 1 hour - but it felt so good! Besides walking in place, it involves leg lifts, side steps, kicks, and some other moves that work different muscles. How good of a workout can walking in place be? you may ask. Let me tell you, it works you! I was sweating after 10-15 minutes. So, I would REALLY recommend you checking these workouts out if you can. Ideally, I would like to get another Walk Away The Pounds DVD that is maybe a 2 mile walk (30 minutes) for days that I don't have time for an hour. I know for those of you who work, an hour's probably hard to fit in, but I believe there are several different DVDs with varying lengths. The delievery of Janelle's surprise was so timely because I was feeling like I was losing a little steam. It picked me right up. I pushed past the 5-6 pound plateau and according to the scale this morning, I'm 7 pounds down. Praise God! And I praise God for such a thoughtful sister and friend. To top it all off, Chris and I did our weight routine (that we hadn't done on Friday). So, what a day!

I really need your prayers and encouragement this week, because tomorrow Luke and I are driving up to Michigan to spend the week with Chris parents (and meet Luke's new cousin, Annabelle). My mother-in-law likes to exercise too and would like to exercise with me. So, my two big challenges are eating right and getting some exercise in. I often go to MI and just crash and eat awful and am lethargic and lazy. Please pray with me that I will make right choices! I'm a little scared. I can't lose the ground that I've recently gained - it was too hard. Each time I go to eat, I'm going to try to keep in mind the quote that Heather gave us in her last post: "Life is Choices, Choices have consequences, so make the right Choices."

Hope you're all doing well and have a GREAT Monday.

Blessings - Katie