Ten Percent Goal!

I'm so happy! I can't believe I'm back in the 160's. Boy, that seems really crazy, but I see it as a true accomplishment. I'll be checking out half.com today to see if the DVD set is still there. Woohoo!

This morning, I hoped on the treadmill and walked for about two miles at 3.8 MPH. This afternoon, I'll be at the gym on the elliptical trainer. I started to think about what alternatives I would have, if I didn't have the free gym membership. Would I save and buy an elliptical trainer of my own? A month or two ago, I would have said no. Not just no, but hell nah! Now, I think I would. I know how many extra calories it burns. I'm in the 360 calorie range, after just thirty minutes. On the treadmill, I'm at 200 or so in the same amount of time.

An interesting tidbit: Did you know that you can't count the calories you burn on these machines or any aerobic activity as the whole amount burned? You have to deduct normal activity calories from that amount. I know, not good news, but it sure puts things into perspective. Especially during those times when you feel like your burning everything, but in fact, you have to deduct what you would have normally been doing, during that time. For example, my walk on the treadmill in the morning begins at around 4:30 am. Normally, I would be sleeping during that time (as I'm sure most of you are doing). Anyway, let's say I burn 210 calories in that thirty minutes. If I had been sleeping, I would have burned 37 calories sleeping. Therefore, I only burned 173 walking on the treadmill (confused yet?). The best thing to remember is that for every extra activity you do, you would have been doing something more sedentary in its place. On the upside, the treadmill doesn't count the arm swinging or weight lifting you may be doing while you walk.

I'm off to half.com to claim my prize...