Okay, this morning I was so proud of the fact that I’d lost 3 pounds and promised myself I wouldn’t eat anything I wanted, meaning I wouldn’t pig out.
Then the “yeah for you’s” came in along with a statement from a lovely woman, Virginia, that she’d hit the elliptical yesterday and killed off 1004 calories in 1hr and 10min. She wasn’t boasting in a rotten way, but giving herself a well-deserved pat on the back. She totally kicked it and I remember doing the same not even a year ago. I loved the way it made me feel, that sense of accomplishment, sweat pouring off my face as I realized how amazing I was for sticking to something.
I remembered how that felt and decided to make her statement into a friendly challenge and threw the gaunlet down.
The bet was if I could better her on the elliptical. She’s been checking in to see how I’ve done and how she needs to do tomorrow to better me.
Okay, I can tell you now, I did not get on the elliptical today, but I did workout thanks to looking into different bicep workouts that I should be sticking to daily. That’s a big deal because when I promised myself I wouldn’t eat myself to oblivion, I didn’t say I’d workout today. Interesting how plans can instantly change.
What I did instead was this:

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This is our little orchard as I call it. We’ve got pomegranate, lemons, limes, oranges, avocado, tomatoes, peppers, flowers, raspberries, and blueberries. The berries are all in whiskey barrels that are about 200 each. Our whiskey barrels can hold a lot, but if we ever need more there are some White Oak whiskey barrels for sale that I can order, which is lucky!
My husband wanted to put all the pots on pavestones to avoid muddy feet and easier access to the fruit when it comes time to pick it. He’d completed part of it, but started working on the other half yesterday.
Usually, I would have not helped physically, but watched the girls and kept them out of his way while he completed the project. Problem was, as much stuff as I had to do, I wanted to help. I wanted our girls to see their parents active and working together instead of me sitting inside and my husband in the Central Texas sun working his ass off. (Why doesn’t he have a weight problem again?)
On Saturday, I got all of us outside, including the dogs, and all of us helped. Well, the dogs didn’t, they don’t have opposable thumbs, but I wanted them out because they are getting fat and lazy. Outside they ran around the entire time we were out there.
We had the girls pick up big rocks from the dirt and pile them them up. Steve shoveled while I moved wheelbarrows full of dirt. We moved the whiskey barrels out of the way and evened up the ground in preparation of this morning.
After having the girls lay the ground cloth, we moved 25 pound bags of sand to the area and he started spreading them out. My job was to bring the pavestone. I’m proud to say I could lift 2 at a time and used my legs (squats) instead of my back and keeping my abs tight when I moved things.
I loaded them on the dolly and could bring anywhere from 15-20 at a time. As Steve spread the sand, it gave me time to do overhead presses, squats, tricep curls, or bicep curls before I had to hand him the squares.
Once it was said and done, we’d laid about 110 pavestones, moved 50 bags of sand, and put the whiskey barrels back.
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So, after that, I did get on the at home treadmill and made it for 30 minutes, 2 miles, and 250 calories. Not even close to what Virginia did yesterday, but I’m not underestimating my workout. I kicked it today and I know I’ll be sore tomorrow. I haven’t worked out like that or gotten on a treadmill in over a year. It’s a great success for me today, it’s not a victory in regard to the challenge, but a win for me all the same.
Of course, as Scarlett O’Hara so famously said, “Tomorrow is another day.”
Who knows what tomorrow will bring?