Survey surprises me

I had to fill in a survey the other day when I logged into the GCC website. It was a simple survey. How many days do you exercise each week? For how long? How many pieces of fruit do you eat a day? How many serves of vegetables? I asked TB how often he thought I exercised. Six or seven days a week, he replied. Don't you mean four or maybe five at a stretch? I asked. No way! he insisted. At least six days a week. I thought about it and realised he was right. What I'd failed to take into account was that TB and I have started going for evening walks. Those former rest days have turned into gentle exercise days.

I didn't bother to think about the time I exercise. I just picked the 60 mins+ option. Even on a low exercise day I do at least that much walking. One of the benefits of being a public transport user. As for fruit and vegetables, this is usually where I do badly. TB has been a great influence on me. I easily eat 5+ serves of vegetables a day now. I've been working on increasing my fruit intake and I was able to put down 2 serves of fruit.

I finished the survey and realised that I'd ticked all the boxes for a healthy lifestyle. How great is that! On my phone I have a mantra that I try to read / think about each time I turn the phone on. "I am a fit and active person who makes healthy lifestyle choices." It looks like it's working!

As for my recent exercise efforts, here goes. I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks so it looks like a lot more than it really is.

Week 1 - rode my bike to and from work twice, went for four walks with TB, PT with Julia and with Krissi
Week 2 - rode my bike to and from work once, went for two walks with TB, a two day trip to Melb with walking on Tuesday and a 3 km run on Wednesday, no PT at all (good to have a rest but I'm missing it like crazy - just haven't managed to get to the gym), and more walking planned for today and tomorrow. (Yes, the walking challenge is back on!)

Now, riding my bike is excellent exercise. It's 10 km each way, which takes me about 40-45 mins (that includes waiting to cross roads safely, but I definitely ride slower than some people run). If I catch the bus to work the trip takes me about an hour. When you add showering or changing to the bike trip I end up getting my exercise for about the same amount of travel + shower time that I'd be spending anyway. I figure as I get better at cycling I'll end up cutting down the travel time, which will be a bonus.

Cycling when it's cold has amazing credibility too. It's funny hearing people be impressed. I find myself buying in to the mystique of it all. The other day in the lift someone said to me "it must be cold out there" and I casually said "you soon warm up". I just didn't mention "after freezing your backside off for the first 15 minutes!" The other day it was so cold that my finger tips were incredibly painful in my winter cycling gloves. Instead of thinking "don't do this you crazy woman" I was riding along thinking "if I wear my white cotton gloves under my cycle gloves that might be enough to fix it".

I don't know if this happens to other people when it's cold outside, but my tummy is always freezing when I get to work. Lately it's been going bright red when I shower - so red that it's actually itchy and painful. It must be the circulation starting up again. I have to really resist the impulse to scratch it, however it settles down within half an hour. Unfortunately I'm bright pink for several hours after exercising, but they are used to it at work now. I prefer to refer to the pink glow as "my translucent skin". It sounds so much better.

I'm off to do some serious shopping today which will involve more walking. I'm back to counting steps for the walking challenge. I'm really looking forward to it this year. Bye for now.