Every journey begins with a small step

I am out of shape. Badly out of shape. I will admit that I'm not as active as should be and without a job to go to, I have become more sedentary than I would like. Not that I moved that much at work, but at least walks to the bathroom or the break room to get more water or getting up to help out a co-worker got me out of my chair.

Yes, when I moved back to Chicago I moved a lot of things and built some furniture from Ikea, and did lots of trips up and down the stairs, all of which are good, but it wasn't consistent. Also I've always enjoyed food and since I love cooking for others during the holidays, the rich meals and many desserts have taken it's toll.

So this morning, as part of my New Year's Resolutions and my goal to get on a horse AND run a 5k, I started a 31 day fitness challenge. I started out with a 20 minute walk. Which was actually probably more like 25 minutes with travel time across the street to the park and back. I was glad we are in the low 40's in Chicago so I could walk outside with relative ease...no ice to slip on and no sub-zero temps to tempt me to stay inside. I walked 1.2 miles in that time. Not bad, at least it's a start.

Then I did the "base" challenges. I did 34 squats in 1 minute. I did 10 (girl) push-ups in 1 minute, and I planked for 20 seconds. Supposedly by the end of the 31 days these numbers will improve.

Then I did 10 minutes of stretching. My muscles are already screaming at me, and my cats think I have gone nuts, but they put a smile on my face. The Shmoo even thought he might help with a couple of stretches.

As Ellie's dad tells her in Contact "Small moves, Ellie, small moves."