Exercise! Walking Town Lake

Even being sick with shingles, hanging around the house too much depresses me (especially since I work from home).  I'm all about getting some sun (more for mental health than anything else), so every day I have to have all the blinds open, and I just have to get outside.

The dermatologist I saw after the doctor actually recommended fresh air and sun for helping to heal, so there's another added benefit.  Plus I just need distractions from the shingles, otherwise I get a bit crazy.

One of the reasons we chose our current apartment is that there's so much green space around us where we can walk the dogs and be out and about.  Pretty much every morning, Alex and I walk the dogs together, but we don't always go over to the lake.  So that's our new plan.  Consistently.  We're already up and out walking the dogs together, so why not make it proper exercise by walking the dogs in a loop around the lake.  The dogs certainly love it.  I need to figure out how to work the gym into my schedule after that, but one thing at a time so I don't get overwhelmed and bail on too much change.

I found a map of the lake above. For a bigger version click here.  We're on the north side of the lake, so for now we start by going across the First St. bridge, then over past the dog park and back up the Lamar bridge and home.  That's a mile and a half.  Not terribly long, but a good start, and manageable time wise in the morning before work.  According to the google pedometer, I burned 277 calories doing it.  And based on the map above, we can add legs to the walk as we progress.

The other change is cooking more at home.  This weekend, I'm going to do a proper grocery shopping trip for all the staples and plan out my meals.  Especially my lunches!

Every step counts.

I have some pics of our walk around the lake from another morning that I'll post later.  It's a good start to the day!