Improvement

In the summer of 2010 I started a dieting and exercise regimen that resulted in my losing almost 25 pounds in 4 months.  The exercise part of that regimen included a walk after work each day and 20 minutes on my elliptical trainer each morning.

Eventually I set an arbitrary goal of 200 calories burned in that 20 minute run--who doesn't like nice, round numbers?!  After awhile I got to where I was burning 220-228 calories each morning.  No, that isn't much, but it's better than not burning them.  And the improvement in cardiovascular health was significant.

After 4 years I'd pretty much gained all that weight back, and now it's all back and then some.  I haven't resumed the dieting or the afternoon walks, but when school started in August I started back on the elliptical trainer each morning.  The first week of school I did 12 minutes a morning, the next week 13 minutes, etc., until I made it back to 20 minutes, and then I stayed at 20 minutes per morning.  And, with the exception of only a handful of days last semester, I was on that elliptical trainer every "work morning".  Being older and weighing more, though, I didn't get back to that magic 200 calories in 20 minutes. 

Until today.

Maybe it was having 2+ weeks off, I don't know, but at the end of the workout this morning the meter read 211 calories.  So I'm still not back up to where I was, but for the first time this school year I passed that psychological barrier of 200.

Improvement.