Exercise

I am coming toward the end of my third week of exercise. I am continuing to see results -- mostly in my morning blood sugar levels, which have been excellent even with reduced amounts of insulin (not wildly reduced, but still: reduced), but also in my weight. In rough numbers, I've lost about seven pounds in these three weeks. Now, I know that it fluctuates, and I would not be surprised to see it go back up two pounds tomorrow morning. Happy, no, but not surprised. But still. That's not bad.

What does surprise me is that the workout on the exercise bike is getting a lot easier. I'm now up to forty minutes at a moderate pace -- I don't know the MPH (the bike would tell me; I just haven't looked), but it isn't fast. It's just a steady pace that doesn't get me out of breath. One week ago, going from thirty two to forty minutes was somewhat of a strain. Now, I almost don't notice it. I asked the woman who had been my trainer for suggestions, wondering if I should pick up the pace, or up the intensity, or some combination, and she said two things - one, to use some weights (which, truthfully, I probably will not, especially as I quit the gym after realizing I hadn't gone there for three months), and two, to vary the intensity of the 'ride'. Yesterday, I did that for the first time, and was surprised to find that at thirty-two minutes -- eight at the normal rate, four at an elevated rate, then back and forth)- - I was just about out of breath. I liked that. I felt as if I was pushing myself. I'm going to keep doing it -- one day at the regular intensity, one at the alternating higher one. With luck, eventually, the higher one will become the norm.

So that's what I've been doing.