Competition

On my morning walk, the street that goes around our community is half mile so on a daily basis I am doing four laps. Sometimes I see another couple out walking and sometimes an older lady. I don't usually pass anyone else so I see these people if I am going the opposite direction as they. Whenever I meet the walker(s) I try to see if I can get further than them on the next lap. The older lady is probably 15-20 years older than me and probably 100 pounds lighter than me and when I meet her, she's not even breaking a sweat. Rarely do I beat her. She looks like she's strolling along, while I feel like a steam roller (or a jet) going down the street with sweat flying off my face. Oh well, guess it's all a matter of perception.

Mainly, I compete against the clock. Some days I time my whole walk, other days I time the half mile laps. Right now, I am doing a 20 minute mile regularly. Some people would say, "that's no big deal!" But remember I'm no lightweight out there.

A friend of mine has been heavy like me for years and in June she had her stomach stapled or banded. I probably could have had that done also as I was 100 pounds over my suggested weight, but I just wanted to see if I could get healthier and fitter a different way. Anyway when I talked to her in the middle of June, she was losing weight quite rapidly and I figured out that she weighed less than me. Talk about incentive to get my butt a-going! I don't want to be the heavier one, I will gladly settle for same size and shape as she. From what I heard last night from another friend, I think we're neck-to-neck in the weight category. ;)

I compete with my clothes, tugging, pulling and stretching them on my body. I gauge some of my success by pant legs and sleeves that are loose. I even found my shoes flopping yesterday like my feet had gotten smaller. No, I'm not going out to buy a new wardrobe yet, just enjoying fitting into the clothes that I have.

Competition can be fun as long as I'm winning.