One more thing about work

As I have been making peace with being fat and trying to listen to my own needs, the overriding thought has been a desire for more strength and stamina.

That's logical: not only is it very practical, but I also do remember having more energy and ability before, while I never remember thinking of myself as not fat.

The tricky thing is getting there. It is easy for attempts at health to turn into attempts at weight loss, potentially bringing on disordered eating or leading to an inability to recognize progress in other areas. What is the best method? How do I measure?

Work helped me in two ways. 

For Customer Service Week, everyone in customer service -- even trainees like me, who have only taken a handful of calls -- got an Amazon gift card.

Yes, I have reservations about dealing with Amazon, but I love free stuff.

I hadn't decided what to get, and then I got a work e-mail about the Turkey Trot.

Obviously, my first thought was about the local one in Washington Park, and how my last attempt didn't go too well:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/11/not-as-embarrassed-as-i-could-be.html 

(Reading this again, I see that I did not mention another possible concern at that one was that everyone was running. Usually at other events I have done, there are also lots of walkers, like me. That was definitely true for the Shamrock run and the Portland Floral Walks before the Rose Parade. That may have made it more discouraging; if something went wrong, I would have been on my own.)

I did know this already, but there are many Turkey Trots.

This one is a walking challenge, to get 280,000 steps between October 25th and Thanksgiving. It requires walking only, is for a specified time period, and has flexibility for when and where... that's what I call a good start.

The only problem was that I no longer had a working pedometer; that sounds like a job for an Amazon gift card!

It felt like it all just came together in a timely fashion: here is what works for me now, and it is all through my new job.

And I do very much mean "now"; I am sure there will be other steps to take, but I have a starting place, and I feel good about it.