building a habit

  I find it difficult to build and maintain good habits.  Several years ago, I got into the habit of walking every single evening, no matter what the weather.  It was great.  I lost a bunch of weight, toned up and felt much better.  Then I got diagnosed with something that required surgery and 6 weeks of recuperation; I got out of the habit of walking and generally turned into a sloth.
   This winter, after a sad canoe excursion, the hubby decided he wanted to join a health club and get himself more fit, so he signed me up, too.  (He thought I'd be upset, poor man)   I started working with a trainer once a week, then twice a week, and am now up to three sessions a week with her.  I haven't been going in on my own time, though.  So, while I'm very happy with the results I'm seeing from working out with my trainer, I could be doing better.    Enter the treadmill.
   When I first started going to the gym, I could manage about 4 minutes at a slow pace with no incline.  At the beginning of the month, my trainer asked me to start doing 15 minutes of cardio before each of our sessions, so I started that.  Only managed 10 minutes the first time.  Yesterday and today, I've done a mile in 20 minutes with an incline of 2, plus a bit of cooldown.  I'm going to walk at least a 20-minute mile every day for the rest of this month.  Hopefully, this will establish a good habit.  Also hopefully, I'll be able to increase my speed and distance a bit each week.  The long-term goal here is to be able to participate in a 5K walk next spring and to do well in it.  The short-term goal?  I'd like to be in a size smaller jeans and have less of a gut by October when I go to my stitching convention.