The One Where I Follow Up

Yesterday I discovered that I could (only) run 1 mile before needing a quick break, and then I pushed for another half mile.  Since I finished that post saying someone should check on me today and motivate me to do it again, I thought I should follow up.

It turns out that simply telling you (the three people that might read this, ha!) that I needed to go again today was motivation enough.  I set the alarm last night for 6:15, hit the snooze until 6:30, and was at the gym by 6:45.

Today I stretched it to 1.2 continuous miles, took a minute break, and then ran another .7 miles.  Total cardio workout went for 38 minutes and had 3 miles included, which means I walked another 1.1 miles.

(Aside, I have this friend who hate hate hates it when people post information like that on Facebook, and I sort of get why she does, but I sort of get why people do it, too- it's encouraging and motivational to have people know and hold you accountable on your journey to a healthier you.)

I feel pretty good about myself today. 
Now, who will motivate me tomorrow?

The Good and the Bad

This morning I woke up after sleeping in a little (Husband had left for work at like 3:45 am so it was quite easy to fall back asleep for hours) and began to think about all the things to do today....

... finish organizing the house and putting everything somewhere it belongs....

... work on our budget (which doesn't exist but really needs to)....

... clean the house, because it always seems to get dirty again....

And instead, I decided to go to the gym first.  See, last night I wa at a baby shower and got to talking with a super fun friend who, despite being a few years older than I am, has been working out a ton recently and really could kick my rear end.  She's been biking and running miles and miles and miles (I believe the word 25 miles was thrown in there somewhere). 

My trusty running shoes (pose stolen from Brooke's post.)

And I realized that while I love running, I have been doing this "step" thing for a while now...  I count steps (paces, really, each time my left foot goes forward is one step).  I'll do like 200 or 300 steps running and then walk 100 and then run 200 more.  The most steps I've ever done at one time without a walking interval was 500, I think. 

Now, don't get me wrong, intervals are actually really good for me, and I think it helps me build up my endurance.  But in talking to this friend, I realized that I didn't even know if I could run a continuous mile, much less the 3 or 5 she were talking about.

Hence, motivation to go to the gym this morning.  I got on the treadmill (because since I slept in, it was too hot to run outside).  And I walked for a few and then I said, "okay, Beth, let's see how bad off you are."

The good news? 

I went to the gym, and I did cardio for 45 minutes, and strength for about 30.

The bad news?

I could only run one mile continuously (and it was not fast), and then had to walk for a minute, and then pushed myself to eke out another half mile. 

The good news?

I could run a mile continuously.  That's a place to start, right?  In high school I couldn't have even done a quarter mile, so although it's not as good as I could have done a few years ago, it's much better than it could be.

And I'm all about starting somewhere. 

The tricky part will be whether or not I'm motivated to run another continuous mile tomorrow.... because if I don't keep it up, it won't matter. 

Someone please check in with me tomorrow and offer me a little motivation.

(Here's me enjoying a delicious cup of iced Hazelnut coffee from Einstein's -- my absolute favorite!-- as a reward for going to the gym.)

Workin' on out

It's working!

Two weeks ago Matt and I sat in the car in the parking lot of Academy Sports while I sobbed my sorry story about how no matter how much I tried in the past my efforts to have self-control with my food and exercise always failed. And I was really tired of failure.

Matt gave me one of his usual pep talks. Don't get me wrong, Matt gives great pep talks. I don't know what I'd do without his encouragement. He's so genuine and he usually knows just what I need to hear (which is also the truth, bonus). On this day I knew his pep talk would get me going out of this slump, but I'd need more than that to keep going enough to make a real change.

So I talked with God, who pretty much said, "You've got to actually work for it, Brooke. It's not just going to happen because of how much you want it. And you've got to change your attitude. You're letting yourself get trapped, sabotaged, taken out. Take captive those negative thoughts and stand up for yourself. Trust me."

Three days later I'd lost the first two pounds of this whole experience and half an inch from my waist. Now I've lost another pound and another half inch.

For four weeks I've been working (or as I like to call it "playing") out. I've divided it into two workouts a day, one strength and one cardio; about 4-5 each week. For two weeks I've been successfully managing my body's calorie balance. I've only had one day over my calorie goal (Um, we went to Texas Roadhouse. It was delicious and worth every bite; although, it did show me that even then there was no reason to stuff myself like I did. Who really needs three of those buttery rolls with honey butter? Sorry if I made your mouth water.)

Today I tried on a dress of mine and it fit the way it did when I bought it three years ago: "a little snug in the waist, but not anything a little running couldn't handle". I felt beautiful. I put on heels and earrings and pranced around the house for a few minutes, just feeling gorgeous - the way a woman should feel. Matt said he wanted to come hold me, but he was too sweaty from just coming back from a run. He, too, is working out now and feeling completely uplifted. It's great when our bodies start craving exercise instead of junk food!!

When I get down on myself I forget how wonderful it feels to be up, alive, encouraged. Why do we let ourselves feel anything less? Last weekend I realized I'm actually doing this! My body is looking better. I feel amazing. And I'm letting God sustain me. He's using this experience to just pour on the love. Praise Jesus!

Beth, I pray you are finding time to eat, pray, and love in all the right ways, too. Love you, dear! Oh, and we should watch the new Eat, Pray, Love movie when it comes out. The book was a little eccentric in some parts, but -hey- the movie does have Julia Roberts in it, so I'm sure it's good:)

Gotta Start Somewhere

Well, it's true, isn't it?  You have to start somewhere. 


And my somewhere (here it is, folks, are you ready?) is a not-so-lovely 140 pounds.  I mean, it's kind of a big deal to post that, right?  I get it, I'm tall-ish, so it's not that bad.  The trainer at the gym when I had a free session told me I'm still in the recommended range for percent body fat, but that I'm on the high end of it, and he recommended I lose about 8 pounds of fat.  No big deal, right?  (Ha!) I completely know I'm not fat, and I'm not really even overweight, but that's not the point of the Skinny B's, at least not for me.

It's not the pound-age that gets me, it's the how gross I feel sometimes that matters.  It's the realizing I've been snacking all day when I'm not even hungry that gets me.  It's the overeating and the lack of exercising that makes me feel blah.  And it's the part that, even though I am not pregnant, I do look like there's a baby belly brewing in there somewhere.  Case in point- here's a picture of me and my friend Kerry (and Stephen).  Kerry is actually quite pregnant, but you can't really see that as much in the picture.  I am not, but it could look like it...... in fact, I've been asked before!

The point is, I get it, I know I'm not fat, but I don't want to feel fat, and I don't want to be worrying about whether or not people think I'm pregnant until I actually am.  I don't want to feel gross, eat whatever I want and regret it, be lazy. 

You gotta start somewhere.  So my somewhere is to be honest and say people (or, more likely, just Brooke, who will read this), help me out here.  I need to continue to develop self-control and not snack endlessly, and I need to make sure I get a little intentional exercise in every day (whether it's 10 minutes or an hour).  That's my somewhere.  My goal is not to be a nut job and it's not even to lose weight (although those few pounds recommended by the trainer would be nice), it's to feel good and to know I'm healthy.

So here I go.