Week 13, Day Two

Week 13, Day Two

It’s funny to me that there is all this hype and anticipation for Christmas and people vest so much into it (myself included completely) and then it’s over in a blink of an eye and some of what seemed so important really isn’t. And some of it is so much better than you could ever have imagined. I have a wonderful thoughtful caring husband. Sure we may fight and argue like most adults who breathe, but he tries so hard and I appreciate that so much. He got me an ipad for Christmas, which I completely LOVE. He also got me a $100 gift card to Victoria Secret, $50 to Red Lobster (my favorite restaurant ever!) and then he was super sweet and got me a coconut bath and body works body butter (because coconut is my favorite) and then the bare essentials face powder that I use was getting low so sometime recently he must have taken it into the store and he got me a new one. That is thoughtfulness!
Anyway, that was a side tangent. My point is Christmas is over- New Years is fastly approaching which I find to be an interesting time. Somehow magically because tomorrow is suddenly 2013 people decide that they must resolve to something new for the year. Why do so many people suddenly decide it’s time to lose weight? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I mean deciding Jan 1 is better than NEVER deciding. It’s just an interesting phenomenon that gyms suddenly become packed and stores put all their fitness stuff on sale. Then by the time Feb. or March hit most gyms have returned to normal capacity with only a few survivors of the New Year’s Resolution fad.

I truly believe ANY time is a good time to start. If it happens to have to be Jan. 1 for you than its better than never for sure. What I really don’t mind is that at this time of the year since so many people jump on the fitness bandwagon there is lots of deals on stuff and of course lots of good information out there. It seems to be a good focus for a while and therefore lots of discussion in regards to health and fitness happen. That feeds my little obsessive self. I mean the Biggest Loser returns Jan 6 and for that I am completely grateful. Although rewatching past seasons are truly a wonderful thing for me right now. I believe I have enough past seasons to get thru to last me a year so I don’t show any signs of feeling complete depravation yet. However a new season is always welcome!

Since I’ve already been at this for 3 months I feel like I have a real secure footing/foundation on this weight loss thing. I am still plugging along happy for the most part. I stumble here and there and there are a few times where exercise becomes a chore I just don’t want to do, but for the most part I love it and look forward to it. It really is true what they say about exercise improving your mood and being the natural anti-depressant. It always is for me which is why it’s so puzzling that I ever give it up. I need all the natural help I can get.

I feel like that with the New Year while I may not be committing myself to a healthy lifestyle, I do feel a renewed yes I can do this and that is happiness. Things were not perfect over the last week but I will say I think they went better than I actually could have expected. I am completely proud of myself. My goal was to run last Friday and then manage two runs in between Saturday to Monday… I am very proud to say that I ran Friday night- 10 miles. I got myself up Saturday morning and I ran 8 miles. I got myself up Sunday morning and I ran 8 miles. I EVEN got myself up Monday Morning (Christmas Eve) and I ran 8 miles. Mission accomplished. My eating was better than I expected but not perfect. Which is okay. I did drink wine and eat cookies and cheese and crackers on Christmas Eve. Then Christmas day hit and I definitely ate more than I should have. After a wonderful Christmas morning with my family (complete with coffee cake pastries) we headed to Chris’s dads house where I ate lots of nuts. (Hunger lead to nut eating!) and then we went to Shari’s. I had the holiday dinner special which ultimately is pretty bad, but it was Christmas…. And therefore okay to eat a piece of pie… Ah well. I worked hard and ran 4 days in a row.

Christmas was wonderful and then I had to go back to work on Wednesday. I ate good on Wednesday but it’s hard to instantly undo damage from the previous 2 days of eating bad. I ran Wednesday night, 13 miles to be exact. Alas, when I weighed myself Thursday morning I was down .7 pounds. I expected it. Firstly, I had two previous weeks of killer weight loss and then I was coming off of two days of bad eating. With all that said I actually believe I lost more this week but that it will take a week to show up on the scale. And if I didn’t that’s okay to. I didn’t gain. That was my goal for the week. I simply wanted to live thru Christmas and not gain any weight. Mission accomplished.

Week 13 finds me down a total of 32.4 pounds. Not too bad. While I am embarrassed by the weight I started at, at least I am doing something about it. I mean the weight I am at now is also a weight that I have previously joined WW at. People start their weight loss journey at the weight my scale says right now. I am fully aware of this fact, but again, at least I am working on it right now. Oh, and I can run. I don’t run super fast, but I am an endurance runner. I can run and run and keep running. That is something I can do. And because of it I feel strong and proud. I have solid little muscles forming in my legs and I completely think it helps with getting rid of the McDonalds gut I have developed over time. Running is my friend. Always has been, will always go back to it.

Last night I managed another 8 mile run. Tonight I run. It’s just what I do. Or rather it’s just what I do after three solid months of caring. I had to make me the priority again. I had to make loving myself instead of hating the mirror more important.
I’m glad Christmas is over, as much as I love it, I’m glad it’s done so that I can return to focusing on other things. I’m ready for spring, although January is not really spring… but I’m ready nonetheless. Bring it on… and bring on 2013. I’m ready…

2012 hasn’t been the best year of my life, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right? Thanks Kelly Clarkson for that. I am thinking 2013 will be much better… Said with a grain of salt before 2013 has even begun. I will make goal again this year and that is something to celebrate all by itself. (Wish I didn’t always find myself in a place of self loathe where food seems like the only option) but now is not the time to dwell on the bad… move forward. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and I feel stronger today than EVER….