Fighting Weight

In my goals for 2012 posted last week, I mentioned that I’ve already lost 15 pounds on this thing called Weight Watchers. You may have heard of it?

When I went on the September Disney trip, I knew that I was coming back to a diet. More than that, it was a lifestyle change. I was going to start working out on a regular basis and I was signing up for Weight Watchers online. There was a discount code from our health insurance at work that saved me $10 on a three month subscription and I love me a coupon!

Katie at Loves of Life has been through an amazing transformation over the past year. Every time she would post a new blog with pictures of her skinny little self and talk about how she had done it with Weight Watchers, I was amazed. She has come so far and really has inspired lots of us in the blog world to get off our butts and work out.

After all, she has done all those 5Ks! I am not quite there yet, as running and I don’t really get along. At all. But I have high hopes! I am thinking about possibly maybe trying to consider running the Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World. Because let’s be honest, people. Running in Disney both onstage and offstage is the ONLY thing that would get me going for that kind of training. 13 miles?! Dear God, save me now. I don’t know if I could make it, but I know that running in Disney is supposed to be more fun because of the entertainment along the race course.

But because I’m going to be accountable for my actions and because Katie posted pictures of herself along the way, and because I want to give myself motivation to lose those last 10 pounds because I have met my first weight loss goal of 15 pounds lost, here I am on September 6….

And here I am today (er, yesterday)…

16 pounds down as of December 28.

I am starting to hear compliments from friends and co-workers who are noticing the weight I’ve lost and I have to admit, it feels good! I had to hit up Goodwill a few weeks ago to get a pair of grey and black pants so I could attend work without clothing falling off my hips. And um, that was pretty awesome. I’m trying to lose a few more pounds before going all out and buying a whole new wardrobe, but with Husband leaving for France in a few weeks, I can’t promise I won’t try to drown my sorrows in shopping. I’ll try to restrain myself.

It’s silly but I’m starting to internalize that saying “That doesn’t taste as good as skinny feels.” Now, I’m not sure that that applies to EVERYTHING, but it sure does help when we’re at Christmas dinner and I want another piece of the pumpkin gingerbread trifle. I say no because I don’t need it!

So yeah, we’re getting there. We’ve got a ways to go but it’s neat to see the transformation and know that it was ME who did it. I know it’s possible and it CAN be done.

The Beginning… Again

Remember when I removed all excuses to getting into shape? Well, they’re still gone. But getting myself out of bed at 5:45 am to work out has not gone as well as one would have hoped. It’s kind of unfortunate. I’ve always been that person that needs at least 8 hours of sleep (on a side note – I have no idea how I’ll function when I’m faced with a newborn who doesn’t have the same ideas of sleep as me). So in order to get up to run that early, I must go to bed a bit earlier. Which sometimes proves more difficult than one would think (what? Those Friday Night Light episodes on Netflix will NOT watch themselves… and I do have to turn in the library book soon, so I have to read another chapter!).

In any case, this morning when the alarm went off at 5:45 am, I hopped out of bed with a plan. I saw two of my inspiration images next to the phone and that helped me to not hit the snooze button. I woke up Husband and we got dressed for a quick 2.2 mile walk down the greenway near the townhouse. He decided to get up with me and we had a great conversation while walking in the relatively cool (72 degrees!) morning air.

Why did I wake up with such vim and vigor this morning? Because my dear friend, the Bachelorette from the 2011 Quesadilla Adventure and I made the decision to train for a 5K in October. We are going to run 3.1 miles that Saturday morning in the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce Pumpkin Run! We are both going to use the Couch to 5K program and get ourselves ready to run in the race.

This is my first organized race and to be honest, I’m ridiculously nervous that I’ll fall on my face. But the Bachelorette will be with me and if we end up walking towards the end, the main thing is that we will finish it together. It gives us a goal and something to work towards. So getting up at 5:45 am from now on is going to be a way of life – because working out after a long day at the office just is not going to work for me. I’m excited to finally get my butt in gear!

A Plan to Get My Butt in Gear

I found this little beauty of an exercise plan the other day on Pinterest:

Original Source

I’ve really been slacking at the Couch 2 5K program that I said I started literally months ago. It’s been hard to get up early and get in a work out, even if it’s only for 25 minutes a day. When I can’t wake up early enough, I promise myself I’ll come home and do it right away. And then I don’t. Because I’m lazy!

But this little breakdown sounds relatively easy. It is designed to get slackers like me working every day until you’re ready to exercise regularly. It even gives you break days!

The trick? If you stop for one day, you have to start at the beginning again. Now THAT’S motivation.

When I get back from the holiday weekend (the last traveling we’ll do for a while), I think I’m going to try this. Why not? I’ve got nothing to lose!