Enjoying The Start Of A New Beginning Toward Health

To those that know me, I'm the picture of health because I'm always talking about running, my races and my diet. Little do they know that I have slacked quite a bit in my approach to a healthy lifestyle. Sure, some of it is due to a lot that has happened recently, however, if I'm honest with myself, a lot of it has to do with simply being lazy.

I didn't want to start a blog until I felt that I was ready; ready to document my thoughts outside of my mind. I sat and thought one day that I may just be able to help not only myself through my blog, but others as well. I had this thought because I read a blog on SparkPeople that was created by a woman looking to lose weight. She had posted about how she started running and she didn't care if she was over 200 pounds and what she looked like. Each day, she got dressed and headed out the door and put one foot in front of the other. That whole blog post resonated with me, and I really respected her thought process as she had way more confidence than I.

Recently, I checked out Tosca Reno's, "Your Best Body Now" book from our local library. I soon found myself hooked on the chapters of the book. She is a really amazing woman that has overcome obesity and she does an excellent job explaining her approach to weight loss. I ended up purchasing her book, "The Eat-Clean Diet Workout" book and it breaks down weight training and even has a log to keep track of the workouts. Surely, I could do this, right?

The problem I face is consistency with training and diet. I have the most grandiose visions of where I want to be health wise, inside and out. I'll start something (like a running training plan) and I'm full steam ahead for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, the steam dissipates and I'm off the wagon. This needs to change.

You may be wondering how I ended up here and why now. Well, I used to blog all the time about my running and my races. I found that I was losing myself in always challenging myself; that the running was becoming not so fun to me. I was getting burned out and injured and the injuries, in turn, got me depressed. When I got depressed, I ate and drank a couple of glasses of wine. Sometimes it was beer instead of the wine.

To give a summary on my last month: October 9th: I DNF'd (did not finish) the Chicago Marathon due to a sprained ankle and stress reaction in my tibia. I got to mile 16 and had to ride the bus to the finish. October 11th: we received a call that my husband Martin's uncle died suddenly. We spent the day with family and over the course of the week, my mother and father in law arrived into Chicago to attend the funeral. Uncle Dennis was so great and it was such a shock for everyone. Martin had started working nights, so our routines got turned upside down. This was a really big adjustment for us. Then on November 2 I was laid off of work. Needless to say, we were so emotionally drained and physically drained due to stress that it was easier to just not do anything. I mean, I have literally not worked out and/or ran in over a month. This is in part to my injuries, however, the one type of working out I did do was eat...and eat...and eat. For the first time in my life, I found comfort in food and my wine. I would get home from work and sit on the couch and start watching television. The house was quiet and I didn't like it; I still don't, however, I'm adjusting with the fact that it's short term. What I should have been doing was going to the gym and getting in cross training, but I chose to have a pity party instead.

The other day, I went to put on my dress pants and they were too tight. These are the same pants that were baggy on me. Martin's cousin got married over the weekend and I put on my used to be baggy khakis and WOW, did they look tight on me. This was the moment in time when I said to myself, "enough is enough".   No more wasting time. This time I'm doing it and I don't care how long it takes me. I want the new, healthier me so bad that I can just taste it!

So, here I sit with 30 pounds to lose. I have completed my second run since my DNF at Chicago and injury. Yesterday I ran 2 miles and today I ran 3. I will have a separate blog post for that. I am continuing to read Tosca's books and incorporate her eating habits and techniques into my diet. I'm going to be going to the gym and running consistently. I am going to be tracking my food intake. I am happy to state that I have substituted tea in place of the wine/beer. Oh, and I am starting a new job with a great group of people. Yep, things are looking up! :)