Back at it!

Weight this morning: 177.5lbs
Goal weight: 140lbs
Mood: Hopeful

This blog is going to be focused on my whole weight lost saga. I took a month off from working out for various reasons that will take more time to explain than it's worth. One of the reasons was because I was having some MAJOR calf pain in both legs. I decided to try to switch shoes and see if running in the brands I used to always wear helps.

I started working out again on Monday. I was shocked that I was basically able to run almost as much as I was when I quit a month ago. I'm pretty sore right now but I could do it and that is a great feeling. Surprisingly, now that I'm actually working out I'm not as scared to actually put my real weight out there. I mean when you think about it, it's not about what I weigh - it's about how I look and how I feel. But putting my weight and my goal on here is something that I hope will continue to motivate me because I feel accountable to what I'm putting up for all to see.

I have ALWAYS wanted to be a long distance runner but my asthma always held me back. I was athletic when I was young but I was a sprinter. When it came to the mile, I was always last or second to last. In college I worked out but it was more weight lifting and volleyball, I still couldn't run. Finally in 2001 I decided I was just going to make myself become a runner and I built myself up to running on a treadmill for 30 minutes at 5.5mph. It was a HUGE achievement for me. Unfortunately, I stopped working out, gained weight, got married, gained more weight, got pregnant and gained a lot more weight and finally this year got sick of it. It didn't take me long to get back to running for 30 minutes again which I'm very excited about but now I have more concrete goals of being able to run a 5K and a 10K and eventually a half-marathon OUTSIDE! I have a much harder time running outside - I don't know why. I need to set some dates of when I want to do this. Right now I'm strictly running on a treadmill though. I feel like I want to get in better shape before I transition outside. I'm currently thinking lose another 20 lbs and then start outside. This is probably just me subconsciously avoiding running in public on the street!

As far as my workout regimen, right now I basically just do 50 minutes on the treadmill. I have not been doing much weight lifting. In the past I would do 30 minutes treadmill/30 minutes weight lifting but I think I'm losing more weight with all of the cardio right now. I tend to get lazier about cardio when I incorporate weights. So for now, I'm staying away from weight lifting. However, I really want to start doing push ups and crunches but I hate doing them and have yet to make myself get on the floor and go for it. By my next blog - which should be within a week I better be on here typing that I did it.

As far as eating goes I keep a food diary and count calories, fat, sugar, carbs, and sodium. I really have found that planning my meals and recording actuals helps me so much. My only problem is that I don't have enough variety. I need to figure out how to get more stuff in. It's hard with Indian food too - I don't always know how to guesstimate the number of calories and fat in some of the dishes. But then that's also where portion control comes into play and I'm so bad at portion control. I'm also a total emotional eater. Bored, happy, irritated, sad or angry and I'm looking for something to stuff in my mouth. But the food diary really helps me curb that.

I've been praying like crazy that God will help me lose this weight. But I've also been convicted that I should be spending twice the energy I use worrying about my weight loss to worry about developing my fellowship with God. I need to consistently read my Bible, pray and pray at home with my family. I feel like if I make time for God, He will help me make time for the other things.

Okay, you can wake up now. I'm done for today. I really will try to make this an interesting blog. I'm just not sure how to yet...