Weekend Hike, High Point NJ

The view of the monument from the parking lot

This Saturday we planned to hike 3.7 miles on the Monument Trail at High Point. It was a beautiful day for a hike, perfect weather! High Point is the highest point of NJ, 1803 miles above sea level.

As we progressed along the trail, we found there was a small out and back trail of .7 miles (one way) out to Lake Steenykill. We decided to go since most of the monument trail was way overgrown and we spent most of our time bush whacking our way through! The views known to this hike were all pretty obscured by the bushes.

The ticks were outrageous, I've never seen this many on one hike ever! My husband and I used OFF but our friends didn't. They had many more ticks on them than we did. So we got to see first hand that it actually does help. Thankfully, they were wood ticks, though knowing that didn't make us feel any better when we were pulling them off our pants. You can see how stylish I look with my pants tucked into my socks in the pic below. I definitely knew I was more 'protected' by doing this. I'm getting itchy just thinking about those ticks while I write this!

first view on the hike, the Delaware River

We were glad we went out to the lake it was beautiful! There was a grassy open clearing at the end of the trail but still a lot of ticks so none of us sat down while we took our break. Sitting and resting would've helped me later on at the end of the hike.

Lake Steenykill

We ended up hiking a total of 5.1 miles! It took about 3.5 hrs, so we were walking at a good pace. We did hang out for about 15 minutes at the lake. The last half hour or so of the hike was all uphill and I was really feeling it, my legs felt heavy and I was tired. That extra 1.4 miles out to the lake was just a little too much for me, but worth it. We hung out at the monument and enjoyed the breeze after the hike. 

I SURVIVED! (i think!)

When I woke up on Sunday I was busted up! My feet and ankles were so swollen. My legs had a tingling sensation from the calves down to my toes. I elevated my feet and ended up taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon because I was so exhausted.

I felt good and bad about how I felt physically after the hike. I felt good that I did the hike but I felt bad that I could barely function the next day. It was just a reminder of how out of shape I've gotten.

On Monday morning when I put my shoes on to go to work I had to loosen the shoe laces because my feet were still so swollen! I've never had this experience in my life! I took some Aleve to help with the swelling so I could get around at work.I was miserable most of the day. Today, I still have some swelling in my feet and some soreness in my calves. I hope that by tomorrow I'm all better.

I learned that I'm not the hiker I was last spring. I need to walk during the week to build up my endurance for my weekend warrior outings. To go from not much activity all week to 5.1 miles is a big feat. Could feeling so exhausted be the way I should've felt, was that normal? Maybe, I just wish I had felt like getting up and doing another 5 miles on Sunday too.

Return from Rock Bottom

Yes, I've been M.I.A. for about a month. I've really been struggling (mentally & physically) with my weight gain. I've been feeling totally lost and helpless when it comes to figuring out what and how much to eat. 

    I hate the whole food thing. Buy it, Lug it home, Store it, Decide what to make, Clean it, Cook it, Clean it again, Wrap up leftovers, Rinse and Repeat, Ad Nauseam. There was surprisingly a time when I loved to cook. From this statement you'd never know it!

 Last time I wrote, I swore myself to low carb, well it's a bit of a pain in the ass. While being frustrated about what to eat to stick to the rules. I would instead eat chocolate, cookies, anything sweet and just be done with it. Sweets are just so much easier and create less dishes than whipping up these meals. So, that's what I did. 

   

The result? I hit a new all time high in the beginning of May. I'm gonna post the number this time but only on my weigh in page. It's as public as I can get. One day it'll be front blog page-able, this a big step because in the beginning I wasn't able to say it at all.

  I believe I've said "I hit an all time high" earlier in this year but this new weight is my breaking point. I can't allow it to get any more out of control than it already is.

  I decided to count calories. To not eat processed foods, and to gradually eliminate white flour. To cut down my sugar intake and find healthier sugar/sweetner options. To eat veggies with every meal and at least 2 pieces of fruit a day. To not eat 'diet food', just real food. It's a starting point for me. It probably doesn't sound like a ground breaking plan to most people. But when you're not eating food and most of your meals are sweets, it is. I made a deal with myself to eat 3 meals a day.  I'm allowing treats when I feel like I want/need them but not big treats like Dairy Queen Blizzards, Reese's Big Cups or anything like that. The majority of my calories has to come from my meals, everyday.

   I found my way to this blog post. After reading it many times and checking out the calculators she mentions in the post, I decided to give it a try. I figured out all my numbers on the calculator and started eating with in that range. Which is MORE calories than I ever ate when I was on a "DIET". I was skeptical that I'd lose any weight eating than much. I figured in a weeks time if my weight went up I'd stop and figure out something else to follow. But, IT DIDN'T! I lost 1.6 lbs in the first week.

  Was it because I ate food and not mostly sugar? I think so. Was it because a body this size needs a lot more than 1200-1800 calories? Yes. When I was eating only sweets I wasn't getting the nutrients my body needed. When 'dieting' I was eating such low calories I was 'starving' no wonder why my body was holding on to the weight.

   I'm not 'cured' I have a lot of weight to lose. I still have to fix my feelings towards the food. I still need to learn ways to cope with the emotions that drive me to want to eat chocolate.  After a months time, even though this new plan has been working for me. I'm getting sloppy/lazy/slipping. It's working and I should be flying high on the thrill that the number on the scale's going down. But.. I'm tired of prepping, cooking and cleaning. I want it to be over already.

  Newsflash, it'll never be over. Even when I get to goal I will need to eat. I need to learn to make time so that it'll be easier. I know this, just gotta figure out how to make it work.

Spinning & Zumba

While perusing Groupon & Living social I came across 2 great deals for Zumba & Spinning classes. I'm sure I can survive Spinning. It's low impact and I think it's a good cardio boost i can use now.   I've had second thoughts about Zumba after I bought it. All that jumping around may not be good for my arches, ankles & knees. If there's a fair amount of time between now and expiration date I may be ok with some conditioning.

I started walking again (YAY), my treadmill was out of commission (yea the brand new one). After a service call all is well.  It took a such long time for the tech to come. They thought it was the incline motor, they sent the part. When it finally came the tech came out and said it's the console! After doing a looong software update, it seemed to be responding better. It's usable now.  Before it would incline when it wanted to, the display would read 0 so I couldn't make it go down with out turning it off/on.

I did a great walk on Saturday. Now that I can log into IFit the calories burned count is correct!

My pace wasn't stellar. I couldn't wait for it to be over even with all the distractions of the street views of Niagra Falls. My time will improve, walking will get easier the more often I do it. At this new all time high weight I really can only ask my body to do what it can at this point.

I still haven't combated the sugar problem. Everyday I need to have some form of chocolate a few times a day. If I don't, I can't stop thinking about it. At times I can't do anything else until I had some. If I don't I'll eat everything else to avoid eating it and over eat anyway.

I'm still reading Fat Chance by Robert Lustig. I listen to a few podcast on LCHF living but I can't seem to get my head wrapped around a meal plan...

I wish there were sugar detox centers like there are rehabs for drug addicts. Go there, check in, and ride out the sugar induced mania. Get your blood sugar levels in check and the whole time learn to make meal plans that are low carb high fat.

If this does exist let me know, if it doesn't and I can actually do this myself and lose the weight and become healthy, I may be sitting on a gold mine!

Catch Up Post

Well, I've been plodding along for the past few weeks doing nothing to encourage weight loss or living a healthier lifestyle. In fact, I have eaten Reese's & Cadbury Mini Eggs like they were tranquilizers! I don't know what's gotten into me. It seems like when I set goals for myself the complete opposite happens. I think maybe I should start telling myself I'd like to gain some weight because when I say I want to lose weight all I do is GAIN!

source

I've hit another all time high on the scale. My body is beginning to feel & look like a Shar Pei puppy just not as cute. There's nothing cute about what I've allowed to happen to me. I'm now faced with warmer weather and the thought of pulling out my spring/summer clothes is nerve shattering. I'm really not sure if ANY of them are gonna fit. Tank tops? forget it, I'm looking at my second summer in t-shirts because I'm so embarrassed of my entire upper body. I really don't want to buy new clothes in a size I never wanted to see in my life! Just thinking about it makes me furious. I've become so uncomfortable in my own skin, at times I don't even recognize myself. I've become miserable, angry and antisocial. I really don't even want to leave the house. I push myself daily and make it to work, gotta pay the bills... But I don't enjoy anything about my day.

In other news, I'm reading Fat Chance by Dr. Lustig now. I just started this weekend so I don't have much to comment on, maybe I'll do a review about it when I'm done. I am going to try to eat more low carb and kick the sugar completely. I need to stop eating candy, it makes me hate food. It makes me hate everything! Eating candy is just so much easier than preparing meals. A handful of candy here and there gets me through the day with out any dishes! Can you say sugar addict?

I did take a 25 minute walk today at lunchtime. It was nice to be out in the fresh air, it's a beautiful day today. I tried to enjoy my time outside but as I walked all I could think about was how far out of shape I have let myself get.

Sorry for the doom & gloom.

FIrst Day of Spring

I'm starting over again.  I was all set last week. I restarted my tracker & set a new weight loss goal on spark people. I tracked for 3 days last week. Then a cold started on Thursday and took me out of commission. Good thing is I didn't have much of an appetite. I'm feeling almost 100% better today. I haven't exercised in ages and at the rate time is flying by I'll be lucky to lose 17 lbs by the time I turn 40. That would be 1 lb a week. Yea, 17 weeks from today I'll be 40. 12 weeks have gone by and I haven't been able to get a handle on getting and exercise routine down and eating well. There's always something going on to deter me. Colds/ injuries, deaths in the family, home construction, car troubles and long commutes get between me and what needs to get done. The thing is they don't seem to be going away. 

This week I've been having the mental battle with how I hate dealing with food and I am really over it. Food/eating is really annoying. You have to go shop for it, carry it in the house, put it away, decide what to make, then find time to cook it, clean it and put it away. Add to it the constant dishes, it's enough to make me throw my hands in the air and scream. I think this is why I'd rather eat chocolate. It's easy, no prep necessary and no clean up.

I know it's totally unrealistic to wish we were solar powered but I do wish it. So... I'm gonna track my food today and see if I can get going for 30 minutes on the treadmill tonight. I need to find time to cook too.

4 months 16 days

138 days or 4 months 16 days until my 4th decade starts. However you want to look at it, it's on it's way. To me birthdays are a personal New Year, I want to start this one off being in a healthier state than I am in now. This weight gain has dealt me a negative blow mentally & physically.

I really want to make changes to my life to live healthier. I need to learn how to stop myself when I am making poor nutritional decisions. Why do I make them? Mostly, it's convenience. Or the fact that chocolate tastes better than everything so why not eat it?! I need to actually make the time to have healthy prepared food on hand. I say it's gonna happen every week and something else always comes up.

I have to find balance so that when life throws me zingers I don't lose myself in the shuffle. I haven't been successful at that the past 2 months, in fact I failed terribly. I need to learn about "putting my needs first" which leads back to finding balance. I need time to exercise and to shop for & prepare food. Real people do it, I read their blogs. It's not just mumbo jumbo found in self help books.

I ask myself if other people can succeed at this why can't I?  Have you ever asked yourself this question?

I did have a "moment of balance" last night after work, I got the laundry going and walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes. My feet and calves didn't want any part of it but I kept on walking, slowly like 3.0! I hate that, that pace is what I can handle right now, but it is and I have to accept it.

I plan on walking again tonight. I need to get back to food logging even if it's just really laid back. Like just writing it all down (old school in a notebook) and not obsessing over calories/carb/fat online. Just watch for a week or so and then figure out if I'm gonna go back to tracking on Sparkpeople.

I got a reminder email for the Bayhead 5k it's 11 weeks away on May 18, 2013. The Color Run sent out an email saying registration is open, the race is on August 31, 2013 it's 26 weeks away. These are 5k's I had my sights set on in the beginning of the year when I bought my treadmill. I'm so far behind on the C25K training schedule I probably wouldn't be able to run the Bayhead 5k in May, I'd end up walking it. I have time to train for the Color Run, but I wonder how bad or annoying the whole color powder throwing thing can be. They make it sound like it's fun but it might not be. I'm not in a good place to decide today, I'll think about it more on the weekend.

I'm still here

I've been M.I.A. for a while. I've had a lot of good and bad stress, since the beginning of this year. In Jan. my uncle passed away, I hurt my shoulder and had a really, really bad cold. In Feb. we had some major changes in our living space, which thankfully is close to settled. My car over heated and the head gasket is cracked which means antifreeze and oil mixed and since the car is a 1997 it's not worth fixing. The sad part about this is I got the car from my mom, who barely used it, 3 years ago. It only had 25,000 miles on it! I managed to get it up to 60,000 miles but I was hoping to keep this car for at least another 5 years. I am really bummed at the thought of car shopping and the unexpected cost it entails.

All the ups and downs have thrown off my schedule and overall mojo. I haven't worked out since I did the virtual 5k. My feet and legs still don't feel good and that helps me make excuses to not exercise. I haven't been eating well and have gained weight. I weighed in two weeks ago and saw a new all time high. I was devastated. I weighed in last week and had come down 3 lbs. still leaving me higher than my last all time high. I just feel really hollow when I think about it, kinda detached.

I feel like I'm just gonna keep gaining until I pop (mentally or physically).  My feet, ankle, hips and low back hurt all the time. Why aren't these signals from my body enough to help me make a change and really start taking care of myself? It's made me very depressed, I am starting to have trouble fitting into my clothes too. At times I seriously wish I could be taken away from myself and let someone who gives a crap take care of me.

I'm having a "I hate food and wish I didn't have to eat" spell. Most of the time I prefer cookies/ chocolate over food. In fact, I can't even say that I HAVE a favorite meal. I never know what to order when I'm at a restaurant because I actual loathe all of it.

I took a hiatus from all the podcasts, websites and blogs I read. I get so overwhelmed and start feeling like I just don't know what to eat or do. After a while NONE of it makes sense anymore and something that should be natural is completely foreign.

I just don't know how to get myself refocused.

Wednesday Weigh In!

I weighed in today and was thrilled to see I maintained!

I had a very rough week and weekend. I didn't work out because of foot and leg pain. I didn't cook or eat on schedule because of the house project. I feel like I'm letting life help me makes excuses for not staying focused and that happens to me often. When I let that happen I give up control. But I feel I was so pressed for time it just couldn't have worked out any other way. The combination of feeling guilty and the house being a mess lead to a binge on Monday night. UGH!! I had a 3 week streak of being binge free. I made a quick stop at the store on my way home. At the check out were the EVIL, hard to find Reese's Sticks. I could've bought the 2 pack but nooo the 4 pack was a better price! (in hind sight was it really?) I ate 3 of them on the way home and they were delicious. I had a few Chips Ahoy too, when I got home. I bought them for my hubby and I've been really good at not eating his treats. Making dinner right now is a disaster, the kitchens unorganized and I just wanted them!

I woke up on Tuesday with a MEGA MIGRAINE. I am semi blaming it on the sugar binge. I had been keeping it very low carb and suagry snack free as possible. I could be wrong but I could be right. I went into work late because of it. When I have a migraine I really can't eat. So, my food yesterday minimal and I went to bed at 7 pm. I need to buy lunch today since I didn't pack it last night. I'm gonna get a salad at Quiznos I think. I have to get myself back on track.

On Friday evening (2/1) I went for my sports massage. The massage therapist was really cool and we chatted a lot about food and non traditional medicine as he rubbed and stretched my legs and lower back. He agrees I should see my podiatrist. I felt good on Saturday most of the day, by Monday morning it felt as though all the massage goodness went away.

I started wearing my orthotics in my shoes on Tuesday. With all the resting from the migraine and keeping my feet elevated at my desk (suggested by the massage therapist) my feet & legs feel pretty good today. I am going to hit the treadmill tonight, no running just a brisk walk for at least 30 minutes.

How do you keep yourself focused when life gets in the way of your weight loss goals? How do you deal with the guilt you feel after letting it happen and possibly after bingeing?

Wednesday weigh in!

This is gonna be quick! I had a super busy evening after work I had to go food shopping AND cook. I made fish, threw it in the oven an let it take care of itself. We had left over roasted green beans and that was it. Blah, Wednesday..

I did weigh in and I'm happy to say I'm down another 1.2 lbs! I lost a total of 4.4 lbs since Jan. 9, 2013. I got a late start getting myself focused and hyped up in the beginning of the month. I'm happy I didn't gain 4.4 lbs! Which could've easily happened if I wasn't making any effort to be Super Fabulous by my 40th birthday.

The Sparkpeople weight tracker says, I should have lost 3 more pounds than I have. I hope to catch up. If I can fix my leg pain I can work out better.

I am going to get a sport massage on Friday to see about easing my calve pain. I found this article about low back pain and how your calf pain could be causing it. This article explains exactly what I've been feeling. I used to have plantar fasciitis really bad, wore orthotics for a long time. When I was thinner it stopped bothering me. I'm wondering if it could be related, when I had that pain I felt it more in my arches than up the back of my leg. I will be calling my podiatrist too to see when I can get an appointment.

Yay! 4.4lbs GONE!!

The Funk Phenomena

I gave myself a pass this weekend after the 5k to not walk/run. I have a huge project going on at my house which involves lots of furniture moving and going up and down stairs, repeatedly.  So I got my activity in for sure. But with all the commotion I didn't really get to cook or track my food both days. I did the best I could to eat right but with out having time to cook, a pizza was ordered!

The first day I had 2 slices & 2 garlic knots, the next day I had one slice with a very sad salad cos my greens started turning to mush! I had steel cut oats for breakfast both days. I just felt guilty eating the pizza cos I'm trying to keep my carbs low.

So Monday rolls in and I should be back on track. I didn't get to log my food yesterday because I didn't measure any of it I just eyeballed it. Which could be fine but I need accuracy to get some weight loss going. I planned on getting my C25K training in but a friend stopped by and before I knew it my hubby was home looking for dinner. I was starving so I cooked, we ate and hit the couch. We were both exhausted from this weekend.

I feel The Funk Phenomena is setting in! (You don't have to listen to the whole thing! He says the phrase over and over, it can be applied in many different ways) I did good last week, I felt strong and focused. Today, I feel like I'm losing interest. WTF! Why/how can it slip away so easily? I feel so tired and the 'it's just not worth the effort' voice is chiming in.

I'm getting on that treadmill today no matter what. Tracking is so tedious and I always feel like I'm trying to beat the clock, those minutes are precious!

Let's not forget, there's only 170 days til my 40th birthday!! I've only lost 3 lbs, Yikes!

If you track your food how do you do it? website, notebook, smart phone?

Virtual 5k results!

get ready to race!

On Friday night I completed the Runs For Cookies Virtual 5k. I warmed up and stretched before starting off to do 3.1 miles but my lower calves & achillies tendons were still really tight which lead me to take more walking breaks than I planned on. I ran a good amount and my legs feel good today kinda tight just letting me know "hey! we ran more than we have in a week"

The odd thing was when I first started off my calves felt like they could burst. It's a feeling I can't explain and don't understand why it happens. Once I started running it let up a bit but half way thru my ankles and achillies were getting tight and my legs felt like 100 lbs each!

Overall I had fun and the right music always helps me to push thru the rough patches. Here's my time summary. The calorie burn is bogus it's based on a "national average" I called Epic asking how I can set it to my weight and they said manually on the treadmill you can't but once iFit is set up I will be able to set up a profile. I won't be able to do that until next week.

I had a 17:09 minute mile. It's much slower than my 5k times from last year, but I've been sedentary since September. I completed the 5k and I'm really happy about it!

How did everyone else do?

Virtul 5k Today!

Runs for Cookies Virtual 5K

Today I'm running/walking in Runs for Cookies Virtual 5k. Katie's husband made cute race bib, I added my name. Katie hand made many of the prizes, which is so awesome, they are all so cute! I'm going to do the best I can during the race. Since I've been inactive for so long I really don't know what my pace will be. I just want to do it to get my 5K mojo going. I plan to do a few this year.

Last night I did an easy paced walk/run. It was supposed to be day 2 of the C25K program but I didn't want to over do the training the day before the 5k. I completed 1.80 miles in 35:32 min a 19:44 min mile. I only ran about 5 minute intervals total. My achilles tendon in my left leg has been really tight, it slowed me down a bit cos my leg/ankle started hurting. I just did a fast walk to finish out the half hour.

This time includes the warm up & cool down, do people usually include that in the total time?

Wednesday Weigh In

Holly, the scale monitor keeps me in check!

I like to weigh in on Wednesdays. To me it's the best midweek day. 2 days after the weekend lets you make up for any extracurricular eating that may have happened. Then you have 2 days before the weekend to get some good work outs in in case of any weekend splurges. I need to focus on tracking on the weekends, a non structured schedule throw me off track. I find I'll eat a 1-2 big meals rather than a few small ones through out the day.

 I'm not comfortable enough yet to say my actual weight out loud to the world. I can barely speak the numbers to myself. But, I will share my weekly losses here by sharing how many pounds I lost or gained that week. I will be truthful always and if you don't believe me you can check in with Holly she helps me keep it real, at least when she lets me use the scale!

This week I lost 1 pound. I'm happy about it. I only really focused on tracking the past 2 days. I ate out on Sunday and don't even recall what happened over rest of the weekend. A pound lost is better than a pound gained. Yay!

How do you manage your weekends? Do you find it easy to stay on track or does weekend spontaneity throw you off your plan?

2012 Fitness Review

In 2012 I did make efforts to be more active. I started walking in late Feb. to lose weight, this was also to get myself prepared for my hiking vacation in Peru.

I completed 3 5k's!!!! 

I ran and walked during these races.

1. Miles With Mom's on April 28, 2012. My time was 49:21 a 15:53 mile pace.

2. Bay Head 5k Memorial Run on May 19, 2012. I was part of a team, we did not come in last but for some reason many of us aren't on the race results page. I can't recall my time at the moment.

3. The Valerie Fund on June 9, 2012 my time was 47:56 a 15:27 mile pace.

After the Valerie fund 5k I was laid up. I hadn't walked/ran in a while and tried to 'cram' in some training a few days before the race. Bad idea, I rested the day before the race. On race day even after warming up and starting the race off walking as soon as I started to run I got fire hot, shooting pain in my shins. I walked, ran and hobbled my way to the finish line. I never had pain like that before. I had shin splints for the first time. Walking or moving using my legs/feet was out of the question, it was that painful I could barely stand to put ice on them!

While recovering my mom got very sick and had an extended stay in the hospital. This derailed my training and good eating habits. I started walking and getting in some long hike with my husband in July but September was getting closer by the day and that meant my big hike was too.
  

I HIKED 26 MILES ON THE INCA TRAIL!!!

I did the best I could to prepare for Peru, I enjoyed hiking and camping along all 26 miles of the Inca Trail. The altitude was challenging and made everything more difficult but the beauty of the mountains made it all worth it! It was an active vacation we had to walk everywhere and usually uphill!

Besides Peru, my husband and I went on 7 other hikes in 2012. Most of them were to train for vacation and some we did after we came home.

After the trip, I came home and rested and just forgot about exercising. I worked hard huffing up those mountains but I put the weight I lost for the trip back on. Thankfully, I didn't let the gaining get out of hand and go beyond where I was when I started.
 ________________________________________________________________________________

Today, I started the Couch to 5k for treadmill program. I have to figure out what speeds will work the best for me. I think when I was walking after running I was setting it way to slow. When the 30 minutes were over I felt like I should've felt like I worked harder. But when I was running that 1 minute straight towards the end it seemed like a really loooong minute. Let's see how I feel tomorrow and I'll adjust it on Thursdays walk/run.

In today's 31 minutes I completed 1.5 miles!

Madien Voyage?

Today I did my first work out on my new treadmill! My treadmill is super sexy, really it is! It's an Epic A35T. I haven't signed up for the iFit yet, I want to check out all the built in programs that came with it first. I'm very glad I decided to buy it. It was a big decision and I chose to treat myself to a nice one. My husband has been teaching me thru the years that I deserve nice things. In the past I'd get something I wanted but I'd get a low end one. Having nice things makes you feel good and appreciate the item more.

Living in NJ, I have a hard time dealing with the weather when walking and trying to jog outside. I have asthma so I have a very small window of 'good weather'. The super cold winter air takes my breath away and the humidity makes me feel like I'm drowning. As much as I love to be outside it's better for me to use the treadmill inside on a regular basis. This way when I go out for long hikes I can enjoy it more.

Today, I completed 2 miles in a total of 37:49 minutes. It was a slow pace, I'm starting off slowly because I've been inactive since early November.

Introduction- 180 days til my New Year begins!

First thing to know about me is that my birthday begins my New Year. Yea, I celebrate with everyone on Dec. 31/Jan. 1 but those days hold no meaning for me. I like to celebrate my birthday like most people celebrate New Years Eve.  There are 180 days til my 40th birthday. I promised myself the day I turned 39 (185 days ago) that this would be the year I would 'do it' get myself together and really eat clean and be more active. Not just because I want to protect myself from disease and illness but because I do enjoy it. I enjoy the things being healthier allows me to do like hiking/adventuring, bike riding, dancing and going on amusement park rides (something I haven't done in years) to name a few. I let things overwhelm me and then I get derailed.

I want to say I gave it all I could but it's not true. There were family commitments/illness that couldn't be denied and needed my full attention. BUT what I didn't do while that was happening was make time for myself. I didn't allow myself time to prepare healthy food or exercise regularly. I didn't take care of me while I was caring for others and at times I let food take care of me when I was feeling the most sad or stressed.

In this blog I plan to record my thoughts, discoveries and success as I regain a hold on eating healthier, being more active and possibly even becoming a runner. I have 180 days til my New Year and I am committing to making each one count!


"...with this line I mark the past as a symbol of beginning..." ~ VNV