Hyup!

That's the sound of me jumping back on the wagon!

It's been cold here. My body is responding as many people's do this time of year, by calling out for rich and fatty foods coupled with inactivity. I have been eating every kind of fattening food I can get my hands on for a couple of weeks now and neglecting my exercise. I have such a hard time when the weather turns cold.

Today, however, I am standing up to my old self and saying that this poor behavior is stopping NOW.

I have access to healthy foods and an indoor gym when the weather is too bad to go out. It's time to get busy again.

If you are reading this, I would love to hear about your strategies for coping with bad habits like mine in the winter.

Merry Christmas!

Just the beginning

I have completed the Couch to 5K nine week training program. I'm measuring success by time rather than distance: I'm not actually covering 5K yet, but am able to move at my highest speed without stopping for 30 minutes. This is a wonderful accomplishment for me. When I started, I could barely do 3 minutes without collapsing! Another side benefit is that I can now enjoy the music on my iPod as I go, rather than listening to the training programs. They were wonderful (get the C25K training podcasts at http://www.coolrunning.com/) but it's really nice to be able to mix it up with my own music now.

My husband and I were not with our families for Thanksgiving, so the two of us went out for a dinner at a local casino (free to government employees!). The food was wonderful! Every bite was obviously homemade and just as tasty as my grandmother's would have been. The portions were very reasonable and since there were no seconds (or thirds!) and no leftovers at home, we didn't overeat a bit!

It's been a great week. I hope your enjoyed yours, too. I may have finished the training program, but I'm just beginning to expand my exercise abilities! Let me know how you are!

Adaptability

This morning I got up about 6:30, fed and watered the dog and let him run around in the back yard. Then I went over to the lake near our house and fed the birds cracked corn and visited with my favorite goose, Toulouse (left). Toulouse has one blind eye and a damaged wing. You can see that his right wing droops lower than the left one. He can't fly. But he has a real love for life and his very own personality. In the winter he hangs out on the island in the middle of the lake. When I come by with the cracked corn, I stand on the edge of the lake and shake the container and call his name: "Touloooouuuseeeee! Toulooooouuuusssseee!" He looks up from the island and stretches his neck waaaayyyy out and replies. "Honk honk!!! I'm coming!!" he says. "Wait for me!! Honk Honk!" Then he sidles down the edge of the island and plops into the lake, swaying from side to side as he swims over. He climbs up the bank where I'm standing, flaps his wings to shake off the excess water, and begins eating right of the container in my hand. The other birds crowd in, wanting their share. When Toulouse is done, he struts away and back into the water, heading for the island again.

One of the the things Toulouse has taught me is that it is just fine to do things the best way you can. I'm doing the Couch to 5K training program from coolrunning.com. It is intended for people who want to be able to run a 5K. But until I get all of my extra weight off, I'm afraid to run, because of the stress it would put on my arthritic joints. So I have adapted the training program so that when I'm supposed to walk, I walk, but when I'm supposed to run, I'm speedwalking. I'm almost running, but not quite. I have adapted the program to fit what I'm capable of doing. I would love to be able to truly run and maybe I will one day. But right now, what I'm doing feels great and is showing up on my body in pounds and inches lost and confidence and energy gained.

So if you can't exercise at the level you want to, don't throw in the towel. Do what you can today and tomorrow and the next day. Over time you'll be able to do more. You know what? Runners of all ages nod and smile at me as they pass, acknowledging my effort as equal to theirs. It's all about adaptability.

A Liberating Movement

Last night I started week three of C25K (the Couch to 5K training program). In just two more weeks, I'll be doing a slow jog for 20 minutes straight with no break and three weeks after that, I'll be doing the full 5K. Here, in just week three, I'm amazed at how empowered and liberated I feel at being able to move as much as I am; I didn't fully understand what my body is capable of until I pushed it a little. Even in its current condition, my body amazes me. I can see myself running a marathon one day!

Consistent exercise truly is a liberating movement.

Just a little bit

...Goes a long way.

I finally got back to exercising after a long and lazy absence. Just two days after starting back, I'm down three pounds! It is amazing how much difference a bit of moderate exercise can make. And it also helps keep me on track with my food, because I don't want to blow the exercise I've done by overeating.

I get a big pat on the back today! How are you doing?

Clothes Don't Make the (Wo)man

But they sure can help.

My wardrobe of late has become populated with a few baggy pieces of clothing and not more than two work-appropriate pairs of pants. I didn't feel presentable most days and my clothes were sliding all over my body, espcially my tops, because they were too big. People were even commenting on it.

So over the last few days I have hit the sale racks for a few transitional pieces that fit. It's amazing how much better I feel and look in clothes that fit me. In addition to looking nice, it helps fire my motivation to keep going with the weight loss. And someone asked me last week if I had lost some weight. I was wearing a new top that fit properly and was flattering.I feel really good about how I look. You know, as a friend of my says, you don't have to be at goal to look and feel good. You can do that after 5 pounds, 15 pounds, and all the way down to your goal. Just a few pieces of sale-rack clothes that fit sure can help.

Sums

I think this pretty much sums it all up:

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
-- William Feather, American publisher and author.

I'm hanging on. Hang with me and we'll succeed together!