Thea

Oh my goodness, that challenge went fast!  I can’t believe that we are at the end already.

I weighed in at 155 this morning, which is down a pound from last week.  Woohoo!

The question is, how’d I do on my goals?

Goal 1: Maintain Weight Between 153 – 157 pounds — I did this one every week!  100% on this one, baby!

Goal 2: Run 3 days a week, at least 3 miles each time — I didn’t do nearly as well as I wanted to on this one.  I kept coming up with reasons excuses not to run.  I only did this 9 out of the 18 time.  50%…not that great.

Goal 3: No food after 9pm — I did pretty well with this one.  I met this goal 38 out of 42 days.  90% ain’t bad on this one and I definitely think it’s a habit.  I don’t even think about food at night anymore.

So, I’m thinking that means no yoga mat for me.  But that’s O.K.  I learned a lot this time around and I conquered 2 out of the 3 obstacles in front of me!

So how did you all do?  I can’t wait to hear!

I stand before you humbled, dear body of mine.

I can’t figure you out.

I thought sure after the eating and the lack of exercising that you would hate me.

I was convinced that I was so bloated that you could roll me down the driveway.

I “knew” that this morning you would let me know exactly how stupid I’ve been lately.

But alas, you fool me once again.

This morning, I weighed in at 156.  Still within my range.  Unbelievable!

But thank you, body.  Thank you.  I will never again question your mysterious ways.  From now on, I’m just going to roll with the punches and let you do your thing!

I could tell you about all the specific things I’ve done this week, but they all really boil down into just two categories:

1. I’ve eaten like crap for the past several days.
2. I’ve let me running schedule slack off.

As a result of these two things, my body is revolting.  Let’s just say that I’ve been getting a lot of toilet reading done.

You’re welcome.

The bigger picture is that I won’t be reaching my goals.  I could try to justify rewarding myself by saying “I did my best” or something like that.  But the truth is, I didn’t try my best.

This isn’t a pity party.  I’m not upset and I’m not disappointed.  I’ve been down that road before and it just leads to more bad results.

I did what I did and I can’t change that.  What I need to focus on now is doing what i can do.

Weight Watchers put this up on Twitter yesterday: Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Here’s to a meaningful life folks!

I feel pretty good about myself, thankyouverymuch.

Despite spending last week in Disney World (and subsequent confessions), I weigh LESS than I did two weeks ago. I seriously couldn’t ask for much more than that.

Besides doing my best to stay on top of my goals (although I had a few slip ups last week), exercise is definitely becoming a more routine part of my life. On top of the running, I’m throwing in some yoga every once in a while and I’ve also started doing the Hundred Push Ups program again.

Is it wrong to see something as a necessary evil yet kinda enjoy it all at the same time?

Another thing that has helped? I’m getting more sleep. Thanks to my husband (I should probably write a post on that), I am in bed before midnight every night now. That makes such a huge difference in how I feel every day.

Anywho, this weeks weigh in puts me at 4 weeks on my maintenance ticker (see it over there on the right? I thought a butterfly was fitting).

One month down. Eleven to go.

Bring it.

I created my motivation wall a month or two ago after reading about Christie’s wall. I thought it was such an amazing idea, but I had a bit of a hard time coming up with a place where I would see it every day, but also not be an eye sore.

Then I realized the inside of my closet was the perfect place. I could make it semi-permanent and if the corkboard messed up the wall at all, who the hell cares? It’s in a closet!

So I went out to Staples and bought myself a 4 pack of 12×12 cork squares and a box of push pins. I put it all up on the wall and started putting stuff up.

Yes, it’s a little bare. I have a little trouble actually remembering to look for motivational stuff to put up there. But I absolutely love what I do have. You can see that I have a “Challenge Yourself” banner and I have the picture of me and Jacob from World Run Day.

I seriously love how bad ass my 6 year old son looks. Is that wrong?

Anyway, I found that my biggest problem is getting over the demons in my head, so I picked stuff that I thought would help remind me that I have the power to change things.  Me.  Oh, yes I do.

I also seem to be super hung up on my times for my races.  It was a real stumbling block for me in the beginning.  I thought I was supposed to run a certain speed in order to be considered a “real” runner.  So, I hung up my race bibs with my times written on them to remind myself that finishing is the only thing I have to do.  Times are going to change, but I will always have to finish once I start.

This one is my head in a nutshell.  Really, this is what running is all about.  Getting into your own head and defeating your own self doubt and overcoming your own restrictions.  It truly is me vs. me.

Because you know what?

After getting a solid 7 hours of sleep last night (a rarity these days), I stepped on the scale and hesitantly looked down.

You see, I’ve had a less than stellar week.  I slipped up on two of my challenge goals and does anyone else think that Christmas candy rivals Halloween candy in terms of sheer volume?

I may have indulged in a Hershey Kiss.  Or 50.  Some may have been slathered in peanut butter.  I’ll never tell.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that while I gained, I am still in my healthy range….so it’s all good.

I have a bit of a challenge on the horizon.  My family leaves on Sunday afternoon for vacation.  We will be spending a week at Walt Disney World and I’m a little nervous.  I hope I don’t let myself go too much.  The resort has a 1.5 mile running path so I’m bringing all of my running stuff.  I just need to actually…you know…RUN!

When I stepped on the scale this morning, the clouds parted and the skies were filled with sunshine and singing birds with ribbons in their beaks and I SWEAR I heard music.

Their may have even been an animated princess cheering for me.

Somehow, I lost 3 pounds over the last two weeks. I’m at 153! I haven’t been at 153 since 2007!

I don’t know how, but I’m not asking.  Road trips, Christmas dinners, non-Christmas dinners with my MIL’s home cooking, eating out, eating a full meal in the CAR because we didn’t want to stop.

Sticking with my Rethink Your Shrink goals really helped!!

I may officially be on maintenance, but I’m not looking a gift weight loss in the mouth.

WOOHOO!!!

O.K. I seriously laughed out loud when I saw the new button for this!  NO BULL!  LOVE IT!!

So when I got up this morning, I could really only think of one thing I needed to confess.  I feel like I’ve been doing pretty good, actually!

But my sleep habits are abysmal. I get about 5 hours of sleep a night. Which is very hard to function on the next day.

When I was out of town last week, I never stayed up past 11:30pm.  I was in bed on most nights by 11pm. Then the first night home, I was up until 12:45am.  Then it was 1am.  Last night was 1:30am.

Good times!

And you know how when you are tired, it’s a little harder to make rational decisions?

Say, you know you should get a salad or grilled chicken sandwich from McDonald’s.

But instead you get a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Fries and a Diet Coke?

With a side of Cinnamon Melts.

So, I guess I should confess that my lunch choice today was less than stellar, too.

But other than that I’ve been really, REALLY good.  HONEST!

Here are my answers to the Thursday Three questions.  No turning back now!

Rethink Your Shrink Goals

Goal 1: Maintain Weight Between 153 – 157 pounds

Goal 2: Run 3 days a week, at least 3 miles each time

Goal 3: No food after 9pm

Tracking: I’ve made a sticker chart and an online chart!

Reward: A new yoga mat