LOVE for 5K

5K. 3.1 miles. In some ways it sounds a significant distance, but it other ways its not very far at all. When I first started training for a 5K back in Oct/Nov of last year it seemed like such a long distance especially since I was about 40 lbs heavier than I am today. Now, here I am 4 - 5K's later and I can't wait to do another one. In fact I'm ready to up my distance and try for a 10K. I would like to work my way up to a 1/2 marathon this year. Saything that today sounds like such a stretch. It sounds like something impossible for my current body to do. I have to keep reminding myself that in Feb I didn't think I could do a 5K, but I did. I walked it. Then in March I did one with my friend Whitney and was able to jog a little bit. Then another one in April with my Aunt where I jogged even more. Sometimes I feel like I have so far to go, but then I think of what I already done. Don't ever think you "can't" do something. Never say "can't" until you at least try. Someday I will be able to run an entire 5K. Someday I will be able to do a 1/2 or full marathon. But I know that to reach that goal and to make any of that happen I have to keep trying. I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep on moving. Each step I take helps me lose the weight and makes it easier to jog. Each jog I take is moving me towards a run and one day I will run. One day I it be easy to run. I will be thinner and healthier and I will run. :) I can't wait!!!

Good Workout/Bad Workout

Yesterday I participated in my first Spin class - brutal! It was a definitely one of the toughest workouts I've had to date. It was really hard and a couple of times I felt like stopping, but I wouldn't let myself quit moving. Once I had finished I really did feel a since of accomplishment. I may have not done quite as well as some of the others in the class, but for me I had done my very best and it felt great! Today my legs and booty are CRAZY sore. I went to the gym this morning feeling my usual motivation. Ready to hop on the elliptical for my hour of cardio then onto some weights. Well...not so much. I did hop on the elliptical and cranked up my tunes and got started. No surprise I was feeling every step with the soreness of yesterdays workout. I struggled through 15 minutes then decided I would do some weights then finish my cardio after. I was really beginning to hurt so I decided not to work my lower body. So I worked my upper body, chest, arms, abs...etc, but I just really wasn't feeling it. SO, I thought I would scrap it for now and do some evening Yoga later. I was on my way out of the gym when I spotted 2 new cardio machines that a girl in spin class was telling me about yesterday. New Precore cardio machines that on the sides kinda look like a pump-jack. I decide not to give up just yet and go try out the new machines. I hop on but I couldn't get it to start. I keep trying and FINALLY the switchboard lights up and I can begin my workout. Its some sort of step climbing/running machine. I get a good rhythm going with a comfortable intensity and set the timer for 30 min. I made it about 15 minutes before I felt like I was going to pass out from climbing/running. I stopped got off the machine and came home. So now, here I am...home...feeling sore. :) It certainly wasn't one of my best workouts, but I'm glad I went. That's the attitude I have to keep to succeed on the weight loss journey and what I have to remember all day every day, no matter how much it hurts, regardless of when or how your stumble along the way, pick yourself up and NEVER, EVER, EVER GIVE UP! Don't give up on your journey and NEVER give up on yourself.

Struggling

Sorry it's been so long since I posted anything. Life has been pretty busy lately and I have been struggling. Struggling with the diet at times and definitely struggling with work outs. At first I had a pretty good attitude and just kept on trying and not beating myself up too much for missing a workout or splurging a little here and there and honestly didn't think much of it. Then more and more time kept creeping in between workouts so I started whining about it to my friends and started getting really discouraged. Work has become a huge hurdle in my work out routines. At first I tried to work out at 5 AM each morning, yea that didn't work out so good. Then I tried going straight to the gym right after work which typically is a great work out time for me, but here's where work began throwing me a hurdle, my schedule has changed a little and instead on closing one night a week I now close 3 sometimes 4 nights a week. This is a problem because not only do I not leave until 6:30 most days but I have a 40 + minute drive home from work. By the time I get home I'm so pooped and hungry I don't make it to the gym. SO - wah wah wah, blah blah blah. Fast forward to today. I was thinking about how all this junk I've been griping about is just life. There is always going to be something that is going to keep me from going to the gym or tempting me to blow my diet. The BIG question is "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?" After a lot of great counsel from my friends and watching last night's Biggest Loser I have decided that I'm going to consciously make "the choice" 24/7! It is up to me and me only to reach my goals and keep me on track. I'm going to talk to my manager and ask if we can rearrange my schedule some so that I can commit to working out twice during the week and also work out on both Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to keep motivators and reminders of how far I've already come on this journey all around me and how far I still have to go and how the gap between them is shrinking daily. I will choose to celebrate the small victories as well as the big ones (and not with ice cream) God has been so good to me and he continues to bless me each and every day. Each and everyday I have a choice. A choice to follow God and a choice to make myself and my health a priority. "How bad do you want it Deb?" "Are you willing to make the right choices and the sacrifices it will take to achieve your goal?" The answer...YES! I love myself enough to do just that. So that's what I'm going to do. Now the question is, What are you going to do about it for yourself? :)