Getting Fit and Having Fun!

I am overweight. I have been for quite a while. And I'm not proud of it. Or happy about it. In fact, it depresses me, which makes me want to eat chocolate. Which in turn keeps me fat. BUT - I am finally doing something about it! 

I vowed after Xavier to get back into shape and it didn't happen. I vowed the same thing after Shaela, and finally started exercising about a month before I got pregnant with Cohen. Which didn't help me out much. But I am bound and determined that I won't have to say this after the next baby (at least as far as losing 'extra' weight - I'll still have to work off the baby weight).

So, what am I doing you ask? Well, last summer Jared and I bought a treadmill (hence, the starting to work out before getting pregnant). I went on it sporadically while pregnant, but now that I can actually run again, that has been my go-to exercise. I really enjoy it and it's fun for me to see how long I can push myself for. Just one more minute. And then when that minute is up, can I go one more? It's great. However, I was finding that going on for a set amount of time each day wasn't necessarily the motivation that I needed. Then, about two and a half weeks ago, I decided to set a distance goal for myself during my time on there. I decided to start running a 5K every day (which is 3.1 miles). And to do it within 40 minutes. I was a bit surprised at first to see that I could actually do it and not feel like I was going to die by the end of it.

Then, what do you know? At the end of my first week there was an announcement in the church bulletin about a 5K Run for Aids on October 2nd. So I decided to register. I know if I have an event to actually train for, it will give me extra motivation to keep up my running! My goal is to be able to run the whole distance (right now I take about two walking breaks for a couple minutes in between). And I want to do it in under half an hour. With 12 weeks left to train, I think I'll be able to do it. The only problem is that I injured my left knee in high school, so I can't run every day or it bothers me. Not a huge obstacle - it just means that instead of running 5K every single day, I do a workout video and a one mile run on my off-running days. So far, that seems to be working. 

I'm really curious to see how much weight and how many inches I lose in the process of all of this. Even if I don't have a huge amount of weight loss, if I am losing inches and feeling better about my body, I'll be happy. Being healthier in general is always a good goal to work towards!