I'm now on the downhill of this "thing" and feel awesome - like anything, some days are better than others, but over all I feel so much better. This whole task was daunting on day one - now that I'm 52 pounds into it, it's still work but it seems a bit more manageable. 48 pounds is nothing to shake a stick at, I still have a tremendous amount of work to do but I can see the faint light at the end.
The more and more I'm in this, the more and more I see the responsibility of working hard, doing right, setting examples, being an example. I've started having people inquire about my recommendations, advice on workouts, etc. and though through a lot of it I still feel very novice, I encourage forward progress. We are all at a place where something could be better, improved in our lives, it's simply about doing, about choices. It's not a race, it's not a comparison, it's just a journey and sometimes it sucks but the mere fact that we get up each day and fight again, will make it ALL very worth it.
This past weekend I ran a 5K (with my 8 year old) - my time was a horrible 41.02. That means my 13.21 pace was just 3 1/2 minutes behind the female lead's FINISHING time! But again, it was the simple fact that I did it - I didn't train (running) at all - I'd started the C25K but it was seriously only for a week, then it was just weights and CrossFit.
Since that run, I've researched and found three more I will do. August 20th is the Covey Run for Children's Hospital - this is especially important this year because a friend of mine lost her 15 month old son on July 1st at Children's after he'd fought from the day he was born at 1.5 pounds. September 11th, I'll do another 5K for Iron Girl - a wonderful organization. I last did this run in 2006 with Jordan. I then plan to run, with my two cousins, the Big Sur International Marathon's 10.6 miler which is in April of 2012. I want to be a decent runner - I believe continually signing up for these will only continue to motivate me, I refuse to push out any more40 minute times!
CrossFit, oh CrossFit - this Thursday just after my weigh in, Jordan and I will complete our last On Ramping WOD and graduate to the full meal deal. We are both very excited to welcome the punishment. This is by far the best, most driven workout a person can get involved in!
One of the combined accomplishments of my Ideal Protein and my workouts was today while getting ready for work, having nothing really to wear; I grabbed my old black slacks - ironed them and slipped them on. These are "pre-plan" slacks, size 22 to be exact. I pulled them on without unzipping them and down they fell - I no longer even had hips to hold them up with. I was happy but sad - I had nothing to wear, nothing appropriate for work. I had workout clothes and jeans! I reached down in a pile of clothes I'd been given by my Ideal Protein coach - things she's grown out of due to her own weight loss. I grabbed a pair of blue slate cords (size 14) that I'd been eyeing since I got them. They went on! They fit! There's just a small muffin top - actually it's really more like a "mu" top, not even enough to constitute the FFIN! The MU top was easily disguisable by a light jacket and off to work I went, elated. I don't double I'm probably a size 15 (lol) but this was a happy moment for me of possibilities to come. Like I said, there's still a ton of work to get done but I am ready, I love how I feel, I walk taller, feel happier, I feel like an athlete.
Go out and do something great for yourself! Get moving.
(BTW there's a little progress photo for you - the "me" on the left was October 2010, I looked just like that on February 2011 when I started IP, the one the right was me a couple weeks ago!)
