Accomplishment

Since giving birth to 3 children, I've been carrying around a little extra weight. For 3 years, I didn't drop a single pound despite some effort on my part. (Not tons of effort, but some.) My weight isn't a huge deal to me. I'm healthy. I don't like to exercise, although I've been trying to be more consistent at it. I am not way overweight and my weight is constant...it doesn't fluctuate at all. For 3 years, every time I stepped on a scale it always said the exact same number. For 9 months, I did Biggest Loser workouts with coworkers and never dropped a pound...(That is not to say it didn't help...I lost a couple of inches around my waist and definitely built muscle. I felt good doing it too.) Then back in about March, I began training for my half marathon. I was running more than I ever had in my life, and I completed my half marathon. I am a slow jogger, and I will never win any awards, but it was still a great feeling of accomplishment. And during the course of training for and running the half marathon, I lost about 7 or 8 pounds. I kept the running up really well until August and then we went on two vacations and I went back to work, and I haven't done as well. I have still been working on my New Years Resolution to eat lots of fruits and vegetables daily though. I do try to eat healthy other than that I'm a sugar addict and do eat too much sugar.

Anyway, a dear friend decided to do a contest among neighbors and friends to try to lose weight from the beginning of November until Thanksgiving. We weighed in at her house at the beginning of November, and I was thrilled to see that I was 9 pounds lighter than I was a year ago. So I'd not only kept the weight off but I'd lost an additional pound since my half marathon. I decided to participate in the contest, and while I was sure I wouldn't win, I figured it would help me be motivated to exercise. I haven't been as good as I would have liked, but I have exercised and when I weighed on Wednesday night, I had lost 1.5 pounds in the past 3 weeks. I know that doesn't sound like much, but for me, it is still a great accomplishment. If I could lose 5 more pounds, I would be perfectly content with my weight. I would weigh more than before having kids, but I was very, very thin back then and had lots of issues with my blood sugar and stuff. I actually think I'm at a healthier weight now than I was then. The contest has been extended until New Year's. I still don't think I will win, and I'm totally okay with that. But I'm excited for the weight I have lost and that I am making time to exercise. It doesn't come naturally to me.