February 2, 2010

Holy Cow! Another month gone. 3 months from today is the half-marathon. January actually went really well. I did great with my first goal of just 20 minutes of exercise 5 times a week for 6 weeks.

1st week- 137 minutes
2nd week- 217 minutes
3rd week- 270 minutes
4th week- 100 minutes

Mikayla and I did our long runs on Saturdays.
Jan.9- 2.8 miles
Jan. 16- 5.2 miles
Jan. 23- 6.4 miles Run, plus 1.6 mile Walk
Jan. 30- Mik. was on a temple trip and I chickened out because of the cold!

My weight is back down to within 2 pounds of my pre-Christmas weight! I really struggle with controlling my appetite under stress. One day 2 weeks ago, I did really good all day sticking to my diet plans. Then, Shane came home and we were preparing to go out for dinner. Jared woke up from a late nap and came crying up the stairs to our room. Now on my bed was an open package of fruit snacks. I don't actually like fruit snacks. Some child had started this package and left it on my bed. I had seen it several times and passed by it. I wasn't interested in eating it and hadn't yet found the culprit who left it on my bed. When Jared came up the stairs crying, anxiety suddenly kicked in and I actually caught myself reaching for the fruit snack to grab it and eat a couple bites!!!! Wow! What a telling moment. I can do really well with my eating until my stress level increases.

I was really glad that I caught myself and recognized that I was just eating for emotional reasons. I confessed (through my tears) to a friend earlier that same week that I am completely willing to do whatever exercise it takes to lose weight, but that I can't control my appetite. She told me about a book about changing your thought process about dieting. I bought it right away. It's called The Complete Beck Diet for Life. I have struggled with depression in the past and have learned how to talk to myself to help combat those feelings, so I was very interested in a book about changing how I talk to myself about dieting. So far, I'm enjoying the book and I think it is helping me feel more in control.

The plan is to lose about a 1 pound a week until May 2nd. I'm trying to get as much exercise built into my schedule as possible. So, I'm going to a Zumba class every Monday evening, trying for 3 exercise sessions at home during the week, and then a long run on Saturday. Yesterday, I did an exercise video for 50 minutes and then did Zumba last night. All in all, things are going very well.