The Honeymoon is Over

...But I am still in love!

Scale-wise, I pretty much maintained today (it was actually a gain of .2, if you really want to know, but to me, that's a maintain). I was a bit surprised since I ate well yesterday, drank tons of water (try fourteen 8 oz. glasses!), and had what amounts to a double dose of exercise: went to the gym after work yesterday for about a half hour, and did my C25K routine this morning, another half hour. Go figure! I won't let it bother me since I am doing all the right things, and I feel good. Well, I actually feel a wee bit ragged this morning from doing two days in a row of active, sweaty cardio. I think tomorrow, since I won't be able to go to the gym because of a workshop I am attending after work, I will go for an easy 30-minute walk on my lunch break, and then take my scheduled Friday off. Then Saturday I should be all rejuvenated and ready to start the second week of C25K!

I guess I need to figure out a better plan for my gym time, because focusing on cardio and leg stuff (basically, treadmill and the bicycle) makes things a little harder the next day when I am trying to do C25K... like this morning. It went well, but I definitely felt like I was really dragging by the end of my last running cycle. I want to get on the weight machines next time I go to gym and start working on my upper body and core muscles especially. I'm really not as worried about my gams... they are pretty solid, though no doubt they could use some strengthening to better support me on my runs. I also have yet to try the elliptical, which I have never done before!

Going to the gym with a workout partner was totally awesome. I found that I challenged myself a little more than usual, and it was just nice to have the company and encouragement. Jan is in better shape than I, but we make a good pair regardless, and we have similar reasons for wanting to get into shape. Sure, losing weight is nice, but we're starting to think about our future selves and what kind of life we'd like to have when we're 60, for instance! Not to mention, we want to rediscover our glamorous, hot selves—the kind we were 10 or 15 years ago.

I like the fact that I am taking the things that worked for me previously, and adding new elements—like working out with a friend—to mix things up and give myself an even stronger support system. I'm also very happy that I will have somewhere I can go in the winter time to run, so hopefully I won't ever lose my fitness again! Just think, by the time the snow flies (five or six months from now), I should be in pretty good shape and just flying on that treadmill. Not to mention, a good 40-50 pounds lighter? Well, we'll see about the latter. I fully expect to be well under 300 pounds by then, that's for sure.

It feels so good to be so involved in this again. I love that it feels normal, too. I'm not being overly strict, and I am finding it more and more natural to make better choices about my eating and getting more physical overall. Gardening season will be in full swing soon, so between that, C25K/running, and the gym, I should be good to go for months to come.

Hooray!