Run Through The Jungle

I went jogging with Wes this evening. It was a little like being in a jungle because A) Wes doesn't know the best routes through the neighborhood yet and we kept running in spots where there was low-hanging foliage. He'll learn, though. B) It rained on us. I kept thinking of Jumanji and the monsoon. 

I learned something about myself, though. I'm really mean to myself when I run alone. I'm judgy and I get angry when I can't make it as far or as fast as I wish I could. Then I beat myself up afterward when my run doesn't go as well as planned. But I didn't do that tonight. I let Wes take the lead, I followed willingly, I took it easy, and you know what? I felt great at the end. We didn't go as far or cover as much distance as I do on my own, but who cares? I burned a few calories, I worked out with my beau, and I made my body just a little better. 

And now I can eat a little bigger dinner tonight.

(I'm growing out my eyebrows. Can you tell?)

Are you asking for a CHALLEEEEEEEEEEEEEENGE?!?!

Some friends and I are participating in a Summer Slim-Down Challenge. You know the drill. We all check in with each other once a week to weigh in and at the end, whoever loses the most weight wins a prize. The additional attention now put on my fitness by other people has really given me the extra motivation I needed. I don't care if I win or anything. (I probably wouldn't accept a prize even if I were to win, because I'm the administrator of the whole she-bang.) But just the fact that others are passing judgement on my eating and exercising habits keeps me countin' those calories.

As far as running goes, I've been doing pretty well here lately. I'm on week 5 of 9 in my 5K to 10K training. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm already thinking about how to start training for a half-marathon.

Today's picture comes to you from my babysitting job. Check out my cute pigtail buns.

Slow and Steady

Today, while I was running, I saw a turtle! Well, I think it was really more of a tortoise. Honestly, I don't know that much about breeds of shelled reptiles. But this sucker was huge! He was probably about the size of a dinner plate and remarkably tall for a turtle. He was just sitting on the sidewalk and I had to run into the grass to avoid him, because, frankly, he looked a little mean, like I probably didn't want to tangle with him. 

My run went terribly. I was supposed to run for 10 minutes, walk for 1, run for 30, walk for 2, then run for 10 more. I made it through the first 10 okay, then started on the 20. I had my left ankle/foot wrapped in an Ace bandage since I injured myself running the other day, and about 5 minutes into my 20 minutes run, it was causing my foot to cramp like crazy. So I stopped for a minute to re-wrap it, then started running again, but I could just never get my momentum back. I did two or three more stretches of running for a couple of minutes, but never did any more longer runs. At the end of my run, I felt really bad about myself. I had all these thoughts running through my head like, "Jeez, Melody, why can't you do this anymore? Maybe you should just give up and get fat. Why are you even trying?" 

And then I though about that turtle. 

That turtle moves so slowly. That turtle can only cover short distances at a time. But that turtle keeps on truckin'. He doesn't let anyone or anything stand in his way. I mean, I ran into that grass so as not to throw off his groove. He is determined to keep going regardless. 

And that is how I shall be henceforth. I shall be like that turtle.

(Today's photo comes to you from my couch.)

Keep On Stepping

This past weekend, I finally ran my first 5K. It was about time! I had registered for two races before, but wasn't able to run them for various reasons. But I finally officially did one! M two friends and I ran Color Me Rad. It was freezing cold, we got covered in colored cornstarch, and it started raining just before we were done running, so we had to walk a mile back to our car in the cold rain, BUT we did it!

So what now, you ask? Well, I started a 10K training program on Monday. I imagine that's the next step. It's supposed to have me running 10K in 9 weeks. I guess after that, the only thing to do is go for a half-marathon. And that's my New Year's Resolution, anyway, to be able to run 13.1 miles by the end of the year. I'm feeling pretty positive about that whole thing.

PS, my picture today comes to you from the classroom at the school where I teach music classes. That's how the children make me feel.

My Best Friend's Wedding

One of my very best friends is getting married in a little under a month, leaving me as one of the few remaining unmarried people in my circle of friends. And while, OBVIOUSLY, my friend will be the focus of the day, I want to look good for this. I bought an amazing dress before Thanksgiving with the intention of wearing it to this wedding, but I've put back on a few pounds since then. So now the goal is to get back in this dress quick, fast, and in a hurry. Stay tuned.

Some Basic Truths

I am fat. I am overweight. It's just the truth. Am I morbidly obese? No. Are people grossed out when they look at me? No. (At least I don't think so...) But am I fat? Yes.

But here's the thing. I love the basic shape of my body. Buried underneath several layers of fat is a beautiful woman. I don't have much of a butt or big hips, but there's a gentle curve there that I think is pretty appealing. I have a great rack, just to be honest. My waist nips in the way it should, and my arms and legs are slender.

What's that quotation? “The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed--it is a process of elimination.” That's what I'm doing. I'm an artist, tediously sculpting the vision in my head of what my body will be.

One month down...

So, I'm really bad at blogging. Maybe my commitment shouldn't be to blog every week, but just to blog regularly. Would that be acceptable?

Now. Food and fitness. I've done really badly lately. Firstly, I find that it's nearly impossible to be as good as I should be during the last week or so of an opera production. It's not a great excuse, but alas. It. Is. Tough. Secondly, it's also really difficult to be good when you're sick. I was sick last week and I barely moved off of the couch. I also pretty much ate whatever I wanted, all the while claiming "Oh, it'll make me feel better." But you know what? It mostly didn't make me feel better at all. True, when your throat is sore, ice cream dulls the pain. And you know what else? It ups your body's mucous production. So I don't know that it's actually worth it.

BUT.

This is a new week. I got up yesterday morning and ran. It was TOUGH after basically a week of stagnate lifestyle, but I did it. And I ate pretty well. And this morning, I got up and went to a brand new yoga class. I'm going to try to start going to yoga twice a week. That's some serious strength training. Three runs a week and two yoga classes. I feel like that's a pretty good routine. I'll keep updating about how it goes.

P.S. This entry's picture comes to you from the waiting area of the Toyota dealership. Fun.

Small Sacrifices

So here we are. Two weeks into January. Can't believe that blew by so fast. So fast, in fact, that I totally ignored my responsibility to blog last week. Ah, well. I guess I'll officially start my year off now.

So, the first couple of weeks of being fit (-ish(again(-ish))) have been... okay, I guess. I have, in fact taken off a few of my holiday pounds and I'm approximately back down to where I was around Thanksgiving. So that's good. Unfortunately, my "holiday" weight gain started a little before Halloween. Hey, Halloween's a holiday, right? And since it was in the middle of the week, I had to celebrate it the weekend before, right? In Gatlinburg with my family, right? Oh, that's not how/when everyone kicked off their holiday season? Sigh...

It's hard to get back on track. It's hard to give up the things you love in favor of the things you know are good for you. It's hard to convince yourself that the things that are good for you ARE the things you love. But I'm getting there. For me right now, moderation is the name of the game, and here are some commitments I've made to aid in said moderations:

-Soda has been one of my biggest addictions/hinderances and, as such, is now only allowed once a week. And I think I'm gonna go for real soda vs. diet. I think I'd rather have the calories in my body than the chemicals.
-Two glasses of wine a week. They may be together in one sitting or spread out during the week.
-Fried foods as sparingly as possible. It's nearly impossible to totally avoid the occasional stop through the fast food drive-thru (especially during opera dress week, as this week is), but I shall do my best.
-Eat at home as often as possible. This is a tough one for me because I like the experience of going out and eating exciting food and people-watching and just being out of the house. This is a problem I know I have. But I also enjoy the approximately-weekly, large-scale grocery shopping trip. We have a great farmer's market every other week, plus we're not that far from an Earth Fare AND a Whole Foods, so it's not hard to find good groceries.

This is just the start. This is also just the food side of things. Exercise is something I'm still working on. Maybe that will be the topic of my post next week. Stay fresh, y'all.

P.S. I think I'll add a picture from where I happen to be blogging for the given week. Enjoy.