I ran ... not so far away

OK, so Flock of Seagulls didn't quite sing it that way. I take pleasure in granting myself poetic license to alter lyrics to suit me at whim.

If you've been reading my meandering thoughts put in blog form, you'll know that I've embarked upon a lifestyle challenge. I am trying to lose weight via changing the way I think about food and exercise. It's ridiculous for me to commit suicide in a slow manner. When you think about it, that's what gaining an excessive amount of weight exhibits. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't "SLOTH" one of the Seven Deadly Sins? I could be taking the suggestion out on the ledge, but by not exercising the very body--temple-- that God has given me, I am abusing His love. I have been taking advantage of the gift of life. With that in consideration, I found new incentive to persevere even though the weight doesn't seem to be falling off my posterior in the manner I had hoped. Return to focus: Health for the long term.

NutriSystem makes it easy for me to plan meals and not have to focus all day on food. The problem is that they don't send the food Nazis in the heavy box of food. I still have to maintain self-control. My lack, thereof, is what got me in this fatty fatty 2x4 predicament to begin with, yes?

I wrote to my brother to tell him that I'm working toward a health goal. First, he congratulated me and helped shed some light on why I might not be dropping the chub factor as steadily as I had hoped. In our family, we tend to get or discover post 40s hypoglycemia. I have been tested for diabetes and hypoglycemia in the last 5 years. I'm sure plenty could have changed with my increased weight. However, I don't show any outward signs of it since changing my eating habits and increase of activity. My thought is not so much what I'm eating but when I'm eating it.

I'd been lax in reading labels fully. I was forgetting that I not only have to be concerned with caloric and fat contents, but sugar & bad carb content. I love yogurt if there is flavor in it. Plain yogurt? Egads! Too sour! I'd been buying the vanilla flavored fat free stuff. It's loaded with sugars, too! Zoinks! And I'd been eating that at night. Double zoinks! Carbs before bed? Shazam and Holy fat deposits, Batman! With that mid weekend realization, I turned to my food journal and I've been keeping track of what I consume, how much and equally importantly, WHEN.

Today is so beautiful that I took my walk outdoors. The wind was brisk against my face, but I wasn't about to not enjoy the sunshine and blue sky. I adopted a state of mind that I was a diva strutting her stuff. It helped me pull in my tummy, and walk a little taller and prouder.

As I pumped my arms and moved with the tempo of the music on the Leslie Sansone guided 2 mile walk, I envisioned a new me. I didn't get cramps or twinges. I only stopped to get the teeny rocks out of my shoes. I guess I was making quite a stir in the fine granule rock path. My arms were pushing me to take wider, quicker strides when before I realized it ... I was running. Mind you, I'm sure I didn't look like a gazelle on the Sahara. I'm also quite sure the up and down jarring movement of my butt cheeks was far greater than the forward movement my feet were making, but the point is that I RAN. OK, I jogged for the first time in many years. I'd go so far as to say well over a decade. I nearly wept at this fantastical feat of physical improvement. Yesterday I managed to do 10 modified push-ups. TEN PUSH-UPS! I high fived myself and hit the showers.

Thank you God for giving me this body. Thank You for giving me the chance to realize how special I am. Thank You for allowing me to see myself as You see me.