Up and Running

THIS IS HOW I FELT AFTER MY RUN

I've been struggling with eating lately and have slowly been getting it under control. But it's a process. I realize I will struggle with this for the rest of my life... that's been a hard concept to accept since having the lap band done. I (foolishly) thought my eating problems would be solved once I had the band put in. I was hoping they'd magically disappear. That is hardly the case. My eating problems are still there, but I've become more conscious of them. I like food. I like the taste of good food. I enjoy cooking. I enjoy cooking good food. And I need to be careful about what I put in my mouth!

So while working on the whole issue of food, I've been thinking about exercise. Yes, thinking. I know I should be actually doing it rather than thinking about it! I've been thinking that I want to be a runner. I used to run in the Army, and I was good at it. I could run fast! I could max my run on my PT test! I could run in the fast running group and I could run with the men! However, that was different. For one, I was 15 years younger and for two, someone was always yelling at me to run faster! I was running away from the drill sergeants who were yelling at me! One of my cousins is 6 weeks older than me...she recently ran her first marathon. I thought, "If she can do it, I can, too." And so this morning, I dusted off the treadmill. Initially, it wouldn't work...I couldn't get the darned thing to turn on. I almost gave up, but since I was already dressed in my running best, I fiddled around with it and figured out why it wouldn't turn on (I forgot to push something called the ON/OFF switch.) And I ran. I ran 1.5 miles in 21 minutes. Jacob plugged in the fan and told me my hair looked funny because it was bouncing up and down. Somehow, he thought that would cheer me on. By the end of one and a half miles of hell, I was hot, sweating, my face was red, my legs hurt, my lungs hurt (my legs still hurt) and my hair had bounced up and down and looked terrible. But. I. Did. It.


And tomorrow, I'll add more footprints to the dust that's still on the treadmill.

THIS IS HOW I FELT BEFORE MY RUN

New Pictures and an Update

It has been a while since I've blogged. We've had quite a few changes within the past month or so and all of my free time has suddenly vanished! In August, Jeff deployed to Iraq for a year. At the same time, I changed jobs and have gone back to school full time. I am currently teaching 2 sections of Language Arts methods...I'm teaching seniors how to teach elementary Language Arts. The seniors take this class (along with Reading and Social Studies methods) right before their student teaching. That keeps me very busy... I'm also going to school full time. I'm working on my doctorate in Literacy Education. Busy, busy, busy!

I've really struggled within the past month. I had my 2nd fill 5 weeks ago and have a difficult time eating meat. I have thrown up a few times from eating meat, so I've cut back on meat and have been eating softer foods. Well, I can eat a larger amount of softer food than "regular" food, so I've gained 5-7 lbs. It goes up and down hourly! Also, since I've been so busy, it's easy to grab something on the go, so I need to focus on sitting down to eat a meal instead of small snacks. Toss in lack of exercise, too! I've been so busy that I haven't been exercising regularly. During the past week, I've walked 4 times, so that's a step in the right direction (haha...what a pun!)

I feel like I'm finally getting everything together...the exercising, I'm planning meals (not snacks) and I'm getting the eating under control. I'm down 44 lbs and feel so much better. I dragged out the jeans yesterday and had to give away a couple of pair since they were too big (one pair even had tags on them!) I wore a size 18 jeans today...a little snug, but doable. And I've even shopped in the "regular" size clothing...and no one kicked me out or gave me funny looks! :)