Still Lovin Life

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. Here's an update:

I've been doing great with accomplishing my monthly 5k's. Here are the races I have under my belt:

• Lewis McManus Memorial 5k back in June. Time: 38:08
• New Deal 5k in Arthurdale in July. Time: 37: 21
• Charlie Williamson Memorial Glade Springs 5k in August. Time: 34: 57
• Chuck Smith Memorial 5k in September. Time: 35: 05 (trophy for 3rd place in my age group!)
• Beckley 5k Half Marathon 5k in October. Time: 35: 40

I'm still working on scheduling a race for December, but it looks like I'll do a World Run Day event in Marlinton on November 7th. I'm planning that event, actually. Hopefully it will be simple to plan, and we'll have exactly 20 people show up, thus not lose any $$ on t-shirts. :)

The thing is, I haven't lost any real weight to speak of, basically all summer. I've been hovering between 191 and 195 for several months now. It's not like I don't know the reason why; I haven't really been trying very hard. I reached a fairly comfortable point, and I just slacked off.

Well, I'm not going to quit now that I'm so close to my goal. I'm not sure exactly what my goal really is, but I'm going to re-access when I get to 180. I've never really wanted to be much lighter than that, and my body frame holds that weight very well. We'll see. Now that I'm a runner though (I know, how crazy is that?) I'm actually concerned about carrying that extra weight around on my hips that slows me down when I run. But to start, I need to get to that 180 mark.

I read a great post on Caloriecount.about.com today about finding your inspiration. It suggested a few ways to get it back when you've lost it, and one of these was to write out why you want to lose weight. Write "I want to lose weight because..." and finish that sentence in as many ways as you can think of. I did that, and here they are:


I want to lose weight because it will show that I started something, and I completed it. I didn't fizzle out in the middle.

I want to lose weight because it will help me be a better runner.

I want to lose weight because I want to wear size 12 jeans.

I want to lose weight because when I finish, I can relax and move into maintaning it.

I want to lose weight because, even though I feel healthy now, my body will be most healthy at the optimum weight.

I stayed away from the "I want to be beautiful" reasons, because I'm already beautiful. I don't think I thought I was beautiful when I was 250+ pounds and eating crappy food, but as I got my mind into the right place, I realized that I was. I've been beautiful all along, and losing another 11 pounds isn't going to change that. It will give me the things mentioned above though, and those things I need. I need to be done with weight loss. I'm ready to move on to maintaining. I think that's probably what's been holding me back: the fear of moving into the phase of my life when I'm just maintaining my weight. It's the rest of my life, and that's a long time to be committed to the same task. I'll have to do a lot of things over the years to change it up and make it interesting, and I know that won't always be easy. But, I'm ready. I'm ready to get there and start doing that.

So, I'm resolved. These 11 pounds need to go. When I get to my goal, I will maintain. If I happen to lose more weight beyond that because I'm exercising and being healthy, and my body doesn't need as much weight, that'll be fine.


Thanks for sticking with me, people. I know a 3 month break from writing is too long. I'll check in more often. :)