Suggestions for how to eat correctly? I am still eating poorly. I lost my will to eat "healthy" and just quit trying. This week my downfall has been potato chips. I have basically eaten a whole bag by myself. I am dreading what the scale will say tomorrow when I do my own personal weekly weigh-in. I was really happy with it last week but I think it is going to have gone up significantly. Not a good thing. I wish they sold "motivation" in a bottle!

I was very pleased with the scale Saturday morning when I weighed myself but then I completely blew it all weekend. We celebrated my daughter's birthday on Saturday so that meant pancakes, bacon, cake, ice cream, hamburgers, potato chips, etc. Then of course Sunday was Mother's Day which meant cheesy potatoes, chicken cordon bleu, sausage gravy and biscuits, ice cream cake, etc. I also made cookies for my daughter to take to school which had to be sampled and there was leftover birthday cake as well! I did not get on the scale this morning but I am sure it would not be pretty. On top of all that I am so tired that I did not get up to work out this morning. Nothing like not exercising and overeating to blow the diet! I will try to get back on track this week because this weekend is my anniversary which means . . . you guessed it - more overeating!

I did it! I ran my first 5K. Woohoo for me! I was very pleased with my time of just under 30 minutes as well. The best part of this competition has been challenging myself to try new things and to have the motivation to meet the challenge head on. I am going to run another 5K in June and then maybe we will try for a 5 mile run in July.

I am so close. Yes I made the 5% cut off that was required by the April deadline, but that was never a worry to me. My goal has always been to be below 140. It is just a cut off I created based on my own preferences nothing magical or scientific. I want to be below 140 and I have always hit a while when I get close to it. I am so close but am still not quite there! I was 140.2 at the weigh-in on Saturday. Less than half a pound away! I know I can do it. I just have to keep eating sensibly and exercising!
 
On a positive note, I was able to swim a whole mile in an hour this morning (shaved 45 minutes off my first time!) and I will run my first 5K on Sunday. I am meeting the challenges head on and overcoming them!

As I become increasingly frustrated with the small movement on the scale, I have also been increasingly pleased in other areas. I need to keep reminding myself that health is measured in many ways. It is not just a number on a scale. I can tell the benefits in other areas- I can swim farther than before, my waist is trimmer, I can hold a plank for 45 seconds, I am finally able to do a complete sit-up, and today I ran the equivalent of a 5k in 31 minutes! All of these make me feel proud and help me to remember the work is worth it no matter what the scale might say.

Sent from my iPod

Today I challenged my dad and sister to a weekly challenge. We have been doing a weekly challenge for each other to try to motivate one another and have a little spirit of competition. We have done having to record our food every day and a minimum amount of exercise for the week. Today I challenged us to do at least 3 10 minute sessions of core work this week. Not too much but more than I normally do! I also gave the challenge to record how much sleep we are getting. I know this is not directly tied to our weight loss, but it is related to our overall health. I think we will be surprised when we see how small the number actually is. I know I do not get enough sleep and this adversely effects other areas. One area is my eating. When I am up late at night, I eat out of fatigue and stress for comfort instead of hunger. This is not a good cycle. Maybe recording my sleep this week will help me find a way to correct this.

As we approach the April cut off date for this competition, I am just trying to keep going. I know I could do better with my eating. And yes I could probably exercise more or just be more active, but I am not going to focus on that. Instead I am going to focus on what I am doing right and just keep going. I am doing better than I was and that is the important thing. Each little change and right step adds up to a big difference.