2011 goals...

Here we are, closing out 2010. Another year on the books. Ten years since graduation, ten years of 'adulthood'. That's a lot of time to look back on. I love going through old pictures and videos. I was browsing through some photo albums the other day and reminiscing. It's funny, we go from one group of pictures-our senior trips to Santa Cruz and Cancun- where my husband is in shape and looking great to another group just a year later where he is extremely overweight and looking unhappy and uncomfortable. I don't know when it happened. So quickly he went from 220 lbs to 320 lbs. No scale, no accountability. We talked about how it happened- eating out all the time, not eating properly (no breakfast, lunch at 3, dinner at 9, nothing in the middle), not moving at all. With me, it was a slower transition. I graduated in 2000 at 125 lbs, a size 3. I remember purchasing jeans at a size seven one shopping trip and then all of a sudden needing an eleven which I was absolutely positive was bad sizing and vowed never to buy that brand again. I weighed 159 lbs in 2003 when I discovered I was pregnant. After having him, I was 161 lbs. Fast forward to 2007 when I got pregnant with Justice and weighed 172. Fast forward to this spring when I weighed in at 178 lbs. Unacceptable.

My goal for 2010 was to lose weight and run an half marathon. I have lost weight- 17 lbs. It's a start, a decent start I suppose, but I am really hoping to drop at least twenty more. So far it's a process of stages. Stage one is to get in shape, drop the bulk of the weight. Stage two is to fine tune- get toned and focus on the last of the weight, whatever is left to lose. At this point, two kids and ten years later, I don't know if 125 is a realistic weight goal for me. It doesn't seem possible at this point and I'm not going to set it as a goal. Once I drop down to my goal, I will work from there.

I also did run a half marathon. If you could call it that. How about- I didn't walk a half marathon. We finished it together at 2:48. So now I get to the next stage, work on improving. We are going to be participating in the Shamrock'n half marathon in March. Our twelve week training plan starts this coming week. I am determined to stick to the plan this cycle. Last time, we skipped a bunch of runs and barely cross trained. I hope that with one half marathon under my belt and a full training schedule completed, we will be able to finish in 2:30. That's shaving off a little over a minute per mile. Can I do it? I think I can. I read this inspirational quote the other day- "Instead of thinking 'I'll believe it when I see it', we need to change our thinking to 'I'll see it when I believe it'." I totally think that self-destructive thinking limits us. Me in particular. I plan on sticking to the training plan this time around, even if it means running by myself sometimes. Even if it means I have to wake up earlier in the morning to get in some cardio/cross training. I plan on running Shamrock'n in two and a half hours.

That being said, I also plan on not stuffing my face this Christmas even though it will be super tempting with all of Aunt Debbie's cookies, cakes, and homemade fudge. I will steer clear of the See's sampler box that Gary never fails to bring. I will politely decline mamosas at breakfast. I will limit my consumption of delicious Starbucks brewed beverages. It's a time of great change in my life, and I fully intend to make it a time of positivity and extreme growth.