Fitness Friday

So - I've gone back and forth about posting this...but I finally decided I'd do it. If for nothing else then for me to be able to look back on this in the months to come and see the progress I've made. I think that alone will make this all worthwhile. It will also serve as accountability - once you've let the world know what's up, you can't bail. :)

Five weeks ago I decided that I was going to commit to get in better shape - it's not a New Years Resolution or anything fancy like that; if I'm being honest (and if you are too) I never keep those things. I guess this was more of a promise to myself; a promise that I deserved to feel better about myself, I deserved to try to take better care of myself and a promise to get my act together and commit to this change - because when it's all said and done, that's what it has to be - a change. A change for good...and for GOOD. 

I probably started off on the wrong foot...in some ways. I didn't weigh myself or take an initial picture, so I don't know what I weighed at the start and I (hopefully) already look a little different than I did five weeks ago. I don't know, because I forgot to do those things. When I started I was too busy forcing myself to get out the door to pound the pavement at least 5 times a week. And let me be real - it was a STRUGGLE. I didn't like it. The moment I started, I wanted to stop. There were days when I literally had to force myself to take the next step because I did NOT like it and my legs were hurting and it was hard to breathe....and man, don't I sound like a whiner? 

But then....

Then, around the middle of week four, something happened. I started to crave it. You read that right; this couch potato, lover of sitting on my butt and doing nothing...started to crave exercise. I craved the feeling it gave me - the feeling that I was doing something good for myself. The feeling that with every step I took, I was moving closer and closer to my goal: to being healthier, happier and more comfortable in my own skin. I look forward to feeling that twinge in my calves during my workout and I look forward to that slightly sore feeling afterward - because it means I'm doing something. 

So - having said all that, here I am at Week Five. Well, almost to the start of Week Six...go me! So far, it's been an uphill battle both literally and figuratively. I know it will probably continue to be that way for a while but I'm completely okay with that. I'm normally not someone who seeks out a challenge, but this challenge - I'm on board.

Week One (Five Weeks Adjusted)*

I leave you with this glorious picture of me from Thursday, August 6, 2015. Talk about just putting it out there for the world to see; well, that's what I'm doing. I don't know why I didn't smile...maybe when I took this picture I didn't intend to share it with anyone...but here we are. I leave you with this picture of me - now...and the promise; mostly to myself, that this picture is going to change, week by week. 

*I should have smiled - I mean, the Nationals had just (finally) won a game and I was still in the middle of watching the Post Game. Whatever, it is what it is, ha-ha!