One More for the Tortoise

“I prefer to start slow, gives me room for improvement.”

-The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach

You probably also heard the tale of the tortoise and the hare when you were growing up. Slow and steady wins the race, right? It’s funny how those childhood stories stick with you.

Remember the yearly fitness tests in high school gym when you had to run a mile? Worst. Day. Every. Year. Running an entire mile was out of the question, I could barely walk four laps under the time limit. When I joined Weight Watchers I spent the first few months focusing only on healthy eating. Once I felt better about my eating habits and more confident after losing a few pounds, I was ready to incorporate activity.

This is where those old stories we heard as kids came in handy. In the beginning my goal would be to run on the treadmill for a full minute, and than I spent the remaining time walking quickly or on an incline. After about a week or so I would bump it up to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 1 mile, and so on.

And then last week, this happened:

I have been running for about four years now, and increasing the distance over time. At first I couldn’t even run for 1 minute. It has certainly been a slow and steady process to get here, but I’ve heard that’s what works. One more for the tortoise!

PS : I really recommend downloading the Nike GPS app – it’s inexpensive and amazing! 

Monday is a Working Day

I played rugby in college (definitely more on that later!) and this is the opening line to one of the ritual songs. It was one of our favorites and always helped motivate the team. All day today it ran like a mantra in my head: “Monday is a Working Day.” 

Winter sucks but Spring is not too far off – no more excuses that it’s too cold to run outside, no more baggy sweaters to hide holiday weight gain. I have resolved to get back on track. Today, Monday, is a great day to get back to work. 

Mondays can be brutal so a little preparation makes a big difference. Breakfast, snacks and lunch to get me through a day at the office! And a run after work was the perfect way to end the day – it helps me unwind, and is the best way to kick start the week.

 For me ups and downs have always been a part of my weight loss. I have to remember to stay positive, which can be hard, but I have come so far and accomplished so much and that doesn’t go away if I gain a few pounds back. Is everybody happy? You bet your ass we are.

The Best Decision I Ever Made

How do you start a blog; what do you say first? The beginning seems appropriate, if only I knew what that was. Four years ago I was driving back to school after winter break – it was my senior year, graduation wasn’t too far off and I was headed for the ‘real world.’ I was a decent student, active on campus, unsure of my future plans, but most of all I was unhappy.

Making the decision to lose weight wasn’t new for me; I had probably said it so many times before. There was a brief attempt in high school, somewhat successful actually, but it didn’t last.  This time though, the decision was all mine and for the first few months only a few people even knew I was attending Weight Watchers meetings and trying to lose weight.

Joining a structured program like WW was important to help me in the beginning and the weekly meetings kept me accountable. It was also mine. Every Thursday I drove to another town, away from school and friends, and I was paying my own membership dues. Most people in my life had no idea what I was up to. The best decision I ever made wasn’t trying to get healthy, or committing to a program – it was deciding to do all of these things for myself.  I wasn’t losing weight for anyone else, I wasn’t trying to prove something to anyone else, I had a personal mission and only myself to answer to.