You CAN Win While Losing

The winner isn't the one who gets knocked down the least, but the one who will always pick themselves back up.

Speaking of winning, that's what I've decided to do.  I've decided that I need to get back up and start taking better care of myself, and I'm going to focus more on what I gain than what I lose.

My mom used to go to these weight loss support groups called "Winners with Joy."  I love that concept.  I hate that taking control over and learning to love your own body is always referred to in terms of LOSS.  It's usually about cutting out calories or certain foods (usually just the tasty ones haha) and about losing inches and losing mass.  There is even a TV show called "The Biggest Loser."  But I feel like in the game of "weight loss" you gain a lot more than you lose, especially if you're doing it the right way.  Here are some of the key gains that I have experienced:

-Confidence
-Self-control
-Discipline
-A healthier body
-Healthier body image
-Self-respect
-Confidence
-Athletic Skill
-Knowledge
-Achieving goals
-Smaller clothes
-Independence
-Ability to cope with stress
-More energy

If you look carefully at the list, you gain many of these benefits before you ever lose a single ounce.  From the beginning you can be a winner, and winners don't need to measure progress in pounds and inches.

That said, I am done with setbacks and excuses.  I am ready to be a winner again!

Updating Goals

I feel good so far about how I've been consistent for the past week.  I missed swimming on Thursday but ended up swimming on Saturday instead, not because I felt like I needed to but because I was in the mood to do it.  And I haven't missed one day of running yet!  In fact, I've been racking up the miles, and now that I'm pretty much right at 100 miles, I'm pushing the bar up a little further to 150 miles.  Right now I'm running six or seven miles a week, but before nine weeks is up I'll (hopefully) be up to running 9 per week.

One goal I have right now is to continue the Couch to 5K program and to stick with it exactly.  Run the program by the book on the road three times per week without skipping or lingering.  I was highly tempted to linger on week 1, but I tried day 1 week 2 yesterday and hardly even felt challenged.

Another goal is to be able to swim one mile without stopping. I'd like that goal to happen about the time I'm able to run 3 miles in 30 minutes.  The first step is to get to one mile in a single session.  At the Golds Gym lap pool that's 66 pool lengths, or 33 laps.  I swam 20 laps on Tuesday and Thursday last week, so this week I'm going to try swimming 21 laps.  My time per lap is dramatically decreasing as I go along, so hopefully by the time I get to swimming a mile nonstop I'll be doing it also in a reasonable amount of time.

Related to that goal, I want to eventually learn how to turn around smoothly at the end of the pool to eliminate the necessity to stop at the end of the lane to start again.  Right now it's fine because I usually need the rest anyway, but I think it'll be helpful to have more experience with continuous swimming as I get better at it.

And yes, you guessed it right.  I'm considering a mini-triathlon next summer.

Oh, and while I'm here, a little side-note.  I am way too clumsy be a professional athlete - I fell down the stairs at home yesterday and twisted my ankle pretty bad.  It's all swollen and hurty today, so running tomorrow may be nixed.  It is annoying that every time I start trying to get in shape I hurt myself!

Nixing the Gym

I woke up this morning feeling like I had already lifted weights for several hours, so I skipped weight training at the gym.  I feel like running and swimming are enough for now.  When that becomes easy for me, I'll start lifting weights.  I sense that doing all of it at once is a little too much too fast.

But I ran again this morning.  Not much to say about it.  It's getting chilly out, reminding me that my days of running comfortably outside are numbered.  I still had sweat dripping off of me, so I guess I have a few more weeks before it gets chilly enough to bring a jacket.  Hm my ankles felt better today, but there were still some moments of discomfort.  The workout seemed easier today, so I will probably forge ahead with week 2 on Monday instead of lingering on week 1 as I predicted after my workout on Monday.  I also seem to remember that the first time working through C25K I doubted that I could do the upcoming week, and then I did it without difficulty.  I'm going to be okay.  Maybe I should make it my policy to "when in doubt, just do it."  And if I can't, I can always retreat to the previous week without shame because I TRIED!

I have very few negative things to say about Strands, but their iPhone app crashed on me this morning during the last five minutes of my run, and that sucked.  The mileage for today was therefore a wild guess based on previous days of running similar routes...

Oh, and I got a trophy on Strands for MILEAGE.  Imagine that!  I haven't even been tracking my mileage on strands for that long.  I guess swimming and running together add up.  Now I'm obsessed with getting another trophy on there!

Okay, roomie is out of the shower, so it's time to get ready for work.