Weight loss, new shoes, a new challenge, and more!

I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to lose weight.  There are some people who never struggle with their weight (I have never had this problem ;), and because of that I don't think they understand how it feels to have this constant burden....a burden on your body, your mind, your self-confidence, your motivation, everything.  I've always struggled with my weight, for as long as I can remember.  I've done so many diets and quick fix solutions and started many exercise programs completely gung-ho, but then never following through.  It's been a struggle to say the least!  But I can proudly say that I have been sticking with an exercise program for over 2 months now!  I've surrounded myself with friends (friends located all across Canada and the United States - we get together on a private message board....my accountability partners :), and they have provided me with more motivation and encouragement than I ever thought possible.  It's a very motivating thing to know you're going through something with the help and encouragement of others.  When you know that they may be having the same self-doubts and feelings of not being good enough as you are.  They are a major blessing, and I am continually thankful for each and every one of them! :)

With their help I've lost a total of 17.6 lbs and 20.25 inches since I started on June 7th!  I can't remember the last time I lost that much weight!  I still have a long way to go before I reach what I determined to be my goal weight.  As a friend says (about herself, thankfully not about me....that would be mean!) "It's like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic!" HA!  Well, that's not entirely true of course, but some days it does feel like that!  But I know I need to be celebrating this loss, and I truly do feel the healthiest I've been in a long time.  I'm eating so much better and getting at least an hour of vigorous exercise in every day.  So I feel good....I feel like I can really continue this lifestyle change for the long haul :)

I'm starting a new challenge next week - it's called the "Couch to 5K" program.

It's sort of like a beginners guide to running.  Well, likely jogging in my case, but still.  Mom and my sister Alina are going to do it with me - so that will be nice to have them along!  They start you off slowly and alternate between fast walking and jogging intervals, and you slowly build up the jogging time until you're doing more jogging than walking.  It looks like a very balanced program - not too difficult for a beginner like me!

I knew if I was going to be successful at this program I would need to get new shoes.  The runners I had were fine for doing housecleaning jobs and working out in the yard, but they were just your typical $50 pair of runners from Kohl's.  I have a bit of heel and support issues in my feet, so I knew I was going to need to spend a bit of money to get a good shoe.  I certainly don't want to wreck my body in an attempt to get healthy.  The last thing I need is to wreck a knee, or develop foot issues from not having good shoes!  I had recently won a 2 week challenge that my accountability group had put on, so I put my winnings towards these awesome new shoes :)

I went to a local place called Frontrunners and they assessed my walking and fitted me with a bunch of different shoes.  The ones I decided on are Adidas adiStar Salvation.  They feel AMAZING!  If you ever get the chance to put these shoes on, I highly recommend it :)  They make me WANT to get out there and run!  So I've been wearing them around the house, doing my exercise videos and such, to break them in for next week.  I have high hopes for them :)

I've also joined this online community called SparkPeople.  You create a free online profile and there are tools on there to track everything you eat in a day, how many glasses of water you've drank in a day, what exercises you've done, etc.  There are groups you can join, like the Couch to 5K group, or Leslie Sansone group, or regional groups.  You can create goals for yourself and track your progress every month or week.  You input information about yourself and your fitness goals and they tell you how many calories you should be eating in a day, and they even offer meal plans if you want.  It's really an amazing website!  I was never really into the idea of tracking my food, or keeping a food journal or whatever, but this has really opened my eyes!  It really does help you see just what you put in your mouth everyday, and how many calories it all has and how much sugar you're eating and all those things that almost no one pays attention to :)  So I highly recommend it!

Happy exercising everyone! :)