Updates on (Fitness) Goals!

Yep...time for an update...I think it's been a while since I've actually had a chance to do any sort of update on the goals I established at the beginning of the year.

Health & Fitness

Running 

So I haven't ran an actual 5k yet...but...I did complete the C25K app!  No short cuts, no breaks...I did what the program told me to and I survived...I did it!  Today was the last day, I ran 30 minutes straight (first time ever)!  I am not the fastest runner...I ran at a pace that was manageable for me while keeping track of my heart rate.  I did it and was so excited about it, I had to post this on facebook:

Improving strength, tone, all that fun stuff...

That is coming along as well.  There are definitely some areas that I'm nowhere near where I want to be...especially strength-wise (push-ups come to mind), but darnit...I'm getting there!  The definition is getting pretty decent...especially my legs.  Overall, I am happy with the progress that has been made.

Better eating...

As I've posted in other entries, we have been experimenting with a paleo diet.  Not 100%, but definitely have made some improvement in that area and I have been pleasantly surprised with a lot of what we have tried (but this does tend to get a bit expensive).  Last night's baking adventure, double chocolate muffins from Piece of Cake Paleo:

The bottom line...

I am seeing results and happy with what i see.  There are definitely some areas that could be improved, but overall...I'm happy.  We are about 6 weeks out from our cruise, my 40th birthday and I think that I will be able to wear a bikini with confidence on my 40th birthday (that was one of my goals).  I ordered two a few days ago, they arrived tonight and while one will not work without huge risk of wardrobe malfunction, I am absolutely in love with the other!

If you don't have anything nice to say...

Well...we all know the rest, right?  Right?!?!?  Believe it or not, no...not everyone does.  At least that's been my experience lately.

I've at times been overwhelmed by some of the things people say to me.  More than a few people have actually said that I am an inspiration to them.  I have motivated them.  They want my help.  They want to know my 'secrets.'  They say I encourage them by the way I keep at it...even at times when I don't feel like it.  Even days when I'd much rather sleep in than get up early and workout in the living room or (if I'm lucky enough that my husband was off the night before) head to the gym before 6 a.m.  That if I can do it with my schedule (I work full time and then some, have a 20 month old toddler, and a husband that works a shift opposite mine) then they should be able to do something as well.  I love to hear all of these comments.  I'm surprised.  Still.  But to know that I have actually inspired people to do good for themselves, something I have never done before...well, that just feels good.  It really does.   And then....

And then...

And then there's my family.  Doing the best they can to negate all of the positive comments I've heard from so many others with their own negativity.  Funny how just a few words from just a few family members, negative words at that, can stick with a person more than all the good from everyone else.  Sad, really.  What do I hear?

"You're too skinny."  "You need to quit."  "When are you going to stop?"  "You cannot lose any more weight."  And so on.  I quit listening, if I am to be honest.  I heard enough with the first few comments and am doing my best to shut out all the rest.  These few comments, though, are enough to make me really want to avoid being around them...not hard to do, actually...but with some events coming up over the next several months, I'm sure that's bound to piss off people.

Let's think about this though:

• "You're too skinny."  Since when is a few pounds over 130 on someone who stands 5'5 too skinny?   
• "When are you going to stop?"  Stop what?  Exercising?  Eating healthy?  Um...this was not about dropping a few pounds and then reverting to an unhealthy lifestyle.
• "You need to quit."  See comments above.  

Really I don't get this at all.  I'm not underweight.  For the first time in years, I'm not overweight.  for the first time in a long time, I'm not feeling shitty because of my crappy diet.  I'm not hating myself because my clothes look like crap on me (although I am not hugely excited about the fact that I've had to replace my entire wardrobe a few times over the last year).  I've gained confidence in myself by getting healthier, getting in much better shape.  I look at my family history of health problems and see how much of it is tied to an unhealthy lifestyle...why would I want to stop or quit...and go back to looking at a future full of health problems tied to weight and unhealthy habits?  What am I missing here?  And now that I think of it...not one person in my extended family has said anything positive...at all...about my transformation.  Nothing.  Not one thing.  That kind of makes me sad.  I did this for me, I did this to set a positive example for my daughter.  And apparently my family would rather me be fat miserable unhealthy unhappy.  Sad.