Proud Day

Ya'll today is day 5 in my program, (am I boring you with this yet?) that sounds funny to me because my life has been changing for the better for what... 9 months now... so we're much farther in than 5 days. Anyway, we're on the 5th day of a more tightly regimented plan.

Each day, I manage to impress myself more than I ever have in the past - today was no exception. I started my workout like the others, and for the first 20 minutes or better I was having trouble getting my heart rate up into the correct range... but then I tried something new.

I was working out on my Wii Fit as usual... and yesterday unlocked a new aerobics option. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Wii Fit - you start out with only a few options of workouts and games... but as you log hours and time using the game/machine - you get more choices of activities. Well, yesterday I hit 10 hours total of time on the Wii Fit, and it unlocked a "free run" activity.

I've had a "free step" activity for a while now, and use it as my main heart pumping portion of my workout because I can get on there with my Ipod and just get in a groove listening to my music. The only option on these activities is the amount of time - 10, 20, or 30 minute increments.

So today just for some variety - I decided to check out the free run, and put it on for 10 minutes. I never really thought that I'd be able to stick with it for the full time, but why not give it a shot - right? Well, I did it - I ran/jogged in place for 10 minutes and logged 1.5 miles!! Can you believe it?!

I was so proud/excited about it when I was done - I had to email John and my parents just to let them know about my new accomplishment. Maybe there is hope that I'll run a 5K somewhere down the road. I'll try it again tomorrow - so long as my legs are working, and try to go just a little farther. I think I ran a little bit over 1.5 miles, but less than 1.6 - so maybe that'll be my goal. As long as it's even .01 mile farther than yesterday I'll be happy with that.

At some point - I'll push it up to 20 minutes, but I don't think I can hang in there with that just yet. So I did 10 minutes of jogging, 20 minutes of step, 10 minutes of boxing, 10 minutes of a pre-programmed step routine, and 10 minutes hula hooping. Breaking it up like that seems to be the easiest for my brain because it doesn't get to bored doing the same thing for to long.

Below, I've included an image of my food record for today. If you click on it you'll be able to see the full sized version. The bold items are "meals" that I've pre-set into the program, and at the bottom where it shows my calorie total for today... keep in mind that has my workout calories subtracted out.

Things are going really well with all of this, and I'm actually finding myself enjoying the logging of the food - and I don't mind the workouts once I get myself into it... it's just getting ready to do it that is a challenge.

I talked to my Dad today, and it was funny - he used to be a big guy when I was really young, but he managed to start working out and eating right - and you'd never know today that he ever has had a problem with his weight. Through this journey - I've learned things about him that I never knew before... things like - he still struggles with the balance of calorie intake versus calorie burn - so I feel a little more connected in that way. Today though, he told me that if I kept with the working out long enough - it would become all I ever think about/want to do.

I can't imagine that day, but I do see how it can happen... I'm not sure what was the final straw that made me become more determined - maybe it's the second surgery for the gallbladder issues, or maybe it's a gentle push from God... but either way - I am THRILLED that it's working so far. If it is at God's hand - I pray that he'll just keep pushing me for the days and weeks ahead... and most importantly after I start working again because that'll be when I need the push the most!

I've got my first of two interviews tomorrow with the law school - the one on Thursday seems more exciting to me on paper at least - so I pray that one of these opportunities be the one that God wants me to serve in for a while... and that it be a better situation than the last!