The First Post is Always the Hardest . . .

Ok, so I’ve never actually written a first post. But I have written more first paragraphs than I can count and more first pages for essays than I care to think about. And those are always the hardest. Sometimes I just skip over them and come back at the end. But alas, you can’t skip the first post of a “make yourself better” blog and then come back and write it after you’ve “made yourself better”.

I guess my goal is not necessarily to make myself better, but to help myself feel better. And to help me feel better about myself. So here I am. My husband calls the desire to start a blog just another addiction to the internet. I call it an effort to help me stay motivated, keep me accountable, and give me an outlet (and maybe even to find a little encouragement along the way).

I am not an inactive person. But I am much less active than I have ever been. And my clothes, the scale, and my attitude show it. I like to chalk that up to my desire to spend quality time with my newlywed husband and my never-ending pile of grad school work. But really, I just find myself making excuse after excuse. I’m in a slump and I need to get out of it. So, I’ve put it off and put it off but here’s my plan: do something active for at least 45 minutes for the next 30 days. Starting tomorrow. Now I don’t plan to stop at the 30 day mark, I’m just making that my short-term goal in hopes that I won’t give up and by that point it will be easier to drag myself off the couch. I’ve heard it takes 21 days to create a new habit. But my body seems to be slow to respond to everything else in life, so I better give myself an extra week. I would like for this activity to be primarily running, as I’ve always dreamed of myself as a runner and dabbled in it here and there. I’ve actually run two races in the past (only because I made a promise to the same friend both times, and I don’t break my promises if there’s any way around it). I ran a 5K in 2007 (34:22) and a 10K this past April (1:14:48). But both times I only ran a week or so before hand just to make sure I wouldn’t die on the course. And since then, I’ve run a time or two here and there, but never consistently. So, I will run. But on the days I’m not running, I will do something else active—ride my bike, take a walk with my dogs, swim, anything. I know I can’t run every day of the week (and who would want to!), so I will fulfill my 30 days in other ways as well. Hopefully, my clothes, the scale, and my attitude will all improve in the meantime.

So join me as I take responsibility for how unhealthy I have become and try to get my life back on track. My plan is to start to tomorrow—but we all know what can happen to the best laid plans . . .

Stats

Height: 5’8.5”

Weight: A whopping 161 lbs

BMI: 24

One more thing . . . did I mention that I don't like to run?!