And so it begins.....

I was inspired after my last blog to give myself a feasible challenge to meet. Why not walk 1,000 miles? I am turning 30 in 468 days (you can keep up with it using the ticker on the right) and I feel that is plenty of time to walk 1,000 for fitness. I figure while I'm walking that I'll also be getting in shape and losing weight. It's a win/win situation here.
So, I signed up to do the Country Music Half Marathon on April 30th. That's 13.1 miles. By training every day for it I'll be racking up lots of miles toward my goal. Between now and the 1/2 marathon I'll probably do some 5ks. My first one will probably be the Zoo Run Run if anyone is interested. That's a fun one to do.

"A journey of 1,000 miles....."

(or in my case 100 pounds) "begins with a single step" as Lao Tzu once said. I think this quote is so fitting for weightloss. If you look at the destination and the end number of miles traveled (or pounds lost) it seems so far off and like such a long way to go. But you have to start. That first step can be the hardest step you ever take, but you have to go!

Along any long journey you also have to stop and take a break (but in weightloss breaks are not allowed). Sometimes on journeys you stop at different milemarkers (milestones) or kitchy little places where you see something interesting and stop to stretch your legs and maybe pick up a souvenir or two.

Here's something I've been thinking about doing from reading some of the other weightloss blogs I follow. I want to make some mini goals and some non-food rewards to have when I reach those mini goals. So I need suggestions. I already know a pedicure would be one reward and maybe a massage would be another one. But I need more suggestions for when I get the rewards and what I get. These will be my milemarkers and the rewards are my souviners from my journey. Send me your suggestions!

A Letter to Me

I was watching "The Biggest Loser" the other night. I only ever seem to watch that show when it's the last 2 or 3 episodes. Anyways, the Final 4 people went home and had a dvd that they watched. On the video were clips of themselves at their heaviest when they started the show telling their new selves things to remember and encouraging them. So that has inspired me to write a letter to myself. Here goes:

Dear Cheyenne,

You are a strong, beautiful, intelligent and independent woman. You have finished and accomplished so many things in your life that most people probably didnt believe you could do, but you did. You've even lost 50 pounds before, so you know that you CAN do it.

I look at pictures of you from the past year and I see how you went from your lowest weight to gaining most of your weight back. I see how happy you look in the "skinny" pictures. And I know it upsets you to see yourself now and makes you sad and makes you feel like a failure, but you've got to stop beating yourself up about it. You did it once and you can do it again. Let me rephrase, you WILL do it again and then some.

Only this time you will do it differently. You will lose it for YOU, not for anyone else, but YOU. You won't let the attention you get change you and change your way of thinking.

I want you to remember how great you feel when you drink the water and exercise, how refreshed your body feels, how happy it makes you to be able to MOVE, how you love to get new clothes, how your eyes seems to sparkle and pop because they aren't hidden behind sad feelings or chubby cheeks.

But most of all I want you to remember that you have the greatest family and friends supporting you through it all. They support you because they want what is best for you. Being healthy and living a healthier lifestyle is definitely what is BEST for you.

Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to quit looking for comfort in food and instead channel your sad or uspet feelings into working out or something constructive. I want you to look toward the future and not live in the past and dwell on things that you cannot change or reverse. What's done is done. It's up to you to realize that and just move on and move past it.  I want you to stop making excuses and start making a plan and sticking to it. You are so good at planning out everything else in your life; this is a plan you HAVE to start making and following through. And I want you to be healthy because you are a vibrant asset to this world that needs to stay around for as long as possible.

I LOVE YOU!!!! And you CAN do this! Your tomorrow starts TODAY!

Love,
Me