Take 2: 28 Days in -- Motivation

Motivation is a lot like faith.  Motivation doesn't just come because you want it (at least for me it doesn't...), but it comes as you start to act towards your desires.  If I sit in my wonderful recliner and wait until I want to go and run/walk 3 miles then it will never happen.  For me, motivation usually comes as I get on my workout clothes, put my headphones on, and walk out the door.  Recognizing this helps me to get out of the recliner and act.  I've never had a day that I've regretted going for my run or walk, but there have been a few days that I have regretted not going out and doing it.

4 weeks in I'm happy with the progress that I've made so far.  There's definitely still room for improvement, but I just have to keep moving forward. I've exercised over 68 miles this month and I've lost over 15 pounds.  

Thank you friends for your support!

Take 2: Week 2 - Endurance

Just some thoughts that may or may not be coherent...

In just about all aspects of my life I've done well when it comes to quick bursts of energy.  Sprinting is something in which I excel. I can do anything for a day, maybe even two.  I can drastically change my daily schedule for a week, maybe even two.  But longer...?

Similarly, I'm not sure that I've ever been accused of being diligent.  As I look back on my life I am overwhelmed by the number of things that I've started only to quit when the going got tough.  I was thinking about this as I was running today.  It was about 3/4 of the way through my run and I felt that I was spent.  It got hard.  I wanted to give up.  I started thinking of the run today as if they were my efforts for the past two weeks.  Two weeks in it gets harder to motivate myself everyday.  What will I do?

I had a thought recently that I think relates to this Journey:  It's not the big decisions that impact a person's life as much as it is the day to day, seemingly mundane, choices that will determine the course of a person's life.  One foot in front of the other.  Just keep going...

Since 1/3/15 I've walked/run for exercise 35.29 miles and I've lost 8.5 pounds.

Take 2: Week 1 - The busiest week of my life...

I'm tired.  I just got home from my 6th day of work this week.  In total I spent 68 hours at school or at school related activities.  I am a couch of the First Lego League team at my school and our competition was this week.  We (mostly the students) put in a lot of work this week and our team even won a trophy!  We're pretty stoked about that!

Anyway, maybe I was crazy for deciding to start my active healthy living the same week of the year that I'm crazy busy.  But I felt that I had something to prove to myself:  I can do it even when I'm busy.  On Monday, the longest school day during the week for me (13 hours), I got home and I excused myself from going out to exercise.  But then I got to thinking... if I can do it today then I can do it pretty much any day.  I wanted to prove to myself that I truly believe that, "There is always enough time for the things that we choose to make the most important in our lives."

I did it!  I got out to run/walk everyday this past week!  I have also returned to doing a much better job of actively choosing what I eat instead of just winging it.  It's been a successful week! I've lost 5.5 pounds! and I've walked over 21 miles!

Here's some yummy soup I made this week!

I'm Back!

Well, it's been about 4 months (what the...) since I've actively pursued my journey, and it's time to pick it back up!

I had a good 2 months of journeying in July and August.  In those 2 months time I lost 37 pounds!  Since then I've gained most of it back.  It's easy to look at that and be discouraged.  I did exactly that for a couple of months.  But if I learned nothing else, if I gained nothing (besides weight...) from this experience, I learned that I CAN.  I CAN DO THIS.  I've done it before...  I didn't know that before I initially started my journey.

This is not a New Year's Resolution.  This is a (re)resolution that happens to correspond to the beginning of the year.  I've decided to stop making excuses for myself and live up to the potential that I know I possess.  It will be challenging.  I'll have to figure out how to work all that I want to do into my School-year schedule, but I firmly believe that we always have time for the things we choose to make the most important in our lives.

Thank you so much for your continued support in this journey.

He's what I did today: