A Change... No, Really!!!

Ok, so I REALLY AM committed to losing weight this year. Not just 5 pounds, but at least a major chunk of what I need to lose - hopefully ALL of it. How awesome would it BE if 2010 was the year I got to my goal weight?!? I am doing visualizations and setting goals, one of which I put in writing here and can still meet if I really work at it!

Here's the problem. Being a full-time mom of a 20 month old, holding a more than full-time job with unpredictable hours, keeping up (well, sort of) this house of ours, and, oh yeah, there's that husband thing, already ends in my sleep-time usually being 6 hours or less. (Btw, shout-out to the Hubs. Today's his Birthday!!! Happy Birthday, baby!)

Now all the "losing weight" advice you can find says that you need at least 7 hours of sleep a night to be able to lose or maintain weight. Add to that the fact that for me to lose weight, I have to exercise, and for me to exercise, I have to cut even MORE time off of that sleep time.

You see WHY I have a hard time committing to exercising everyday, even when I'm REALLY committed to the process? It's REALLY not the exercise I'm avoiding. It's the 5 hours or less of sleep that I'm avoiding. Man do I get exhausted!!!

So I did 2 weeks of the "30 day Shred". I got up WAY before the sun or anyone else in my family and didn't get NEARLY enough sleep for 2 weeks and DID NOT LOSE ONE OUNCE!!! (Yep, that's right, not an OUNCE, much less a pound.) It was a little momentum-killing, so I took a few days off, then got a stomach bug, and just never got myself back up pre 6am again. (I did, however, lose 3.5 pounds with the stomach bug and have managed to keep that off. haha!)

So here's the plan. I'm not Catholic, so I wasn't raised being required to give up something for Lent, but I AM Methodist, so I do observe Lent as a time of prayer and a season in my spiritual life. When I was in college, I started using Lent as a time to ADD good habits/behaviors to my life (rather than using it as a time to deprive myself of chocolate, etc.). I figure if there's something I need in my life (adding water, quitting Coke, adding more consistent devotional time are a few of the things I've done in the past), doing it with a specific devotion to God and making myself more of the temple he wants me to be is pretty good motivation.

SOOOOO.........

(Surely you're good enough at foreshadowing to guess what's coming.)

I've decided this year for Lent, I will commit myself to exercise. I will use Lent to work on making my body a healthier temple for God and creating better habits to teach my sweet little girl, so she can always keep HER body a healthy temple for God. I'm going to do at least 30 min. of exercise every weekday morning and at least 30 min. of extra cardio at least 2 days a week whenever I can fit it in. Most days, that will mean "Shred" in the mornings because it is a killer workout and I can get it done in a reasonable time (even IF I didn't lose weight the first two weeks last time).

I started again this morning. No quitting this time!!!

CHANGE!!!!!!!!!

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie