The end of summer

     Hi everybody! I was encouraged to do this by people close to me. I'm hoping that this blog serves as encouragement to me along the way and to anyone else who wants to or is trying to do the same thing in their life.  I'm a stay at home mom (In the future I will refer to this as SAHM.) and for the past 5 years I have been desperately trying to eat healthy and get into some sort of fitness routine.  Of course with two young children it has been a challenge.  I would just get going only to have something "more important"come up. I was more than happy to spend my time doing and helping others in my family, but about a year and half ago I decided that something needed to change.
     It actually took me about a year to find something that worked for me all around, but I have finally found it (or at least I hope so).  I started Running/Walking about mid-June this year at the indoor, and most importantly air-conditioned, track around the top of the basketball arena down the street from me.  I enlisted a friend of mine to join me and in many ways that has made all the difference. I was originally going to join a gym but due to circumstances out of my control that wasn't able to happen.  So this was plan B, and for right now I think I like it better than the gym, and it's free!
     Having someone to hold you accountable and to call you and see if you are coming helps motivate you, or at the very least guilts you into getting your butt of the couch and going.  It was tough in the beginning, I'm not going to lie, but I stuck with it and changed my diet as well.  It has definitely paid off! I lost 10lbs. in the first 2 weeks! I found this out after my friend convinced me to weigh myself, and I am so glad she did.  I continued to walk/run every weekday this summer, we do a distance of 4 miles every morning, and gradually up the amount I run within the 4 miles.  I to date have lost 22lbs. and I even slacked off a little on the diet, having birthday cake or the occasional Chick-fil-A, in August.  I still did the walking/running and haven't gained any weight back from that. I'm back on the wagon now. :)
     I also am once again increasing my intensity and the distance I run. This week I added a second workout in the afternoon/evening. It is much shorter than the one in the morning. I mainly just warm up and see how long I can continuously run, so far I made it a half a mile. This from someone who a year ago thought she would die trying to run half a lap, which is 1/16 of a mile. I used to loathe running but it has been the workout that is easy to do on a budget, and gets good results. Most days I have grown to enjoy it.  For instance today I was in an awful mood and after I ran that first lap felt much better.
     I neglected to mentioned that 15 years ago I tore ligaments in my ankle, running has not aggravated them. I tried another type of exercise this summer at an aerobics type dance class and it just about killed my ankle to where I could barely walk on it! So it is important to find out what works best for you.
     That about covers my summer and my start into the running and fitness world. School has already started here and boy am I busy, but so far I've been able to keep it up. I want to encourage anyone who has been thinking about doing something like this to go ahead and start because if I can do it so can you. It is also helps a lot if those around you support your effort and encourage you, whether it is time spent exercising or healthy eating. You can do it on your own, but it is much harder without the understanding of those closest to you. From one Mom to another (or Dad) it is so important to take care of and nurture your children but you also need to take care of yourself!