Surprising Yourself

I visited a friend in early May. I've known her for 16 years and through that time she has always been thinner than me. When I met her, I was not fat, but nor was she. Then she and I both gained some weight and so we maintained the size differential. I met her last in January, same story.

This time though, I had to borrow her clothes, and they actually fit (for the most part). This was shocking in itself, as she's a few inches shorter than me, but more importantly, has always been smaller than me! Anyway, we got past this shock and I hope I've inspired her to get some exercise. She's vegetarian, so lives quite a good life otherwise, just the lack of exercise.

I went on vacation and came back, and am now finding equilibrium again. I wanted to blog today because it's already been a good day (it's now 9:08 a.m.). I'm almost at goal weight, so the weight loss motivation for exercise may be fading. Last week, I exercised on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Bunked 2 days. This week, bunked Sunday and Monday, so had to go today. I was quite enthusiastic, having decided that I was going to jog 3 rounds around my building, so paced myself well through the first 2 rounds.

On the third round, I knew I had to stride for a bit, and my semi-competitive streak came out around this girl who has recently started walking. I wanted to overtake her at some point and it was an uphill stretch, so I had to stride, but I went at it faster and longer than I would have if she wasn't in the picture. I had to remind myself to breathe and the cool down took aaages, but it was fun! I got ahead of the girl I wanted to and stayed ahead of her till my final cooldown walk, I felt the muscles of my ass move, it was quite awesome.

I cannot explain it. They had their own reserves of energy and movement, I could barely control it, unlike the general walk/jog when you can decide how far/fast you go. I'm interested in doing this again. I know that my knees will ache a bit today, so expect that I will only do 20 odd minutes of walk and maybe 1.5 to 2 rounds of jogging tomorrow, which would still be better than nothing :)

Food is chugging along, I'm cooking more, more confident, less judged. Happy with my own cooking and getting enough done in 1 hour so I don't feel stressed. I also have sufficient healthy snacks so I don't get too hungry while cooking.

I'm at 63-64 and have decided that I want to be in the 62-64 range consistently. The range is because when I go out (socially - not just with husband) I'm forced to eat/drink like normal (some alcohol and simple carbs) so there's immediate effect on weight. If I allow myself, I'll be in the 64-66 range, which is not acceptable. 62-64 is what I want, and by Dec 2011, I'll ensure that I'm there.

In other observations, I'm slowly realising that I am thinner, I can feel differences in my body and I'm enjoying the muscle tone in my legs. I still have a paunch, so now the question is whether I want to work on toning or not. I probably do, but not in a gym.