So far in 2011 it has been a year of getting healthy. Since the New Year, I have lost a total of 45 pounds, been eating better, and have been exercising. The main thing I have been doing is eating less and moving more.
I have primarily done it through Weight Watchers. You can see the blog I started by clicking here ==> My Weight Watchers Story. However, the primary thing I have learned through WW is portion control while still eating the foods I love and enjoy, as well as making healthier choices throughout the day.
Weight Watchers has been good, and you learn quite a bit after a few months, but it isn’t necessary. You can do it on your own, but it can be harder to pave your own road. It’s not a bad system to plug into for a few months and learn about point values, portion sizes, and making good choices.
Also, I started moving. On February 1st I started walking the malls before hours, after I dropped the kids off at school. I would walk 2-3 miles 3-5 times per week. Then I started hiking at a nature preserve near my house. There were some pretty difficult trails. I would hike 4-7 miles about 3-4 times per week. I really enjoyed that.
All of this was building up to a point where I could lose enough weight so I could run. I started running on April 1st… although running may have been a bit of an exaggeration. Even after 2 months of warm up with walking and hiking, the first day I couldn’t run 2 minutes without feeling I was gonna drop and pass out. I was following a plan to run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes, 7 times. Then, when I felt I had that mastered, I would run 3 minutes walk 2 minutes, 6 times. Then run 4 minutes, walk 2 minutes, 5 times…. getting up to 8 minutes of running, 12 minutes, 20 minutes, then finally 30 minutes.
It’s pretty amazing how it built. On Memorial Day weekend I ran my first ever 5K race – The American Heroes 5K. I ran that in 31:39. Not too bad for a guy who couldn’t even run 2 minutes less than 2 months prior.
I continued to run, and ran my second 5K race – The Get Your Rear in Gear. I ran that in 29:07. A pretty nice improvement.
I am running my first 10K race later this month and hope to finish in about 65 minutes. I’ll let you know how it goes.
But, today, which I am most excited about, was day #1 of a 10-week training program for the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll half marathon which I will be running on November 13th. It makes it even more unbelievable to me that I could go from couch to 13.1 miles in about 10 months.
Anyway, my body, mind and spirit have been awakened this year. A new church at The Church on Rush Creek as well. Feeling great.
Now, I need to crank out the next part of my Joy in the Journey story.