*sheepish*

So, I took all that energy I had from September's Indian Run and...misplaced it? Honestly, the day after the race, I hiked around The Ridges looking for new running trails. But life snuck up on me very, very quickly. And I started making less than ideal choices:

1. I got sporadic with my meds (Oh, I'll take them today. Tomorrow, maybe not so much.)

2. I let myself get manic, then depressed, then...both?

3. School + Observation Hours + Job = Working from, eating on, and sleeping on my couch

Things got pretty out of hand. Thankfully, I made it through finals week and home safely. I'm not completely balanced out emotionally, but being home with Jay and our families (especially my mom) gives me a lot more stability than living alone. So, I'm making more progress on my two-steps-forward-one-step-back system. If I could just start sleeping at normal hours, things would be great.

But then there is my weight. Since I wasn't running and had started stress eating, it's no surprise that I've jumped up to the highest number I've ever seen on the scale (I know I have weighed more than I do right now, but I've been a champion scale-avoider). Even with that new, scary number in my mind, I couldn't seem to find motivation to get back into the groove.

Until I was surfing Facebook and spotted some waifish friends of friends out clubbing in lingerie. Granted, not the healthiest source of motivation, but it's enough of a kick in the pants to get me reevaluating my plan and setting some more reasonable expectations. So here they are, the new goals:

1. Lose 10% of my body weight. That's 15 pounds. That's enough to put me back in the healthy BMI bracket.

2. Restart and finish the C25K Program. This time with 100% more inhalers.

The "finish line" for my goal is my final wedding dress fitting. Which isn't yet scheduled but will probably be late June-mid July. So, that gives me...hold on, math...about 30 weeks to make this happen. If I can maintain the -1lb/week goal that the WebMd calculator made me use, I can get there in about half the time. But, I'm going to be realistic here and shoot for 30 weeks.

Thank you WebMd for this handy summary:

C25K: Week Three and Food "Bargains"

After about of week of half-hearted jogging, I got back into the swing of my 5k training. I wanted to take my nephew for a jog in the park on Tuesday, but the rain kept us inside playing "BIG baby!" instead.

Yesterday, I made it out to Planet Fitness and ran through week three. I was getting really sick of the running podcast, so I made my own playlist for this week. Considering my mood of late, I went with Ani DiFranco, Ani DiFranco, and more Ani DiFranco:

1. "Little Plastic Castle"

2. "Out of Range"

3. "Knuckle Down"

4. "Hypnotize"

5. "Loom"

6. "Ain't That The Way"

7. "Garden of Simple"

8. "Falling is Like This"

Also, while deciding on what to eat at Panera tonight, I found a new way to choose healthy food that makes perfect sense to me. I'm a bargain hunter; I will spend an entire day trying to get the best deals and the most for my money. A "quick errand" for me is never less than an hour because I will hit Target, Wal Mart, and the grocery store before I decide where to get whatever it was I wanted.

So when it comes to food, substitute amount of food for amount of stuff. And replace dollars with calories (or WW points). I want to get the most food for my cost. So, for example, tonight I got French Onion Soup instead of a Four-Cheese Soufflé or Mac & Cheese because it was a better deal. I got way more food for far fewer calories--and it gave me plenty of energy to get through my run!