Choose Hard

I am out of shape.
That is a bit of an understatement but I don't want to beat myself up.
The time has come.

In addition to my creativity this month, I am going to blog about this journey to reclaim my health.
Mainly, I am doing it as a daily reminder to myself that it does take work and I am worth the effort.

I am a firm believer that in order to succeed one needs a plan. In addition to a plan it is helpful to have supportive people around for the ride. Lastly, you MUST be your own cheerleader. Set yourself up for success. In those times of weakness, reach out to your supportive people.

I know a woman through scrapbooking, Trudie. I don't know her well, but what I know of her I like. I think of her often.

I think of her because I see her picture everyday and under it it says 'I choose my hard'

Man, I can't tell you how many times a day that rings through my head.

I have a secret to share with everyone.

Ready?

Others won't tell you this but I think everyone has the right to know....

Being in shape takes HARD work.

It does. That is just the plain honest truth.

Like most things in life, if it is worth having one must be willing to put in the effort to have it. Being in shape takes effort.

I saw this woman the other day, she must have been in her mid to late 40's. She had a PERFECT body. P.E.R.F.E.C.T. I looked at her in utter astonishment.
I ended up stopping her in the parking lot and just asked her, "how much work does it take to look like that?" I of course added because she looked fabulous. Thankfully, she understood where I was coming from and didn't think me a complete freak of nature. She said, "I work out 3 hours a day."
WoW
More than anything else I really appreciated her honesty about what it takes.
It boils down to this
It takes time and effort.

So here is the plan:
Couch to 5k - again. I did it once for 5 weeks and then injury and pneumonia derailed me. This time I want to see it to the end of 9 weeks.
Download podcasts to tell me exactly when to walk and run. That will remove the excuse that it is too hard to keep track.
Take it one day at a time.
Find two friends who will support and push when needed.
Tell my kids that two days a week for 30 min they are going with me. Like it or not.
Reward myself for completing each week - I like rewards. Diane you can help with this.

Thanks for letting me share this here. I need to keep myself accountable.

BTW- today was hard.
But I did it.
It was hot
It was hard to do that last run.
I had an internal argument in the end it went something like this:
You don't have to do the last run, you are tired, and it is hard to breathe, you did good doing this much

Choose hard
Choose hard
Choose hard

It is supposed to be hard. If it was easy we would all be a cute size 2.

I finished the run.

Choose hard