It’s been a bit since my last posting. Upward Bound has been very busy and keeping me occupied. Since my last post, things haven’t changed too much – still feeling like I am slacking a bit on the health front.
This weekend we went white water rafting, which was incredible. It is really quite amazing how gaining health and fitness can break down inhibitions. I went swimming in the rapids, something I did not feel comfortable doing a few years ago when I went for the first time. Despite feeling like I was going to drown, I had an incredible time. The scenery was beautiful, the company was great, and overall it was a fantastic weekend. That said, campground food was not very good to me. Serving bacon, white bread, fattier meats, etc, but I made do with what I had.
Tomorrow is fitness skate – the one workout each week that I won’t miss. Going there has been great for several reasons. I am able to learn how to do something that I previously never thought I could do, I am meeting new friends, and I am working on fitness and health without really thinking about it (the best kind). I do need to regulate more routine into the health plan now that UB has become more routine. I need to make 2 days a week strength training days – I need to focus on toning certain areas where there is becoming excess skin on my body, and just generally tone up a bit in other areas. Then, I need to have at least 1 running day to keep up with that. I have come a long way in the running to let it fall behind. I wanted to run today, but the weather was way too hot.
In the world of scales, I beat beat my July 19th milestone on the 1st (although fluctuations occur right around it back and forth the last couple of days) of 185. My new July 19th goal is 180! I feel like I am on another plateau right now, which sucks. I know these last 20 pounds will be the hardest, especially since I am going to be building muscle over the next few months, so I am taking measurements as well – once a month (July 6th will be my 1 month measurement check).
In the world of non-scales, which is byfar the most important thing to consider – I recently bought several shirts that were SMALL! Most things are medium, but to even consider that in some brands I am a small is really mind-altering in a lot of ways. Having worn XL since the time I was in high school and wearing size 40-42 pants (I bought a pair yesterday that were 32!) is very surreal. Despite feeling like my energy has been low as of late, I feel very healthy and very good about the progress I have made. The lack of energy can mostly be attributed to work and transitioning to different sleep schedules. I know that sleep is something I need to work on in the next few weeks for the longterm as well.
Overall, things are great though. I do want to find a few races to sign up for in July. I would like to do 10 races by the end of August – currently am at 5, so if I can do 2 or 3 in July and then 2 or so in August that would be good. Depending on where I am, I would like my 10th race to be a half-marathon, but we’ll see how the summer goes!
In celebration for health, progress, and greatness, I posted a new photo 🙂 I am wearing a tank top in the photo, which is a type of shirt I have NEVER felt comfortable wearing before, and still feels a bit weird, but, hey, it’s summer, and things are changing 🙂
Keep on keepin’ on!
