Running with Pixie Dust

Really, that is about it.  After Body Pump, I picked up a super healthy dinner for Jamie and I and we ate slowly, discussing how our day went, and then we did some restorative yoga and meditated.  HA!  Just kidding!  I picked up chicken tenders and mac and cheese from Publix, nuked some frozen sweet corn, and we shoved it all in our faces while watching Dr. Who.  Please.

Seriously, though.  I am feeling really good right now.  For someone who has been really lax in the daily exercise department, getting myself to do something active every single day has been an impressive feat.  This is what my workouts have looked like this week.

Saturday: I went for a 350 meter swim, which is more than I have done in a while!

Sunday: I went to Body Pump!  I am trying to get back into going to Body Pump at least twice a week.

Monday: I went for a three mile run!

Tuesday: I am most proud of this one.  I did NOT want to exercise yesterday.  I walked a lot at work and when I got home, I was not feeling well.  I lounged around for a while, then Jamie and I got subs from Publix and watched Dr. Who together.  This means that I was comfy on his couch and full of delicious sub when I decided that I would not ruin my 100 day challenge on day 4 because that was stupid.  So I got off the couch, came back to my place, got into my workout clothes, and did a 20 minute Zumba DVD.  Take that, laziness!

I have also tracked every day since Saturday, so that means five consecutive days of tracking!  I will admit that I have still made a few questionable choices - Doritos jumped into my grocery cart last night and Chick-fil-a waffle fries randomly appeared next to me this afternoon.  But the whole point of Weight Watchers is that you track it and move on.  I will never be perfect with food.  I know this.  It has taken me a long time and I have beaten myself up often about it because I would love to be one of those people who honestly believes that nothing tastes as good as thin feels.  I would love to be one of those people who stops eating junk food and never wants it ever again.  My abs would look great.  But I love food so much!  I love Doritos and I love waffle fries and I love this croissant donut that you can get at Epcot.  I dream of that thing.  So I cannot keep expecting myself to "eat clean" - I am not a clean eating girl.  I am a "track it and move on" kind of girl.

I also simply did not eat very well all day today.  I have been starting every day with a green smoothie, but today was a stressful day and there were no fruits or vegetables involved in my breakfast. 

I had a very early morning today because I taught the Magic Kingdom Orientation class for the first time in months, and I was so anxious about it because I was sure I would forget the whole thing.  Luckily, I had a good co-facilitator who helped me out a lot, but I still felt a little drained by the end of class.  Then this afternoon, I met with my co-facilitator for Traditions, which is the first day any Cast Member has at Disney.  It's a huge honor to facilitate Traditions.  You have to go through several auditions and you only teach for one year.  I was lucky enough to be chosen for the 2014 team, and while I am incredibly excited to teach my very first class this Saturday, I AM SO NERVOUS.  My co-facilitator is great, though, and sitting down with him for a while today really helped.  But you can imagine after needing to study two scripts in one day and walking around the Magic Kingdom for several hours this morning, I was in no mood to do anything this afternoon.  I got home from studying for Traditions and got right into bed.  But just like yesterday, I didn't want to ruin my challenge.  I got out of bed and got into my running clothes because I told myself I would only go out for a short 2 mile run.  A crazy thing happened on that short run, though - I wanted to keep going.  So instead of doing just 2 miles, I went for 3 miles, and I was really stupid proud of myself!

That being said, I think my early morning is suddenly catching up to me now because I can hear my pillows calling my name.  Tomorrow is another day of work and the plan is for another Body Pump class!  That will make one week of exercising every day!  100 day challenge, I am coming for you.

6 days down, 94 to go

One of the rare moments where I was not weeping openly.

I became a Magic Kingdom Tour Guide and was trained in three separate tours - Keys to the Kingdom, Family Magic, and Walt Disney: Marceline to Magic Kingdom.

The day I received my riding crop and gave my very first Keys to the Kingdom tour.

I ran the inaugural Disneyland 10K and the Disneyland Half and took Jamie to Disneyland for his very first time.  I also drank all of the mint juleps I could, but I'm not sure if that is really a point of pride...

Jamie going into Sleeping Beauty Castle for the very first time.  I love this picture.

Okay, but seriously... I dream of this drink.

I was selected as a member of the 2014 Traditions Team.  For Disney Cast Members, this is a big deal.  Traditions is the very first class you take as a Cast Member and it is taught (we like to say it is facilitated) by other Disney Cast Members.  It is a tough team to get on and you are only a member of the team for one year, so you have to relish it for that year.  I went through several rounds of auditions and interviews before I was selected - 2014 will be my year to enjoy!

The day I found out I was on the team.  We all got special Traditions ears!

I also got to spend a good amount of time with my family, which was wonderful because I miss my them a lot now that I'm here in Florida.  I had some great times with friends in 2013 and made a lot of memories.  But 2013 was also a really difficult year for me.  I faced a lot of personal challenges and setbacks, and there were times that I felt like giving up on everything in Florida and moving home.  I am very pleased to say that my outlook is much brighter now and I am excited for what awaits this year.

There is one thing that I really need to do this year, though, and that's why I'm back here.  The stress of 2013, both from great things and from not so great things, took a toll on me.  I stopped taking care of myself the way I know I should.  I didn't get enough sleep, I exercised sporadically, and my eating was out of control.  I tried to take control of the situation - I went back to Weight Watchers in February and started going to meetings again.  But I couldn't find a meeting I loved, so I stopped going.  I would start tracking and following the plan again and be great for a few days, then get completely derailed and stay off track for a week.  I wanted to lose weight, I wanted it so much, but I couldn't stay on track, and then I got frustrated and beat myself up for losing control.  It was a horrible cycle and before I knew it, I stepped on a scale and was almost back to my original starting weight for Weight Watchers.

You'd think that all of this would be enough - that seeing a number that high on the scale would be my breaking point.  But it wasn't.  I kept spiraling.  And then today happened.  Today I ran the inaugural 10K here in Walt Disney World.  I was slow, but I've always been slow.  What killed me were the pictures.  When I left my house this morning, I thought I looked so cute all done up in my Minnie Mouse gear.  And while I still think I look pretty good for having just run a 10K, when I realized how big I had gotten, my heart sunk.

The difference between the pictures today and the picture from 2012 is about 30 pounds.  And it stops here.  I am blogging today to say that 2014 will be my year.  It is my Traditions year, and it will be the year that I get back to my goal weight and STAY THERE.  My life changed when I moved to Florida - I got a new job, I was in a new relationship, and things I relied on back home (a great Weight Watchers meeting and summers you can run in, for example) went away.  I used those things as excuses for too long.  The truth is, I'm settled into my job now, Jamie and I are comfortable together, and I am as used to running in Florida heat as I ever will be.  

I saw a very inspiring video that you can see here that got me thinking.  I keep starting a plan, starting a routine, starting Weight Watchers again... and then giving up.  What if I gave it 100 days?  I did the math and it turns out that if I commit to 100 days, it gets me to just about a week before my birthday.  I think weight loss would be one of the best birthday gifts I could give myself, so I am doing it.

Tomorrow will be day one of 100, and my goals are simple:

I am not proud, but I am also not beating myself up.  I had an exhausting, stressful day.  I honestly was considering skipping the walk this morning, but I thought it would make me feel better, and it did.  But I think T25 would have destroyed me.  I was ten minutes late to work this morning because of a cement truck that decided it could only go about 3 MPH.  Perfect.  It took me 12 minutes to drive what should take me about a minute and a half.  Then there was traffic in the parking lot and trouble with the bus... work itself was not stressful, but it is tough to recover from a rushed, panicked morning.

I had also forgotten that I had an extra long shift today, so I didn't get home until about 5:30.  Then I needed to run errands and pay bills... then I was a bit hungry so I made myself a snack... then I wanted to relax a little after my long day... and then before I knew it, it was 8:30 and I was falling asleep on the couch.  Yup.  I am still 80 years old stuck in the body of a 26 year old.  It's so sad.  But in my defense, I went to a friend's birthday party last night and didn't fall asleep until about 1 am, so when the alarm went off at 5 am, it wasn't pretty.  If I had remembered that I had a nine hour day ahead, I may have just turned it off and kept sleeping.

Regardless, today ended up being a one mile walk day.  I did walk plenty during the day - my Fitbit says I've walked about 6.5 miles today.  And since I did my one mile walk and I tracked my whole day, I am not going to beat myself up about skipping T25.  Honestly, I think doing it on 4 hours of sleep after a stressful day would have been dumb.  Today was supposed to be Total Body Circuit, which I think is the hardest one of the workouts in the Alpha phase.  I find it pretty intimidating.  Not perfect for when you're exhausted!  

I guess this means I have a fourth goal for the month of October - work on not beating myself up.  I'm choosing to work on that one today and leave Shaun T for tomorrow.

Seriously.  My day to day life is so fascinating I end up talking about toothpaste.

But I digress.  I did suffer a slight setback to my October challenge already, but nothing major.  I packed myself a healthy (also boring) lunch of a turkey sandwich and applesauce.  Then my tour admin suggested we get corn dog nuggets from Casey's Corner.  In case you're not a Walt Disney World person, corn dog nuggets are exactly what they sound like.  Little bites of corn dog.  They are heavenly.  Obviously I said yes.  Do you know what's not in the Weight Watchers database?  Corn dog nuggets.  I, too, was shocked.  But I decided to track them as two corn dogs and move on.  So yes, I tracked them!  I am still inching closer to that lotion!

When I got home from work, I crashed on my couch.  Then I crashed in my bed.  I love my job, but it takes a toll on me physically.  I am just exhausted after work most days.  So I took a half hour nap, then I sucked it up and did my T25 workout.  And you know what?  It wasn't awful.

Happy Wednesday!

So here I am on October 1st and I am officially one day into my challenge!  It's pretty simple, really - I am just making a few important changes to my lifestyle because the lifestyle I'm living right now is not working for me.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy!  But I'm also dangerously close to my Weight Watchers starting weight and that is pretty horrifying.  Thus, for the month of October, here's what I am doing:

That's it.  I have nothing more exciting to report.  I cleaned my apartment today, took a shower, washed my hair (which really is news, let's be honest), and hung out with Jamie.  I love days off.