A New Beginning...

I feel like I may be redundant here, did I previously declare a new beginning and then make the connection to Little House on the Prairie. I suppose that if I did, I apologize, but clearly the two are tied in my head.

It's been a while since I have really been monitoring what I'm eating and making a concerted effort to workout on a regular basis.

I have been meaning to refocus for a while now, but just haven't had the energy to get up in the morning and workout and for whatever reason, in my head, once I miss a workout, there seems to be less emphasis on what I am eating.

Well, that changed this morning. It was a pathetic walk that was both short and off pace, but a start is a start. I got out there this morning and I walked 2.25 miles, in about 34 minutes. It's funny how you 'remember' what your numbers should be. As I was rounding the one cul de sac, I thought to myself, I normally am here on this cul de sac between 1.07 and 1.1 miles depending on how far around the curve I was, 15 minutes into the workout. Today, I had already passed 15 minutes and was only at 1.01 when I did.

I am returning to counting calories. I came across Runs for Cookies the other day and I found her story inspiring. She referenced using Spark People to track and I decided I would give that a try.

Unfortunately, over the past few weeks, the pounds have slowly crept back on, so I am starting at a much higher point than I would have hoped to be.

#s to Go: ~34#

My goals, which I thought of as I walked this morning:

I would like to be at least half way to my goal by my birthday. That gives me just about 16 weeks to lose 17 pounds. Seems reasonable. I would like to be the rest of the way to my goal by New Year's. This gives me about 14 weeks to lose 17 pounds. These are loose goals and I hope to be ahead at the first marker, making the second one easier to obtain.

I would like to commit to walking and/or running at least 4 days each week. Ideally, I will make it out there 5-6 times per week, but in the interest of successfully meeting my goal and not being discouraged, I will target 4 days and see anything beyond that as a bonus.

I would like to try to fit in some strength training too. Since this will be reserved for rainy days and evenings, I would hope to fit it in at least 3 days a week. This works great if I use the P90X strength videos, since there are three per week.

I haven't yet set a calorie consumption target, but will give that some thought. I think that previously I found that the 1200 - 1400 calorie range was the right place for me.